Reflections…

Favorite Thing #2 – Magnetic tape in a dispenser!

Here’s what the manufacturer says about it “Make your student’s work refrigerator-ready with this revolutionary magnet tape. As thin as masking tape, the magnetic power is strong enough to hold paper to any acceptable surface.”

This is such a handy tool to have. I can make anything and everything into a magnet so that I can put it up immediately as a visual for my kindergartners, or even to use as a manipulative. This is especially useful when you’re sorting and arranging things in some kind of an organizer.

Dick Blick has a pretty good price for it.

I’ll borrow this line from The Sound of Music to introduce some of my favorite things that help me teach kindergarten.

Favorite thing #1 – Business card sheet protectors from office depot

Acco–Wilson Jones® Business-Card Untabbed Binder Pages, 8 1/2″ x 11″, Pack Of 10 (Item # 157078)
	$2.39

These are awesome – I usually focus more on teaching literacy – math planning is Kim’s job, so I bought these at first to make my own personalized bingo cards with whatever I wanted, right now I’m using alphafriend photos so that my students who are struggling with letter sounds can practice putting their markers on the picture that starts with the sound…..

When Kim saw them, she immediately thought to turn it sideways and turn it into a ten frame! What a great idea – we use them every morning when we’re counting the letters in our helper’s name – they can put a colored chip in each pocket for all of the letters in their name.

We’re still discovering great ways to use these – if you have any ideas, let me know!

I switched over to the new and improved Blogger and opened a gmail account, but I haven’t been able to get posts to notify the google group, so this is a test…

Here I am sitting at home as the snow is falling outside, typing away on my iBook, listening to my iTunes, thinking about how much money it is going to cost to purchase the new iPhone my husband has been drooling over! Everything good has an “i” in front of it.

Which reminds me, I have a terrific student teacher working in my classroom right now. One of the best technology tools I have had at my disposal to assist in preparing for her arrival is iPhoto. I love to use iPhoto to organize my class photos. At the beginning of the year, I just take photos of all of my students (with any luck, I have an opportunity before the school year starts). Once the photos are loaded into my iPhoto library, I can make different albums for different uses. The “book” tab has a “yearbook” option that allows you to print a book with 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, 20, or 32 pictures on each page. This comes in handy when you need to get things organized. One album has students in their line order so that we can just look on the sheet to find out if everyone is in their place. Another album is organized to show which students are in each reading group. Other albums have only pictures of students who are in various reteaching groups.

Gotta love iPhoto! Or anything else with an “i”!

It was brought to my attention that dry erase markers (especially the high-odor ones) could possibly damage the computer or TV screens. Well, we don’t want that! Though the equipment I’m working with isn’t exactly the newest on the market, the cost of replacing it is a price I can’t afford to pay! So, here’s my solution…I happened to have some clear vinyl that I purchased from a craft store (You can buy it by the yard). I just cut a piece to fit the screen and it seems to work very well like a vinyl cling. Then, the students use the dry erase markers on the vinyl instead of the screen. It has to be replaced after a while, but I’m sure the cost of the vinyl is a lot less expensive than the computer. That’s the best solution I can come up with for now, I’ll update this post if I come up with something better.

This is the disclaimer I repeat to my students every time I introduce another use for one of my favorite teaching tools…

Here’s how it works – I create a power point file for a skill that I need students to practice (letter recognition & letter sounds, high frequency words, etc.). Typically, I make a slide for each letter or word and I record narration so that the students can now see and hear the skill they are practicing. My kids are really good at clicking through power point slides, so management is not a problem at all.

You might have noticed that with the slides, we’ve covered auditory and visual modes of learning, but what about kinesthetic?

What about kinesthetic/tactile, you ask???? When I make the slides, I create them using a traceable font. I then supply the students with a dry erase marker and an eraser. The screens on the desktop iMacs erase just like a white board (maybe better). Students can practice skills independently in a way that addresses all of the modalities and all of this happens while I am uninterrupted, teaching the whole group!

This technique also serves as a make-shift interactive white board when I use my laptop, T.V. dongle, and dry-erase marker — a low-tech solution for a high-tech wanna-be!

I remember before the 2005-06 school year even started, I asked the Tech. PLC to set up a blog as a means of communication and to document learning for the year. At first, I was overwhelmed by the resistance! I heard things like “What is the purpose? Who will read it? What do I put on it? and lots of How do I…..?”

I really just put this poll on my blog for fun, just because I saw someone else do it. But, I couldn’t believe the outcome. As I thought back to all of the questions and the hesitation that our group showed about blogging, I laughed out loud as I realized that Blogging has been named the most valuable tech. tool of the year!

I “linked” a blog entry to the title of this post. It is an exhaustive list of reasons for teachers to blog. I think you will find it interesting.

Oh, and check the date the blog was posted – just when we thought we were getting somewhere!

One of my friends who is a technology trainer in another state wrote the following comment after reading my last blog…

So if I’m reading this right, in my role as a trainer I need to focus on getting teachers to use technology for themselves first before trying to get them to use it in the classroom with students.

I don’t know if you come across any readings with the phrase “paradigm shift” but it seems to be the opposite. That we need to stop just focusing on training teachers on the “how to’s” and focus more on the integration.

Let me know your thoughts

Well, here are my thoughts…I believe both – you should teach the teachers the “how to’s” AND focus more on integration.

Here’s my rationale for teaching the “how-to’s” – teachers CANNOT teach students how to use technology as a problem-solving tool if they don’t first learn to use technology as a problem-solving tool in their own personal affairs. Teachers have to be consumers of technology in order to see the dividends that will be reaped by their investment.

Here’s my thought on integration – far too many times, training stops at the “how-to’s”, there is no follow-up, no accountability, no committment, no investment. Some of the best training opportunities I have had are ones that have required me to check back and prove how I have used the tools I was taught.

One answer I can see to this dilemma is Peer Coaching – pair teachers up in training sessions and have them check back with one another to see what they have done in their classrooms using what they have learned. Also, I think a great way to accomplish this would be Peer Coaching from the trainer – it would be great if trainers could check back with teachers for support.

Or, as I have been studying in my practicum, set up a Peer Coaching/Support network within a building. Our technology focus group has seen a lot of progress this year, and most of the credit is due to the amount of support we have within our group.

Another aspect of the literature review that was included in Dr. Dawson’s report that I referenced in my last post was administrative support. This is what made the Everett Technology PLC so successful. The Professional Learning Community model was a great way for many of us to get involved in learning about technology integration. Some are in the first stages of integration, while others have proficient skills in technology integration.

I like the in-house, almost embedded-reporter way of accomplishing things best. In a perfect world, every building would have an integration specialist who could encourage technology integration on-site, but for now, supporting colleagues is the best answer I have.