Technology in the Classroom

Well, as suspected, I haven't held up my part of the bargain at the weekly blog entry piece.  BUT, I have a hundred ideas of what I want to write about! :-)  So...writer's block is not the problem.  Time is the problem.

But foremost in my mind is the role that technology plays in my classroom.  In trying to think about where I stand when it comes to technology, I am finding that I have a hard time even separating the use of technology from my beliefs in teaching.  In every case, technology has become an integrated part of my classroom and professional development in order to strengthen my beliefs about teaching and learning.

Technology is a tool, like many other tools, that teachers need to keep in their toolbox.  Like all tools, technology is not the only tool that can complete the job, but often, in my experience, the use of technology woven seamlessly into the classroom can have a positive effect on student learning.

Technology can be very beneficial in increasing engagement.  For example, students only need to see the rolling cart of laptops to be excited for what may be in store for that class.  They don't even seem to care what the task is - as long as it's on the laptops, it must be fun.  I've seen students repeat the same 10 questions over and over on a math challenge website, trying to earn a perfect score.  Try asking them to do those same 10 questions over and over again on paper.  Ya right.  I've watched 3 boys ask to stay back from their e-class, a reward they earned, in order to perfect their video with puppets teaching a student how to solve equations with alge-tiles.  Would this have happened with a textbook?  No way.


Technology is a tool that can be powerful when it comes to diverse learning needs.  A website like Manga High alters the levels of questions being asked based on whether students are getting them all correct or incorrect to provide the correct level of challenge.  Web-based instruction sites often provide various levels, or tasks at various grade levels, that teachers can 'assign' to different groups of students.  I've used Notebook software to create individualized tasks that students can work through and send me.  I can make alteration to each student's file and send their file back to them, with just the correct level of questions and support provided, individualized to each student's level. 

Technology can provide instant feedback.  This instant feedback can be motivating for students when they are learning something new.  I've witnessed students repeat games over and over, one student in our school teaching herself factoring of polynomials, a concept way above her grade level, because she kept playing and repeating the game using the instant feedback it gave her.  Students instantly see where they are making their errors and can ask for help.  One of my math students kept 'failing' a game where improper fractions needed to be ordered.  He asked me to help him learn how to do this, as he wanted to be able to achieve this in the game.  He wanted to learn how.  We did a mini-lesson on this topic not because it was actually the next topic anyway in my outline, but because he wanted to know how as it was now a skill he deemed important - even if its importance was only to beat a game.  It now had value.


Technology can assist with collection of assessment data to inform instruction.  Manga High is a math website focused on teaching through gaming and challenges.  It tracks which students have achieved at which levels and how many attempts they have made at a task.  Edmodo quizzes organize the results from each question into pie charts, indicating a quick snapshot of student understanding as a class on all of the questions you've given them.  At a glance, you can assess which topics need more instruction or different instruction to increase student learning.  Google docs can be used to sort info in excel spreadsheets at the click of a button, creating flexible groupings to organize students for focused instruction.

Technology can give a live audience for student work, creating purpose and motivation.  Blogging is a great example of this.  I want to explore student blogs with my class this year.  I see other teachers and classes creating such neat publications of their classroom work, and immediately, there is more value in the work they are doing.  Currently, a lot of the student work lives between the 4 walls of my classroom, but this is something I hope to continue building upon.  I've had students share work on edmodo last year, and I really enjoyed seeing the power of posting work for other students to view and comment on.  Is there better feedback than peer feedback for middle school students?  Suddenly, it's important to have clear ideas and good conventions in the published piece; after all, the whole world can see it!

Technology can provide a bridge between home and school.   This year, all of our grade 7 teachers have edmodo 'classes' that students are a part of.  This means that students have a virtual classroom, an extension of the physical classroom, where they can post resources, share ideas, keep up-to-date with upcoming events, and communicate with one another!  I have started compiling folders of resources to support the learning of math concepts we are working on in class.  By posting these in their edmodo classes, students can access the resources from home or school.  Daily agenda posts are made onto edmodo to increase student responsibility for deadlines and staying on top of current work.

Technology can break down the bricks and mortar of a school and connect learners and families from various classes, schools, divisions, communities, and even countries.  My students started talking one night due to a link I posted about the tragedies in Japan.  They decided they wanted to do something to help and created a truly student-initiated project to raise money.  Our school's student voice team keeps in touch with one another through edmodo, since we have no physical classes together since students are reps from all different classrooms.  I've joined an edmodo group looking to create opportunities to Skype while reading the same book with classes across the world.  I followed the Global Read Aloud project, where deadlines were set by all schools willing to participate and students read a book together, creating awesome opportunities for sharing and collaboration - with students from all over the world!  We need to do more of this.  What a great way to foster an understanding of the a global community.

Technology can connect teachers, and provide opportunities for collaboration and sharing of resources.  Twitter has been an amazing resource for professional development.  I am constantly being connected to people I would otherwise never have the privilege of working with.  I read a blog of a fourth grade teacher, Pernille Ripp.  Her work is truly inspiring.  She is passionate and full of ideas to inspire her students to love learning.  I have created an idea for a math assessment project for my grade 7's based on a project she created with her grade 4's.  I read teachers' blogs as they celebrate successes in the classrooms and schools as well as when they are feeling frustrated with the obstacles impeding the learning and teaching in their communities.  There is something refreshing about reading a blog post someone else has written and thinking, "Yes.  I feel exactly the same way."  I keep up with new resources through Twitter.  I am constantly re-tweeting things, if for no other reason than that I want to keep them in my Twitter feed so I can revisit them and use them in my own work.  Edmodo also provides Communities of learners, where teachers can post questions and share resources with other teachers.  I love seeing teachers from all over the world sharing ideas and experiences.  Is there any better PD than that?

