EDU 790 Introduction

Hi everyone! I'm Laura Walls. I love taking pictures, so I couldn't just share one. Below are four of my favorite current photos: 

Personal Photo

The past two and a half years have been very eventful in my life, especially since I got married in 2016! The picture at the top is my current profile picture on my Facebook account. It's one of my favorite pictures from my wedding. My husband (Nick) and I got married at St. Francis Xavier Church in LaGrange. I am a 6th-grade teacher at the parish's school. Since I have shared this picture before for other courses, I decided to share some other recent pictures that are also on my Facebook. I can't seem to get myself to change my profile picture! 

Personal Photo

 
This picture above is from my honeymoon. Nick and I love Disney World and had a great time when we went. I am actually going back soon with some of my close girlfriends for a long weekend. I can't wait!

Personal Photo

This third picture shows Nick and I at a wedding over the summer. Nick was the best man at his best friend's wedding. I tagged along with the bridal party when they took pictures at Dominican. I didn't know at the time that I would shortly be starting classes there!

Personal Photo

As for this last picture, it shows Nick and I on the day we purchased our first house. Over the past few months, we have worked hard at making our place feel like home. We love to decorate and went a little crazy with Christmas. We are currently getting some work done with our basement, and most our Christmas stuff is still up. I'll admit that I'm a little nervous about when I'm going to have the time to put it all away! As much as I love it all, I am looking forward to getting my house back to normal and all clean!

 Looking through these pictures just now on Facebook has made me reflect on how busy/eventful life has been lately. It's kind of nice to share these moments on Facebook because in a sense, it's like creating a traditional photo album to remember events and people. I love history and pictures, so storing all these in one location preserves my history with my friends and family and also organizes these images.

I am looking forward to this course. While I tend to be a private person, I feel that I have come along way with being more open to sharing with others via social media. I have definitely benefited from social media as teacher by gaining great ideas and resources from others. I am excited to learn more ways to use social media as an educator.

Check out the following to learn more about me:

Twitter (@lwalls776)

Professional Website

Technology Specialist Proposal Process

       For the past seven and a half weeks, I have gone through a process of determining a need in my classroom and thinking of a way in which technology could provide a solution. I identified several needs in my room. One is to increase student engagement in learning, and another is to provide more opportunities for differentiated instruction. While I strive to achieve these needs in my classroom, I brainstormed ways to utilize technology in order to better meet them. 

       My plan focused on using a HyperDoc, a digital lesson that contains resources related to a certain topic, in order to meet these needs. After establishing this technology solution, I needed to assess the need, research the technology, design the lesson, and receive feedback from a colleague about my plan. I enjoyed the process, especially since I had to break up the proposal into these steps. By doing so, I was better able to really think through the plan to make sure I thought of everything in order to make it a successful solution. Going forward, I will use this same process to implement different technology plans. Furthermore, by breaking up the proposal into these steps, it helped greatly when putting it all together. This was the most positive aspect of the process because it made the final plan clearer and more organized.

       Using a HyperDoc is something that fits well with my philosophy of teaching. I find this tool to be a nice balance between a traditional method of instruction and one that is innovative. I believe this because with a HyperDoc, students are still using resources that involve reading and taking notes about content (traditional method), but because they are on the computer using different tools (innovative method), they tend to be more excited to learn than by simply using paper and pencil. At the same time, by using technology, students have access to many more resources at their fingertips in order to delve deeper into a topic and research answers to their questions. No one HyperDoc has to look the same; there are various technology tools and resources, and this is something that makes them so attractive to me. As I go along and continue to create HyperDocs, I can vary them, and I can see this helping engagement more since students will be exposed to different things each time they use one. I definitely see a HyperDoc as a very student-centered tool since the students are in charge of navigating through the information instead of receiving direct instruction. I can vary the HyperDocs to meet the needs of different learners with different learning styles in my classroom.Creating ways to achieve this differentiation is challenging, but I like that since each student can work independently on their own device, their HyperDoc can be private so that no one will know if people received different or tweaked versions.

       A negative/challenging aspect of the process was deciding which resources to include on the Hyper Doc as there are so many great tools and resources to use. I appreciated the feedback from my technology coach colleague who suggested that I use less to start with. Over the past few months, I have learned about so many useful online tools like Padlet and Thinglink. I think HyperDocs is a great way to use them all. As I look ahead, I am concerned with the fact that HyperDocs can be time-consuming to put together, but I believe that as I get more used to using them in the classroom, designing them will not be so bad. 

