Hello, and happy Sunday! Here in the US, Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer and back-to-school season for many teachers and students. We’ve been back at it for about three weeks and I ALMOST feel like I’m back “in the swing” of getting up to an alarm, missing my afternoon nap, and teaching hard all day. September 1 also marks a very important season – in addition to the return to Hogwarts (yes, I’m a Harry Potter FREAK), it’s also the first day of my birthday month! Even though I’ll be 33 in a few short days, I still – to my husband’s amusement – celebrate my birthday during the entire month of September (insert hair-flip here 😀 ) What better way to celebrate my birthday month with some reflection and a giveaway from Teaching with Technology!

For the past few years when my birthday rolls around, basically since I hit the big 3-0, I get a tad reflective. I’m so incredibly thankful for the gift of getting older because so many don’t have the privilege of doing so. At the same time, I’m getting older! I have more gray hair, a stronger coffee addiction (didn’t think that one was possible), and an increasing number of “oh crap” moments as a high school teacher. For example, our library celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of Harry Potter with House themed cupcakes – I’m Ravenclaw of course – and one of my wonderful students brought me one at the beginning of class. As I was daintily eating (let’s be honest, devouring) the cupcake, I told my students that I was in 7th grade when the first book was released and I was immediately a fan. One student, clearly doing some quick mental math said, “Mrs. Petty. You were in 7th grade 20 years ago?” I kindly and skeptically replied, “yes…” Her response, “wow! My parents hadn’t even met each other then!” Thanks, kid. Thanks a lot.

I could go on and on about how teaching high schoolers makes me feel old on a daily basis – try teaching a lesson on the terror attacks of 9/11. I was a sophomore in high school on that day while most of my students weren’t even born. YEESH. But, on to the giveaway and the reason for this post!

I’m beyond grateful for the blessings of this past year and want to share them with you. As we all get “back in the swing” of teacher life, I’d like to share some of my favorite teacher things with you – don’t get too excited, I’m not Oprah so no one is getting a car 😀

To enter this giveaway, follow the directions on the embed below. Enter daily and share this giveaway with your friends! The winner will receive 1 signed copy of Illuminate: Technology Enhanced Learning, 1 $5 Starbucks gift card (have a latte on me!), 1 $5 Amazon gift card, and 1 $5 Target gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Thanks for helping me celebrate my birthday month, and as always, thanks for reading 🙂

Hello, all and happy Wednesday! If you’re back to school like me, I hope your school year is off to a fantastic start! I’m still struggling to settle into a routine that includes 3 ballet classes, two jazz/tap classes, 3 soccer practices, piano lessons, working out, making lunches, fixing (and eating) supper, teaching three online classes, teaching all day … I could go on, but you get the idea! We all have hectic lives, and so do our students. Sometimes I wonder if we as teachers remember what it was like to be a student. In my case, I had ten classes in high school, which were complete with ten sets of rules and expectations, homework, projects, and different learning environments. I was a good student but still found this overwhelming. In addition to having multiple classes and classroom expectations to master, my students also experience quite a different teaching strategy when they enter my flipped, blended, and gamified classroom. We use the available educational technology tools at our disposal daily and heavily in our classroom to enhance learning, quite possibly in ways they’ve not yet experienced.

Understanding the Why 
In my Government classes, my students progress through units of instruction in the form of HyperDocs. Our HyperDocs are housed in the form of a Google Site, and include “Engage,” “Explore,” “Explain,” “Apply,” “Reflect/Share,” and “Extend” components. Students begin with the engage and explore sections to become, well – for lack of a better term, engaged in the content they’re learning and establish background knowledge about the subject. The explain component requires students to view and interact with instructional videos through one of my favorite educational technology tools, Edpuzzle. The apply section requires students to choose a product to create that demonstrates their understanding of a variety of concepts addressed in the unit. I also include a rubric that students can use not only to understand the requirements of the project but also to self-assess and make adjustments before submitting their product. (Check out my unit HyperDocs here!) Even though this process is a huge shift for my students, I want them to understand the “why” behind what we’re doing and the educational technology tools that we’re using. Why am I asking them to create a representation of their understanding that requires them to include not just a definition of a term, but also (and more importantly) a thorough explanation of the concept? Why do I ask them to assume that their audience (me and others we may share their work with) has no idea about the concepts they’re learning and it’s their job to offer a complete presentation of that information? Because I want them to demonstrate their understanding of a concept … not whether or not they can copy/paste from the Internet or from their peers!

Do. Not. Panic! 
When we experience something new, one of our first responses is to FREAK OUT because we don’t know what to expect, we’re scared, or we just want to continue doing what we’ve always done. When students encounter something new or different, they’re likely to have the same response. This is OK! I’ve stressed over the last week and a half the process that we will follow throughout the duration of our course, the building blocks of knowledge that we acquire and use as we proceed through our units, and what my students are expected to do with what they’ve learned. Clarity of expectations and processes are key in any classroom, but especially when we’re asking our students to do something much different than they’re accustomed to.

I’m here to help 
As I’ve said here and in my book, one of my favorite features of my flipped/blended/gamified classroom is that I feel like I’m able to actually help my students on an individual level. When a student or group of students is struggling with the systems of government, I can re-teach that concept for those students. When a group of students is ready to be challenged and extend they’re learning, I can do that by offering them activities that encourage them to go above and beyond, and am there to help them if they need it. I feel like I’m really able to be there for each of my students. Even though the first few weeks or the first unit can be challenging, it’s so worth it!

I hope you’re excited about the new school year and the knowledge that we get to have such a huge impact on the future through our classrooms!

Thanks for reading 🙂