21st Century Skills

21st Century Skills are important for students to learn.  The most important of these skills that students need to be able to master is collaboration.  In my elementary classes (grades 3-6), this is the one skill that all students need to be successful.  Some students will effectively collaborate with other students, but I find that the majority have difficulty working with other students.  Even as adults, we are more successful in our careers if we collaborate with our peers than if we try to do everything alone.  It is so important for teachers to work together for the common good of the school and students, so it is very important that we teach our students the same.  Students are keen observers when adults in the school building do not work together, so modeling effective collaboration is just a important as teaching it.

One way this skill can be used is through Google Apps for Education.  Since beginning GAFE this school year, students are beginning to learn how to collaborate with each other.  It was difficult at first when they were working on an assignment in small groups on a Google doc or presentation.  I have seen improvements since the beginning of the school year with the collaboration of students when using Google apps.  Their collaboration skills have improved in other areas around the school building as well.

The collaborative assignments and projects can be assessed using rubrics  The students can also peer assess the group's effort and contribution to the project.

Learning how to collaborate effectively at the elementary level will help students become more tolerant of each other as they enter middle and high school.

Philosophy of Education

My philosophy of education has evolved throughout my years in education.  Some aspects of my philosophy have not changed.  I have always believed that students need a safe environment to learn and are allowed to take risks while learning.  Students need to feel that they can ask questions about their learning and rely on each other to help them learn.  I think my classes have allowed students to be risk takers.  Instilling good character and values is also another goal that I have each year for all students.  I also believe that it is important for students to work cooperatively with each other.  Using Google Apps for Education is a great way for students to work together on projects and help them analyze and think critically about their learning.  I still feel that teachers should facilitate the learning and technology helps teachers do this.  Technology integration is so important for students as well since most have had some type of device in their hands at a very young age.  If we don't embrace the digital tools that are available to us, then our students are going to left behind.  Technology makes it easier for the learning to be student-centered and allow students to create and reflect on their learning.  I am always seeking out new digital tools and how to successfully implement more technology in the classroom.  My students are digital learners and hopefully will be able to continually evaluate their learning through technology.

Tech Integration

I am most excited about learning how to effectively integrate technology at all grade levels, and I'm always looking and exploring digital resources to use in the classroom.  Even thought our elementary building is not 1:1, we have several iPads and Chromebooks in the classrooms, so I can provide resources to use for iPads and have experience using Google Apps as well.  I keep looking at a flipped classroom and would love to explore this more and learn effective techniques and resources to use to flip the classroom.  I think some of our teachers are ready for this concept and would like to be able to provide assistance for them to be successful.  I'm looking forward to learning more about integrating technology in our school.

As We Come to an End...

As I reflect on this course I realized that I have gained lots of knowledge about technology.  I feel confident that I can use what I have learned in this class for professional development for teachers and provide reasons why technology should be used in the classroom. I have always known that it was important and now I have some resources to help me explain it to teachers.

I have also added many tools to my "digital backpack" and can't wait to share them with students and teachers.  I will be incorporating many of these into my curriculum this year!

Lastly, I was able to increase my PLN with lots of resources to follow.  I will continue to use these resources throughout the school year to stay current on new tech tools and ideas.

Social Media

Do I think using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, for educational purposes for older students is appropriate?
I am in an elementary building so I do not use Facebook or Twitter with the students, especially when My Big Campus is available.  It provides a social media aspect that students can communicate with one another in a safe way.  As long as MBC is available, I will not be using anything else for social media.  I like the idea of using a classroom Twitter account for students and parents that some have mentioned.  I see where this could be very beneficial for reminders and quick answers to questions.  It might even be something I may want to try this year for the older elementary students.  I also think that maybe students want to keep these type of accounts personal for social interaction and not make it another educational tool.  When it becomes educational, it might not be fun anymore for some students.

Curating Tools

This idea of curation is not new to me, but I didn't have many resources to use for curating.  I can see why we need to be curators as well as teaching our students to be curators.  I used bundlr and like it.  It was very easy to use.  I can definitely see students using it.  I also liked the popplets that others used as well.  I can see a use for this in the elementary building because it is very pleasing and fun for the students. I would like to continue using My Big Campus in a larger capacity than what I did last year.  It was introduced to our staff last semester, but I didn't delve into it too much until this summer.  I am working on lessons for my tech classes including digital citizenship and internet searching.  I am also creating a bundle for teachers to use as a resource for digital tools.  I am going to try to curate as many resources as I can for myself and my students.

This course has provided me with many ideas for professional development with our teachers.  The SAMR model is a great way to show teachers where they are with technology and what our goal should be to integrate technology in the classroom.  In my situation, using the digital tools that were provided with students will give them more opportunities to create and find what they are comfortable with to add to their digital backpack.  I would also share these with teachers to use and explore.

One thing that will be a little more difficult is staying connected to find new tools. I had used twitter just occasionally.  In a tech integration training this week, I realized that twitter is a great way to stay connected professionally.  Michele gave us several ways to stay connected, such as pinterest and blogging.  The difficulty for me is going to be able to make time to use these regularly.  Creating authentic assessments is a challenge for me because I try to incorporate many concepts in my weekly classes.  It is hard for me to narrow down the big concepts that I want the students to learn because I want them to learn everything!  My goal this year is to create some assessments for my tech classes that I can use as end-of-the-year assessments to gather data for growth.