Ending Well... and Just Beginning

As we wrap up the final assignments for EME2040, I can’t help but feel that this course, albeit it’s crazy pace in Mini B format, has been one that has added so much value to me in my journey to become an elementary school teacher. Creating the WebQuest and Collaborative Lesson Plan allowed me to really explore what it would be like designing the methods with which I present curriculum to my students, and made me really excited about pursuing creative teaching with technology. The collaborative learning process simulated working with other teachers to design an effective lesson, and I was grateful for the chance to share input and receive feedback from my peers. This class helped me to become familiar with some of the legal and ethical issues such as informed consent, student privacy, cyberbullying, and copyright laws that need to be considered when using technology, and how to manage those issues in my future classroom. We were presented with bountiful technology tools to explore and save for future reference and use in our classrooms. I love that early on we were introduced to the social bookmarking site Delicious, because I was able to save so many things to further explore later as I continue on the path to my degree and career as a teacher. I love the way that we were given so many resources to teach to the diverse learning groups in our future classrooms, from differences in format preference (audio, visual, tactile) to accommodations for English Language Learners and Special Needs students. I have formed the opinion that any step we take as educators to meet the needs of one of a specialized group of students usually is helpful to the rest of the class as well. The more that we can diversify the methods of delivery that we use to convey information to students, the more likely we are to reach all students and to help all students retain the information they are learning. I also love that technology can play a huge role in getting students active in the learning process, so that they are the information assemblers and creators. These roles are more likely to engage students and motivate them to learn. Overall, I feel that this class has challenged and stretched me to become a teacher who embraces technology to take learning to the next level for each of my students. I want to set an example for my students, being unafraid to try new resources and continually assess and evaluate their effectiveness. I also want my students to be unafraid to participate, to create, to sometimes fail, to revise efforts, and to ultimately reach their goals and be successful. This class has given me the motivation, basic knowledge and desire to learn more, and the tools needed to bring technology into my classroom.


Wilhelm, Janelle (Producer). (September, 2012). Why you should use technology in your classroom. Video retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGTTThlKYQ8

Supporting English Language Learners

     The percentage of English Language Learners in schools is growing rapidly.  Especially in Florida, it is extremely unlikely that a classroom will be made up of students who all are native English speakers.  Because of this, it is essential that educators have strategies in place that will help them provide meaningful educational experiences to English Language Learners.  There are a variety of educational technology tools that can help support ELL students, while also enhancing the education experience for all students.  ELL students and families can feel supported and welcomed when efforts are made to translate important information into their native language. This allows parents who may not speak English the opportunity to stay involved in their child's education, which should always be a goal.  Google Translate is a good way to facilitate this, both with printed letters and homework instructions, as well as widgets on a classroom website (see sidebar).  Below is a podcast of some resources that are helpful to ELL students.

listen to ‘Supporting Diverse Learners’ on Audioboo

Reflection and Assessment

     This week we read about using Reflection and Assessment in the classroom as a tool for learning.  This class has focused quite a bit on reflection, with the blog being used to further explore the concepts that we are learning in our textbook readings.  I find that reflecting on our readings helps me correlate what I am learning in this class with my personal experience and also with the concepts that I am learning in other teaching classes this semester.  Reflection has been a very useful tool to help me synthesize information and think about how to put effective strategies into place as a future teacher.
     Reflection and assessment is definitely something I will use as a future teacher, both to help students process what they have learned and also to evaluate my own teaching methods.  I like the concept that everyone in the classroom has both the teacher and learner roles.  As teachers we should have a life long love of learning, and we should constantly be evaluating what strategies worked and what didn't to improve our classrooms.  Students can also be leaders in sharing and exploring information, which makes them much more engaged in the classroom.
     In observation hours through another class, I saw a middle school teacher meeting with students who had completed portfolios throughout the year.  In the portfolios, students collected work that they had done, complete with data graphs of grades they had earned and feedback they had been given.  They set goals for what level of writing they wanted to achieve, and had rubrics for what constituted each level of writing in advance.  The data graphs that they kept showed them on an ongoing basis the progress they were making towards those individually set goals.  In the one on one meetings with students, the teacher talked with each student about the process of making the portfolio.  She asked them questions about how they felt about the overall experience, what the biggest challenges were, what they took away from the experience, and any changes they suggested to the process.  In this way, the teacher used the portfolio process to reflect and assess both the student's achievement, and also her own effectiveness with the lessons.  I think this was a great example of what reflection and assessment can do to improve the outcomes for both students and teachers.  Here's a video that I liked on self assessments:

