SMART TVs.. Worth the hype?

Are these fancy new Smart TVs that are slowly making their appearance in your buildings worth the hype?  I keep going back and forth...

Let's all admit we get stars in our eyes when new shiny technology devices get delivered to our rooms.  I first saw a Smart TV when I was doing work at Lindholm and found one in a room.  To say I was beyond excited to start touching to see and test the bells and whistles was an understatement.  (Starting to understand how students feel...)  I fell in love with the Smart TV's ability to allow two hands touching/writing simultaneously, erase with your fist, access the internet and receive Smart lessons from your Macbook from any location.  Sub plans made easy!  I received more training to use this new device in August and learned some exciting features, such as screen sharing and file saving.  I couldn't wait to start using with students.

DUN DUN DUUUN.... There I was full of confidence and excited to wow my students with features of the Smart TV, when I tragically discovered just how touchy this TV was.  I went to show a video (simple, right?) when suddenly a bunch of screens popped up with the volume full blast.  While it was definitely a kick to my technology ego, I decided to push forward and keep on going.  (Even after a student uttered "Hey! My grandma makes our computer do that, too!" from the carpet) Another setback I discovered was that the Smart TV was just that, a TV.  I was in the mindset of having the ability to edit a Smart document on the spot.  This device is more of a display.  Since we specialize, I now had to send my smart mini lesson twice, so the second group doesn't see the activity from the first group. 

Now that I am almost two months in, I have gotten the hang of the features that I wasn't quite comfortable with.  I now know just how delicately to touch the screen and I know I have to "share" my Smart documents more than once for the different groups I teach rather than editing it.   Overall?  I'd definitely recommend this device.  My mind was made up day I unexpectedly had to have a sub, and was able to send my lessons to my Smart TV from home.  Impressing my Smart TV-less teaching partner and repairing my damaged technology ego!  

Meet the Teacher-Jessica Hegg

I 💗my family. Sofia and Lucas are my beautiful bilingual babies and José is my rock!

My name is Jessica Hegg. I am embarking on my 6th year as a fifth grade dual language teacher at Banting elementary and my 16th year teaching. My journey began as an elementary school teacher in Santiago, Chile. The use of technology in our classrooms at the time was non-existent. After 7 years of teaching like that you get pretty good at cutting and pasting-literally. 😂

Then we moved home to Milwaukee and I began teaching in a different district where I was in charge of my third graders and the very first wave of 1-1 iPads. I had to create a google email account for each student and set up all of their iPads with the 26 emails I had created. Yikes! 

I can say with pride that now my Banting students use technology, in a variety of ways, every day. I have tried technology in many ways over the last 9 years. Some have been successful and others epic fails. I love being a dual language teacher and my hope is that I can grow my practice each year finding ways to incorporate technology to take my student's dual language development to higher levels.

Meet the Teacher - Meredith Sweeney

Hello! My name is Meredith Sweeney and I am starting my ninth year as an 8th grade teacher at Horning Middle School. My background, and current teaching position, are in Literacy, but I have also greatly enjoyed teaching U.S. History in a blended humanities model. 

My experience with technology in the classroom has changed over the years. In my first few years in a regular English Language Arts classroom, technology was only used to project lessons, with the occasional use of the school computer lab to type papers. After experiencing frustration about being unable to reach all students, another teacher and I tried a blended humanities class, in which we combined U.S. History and Literacy curriculums using an online platform to disseminate and collect student work. Researching and practicing blended teaching strategies, learning from colleagues, and exploring at Waukesha One Conferences has opened my eyes to the possibilities that technology provides to differentiate instruction, allow students to shine and practice skills in different ways, as well as allow for more student choice in content and pacing.

The apps and technology tools themselves usually overwhelm me at first. I am not the type of person who enjoys playing with apps. Once I see the possibility of a new tool though and use it enough to feel comfortable, then I can get excited about how to use it in different ways in the classroom. My goal with technology is to empower students to own and share their own voices and learning, without relying on a teacher. I am excited for the opportunity to learn more!