Teaching with Technology

Using educational technology to enhance the learning environment and increase student engagement!

Back to School Planning: 3 Reasons to Use Nearpod in Your Classroom

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Hello, all! Is it just me, or does it seem that summer vacation really speeds up after July 4? I feel like the second half of summer goes WAY faster than the first part and I’m quickly realizing that I’m not checking off nearly as many things from my summer to-do list as I wanted! As I’m prepping for the new semester, I’m planning to share how I’m using some of my favorite digital tools in my lessons to increase engagement, illuminate learning, and make learning memorable! As you’ve probably noticed, I’m quite a fan of Nearpod and use it daily in my dual credit classes. While there are definitely more, here are 3 reasons to use Nearpod in your classroom!

Virutal Reality 
Seriously, how awesome is virtual reality? The fact that teachers now have the ability (through multiple tools) to virtually take students to places, past and present, to enrich their learning experience is just amazing! Nearpod allows teachers to embed virtual field trips into their lessons to transport students to amazing places around the world. In our World War II unit, I love taking my students to the Palace of Versailles, Japan after the use of nuclear weapons, the barracks at Auschwitz, and the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. When students use their smart phones or tablets, they’re even able to walk through these places. Students using a Chromebook or laptop are able to drag and zoom on the image as they travel to distant places.

Formative Assessment 
Formative assessment is key in any classroom – we need to know what our students know and what they don’t know so we can help them understand what they don’t know and encourage them to apply what they know – you know?! 🙂 When creating Nearpod lessons, teachers can embed a variety of formative assessment questions – include multiple choice, true/false, and one of my favorites: draw it – into their presentation. When the lesson is launched and the class proceeds, students will view the questions on their screen and the teacher can view the results of the class in realtime. Teachers can also add formative assessment questions “on the fly” during their lesson as needed.

Student View 
My students REALLY appreciate the fact that they can log into a Nearpod lesson and view the information on their device without having the crane their necks around the heads of their classmates. They also LOVE that they can interact with virtual and 3D images, simulations, etc., on their own devices. The ability to view the presentation on a variety of devices also offers a great deal of flexibility for my students!

I could really go on and on and ON about the wonderful features of Nearpod! Definitely check out this great digital tool and reach out if you have any questions. I’d love to help you use Nearpod to illuminate learning!

Speaking of illuminating learning — be sure to check out my new book, Illuminate: Technology Enhanced Learning, for great tips and strategies for using great technology, like Nearpod, to enhance the learning environment for your students!

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

F.I.E.R.C.E. Teacher Series – Excited and Energetic Teaching

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Hello, friends! I’m writing to you this morning, refreshed and exhausted at the same time after coming back from our week-long beach vacation in Destin. The sand and water were fantastic! I probably could have used a bit more sunscreen … but, oh well. I’m pumped to continue my F.I.E.R.C.E. Teacher Series with the first of the “Es” … let’s talk about being an excited and energetic teacher!

EXCITED
I’m generally an excited person, both inside and outside the classroom. If you’ve ever been to one of my presentations or workshops, you know that I always introduce myself and then give attendees a fair warning that, whenever I talk about something that I really like, I get super excited and start talking really fast. It happens! That’s just how I roll, friends! I’m pretty much the same in my classroom, and it helps that I’m a huge geek about my content area. I realized, however, toward the beginning of my teaching career that everyone doesn’t get quite as hyped about the functions of the branches of government, Constitutional Amendments, and landmark Supreme Court cases as me – weird, right?! 😉 So, in order to engage my students in our content, I need to be excited about the content. Can you imagine walking into a class that you’re not particularly pleased about taking and the teacher is dry, boring, and clearly NOT excited about teaching you? How horrible would that be? So, even on the days that I’m not 100% excited to be out of my jammies and my recliner, I’m making it my mission to be excited about not only what I’m teaching, but the fact that I get to teach – sit back and think about the fact that we GET TO TEACH. We GET to have a direct impact on the future. How cool is that?! In what other professions could we have this kind of influence? Get excited! We get to teach!

