Tech Integration in My Classroom

• What have you observed about children when it comes to engaging with technology as a learning tool? What would it mean for your students if you were able to integrate more technology? 

  
  

  If my students had access to more technology on a daily basis, the effects are unknown. At the first grade level, when my kids have been exposed to technology, they've shown a definite change attention. Even though they are surrounded by technology in almost every aspect of their lives, the familiarity of various tools within the technology can be limited.  The still need guidance with proper use, if any activity is going to be done that involves more than just playing an app, or use a few of the creativity tools. I know that after the technology has been introduced it's interesting to see them choose the proper tool for the activity at hand. I believed that sometimes we think they know more than they do, so it's important to take things slow

  
  

• What philosophical or practical ideas do you have about integrating technology in a way that gets students to the Modification and Redefinition levels of the SAMR Model?

  
  

  1. Give up some control. From what I've seen in classrooms in relation to integration and technology is merely substitution. Teachers need to take a big leap of faith, and a release of some control to truly see the effects that technology can have on student learning.

  2. You don't need to be an expert. Let the kids be the experts.

  3. Start small, and then build. 

  4. Look at what you can start to replace in the classrooms I th technology, and go from there.

  
  

  
  

  
  

Fall 2013 SMUMN Conference

After our Fall 2013 Conference wrapped up and I was on my way home, I was thinking back to the BIG ideas I was able to obtain while there. I was in a Math K-6 session, with a group of teachers who had some pretty inspiring stories and ideas to use in the classroom. One of the main concepts we discussed was the idea of flipped classrooms. Christine, a teacher from Duluth, has implemented a flipped classroom model during math in her first grade classroom. I was inspired to see her hard work and effort to get this concept rolling in the primary grades. I hope to do more research on this topic and possibly implement it during the 2014-2015 school year. 

We also discussed guided math. Joy and Becky had wonderful ideas on how to use this teaching style in their classrooms, and their energy was magnetic! I am curious once again to see how this model would look in my classroom. 

Bill, our facilitator was able to discuss some of the things he was doing in his fourth grade classroom pertaining to flexible grouping. He truly made me re-think of the way I was traditionally assessing my students. Typically, I was pre-testing before each unit. He gave me the idea to do a pre-test before each lesson, to see student understanding. I am still brainstorming ways on how this would look and operate in my first grade class, but where there is a will, there's a way. One possibility is to use my math journals at the end of each lesson and have students answer a question, to the best of their ability for the next day's skills. I could then see who understands the concept, and who needs more assistance. 

Overall, the Lasallian principles were very apparent. Bill set up community right away with community building activities. He then gave us time to build a caring environment by laying out a list that looked like this:

Today: Our Norms

1. Speak Your Truth

2. Stay Engaged

3. Experience Discomfort

4. Expect and accept non-closure

We all started from here and made it a beneficial day.

AR Blog Entry

How will interactive journal writing influence student mathematical achievement In first grade?

The question guiding my research is as follows: How will multiple interactive journal writing experiences, influence student mathematical achievement in first grade? A review of literature suggested several benefits to journal writing during math class. First, journal writing allows students to convey their understanding of math concepts through pictures and words. Second, journal writing enhances the communication of ideas. Third, journal writing promotes the correct use of mathematical vocabulary. Finally, by having students writing more often, teachers have a better understanding of student knowledge. As a result of my literature review, the areas I’ve targeted for change in my practice include 1) 10 minutes of journal writing 3 times per work after a math lesson 2) Prompting questions that allow for picture, word or number responses and 3) interacting with each student’s journal to provide adequate feedback. Skill development for myself has included allowing for more math time to fit in journal time 2) differentiated ability groups for specific guidance on journal questions and 3) multiple modeling sessions to show how to journal effectively.

Throughout the implementation of this action research, I’ve learned that each one of my students is at a different skill level with writing and showing understanding. I have needed to adjust the amount of work required based on student skill level. I have used the journals to show more than just answering questions, I am using them for basic counting assessments from 1 - 120, skip counting, and pre-assessments which can be completed before we start a new concept in class. I have also been contemplating using these journals for conferencing with parents to discuss progress. 

One area I need to continue to be diligent with, is taking the time to get 3 journaling sessions in per week. With the busy schedules and certain math lessons taking longer than others, I’ve had to pick and choose which prompts I can use and which I need to toss. I am also working on getting the journal feedback done promptly.

What impact has UbD made on me?

Looking back at the impact on UnB has had on my thinking, teaching and classroom, it's easy to say it's changed the way I've done things. Naturally, the UbD layout process allows you to have a much better understanding of where you are going with any specific topic. I love that concept of picking your endpoint, or intended understanding, and then cutting a path back to the start to figure out how you are going to get their. I also love that it enables you to be empathetic with what students will be thinking and going through as they are facilitated by you. When you are designing your assessments, and lessons, you can really get down ask yourself, is what I am wanting my students to complete really "practical?" Will they be able to do this? How will they be able to complete what I am wanting? 

