Tweet, tweet!

I participated in my first Twitter chat in September of 2017 and was pleasantly surprised by it. I had done a lot of research about Twitter chats and I was nervous to participate. The main reason I was nervous was because everything I read talk about how fast Twitter chats go. I'm not sure if I joined one that was a little slower, or if I'm just a little faster with technology. I did use a website called Tweet Chat and it made participating in the chat much easier.

I choose to participate in the chat hash tagged, #WhatIsSchool. This topic intrigued me because I didn't really know what direction it would take. The night I tuned in, our topic happened to be about domestic violence and it's impact on students in today's society. I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed at first because I was really hoping to learn some new technological trends or ideas to use in the classroom and instead we were focused on the warning signs and what abuse is.

In the end, I still learned a great deal and look forward to participating in more Twitter chats. I think I would like to find some that are a little more specific in content area, instead of #WhatIsSchool, but I will definitely continue to check on #WhatIsSchool and their topics being discussed. I think it's important that they are touching on the student as a whole and understanding their well being not only in an intellectual state, but a physical and emotional state as well. As educators, we are here to provide a safe environment for our student. To learn more about children and their connection to domestic violence, click here. This was a website provided through my Twitter chat, so I gained knowledge and that's what counts!

Below is a photo of a few tweets I contributed to in our chat. To see more on my Twitter page, visit here.

My 1st Twitter Chat!

Engaging Education

Active; energetic, lively, dynamic, sporty, hard-working, involved, enthusiastic. When we think of synonym's that go along with the word active, why wouldn't we want to include such an awesome adjective in our learning and teaching styles?! Active learning is when students are engaged through reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving to enhance their educational experience. Students are no longer expected to listen to lectures for hours on end in a classroom, but to be active learners in their educations. Getting students to DO the learning is a major part of this new education fad. To learn more about Active Learning, use this link on Active Learning.

This image of a brain in motion comes from BYU's Center for Teaching & Learning. 

I love the question that Nicole proposed in her Prezi presentation, "would you want to be a student in your classroom?" I think this is a great way to analyze our teaching and reflect on how engaging and exciting we really can be when presenting new knowledge to our students. If I was in a classroom, I would want to be involved in the process, not just a bystander. 

This week I reviewed a Thinglink lesson that required students to actively research the regions of the United States and then create a website using Thinglink to display their work. 

Thinglink allowed students to be an active learner in many ways. This assignment resulted in real student work, also providing students with the opportunity to have ownership and pride in their web presence. This assignment required student participation, student creativity, and for students to be interactive with the Internet. It also allowed for problem solving strategies to be used. If students came across an area of the assignment that troubled them, they would have to use their problem solving strategies to find the answer. There was also a digital enhancement to the assignment, since students were creating a web page.

Creating a Padlet to explain this assignment, allowed me to be an active learner myself. I had to create something of my own while being creative and participating. I had to problem solve by playing around with Padlet and finding which button allowed me to create new posts. I definitely think active learning should be part of all lessons in a school setting. Teachers need to consider Nicole’s question I mentioned earlier, “would you want to be a student in your classroom?” I think the only way to answer that question with a “yes” is to include active learning in your lessons. It’s engaging and it makes learning FUN!

To view my personal Padlet, look below, or use this link: Padlet - Thinglink

Digital Map

Mapping my digital space was a very exciting task for me. I found it to be a fun challenge to think of all the areas I interact with the Internet, and then I would have things come to me later in the day and make a note in my phone to add those applications to my digital map later on. Once my map was complete, I found it interesting to see that both professionally and personally I rely on technology for a great deal of my life. I was also surprised to see that I spend time as both a resident and a visitor on certain applications.

