Can Technology Be a Bad Thing?

• In 2017, why is technology still a class kids go to to learn to use a tool and not an integrated part of the lessons we teach?

This is something I always question! I think that education is so behind in how technology is used that, it's still taught because that's what we've done for the past 10-20 years. Many schools don't want change, even though we always want what's new and what's the best. In my district we are blessed with technology, but it's just given to teacher without any idea or rhyme with how to use it. As a younger teacher, I am a digital native so it isn't hard for me do research and figure it out for myself, when some teachers just don't understand how to use it except for a replacement for a pencil and paper or for a book.

• How can integrating technology into our teaching enrich instruction and help promote learning?

I think that it can really utilize those skills that the kids already have. They are experts and we shouldn't hinder that ability because of our insecurities when it comes to using technology. iPads and computers offer so many new and different ways to teach different subjects that we need to start taking advantage of them. Our jobs as teachers is to prepare our students for their future. Their future is going to include careers where this technology is used and they may even be pioneers in new ways that it's used. When we are behind as schools, we are putting our children behind. 

Technology can make lessons more engaging if they are creating videos and learning in a way that they create. By fostering these abilities we can really see our students shine.

Video in the Classroom

Questions:
a. Based on Prensky’s descriptions, are you a digital native or a digital immigrant? Why do you think so?

After the reading, I have concluded that I am a digital native. I grew up surrounded by technology, not as much as kids today, but enough that i remember it always being there. As a child we had computers, tv's and game systems at home and at school. We were fortunate to have dial-up internet at home while I was a young kid, and I remember that being very special. 

b. How are you equipped to teach the “digital natives” in your classroom? 

I believe the first and most important thing is to have an open mind! I love learning new things and I want my students to have the experience that comes with the new things. Technology is always new and fun and my kids love it when I introduce them to a new game or app we can use to learn. 

I think that by also being a digital native it makes me more open to learning. Once I find a new app or get a new "toy" I want to explore. I don't take the time to read directions or look things up I just discover things for myself. Once I find new ideas I can share them with my students and coworkers. I think my students are the same way. I don't really have to teach them how to use an iPad or a camera, it's something that they just know or can learn by watching me one time. 

I am blessed to have a set of class iPads, AppleTV, and a SMART board in my room. My students and I utilized those tools everyday. They would much rather build a vocabulary match on their iPad than write definitions from a book, like I did growing up. It's taking what you have and using it to fit their interests. I'm reading blogs, and looking ideas up all the time for new and innovative ways to use my devices. By doing this I think I'm speaking their language and making learning fun.

c. What further steps could you take to learn the “language” of multimedia?

I think that there are always things that I can learn and do better when it comes to technology. Just this summer I found several new apps that will be great for my new group of kindergarteners. I want to start creating Google resources to use for my students that help with sight word and letter recognition. I would like to learn more about coding and what I can do with 5 year olds in my classroom to teach them the basics of that subject. 

So much is out there that is a click a way, I just need to take time to do my research so that I can create lessons for my students. 

d. What steps can you take to keep students safe from undesirable social video content?

I love to use YouTube in my classroom. I think there are tons of great videos for introducing subjects that you are going to teach. I teach using themes and if I can't somehow bring it into my classroom, I will show a video clip.
These are some ways I keep all of the video content safe:
•Preview all videos before watching
• I also always use Safe Share for my videos. I can input my video link and it automatically cleans it up, just in case there is something inappropriate hiding within
https://safeshare.tv/
•There are some videos that I want to share, but only a few minutes of the content is appropriate. When that happens I use Ed Puzzle. This site allows me to clip videos for viewing in my classroom. It is even great for independent videos that you may assign.
https://edpuzzle.com/

Presentation Design: Blog Reflection

"This week we began studying presentation design. I had no idea..."

I had no idea that presentation design was even a thing people studied. I didn't know there were so many books and resources devoted to designing engaging presentations. This kind of blew my mind! 

I loved all of the readings and slides we went through, because design is something I am a big fan of. I have always been interested in creating things that are engaging for others, whether that's a lesson for my students, a presentation I'm giving or a party I'm planning. Aesthetics have to be pleasing to me. 

