Observation #2 Introduction to Classlink

This morning began at 8am where the library is being prepared for the elementary mini-lessons. the COW, computers on wheels, is being used for this lesson. Laptops were dispersed and started, they include a mouse for each laptop.

Tran was contacted this morning from the secondary campus regarding an IT request. Apparently, late the Friday before Spring Break, the teacher sent in a request for assistance with adding student names into a program. Tran assumed since it was a secondary campus request that the secondary campus IT would address the issue. She states that the secondary campus IT should get to it and that she will help if they appear overburdened.

The first class of the day was a second-grade class. The challenge with this class was the different literacy skills of the group. Some students were up and running rather quickly and others were having difficulty just in typing. One student was extremely slow at typing. Once students were in they could see the benefit of classlink. Apparently, the class was larger than anticipated and there were not enough of the computer mouse’s to go around.

Also during the morning, Tran leaves to pull a Reading group where she will focus on writing skills to prepare them for the writing portion of the STAAR test. While she is working with the group a library assistant is leading the computer lessons. Tran has supplied her with a powerpoint to guide the students and she is very familiar with the lesson..

The second group was supposed to come in at 9:40. Apparently, the teacher was out and the students were split between other teachers. I’ve been in this situation before and it is a strain on the teachers and students. If lessons do not match up perfectly then things are off. This brings a question to mind. Shouldn’t all teachers be teaching the same thing? Not necessarily. If a class as a whole is behind or needs more time with an objective, shouldn’t they ensure that the objective retaught before moving on? Constructivism states that students construct their knowledge by building on. Students can’t be expected to build onto their knowledge base if they are pushed on before they are ready. This is not to say that whole classes are held back for success in objectives. When the majority of the students are ready to move on to the next objective then those who still need help can be addressed via tutorials. This also means that a class that has mastered the objective needs to move on. Classes are not machines that need to be kept in time, but rather living organisms that have individual needs and though they may be on the same objective. Classrooms cannot all stay on the same activities each day because of this.

Observation #1: The Changing Day of the Instructional Technologist

Observation Day 1

Previously on this campus, the students took a DBA, District Benchmark assessment. The results were not as high as the campus was wanting so the campus is pulling together all resources to work with students to help them excel on the upcoming STAAR exam. Kristina Tran started the morning working with a small group of students. The task of this intervention is extra practice/help in reading skills. Tran worked with the students having them read a small packet first then briefly discuss before answering questions independently. The first task before the students is a comparison and contrast of items. Then the text goes on and a question dealing with maps comes up. Students are questioned by explaining why they choose their answers. She works on strategies such as referring back to the text and reading all the answers before choosing their selection. The group meets and works together for a little over one hour. This intervention is very familiar to me. Last Spring 2018 I was hired by the district to be a Ninja reading interventionist. All my students made advancements in reading levels with a few students going up 4 levels in reading and one going up 5 levels in the time that I worked with them. I enjoyed my time with them and finished the program in April. Out of the interventionists, my students made the most advancement. This could be attributed to the fact that I have recently taught and many of the other interventionists were retired teachers, some of which still lead with teacher-centered ideas. Students in the group are coached while they work on several questions. They are informed to be prepared to be called on randomly and will need to be able to explain how they got their answers. After they work for a bit, she encourages them to get up out of their chair and stretch after they get to problem six. though two did stretch, none of the students stood up. Tran calls randomly on the students to read the question and answer. Redirection to a student is quick and non-disruptive to the group activity. All students agree on the answer and another student is called on to explain how they came to the correct answer. The group is reminded that they are supposed to have at least one sentence explanation for each question. This way when they are called on they can refer to their notes to refresh their memory. students struggled with one question. Tran modeled reading the question then going back into the text to try and find the answer or supporting statement. Another important aspect of the intervention was the activation of prior knowledge in helping students connect with more understanding of the text. She did not let them pass on with just giving an answer, they always had to support their answers. At one point they also had to compare their previous answer to their new one. Why did they change their mind? what information did they use to change their answer? She modeled thinking on the question they had the most issue with. Once again students are encouraged to get up and stretch before continuing. She spoke to them about their own learning, metacognition, and strategies that they use to answer questions. One student tries to take over the lesson by talking over Tran and she uses an ignoring strategy to deal with their behavior. This successful strategy leads students onto their lessons as they follow the lead of the teacher. Though this is not always successful, Tran, an experienced teacher, would have been able to easily change to another strategy to deal with the student. It was difficult for me to sit and watch, as a teacher of 23 years I wanted to follow my instinct and try strategies of my own. Since the behavior wasn't major it was easily dealt with. At 10:10 students were given stickers and shown a video of an avalanche to boost lack of prior knowledge. Students were quite engaged to see what an avalanche looked like. Only one in the group knew what an avalanche was going into the lesson. Tran and I discussed the mini-lessons that would be given in the afternoon and made plans for me to observe/help next Monday-Wednesday on the elementary campus. Then I will teach mini-lessons to 5th graders on April 8 and 10th. Students are going to be moving into the testing season and things will start becoming more irregular as the staff moves to assist in any way they can, such as the IT doing reading intervention. The success of the campus, though heavily weighed on the teachers' shoulders, is shared across all staff. I find from past experiences that a staff dedicated to helping students makes a huge difference. Even simple encouragement from the nutrition and janitorial staff can give the students that boost of confidence to do their best. Tran will be conducting lessons with groups of 5th graders. A large group of students comes in and settles down. They are two computers short for the class so two students are grouped together. Today's class is going to teach them how to use classlink. Students log in using their personal credentials. There are three additional computers that won’t work correctly for some reason or another. Students with nonworking computers or sharing indicate significant distraction and lack of focus on directions. There are accounts that had to be adjusted for students, which Tran was able to handle from her end rather quickly.

