katiewestnsu-blog

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Chromebooks in the Classroom: Why Schools Need to Manage Devices

This past week, one of the topics being covered by my ETEC 5610 class, was related to choosing a device or app or software that could be used to enhance your classroom if there was not cap on the money that could be used for it. I chose touchscreen chromebooks (which happens to be on my wish list for my students one day).  My research for my presentation led me to this article on the benefits of using Chromebooks in grades K-12 across the nation and how those devices when managed properly by the schools can provide students and the educators with great long term and short term benefits.  The article link is below for an in depth look to the author’s point of view (which I agree with by the way).  In all the article details the uses of Chromebooks, the benefits of the devices, and how schools should manage the use of the devices.  These devices are great for increasing student interest and engagement levels, student collaboration with peers, the creation of word or presentation documents, the developing of research and investigation skills, sharing of information, monitoring of assignments, the ability to create and save documents in the cloud for extraction or editing from other devices, the interactive nature with presentations by the educator, and many more uses. 

I agreed with everything the author discussed, for having these kinds of devices available to my “at risk” students would be beneficial in those ways listed above and many more.  Many of my students are tech savy, but lack the financial resources at home or do not have direct access to these kinds of devices or devices outside of a mobile phone when not at school.  I would love for my students to be able to create presentations with their peers and present them to the class through this kind of technology. I would love for my students to be able to use these devices like portable white boards and directly interact with my Math lessons as I present the material or problem sets on the SMART board each day. I would love for my students not to have to share two or three students to a story book and be able to read along on their Chromebooks with the story I present on the SMART board.  I would love to be able to create differentiated lessons for my students or intervention services for students in need by use of the personalizing each student’s Chromebook applications and software.  But alas, I will need to finish writing the grant for that, so for now it is a dream.

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2016/02/chromebooks-in-the-classroom-why-schools-need-to-manage-their-devices/

2nd Thought.

Since it looks like I will not be getting my students Chromebooks anytime soon, I thought maybe I could look into a more affordable means for increasing student interaction with lessons and preparing my students for online assessments that they will encounter next year.  You may be wondering where I am going with this, well I am heading in the direction of “clickers”.or also known as classroom response systems.  The clickers I am referring to, allow for students to answer questions/indicate responses to prompts that are presented on the SMART board or other digital device that they are connected too.  I used clickers when I was in college and have since seen them used in high school classrooms and some middle school classroom.  However, I think that my students could use them and it would help to keep them more engaged and go a little more green on some of our assessments.  Which in the long run would save the school money.  I have found a company that is willing to help sponsor our class once I finish submitting a small presentation on the benefits and costs; so that our class would only have to come up with $6.00 per student.  I don’t think that is an unreasonable amount to gather up, when the clickers can be reprogrammed to use each school year.  They are not Chromebooks, but they are something that would help my students become more engaged and interact more effeceintly with some of the lessons I teach.  There is a link below for you to check out more about how clickers can benefit your classroom.

https://www.turningtechnologies.com/

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Assessments Online: Informing Teaching and Learning

Click the link here to read the full article by columnist Geoff Masters

https://t.co/ffH7Ro5f4q

The article details the benefits and importance of not only creating online assessments for students but how to use those assessments to create a manageable sequencing or progression of teaching/assessing student knowledge.  Masters presents a good argument for the use of online assessments and not just for the use of them with college or high school students; but the use of them with younger school age children is encouraged.  He cites that creating online assessments are not just for the ease of the teacher or for administrative tracking ease; but they are a critical tool for student use and how with today’s advances in technology and the high engagement levels of the youth of society with those technological advancements that online assessments can be a key component in increasing student engagement in the learning process. A key point in the article, that may peak your interest is that studies have shown that students are more likely to write more when typing in answers to questions or completing in depth writing assignments in contrast to how much they may or may not write with pencil and paper. Today’s youth again is very tech savy in most cases and typing/texting is a big part of thousands of kids everyday, so it stands to reason that typing things in is a lot faster than writing.  In the article, Masters does not just give his opinion or the opinion of other experts in the fields of education; but rather provides readers with several resources that are in alignment with student learning outcomes in a logical manner.  He lists site after site of resources for this purpose.  

