A Short Reflection on My Tango with Technology

I'm so proud of my little teacher's confidence, as he figures out the time. This was intended to be an assessment showing mastery. Even so, I (and others) have derived much enjoyment from this video. Showing understanding of time and the clock wasn't nearly as exciting, before we learned how to makeTouchCasts! Students love to teach! Writing wasn't as engaging, especially for students with disabilities, prior to digital books, various apps, such as ChatterPixKids and digital story boards.

After reading a blog posted by Dr. Laurie Friedrich, I've been reflecting on the fact that my accountability partners became my students, rather than colleagues. It took months before other teachers began asking, "How did you do that?" "Did the students create that?"

At the beginning of this journey, I was excited; trying to share with everyone around me. Quickly, I learned there were no listeners. So, my students and I ventured into the world of app smashing and chrome-books with only the support of my beloved 880J and our encouraging, Dr. Friedrich. Soon, I began to hear from parents. I began to share more with parents, via Seesaw. It's been a blast! It's crazy to think that this tango into tech wouldn't last without peers to hold me accountable! It has become just another facet of my obsession with teaching.

On a twitter chat last night, there were several comments about technology taking over pedagogy. Well, we are teachers, knowledgable about pedagogy, we know how to incorporate technology into our lesson planning and assessment. OK, I'll admit, there are educators who only think of games, when we talk tech. But, they are just where they are right now. We all start somewhere.

"What will I do if technology is no longer as motivating for my students?" I don't see it happening. My lessons were engaging before, so we will manage. My students and I will continue to be creative in how we use tech to learn and to show our learning.

The personalization opportunities with technology 
take individualization to a whole new level!

Seesaw = Digital Portfolios of Progress!

The chromebooks have arrived!

Download for free!

Now that we are a 1:1 school, I can use technology any time. No making deals with other teachers, so that we can have the laptop cart. No searching for the cart that I did check out. 
So much to be thankful for!

Recently, I shared my initial impressions of Seesaw. Well, I was clueless! Since then, I've learned that anything shareable, can be shared on Seesaw.

I have printed my class QR codes to give to parents at conferences. As long as they have an iOS, Android, chromebook, or any computer using Firefox or Chrome Browsers, they can stay up to date on their child's work.

Other reasons for my love of Seesaw:

• Seesaw has student activity ideas. I will be using a few of those, so that my students can get comfortable with uploading their own work. I've been a bit of a control freak until now.
• Teachers can flag work. I have flagged a student's work that I want to share at her Annual IEP Review, this week! I don't want to be distracted by work that we have already discussed.
• Students can share to Seesaw from Shadow Puppet Edu, Haiku Deck, Storybird.com, ChatterPix Kids, and Total Recall!
• Simple to monitor IEP goals, without pulling students from grade level instruction
• Students can snap pics of their work. Then they can add text, drawing or voice, before sharing to the class journal.
• Your class can even blog, connecting with a global audience!
• If you are feeling especially proud of your students, you can tweet their work. Seesaw's posts remove all personal information, so that the students' anonymity is protected.
• Free!
• No Passwords!
• Promotes strong communication between home and school.
• I still love it most, because it is a portable, organized way to share multiple students' Portfolios of Progress!  

Bye, bye paper!

Mrs. Michalski's Technology Goals '15-'16

To be honest, technology and I have a love-hate relationship. You know how it goes; I love it when it's effective and easy. I hate it when it's time-consuming and frustrating. 

My attempts at using technology with my students have been few and far between. Sure, we use laptops to access the reading curriculum, take tests and practice math facts and spelling words. Some of my students are able to create Google Docs and share their process pieces. I want to do more!

Years ago, after purchasing my iPad, I was eager to use Dragon with my students who have dysgraphia. My hope was that they could speak their answers or narratives, and copy the resulting text from the iPad to write down their thoughts. Working memory is taxed for students who must labor to accomplish the physical task of writing. Unfortunately, their speech was too poor to make use of Dragon. The iPad stayed at home after that.

Last summer I attended a workshop that was focused on using technology to help deaf or blind and deafblind students access information. The four days blew my mind! I had no idea that my iPad came with so many accessibility options built right in. It has the potential to be a much more powerful tool than I ever realized. 

As a result of that class, I now have a few favorite apps that I would like to use as a way to help my students with disabilities access information, show what they know, and if possible, make my lessons even more engaging!

My Goals on this New Adventure are:

• Be fearless and brave about trying new technology that will benefit my students.
• Ask for support when I need it, so that I can be confident in my application.
• Celebrate and share the successes, while learning from the flops.

A Little About Me