www.classlink.com

Classlink is a site that lets students tap into icons instead of having to repeatedly login to apps they need. With this site, they log in a single time and browse apps that are campus and teacher supported. This is a fantastic site! Instead of students browsing around randomly, they have direction via this site.

Class one was quite talkative with a few particular students that needed some redirection. The redirection was successful overall. The challenge with class one is that so many students were on various levels of the instructions. Class two came in and were given instructions on how to ask for help and the expectations of the class. This is an introduction to classlink for these kids. This is a single sign-on service. It remembers the password and makes the system simpler. Classlink can be used at home, it is an internet program, not an intranet one. There is a cost for use, but this is definitely a useful program for the students. No longer do they have to keep typing in their credentials every time they get into a program, it remembers and does it for them. Students have an opportunity to explore the apps available to them.

Another important part of these lessons is the explain that when doing research it would be wise not to rely on google or Wikipedia due to the lack of credibility of some sites. Sites that are listed on the classlink are PebbleGo Next, Britannica, Brainpop, and Gale. Lessons were concluded with an emphasis on using authentic resources for research they will be starting soon in their classes.

Spring Break Activities with Learning and Leisure

Spring Break 2019 Activities

Though working on my internship, other college class, and the multitude of things that need to be accomplished at home, I am well aware of burn-out and want to take some time to reflect. Therefore during my Spring Break, March 11-15 was a well-structured week. 

I took my Mid-term for my other college class on Human Development then quickly moved into the study for my upcoming Comprehensive Exam. I'm quite nervous because of the importance of the exam not just to my plans to graduate this semester, but because I need to start working again as finances are getting tight. On the other hand, I'm excited to show what I've learned. Having made straight A's in all my classes, I feel I should have the knowledge I need to pass. 

As mentioned before there was one day of rest and recharging came in the form of a fishing trip with my family. Since my siblings and I were kids we would go camping and fishing together and we continued that tradition through losing my Father in 2004 and the recent loss of my Mother in January of this year. This year's camping trip did not come to pass due to my Human Development class. Camping does not afford a chance to get onto the internet to take Mid-term exams. The fishing weekend was fantastic however and there is nothing more important than being with family and the people you love. 

In reflection, I feel this blog is a true journey of this semester including the holiday's impact on my learning. I know many years ago when I was an undergraduate I did nothing during my spring break in relation to school. Now 17 years later about to graduate with my Masters, I want to excel, not to be competitive with others as much as with myself. My first degree was to secure a reliable career. This Masters degree is to fulfill a long-held dream of mine to be an Instructional Technologist with a school. It's amazing to see how I've changed in the almost twenty years between degrees and I want to make this best of this opportunity. 

Microsoft Innovative Educator Certification

Microsoft Training

A few years ago I became a certified Microsoft Innovative Educator. This was a requirement for me as I was volunteering to be a Technology Liason for my campus. When I left my district to pursue my dream of becoming an instructional technologist, I lost my standing with Microsoft because it was tied to my district email. After my training with STEAMinecraft I wanted to start my Microsoft training again, so I set up a new account. 

I've already earned the MIE, or Microsoft Innovative Educator Certification. In addition, I've earned the 21st Century Learning Design: Collaboration Badge that was a three-hour professional development course. I hope to continue taking courses at add badges to my profile. 

STEAMincraft Professional Development

STEAMinecraft Professional Development

February 28, 2019 9:00-3:00

What is STEAMinecraft?