I found this article right on target.  I give both paper/pencil assessments and online assessments.  My students respond better as a whole to the online assessments.  Online assessments are easy to follow, show them typically instant results, and allow them to track their progress as they progress through different lessons. For me, creating assessments online whether they are pencil/paper or completely digital; is faster than trying to figure out my formatting and creating a test on my own.  There are so many sites available to help teachers create assessments, tracking guides for those assessments (which makes grading an ease), and so many allow the teacher to make the assessment adaptable to the needs of the students.  For example, I can create the same assessment for all the students in my classroom, and create a duplicate assessment for my IEP or 504 students with appropriate modifications; without the students knowing they have a modified assessments. As for the writing part of Master’s argument, my students are still young and physical writing is more of a focus for us when I need to get more thinking skills out of the students; but I also get the articles premise behind students writing more online.  I can type a lot faster than I can write, in fact I dislike physical writing because it takes me so long to write out all my thoughts and I can not go back and correct my work as easily as I can when I type.  Even my own young children who are one the autism spectrum (one is almost 7 years old and one is almost 6 years old), can navigate online materials and assessments very well and type must faster than I did at their age.  In regards to the engagement levels, I have to give online assessments a 10 in my book because I have yet to see anyone of my students not highly engaged when using technology, even when its for a test/assessment.  

#ETEC 5610 #onlineassessments

Teaching Tool of the Week

Quizlet-yep the tool many college students love to use on a regular basis is the tool of the week I am choosing to discuss in regards to the site’s value to my 2nd grade classroom. Quizlet is an online resource, teaching tool that I employ in my classroom that allows my students to take online assessments, review vocabulary, develop skills, and review materials from lessons.  The flash cards ability in Quizlet is one of my students’ favorite parts of the site. My students can create their own flash cards, print them out to take with them, or practice what is on the cards online.  There is also alot of interest in using the site for reviewing our lessons.  I simply go in and create reviews for the students and the students can work with the materials in class on one of our devices or work on the materials at home with their families.  It is a great way to keep the students engaged in learning, have them take responsibility for their learning, and involve their parents more actively in what they are learning.  During the first part of the school year, I manage student use of Quizlet primarily; but by mid-year a good portion of my students are able to create on the site as well and navigate around it with my directives and limited supervision.  So in my book Quizlet gets a 10.

https://quizlet.com/

#quizlet #onlinelearning

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Whiteboard’s Impact on Teaching Seen as Uneven

https://t.co/xFSVmoznca 

Check out this article link!

This link above will direct you to an article that was written by Kathleen Kennedy Manzo in 2010, on the impact of white board use in education and how the benefits of using white boards are high; when teachers don’t use them correctly or refuse to use them they are no more than expensive chalkboards.  The primary focus of the article is to showcase how some teachers swear by the expensive Promethean or SMART boards, embracing the interactive nature of the boards and their accessibility to multiple technology applications that can be used for teaching students that are highly engaging and informative; and how others struggle to embrace the innovation fully or lack the skills to use the boards to their fullest capacity.  In the end, Manzo felt that the boards are highly expensive but that when teachers are properly trained not only how to use the board but are continually abreast on how to get the most out of the resources or tools the board can provide or enhance their lessons; then the boards are a vital component of teaching.  With that said though when teachers are not trained, do not always have adequately working equipment, or failed to use the boards at all; they are extremely expensive pieces of equipment that take up money that could have been spent elsewhere. 

As someone who was new to Promethean and SMART boards a couple of years ago, outside of seeing them used a couple of times for a college course of two; I have become very accustomed to them, the benefits they provide, and the waste they are when they  are broken or not working properly.  Also, like the article stated when teachers are not trained properly, they are glorified chalk boards.  There was no training for me during my first year of teaching and I had one of the few functioning SMART boards in my 3rd grade classroom. It was not until near the end of my first year of teaching that a colleague from another school invited me to her classroom for a project we were collaborating on in our community that I realized how much the SMART board could have helped me and my students out during the school year.  Although I love teaching ELA, my skill set originally when I first started teaching was more with Math and I find that teaching Math with the opportunity to use a SMART board is highly beneficial due to the interactive nature which increases student engagement.  I was very thankful that during the summer after my first year of teaching I got an opportunity to learn more about how to use my board and since them, I have made an effort to continue to learn about the best ways to use my board.  Unfortunately though, as the article pointed out when the teachers are trained or the boards don’t work; they are no more than an expensive white board or projector surface. Which is unfortunately the state of things at many schools. The bulbs for the boards are expensive to replace and many schools don’t have the money to replace them as they need to, leaving many teachers with boards in the rooms that don’t work.  Then there are the connectivity issues that can be frustrating for teachers and students. Our school has projectors in the classroom which show up on the SMART board screen really well, but those projectors do not give the teacher or students the opportunity to be interactive properly. 

So where does that leave us, well when schools decide to spend the money on the Promethean and SMART boards then they need to also invest in adequate professional development opportunities for the teachers using the boards and they need to provide a provision in the budget each year for maintaining the boards so that every teacher that has the boards has the opportunity to use the boards daily and that repairs are made without haste.

