Week 7.5--Reflection 2---EDU77799-LEARNING THEORIES AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNS

Proposal Reflection

PROPOSAL JOURNEY
At first, I was intimidated by the prospect that I was going to have to write a professional paper with research. I haven't written a formal paper in years, so my first thoughts were---YIKES! What did I get myself into? I knew what I wanted for my school, but how to get it, was a different story. After diving into this project, my nerves settled, because knowing that I had an opportunity to make a difference for my school and students was motivating. For the past four years, I have shared a tech goal with my principal, but that's all I did. Yes, I'm thrilled that each goal I had came to fruition, but this year I'm making it happen!

CHALLENGES
The main challenge is not knowing how to get from point A to point B with my goal. I know exactly what I want this year, but how to get it---not a clue. If the principal from the four years was still at my school this year, she could have guided and taught me the process and red tape of Title III funding. Having a new principal who has never applied for Title III funding or how to acquire it has been more difficult than writing an APA style paper. Since I want my students to have 1:1 Chromebooks, I know I will do everything in my power to get that for them. I still have a long road ahead of figuring out all the ins and outs of the process, but with the support of my current principal and fortunately some help from my former principal, this dream of mine will become a reality.

"I'M SO EXCITED AND I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT!"
Excited is an understatement. I love working at my school and the kids, working on this plan is a labor of love. With every little victory--figuring out how to muddle my way through the process, my excitement grows. I absolutely can't wait to wheel that cart of Chromebooks into my classroom and show my students, if you work hard and set realistic goals, dreams can become reality.

POSITIVE ASPECTS
Just being able to go back to school and working on a plan that IS GOING TO HAPPEN, has been positive. The excitement the other teachers have about moving to 1:1 devices, is touching. Knowing that at the start of this class, my dream was just a dream, but now is a plan I'm determined to make happen, makes me smile. 

NEGATIVE
I'm working on my goal, no time to worry about anything negative.

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BECOMING A TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST
I've been a classroom teacher for 30 years and still love it. I did teach computer classes and was the tech coordinator for my school for 5 years, but that was over 10 years ago. Keeping my mind open to new opportunities is something I need to remind myself to do. Switching to another role, is scary and I'm still lacking confidence in my ability to take on this role. This is only my 2nd course, so I know I have a lot to learn, but I'm willing to put in the work. My understanding of what a tech specialist is better. Writing proposals is new for me and to my understanding of what a tech specialist does.

LEARNING THEORIES AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNS

Blog #1 Reflection--The Proposal

At the beginning of the process I was excited to think of a technology aspect that would help my school. I knew exactly what I wanted from the start---1:1 Chromebooks. For the past several years I was fortunate to have a principal who encouraged me to dream and dream I did. Unfortunately, my principal decided it was time to leave and spend more time with her family, but that didn't stop my dreaming. The only difference now is that my current principal has put me in charge of being the Title III coordinator for my school. This new role of mine started during the second week of this class--Perfect Timing!

Part of my job as coordinator is to determine the need, write a plan, and follow through with any paperwork and requisition of funding that my school needs and is entitled to. I hope with the proposal that is required in this class is one I can use at my school this year. 

Thus far, having the process chunked has been workable. Now that assigning projects in on the other foot, I can see why chunking assigning projects to our students this way is more beneficial. Not that I didn't know that, but having to actually go through the process makes it clear why I need to continue breaking down long-term assignments for my kids.

The stressful part for me was actually writing an APA paper. YIKES! I haven't done that in years. I do teach writing, but to sixth grade students. The level of writing is clearly different and I teach my students the basics of APA/MLA writing. This part was a true struggle for me.

Although the most challenging part was writing the proposal, I'm still excited to move forward and see this project to the end. Helping to move my school from shared devices from preschool-8th, to 1:1 Chromebooks for 6th-8th is a reachable goal and I can't wait to finally be able to roll that shiny new cart into my classroom and watch my kid's faces. I've shared my dream with them and the types of homework I have. Not to brag, but to show my students that if you have a goal of wanting something, you have to put in the work to get it.

My second challenge is that since I now have a principal who has no experience with Title III funding, I am left to tackle this goal at work on my own. Right now I feel overwhelmed with that and I'm reaching out to others with questions, so that helps. My current principal is behind me 100% and is supportive and is helping me form connections with the right people. Juggling coarse work, work, family, and now my favorite time of the year with the holidays, I need to find ways to get everything done, but still enjoy the ride.

