EEND 681Z Artifact #2

For my second artifact, I want to highlight the presentation Kristen and I did to help show our first grade teachers how they can use technology (even ChromeBooks!) with their students. Our fear is that many teachers will only use their 1:1 for math games, typing, etc.  Our school has had SAMR Model presentations, but the examples were never for very young students. We wanted to give real life examples of how SAMR could look with first graders, so we tried out a bunch of lessons with our own students and then used those lessons as examples. Of course, no one who uses tech is at the Redefinition stage every day, but the more we can work towards that, the better!

We asked the first grade teachers at both of our schools what their biggest worries were about using 1:1 with their students.

They had many, but these were the big three. Most of their worries fell under the umbrella of one of these three items.

Before this school year, I would have completely agreed with them. After focusing specifically on them since January, though, we've found that first graders can get quite adept at logging in and using apps to help them read. Once students can easily use a QR Code, sending them to any site is simple. The example we gave uses Padlet. If the kids use a QR Code to get to the Padlet, and then bookmark it, you can add any websites you want them to go ON the padlet and the students can get there easily. I've been doing one padlet per topic or unit.

We set some goals for the first graders, and then started tackling their challenges one by one. These are things we were able to get even our Level 1 ELL students to do within about two weeks.

Since we use tech with our students on a daily basis, Kristen and I were able to test out all of our solutions with our students. We didn't want to present anything to the teachers that we couldn't do for our own 1st grade students. All of our students are ELL, too, and lower in literacy than your average first grader. So if our students can do it, any first grader can!

We think this presentation is going to prove very useful to use next year as our buildings move closer to 1:1. The latest Google Apps allow for an amazing amount of creativity, and have accessibility options that are very helpful for our students. We want more teachers to be using them so that all kids can benefit from this kind of interactive, engaged learning through technology.

EEND 681Z Artifact #1

The first artifact I chose is my ideal tech classroom design. I loved thinking about how I would redesign a classroom to be ideal for my students and their learning. It was a completely different way of thinking for me, to be able to design every aspect of a classroom rather than having to work with what I am given. I was most excited about the idea of a digital microscope, because I have my ELL students do a lot of work with describing and comparing. Seeing things up close is engaging enough that my students will be eager to use the digital microscope and discover things about the natural world. I even ordered a digital microscope for my classroom. 

With 1:1 rolling out in my district next year, this classroom design got me thinking about my shifting roles. No longer am I the giver of knowledge. Instead, I'm a facilitator who needs to be down in the trenches supporting my students as they learn. I started to get irritated with my small, crowded classroom this semester. Working on tech projects was difficult because I had to keep moving from my docking station at my desk (facing away from the students) to a kidney table in the middle of the room. There was no room to walk around, and the kids were tripping over one another. (Not particularly safe with ChromeBooks. So two weeks ago I moved all of the furniture around in my classroom and completely ditched my teacher desk. This served two purposes. First, I could move my docking station to the kidney table, allowing me to use the SmartBoard while my students are sitting next to and around me. Next, it cleared a ton of space in the room, allowing for an extra narrow table where two students can sit. Getting the deep teacher's desk out of my room also allowed me to move the big tables to the center of the room, giving me enough space to fully walk around all of the tables and conference with students. There's even room for them to sit in the front to get a good look at my SmartBoard! (Shown below with a leaf in my new digital microscope!)

I love the idea of flexible seating, and I've always had a few yoga balls in my classroom so that my wiggly students can bounce as they work. After doing this classroom redesign, however, I wanted to go further. Though I can't get the fancy furniture I chose for my "ideal" space, I put my name on a list my principal sent out for those who wanted flexible seating. I guess we got a grant and anyone can get some alternate seating choices. I'm excited to see what our options are!

Introductory Post EEND 681Z

Hello! My name is Melissa Eaton, and I am an Elementary ELL Teacher for District #204. Currently, I teach grades K-5, and each year I teach a variety of ages and English levels. I've been teaching since 2000, and I have worked in District #204 as an ELL teacher since 2007. Before that, I was a classroom teacher (of mostly ELL students) for grades 3, 4, and 6 in Cicero. Pretty much my entire career has been spent working with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. I absolutely love the variety and the challenge involved in my job. I'm proud to work in a building where every class is like the United Nations; I can have ten students in a group and every single one of them has a different first language. I have all six grade levels K-5 this year, and I'm really hoping to learn something new and easy to implement that I can use with my students. I check out 10 Chromebooks every day, so I can function as a sort of 1:1, though many of my student still don't have technology access at home.

 I've been teaching since I had an actual chalkboard and no computer in my classroom. For most of my teaching career, though, I've had a single computer, and I have always integrated technology into my teaching as much as possible. I am one of the founding members of Teachers Pay Teachers, and I found out recently that one of my digital products was the first-ever sale on the site. I'm fairly comfortable with technology, and I feel like it's my responsibility to integrate technology into my teaching in a way that benefits my students and gives them the skills they need to succeed. My district will be 1:1 with Chromebooks as of 2018-2019, so I want to be ready for that transition.

 Actually, until the fall of 2016,  I'd never had a SmartBoard, just a projector that overheated multiple times a day. I was lucky enough to get the latest small classroom SmartBoard that has a screen more like a TV instead of using a projector. Since starting this instructional technology program, I have been integrating more and more of what I learn into my teaching. In addition, my second job is as an adjunct instructor for Benedictine University's graduate ESL endorsement courses, which are blended. This has required me to learn a great deal about online programs like Blackboard, Canvas, and D2L.

