I had never used Google Docs so I was still rocking Microsoft Word form high school and college and tried all of the new and "cool" tech apps that teachers used to engage students. I just remember everything feelign so disconnected because I wasn't an expert using the tool and I wasn't an expert ant anything really other than content, so adding in a new tool and trying to manage the class and convince them to trust me was so overwhelming. Can there be an unofficial rule that new teachers keep it simple with technology because classroom management and designing great lessons and assessments is enough to worry about.
The pressure to use Kahoot this school year was overwhelming. It truly felt like if you weren't using this regularly within instruction, you were not a "cool" teacher. There are way more ffective route to review material and truly grow form that review. This was "fun" because it was like a game, but students could have experienced a lot more growth by being able to engage and reflect on the material. Plickers was another tool that took way too much time to create content for. I did love the instant assessment aspect of it and how it felt like a game, but I am not a teacher who relies on quizzes toc heck students understanding. At the high school level, students are so close to being out in the real world. And here's the thing, they won't be given a quiz to see if they understand and everything won't be super exciting and feel like a game. To this note, I try to hard to focus on conferencing, reflection, and whole class/small group/partner collaboration and discussion to build on the skills that will not only show me their learning but allow them to be effective learners when they graduate. :)
This year felt like if your lesson wasn't an escape room or using some new, exciting app or tool like Nearpod, then your teaching methods were outdated and ineffective, The pressure to try new things with technology was the cause of so many late nights and stress. My school also purchased a lot of iPads and had Chromebook carts that we could use to teach with, so it was expected that we were utilizing these resources. I felt like quality instruction was overshadowed by a teacher's ability to use trendy tools and this honestly discouraged me quite a bit. It was this year that I started to rely on the Teaching Channel for inspiration and found people like Sarah Brown Wessing to be so influential in how I wanted to teach. Sure she utilized some tech tools, but her focus was more about engagement strategies and student-centered learning that was about teaching with clear purpose and student thinking. She used current media to propel student thinking, rather than the lesson being about students trying to use different tools and technology. Socratic Seminars and Lit circles were the heart of her classroom and I wanted my classroom to also be about giving my students a space for their voices and ideas to be heard in real time.
I LOVED Flipgrid this year, but I ended up loving it more than my students did. I wonder if I could find success bringing it back this year now that TikTok is so popular and the idea of videoing ourselves is embraced a little more. I loved this for peer reactions/feedback and for poetry sharing among my creative writers! I'm a big discussion-based teacher as well, so YoTeach! (TodaysMeet) was something I used A LOT this year! Students loved it, too! And while I still use it, I wound up favoring the simplicity of hosting discussions using Google Classroom more than sites like these. I found that students were more inclined to get off task and be informal than remain focus and "academic" in Google Classroom. This was the year where I felt a huge shift within my department to go paperless and try all kinds of tech tools. I would ask students about their experiences working with different apps in other classes and would continuously find that they were just as overwhelmed by keeping track of all of it as I was, so I resolved to only use a FEW tools I loved consistently instead of trying lots of new things. I think we misunderstand students to be tech savvy at anything just because they're attached to their phones, but the truth is that they aren't out there exploring lots of different apps either and they are more involved with social apps. I also tried the One Second A Day App with my photography and creative writing class and they LOVED this. I think simple tools that allow them to see growth are inspiring.
This year is all about living in a paperless world. Zoom was the center of instruction at the beginning of 2020 and in many ways, provided a "reset" for all the things we did and used to teach. Most of my colleagues now use fewer apps and rely on face-to-face interactions as much as possible (within covid safety guidelines, of course) It so interesting how we were once fighting to engage with all of these different devices and tech tools and now that this pandemic has limited daily interactions with people in person, we are trying to hard to hold onto providing this to our student when they are in the classroom. In fact, it would seem odd to maintain a digital space when we can meet in person. Yet, everything we do depends on a charged Chromebook and internet access. My school allows us to use Google Classroom or Canvas to post assignments so Google Classroom is the primary tool we use to access learning. That said, most of what we do this year relies on Google Doc and simple tools that are accessible to all students. Learning with an A/B schedule only allows us to see each student 2x per week for about 45 minutes each session. That said, I've refrained from incorporating too many required tech tools due to loss of instructional time. However, I have allowed students to show their learning in ways they want to. Most recently, I had students "tell me without telling me" TikTok challenge. Some loved that and created videos and others were more comfortable writing about the big ideas. I'm trying to weave in lots of choice, while offering simple/structured tools for students who are overwhelmed. My creative writers are managing simple blogs and my photographers are posting their work to Instagram accounts. This year, I'm going with the "less is more" philosophy because our time together is cut in half and the skills need to e the priority. We created mindmaps this past week and some students showed their creativity using slides and some even drew images and used colored markers to mark up printer paper (and took a photo to upload). I was taken back by how many students loved the simplicity of doing something by hand for a change which was refreshing!
This year, particularly, this semester, has pushed me to explore some new tools that are not only user-friendly for my students, but enhances their learning. I discovered Padlet and I'm officially OBSESSED! I love how versatile it is. I've used it for discussion boards, student questions and reflections, and to share out information. I can't wait for a few of my classes to use the Padlet Canvas feature to create a semester portfolio in the fall. Students will be able to use this to make goals and track their progress and growth. I love that it invites students to share their interests via all the media options it has. The best part is that it is so easy for students to learn and see the WHY behind its use in our classroom. I also started to use Canva more to create learning materials and make mini-lessons more visually engaging. My Photography course embraced Instagram instead of creating a Weebly or Wix site because of the limited time we're face-to-face this year and the ability for students to use it without needing a lot of hands-on help (like they do with designing a personal website). It has been so fun to experience students viewing each other's work and leaving amazing comments and feedback on posts. I want to incorporate making Instagram Reels if we go back to a "normal" school year in the fall. I think it could be really neat for student to design behind the scenes for their projects or reflect on their growth from beginning to end and that sort of thing!! :)
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