Early this dreary day I find myself at the Stafford Civic Centre ready to learn more about how Minecraft can be used in the learning environment. I've heard fellow classmates over the semesters talk about how much they enjoy using Minecraft on their campus. Although I've very familiar with gamification in the classroom due to personal use and further studies in my studies for Educational Technology, I was unsure how this game could be used to enhance learning. 

On a personal note, my husband and daughter both play Minecraft, but I've not had much interest in it. I have always been quite amazed at how many people really like this game. In my mind, I always saw it as a big lego game, where one puts pieces together and occasionally is interrupted by wandering animals and 'walking dead'. The graphics are so blocky and I just didn't understand the draw the game had. Maybe this day would change all that. 

STEAM is the integration of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics into the classroom. This is supported by real-world problems and the development of critical and creative thinking to solve these problems. 

Minecraft is a game that came out in 2011 and became an instant hit. Since then it has been discovered that the game can enhance learning across disciplines. Much like any game in the classroom, students become highly engaged in its use. Even with the teachers present today, moving from one activity to another was difficult because many found it hard to pull themselves away from the assigned challenges. 

The objectives, as listed out on the powerpoint, were to:

• Familiarize participants with the basic game mechanics and provide opportunities to practice
•  Experience various curriculum-related activities that can be modified for specific classroom needs
• Develop ideas for integrating Minecraft into curriculum, standards, and instruction.

The professional development was well designed in the elements of the lesson itself supported the best pedagogical practices with a variety of activities. The presenters introduced themselves and their positions with the Educational Collaborators. Then gathered our level of prior knowledge from a few quick questions to the audience. 

Activity One- How the Game is Played

Activity one was to allow time for new users to become with how Minecraft is played. The instructors were quick to add that as an educator we didn't need to be experts and we wouldn't know as much as our students, but we did need to know the basic play. Since some of the audience was already familiar with Minecraft they were offered a chance to play with 'Minecraft Adventure'. 

I've always had a decent hand at playing games. I took 1 hour time to rush through and quickly familiarize myself with movement and equipment use and built me a house complete with three stories, glass windows, and a door. There were still questions I had regarding the game, but I was well on my way to understanding the basic play of the game.

Activity Two- Build Challenges

This activity shows what can be accomplished through Build Challange cards. These cards are colorful cards with directions on how to create something. A few options for our group included creating:

• an animal
• a desert island
• a tree house
• a spaceship

I wanted to create a spaceship. These cards had worlds setup for the creation, but because of time constraint, we all just worked on the grass field world. We were highly encouraged to preplan/draw out what we were going to do. As an artist, I rarely just dive into a piece of work. Even if I don't draw it out, I"ll preplan it in my mind and have a mental picture of how I want it to look. 

Feverishly I worked on my spaceship. At times I would become frustrated with myself because I hit the right button instead of the left which would destroy what was in front of me. I'd laugh, fix it, and carry on. This simple act is important for students. They need to know they will make mistakes and how to deal with them. Even in that simple act students would be learning a valuable lesson.

The activity ended and it was funny to hear everyone frantically trying to perfect their work. Finally, the instructor told us to stand and move away from the computers to get us to stop, which I had to laugh at. At this point, we did what the instructor called a parade and we looked at everyone's work. I was in the back looking at someones when I heard a bit of talking. I turned to find a group at the table where I had been sitting. I moved back to that direction as it was time to sit back down and reflect on the lesson. As I walked by an instructor, I asked what was going on and apparently, there had been a bit of a debate about the level of knowledge of the person of one of the spaceships. I knew my buddy next to me had made one as well, so I wondered if it was one of ours. Once the reflection began they spoke about how impressed they were with one of the spaceships and said that everyone wanted to know if the person was an expert Minecraft person. I blushed to find out they all looked at me and I explained I had just started that morning with them. I've never touched Minecraft before, the presenters were impressed. 

Activity Three- How to Assess through Minecraft

Assessment through Minecraft can occur in a variety of ways. Pieces of the game and even the game itself can be exported to a file for viewing and assessment. One piece that I thought was fun was the pictures. By selecting the camera a player can take images of their environment within the game. There is even an option of taking a self-portrait! This can be built into a journal of the game. Then students can also add slates, boards, and posters to the game to label parts. 

I believe that this game is pretty versatile when it comes to ways one can assess the student's creations or roles within certain worlds. One example is to have students recreate a scene from a book within Minecraft then have them create pictures and a journal, which would show and explain parts of the book. 

Activity Four- Collaborative piece on Representing an aspect of our Community

This activity was perhaps the most fantastic and engaging piece of collaborative work I've ever had the joy to work on. First, we had to choose roles and preplan. This included taking into account, without judgment, what each of us could accomplish together. I was the World host that they all tapped into. We each quickly worked on our parts of a community square that we were creating called 'Perfect World Square'. 