I'm not sure what I think about Technology Specialist roles of Learning Specialist and Instructional Designer. As a classroom teacher, this is all still pretty new to me. I know I have a deep interest of technology and I enjoy sharing what I know at work and learning from others, but I'm still learning about what being a tech specialist truly means. I'm curious to learn about the field of tech coaching and what that entails. 

Article Reflection

6 Tips for Teachers on Social Media in a Connected World

The concept of digital tattoo is still ringing in my ears, so I was drawn to this article about what we as educators should keep in mind while using social media.  The article discusses the hesitation many of us have about posting information online. There were six tips given to help educators as they decide what to and what not to post. The article also has a link that leads you to information about Connected Educators Month, which is in October.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

REFLECTION

Looking Back 

“Free Images : Light, Car, Photography, Window, Glass, Driving, Reflection, Vehicle, Blue, Rear View Mirror, Fisheye Lens, Automobile Make, Automotive Exterior, Automotive Mirror 5018x3219.” Free Images : Light, Car, Photography, Window, Glass, Driving, Reflection, Vehicle, Blue, Rear View Mirror, Fisheye Lens, Automobile Make, Automotive Exterior, Automotive Mirror 5018x3219 - - 148155 - Free Stock Photos - PxHere, pxhere.com/en/photo/148155.

and Looking Ahead

Galyonkin, Sergey. “Anna Bashmakova and Oculus Rift.” Flickr, Yahoo!, Sept. 2013, www.flickr.com/photos/sergesegal/10166365646.

Cha-cha-cha-Changes

Out of all the changes I've noticed from the start of this class, is my confidence that I have in my tech abilities and my decision to go back to school. The Google Doc I've kept of tools to try to enhance my teaching and use with my students include:

Digital Tattoos

Digital Tattoos--Blog #7

What?

When I saw the term Digital Tattoo, I had something completely different in my mind. I thought the term referred to actual tattoos that are digital. Nicole's explanation of what is meant by digital tattoo made me stop and think. Did I put something online that I regret? Will others find out something about me that I want to keep private? How easy is it to find info about someone? Yikes!

Sites such as Nuwber, Truthfinder, Spokeo, and Pipl lists--AKA--teases you types of information about you, but there's a cost for a detailed report. Below are just a couple examples of what displays when I searched my name. 

Nuwber Results

Nuwber led me to Truthfinder. I blocked out my family member's names.

Searching my name and seeing my family member's names also display, was a little creepy, but I understand we live in era where privacy is dead. I get it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I wanted the perspective of someone who is in his twenty's. Kris said that he is in the minority of how his friends think--"My friends don't seem to mind, but I don't like having everything I do as public knowledge."
I didn't like that others can search my name, pay for reports about me, and I won't be notified that someone is "stalking" me.

When I searched my name via Google search, I wasn't surprised by the search results. I use Google often and often forget to put myself as incognito and I think that happens, because I know by doing so, I'm still not invisible online.  

Most of the search results revolved around my Facebook usage. I admit, I do like Facebook for a variety of reasons, from seeing photos of family members I don't see as often as I would like and to play games. I find playing games is a nice break from grading papers, it's like my own brain break. I'm also the admin for St. William School's Facebook page, thus, many of the images and slideshows via Youtube were also listed. What I did find surprising is that comments I posted on Facebook, also appeared in the search results. Other search results included: my classroom web page and this blog, and web page, Linkedin, G+, Twitter, White Pages, just to name a few. I also looked at the images and there sure are a lot of people out there with the same name as mine. The Linkedin search was done out of curiosity because wanted to see what comes up when I searched my name. I'm pleased with the display, because it looks professional and viewers can clearly see that I'm an educator.

About Me is different that I what I expected. I thought this would be yet another paid site that would host too much info about me. This site claims that you are in control of what your web presence is. After seeing all the sites that has info about me, not sure how much control I would really have.

Social Mention--I'm not mentioned anywhere, but after all the other places I found my name, I'm okay with this.

Block Shopper--I wasn't sure what this site was by the title, so I chose to check this one out. The information about where I live is out of date and inaccurate. If I was buying a home, I now know that this site is not very reliable.

Web 2.0 Tool---Animoto

Animoto

Animoto is an online tool that allows you to create slideshow videos to teach a lesson, promote your school, and share with families as a memento. Students can also benefit by using Animoto with using tech skills, planning, organizing, collaboration, writing, and speaking, for any subject as a presentation tool.

