The toolkit I created is TI89ers. At first, I was unsure what to include or where to begin. I started searching based on what I adding in my toolkit's description. From my search, I chose to begin with three articles.
Accommodations and Modifications: Adjusting the Classroom Experience - I found this link under Special Needs. Many times teachers receive students with IEPs and 504s. The reccommended accommodations are sometimes straight-forward and others are vague. I thought this site is helpful in addressing those vague suggestions. It is divided by grade level, area, and includes multiple articles on addressing a variety of topics. Also, you can lookup your school and find the overall ratings-my school did well! :)
Generation YES Blog - I found this blog under Professional Development. This blogs gives examples of technology used in classrooms, materials to download, different experiences from the point of view of both teacher and student. I found this blog to be interesting because there is no set criteria; it's just people sharing ideas. In additon as most of us know, professional hours are spent creating new lessons, planning, grading. etc. We barely have time to sit down and read anything of length. I believe this blog is a nice quick read for teachers.
Managing Classroom Technology: Tips from Experts - Technology become a part of the classroom so quickly, that learning everything about it is nearly impossible. But, one area that teachers should familiarize themselves with is how to manage it in a classroom setting. These 33 tips are just little ways to control when/how students should use technology. Not all the tips are applicable for every lesson, but some are very helpful.
My thoughts...
I enjoyed creating the toolkit. I know within my department we are always emailing each other new links to resources, which can be overwhelming. So I think the idea of the toolkit is good, in the sense that it's a one-stop shop for resources tools. I did have the opportunity to email it two of my coworkers, both that I had in mind when creating my toolkit. One of my colleagues got back to me. From my first three choices, she liked the Managing Classroom Technology the best. She said "I liked the idea about using the red cups to know when students needed help. I can use something like that in my class...maybe a colored piece of paper". So, that was good to receive positive feedback! If I were to email my toolkit to an administrator, I would not change anything. My district encourages the use of technology and co-teaching, therefore this would be a perfect combination of the two! If I emailed it to a teacher afraid of the "T-word", I would add to it. I would want to include a document showing the benefits of technology, how to incorporate it, and where to begin using it.
Hi Anita!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on posting your final blog of the summer! I enjoyed reading through your blog this week. The tool kit you created is great. It's a good collection of resources that compliment each other well. I appreciated that you actually emailed your toolkit to colleagues - I wish I would have thought of that.
A frequent problem I found with CITEd was the broken website links that lead to non-functional websites. Did you come across this problem, too?
Great post.
Steve T.
Hey Anita,
ReplyDeleteI actually started searching through the information and once I found something interesting I stuck with that general topic and geared my toolkit towards beginner teachers or simply helpful resources!
I had to change my description 3 times -I'm glad we were able to edit them though, otherwise my toolkit would have had an entirely different overall topic!
I really like the Managing Technology article -seems like it would fit into my toolkit quite well if I really wanted to convince a teacher or administrator that was unsure about technology.
Awesome job!
-Henna T.
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny that you said in your department you are constantly emailing useful resources. My teaching cohort and I kept on doing that through a facebook group and we have recently moved to a DropBox format since it was getting hard to keep track of all the stuff we sent. I will certainly be messaging them about this new "toy" we were introduced to and now each one of us will be able to create a tool box and share it with the others, even when we are done with the program.
I really enjoyed looking through your links, especially the accommodations and modifications one.
Katie
Katie
Hello Anita,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the convenience of having one-stop shop for resources. Just like your school colleague, I also liked the article from EducationWorld on managing technology, although not all of these tips would work in my computer lab. Generation Yes Blog also has some great ideas. For example, I really enjoyed a short article about the emergence of the K-12 Digital Learner. The main point that we can all agree is that we need to know “the latest data on technology usage from the real users of technology.” For example, “In one year’s time, the percentage of middle school students with tablets jumped to 52 percent” and “Among high school students with smartphones, only half say they can use their device at school and only nine percent of students say they can use their personal tablets at school”. I cannot even imagine that students in my school would be allowed to use their phones in school, although it might ease up the endless conflict and repetition of the phrase “Put away your phone…” by teachers. I wish you include the link to our toolbox, but three articles you have included are very helpful and interesting.
It was a pleasure to have you as a classmate, have a great summer.
Natalia