Cool Tech Tool

I LOVE creative writing. One of the Digital Badge links that we were given in class was for StoryBird, which is a tech tool that reverses the storytelling process by having users select images, and then build a story around them. What a creative and useful tool for getting rid of writers block, or the fear of the scary blank page! Here's a little example of what you can do with this site. I will be saving this site for use with my future students!

Special Needs Education and Technology

One of the topics that resonated with me was the types of assistive technology available to students with special needs.  When learning more about teaching students with special needs in a mainstream classroom, the idea that instead of viewing accommodations as in addition to a teacher's already busy workload, strategies for teaching students with special needs should be viewed as extending the opportunities available to all students.  I believe that is a good approach to special needs educations, as many strategies that are a benefit to special needs learners are also very helpful to non-disabled students.  Shifting perspective to teaching in a way that allows all students to get maximized impact helps the teacher not feel overwhelmed.
     The other consideration that I found very accurate was the idea that with all of the technology that is available to help assist students with special needs, it is imperative that the teacher actually becomes really familiar with the technology students are using.  An assistive device is only as good as the support that students have in using it.  If teachers do not take the time to learn the technology that is vital to their students' success, then the technology won't be as effective.  In making and following the IEP's for each student, educators should make it a priority to get familiar with the student needs, the reasons for the assistive technology, and then the device functionality in order to truly support the students.

Thoughts on Collaboration

Hi Everyone!  We have worked on two collaborative projects in EME2040 recently.  The first was a Wiki page and the most recent was a collaborative lesson plan.  Below is a video with some of my thoughts about the collaborative learning process.

Chapters 7 & 8

     This week we learned more about software options that support inquiry based learning, social media use for classrooms, and working collaboratively on projects.  I was interested to learn more about Scratch, and introduced this site to my son who now is able to work on projects with a friend who lived in our old community.  The interactive, collaborative way that this website works in is very educational for my son while being very entertaining at the same time.  Our kids spend so much time these days with video games, interactive software, and other media outlets that it is natural that "gamification" catches and keeps their interest.
     Working on the class wiki was interesting as well.  It was neat to be able to see classmates ideas and use of technology to support their topics.  There were many neat ideas presented that made me want to practice even more with getting adept at new tech tools.  We had a positive team with many good suggestions so hopefully everything went well (fingers crossed!)
     I am new to the Twitter world, so it was interesting to jump on there and use hashtags to sort for topic conversations that I may be interested in.  Using #edchat brings up some interesting resources for educators. My church is currently running #3WordStory using 3 words to define your life, so that was fun to see.  With the popularity of Twitter, I can see using this tool as a way to extend students learning (or at least thinking about a topic) outside of the school day.  It could be a great conversation starter - as well as lend some relevance/credibility to the teacher for using something so easy for students to relate to.
    This week, I tried a new tech tool called FlipQuiz.  This is a cool tool for review before tests or before moving into new material.  Also, I can see it being a neat tool to use for students to create based on specified criteria - as actually creating the tool helps to solidify what was learned.  Here's my first attempt at it:

http://flipquiz.me/quiz/7979


I'm still having trouble with embedding things into Blogger.  Anyone who has some tips or suggestions for how to do that please feel free to leave in the comments!  Have a fantastic week!


Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.