I can't believe it has been ten months since I left my first and second grade classroom. One of the many things this new position has given me is the time to learn and explore topics that interest me. As a classroom teacher, I was always trying to keep up on the latest and greatest ideas, which could often be exhausting, not to mention time-consuming. In the past ten months I can’t count how many times I’ve thought, “I wish I would have done this when I was in the classroom. If I could only go back...”
"So what would ‘Current Me’ say to ‘Past, Frazzled Me’?" you might wonder. It might go something like this…
“You should really think about doing podcasting in the classroom. I know it seems like ‘one more thing’ but you could make it work. Podcasting not only touches on speaking and listening standards, collaboration and planning with others, creativity, attention to audience engagement, but also digital citizenship skills and interactions with listeners from around the world. All in one package.
You could let a small group of students skip their morning work for a couple days. You hate correcting it anyway. That would give them time to brainstorm a topic, plan it, record it, and share it. Let’s be serious, you know if you walked them through the process a couple of times, they’d be doing it on their own by Halloween. There’s a couple great apps out there that would make the sharing easy. One week at a time. We’ve got this.” (Oh yeah! And 'Current Me' is on a podcast talking about how to podcast in the classroom here. Shameless plug!).”
“And, you know how when anyone talks about using Google Slides to share information with students you internally groan? You’ve been thinking about it all wrong! Think about Slides as another great Google communication and collaboration tool. Each one of your students could have their very own slide and share new learning from Genius Hour or how they solved a story problem. You already have them do that in Edmodo anyway, but instead of having a different post for every student, you can share the link and everyone can share and collaborate on their Slide. They could even use it to make their own book! You never loved any of your writing apps anyway. C’mon, we’ve got this!”
“But look, if you really want to make the magic happen, you’ve got to add a green screen. A green screen encourages creativity like never before. Students can superimpose themselves in pictures of faraway places or set the scene for puppets in a story. I know you don’t have room for a huge green screen in your room. Give green folders a try and make small puppets. If you really like it, use a trifold with some green fabric for a slightly larger green screen that is ready to use in 30 seconds. There’s an app called Do Ink Green Screen that even your six-year-old can use (Current Me has seen it!) that you have to check out! Imagine the stories that will be told in that little space, the creativity and innovation that will be unleashed. Writing was always the hardest part of the day for you. Maybe this is what you need. Maybe this is what your students need. Let’s do this!”
In my perfect daydream, ‘Past, Frazzled Me’ would agree whole-heartedly to all of these ideas and begin busily implementing them after Spring Break. ‘Realistic, Current Me’ knows that we can’t do it all in one day. I encourage you, I urge you, to do two things. First, set a goal to try something new at the beginning of next year, but start your planning now. And second, don’t give up on this year yet. Energy can start to run low around now, but there’s so much time left! Light a fire under your students and show them that it’s never too late to try something new!
If you need support, contact your GWAEA Tech Consultant and we will help you get started. ‘Future You’ will be grateful!
--Mindy Cairney, GWAEA Technology Consultant
For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+.
"So what would ‘Current Me’ say to ‘Past, Frazzled Me’?" you might wonder. It might go something like this…
“You should really think about doing podcasting in the classroom. I know it seems like ‘one more thing’ but you could make it work. Podcasting not only touches on speaking and listening standards, collaboration and planning with others, creativity, attention to audience engagement, but also digital citizenship skills and interactions with listeners from around the world. All in one package.
You could let a small group of students skip their morning work for a couple days. You hate correcting it anyway. That would give them time to brainstorm a topic, plan it, record it, and share it. Let’s be serious, you know if you walked them through the process a couple of times, they’d be doing it on their own by Halloween. There’s a couple great apps out there that would make the sharing easy. One week at a time. We’ve got this.” (Oh yeah! And 'Current Me' is on a podcast talking about how to podcast in the classroom here. Shameless plug!).”
“And, you know how when anyone talks about using Google Slides to share information with students you internally groan? You’ve been thinking about it all wrong! Think about Slides as another great Google communication and collaboration tool. Each one of your students could have their very own slide and share new learning from Genius Hour or how they solved a story problem. You already have them do that in Edmodo anyway, but instead of having a different post for every student, you can share the link and everyone can share and collaborate on their Slide. They could even use it to make their own book! You never loved any of your writing apps anyway. C’mon, we’ve got this!”
“But look, if you really want to make the magic happen, you’ve got to add a green screen. A green screen encourages creativity like never before. Students can superimpose themselves in pictures of faraway places or set the scene for puppets in a story. I know you don’t have room for a huge green screen in your room. Give green folders a try and make small puppets. If you really like it, use a trifold with some green fabric for a slightly larger green screen that is ready to use in 30 seconds. There’s an app called Do Ink Green Screen that even your six-year-old can use (Current Me has seen it!) that you have to check out! Imagine the stories that will be told in that little space, the creativity and innovation that will be unleashed. Writing was always the hardest part of the day for you. Maybe this is what you need. Maybe this is what your students need. Let’s do this!”
In my perfect daydream, ‘Past, Frazzled Me’ would agree whole-heartedly to all of these ideas and begin busily implementing them after Spring Break. ‘Realistic, Current Me’ knows that we can’t do it all in one day. I encourage you, I urge you, to do two things. First, set a goal to try something new at the beginning of next year, but start your planning now. And second, don’t give up on this year yet. Energy can start to run low around now, but there’s so much time left! Light a fire under your students and show them that it’s never too late to try something new!
If you need support, contact your GWAEA Tech Consultant and we will help you get started. ‘Future You’ will be grateful!
--Mindy Cairney, GWAEA Technology Consultant
For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+.
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