Reflections...

     As I finish up a course named "Integrating Technology Across Content Areas" I am happy to tell you that this has been time and money well spent.  You can't help but worry as you begin any new course!  I have added many new tools to my bag of 'tricks' and am excited to create more activities to start the new school year come August. 

     I started this course by creating a GAME plan for advancing my competencies in technology integration. My goals were to: collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation and engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.  
These are not goals that end now that this course is coming to a close.  These are goals that I am continuing to improve upon as I plan for the new school year.  I suspect that I will be working on these goals for the duration of my school career.  Are we ever 100% effective?  I know I'm not!  I can't imagine being 100% effective, but who doesn't want to be??? So I will keep striving up, up, and (hopefully, not 'away'!)!!


Here's and update on how I'm progressing.  My new class blog can be found at Dills' Darlings! I am starting to work on uploading important documents and forms parents might want so they can find what they need.  I will add links to other web pages that may be helpful.  All of this will be ready for the start of the year (one less thing to do in August, can I get an AMEN?).   I think this class blog will be an integral part in communicating with my parents and truly enhance my students' skills digitally and within other content areas.  Killing a bunch of birds with one stone..... I'm thinking, YES!

I am very excited to be incorporating more 'real world' activities into my classroom.  The project that I worked on during this course was all about the Lost and Found.  If you've ever been around kindergarten kids you know that they can't quit talking about this thing!  When a child goes to look in the lost and found they get this look upon their face....how can I describe it....hmmmm, similar to the look I get on my face when I walk into the Apple Store.  It's like 'ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'.  They are truly transfixed on the Lost and Found! Our unit was so much fun, for them and myself!  We sorted, counted, tallied, organized, compared, predicted, created a commercial....and then when others claimed their items we did it all over.  The students were so engaged.  For a kindergarten student 'engaged' can be synonymous with 'excited'.  Let me remind and tell you that we did this project that last week of school..... yep, the last week!!!!  Many students didn't want to leave the room because they were afraid if someone had some questions about the lost and found they wouldn't know who to ask!!!!!!  At the end of the unit/year one boy said "I wish we had a few more days of school so maybe we could find some more things and try to find the loser."  (OK...by 'loser' he meant the person who 'lost' the items..... Remember, kindergartners here!  That was the appropriate way to use the term 'loser'!  Ha!  I love kindergarten!)

Here's the 'commercial' we made to encourage others to come find their belongings:

One idea I received from a classmate to enhance my lesson would be for the students to participate in a skit about someone losing an item and what to do if you find something. I see this lesson as something that could be done multiple times throughout the year and additions could be made to stretch the students' learning. 

I would like to incorporate using the GAME plan with my students.  They will especially like the acronym.  Even kindergartners can look at where they are and discuss what they need to improve upon and even come up with ideas to do it! 

Good luck to everyone as they being their summer relaxation/preparations for next year! Here's my little sweetie I'll be hanging out with!

My GAME Plan...

Have you checked out the technology standards for teachers lately?  You can view them here: The ISTE NETS and Performance Indicators for Teachers (NETS•T)

As I reflect on these 5 standards and 25 indicators I am somewhat relieved to say that I feel comfortable with many of the standards and indicators.  With that being said, it is also evident that there is still much work to be done and technology advancements to be made.  The two indicators that I will focus on will be 1.b (engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources).  The key words in this indicator for me are 'real-world issues' and 'solving authentic problems'.  I am striving to utilize technology in a way to that promotes problem solving skills and creativity, not simply practice academic skills.  The other indicator I would like to enhance is 3.b (collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation).  Within this indicator I would like to focus on collaborating with students. 

Doesn't this sound like a great idea?  Of course, great ideas are simply that..ideas.  To make these ideas turn into reality I must have a plan, specifically a GAME plan.  Cennamno, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) explain that the GAME plan should include:

Set Goals: My first goal is to create more meaningful real-life activities for my kindergarten classroom that utilize technology and promote creativity. I see this goal as an opportunity to create more project based lessons within my classroom. My second goal is to collaborate with students to enhance their learning through the use of technology and digital tools. I specifically want to create a class blog where my students are able to post daily.

Take Action: I will research what other kindergarten teachers are doing to include project based activities.  I am already finding many examples of wonderful projects.  Here's one about school buses! I will set up a classroom blog and begin teaching my students how to summarize our learning and our day to create a post. I will also find other kindergarten blogs to show my students. Here's an example of an individual student's blog.  How cute it that????

Monitor Your Learning: As I begin this process it will be imperative that I track my learning and progress.  As needed I will adjust what I am doing to fit out needs.

Evaluate and Extend Your Learning: I don't see these goals as a final destination but a continual improvement plan.  As I complete each project I will need to reflect upon my learning along with my students' and make any other changes that need to be made.  As I look at extending my learning I will be able to include more project based activities that include technology and digital tools.  I will also be more skilled at blogging and finding learning opportunities within blogging.

Any suggestions to help me be successful??


Resources:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

End of Course Reflection

    As I look back on this course I feel fortunate for the opportunities and technologies I was able to discover in the past seven weeks.  Most importantly, I was able to collaborate with other professionals who are excited about technology, willing to share their ideas, and interested trying new technology.  I appreciate the fact that during the span of this course we were actually able to utilize blogs, wikis, and podcasts in a more "trial and error" way than simply reading about them in a chapter of a text book. 

At the beginning of the course I rated myself low on utlizing collaboriate of students working towards a common goal.  Sometimes in kindergarten we shy away from these activities because it gives too much freedom to students who are still learning rules and procedures.  This course has reminded me of the importance and even shed new light on the idea of 21st century skills being more than simply utilizing technology, but collaboration, problem solving, communication, and technology.  I feel that I have always realized the teacher should be facilitator and not the dictator in the classroom.  It is easy to get sidetracked though and this course was a great reminder in the importance of looking at myself as a facilitator. 

I have been able to share my blog with others along with updating my blog with information geared towards the ipad I now have in my room.  I am working towards recieving more ipads through a grant and district support and the research from this class has helped me make my case to the administration.  This course came at a perfect time of the school year as I've been able to test out many of my new skills.  For the future I have specific goals that I am striving towards.  I plan to utilize more collaboration in my classroom based on creating a project and communicating thtat out to others.  Another goal I have for myself is to maintain my blog and continue to update on the trials and successes of the ipads in my classroom.  I feel that my blog will be the perfect way to reach out to other professionals but also to inform my colleagues and head discussions of effectiveness. 

Don't drop it.............

5 year olds + breakable = Mrs. Dills' stress rising

I was fortunate enough to have my Principal purchase a case for my ipad.
I was also fortunate that no one dropped it before we received our case.  (The "Don't drop it" stress is valid...I can't tell you how many clickers have crashed to the floor!  Thank goodness they are very hearty!)

I was torn on what type of case would work best.  Here's the one that I have and I would suggest it to anyone with small children using your beloved ipad!  It fits snugly and is very easy for the children to carry around.