So, how is technology used in my classroom?  It's used everyday.  Aspects of technology are woven into every element of my classroom in some way, from the new ideas that enter my room, to the way I keep families updated and connected, to the way I access new resources and share those with my learning community.  When I think about myself as a learner, I know how much technology has impacted me.  And as we look at the changes in the students we now have in our classrooms, there is no denying the need for teachers to look at ways in which we can facilitate more meaningful, diverse, and individualized instructional opportunities.  In many ways, technology is the tool we need to continue to pull from the toolbox.

IT'S ONLY BEEN 2 WEEKS!

I've had students in my classroom for 2 weeks as of this past Friday.  And I'm in disbelief.  For many reasons really.

First of all, I honestly can't believe it was only 3 weeks ago that I was heading back to work.  This year was the first year that I felt so rushed in getting back to school.  With traveling during the month of August, I got back home just in time to plan a wedding slideshow which turned into a mini-documentary as I fiddled with my Mac, create a toast to the bride for my sister, learn to play and sing an Elton John song to sing at the ceremony, while attempting to fit in some travel scrapbooking and back-to-school planning.  And with only 2 days to visit my classroom before opening the doors to our first official day back, it was a bit of a crazy start.  And apparently, that was only 3 weeks ago.  Time has flown by.

And I can't help but notice my head is right back in the game.  And exhausted.  Only 3 weeks in, and my spare moments are few and far between.  And most of those spare moments are spent thinking about what I need to be doing, or want to be doing, for my students and my classroom.  Or those quiet early minutes I spend in the shower in the morning are used to think about what I can do for Kevin.  Or Ryan.  From the first moment that I got that feeling of back to school being just around the corner, my brain started to spin new ideas for the year.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure my brain ever truly shuts off, but I must admit, I do enjoy the few weeks of summer when I do prioritize other things over teaching.  It rejuvenates me.  I need it.  But once the new year is around the corner, I immediately begin reflecting on ideas from the past year and how I want to improve them.  Or ideas that I started to experiment with but want to see put in place on a wider scale.  I have officially decided that this job will never get any easier for me.  Because as each year goes by, I learn something new.  And that becomes a new project.  A new experiment.  A new learning opportunity for my students.  Which I think is why one of the hardest jobs (or perhaps more questionable jobs) for me in the fall is making my course outlines.  Because I have no idea what I'll know in even 1 month that could give me some new direction for the students and I to follow.  I know I need some sort of a plan though.  I'm most definitely a planner and need a direction. 

So, for this year, I've started off the year with a few initiatives in mind. 

• I'm working with another colleague in my school to expand the use of edmodo, getting all grade 7 students and staff on board with the site and the opportunities it brings.  

• I'm planning to try to implement more Quickwrites and student journaling, inspired by the work of Penny Kittle, into my English language arts program.  

• I'm going to continue following the foundations of Penny Kittle's reading workshop structure, which I started doing last year and found had great results with students' love for reading as well as literacy skills.  I hope to get the students using goodreads.com to lengthen their "What's next" list of books.

• I've always tried to differentiate and meet students where they are at.  But this year is going to prove to be trickier in this area than the other years I've taught.  I have a larger range of needs in my classes than I've ever had before, and I know this is going to mean I need to do things differently.  I've been looking into using the site Manga High to help meet the diverse learning needs in these classes. 

• I have had the opportunity to work with Faye Brownlie and some members of my staff on class profiles and hope to see that process come to light within our school. 

• I'm co-teaching this year, after experimenting with the benefits of this process last year.  I'm looking forward to working with a larger group of staff members and looking at the various ways we can have students benefiting from this opportunity.

• I just created grade 6, 7, and 8 math diagnostics in the hopes of helping teachers determine where student strengths and needs are when planning for instruction, intervention, and goals for the math classroom.  

• I'm working with 3 other teachers to restructure our student voice program at our school, attempting to put a larger weight on the voice our students.  With that in mind, I have the opportunity in November to attend the Me to We Day held in Winnipeg for the first time.

And now I see why the time has flown by!

My hope for this blog is to create a space where I can explore, reflect, share, and discuss some of these projects for the year.  As I traveled this summer, I wrote a daily blog entry to my friends and family back home.  I really looked forward to doing it each evening.  I must confess, I've started a journal numerous times, and I've never been able to see it through.  But now, I find that each day I explore the blogs of others, and learn from others, and explore my Twitter feed, inspired by the new ideas I see shared and inspired by the passion others have for teaching. 

As I search for exactly where my passion lies, I know that one of my favourite parts of teaching is the collaboration.  The creation of new materials or ideas through the collaboration of colleagues.  The sharing of the successes.  The sharing of the failures. 

And somewhere in there, among the need for collaboration and the passion we all have for teaching, is the purpose of this blog. 

Now, let's see if I can keep it up.