#ETEC5610 #usingwhiteboards #SMARTboardlife

 Teacher’s Tool of the Week

Teacherpayteachers, yep thats right I chose something a little outside the box as my teaching tool of the week.  This site is something that I not only use with my own students in helping me create lessons; but it is something that I use with my children at home in developing learning resources for them.  Some may say, how is this a technology tool for use in the classroom; but for me it is an invaluable tool for it is a way for teachers to network with other teachers around the country and the world.  The fees are typically small and the materials are plenty.  I can take portions of items I find on them and tailored them for my students as well as I encourage my parents to use this tool for their students over the summer.  This is by far a big time saving tool for me to use in my classroom, for the research work is reduced greatly on my part.  For example, if my students are working on our Cinderella unit, I can go to this site and pull up resources to use as a supplement to my standard materials that come with my guidebook and many times materials on this site provide me with a different look at how I am developing my lessons and showing me how to be creative and more flexible.  Some of the packets you can find for resources, have so many materials, that I can take some of the extra materials that I can’t fit into my normal lesson time and use them with my supplemental teaching sessions or intervention sessions.  The biggest down fall for utilizing this tool is that in most cases there is a cost to use other teacher’s resources; but in some cases it is well worth a couple of dollars for the time it saves me, my parents, and the surplus of materials I can provide to my students. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

#teacherpayteachers #teachingtools #teacherresources

[katiewestnsu-blog]

Getting the Most Out of Google Classroom This Year

Nine Updates for Google Classroom by Eric Curtis is an article on how to get the most of the new updates with Google Classroom this year for educators everywhere.  The updates include New Classroom page, streamlined stream page, new peoples page, new setting page, about page disappears now, quick switch when grading option, feed back options when grading, copying the class options, and notification disabling for an entire class.  This article provides educators with the details on how these changes will affect the use of Google Classroom and step by step instructions on how to use the feature and details about why the feature has been changed. For the past couple of years, teachers all over the country are using Google Classroom as a technology support tool and resource for enhancing student learning, classroom organization, storing student work, and monitoring of student progress. There are three more updates coming very soon. 

In my 2nd grade classroom, Google Classroom is used for Q & A’s for discussion topics, organizing student work/portfolios, monitoring student progress, reducing the amount of paper used in the class, a method for sharing resources with students, building lessons, and documented communication or commenting between the teacher and students. This is only my second year using this resource in my classroom, but the most beneficial aspect of using it has to be that it helps me stay more organized with student work and helps the students upload their work through the use of technology.  This is the way of the future, so my students need to learn now to take charge of their education and utilize technology to the fullest. 

Here is the link for the article by Eric Curtis:

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/08/classroom-updates-2018.html

Technology Tool for the Week:

Imagi Box is my tool for the week or some may say Imagination Box.  Although typically most educators or parents may use Imagi Box and its features with younger students or students in an art class; I like to use it with my 2nd graders.  Many of my second graders may have aged beyond their years because of their life outside of school, but still lack true maturity and therefore respond well to the playdoh creation characters and feature of Imagi Box.  I use this application for creating images that children cannot only relate to with our stories, but the application provides students to use their imaginations in creating what they feel something should look like.  When I first started using the the program, I was not very comfortable with it, but then I was hooked.  I can use this program with my own two young children as well as I can with my 2nd graders. My favorite part of this program is that my students, even my most challenged students, experience success in creating what they are aimed at creating.  These students may not have that same kind of success with creating a physical play-doh creature with their hands.  In addition, by using this program my student are preparing to use other programs that can build upon this program and create stories with the figures or scenes they have built.  There is a link below for more information on how Imagi Box can work for you as well as how art teachers use it in classrooms.

Cathy Hunt @iPadartroom: https://twitter.com/art_cathyhunt/status/418223819438833664

and https://twitter.com/ArtLadyHBK/status/428003444981780480

Imagination Box: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imagination-box-creative-fun-play-dough-colors-shapes/id698092635

#ETEC5610

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readilearn: Engaging mathematics learning with Halloween themed resources

Link https://www.readilearn.com.au/readilearn-engaging-mathematics-learning-with-halloween-themed-resources/

Norah Colvin wrote an online article that not only provided readers with a brief background history on Halloween celebrations or festivals; but also provided them with Halloween themed resources for classroom activities that are applicable to Mathematics. Although the primary focus of the article is related to mathematics tools for learning during the Halloween season, there are useful links attached to this page  (Norah Colvin)  where a brief introduction to the full article is displayed for teachers to use for other subject areas. The article on readilearn provides readers with activities that focus on counting, identifying remainders, making equal shares, comparisons, estimations, addition, and subtraction.  Many of the lesson are applicable to use in lower grade classrooms, like the classroom I teach (2nd grade).  I actually used one of the lessons today with my students with some candy I brought in for the students. The mini lesson was short, but utilized the concepts in this lesson to show the children how to evenly divide up the candy to ensure that everyone had equal shares. We used addition, subtraction, and division skills with the candy, before I let them have some.  My students were not only highly engaged, but the concepts in which I was hoping to teach will most likely be more embedded in their memory because I used a different method for teaching them familiar concepts that were interesting and relative to this time of the year. 

