Halfway Through
How Has the Process Been?
So far, this process has gone very smoothly. I feel fortunate to work in a district with so many resources available to my students and me, as well as a very knowledgeable technology teacher who is always willing to work with me and collaborate. The easy part of this process was thinking about what unit I wanted to enhance for my students. We are currently in our Native Americans unit in Social Studies, so it was clear to me that this was a unit that needed some enhancing. I was finding my kids were not engaged in the readings and videos, only the hands-on project of creating of our diorama. This pushed me to think of other ways to make this unit more hands-on and engaging.
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| Image Source: Teach Your Kids Code |
Any Challenges?
The biggest challenge for me was understanding the limitations of what my second graders could handle in terms of the technology incorporations. I know what that looks like in the classroom in terms of navigating their iPads and using some different apps like Book Creator, Epic, Raz Kids, Blooket, etc., but I have not been with them in tech class when they have had their introductions to coding, used the 3D printer, or created stop-motion videos. When I sat down to talk with our tech teacher, my mind was filled with tons of ideas and she told me that many of those ideas would not be age-appropriate for my students and their ability levels. It was challenging for me to shift my ideas in a way that would allow my students to be successful, while also incorporating the elements I had in mind at first. The other challenge that I faced was making sure that all of the teachers on my team would be on board with this project. While we all work very closely together, two of the teachers on my team often go about teaching social studies differently. They have projects and assignments that they have been doing for years with their students that excite them and would be hard for them to replace. They were also concerned about the integration of technology and their ability to help students as needed. In order to tackle this challenge, I found a way for their current projects to be incorporated into the class dioramas. I also secured time with the technology teacher to push into those teachers’ classroom and co-teach with them to not only help them with the lesson, but assist students as needed. After making these adjustments, all of the second-grade teachers were on board.
My Excitement…
My excitement for this project has not waivered since its initial creation. This project has also opened my eyes to other positions in the school (not classroom teachers) that get to work with all different grade levels. Because one of my challenges was that I was eager to do even more complex work than my students could handle, it got me thinking about what I could do if I were working with a different grade level, or even multiple grade levels. I was getting excited about the ideas of how I could create a cross-curricular, multi-grade level project that students across the school could contribute to! This project is a great first introduction for me to start embedding technology into the classroom. I am eager to get started, see how my students take to it, and figure out what adjustments I will need to make moving forward in both the planning and implementation of these types of projects.
The Positives and the Negatives…
The most positive part of this process has been getting to collaborate more with our school’s technology teacher. She has so much wisdom and is such a great resource for me! I plan on collaborating with her much more as the year goes on to see what else we can enhance in my classroom. I was also very pleasantly surprised to learn how much time is available in her schedule (and how willing she was!) to co-teach lessons in the classroom with me. This will give me a chance to learn from her and see how I should successfully implement new technology into the classroom. I am excited to learn from the best! I really have not found any negatives with this process. Everyone that I have talked to seems to be excited and on board. All of the issues mentioned above were able to be resolved, leaving me with only positive emotions about this new, enhanced unit project.
My Perspective Now…
I am really excited to be a leader for our school in utilizing technology in the classroom. My team seems excited to have a go-to team member to reach out to with any questions or ideas they need help with, and I am more than happy to be that person for them. I hope to one day take on a bigger leadership role in our school and help teachers at different grade levels increase their technology usage in the classroom. I think the more conversations I have with our tech teacher about what is age-appropriate for each grade level in terms of what students will be successful with, the more I will be able to help plan and implement ideas with all teachers across the building to increase student engagement and growth. I am excited for what the future holds!
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