ENERGETIC
My students often say that they have no idea how I have so much energy. My daughters are 5 and 7 and still don’t sleep through the night. When they wake up for milk or a trip to the bathroom, they don’t wake up their dad, but instead, insist on having Mommy help. I’ve asked them why they don’t wake up my husband, and they both reply, “Mommy, Daddy is asleep.” Ohhhh, he has them trained! Being an energetic teacher is hard, especially when we’re tired, don’t feel well, or when the kids don’t want to let us go when we take them to school or the babysitter in the morning. However, I’d much rather be excited about what I teach and energetic in my classroom than, for lack of a better word, “blah.” My students can expect me to “drop mad beats” and “spit bars” about our content if they need help remembering the concept of federalism or the difference between dual and cooperative federalism. They can expect me to stand on tables to make review a bit more fun and do toe touches for moral support before they take a test. How can we be energetic about teaching, even when we aren’t? That’s a million dollar question, isn’t it? As for me, I try to take a “when my feet hit the floor in the morning, it’s go-time” attitude. And God and coffee. Lots of both.

Check back soon for the “Rs” of the F.I.E.R.C.E. Teacher Series! I hope you’re having a fantastic summer!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Hey, Siri! Asking questions and getting answers with technology

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Hello, all and happy Friday! We’re preparing for our week-long beach vacation today and are getting REALLY excited to dip our toes in the ocean on Sunday! As our vacation has been getting closer, our oldest daughter, Hanna, has been really concerned about and interested in the weather in Destin, Florida – our vacation spot. She’s been asking to check my phone to see the weather in Destin which means I’ve had to add Destin to the “places” on my weather app. I noticed yesterday, though, that instead of checking the weather app to see if it’s raining in Destin (her worst nightmare!) she’s been asking Siri to tell her what the weather is like in Destin. We’ve also been asking Siri to tell us what the heat index is in our hometown to help us determine whether or not playing outside is the best idea – it is HOT in Missouri! Our youngest daughter, Molly, was curious yesterday about how to say “ouch” in Spanish. She didn’t even hesitate to yell out, “Hey, Siri! How do you say ouch in Spanish?” It’s so neat to watch my daughters, ages 5 and 7, effectively utilize technology in a positive way, which led me to think about how my classroom has changed (and needs to continually change) to become an environment in which students utilize the available technology in a positive way.

A few weeks ago, I attended and presented at CORE Academy at my alma mater, Southeast Missouri State University, and was able to meet some pretty amazing educators. One of them, Alice Keeler, delivered a keynote that really resonated with me – she discussed how technology like Siri or Alexa has changed the way our kids find information. Alice mentioned that her kids ask Alexa questions daily and that they know that they can “shout questions to the universe” and get an answer. As I was listening, I began to think about the questions that I ask in my classroom – verbal questions, assessment questions, formative assessment questions, etc. – and began assessing myself…are the questions I ask of my students, “Googleable” questions? Are they questions that my students can “shout to the universe” and get the “correct” response? Or, are they questions that make my students think about the content that they’ve learned and apply that knowledge to form a deeper understanding of the topic?

I, like you, am aiming for the latter type of question. I don’t want to focus on “Googleable” questions and answers because they are just that, “Googleable.” In Illuminate, I discuss how the ability to simply recall information, such as the date that the Bill of Rights was ratified, really doesn’t provide students with a deep understanding of the Bill of Rights. Assessing them on when these extremely important amendments were added to the Bill of Rights is not really that important. What is important is that our students understand the rights that they are guaranteed by these amendments and how they have been interpreted throughout our country’s history.

As I’m revamping my curriculum this summer, I’m working on incorporating “application” questions into assessments – both formative and summative. I want my students to think about our content at a deeper level rather than just memorizing facts and dates that, let’s face it, they can ask the universe and get the correct answer.

Thanks for reading 🙂

#ISTE18 — Reflections and Tips from an ISTE First-Timer

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Happy Sunday morning, friends! I’m coming to you today half-way through my second cup of coffee, downing my Vegan Chocolate Shakeology, and still trying to process all of the awesomeness from ISTE18. Though I was only able to attend ISTE on Tuesday, it was such a fabulous experience that I can’t wait to repeat next year, especially since ISTE19 is in Philadelphia — a history nerd’s DREAM! Here are a few reflections and tips from my first ISTE experience – hope you find them helpful!

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! 
As an ISTE newbie, I really had no idea what to expect walking into the convention center Tuesday morning – including where in the convention center I was supposed to be!  Fortunately, a kind fellow ISTE attendee recognized my confused expression and, not only showed me the way to registration but also directed me to a Starbucks with a small line! SCORE! When searching for sessions you hope to attend, pay attention to any registration information – for example, attendees for ADE sessions were lined up outside of the session room at least 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the session! Also, sessions I attended did not allow people to sit on the floor or stand if there were no more seats. I wasn’t expecting this at all! Other conferences I’ve attended allowed participants to stand or sit on the floor if needed – lesson learned!