Tools of the week:

This week I would like to feature two different Youtube style sites as resources and learning tools for teachers and students: Just click on the title below and you are there.  These sites provide teachers or students with a venue for posting and reviewing relavent links on information related to the school day, teaching practices, and what is going on in other education realms.  These two sites are a great way for teachers to become inspired to step up their own digital game and develop a better connection to peers, teaching practices, and to students.  I regularly review both sites for inspiration and guidance; which has proven to be quite beneficial to teaching second graders and connecting to my peers.  With technology being readily accessible from phones, watches, tablets, or PC’s; teachers need to stay on top of what helps keep the students engaged and develop strategies for staying ahead of the curve.  The only draw back to accessing these sites at my school, are they are not accessible when I am connected to the school’s internet system; for the firewalls prevent access without special permissions. I can however access the sites on my phone or personal tablet that have 4G capabilities. 

TeacherTube and SchoolTube.

#ETEC5610 #connectingthroughthetube #teachertube #schooltube

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Teaching Digital Manners to Students

Digital etiquette or digital manners is not something that everyone using technology is taught or for that matter may not have innate knowledge of  as one would hope.  When children are young, parents, caregivers, and educators try to instill values in the form of manners with children; but who is teaching those children digital etiquette and what kinds of programs are out there to help those individuals with teaching that material.  Below I have listed a link for an article on how to get schools to teach digital manners and skills. For parents and teachers it needs to be a collaborative effort in helping guide the young towards learning how to navigate the digital world with good ethics, helping them to achieve a strong digital citizenship and responsible demeanor when online.  The article by Erin Wilkey Oh, describes to readers how it is important for the parents to talk to their children about how to interact digitally, taking accountability and acting responsively at all times; but that isn’t all Erin tells readers. She states that it is important for teachers and educator supporters to help in the drive, by adopting programs or activities that promote digital citizenship for students as early as kindergarten through higher learning. Erin explains that when parents set expectations for digital use and teachers set expectations for digital use that are both in alignment with one another, the students are more likely to get the message.  They will also get a clearer view of how they are expected to act with digital devices through the modeling of the adults in their lives.  When children see adults on the phone either texting someone, checking an email, or watching a video; they learn that this is an acceptable behavior. 

As a teacher and a mother, I have instilled digital citizen ship programs and activities for my students and my own children to help them become more responsible and aware of their conduct with the digital world.  My two young children understand what is expected of them when it comes to behaving responsibly with digital devices and the consequences for when they act poorly or make poor decisions with digital devices. This same standard applies to my students.  We have a large digital imprint in our classroom, so getting the parents and students on the same page helps all of our school year a little bit more smoothly.

Here is the link for Erin’s article

  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-to-get-your-school-to-teach-digital-manners-and-skills?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social

TOOL of the Week

The tool I chose to feature this week is related to our topic of the week in the course (ETEC 5610-collaborative tools) and to digital citizenship.  I use a collaborative teaching tool in my classroom called Storybird, which is a tool for creating stories from a series of pictures.  My students get an opportunity to select pictures and write a story about the pictures with the words they know.  This tool on the surface may seem like just a means for getting students to use their creativity in writing a story or reading a story; but this tool also helps students with their digital citizenship.  The words they use for their story, need to be appropriate to not only the story but appropriate for all readers of all ages.  The students also get to be authors, taking ownership for their creations and sharing their work with others.  This is where my students get an opportunity to learn about copy rights and how that applies to using the work of others.  Many young children have been known to copy the work of other students when they hit a creative or lazy wall with their own work, so Storybird helps my students create independent work from their peers and share their personal perspective in a respectful manner.  At the end of the year, I let the students submit their favorite story for printed and/or ebook publication to share with their family, friends, and future students in my classroom.  To learn more about how Storybird can work for you in your classroom, clink on the link below and enjoy. 

https://storybird.com/

#ETEC5610

[katiewestnsu-blog]

Teaching Guided Reading

In the link below is an article written by Adam Waxler that provides what I believe to be a good descriptive summary and information guide on the importance of guided reading, how to implement a guided reading program, proposed guided reading activities, and how to integrate guided reading throughout other areas of the classroom. Although this article was written over ten years ago, what he wrote still applies to the foundation or building of guided reading programs across the country.  For example, he explains that before jumping into guided reading lessons, teachers need to plan and prepare the lesson in a way that challenges, interests the varying leveled readers, pulls from student previous knowledge and develop strategies for incorporating new knowledge in a way that helps the students make literary connections and increase reading comprehension. 

