Thankful for my colleagues!

At Waukesha One, a dear friend and kindergarten colleague introduced the SeeSaw app to me and my grade level partner.  It was the best take away from that day, and it happened by chance.  

We did not attend a scheduled session for this app, rather, we met in the cafeteria during the last session to share how we've been utilizing technology.  It was blessing to have that opportunity.  She shared how to create an account and add students.  She explained how she uses the app and showed us her students' work samples.  And we requested that the app be added to Self Service (the app that delivers apps to students and teachers on district owned iPads) so we could begin playing with it.  

I have found SeeSaw to be a very user friendly app.  This app was created by a kindergarten teacher for her students, so I can easily adapt her ideas to use for my class.  In addition, I'm addicted to her "Pd in your pjs." Her ideas are endless, especially for flipping lessons.   However, I just need more time to play.   

It is similar to Google Classroom, but for me, I like the format of SeeSaw.  It was easy for my students to log on and use. They are able to send me completed assignments which I can add comments and send feedback without actually collecting the physical paper.  The voice option is an added bonus for students learning a second language in my dual language kinder class.  I also have the option to share their work with their parents or use the app as a means to create portfolios with their "Wow" work. 

Any grade level would be able to utilize this app, it's not meant for just elementary students.  My goal is to become more knowledgeable and comfortable with this app and all the things my students and I can do with it, so I am able to try student led conferences next year.  That's a real leap for me.  I've never done student led conferences before because I thought it was too much work and too difficult for kinder students.  However, SeeSaw makes it so easy for students to assume responsibility for their learning and share their progress.  I am so excited!!  

My plan to achieve this goal is during summer vacation. I'll modify "Pd in your pjs" to "Pd by the poolside" in the privacy of my backyard paradise!

Model Tech Teachers - Learning Together

Model Tech Teaching with Perseverance and Collaboration

Well, my journey as a model tech teacher has been quite a trip, but I’m not traveling alone.  It’s only been 2 months of implementing a variety of apps and programs, and I can’t believe all that I have learned and accomplished.  Collaboration and perseverance are the keys to maintaining my sanity while integrating technology into instruction.  

Julie, our in-school tech support, has gone above and beyond to teach, coach, and support me through this process.  I’m thankful for her patience, as I take scrupulous notes on scraps of paper that I transfer to a color-coded notebook, a different color for each app, which I depend on when my memory fails.   

Julie and I set up my 20 student iPads with Google Classroom, as a whole group activity with my kindergarten students which was quite the challenge jumping from student to student, helping them enter their email addresses and passwords for the first time.  Then, I learned how to flip lessons for my hibernation unit by using videos in EdPuzzle and Airplay to demonstrate how to complete the activities.  

I added the students from Carmen’s class, my grade level colleague, to my Google Classroom to share the activities.  Carmen and I used a Google form to create a follow-up activity.  I gathered data from both assignments to monitor students’ progress and comprehension which I used to drive my instruction.  

Things don't always go as planned, and there were bumps in the road along the way, like how the answer choices in EdPuzzle quizzes randomly switch positions.  When you insert audio notes for non-readers to use to complete the quiz, they may not match, so Carmen recommended that I labeled answer choices A. and B.  

Another example is when I wanted to share a photo with my students of an anchor chart, but I was having trouble with this “simple” task.  I instantly thought of a work around.  I taught the students how to take their own picture of the anchor chart on their iPads to use for that activity.  

Sharing

Julie asked if a group of teachers and I would present at Waukesha One to share how EdPuzzle lessons can be modified for students from K5-5th grade.  Never would I have imagined that I would have something valuable to share about integrating technology.  However, it was a wonderful experience collaborating and sharing with my friends.  At Waukesha One, another colleague shared the SeeSaw app.  We requested it for Banting.  Students will be able to turn in work samples through this app, and I can return feedback as well as allow families to connect to monitor their child’s progress.  Also, creating this blog post is another first for me.
  

It has been a busy two months.  Finding time to plan and collaborate is always a challenge, and it takes me several tries to figure things out.  So why would I put myself through all this extra stress and anxiety?  Seeing the joy and excitement in my students’ faces, as they tried new things on their iPads, like creating their own addition books in BookCreator, was priceless.  

They were totally engaged and highly motivated.  Well worth the blood, sweat, and tears!    

Kindergarten is Tech Savvy!

Deb Zuercher has become a model technology teacher in the past two weeks, and is taking technology on with gusto! She has become a risk taker in a matter of those two weeks.

She is a dual language kindergarten teacher who is determined to flip some of her lessons for her students in her classroom.  She started the journey by entering all of her students into Google Classroom and then pushing out a video for them to work on their letter sounds with independence by means of singing along to the song the class performed on video.  Her student who was practicing while I was observing was engaged while listening to the song.  He sang along, used hand motions, was animated, and very proud of his independence upon finishing the lesson.

As time progresses, it would be interesting to do a bit of a case study to see how students who use this process progress versus students who do not.  Her next goal is to find some videos on hibernation to use on EdPuzzle to enrich her unit in Science.