The GAME plan continues. I still have the same problem identified last week: not enough time. But, I am not going to get more hours in the day so I have set some small goals for myself for each week. Jessica made a suggestion that I make a date for exploring technology, “Tech Tuesday” she called it. I laughed when I read it, but I am making a goal of spending at least one hour per week looking at and learning about new technology. I have designated Tuesdays (I took your suggestion Jessica!) to do this. I get to school an hour before school begins and this is my time to learn about technology. I think trying to do it first thing in the morning might be helpful for me, before family obligations take over in the afternoon.
I also took a look at mrcoley.com that Wayne suggested. That site is amazing. I have to confess that I am a little overwhelmed at his site and all he has on it. But, I am committing to improve my own webpage this school year.
Another thing that I accomplished this week was a visit to our new media classroom. Everything is still coming together in there but I got a mini-tour of what is available. In another class, I observed one colleague who has mastered the Promethean board and that was very encouraging.
Since time is my enemy, I took some of it to watch the tutorial video that my principal sent me (about Promethean boards) and will review it if and when I get a board for my room. I really believe that the resources are there for me to learn about technology. I even spent sometime viewing some tutorials on youtube.
I am learning that it doesn’t take a huge commitment of time to learn ways to incorporate technology in the classroom. A little on a consistent basis will get me there.
This week being a two-day school week because of the Thanksgiving holiday, there is typically not a lot of substance going on at our school. I took the opportunity to use a little technology in our unit on characterization. We had finished reading a novel together and students worked in small groups to write an original skit (3-4 minutes) incorporating some of the characters from the novel and what we know about them in the setting of a holiday dinner. They were very engaged and worked hard on this project. They wrote the skit, rehearsed it, and then on Tuesday, they performed it while members of the high school media class came in and filmed it. They will edit it and send it to us next week. It was a small use of technology, but the kids really enjoyed it. Even more so, they were applying some of the work we did on characterization, inference and prediction in this work. It was also a way to bring in technology from other areas of our school.
Brenda,
ReplyDeleteNice post this week. Glad to see that you got to look at mrcoley.com. Yes, it is amazing and I have tried to copy several of his ideas onto my own site. You can check it out if you have time. Time being the key word and item that we don't have much of.
I like your slow and steady approach to bringing in technology to the classroom. If you try to do to much, it becomes overwhelming for you and less effective for the students. Also, I thought your idea to have the high school students film your 7th graders was great. I would expect that most of the 7th graders put more effort into writing the skit and performance knowing that they were being filmed by 'cool' high schoolers. I'm sure they will be dying to see the final products.
Hope your shortened school week was restful.
Wayne
Brenda,
ReplyDeleteI’m glad to hear that you have decided to set aside that time for tech exploration. Your post lists several things that you have done in order to reach your goal and seems more than adequate for the amount of time allotted. The only thing that I am dealing with on exploring technology is that it can be overwhelming and time consuming. There are numerous options. I really have to think about what I need to enhance my lesson before searching for tech tools. Otherwise, I may spend time aimlessly searching through endless possibilities.
When it comes to Promethean boards, I have found that it really helps to have time to just play around with it. Don’t feel like you have to use all the tools and know all the tricks at first. The first year that I had the board, I used the basic features. This year I have branched out to interactive flip charts, using more annotations, and finding more features.
I hope you continue “Tech Tuesdays”!
Jessica
Jessica and Wayne,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. I think both of you are right that the slow and steady approach is right for me. I learned a long time ago that sometimes the only goal I can reach is to continue to move forward and not stop or move backward. My underlying goal this year is to realize how important adding technology is for my students (I think I've got this one); to begin to look at all the options out there; and to experiment with actually adding new technology to the class. The last one involves being okay when it doesn't work out exactly as hoped, but using those times as learning experiences. Thanks again!
Hi, Jessica,
ReplyDeleteEven though the hour is late, I wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your blog post as well as the comments you have received. Time for preparing lessons is limited if we have a full life outside of work. Sometimes it is easier if we naturally gravitate toward new technology, but if we don't we just take it in small doses and keep learning. Collaborating with students is a good practice - you supply the guidance, content, maturity, ethics, etc. and they work out the particulars of the technology. Maybe that makes some teachers uncomfortable, but my students love to help each other figure out something online. I have a new student that says he will help us make grammar lessons for the SmartBoard. I think this is similar to the Promethean board you were discussing. Just like Jessica, I spent last year just using the basics of my SmartBoard. Now that I have have it for a year, I'm ready to make my own lessons - especially if my new student helps me. Enjoy your week!