According to Mr. Waxler and my experience teaching guided reading, using guided reading as a reading strategy to increase reading comprehension provides several opportunities for teachers to differentiate lessons for students of different reading levels and this kind of strategy can be implemented in other areas of the classroom.  For example, in my classroom just two days ago, I had four students (two different buddy groups) partner reading to one another and witnessed both of these groups using techniques and strategies that we have used during our guided reading lessons at the teacher table.  These students were not prompted by me, but remembered how guided reading was working for them with me and determined that it was easier to break down the text by following that kind of guide.  The students were making predictions before reading the text, using the pictures as context clues, using phonetic skills and spalding lessons when pronouncing words, and then checking for one another’s understanding of the text they had just read to one another.  I was so proud of what I was witnessing, that I provided those four students with an opportunity to earn extra credit and a prize by presenting their own mini lesson to the other second grade classroom yesterday.  The other teacher was blown away and my students were amazing, despite the fact that two of the four individuals are currently far below bench mark in reading and the other two individuals are barely benchmarking.

Although Waxler is a middle school teacher, the examples and guide he provides in this article are very similar to the manner in which I teach guided reading with my second graders; and I guess I can it must be working based upon what I have seen so far this week and in previous years of using guided reading.  My students are not just working through our guided reading lessons to complete them, they are developing good decoding and comprehension skills for future reading endeavors. Thank you Adam Waxler.  By the way he is also the author of  eteach: A 1teachers Resource for Learning Strategies for Master Teachers. His link for that resource is at the bottom of his article, along with the link for his blog. 

Another resource for more information on how guided reading can be utilized in other areas of the classroom, the tool I have selected for this week’s feature on teaching tools is related to a program called Reading Assistant Plus, by myscilearn.com.  This program uses the same principles as paper guided reading lessons, but gears the instructional process digitally and on an individual basis rather than with a small group.  Students have the opportuntity to read an ebook, learn new vocabulary, apply previous knowledge, and exhibit their understanding of the text in order to move up in reading levels.  The engagement level in my classroom during this ELA learning station is typically around 100%; even with my lowest reading leveled students.  One of the keys to this program working in my classroom this year, was to pair up the reading buddies for this learning station with one student having a slightly higher ability level than the other; in order for the higher ability student to mentor the other student when a question or need arises.  This helps both the students stay focused on their learning center, get the guidance they need from a peer (peer collaboration is big in my class), and allows me to focus my attention on teaching paper guided reading at the teacher table.  The only draw back to this program that I have found is that when we have technical issues with the computers; I have to stopped working with my group to attend to the mechanics of the technology and that if I had more working tablets in my classroom then more students could use this type of technology more frequently  I am working on a grant right now to purchase more tablets and applicable software for increasing reading comprehension that would be in alignment with what myscilearn offers; in order to increase student choice, challenge, and variation in learning materials.  The link for more information on myscilearn programs is listed below. 

Adam Waxler’s link:

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/education/article_331.shtml

https://help.scilearn.com/slchelp/MSL_Help/Content/SLP/ra2-assignments.htm

Also here is a video link on reading assistant plus:

https://youtu.be/mcBxewpehLg

#ETEC5610

[katiewestnsu-blog]

Digital citizenship: teens being responsible online by Raising Children Network

Digital citizenship for kids and teens http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/digital_citizenship.html … via @RCN_AUS #ETEC5610

  An article by Raising Children Network on how to raise child accountability and responsibility when using technology, posted on an Australian website dedicated to providing parents with resources for raising positive child outcomes. The articles provides parents and visitors with information on what it means to be a digital citizen, steps or actions that can increase digital citizenship in children of all ages, the benefits of become digitally responsible, and the potential dangers of being digitally irresponsible. The article also describes how children and teenagers use digital sources, apps, and social media sites and how these types of interactions can be positive in nature for building a social network and means of communicating with other peers; but the article also describes how these types of social media accounts can lead to increased opportunities for bullying, sexual misconduct, irresponsible actions, and worse.  Let alone that many of these sites leave children and teenagers exposed and vulnerable to predators and individuals who have little to no positive digital citizenship.  The article is not all doom and gloom though, there are several positive messages on how digital citizenship can build character and how technology can be the gateway for not only building social relationships but knowledge.  #ETEC5610  .

8 Must Have Digital Citizenship Apps, Tools, and Resources https://www.thetechedvocate.org/8-must-digital-citizenship-apps-tools-resources/ … via @lynch39083 #ETEC5610 

Above is link to an article on 8 handy digital citizenship apps, tools, and resources for teachers to use in the classroom when applicable and ways to teach students to use the resources outside of the classroom responsibly. Two of the links and resources provided on the site, have been used in my classroom when teaching students about digital citizenship.  One of the programs is part of a PBS digital citizenship drive; that I used in my classroom was called Webonauts but is not available on PBS this year for use.  When I used this program, my students were given opportunities to play games that taught them about be responsible and respectful when using technology.We used Common Sense Media previously in conjunction with the PBS program; but this year have used this program without the PBS support.  Although the program is designed for students starting in 3rd grade, the students in my classroom are very tech savy and are using technology in very similar ways as their 3rd grade peers; so we have implemented it accordingly.  The students get an opportunity to complete different levels to work towards their digital pass once the requirements have been met.  This kind of technology tool helps to support how I teach other mini lessons on digital technology and citizenship. One challenge I find in using Common sense media; is that it does not meet the needs of my students who are on the lower end of academic achievement; because the standard for completion is very high.  We have learn to accommodate this issue somewhat; but I really miss the PBS program for my students to start out the year with. 

