Personalization Possibilities

It is exciting to see the progress the student I'm tutoring is making with writing.  This week we worked on a lesson about skateboarding I designed with https://www.frolyc.com/.  The more personalized the lesson is the more engaged the student is and the more writing he produces.  This week he even wanted to go back and add to his answers to make them more detailed by connecting to the information he already knew and the new information he read!  Usually he is in more of a rush to get through the lesson.   I'm really impressed with his increased attention and desire to do well.  It's very exciting to see the increase engagement when lessons are relevant and personalized.  I think I'd like to experiment with him actually authoring one of our upcoming lessons!

Weaving with the CCSS

This past week I've continued reading about various Ed Tech topics and am looking forward to participating in the dlt3 MOOC https://courses.mooc-ed.org/dlt3/preview that is starting.  With such a boom in educational technology I hope it gives some insight into how to figure out what direction is best.    I also created another activity for the student I tutor using the Frolyc app https://www.frolyc.com/   For this activity I used the topic of photosynthesis and tried to incorporate a couple of different common core standards (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.7 & CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.9).  One thing I really liked about the activity was seeing the student go back to the two different passages about photosynthesis to compose a short answer to a comprehension question and to create and label a diagram showcasing what he learned about photosynthesis.  As a precursor to the activity he watched a short YouTube clip about photosynthesis.  The activity took 20 - 30 minutes to create and the student was engaged throughout the activity.  When he was finished we went back through the activity and he reviewed his answers and explained his diagram to me.  I really like being able to create high interest activities quickly.  Next I'm going to put together an activity about skateboarding.  Having personalized activities keeps the student a lot more interested during our tutoring sessions.

Looking forward to a short but productive week!

2nd Post...Moving Forward

I thought I'd follow up on last week's post and try to keep the momentum going!  As part of of my aspiration to become more involved with a global ed tech community I signed up for a MOOC https://courses.mooc-ed.org/dlt3/preview

I've also been reflecting on some of the successes I've had integrating technology this year.
 One app I was introduced to and have used with success both with a summer school class and a student I have been tutoring is called Frolyc.  https://www.frolyc.com/  This app allows me to differentiate instruction and easily design a mini lesson to use with a small group or individual student.  Recently I used the app with a 5th grade student I've been tutoring.  Using the umbrella of reading comprehension I broke the activity into three parts.  First, the student had to read a passage about Cross-Training.  Next, he answered a couple of open ended comprehension questions.  To end the activity he drew and labeled activities he'd include in a cross-training program for himself.

 What was really awesome to see was how engaged he was with the activity.  When I asked him how he felt about the activity he gave me a thumbs up, a big smile and asked if we could do another one next week.  One of the tools he really liked was the text to speech recognition so he could listen and follow along with what was being read.

Well that's two posts!  Here's to a 3rd!

Aspirations

After teaching 4th and 5th grades for 15 years I had the good fortune of becoming a Technology Resource Teacher at a K- 5 school this year.  So far the position has been both exciting and challenging.  Designing computer skills lessons for upper grades has been one of the most interesting parts of the job.  It is inspiring to see how engaged and motivated students are by web based tech tools and educational programs.  One of the biggest challenges has been equity or equal access to technology.  The computers and devices that students have access varies some from classroom to classroom and vastly across the district.  As a classroom teacher with limited access to technology I had to find resources that I could use whole class such as projecting the daily free BrainPop animation if it was at all relevant to anything we were learning about in class.  Now I find it exciting to research and integrate technology that can help develop tech skills and compliment the lessons students are working on in their classrooms.  Even though the technology varies from classroom to classroom all students are able to visit the Computer Lab on a weekly basis, the computers are connected to the internet and in decent working shape.

I've been reading a lot about educational technology, following a lot of educators on social media like Twitter, attending some online courses and webinars and attended a CUE and Launch conference.  Beyond trying to soak in as much inspiring knowledge as I can  I haven't been as active as I could in connecting with other educators.  As the remainder of the school year dips towards June I want to continue to stay current on developments and best practices in Educational Technology and become more active participating in online ed tech chats, blogging and connecting with other educators to gain and share ideas.

Here's to 2014 Aspirations!