“Being a Tech-Savvy Educator doesn’t have to be either daunting or complex. It doesn’t mean completely changing our practices or abandoning what already works. It means looking to the tools of technology to supplement those strong pedagogical practices already in place.”
This quote from http://blog.web20classroom.org made me feel better. Maybe I’m uncomfortable using new tech in the classroom because I’m older (49), and did not grow up in a tech driven world. But there’s more to it. All of the choices out there are in fact daunting and complex. The myriad of apps and programs out there are competing for our adoption. Each teacher at our school does, in fact, approach these resources with some form of personal learning plan. We all supplement, (or replace), our core text based curriculums with a variety of programs. While the Common Core standards do guide all of us in our instruction, we are all using slightly different tools to address them. In my classroom, for example, a list of resources we use on a weekly basis looks like this:
This last resource I mention, Google Slides, is actually what I’m planning to use for my next cycle of data collection with my students for my capstone project. My plan is to have the kids take photos using the iPads on our next outdoor field trip to Pepperwood Preserve. Then, they will upload those photos into their Google Classroom slide presentation of the trip. They will do an animal report of an animal that lives in the Pepperwood habitat. The photos will be of the habitat and any plants or animals they see there. I have also taught them to upload photos and videos from the Internet. I want to compare their ability to communicate information in this tech supported format vs a paper and pencil format. We already did the paper and pencil projects. I mentioned in class last week that I was running into trouble getting photos or videos that the kids take from their iPads into the Chromebooks and Google slides. Our district does not give them access to their Gmails until 7th grade. I got some good tips last class on how to skirt around this issue by using different methods. I snapped photos of the chatroom suggestions so that I would not forget the great tips both professors and students gave to me. I brought home an iPad and a student’s Chromebook in order to fiddle around with.
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AuthorJeremy Smith teaches third grade at Calistoga Elementary School. Archives
July 2020
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