How do we rearrange our curriculum so that our young learners are using technology to show understanding?
I am very fortunate for the district I work in. We do a lot of things correctly. Lately though we have felt the crunch of data driven instruction. Because of this our day is scheduled with ELA and math, and really not much more. We have two protected blocks in our day to instruct our kids with out interruptions, during that time we need to work on the CCSS standards and goals of our district. Time is tight. I would love to find a way for students to show their learning in a way that is not a formal assessment, more project based technology projects where students can apply what they have learned. I also would love for the opportunity for these projects to be about something they love, not what I tell them they have to do. If they can make connections, be creative, and apply their knowledge they will own it.
As I am starting to think about how I would go about this and asking myself many different questions as I read, I start behind the scenes to try somethings. As I learn by doing. So I went to our tech director about setting up Google Classroom. He gave me push back, said the board and administration did not support using it in our elementary school. So of course I asked if I set one up myself would it hurt what he was trying to do. No was his answer to go for it, ask if I needed help. I was excited to try this out and see if it would benefit student learning. Something else to know about me is when I am excited about something I share. So I shared it with my administrator, (who is usually pretty supportive with my technology ideas). After asking a few probing questions he immediately said I needed to get permission from the superintendent, and added me to the agenda for Tuesday's (next weeks) meeting to ask permission for what I want to do. So I am putting together a quick presentation for the administrators in our district to get approval to use Google Apps, and Google Classroom in my first grade.
I am not saying that Google Classroom is my answer to my problem of practice or a possible way to improve the use of technology for understanding, but I want to explore it. Ill let you all know how it goes.
Hello Kate! I love the direction you are taking us in your problem. I too want to adapt my teaching style to a ridged reading curriculum. It sounds like you have a great direction of where you want to take your assessment in to a more child centered class.
ReplyDeleteKate-
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you! Have you ever thought about inviting your administrators to a Google Summit? We host the Southern Summit at my school and the presenters really break down the fear of Google apps and tools. Districts can truly choose what they want to use and what they want to disable. Sometimes seeing is believing!
BLH
Kate, it's better to ask and share your enthusiasm than to worry about push back. I think the exploring will keep your teaching "fresh" and lively and engaging, because you are enthusiastic. I hope they let you try. Our iPads have a more difficult time connecting to the Internet, so I use Edmodo. The students can reflect, take quizzes, upload videos, photos and other resources. I can only use this with 3rd through 5th, but I can see a difference in the "quickness" of these students to respond to questions. I like that the responses can be discussed and viewed again at another time. Since Google docs and classroom can be revised, that may be a great editing and building activity like notetaking with your 1st graders.
ReplyDeleteKate, it sounds like you would like to do project based learning. There are some great ideas out there. Great job in trying to move forward with technology in your classroom. I wish you the best of luck and I hope it gets approved.
ReplyDeleteI also teach first grade and experience this same problem. One of my other problems was similar to this. I am excited to watch you work through this.
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