This is a tool that I knew of, but never used. I actually had an Animoto account that according to the site, stated I signed up for about five years ago. It must have been a tool mentioned at a PD that I signed up for and then forgot about. Sound familiar? The links with all the tools to choose from was overwhelming, but when I saw Animoto, I thought I would give it a chance. Boy, I'm glad I did.
At first, I was disappointed that the 8 photos or so that I selected had to be narrowed down to about 5. Then I remembered that Powtoon offers a special account for educators, so I thought I would find out if Animoto offers the same thing. Just like Powtoon, Animoto gives you a year with the educators account, then you just renew yearly.

Blog #5 Research

Educational Technology Research

Flipped Learning

“Technology will never replace great teaching, but technology in the hands of a great teacher, can be transnational.” --George Couros

The article I chose was, “Trends in Digital Learning: How K-12 leaders are empowering personalized learning in America’s schools,” from Project Tomorrow Speak Up. There were two statistics that caught my attention right away, one dealing with principals and the other with a focus on parents.

“Two-thirds of school principals now want new teachers to be proficient in using digital tools such as social media apps for communications with parents and students” (2016). Working in a school with seasoned teachers, I can see how principals would want to hire educators who have 21st century skills. Over the past couple of years, the new teachers that were hired are more proficient with tech skills than the current staff, but not as proficient as I thought they would be. Now this sounds like I am tooting my own horn, but I did work on my tech skills over the years and I am just as proficient and in some cases, more so, than the newer teachers. Seeing the importance of collaboration, blended learning, digital citizenship, and 21st century skills, I dove in head first to learn as much as I could. My thinking is, if teachers expect our students to try and get out of their comfort zone, we need to expect the same from ourselves.

My school acquired iPads and Chromebooks over the past three and half years, but since I have been working in my current school, the teachers always had at least one computer in their classroom and a lab to use. Keeping up with one’s skills can be difficult if the devices and opportunities are not available. A few years back it was difficult to find a staff pd where teachers actually used computers, due to places not having Wi-fi. Teachers would watch a long drawn out Power Point, that was usually read to them. How exciting! Now, Wi-fi is standard in most places where staff pds are held, thus making things much easier for teachers to be involved in hands-on learning.

For myself, my interest in technology motivated me to seek out how to use it with my students, and every time I found something I could use with my students, I did. Since trends in education are promoting active learning and moving away from the ever exciting lecture, educators need to step up.

Blog #4--Active Learning

Quadblogging

When I visualize active learning, I picture a classroom with students engaged with each other, movement, noise, student led, and teacher as moderator.

By Metropolitan School - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, 

Not this!

Lecture time

In an active learning classroom, students not only take ownership of their learning, but they also assess and reflect on that learning. Real connections are made through experiences that help students to see the why a topic or concept is relevant. I want my students to grow up to be life-long learners, meaning helping my students develop a thirst for knowledge. As educators, we need to keep up the our ever changing world and to do so, we need to strengthen our own 21st century skills. I love it when a student asks a question and we take a moment to explore the answer using rich content, visuals, and audio.

Intro to Quadblogging

A wonderful concept, but teacher beware. After investigating what Quadblogging is, I would like to try it, but not from the web site. The idea of connecting with three other classrooms from anywhere in the world, sounds AMAZING! Even though using the website to start such an endeavor is on my--Don't try this at home kids--list, the concept behind blogging is worth looking into. I ended up following Nicole's advice and searching out my own group to connect with for my classroom. It is slow moving, but I think it will be worth the time. I hope to have an update soon. Here is my Padlet about Quadblogging.

Blog #3--Digital Mapping

DIGITAL MAPPING

PLN MAP

Making a visual of my PLN was a fun activity for me. First reason-->Making a visual representation of how and what my online activity made me see how time I spend online and how much I should cut down. Second reason-->The only time I ever used Drawing is when I was adding an image I need to alter within a Doc. This app was easier to use than I thought it would be, so now I have another tool to use with my students.

Personal Visitor

At first glance, one might ask--Does someone still actually use AOL? Yes! I'm slowly moving away from AOL, but with all the contacts and sites I have marked, I just haven't completely dumped AOL. The gaming site on AOL is something I use as a stress reliever from grading papers. As far as the rest of my personal resident quadrant, I mainly shop online only for gifts and my Cubs tickets.