        After going through this proposal process, I am excited for the challenge of being a technology specialist. I can see myself being a strong asset  to a school to assist my colleagues with designing lessons using technology. Technology is changing education in positive ways, and I am looking forward to being a part of the journey towards improved instruction and learning for students. While doing so, I will keep the SAMR model in mind in order to be making good choices when choosing which technology to use in a lesson. Overall, I am looking forward to implementing this HyperDocs plan in January. I am confident that this tool will help to meet the needs of my diverse group of learners, and it will increase student engagement.

Reflection on my Learning Specialist/Instructional Designer Proposal

Several challenges that I face in my classroom involve increasing student engagement and providing more differentiation within my instruction. Yes, these are two challenges, and if someone asked me to pick just one, I would have a hard time deciding which one is more important. Therefore, I wanted to find something that would help me to try and achieve both for my students. I know that incorporating something with technology could help, and after learning about and researching HyperDocs, I feel that utilizing these tools in my classroom could be just the thing. 

After assessing my needs in my classroom and thinking of this idea, I have brainstormed questions to ask the technology coordinator at my school to help me with implementing HyperDocs. I feel that I have thought of all possible challenges I may encounter with using these. I have also gathered research to support how these will help with engagement and differentiation in the classroom. I feel that the process has been going well so far. The major challenge that I have encountered is having the time to create this. I want to incorporate links and videos and other tools to make this learning experience meaningful for my students. I also have not had time yet to meet with my technology coordinator to go over this with her. These past two weeks have been extremely busy since report cards and conferences are taking place. I hope that after the holiday, I can meet with her and spend time gathering resources. I also want to tailor some of the HyperDocs for specific students. 

I am excited about implementing a HyperDoc because I feel my students will be more invested in what they are learning. I am fortunate that I am in a 1:1 environment at my school since each of my students have Chromebooks. I therefore feel that these would be a perfect tool to start using in my room to create a more blended-learning environment. I really do not feel anything negative about using these other than I may feel a little odd in the classroom while my students are on these because I am not actively involved in the instruction. However, if I get better with these, I can incorporate features where I can provide feedback directly or ask questions to the students as they are engaged in them. 

While there is so much that I can do with HyperDocs, I do have to step back a bit and think in simple ways by starting off small so as not to overwhelm myself. I know I want to use this for a social studies lesson. After coming up with the lesson objective(s), I will then gather the resources. I think my first HyperDoc will be small, and then I can build from there and make them longer with different tools and features attached. 

I am liking the idea of being a Technology Specialist because I think the next step in my career is to be more involved in instructional design and to find ways to reach students. I feel that I can do this best by not being tied down to just one classroom, but by being involved with multiple classrooms to learn ideas and collaborate with other teachers at a school.

Social Media in the Classroom

Oftentimes when I think of social media, I usually think it's only referring to things like Facebook and Twitter. When I was reading a presentation about social media, I came across the following image. This image stood out to me and made me realize that other tools like Google Docs and Pinterest are also social media. I like how this image grouped these technology tools into different categories. So, the next time I am asked if I am interested in using social media in my classroom, I do not have to limit my thinking into just those two tools.

Social Media Map: Image Source

In order to gain ideas on how to use social media in the classroom, I read the following article entitled 22 Simple Examples of Social Media in the Classroom. On here, I learned the idea of having students create fake Facebook pages about a famous historical figure, and using Pinterest to pin student work to share with parents, etc. In addition to those, a classroom blog can be used in a writing class to have students interact with others, especially their classmates. I like finding resources like this that provide example ideas on ways I can use tools with my students and their families. If I use these tools in my personal life to communicate and collaborate with others, then it makes sense to use them professionally with my colleagues, students, and parents. Since the world is used to these tools, it will probably help them stay organized if all aspects of their life start using them, so all teachers need to start realizing that using these tools more will benefit their school.

I also read another article entitled What Would Abe Lincoln's Social Media Campaign Look Like? A New Classroom Use for Twitter and Facebook. I find it very interesting to look at how social media played a big role in political elections, and how things may have been different if social media was used in the past during Abraham Lincoln's time. This article explained how this topic could be turned into a lesson for students. I found the lesson to be a great idea and it definitely would  allow students to use many different higher-order thinking skills to collaborate and communicate. Within the lesson, students could use other technology tools like Recite to write quotes from historical figures and how those could have been used in a campaign. Awesome way to integrate social media into a lesson! It's something I don't think I would have come up with on my own. One just needs to be social in order to gain great ideas!

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Technology in Education

Image Source

Wow! I can't believe this course is coming to an end. I learned a lot about different technology tools to incorporate in my classroom and share with my colleagues.