#ETEC5610 

[katiewestnsu-blog]

How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education

Original Article: By Clive Thompson July 2011

https://www.wired.com/2011/07/ff_khan/

               Khan Academy has been supporting education through the use of technology for a little over fourteen years; thanks to the innovative mind of the founder Salman Khan who was initially trying to find a way to help tutor a relative who lived over one thousand miles away.  Khan was a businessman and hedge fund analyst with degrees from Harvard and MIT; whose aptitude for mathematics helped him to recognize a need for change in how children could use technology to aid in the development of mathematical skills.  It was through the tutoring of his relative that he discovered methods for teaching mathematic concepts and eventually created recordings (YouTube videos) of him teaching the lessons for his family member to use and making them public.  His videos were a great success and eventually helped him develop the online learning academy for support and learning of mathematics, sciences, arts and humanities, computing, economics and finance, college and test prep, and engineering for multiple grade levels including adult education preparation.  

Khan Academy is more than just a program or technology application for enhancing knowledge about the content areas mentioned above; but it is support system and step by step guide for learning that allows the learner to work at their own pace and even provide a monitoring system for parents and teachers to assess student progress. In fact, students are able to monitor their own progress and learn as much as they want from the subject areas.  For example, a couple of years ago I discovered Khan Academy at the recommendation of a co-worker and I have been using the program in my classroom and with my own two children who are in first grade and kindergarten.  The potential for student learning is limitless.  For my students I create our classroom each year in Khan, giving each student their own login and access information; for which I share with their parents.  Then during the school year the students are given several opportunities to work on their personal growth and development in Khan in the area of mathematics primarily for my classroom (but have the ability to access other learning content during free periods or at home).  I have actually incorporated Khan in to math learning centers for mathematics.  My students can monitor their progress and I can review the class as a whole and individually.  I do not grade their participation in this program, but rather use the program as a means for support and personal growth; helping my students to become more responsible and accountable for their learning.  

Here is the link to the article written about the benefits of Khan Academy for further reading and information: https://www.wired.com/2011/07/ff_khan/

Share on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/KaitlynKateWes1/status/1039692118116192256

Khan Academy As An Educational Technology Tool

Khan Academy is a wonderful educational tool that can be used for teaching varying subject matter and academic content, through the use of applicable technology; especially mathematics and science.  The program is user friendly, administrator friendly, and applicable to a variety of grade levels and learning abilities. Students being permitted to work through programs at their own pace with mastery being a requirement for moving onto the next level.  My students in most cases treat Khan Academy working sessions as time for them to move from one level to the next, like in a video game; without even focusing on the fact that they are learning important concepts.  

An implementation strategy for utilizing this technology tool is evident during my classroom’s math stations rotations.  My students have the opportunities during math stations to move from one mathematic station to another; having options for selecting activities to complete at each station.  The technology station has three different math programs for students to use to help with their development of skills towards mastery.  The students can choose to sign on their Khan program or choose to work in one of the other programs.  There are a few challenges with implementing the program effectively in the classroom and integrating into math stations; for it takes school board approval for access to the website of Khan before the students may use the program, the internet connection speed at my school can be too slow for the program to function properly at times, and using the program requires that the teacher provide extensive training and support to the children in order to ensure that there is optimal results.  It can be very time consuming to start the use of this program, but typically by the second marking period of each school year; most of the students have grasp an understanding on how to operate and navigate the site.  My students really enjoy showing me their progress and many of my students’ parents over the past couple of years; have had me help them with their personal accounts for academic development in areas that are unrelated to their young children’s pursuits, but for personal growth.  Again, this program is not to replace teacher instruction, but to support what is being taught in the classroom. There is one glitch with implementing the program in that regard also, there are occasions where the expectations of Khan for student learning is above student prior knowledge or abilities. For my students, I set up the students on either a first grade or kindergarten level of learning; so that they can experience a lot of success early on in their adventure and to help with putting students at appropriate developmental levels.  For more information on how Khan Academy, a non-profit educational support tool can help you or your students visit their website at https://www.khanacademy.org/

#ETEC5610 #khanacademy #technologytools #edutech #learningbeyond

[katiewestnsu-blog]

