Technology in the elementary classroom #3

Should elementary students be using technology in the classroom? Most say it is an definite yes but what about those that think children should not be using technology. I don't know many cons to children using tech in education but I can think of many pros. I read an article on Ed Tech Review that was really interesting. The author published stats about children using technology at an early age and how most apps in the iTunes store were for preschool and elementary age children. For me personally I have spent a lot of money on apps for my boys. I started when my youngest was in preschool. He has all the math apps and sight words apps. The math fluency helps him tremendously in enhancing and honing his newly acquired addition and subtraction skills. He is currently working on multiplication and division fluency. We use Reflex math at home. He enjoys it and the extra practice is reflected in him math grade at school. Now it is summer break and he is still practicing his fluency every day for 15-30 minutes.

                                             

Technology is all about students of all ages taking responsibility for their learning. No one wants to hear a teacher lecture everyday but they do want to explore the internet and find answers and solutions to real world problems. Students can take a virtual field trip, skype with students across the country or world to learn what the weather is like there and email with an expert to learn more about a topic. These are just a few ways that students can use technology to go deeper into learning.

Thoughts? Please share. I love to hear new ideas.

Students and Zeros

This morning began like any other morning. I got up early (see not all teacher's sleep in), made coffee and let my adorable chihuahuas outside. I played a little Yahtzee. No one else was awake to play with me so I ventured over to Twitter and began to read some posts from the night. I read one that was particularly interesting to me. Dr. Justin Tarte penned this tweet- "A student has to receive 13 100%s before recovering from one single zero. Zeros are DEVASTING to kids." HMMMM!!!!! That got me thinking about my grade book. I had a couple students that I felt deserved a"0" on an assignment. Why did I feel this way? What did they do? What did I do? Where is the responsibility in a zero grade? What does giving a zero prove? What does earning a zero prove? These are all my questions and I gulp this coffee (thank you Jesus for coffee).

Let me tell you about Student L I had this year. He is a smart young man, a great reader and thinker. His behavior was out of control. He was living with Dad and things were good for him. When he went to live with Mom things started to unravel quickly. I am sure there is more to this child's story but as his teacher I only knew so much. Student L would come into my mobile classroom (which I will refer to as the trailer because that is just how I roll) and walk right up to any other kid and slap them across the face just because he could do it. Why? I don't know. This is the question I have asked of myself every day since he entered my room in March (he moved over from another teacher's room because she couldn't handle him). He refused to complete work often writing his name and drawing on the paper. How can I grade this? How can he receive anything but a zero? I knew that he knew the answers or could do his graded writing assignment. He just didn't want to. I offered all sorts of extrinsic rewards of his choosing, nothing lasted for more than a day. I tried my very best to instill a work ethic in him. I loved on him, had him sit with me at my desk or at my desk without me. I tried to make him feel wanted, loved and appreciated but perhaps I failed him in some way. I am not beating myself up about this. I am just trying to analyze his actions and my actions to see if I missed something.

The grading piece- giving zeros is a consequence to a negative behavior. Adults have consequences. What if I didn't get my grades in on time or failed to show for a meeting? Not completing work should have some sort of consequence. If you don't complete work in the real world you are fired from your job. Students should receive a consequence for not working but is a ZERO the right one? My principal says NO. If students don't complete the work then there is no grade entered for that assignment. Huh? What? Yes, you read that right. So a child can misbehave and do nothing all grading period long and still receive an A because he or she got an A on one assignment but didn't do the other oh let's say 8. That isn't fair to the hardworking student who read and completed all 8 assignments and perhaps has a B+ or an A. Where is the reward for this hard worker?

As you can see I am up in the air about zeros. I would love to hear from all of you about what you think is the correct consequence to work that deserves a zero.

Why Blog in the second grade?

Blogging in elementary school is not very popular, YET! My goal is to have my second graders blog instead of keeping a traditional marble composition book to write with a pencil daily. The objective: simple- to give students an audience to write for. Students want people to see and view their writing not just me on my couch with my red pen. Student voices should be heard no matter how young. Encourage: my hope is that those students who do not like to write will enjoy blogging because to a young child (hopefully) they will not see it as "writing" in the traditional sense. I found a great article from Education World in favor of student blogging.

What is the research evidence on writing? This PDF has some great information about what does effective writing look like, the gender gap in writing and attitude towards writing. I will admit the reading is kind of boring BUT informative. Now, we have all this research about why writing is important, how to teach it best and why. So now my experiment is can we use those best practices using a blog instead of paper and pencil? 2015-2016 will be a year of  anecdotal notes and gathering evidence to show that young students can learn to write through blogging. 