Professional Visitor

Looking at this quadrant, I see that I conduct mostly searches. The searching I do is for ideas, strategies, and support for what I want to use in my classroom. Pinterest is an abyss, so I have to more aware of how much time I spend there---ugh. Google+ is becoming more and more my go to site for tech help. I started to use Classroom on a full-time basis and moved away from Edmodo, I need some assistance with some of the Classroom features. Thus, I posted questions on G+ and received almost immediate results. Maybe one day I will contribute more, instead of just taking info.

Personal Resident

This quadrant surprised me, I thought I would have tons of images here. I am on my computer more than I should be, but I enjoy connecting with family and friends. My family is spread out, so connecting with them through email and social media has become a daily event. Creating a profile on Linkedin was something I did a few years ago, when a job situation came up for my family and I needed to find a second job. My plan is to update my profile as I progress through technology specialist program. Then, this will move into the Professional Resident quadrant.

Professional Resident

This is my 30th year of teaching and I still absolutely love my job! This quadrant excites me the most, because as an educator, the wealth of resources there are now is nothing compared to when I first started teaching. I would have to either create my own material on my DOS computer or word processor or buy it from a catalog. Most of my time online revolves around, what can I do next with my kids? I refuse to be the teacher one looks at and says--->She should retire. If someone passing by my classroom doesn't see/hear me singing, dancing, on floor, and laughing, I get asked if I'm sick.

I put some of those sites/apps in this quadrant, because I do contribute to them, either by making my own learning videos, files, and resources I share with others. With Edmodo, I no longer use with my students, but I do seek out teacher connections, share ideas, and post resources. The video lessons I make with Explain Everything are shared with other students and teachers through their site and on YouTube. Edpuzzle is a site I use with my students with not only pre-made videos and questions, but I also edit videos to make my own for educators to use. Dropbox might not seem like it falls into this quadrant, but I take most of the photos at school and share them in DropBox for my principal, marketing manager, Big Shoulders, and other teachers to use for marketing my school. Facebook is the only social media site that I use almost daily, personally and professionally. I run the school's Facebook page and I spend time on my own page. The last site that I have been a fan of for a few years, and now so are my colleagues is SimpleK12. You can either join as a free member or with a paid subscription. The main difference between the two are, with the paid subscription, you can earn CEU's from your HOME. You can also contribute, become an online presenter, and make connections with educators from around the world.

Conclusion

I hope to add more resources to the Professional Resident during this school year. EdCamp looks like a fun way to actually spend time with other educators, not just online. I was thinking of possibly doing a digital mapping activity with my 6th graders, to see where they fall. Modifications would would need to be made to fit the level of my kids, but I think it would be eyeopening to them to see how they use tech in their own lives.

Resource-- Visitor & Resident Map App

Blog #3 PLN--Twitter

Twitter Reflection

My Twitter handle is @Karen3404.

Twitter is not something I use on a regular basis, but I created an account in 2015. When I saw that this week was a Twitter assignment, my first reaction was not--Yay! Maybe if I used it more and understood the tools, I would grow to appreciate Twitter, thus approaching this assignment with an open mind was my goal. Since the last time I used Twitter was about a year and a half ago, figuring out how to join a live chat, was painful. If anyone has a step by step cheat sheet for me, that would be appreciated. I joined a chat from by choosing one from the live chat link that Nicole supplied, then fumbled my way to figuring out how to join it. Once there I was fine with responding to the posed questions, but most of the time forgot to add R1 or A1 to my tweet. It was affirming to see that many of the responses to the moderators questions were were similar, because that showed I'm not alone in my thinking. The takeaway from the Twitter chat was the idea of putting a sentence of positive reflection for the girls in their washroom. I did ask the person who tweeted if there is one or plan to have a positive sentence for the boys, and the response was yes. Trying a live chat, just for my own benefit is something I plan on doing again. If I expect my students to try and not give up, I need to demand the same for myself.

#mnlead Twitter Chat

Response to my Tweet--Yay!

9-11-17--Spent some time on Twitter today looking for a worthwhile sources to tweet. I have a handle on how to tweet and retweet, but still felt like I was bumbling my way around.

9-14-17--Started to follow more educators and professional education sites.RT a link for Article from Mind/Shift

9-16-17--Notes about a RT--Google has great online classes and opportunities for educators to become certified. Here is the link for digital citizenship courses from Google. 

9-17--From a live Twitter chat about reading for fun, which I chose because of the prompts about motivation and engaging.