DOJO

Another great technology tool for use in the classroom that promotes positive student behavior and enhanced levels of classroom management is through the program/site Classroom Dojo; for which detailed information on the technology tool used in thousands of classrooms across the nation can be found at the link I have provided at the end of this blog entry. The app called Classroom Dojo or Dojo as most educators, parents, and students refer to it as; is an application program that is designed to connect students, teachers, and parents together in a manner that promotes positive communication, interaction, and behavior.  When a teacher decides to use Dojo as a means for communicating with parents about student performance, behaviors, and classroom updates on lessons; the teacher is pulling the parent into the classroom, giving them an opportunity to have not only a glimpse of their child’s life at school but also giving them a means for supporting the teacher through behavior management.  For example, in my classroom I use Dojo in the manner in which is was designed for communication with parents, students, and for behavior management support.

 I don’t have an I-Pad or tablet I can walk around with daily and I do not use my cell phone during the day; so I use a clip board with all of my students pre-printed on form and mark throughout the day when students receive negative or positive dojo points.  These points are then applied to the individual student profiles typically once or twice daily; providing the parents with an instant view of their child’s behavior of the day.  Students earn positive points for following directions, lining up silently, participation, turning in assignments, helping out another student, or for even staying on tasks. My students have fifteen different categories that can be used with positive points each day and they have several areas they can earn negative points in as well.  Students who earn enough positive points earn rewards at the school store as well as from my treasure chest each week. This notification system lets the students and parents see student progress daily; for the students can log onto their profiles and examine their information just as easily as the parents can.  I also provide the students with a visual display at the end of the day with point values on the SMART board.  In addition, I use DoJo as a means for communicating with parents about what we are covering in class, homework assignments, upcoming events, reminders, and as a way for parents to contact me or me contact them about an individual student.  It is sort of like having an instant messenger in place when wanting to talk to the parents, without needing their cell number.  All the parents have to do is download the app on their phone, personal computer, or tablet in order to join our classroom Dojo group.  

Again, I really like using Dojo as an additional means of support for communication with my parents about what is going on in the classroom and now as a parent of a child who is part of a classroom dojo group; I can see the benefits of the program from the view of a parent and not only as a teacher.  My son’s teacher is using Dojo in his first grade classroom as a means for promoting positive behavior outcomes, keeping parents informed on daily activities, and communicating with parents about student needs.  My son got to create his own profile, monitors his behavior progress, and even communicate with his teacher about homework assignments after the school day has ended.  He is learning to be more accountable for his behavior and learning environment by the use of this program and the teacher has established a strong venue for communication and student monitoring that is manageable for her professional and personal life.  

There are however a few downsides of this program that have presented some challenges for users and teachers when trying to use the technology tool of Dojo.  I have had for the most part positive feedback from using Dojo in my classroom; but I have a few parents who are weary of it and still rely heavily on written or phone communication from me for they find the app not very user friendly or they are not tech savvy themselves.  I have two parents/guardians that do not availability on their mobile device for too many data charges; so they do not use the program effectively because it eats up their data.  Getting all of my parents on board has had to overcome some of these challenges since we started; but since I also still send home weekly newsletters on what is going on in the classroom, the resistance to using this technology has faded pretty much. Another challenge though I discovered with implementing this technology tool, was accidental in discovery for it was through my son’s teacher that I discovered that Dojo has some user friendly challenges for the teacher (especially one that is not familiar with it, not tech savvy, or has not discover enough support or guidance on how to positively use the app).  My son’s teacher sort of fell in that area, until one day I contacted her to ask about the negative points he was receiving for conduct (only 2nd week of school and never discipline issue before with his previous teachers-the nuns). I inquired if those points would be affecting his conduct grade and how they were being used; mostly curious as to how he did not receive more than one positive within a few days.  I typically give out 30 to 40 positive points daily to my students with only giving out a few negatives each week.  She revealed to me that she never really used it much before and no one had shown her how to navigate it.  Her and I then worked on developing her classroom dojo to a point that made sense to her and worked for what she was hoping to gain out of the program.  She had no idea the weighting of the negative points or how the system is designed to be positivity promoting and not a means for focusing on negativity.  She jumped right in and tailored the program for her and her students.  The biggest hang-up I have with the program is that it can be time consuming to put in the behavior marks each day; but at the end of the day my students are worth it, especially if it helps to promote a positive classroom environment and increase proactive interaction between myself, my parents, and my students.

#classdojo #behaviormanagement #communication #classroomtech #ETEC5610

https://www.classdojo.com/

[katiewestnsu-blog]

GoNoodle

Below this blog entry, you can read about the how and why a technological innovation called GoNoodle arrived in classrooms across the nation a little over five years ago and today has become a world-wide phenomenon in the realm of using technology as a means for getting children to move physically and engage with more focus throughout the school day and at home. The article linked below by Julian Mitchell, published in Forbes provides readers with a tale of how it all got started.