According to Dave White, as a digital visitor you act on the task at hand by finding the information you need and then moving on. Visitors do not leave any trace that they were on the particular website or application.  A digital resident is going online to make a connection and establish a presence. The resident may be posting something in order to contribute to conversation or creating something of their own via a website or application. For more information and clarification about visitors versus residents, please visit Dave's Website

As I was placing my applications and Internet usage on my map, the one that intrigued me the most was the “Calendar” application. I struggled with where to put it, and then decided it belonged right in the middle of my map, intersecting at all four categories. I use the calendar for both personal and professional organization. Sometimes I am just logging on to find information about a particular event and then log off (visitor), but in other instances I am responding to invitations, setting up events myself, or communicating to others in the event (resident).  Therefore, you’ll see my calendar smack dab in the middle of my map!

I encourage others to map their digital lives as well because it really turns out to be a fun task. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much I am already using technology and was encouraged to keep using more technology so I can add to my map. Once you make your map, what surprised you most about yours?

This is a personal image I created using Google Drawings.

Flip It

Last May, the school principal gathered the teachers in a room on the last day of school. At this point the teachers were just as rambunctious as the students we had dismissed for summer vacation, but he had a goal to gather us one last time for a professional development opportunity. We wrapped up the year and on our way out the door our principal assigned summer reading. Really?!

He had assigned the book, Blended, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I ended up enjoying it. When I saw “Flipped Learning” as a topic we could sign up for with this assignment, I ceased the opportunity to learn more about it and hopefully teach you something as well!

Click the link below to view my my video on Flipped Learning. Enjoy!

Flipped Learning  <----- Video Link

Additional Resources on Flipped Learning:

1. Flipped Learning Network
2. Overcoming Common Hurdles
3. Blended by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker
4. Flipped Classroom Model 
5. Example in 7th Grade Math 

Applications Galore!

After reading over the multiple frameworks for evaluating technology, the one that stuck out to me most was the SAMR model. Each student in my classroom has their own iPad creating a whole new world of recourses to them, all relating directly to technology. However, as a teacher, I often struggle with how to integrate and use the technology to the best of my abilities hence why I am signed up for this course! 

The SAMR model stuck out to me first because the word “modification” was right in the title. As a special education teacher, this makes me very excited! How can I modify for each one of my students? The goal of the SAMR model is to transform the learning experience while using technology, so our students can achieve higher levels of academics.

While exploring the “SAMR Apps” tab, many of the applications I already use in our classroom were listed, mostly in the substitution area. My students use iBooks for all of their textbooks throughout the year. The also use The Holy Bible for Religion classes, the Jumbo Calculator in math, and the Dictionary app across a multitude of courses.  I would have to say that using iBooks for their textbooks is a great substitution, but can also double as a modification since it allows my students to use a split screen function to have both a note taking application and the textbook open while completing homework. The Holy Bible provides functional improvement because students can search a verse or scripture much easier than they could with flipping through a hard copy of the Bible. The Jumbo Calculator is a great substitution for larger print and accessibility for my students with special needs during their math classes.

A very important iPad application that I felt the “Apps in Education Poster” left out was Showbie. Showbie combines all of the essential tools for assignments, feedback and communication in one beautiful, easy to use app (Showbie Website). It allows for discussion, annotations, grading, voice notes, collaboration, assignments and much more! It is definitely my most widely used application in my classes. It allows me to share notes, worksheets, or assignments with my students via their iPads and also allows students to send their completed work back to me (Substitution). Showbie also provides the opportunity to enhance technology by sharing resources through PDF documents uploaded to my students’ class folder (Augmentation).  I have not yet used Showbie for the modification or redefinition part of SAMR, but the research required for this blog post is definitely encouraging me to do so!

Now that I’ve introduced you to Showbie; what applications do you use in your classroom that might relate to the SAMR model? Are there some more good technology applications I should be downloading onto my students iPads to enhance their learning?

Below is a visual chart of how the SAMR model can be used across different class activities or assignments. I suggest reading over it and thinking how you might want to use SAMR in your classroom!

Photo taken from www.schrockguide.net/samr.html 

You can find more relevant information on the SAMR model, specific examples of how it might be used, and plenty of visual aide charts at SAMR - Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything   This website is created by an educational technologist, Kathy Schrock, to share resources and tips in our teaching world!