I love to create lessons for my students, so when I do that I upload them to Teachers Pay Teachers on occasion. Creating engaging and eye catching covers is big for marketing, just like these readings have showed us. I went from making covers like this from my first product:

To making things like this:

I'll be honest and say that the second one looks a lot better than the first. When I was reading and going through the assignments for this week I noticed that those were some things that I did, because they catch the eye of the audience more. 

Even in my classroom we talk about making things look visually appealing. We have an Agriculture fair at my school every year, so they have to bring presentation boards (similar to a science fair board). My students know that they want their presentation to look appealing to the audience so they take the time to make their board look good, with the content of the project to be given orally.

Pig Project

Chicken Project

For third graders to really grasp that, I was impressed. Their boards captured the attention of many fair goers, which gave them the opportunity to talk about their project.

It's important to contribute time and energy into the aesthetics of your presentations so your audience is engaged and takes something away from the presentation. I'm happy to see that there are many resources out there teaching presenters so that we can make visually appealing presentations. 

 

Effective Instruction: Reflections

Helping my colleagues be more effective instructors will require me to better myself! I can't help anyone if I am not knowledgable about effective instruction practices. It is important for me to lead by example instead of dishing out orders with no relatable proof to back it up.

Self reflection is a great tool to make myself better. Once I know how to teach my students in a way that is meaningful, with understanding that I'm not perfect, then they will begin to learn in new ways. I am a teacher and I may not do it right the first time. But not redoing my lessons will only fail my students. If I can practice good reflection and reteaching, then I can teach my coworkers the same practices.

The QAIT model is a great place to start when it comes to lesson design and instruction. 

• Q- Quality of Instruction
• A- Appropriate Levels of Instruction
• I- Incentive
• T- Time

By checking my lessons with this model I will be able to make sure they are effective and my students are learning. I can show this to my colleagues and teach them about the steps I took to make sure my lessons were worth teaching. 

Collaboration is key when it comes to helping others in your building. Once they know the steps to take, I will need to make myself available to guide them along the way. I should be able to show them what I do in my lesson planning to make sure that what they are teaching goes along with the QAIT model. When it comes to teaching, it's easy to just tell but that's not effective. I will need to show them what I'm doing and give examples of instruction following these steps. 

When I become a better teacher, then I can help those around me do the same.

Instruction Design Blog Reflection


"Education has missed the boat, with respect to instructional design. Teachers come up with lesson plans on the fly, with little thought to why they are presenting information or even who their audience is. Teacher training, at the university level and during Professional development, needs to focus on helping teachers become comfortable with instructional design principles."


Wow! This quote hits the nail on the head. I read it and thought of several teachers, but also myself in some cases, especially at the beginning of my teaching career.

When I graduated I thought my classes would prepare me for teaching meaningful lessons, but the more time that I've spent in the classroom, the more wrong was. I loved my undergrad experience, but it didn't quite get me ready for real life classroom experience. I knew the standards, how to test, how to make extremely long lesson plans and was even armed with some great ideas. But college classes aren't a real classroom. I started my teaching career unsure of what I was even doing. I knew what worked for the grade I was teaching, but how to present it and why I was doing it that way were things I wasn't too sure about.

The first part of this quote: "Teachers come up with lesson plans on the fly..." reigns true with so many educators I know. We claim they are just Type B, but that's not always the case. Some just don't know how to create effective lessons. They haven't been armed with the tools for instructional design. You can really see a difference in lessons that have been given a lot of thought and lessons that were thrown together. The learning is usually ineffective and the behavior of the students is much different, usually less controlled.

I had never heard of either of these models until this course, and there are good sides to both. The one that I can most relate my lesson planning to would be the Morrison, Ross and Kemp Model. I feel that I am constantly revising as I go. If something doesn't work I will tweak it mid lesson and go with whatever is really working with the kids. I don't think my time is best used teaching something in a way that just isn't working.

The more I taught, did professional development and collaborated with other educators, the more I began to understand ways to create lessons designed in a way that worked for my students. I started to understand why I was teaching it in the order I was and even why teaching these things were important. I could tell that when I spent time really researching lessons and ideas, my kids understood them more. They enjoyed my lessons more, and they were more meaningful. My students were learning and I could see it and understand it. It was an amazing thing to experience. That's what teaching should be!

We all have ways to improve upon our teaching methods. We have to be open to change and know that we aren't perfect. With a little time and devotion, we can focus on instructional design to give our lessons meaning.