Here is my summary of the article and personal perspective on the benefits of GoNoodle. GoNoodle arrived on the scene in 2013; thanks to the innovative and insightful natures of co-founders Scott McQuigg (CEO), John Herbold (COO), Abby Pecoriello, and Aaron Briggs. Each of them a parent of young children at the time, with concerns on the lack of physical activity by the children of today, and each bringing to the table varying professional backgrounds that ranged from product development to the healthcare industry to education and one working within the youth entertainment industry.  These forward thinkers decided to develop kid friendly entertainment that was not only beneficial to the promoting physical activity for students but also develop a method for helping teachers harness the focus and behavior management highly engaging physical activity can bring to learning.  Their concept was created from their personal experiences with their own children, their childhoods, the ever-growing technology industry, and a 2015 study that was published in the Pediatrics journal that revealed that very young children have high levels of exposure and interaction to mobile and internet capable devices.  The co-founders strived to develop a concept that would get students moving for short increments during the school day and potentially carry over use at home.  The use of technology by children is typically a sedentary activity; but with GoNoodle programs the technology is a tool for getting students to get on their feet and move.  In the end, they developed much more than just kid friendly entertainment or a means for teachers to have students move around for a few minutes each day; for within a few short years millions of children are interacting with GoNoodle through brain break activities, activities that are relevant to their daily lessons, and using GoNoodle in the home.  Teachers and parents also benefit from the brain breaks and physical activity prompts, for the when the children are stay active, good health and brain development is promoted and can be harnessed into being a tool for improving student performance in several subject areas and maintain motivation for staying involved with academics and meaningful tasks.

As a 2nd grade teacher and mother of two young children age 5 ½ and 6 ½; I can attest to the benefits of using GoNoodle in the classroom and at home.  In fact, my children were introduced to GoNoodle programs before they were three years old due to their therapists’ use of the program and their pre-school program. They are both children on the Autism Spectrum; which has entailed several years of occupational, physical, speech, and applied behavioral analysis therapy, many times with the aid of technology or digital support as they got older.  My young children were then and are still today using GoNoodle in therapy, in school, and at home; choosing to use that program and programs similar to it over programs that do not encourage movement on the same level.

It was during the initial time my children were introduced to GoNoodle, that I started in teaching and my mentor showed me how to use the GoNoodle program with my third-grade students.  I was not very successful at using the program to its’ fullest potential during my first year of teaching; but by the start of my second year of teaching and working with second graders, I started to get the hang of it. I began to use GoNoodle as not only a means for re-harnessing student energy in a positive manner or using it to help students regain their focus; but I was using it as a means for supporting my lessons through technology and as a means for promoting behavior or enhancing my classroom management. For example, in my classroom my students have daily opportunities to earn GoNoodle “coupons”, which can be redeemed for use during a brain break period (typically a short five minute brain rest time) or as a reward for great work or a quiet line from the cafeteria or everyone following directions; that is used at the end of the day or after a test or before going out for recess.  The students get a choice on when they want to use their coupons and when they use the coupon they get the choice on which GoNoodle program will be used.  I like to give my students as much autonomy as I can, give them opportunities to make choices that affect them, and reward them as much as I can for taking responsibility for their behavior, classroom environment, and learning objectives.  My students really love their brain breaks or reward sessions and typically work very hard at earning this time to be used in a manner that they want. I have for the past couple of years had the lowest incidents of behavioral issues in comparison to the other 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms; which I would attribute greatly to developing my skills with classroom management, for which GoNoodle plays an important role in.#gonoodle #positiveimpact #getkidsmoving #ETEC5610 #forbes #kidsusetech #forwardthinking #allthingsmitch

https://www.forbes.com/sites/julianmitchell/2016/10/31/gonoodle-is-creating-a-world-where-kids-use-mobile-devices-to-unplug/#41083773e88f

[katiewestnsu-blog]

As a BELA Rocket teacher, it is my hope to help my students reach for the stars and beyond.

#teachergoals #etec5610 #reachingforthestars #innovativeteaching

[katiewestnsu-blog]

Welcome:

Welcome to Ms. Katie’s Rocket Report, where reaching for the stars through education and innovation reigns.  I am Katie West, a 28 year old 2nd grade teacher at Bunkie Elementary Learning Academy. This is my fourth year of teaching.  I will be graduating in December from NSU with a MAT/certification in grades 1st-5th. This blog is dedicated to exploring education topics that provide information and promote teaching strategies for improving reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies abilities within a classroom environment.  Please take a look at my bio page to learn more about me, which should be posted very soon.  Also, please comment on my page with any helpful hints or information you would like to share with me while I build my teaching tool box this semester.