Technology and Literacy

I just finished reading Amplify: Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom. I was inspired to purchase the book when I saw it floating around twitter. My PLN on Twitter were tweeting and re-tweeting this books.  I found myself following the Amplify Teaching group on Facebook and I watched Katie and Kristin’s discussion in April at #TheEdCollabGathering.

     The first thing I noticed I needed to tackle was the mindset for integrating technology and literacy. I consider myself, what Mark Prensky calls, a digital immigrant. I do not automatically think in terms of what I can do with technology. I still read books aloud to students and show them the pictures from my lap. I find it easier to draw out a quick graphic organizer than use a digital drawing tool to create one. I, also, find it easier to use a dry erase board instead of a digital white board that “captures” my thinking. I want to learn how to integrate technology with literacy to amplify my students' learning.

     Katie and Kristin have shared a wealth of knowledge with me. Because of them I was introduced to Padlet and started using it!  That was a big step. I had to overcome my desire to throw in the towel every time I hit a road block.
     I began my Padlet journey with one child. I used the iPad to record his retelling of a story. Success #1! I used iMovie as a formatting/publishing tool. Success #2!
     Now come the road blocks… I had to upload the movie to the internet. I tried sending it to my email ~ unsuccessful. I tried sending it to YouTube ~ unsuccessful. I, finally, went to the staff room during lunch and asked the newbies for help. They are so in tuned with technology. They are, what Mark Prensky calls, digital natives.With some trial and error and a lot of scaffolding, I was able to get the iPad to send the movie to my Google Drive. Success #3.
     Once the video was in Google Drive, I had to get it to Padlet! Some more trial and error, a little “I want to throw this device out the window!”some deep breathes and I was successful. I put a video on Padlet and had our Facebook leader post it for families to see! WooHoo, Success #4. I feel exhausted, but successful.

     My next step is to have students begin recording their retells to each other. This will give me a chance to assess each student’s ability to retell a story and give each student a chance to authentically share their retell.

Other ideas I gleaned from Amplify!:

• Create QR codes for each retelling and post the QR codes on the books.
• It’s Monday, what are you reading?
• Each student has a Padlet bulletin board to share what they are reading.
• QR codes & Padlet that include links to our favorite authors.

#TheEdCollabGathering

          I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to reflect on my PD experience at #TheEdCollabGathering. I learned so much and I wanted to share it all with you. On Saturday, April 2, 2016, I was up at 6:45 a.m. for an opportunity to participate in workshops that were led by current leaders in the reading world. I watched reading gurus share their latest thinking, research and practices. While watching the live streaming, I was invited to be a part of the conversation by posting comments, favorite quotes and questions on Twitter under #TheEdCollabGathering.

          I listened to Smokey Daniels & Sara Ahmed at Curiosity-Driven Curriculum: from Identity to Inquiry tell me how important curiosity is in school. They encouraged me to implement inquiry in the classroom by starting with wonder walls and identity webs. I would like to try placing wonder walls up during open house to encourage families to ask questions, comment and wonder about the upcoming school year. Curiosity feeds right in to the inquiry-based learning that our school is moving towards. I can’t wait to learn more about this. 

           Kristin Ziemke & Katie Muhtaris at Amplify! Digital Pedagogy for Today andTomorrow inspired me to start using Padlet to celebrate student work. This week, I started recording students retelling stories they had been reading. I then posted the story on a Padlet that was shared with families on Facebook. I haven’t turned this task over to students, yet, because I was becoming familiar with the technology myself. My learning curve for new technology is steep.

The Two Writing Teachers Blog at Maximizing Independent Writing Time by Creating Conferring Toolkits reinforced good practices when conferring with students on writing. I was reassured that I am doing things right! When I go into kindergarten classrooms during writing time, my toolkit includes: cover-up tape, a Crayola marker, and plain white paper. After listening to the Two Writing Teachers Blog speakers I added highlighter tape. This is used to model spacing so students don’t have to use their finger.

          Jen Vincent & Taylor Meredith at Conscious Coaching reminded me to build relationships and to celebrate the big and small things. When building relationships I need to remember to stay open to listening and ask open ended questions such as: What might…? What are some ways, thoughts, ideas…? Keeping the questions open ended will help guide teachers to their own answers.

I am drawn to this type of PD because of several reasons. One, it was FREE. Two, I could participate from the comfort of my own home. Finally, I could participate on Twitter as much or as little as I wanted in a risk free environment. I loved the PD in my PJs.