In the first grade classroom, there can be many items that don't "fit" in with any curriculum standard or content objective on the surface. But, with the UbD planning process, it is much easier to link and connect these "random"pieces of curriculum under a specific concept or essential understanding. 

For me, UbD is a very unique planning process that enables teachers to be effective, efficient, and meaningful, most often.

My questions about UbD:

When a curriculum has been purchased for a school district, and the curriculum's layout is similar to an UbD layout, does it make sense to re-create your own UbD unit rather that use the resource you have? Or is this curriculum just a "tool" to be coupled with other resources?

As an elementary teacher, I have many lessons I create each week. I understand the overarching ideas and concepts, but how can the elementary teacher utilize UbD in many areas, without spending hours trying to make many UbD units?

Differentiation Ideas for the Classroom

A.. Opportunities to show understanding using different graphic organizers or pictures.

• With my first graders at many different academic reading and writing levels, and with the current push towards comprehension and fluency at an earlier age, I needed to give my students the opportunity to show their understandings in various ways. We teach new reading strategies every week (characters/setting, sequence, BME etc.). This week, I modeled how to find the characters/setting and BME of a story using a graphic organizer. I gave my students a chance to then respond to another story and choose their own graphic organizer to summarize the BME, characters and setting. Each "GO" has a similar layout, but with each one they could choose to write or draw the parts. They loved it and everyone was successful!
• One Option: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1DGZ-2rFoAc20Y0OmaKGWwHVUF5JoG6pZtExQTAxD2p4/edit?usp=sharing

B. Using "student" experts to facilitate learning.

• Students who complete work earlier than others, can bring it to me and become an "expert" for a few minutes. They can walk around the classroom and help those who are finishing if they wish. 

C. Reading Buddies - This strategy is particularly useful for younger students and/or students with reading difficulties. Children get additional practice and experience reading away from the teacher as they develop fluency and comprehension. It is important that students read with a specific purpose in mind and then have an opportunity to discuss what was read. It is not necessary for reading buddies to always be at the same reading level. Students with varying word recognition, word analysis and comprehension skills can help each other be more successful.

• I've used this to work on fluency. One student gets to be the teacher, the other the student. The first reading is timed for 1 minute. The "teacher will follow along. Then the roles reverse. We time for one more minute.Student listen for punctuation, inflection and other read-aloud strategies.

Children's Principles of Learning

Safety: Creating a caring, inviting environment must be established if students are going to put forth all of their effort, and trust that you will take them to the place that they need to go. Included in this principle, is the idea of mutual respect. I believe students must also be able to feel safety in the classroom to make mistakes and understand their will not be devastating negative responses or consequences. 

Caring: Throughout the learning process, the students individual needs must be assessed, both academically and emotionally. As I think of my classroom, I think of every different aspect that goes into each relationship that is being built. I was listening to a pastor last year who used the analogy of a living organsim in comparison to the health of his church. I found this image useful for thinking of my classroom. For instance, if you take a tree, the leaves can represent the students. Each leaf is a part of another network of leaves and are connected. If one part of the plant is effected by something positive or negative, chances are a moajority of the plant will be suseptible. For my classroom, the main part of the plant is built upon a set of core values and beliefs which represents the stem and foundation. The stem stands for "safety". The "life blood" of the organism is care. Everything is done through care. 

Engagement: The deeper the subjects are engaged in their learning, the more delight and accountability they will get from learning. The topics and the implementation of concepts should be age appropriate and student centered. Now that the safety net has been established, use the trust that students have given you, to engage them. Using a concrete idea and moving to an abstract idea.

Valuable: The material and topics covered need to be valuable and applicable. I must ask myself, is this something my students can use right now? I also need to think of the immediacy that can follow any particular lessons. My students might not always be able to use the skills at this particular moment, but in the future will they be able to? I also ask myself, what are the objectives, and have we met the objectives? Can you apply it to what the students already know?

Collaboration: Teamwork is ideal, because it models the a “real world setting.” Students are capable of teaching each other. They can revisit topics you’ve already discussed with them, and apply them in their own words.  This idea can be done in a group setting, or as simplistic as "Think, Pair, Share."

Praxis: Because growth is imperative for learning (Jackson), key points need to be revisited and discussed regularly. When students are invited into assessing their growth, they take accountability for their learning. This can lead to managing behavior and learner growth. 

Successful: Students need to see evidence of success and progress, goals and objectives. They need to be focused on mastering learning. Through various sharing opportunities in the classroom, students can see each others work and also have a chance to share their own. Students in the classroom can adjust their work quality based on the efforts of other students. 

Sequence and Reinforcement: I am a firm believer in the fact that students need to be able to connect new concepts to prior knowledge. Students need to be able to go from concrete ideas to abstract and vise versa. I believe students also need to be able to see ideas many ways and in intertwined in various content areas.

Priority: Education needs to be viewed as a priority. I believe that too many people (including teachers) get caught up in the blame game between students and parents. At times one side will point the finger at others because of specific beliefs on the importance of education or lack thereof. Lawmakers, teachers, students and parents need to all view education as a priority to help support students as they develop GRIT towards their goals. Everyone involved in the education process needs to view education with utmost importance.