 On a personal level, I live in Plainfield with my husband, my two sons, and, most recently, my baby daughter. I've had a blog about my family since 2009, though I haven't done many posts since the baby was born. Using the blog as a kind of journal, my blogging varies in regularity. Using a blog, I can look back and remember not only the milestones from my children's lives but what I was thinking and feeling at the time.

Technology Walk-Through Tool--Artifact #2 for EEND 670D

For my second artifact, I chose the Technology Walk-Through Tool, which allows technology leaders to quickly go into a class and give feedback in a nonthreatening way about how technology is being implemented. Teachers tend to be hesitant about being observed, but this tool is non-evaluative in nature and is not intended to judge a teacher's class in any way.

Too often, teachers hesitate to open their classrooms to others. In general, teachers giving one another feedback can be incredibly valuable. When I was a classroom teacher, years ago, I worked with a new teacher one year, a career changer who was eager and very motivated. He spent two plan periods every week visiting other teacher's classrooms. This teacher would sit in on anything you were teaching and take notes the entire time. Then he wanted to discuss what he'd seen. Often, he had compliments, suggestions, and lots of questions. Upon request, I visited his classroom multiple times and gave the same kind of friendly feedback. I found it far more valuable than any formal or informal observation from an administrator, and I ended up visiting the classrooms of more teachers in my building. I found that I always learned something valuable, and I was usually able to make a suggestion or two in addition to reassuring a teacher about some of the wonderful things he or she was doing.

Technology is a perfect example of how informal, non-evaluative walk-throughs can give teachers feedback about how they're utilizing technology. Also, they can get information about new ways to incorporate existing technology, and ways to make technology use interactive and engaging. The template in the link allows the observer to organize his or her thoughts in a cohesive way. Hopefully this tool can lead to some very productive conversations about technology usage in classrooms.

Infographic--Artifact #1 for EEND 680D

This artifact is an infographic of some of the important things it takes in order to be an influential Educational Technology Leader. I chose this artifact because I was surprised at how easy it was to make, and how useful these could be for my classroom. I used a website called Venngage for this assignment, and was impressed by how many different kinds of templates they had. For the purposes of this assignment, I made an infographic geared towards teachers, but in the future I will use infographics for my students as well.

I am eager to try out infographics with my students, and I will be exploring various websites besides Venngage. For one thing, Venngage doesn't allow you to download the infographics, merely to share the website link. However, the website is simple to use and to teach to students, and the templates are very user-friendly.

As an teacher of English Learners, I know that my students need simple text with lots of graphic support when learning new concepts. Infographics can be a great way to do this, and now that I know how easy they are to make, I will definitely be using them with my students.

Course Reflection EEND 678A

Taking this course has given me quite a few new ideas to implement in my classroom. The first idea that I think I will use is backchannel talks. I love the idea of showing a video twice--once so that the students can just watch, and then once so that they can react and talk about it. For my ELL students, oral language and written language are two different things, and often one will develop before the others. I have students who are more comfortable communicating verbally, and those who like to write, largely because they can use translators and dictionaries to assist them. This would be an excellent way to accommodate for different learning styles among my ELL students, especially 3rd grade and up.

Another important thing I learned in this class was the use of a slidedeck. I loved the way ours turned out, and it was easy (and fun) to develop a single slide. Since it wasn't a huge project, I could spend a lot of time on my one slide until it was something I was proud of. I tend to think my students would have the same opinion about it. I can already think of many applications. For example, I could have my 3rd graders each make a slide about a different environmental issue. My 5th graders could come up with their own propaganda slides for or against the Revolutionary War. This type of project would be easy to implement, and my students would get excited about it without too much fuss.

Finally, I really liked developing the PBL. Though it was a huge challenge for me, the final product ended up being pretty cool, and I know my students will be enthusiastic about it. I've learned a great deal through this course, and I'm excited to have lessons ready to go!

PBL--Artifact #2 for EEND 678A

I chose this artifact because it was perhaps the most challenging assignment I've completed through this coursework. Basically, I created a problem-based learning unit where my third grader ELL students can design their own vermicomposting bins (in groups), use PixNTell to do tutorials on various parts of their project, and work on their writing skills by authoring a blog in the point of view of one of the worms.

For me, PBL is extremely challenging because I always feel like my ideas are too contrived. I'd love to give students more freedom in designing their own solutions to problems, but the age of my students, as well as cost, tend to limit this. I think my final project was a good compromise between student choice and direction for the project. I did make a vermicomposting bin once, but it was a teacher-directed enterprise. This project is different because the students will research, design, and build their own vermicomposting bins, taking pictures and writing directions at each stage. For my ELL students, expository writing is really critical, and this is a true life application of this kind of writing.

I'm especially excited about the tech applications of this project. I like the idea of having them draw the steps and narrate them in PixNTell. I know that my student are fascinated with how worm bins work. I also like the idea of the students taking the lead with the worms. Frankly, I have a habit of accidentally killing them. My students could take the compost and put it into our school garden at the end of the school year. They'd be learning about decomposers and applying that knowledge to soil quality as well as plant science. Finally, I thought my students could do a video story about their project for Koala TV, the weekly program that our school plays for all students. Producing their own video (as ELL students) would be excellent oral English practice for a real reason.