Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Final Blog Posting

At the end of a student’s year you look back over that year to determine what were some of the successes and challenges this student faced.  And, you want to pass along that knowledge to their next year’s teacher so the teacher can continue where you left off.  The same can be true for myself when it comes to technology in my classroom.  

My students are proficient in using technology in the classroom.  They can:
  • copy and paste text
  • select whole text to modify page layout and text format
  • create drawings within documents to create pictures with captions or labels
  • CENTER a title as opposed to tabbing over until it looks right
  • navigate through park like assessments
  • create their own Kahoots
The list to continue.  But as I look back on this year and integrating technology in the classroom, I am confident my students are leaving 5th grade prepared and ready to enter into a 6th grade classroom.  They know how to find and use the tools available to them to make their writing and projects fantastic.  

I am excited for the opportunity to see how much growth next year’s class can continue to have knowing I can start the year with some of the tools and resources I have learned this year in the Inspired Writing Class.  Cheers to a great year being a risk-taker, learner, presenter, and instructor.

Friday, February 27, 2015

January Personal Reflection

This year has revolutionized my teaching.  We have created our reading theme tests so that they are online with a Google form as a way to answer questions.  Some glitches have occurred there and we are sure how to fix it. The Google form has both multiple choice and short constructed responses.  There are times when a student presses something on their keyboard and the entire form with their answers gets wiped out, and they have to start all over.  Frustrating.  

Also, we have just recently added Flubaroo to our Google forms. WOW!  This has been amazing. Flubaroo shows you which questions students struggled with the most.  Also, it allows you to see the students who have answered a question wrong, and who answered it in a similar way allowing me to tailor my re-teaching to meet those identified needs.  I have shared this with several of my colleagues and they are thrilled to begin using Google form too.