CoETAIL Reflections

How have these courses changed me?

As a teacher: For teachers to use technology they need to feel comfortable and confident with the tools they can use in the classroom. These classes have exposed me to a number of strategies and tools that can be used to support learning through technology. Often it wasn't a new tool for me but it was seeing how it could be used that allowed me to come up with ideas on possible uses in my own classroom. This year I've integrated lessons on copyright, choosing a search site, and rating a web site which have all been helpful in my students research and projects. We've used wikispaces to collaborate with another 4th grade class, VoiceThread to show what we learned in an author study, podcasting (check out our iTunes channel from our class blog) to show our learning in reading and science, iMovie to make digital stories, photopeach to introduce ourselves to the class, blogs to communicate our learning, and many more. I feel like my students have been exposed to a variety of tools they can use to enhance or support their learning.

As a co-worker: Having more experience with technology through these courses has allowed me to offer ideas and support to my teammates. It's nice to have people on your team who can share ideas and answer questions because, let's face it, there's not enough 'Kim's and Jeff's' to go around :) By having a large number of people go through these courses it strengthens teams which strengthens school therefore strengthening student learning.

Reflections

THe VT is finished. Now it is time to reflect on the process and product.

What went well?

The students did a sufficient amount of research for the project. The student planning went well. The organizers helped the students collect information, summarize what they learned and share their learning with others.The first lesson allowed students to quickly upload pictures which saved a lot of time. The end result really showed what they had learned about the chosen author.

What would I change?

Some students didn't use the checklist effectively. The checklist included the step for clicking the HTML tab, but some students didn't follow those directions. I haven't completely solved this problem, but I think I need to find a way to have students rely more on the checklist rather than the directions in the mini-lesson.

I would also do another mini-lesson on copyright. I would have students copy the link from the chosen photographs and make a page in their voicethread to credit the owners of the photographs. Also, one of the photographs I used was too small. I've already fixed the problem but it was a small issue when completing the project.

Finally, I would have students take time in class to comment on each other's VT and find a way to get students outside of our class to comment on them as well. They were given time at home, but few actually commented.

Overall I was happy to see their learning about their chosen author. Check out the VT below or our class blog for the other Author Study Voicethreads.

Author Study Lesson 2

The students have uploaded pictures in their new VT. They've shared with their book club. Now they are ready for VT part 2. The goal of lesson 2 is to have students record their voices for each of the pictures and share the VT on their blogs. In the mini-lesson the students learned how to get the embed code for the VT and how to paste it in their blog. (They have to be sure they have clicked on the HTML tab. It is important to note that they often forgot this important step.)

After the mini-lesson students went back to their laptop to get started. As expected, we encountered some minor problems, but they were easily fixed. First, one group hadn't properly shared the VT with the other book club members. This was immediately clear when those kids couldn't log in. Second, some students missed a step when posting the VT to their blog. Here's what happened:

Student raises their hand.

Ms. B: yes

Student: My Voicethread isn't coming up on my blog.

Ms. B: Did you click the HTML tab?

Student: What HTML tab?

Ms. B: The one we talked about in the mini-lesson.

Student: Oh yea. No, I forgot.

Ms. B: Ok. Try again and see what happens this time.

Sure enough it worked this time!

How did it go? In the end everyone recorded and successfully posted to their blogs.

Voice Thread Author Study Directions

VoiceThread Lesson 1

The students have synthesized their information. The paragraphs are written. It's time to create the VoiceThread.

Step 1: Students Create the VT and Upload Pictures

You can do this a few ways: have students locate pictures or provide the pictures for the students. I chose the latter. I've found that having 4th graders find photos can take up a big chunk of time. It's important for the teacher to think about the focus of the project. Sometimes the pictures are as important or even more important than what is being said. Other times you want the focus on the words. The purpose of this Author Study project was for the students to show their learning about the author and their books.With that in mind I decided to choose the pictures so students could spend their time communicating the information about the author.

A second point to consider with finding photos is copyright. Giving credit to photos adds time to the process so it is important to keep that in mind. To solve this problem I created a wiki with the chosen pictures. Then I linked each picture to give credit to the owner.

Step 2: Share your VT with other book club members

During this unit, students were in a book club with classmates who were also interested in this author. One student created the VT and they had to share it with other book club members so that every student could work on it.

Pictures? Check. Shared? Check.

Lesson 1 was a success!

Change of Plans

As the year progressed I realized that our team wouldn't get to the end of the unit project in time for this course. The good news is I found another great project I wanted to do with my kids that worked perfectly. My class had been working on an Author Study reading unit. During this unit students choose an author, research biographical information about the author, and read books by the author to find examples of the author's craft.

I wanted to find a way for students to share their learning with with other students who might also be reading books by the chosen authors. I decided that making a VoiceThread was a great way for students to share their learning with others.

During this unit, students were given a book to record all the information they learned about the author. They used this book to plan for the VoiceThread. At the end of the unit each child received a VoiceThead planning sheet (below). The planning sheet included labeled boxes to help students organize their ideas about the author. They were required to create 3 paragraphs to go with 3 pictures. The topics of the paragraphs were "about the author", "author's craft"and "my favorite book by the author". These are listed on the planning sheet below. Once their paragraphs were written they ready to start creating the voicethread!

Author Study Voice Thread Planning Sheet

Managing Peripherals

The first step in using any of new technology tool is introducing it, teaching a bit about it, and letting the students explore. Most students come into my classroom with knowledge of the Smartboard because they have used it in previous years. It is still important for the teacher to set clear expectation about how the technology will be used in their classroom at the start of the year. We quickly share who has used it before, ways you have used it, and important things you need to remember when using it. That way new students and old are clear on how to use it.

The document camera has been an excellent addition to classrooms. When they were first brought in we had to rotate them or ask to use them. People quickly realized that the document camera is hard to plan for. It's on of those things in teaching that you suddenly realize you need. Students can show their work to the class using the document camera so it is important for them to know how to zoom and focus. Of course, every child want to put his or her hand under the camera so everyone can see it. I spend some time at the beginning of the year "getting it out of our system". Students can explore the use of it so when it comes time for learning, they aren't as easily distracted by the cool things it can do to your hand!

Laptop Management

We aren't 1-to-1 yet, but we have 12 laptops everyday in our classroom, ready for students to use. That means that students need to take care of them and use them properly so that we are able to use them whenever we need them.

One of the first things I do is "assign" each student a number that matches a laptop number. This works if we are borrowing a cart from another class. For example, one student is a number 1 for the cart in our room. That means when they use a laptop they should use number 1 from our cart. Another student might be a number 1 for the second cart. This helps students feel a sense of responsibility for that laptop. If someone forgets to plug one in, we can ask that person to do it, which reminds them of the importance of taking care of that laptops. If they forget to plug it in and the battery runs out, it is a quick reminder of the responsibility of taking care of your laptop.

We also have 3 students each week whose job is taking care of the laptops. They help everyone put the laptops away to make sure they are all plugged in and they make sure the cart is plugged in and charging.
During a lesson, I can quickly say "lower your lids" and the students know to stop what they are doing and to listen. This is important in lessons because they can easily become distracted by a game or something else which keeps them from listening to directions. Other than that I am still learning other techniques from other teachers to help make laptop use as smooth and easy as possible.