Live Twitter Chat

9-23-17--Retweeted inforgraphic about PBL@Alex_Corbitt . and tweeted about "What does effective PD looks like?" @Getting_Smart

Twitter Post

9-24-17--Retweeted source --How to Strengthen Listening Skills with Podcasts--I think sometimes we as teachers overlook the importance of listening skills. Not the typical, I am talking to you, so please listen, type of concept. Rather, teaching our kids how to be active and respectful listeners. We cannot expect our students to form an objective opinion or argue an issue, if the students first do not how to listen. The article that is with the tweet is short and to the point, with a handful of suggestions to try with students to help them to become good listeners.

9-26-17 Took a chance on a Twitter Chat #6thchat=best one I participated in, thus far. This is a weekly chat, with a different focus each week. This week was about teaching vocabulary. Click HERE for a view of the chat.

Who I'm Following

@Alex_Corbitt                @Makerspaces_com ‏              @mrskochheiser‏              @MrSTEMcenter 

@friEdTechnology ‏         @OfficeofEdTech ‏                  @ajpodchaski ‏                   @explainevrythng  @EdWeekEdTech ‏           @robertjmarza                       @eschoolnews ‏                  @SimpleK12 ‏        @flippedclassrm ‏             @TeacherCast                         @ShakeUpLearning ‏        @FreeTech4Teache ‏@iPadEducatorsAE         @edutopia                               @MindShiftKQED           @purposegames    @TeachMrReed               @MsKirksey4                         @pernilleripp                   @Teachr4                @EdTechTeacher21            

Final Reflection

After using Twitter a few times since the start of this assignment and participating in Nicole's Zoom session, I am more proficient with using Twitter and Twitter Chats. I'm glad I stuck with it. I will definitely be checking in with #6thchat on a regular basis. 

   

Blog #2 Framework--SAMR

My first experience with the SAMR model was in 2014, when I was a fellow in the Beck Blended Learning Fellowship. Three other teachers from my school were also in this wonderful program that is offered at Dominican University.

After the first fellowship session, my bubble was burst when I found how much I did not know.  My fellow colleagues and I left that first session with our heads spinning from being presented with all the apps and websites that we could use with our students.I just did not know what tech tool to start with and how to implement it. I felt like I was diving off the cliff into an endless pool of ideas, and then waiting for someone to save me from going under from being overwhelmed. The SAMR model helped, because I was able to easily place myself into a category, which gave me a starting point of where I was and where I wanted to be.

Now before I go into the SAMR model, here is a little background about my school. In 2014, my school had a computer lab with about 25 desktops. In my classroom I had four desktops that were mostly used for stations (Substitution), which I did when the calendar allowed me to. When our new principal arrived, she was on a mission to get some tech in our school and into the hands of our kids. We started the school year with our old chalkboards that were transformed into white dry erase boards, and laptops and projectors for the teachers. Thanks to my boss and an anonymous donation, we had 30 iPads by the end of the school year. During the 2015 school year, our faithful leader brought in 25 Chromebooks. In 2016, an addition of 25 more Chromebooks and 10 iPads were added. For a small school like mine, this was like hitting the lottery. Being able to project video clips, examples, primary sources, and help my students visualize what I was trying to teach, truly changed the way I teach.

Educational Trends Presentation---Memes & Resources

My educational trend presentation was--memes. As stated at the end of my video, I used an app called, Explain Everything. At this time, adding clickable links to the presentation is not possible. Here is a list of clickable resources that were mentioned in the Meme presentation. Hope you find something you can use.

For me, memes were just items to make you laugh or bring attention to an issue. I never thought of using them with my sixth grade students. After completing this project, I think I will give them a try.

Blog #1 Update

Today one of my sixth grade students asked me if I could go to the soccer game. I do try to support our school activities when I can, but I just could not go. Wanting to be honest, I told my student, that I could not go because I had too much homework. He responded with something such as this---What? You have homework? But you're the teacher you don't get homework, you give homework!
I then told my class that you are never too old to learn and go back to school, that it was a dream of mine to earn another masters. I love it when those teaching moments just happen. After I explained what I was doing, the kids clapped and cheered for me. I WAS TOUCHED! One student asked me, "What else is there for you to learn about tech? You are already the tech queen of the school." That one made me laugh out loud. I told him, believe me after I read what kinds of assignments I will have, I have plenty to learn.
God, I love my job!

Introduction---Blog Post #1

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