Getting Smart- list the top 10 reasons this person wants her kids to blog. Very fun and quick read in support of blogging for elementary students.

Video Summarizing

Hey everyone! Whelp, the school year is over! Hard to believe it but another fun year is in the books. I wanted to let you all know about this awesome blog that I stumbled upon while doing some research on blogging. It is called irockcommoncore.blogspot.com. These teachers are simply amazing and I am in awe of their hard work. One thing that really stood out to me was the video summarizing. Many students in second grade this year had a hard time with this. Please take a look at my audio video that will explain what video summarizing is all about.

Tech #2 Video Blog-student bloggers

This is my first video blog. Please go easy on me! I hope that you all enjoy it. I have been really thinking about and praying how I want to take a step forward and implement technology that is relevant to my second graders. With the school year just a week from being over I am focusing on the upcoming year. That's right, folks, teachers do work over summer break! I want my students to blog instead of keeping a writing journal. How fun will that be? I promise to come back later in the fall and post how I and my students are doing with the blogging.

Tech Experience #1

Being an Elementary School teacher is hard! Don't misunderstand me. I love teaching but it is a hard job. I was into computers at an early age. I was in the fourth grade and wanted to stay after school for a computer class. Computers were new then and I really wanted to learn how to use them. I was excited because it was a week long program and I learned a lot about the old tiny Mac. Fast forward many years and students are working with technology I could have only dreamed about. Here lies my challenge- I have no wifi for any labtops or iPads in my mobile classroom. Good news is that my principal says I will have it within 10 days. Bad news is school ends in 15. Good news is I will be all set for next year-I'll take it! I have been researching some awesome tech trends I would like to try with my second grade class next year. I tested them out and wrote a review of the pros and cons. Of course, once I implement them I will be able to add some firsthand knowledge.

1. BLOOMZ app- This is an app for the teacher's phone that turns the classroom into a community by connecting parents. I have already set up my account and cannot wait to use this. I can send messages to my parents (once they enroll) and they can reply back without handing out my personal cell phone number. Second, I can post videos and pictures of things we are doing and learning in class. Side note* these images are only seen by subscribes to my Bloomz account. I will be able to show parents our class calendar, upcoming events, field trips and attach the permission slip all with a push of a button. Last, I can have a volunteer sign up page or request need items. This is going to be valuable because I won't have to search for a phone number I can just text the parent on the go. Read all about Bloomz here: https://www.bloomz.net/

2. Moodle- I am excited about this one but have yet to check it out to see all the ins and outs of it. This is the first thing on my to-do list once summer break begins. It is an online learning management system. Teachers create online courses that extend student learning. Teachers can upload content, add gradeable assignments and add collaborative activities such as forums and wikis. My objective with this technology is to have my students respond to class discussion questions using a wiki. Students will respond and read other posts and respond to those classmates thoughts as well. If anyone has any experience with this please let me know. Read all about Moodle here: http://moodle.com/

3. Ipad- Yes, yes we all know what these are but I am going to tell you how I used them last year with my first graders, this year with my second graders and how I will use them next year with my second graders. First, I use them for math fluency practice. Young learners can never have enough addition and subtraction (15 min each day). Second, sight word practice. I used this more in first grade than in second grade. Third, the app iTalk. This is awesome for students to hear themselves read and respond to their work. I have students read for 3 minutes into the app. Once they are done I will listen to playback with the student and make notes on what I hear. Then I will ask them some questions about their reading and ask them what they notice. It really helps students take ownership of their learning. Young students do not have the opportunity to hear their own voice but iTalk provides that. 

First Blog.....e.v.e.r

This is my very first blog. What do I know about blogs? Absolutely nothing! Sure, I have read a few blogs and even follow 1 or 2 but I haven't the faintest notion about starting a blog. Yet, in all my awesomeness here I sit typing away. Why you might be asking? That is a very valid question and I have a very valid answer- My teacher made me do it. That's right folks, I am a student too! Really, I am a second grade teacher who is seeking her master's in Educational Leadership at Regent University. See, I have this professor who doesn't know me because we only communicate through messages and Twitter (that's right I can tweet too!). He doesn't know that I am giving God my anxieties over this course. He doesn't know that I am trying really hard to impress him with my not-so-high-tech tech skills. He had this notion to create an assignment where I ( and everyone in the class) would have to create a blog about Tech Trends in Education. So here I sit wondering what's a girl to do! So I began typing and deciding how I want this blog to sound to come across to all of you wonderful readers out there. I better get studying up on these Tech Trends because with my savvy skills I have a lot of work to do! Can you tell that was sarcasm?? Not the studying part but the savvy skills part. Remember- I'm just Teachin' it Real.