65 Days of School, but only 15 Technology Classes

The life of a specials teacher is in one word, flexible.  By the end of this week, we have been in school for 65 days, but I have only seen my one first grade technology class 15 times.  That only equals about 11 hours of instruction.  Narrow it down even further, that is not even two school days.  I wonder some days if my lessons are good enough and if my instruction is improving, but with such limited time with the students I get to teach, how can I be evaluated effectively.  Last week, I was observed by an administrator and got effective scores.  It is not the scores I worry about, but that I am getting what I want to get done with my students.  Even though I feel that there is never enough time, days like today happened and my students were amazing and completed my lesson with enthusiasm and I was beaming.  The worst part, no one was there but me to witness it!

I laugh that we as educators may not always feel happy being observed, but today I wish someone could have been there!  I had my first graders watch a screencast of me showing a Google Presentation about some technology vocabulary words.  This lesson came directly from some feedback from my administrator about adding more academic language into my lessons.  I then had students complete a paper and pencil assignment that went along with the screencast.  I was really unsure how it was going to go, and I was so happy and surprised that it went seamlessly.

I felt like a success today and that is always an amazing feeling.  I am so excited to see how my students will keep growing and advancing in their computer skills.  My plans for the new year will be to begin to use Google Docs with these first graders and really get my student to student collaboration going!  Even though I have only seen this class 15 times, I know after a day like today that what we are learning is sticking and we are becoming tech savvy at age seven.  

Teacher Evaluation in a Computer Lab Classroom

So it is that time of year, first round of teacher evaluations.  It is always nerve racking to be observed and evaluated by a peer or administrator, this round I had both.  My school district uses a performance based evaluation and we are observed a minimum of four times each year.  Last year I was observed 8 times, so this is nothing new, but always stressful. 

I think my first graders are doing an amazing job learning new skills, but when being observed it is such a small snapshot of what they are learning though out the year.  My first observation was conducted by one of our teacher leaders so he is a peer and teaches half time and observes other teachers in our building half time.  He saw a good lesson, the students were finishing their work from learning.com with an exit ticket Google form on how to make a capital letter.  I did a whole group lesson on filling out the Google form and sent them to navigate to the right website to find the form.  They all completed the form and it was drastically better than the first try at Google forms a few weeks ago.  To an outside person, this task probably does not seem rigorous or have the time for student collaboration, but it is a skill that is important for them to know and learn.  They have mastered navigation and are working toward mastery of form completion.  I haven't had my post conversation yet, but I have gotten my scores and they are all effective and one approaching in the domains on the framework we use.  We are meeting tomorrow for a feedback conversation, I think my next steps are working on building collaboration in a computer lab environment, which was my approaching category.  I need to build in some more structured collaboration times besides just a turn and talk during whole group.  Maybe a tech buddy to find in the last five minutes to discuss what they did that day?! 

My second observation occurred two days after the first, this time by one of our assistant principals.  I was a bit more nervous for this round as she has never observed me, and I am not sure if she has observed a non-classroom teacher before, and I know she has not observed a technology teacher.  I haven't gotten my scores so I am not sure what to expect.  I had a good lesson though.  A different group of first grade kids who were learning to log on to Learning.com for the very first time.  We had a whole group lesson on navigating to the site and working with a new username and password.  To me everything in the computer lab is rigorous work with first graders, due to the fact that I always seem to be sweating and going from computer to computer!  We shall see in a few days if I am considered an effective teacher based on our district framework!

No Need to Cry, We Are Just Learning to Type!

This week I am feeling a bit defeated.  I have had some great success so far this  year with my first grade kids, but we are struggling on some typing lessons.  It was easy to hunt and peck and find the letters.  Numbers and symbols were a bit more challenging.  However, I was not expecting for the tears to roll when we were trying to use the shift button.  It is never a good feeling to make a little one cry on your time, I had not just one, but two boys come to tears when they could not pass out of the shift level on learning.com.  Poor thing kept telling me he was getting all of them right and he was pushing the right button, but the computer was not letting him pass.  When I went over to check how he was doing on his third try, I saw the problem.  The idea of holding down the shift button and then pressing the letter was way to difficult.  Maybe it is our motor skills at age seven that prevents the hold.  Or, it could be knowing that every other button on the keyboard just works when you press it once.  Whatever the reason, it was too much to comprehend for these two little guys and they had a hard time believing they were going to get it. 

I showed them how to hold the shift button down and then press the letter they were looking for.  Next, I put their hands on the keyboard and mine to press and push together.  Last, they did it alone and finally passed the level.  What this made me realize was that even though the computer program was telling what to do, at age seven some learners still need the physical and visual teaching to understand a concept.  This made me rethink my next lesson for the coming weeks of doing a screen cast of computer vocabulary.  I now understand I need to add another component to the online content.  Some of my learners need to have another outlet for comprehension, whether it be writing or drawing or even verbalizing what they are learning. 