BOOK IN ADVANCE! 
I live about 5.5 hours away from Chicago and had every intention of hopping a plane or a train to get to ISTE. I planned to fly from Lambert St. Louis to Chicago Midway which, in all honesty, is an hour flight – tops. I did not, however, realize that flights become more expensive the closer you get to your travel dates! I know — rookie mistake. I don’t fly very often, and when I do, my husband takes care of booking the flight! I’m also very fortunate that my district paid for my hotel and registration, so I didn’t have to worry about getting (and paying for) a hotel room! Since the conference is in Philadelphia next year (and I’m totally stoked about going to a city so PACKED with history!), I’ll be taking my Momma’s advice and planning WAY in advance!

WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES! 
Yes, I’ve gone to conferences before. Yes, I know that I walk a lot at conferences, but HOLY MOLY I was not expecting the crazy amount of walking that was going to happen just inside expo hall! I literally walked for an hour and did not pass the same booth twice. It was an amazing experience to be able to connect with so many great people that I felt like I already knew through Twitter. Let’s just say this — it takes A LOT of walking/exercise to make my legs feel tired and/or sore and I was SORE after ISTE! The fact that I hopped in a car and drove for 7.5 hours (yes, I know I said we were only 5.5 hours away from Chicago, but I traveled with my mom and two young daughters!) didn’t help much. I wore flip flops, like I typically do, to ISTE — next year, I’m wearing Converse or Toms!

I’d love to hear about your ISTE and/or other conference experiences! Be sure to jump in our Twitter chat on Thursday night and share what you’ve learned this summer!

Thanks for reading 🙂

F.I.E.R.C.E. Teacher Series – Innovative and Intentional

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Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a fabulous week and are preparing to enjoy the weekend! After coming back from ISTE earlier this week, and wrapping up one of my summer school classes, I’m starting to embrace the wonderful feeling that comes with not having to set an alarm clock before bed. AHHHHHHH! I hope you’re ready for the second installment in the “F.I.E.R.C.E. Teacher” series because it’s HERE!

 

Like you, I have many goals as a teacher – heck, as a person – that I not only want to accomplish, but also want to embody for my students, young daughters, and others who may look to me as an example – talk about pressure! Let’s talk about being innovative and intentional in our classrooms!

INNOVATIVE 
We hear the word innovative all over the world of education, but what does being “innovative” mean? According to Webster’s dictionary, the term innovative is defined as,

  • introducing or using new ideas or methods

  • having new ideas about how something can be done

I like to think that I’m at least approaching the level of “innovative” in my classroom. I’m constantly seeking out new ways to engage my students in our content, enhance the learning environment, and make learning memorable. However, the definition of innovative includes “introducing or using new ideas or methods” and “having new ideas about how something can be done.” The definition itself implies that, to be innovative, we’re always looking for a new method or strategy to use in circumstances to make something better. Therefore, to achieve my goal of being an innovative educator, I’ll continue to constantly learn about, search for, and attempt to create new and, forgive me, “innovative” ways to make my students’ learning experience awesome. Sometimes, new ideas and strategies may work, while others may be an absolute flop. Part of being innovative is knowing that when you do something a different way, it may not work, which means it’s time to try something else. The point is to continue to try new strategies with the best interest of my students in mind.

INTENTIONAL 
We have such a limited amount of time with our students during a given school year. As a high school teacher, I see my students 50 minutes per day, 5 days a week … most of the time. There are plenty of interruptions that subtract from my instructional time – assemblies, class meetings, field trips, sporting events, and the list goes on. Therefore, it’s my goal to be intentional about our valuable face-to-face time as a class. How do we accomplish the goal of limiting distractions as much as possible in the classroom?

Flipping my classroom has helped me to become more intentional with my class time while reducing the amount of time I stand in front of my classroom talking “at” my students. Through my in-class flip, I’m able to effectively and efficiently deliver necessary content to my students while providing more individualized instruction AND preserving precious face-to-face time. My flip forces me to be intentional when I’m delivering content; intentional when I’m providing help and feedback; intentional when I’m designing lessons. I hope this message also resonates with my students –> I want them to know what is expected in Petty Wap’s class, where they’re going with their learning, and how to get there.

I’d love to hear how you push yourself to be innovative and intentional in your classroom!

Thanks for reading 🙂