My team created a town square with a park in the center. I was in charge of doing a building and then another person was making another building, but only finished the landscaping in front before time ran out. Our last member was really struggling to do anything on the game, so we had to help her out a bit. 

Conclusion/Survey of Professional Development

The amount of teamwork and working through challenges together through this program was more than enough to sell me on what Minecraft Education has to offer schools. In addition, the activities tapped into critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, and communication, which are the four aspects of 21st Century Learning. 

There are not enough words to express how much impact this program would have on a district. Although this program does cost a bit, there is no price on what our students could learn through activities on this. This system is definitely something I would try to bring to an educational campus. I would love to do training through the CDW program again and perhaps even become part of it!

Digital Learning Showcase

Digital Learning Showcase 

This rainy day started off with the setup of Ipads and handouts on the programs displayed. There was an issue with the location, as the library just opened up yesterday for the Book Fair. There were two large round tables in the back that were used to display the showcase.

In addition, I found out that fifth grade was going to do DBA's District Benchmark testing today. DBA's are useful in pinpointing areas that students struggle in. They can be used to implement tutorials to address specific needs or extend learning before State testing. 

The campus is to remain quiet for the extent of testing time with no visitors. Sixth-grade teachers were encouraged to come in and take a break from the classroom by having the class visit the book fair, while teachers spoke with me about the digital showcase. Other than a few disruptive students, this worked out very well.

BrainPOP 

Put a Pop in Learning

Most teachers were familiar with BrainPOP but did not seem very familiar with connecting to setting up a lesson with activities attached. In speaking with my mentor, I found out that they had actually had training in the Fall over this very topic. It is obvious that teachers need follow-ups to professional development. In brainstorming how to accomplish this, they could do one of the following:

     1. Create a lesson, to be completed a few weeks later, that is shared with the IT to see that they understand it. 

     2. Take a quiz or assessment piece to see if they understand it.

     3. Work as a group or team to create a lesson together. 

I'm sure there are many other things that can be done to show that teachers understand the training and use it instead of forgetting it so quickly. 

Teachers do have so much that must be accomplished, its no wonder that some information must be 'weeded out'. Especially when you're looking at the Fall. There is so much on their minds from fixing their classrooms up to set up for the entire first two weeks of school. 

Flipgrid

Where Social Learning Happens

As a former sixth-grade teacher, I really found Flipgrid to be an excellent program, so I spent more time on this program than the others. It's free and easy use make this such a wonderful program/app. I showed a lesson and explained how students log in and how it can be used in the classroom. One teacher expressed wanting more help and I shared my email and told her to contact me and we could schedule a time for me to help her one-on-one. I'm really excited about this! To see my creation in Flipgrid click on the link https://flipgrid.com/ and type in jedi3  

Nearpod

Create. Engage. Assess

Nearpod has great potential for classroom use, especially for those teachers who put the effort into using it. One can upload lessons or pay for lessons. Most lessons ranged from $2.99-$4.99 for a single lesson. There were units that were priced for 29.99. The lessons are rich with various types of media. The secondary school of this district uses this program/app. 

ClassDojo

Happier Classrooms

I used ClassDojo in second grade, but not to its fullest potential. When I taught sixth-grade my campus used ClassDojo and it was a fantastic bridge between school and home. I was able to not just communicate behaviors to parents but share upcoming events and project links. There were times when I put a link to a video or photo to stimulate prior knowledge. I've used it to share Quizlets prior to vocabulary tests. 

Library Resources

Learning at Your Fingertips

This was a simple handout of resources provided by the campus for teachers and students to use. Teachers should realize the dangers of letting students use Google for research. These resources offer safe areas for students to look for their information and or give them an idea of where they can look. 

Among some of the links are Kids InfoBits, National Geographic Kids, Britannica School Elementary, SIRS Discoverer, EBSCO Ebooks, and Pebble Go.

It was good to be able to share with teachers some very good programs. It is important to note though that several of the teachers were distracted by students in the background or their minds were preoccupied with other matters. I can't fault them for any of that, the life of a teacher is quite challenging, especially when the normal school day is changed by testing and schedule alterations. The sixth-grade team, for example, had to keep students quiet with little movement until 1 and they didn't receive a conference period until 2 or so. Still, some educators were excited by the possibilities of using a new program/app with their students. Some teachers requested I help them with the programs. I shared my personal email with them and offered to come in and assist them with the creation of an account and setup. 

I created an infographic about the programs/apps shown. Click on the image to see it full size.