The crying taught me to remember my students are only seven and for many of them this is the very first time they have been on computers for an extended period of time.  I keep reassuring them we are all here to learn and practice really is the key when it comes to learning the keyboard.  I do not want them to be frustrated or dislike what we are doing in the computer lab, so I am definitely going to be changing things up in the coming weeks.  The tears will probably come and go, but teaching and learning the grit and perserverance when up against challenging tasks like the shift button is always my end goal with these kids.    

Perserverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

-Julie Andrews

                                             
                     

Mastering the Username and Password

For a seven year old, the idea of a username is baffling.  Typing in a password and only seeing black dots is confusing.  Not knowing where the letters are on a keyboard is frustrating.  Typing lowercase letters on a keyboard that only shows capital letters is discouraging.  It is repetition that got us to success only six weeks after the first try.

 (*this is not an actual students card don't worry I am not giving out passwords!)

It is the sixth week of school and my kiddos are progressing pretty rapidly.  I think of my class from last year (only my second year of teaching technology to first graders) and how far my kids are this year compared to them.  I know that is it me understanding that 6 weeks of just learning how to log on is a really high expectation.  We have become a success with our learning.com passwords, last week all students were able to log on with no questions and no problems.  Today I changed things up.  Gave them a little break from the taxing work of keyboarding and led them to a site called Teach Your Monster to Read.  When I explained that they had a different name and password card for a different website, it was no longer confusing, it was more of a race to see who would log on first.  This race I can get behind.  Mastering the log on means mastering time, and time is always needed when I only have my classes for a short 45 minutes.  We came, we logged in, we mastered.

 “Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Navigating with Dangling Feet

Those little feet are dangling above the floor.  Their brains are working hard.  Their eyes and hands are navigating the web.  They just finished watching their very first screen cast on how to fill out a Google Form.  They opened their first Google Form.  There are only 9 bodies in this photo, but don't worry there are 23 other 7 year old kiddos plugging away in the background.  They are navigating the form using their minds, the mouse, and the keyboard to fill in their answers. 

Me on the other hand, I am not navigating too well.  I am sweating.  I am pacing around the room.  I am worried we will not have enough time to answer the eight question form.  I am mad at myself for missing the one big step, how to get out of a full screen video!  I am not sure why these kids are so fascinated with making things big on the screen.  I should of known that was going to be the first thing they did with the screencast!  I am looking around the room at my giant face in a webcam video on the 22-inch screen.  I think they were more interested in the fact that I was on the screen than the lesson I was trying to teach.  There were a few students who had to play the screencast more than once to understand the task.

In the end, all 32 successfully navigated to completed their forms.  On the form I had one open ended question on what they wanted to learn this year in technology, their answers and first grade spelling were priceless.  Only a few understood the question, but hey on this screenshot if I can teach a 7 year old how to drive a garbage truck, it would be a year to remember!
                            
                       
What I learned from my very first try at screen casting with first graders:

• Less is more.  I always try to pack too much in.  Just the screencast would have been enough for their little minds.
• I have some strong readers and writers, but also some that will struggle when we start our typing program.
• They will always want to have free play.  
• It is going to be a long rewarding year.  
• Successful seamless navigation is my year long goal.  
• Teaching students to 'read' their screen, browser, tabs, and icons.
• Set high expectations and my kiddos will follow.  They amaze me everyday.   

                                                                    *Products used:
                                                                                   My student Google Site 
                                                                                   Google Forms
                                                                                   Screencast-o-Matic

“New technology is common, new thinking is rare.” – Sir Peter Blake

Is it Plugged In?

Is it plugged in?  These four words seem to be the answer to just about every question I have gotten these first two weeks of the school year.  My computer doesn't turn on, is it plugged in?  I can't connect to the Internet, is it plugged in?  My Promethean board is not working, is it plugged in?  Why won't the projector turn on, is it plugged in?  I should ask myself if I am plugged in as I am beginning to feel overworked and overwhelmed in the technology that surrounds me.  I am currently a teacher librarian, school technology specialist, and a technology teacher at an urban school in Denver.  It is amazing all these job titles can fit into one 6.75 hour school day, but I better get plugged in.  After nine years in an ever-changing job, I have come to learn and accept that you just cannot get everything done in one school day, in one calendar year, in one lifetime of teaching.  The reason is simple: change. 

I am embarking on change in my professional life as I have just started a second master's program, where I am hoping to gain the knowledge to push me further in my career with so many job titles.  I hope this two year experience will prepare me for what change is to come in the world of education.  I have hope that my students will benefit directly from what I am learning, and that we can grow and change together this school year in the world of online education.  This year I am teaching first grade technology as one of my sections and it will be the focus of this blog.  I want to broaden my knowledge of primary educational technology and bring what I have learned to others.  This is my first blog entry and I am hoping I begin to feel plugged in. 

“Technology offers us a unique opportunity, though rarely welcome, to practice patience.”
― Allan Lokos, Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living