Sick Days & Technology

Feeling sick in the middle of the night and the fever in the morning when the alarm goes off can make it pretty easy to make that sick day call. But what about my plans, my students, the lessons....
Here's what I did today to make it work and feel better about not being well enough to be there.

I already have a wiki set up in my class with my students and we've used it several times. So when I realized I wouldn't be in. I did what I had to do. I emailed my hourly plans to my neighbor teacher for my substitute. I also added some other assignments and resources to my wiki since a few of my classes have tests tomorrow.

During one of my classes, the students were told to get on my wiki and follow the link to a video or article and make a comment on the wiki about what they read or watched. I sat and watched under the blanket on my couch live as students started commenting and when they ran into trouble or started getting lazy with their comments, I surprised them by commenting back and let them know how I felt about the work they were submitting.

Once I commented it was 5 minutes before anyone posted. The reality set in that I was still there, reading, and watching.

After the 5 minutes passed, the comments started pouring in, much better and revised.

Score! Technology saved me on my sick day!

New Way to Use Kahoot

After we came back from winter break, I have amped up the games and interactive play opportunities in my classroom. The second wind we get to finish out the year only lasts so long, and my students need every opportunity to become motivated to finish strong.

A co-worker told me about Kahoot and showed me how I could integrate it into my lessons early in the year. I had a lot going on during first semester and now can finally make some time for it. Anytime all of my students have finished their work for the day and we have 10 minutes left in class I let them pick a topic and we search the public Kahoots for one that is "just right."

My students LOVE it! Especially my high school students who I often fought with to put their phones away. The first day back, they were shocked and confused when I asked them to get their phones out and head to Kahoot.

Recently I read on Free Technology For Teachers that Kahoot now has a "ghost mode" where students can play against themselves based on a previous score. First the students need to play a Kahoot quiz how they normally would. Then when the quiz is complete, there is supposed to be an option for ghost mode. It should take you back through the quiz.

I have yet to try it, but sure I will sometime this week. Here's the link where I found out about this: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/01/have-you-tried-kahoots-ghost-mode.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=freetech4teachers#.VpugSTZrXww

The Technological Introduction

Getting a Master's in Educational Technology should mean something to you and your district when you finally walk away with that diploma in hand. The fancy paper and gold seal mean you know and understand technology as well as have hundreds, possibly thousands of ideas for using technology in any classroom, especially yours. As I approach the end of my program, I have been reflecting on all I have learned, what I have been able to use, implement, and what information I've forgotten misplaced and desire to use later.

This year is my first year teaching. I actually finished my bachelor's 6 years ago. Instead of jumping into a career, I got married, started a family, and moved around with my husband while he served our country. When he left active duty and switched to the reserves so he could be home with his family, I was able to focus on my career. That was when I started my master's program at Lesley.

I have always preferred spending my free time on the computer and as I prepared to return to the classroom, I considered what had changed and how I could 1) make myself more marketable and 2) how to use the technology that is now so widely used.

As I started the year, the only technology I had was the SmartBoard that hung on my white board. (Don't worry I've started asking if I can get it moved to a different wall. I teach math, I NEED my white board!) Within 1-2 weeks after school started, I was a 1:1 chromebook classroom.

Currently, I use the chromebooks specifically for Study Island, but I also use them for science projects (I have 1 science class), game hour on Fridays, Google docs (so we don't have to use the computer lab as often), Wiki assignments (I started a wiki and have used it a handful of times), and online scavenger hunts (I used one as a semester final before the holiday break). So far, I don't do a lot of technology usage. I know there is tons of stuff out there, but because I teach math I have struggled to come up with a solid list of tech savvy math ideas. (So if you have some, let me know.)

Here's one "list" of chromebook classroom use ideas. -> Here

Before students came back from the break, we had a PD day. A teacher from another school, who is also a previous instructor of mine from the university I received my bachelor's, came and did a segment on technology in the classroom. She presented several new ideas, most focused on English and Social Studies, since that is what she teaches. However, she did show us a blog feed list, and that is coming in very handy with my current class.

I will attach her pbworks link later this week (it's in my desk at school).