Creating to Learn- 21st Century Learning Conference @WCPSS

Saturday I had the pleasure of co-presenting at a county wide conference on using technology in education. It was an amazing experience and my colleague and I were so thankful for the positive reaction! We put together a website that showcases our students' digital work (www.ddesbuzz.com), and included a 25 page document available for download. My colleague and I created a practical explanation of the projects that we assign and how to carry them out on your own, from beginning to end.  We hope that more teachers can begin to use technology in their classrooms, no matter what barrier.

Here is a link to the paper, best of luck and we hope it helps!

You can also check out the conference info and handouts here: https://21stcenturyconference.pbworks.com

Technology Management Part 2

This post is dedicated to teachers K-3 and anyone else who finds themselves writing the same web addresses or directions OVER and OVER. At first I started writing URLs (web addresses) on post-it notes and had the kids pass them around to each other and place them on my desk when they were done. After a few class periods the notes would go missing, be hidden under a keyboard, or would just be too wrinkled to use.

About this time a first grade teacher came into the lab with her class and they worked like a well-oiled machine. Her secret?  Fun-shaped, colorful, laminated cards that had URL’s of the most frequently used websites in her class. The students would simply log into the computer, then look through the bin for the website that they wanted to go to. After they got to the desired website, they would return the laminated card.

I promptly stole this idea (with her permission of course) and made a bunch to hang up on my magnetic storage area. Now, students come up and find the website they are looking for without having to ask me to help them. Not only is this great for students (and frees me up), but it subtly shows other teachers a simple strategy for managing technology when they come to the computer lab!

Managing technology Part 1

With the push to include technology into your classroom stronger than ever, I’ve decided to start writing some ways to help MANAGE the process. There are so many tools and resources and noticeably fewer tips for using it. At first it can seem REALLY overwhelming and you think it might just be easier to stop while you’re ahead. There are so many ideas and resources and so many different directions to take when using technology.

Here are some important things to think about before you get started:

• Do you want to use a site or resource for the long term or short term? (What I mean by this is, is it something you could easily use every day or is it unit/topic specific?)
• What type of skill/information do you want the student to get out of it? (Is this extra practice, digging deeper, demonstrating skills/information that you have taught, or something fun and pretty to finish off a unit?)
• How much preparation do you need to start using it? (Do you need to create user accounts or can you jump right in and get started by typing in the web address?)
• How much time will you need to spend teaching the students how to use the resource/technology compared to not using it? (Is the juice worth the squeeze? Sometimes it’s just not the right time to use technology even though you really want to.)

These are just a few points to think about as you begin, but just be patient and have a back up plan!