One of the main things I learned from this course is the value of being more involved in online educational communities such as Twitter. Being a part of this social media site is beneficial and trendy for teachers to share and gather new ideas. I shied away from sites like this before, but now I am happy to be a part of Twitter.  I learned a lot from the EdChat and from some of the education-related individuals I follow. Learning the idea to have students use slides as exit tickets is a great way to get students more involved in the learning process. I also started using Quizizz in the classroom as a good tool for review. I heard of it before, but since I follow DitchThatTextbook on Twitter, I was motivated to explore it more and use it. My students said they loved it more than Kahoot!

In addition to Twitter, I loved learning about HyperDocs. I found one on Twitter that I modified and am going to use with my students next week about Mesopotamia. There are so many more on Twitter that I can adapt and use. An activity like this coincides perfectly with the goal of blended learning. My students are very tech savvy, and an activity like using a HyperDoc is very engaging for them and perfect to meet their learning needs.

I also enjoyed learning how to blog and can see myself creating a blog to interact with parents, students, and even my colleagues. I think it is an easy tool to use and is definitely helpful in order to collaborate with others. 

Other tools that I learned about from this course include Nearpod, Thinglink, and Write About. All of these are awesome and will definitely engage my students in learning. 

Learning about the different frameworks in technology, like Triple E, was also very informative since it's important for teachers to be evaluating if their use of technology is augmenting the learning for students appropriately. 

There are so many more technology tools and features out there than ever before to help teachers and their students learn. I am so happy to have learned what I did. I'll admit, trying to do everything is a lot all at once, so it will require some baby steps to implement and use these different features. Nevertheless, I have my blog and Twitter account to refer to in order to look back on the different things I learned from this class. Technology is here to stay, and as I said before, in order to grow as an educator and a citizen of the modern world, we must immerse ourselves in the new tools of our time. 

I am looking ahead at all the technology tools I can use to improve teaching and learning for my current students and my future ones to come.

Pln: Twitter & EdChats

First Time Twitter User 

I made a Twitter account for the very first time several weeks ago!

You can follow me at: @lwalls776

In the past, I have been on Twitter to read some tweets of celebrities, etc., but I never made my own account. I will be honest that I had a negative notion about this social media service as I thought it was only for people who wanted to constantly let other people know what they were doing at the moment! I was like, "Who cares what you had for dinner?" After creating my account and finding a ton of educational ideas, resources, and people to follow, I instantly changed my mind! What a fantastic place for educators to share ideas and talk about important education topics.

Image Source

#EdChat:Engagement in the Classroom 

I participated in an #EdChat last week for #ETCoaches
(ISTE EdTechCoachesNetwork @EdTechCoaches) about engagement in classrooms and professional learning experiences. The chat was hosted by Steve Wick @WickedEdTech. He is a High School Science Teacher and Technology Coordinator. This topic of engagement was very fitting for me as we were discussing active learning that week in my online class. Steve Wick introduced himself and shared a picture of a quotation that said The More You Share, The More You Learn. This saying definitely rang true for me after I have finished the chat since I gained some great ideas from this experience. I only learned because I participated.

Steve Wick asked various questions related to engagement, and I responded to most of them. The first question asked us to define student engagement and to share some key words connected to it. My response is below:

Personal Photo from #EdChat  Twitter Account

The part that I really liked about this experience is that the host and other people started liking and retweeting some of the thoughts I was sharing. Steve Wick liked that I said that engagement is when students are actively "discovering a solution," and he liked that I used the word "curious" as a keyword for engagement. I was nervous about participating in this chat at first, but after hearing positive comments like this, I received affirmation that made me feel more confident about myself and my thoughts related to education.

Personal Photo from #EdChat Twitter Account

My favorite part of the chat was when he asked what strategies or things we do to "hook" our students at the start of a lesson. This was my response:

Personal Photo from #EdChat Twitter Account

By sharing this example on the #EdChat, I made the host laugh out loud! At the same time, a lot of people responded well to my response. I felt really good that I shared this example.

Personal Photo from #EdChat Twitter Account

One main takeaway that I gained from this chat is the idea to have students respond to a video clip by making a slide recap. I tried this idea a few days after this chat with my students after they watched a social studies video clip. I had students write 3 things they learned and 1 question that they had about the video clip on a Google Slide. Students then had to present these in class. It was a very engaging and simple activity that put the learning directly into the hands of the students. I love that I learned this idea!

Personal Photo from #EdChat Twitter Account

Steve Wick also talked a bit about HyperDocs. I shared that I learned more about them in my class, and he said that if I have any questions, or if I want to run one by him, he'd be excited to talk. I thought this was so nice, and I am so happy that I follow him!

Personal Photo from #EdChat Twitter Account

I wish I had known more about Twitter and the online support it provides, especially when I first started teaching. I think being a part of an online community like this would have helped me gain ideas and possibly ease some of my anxiety during those early days of teaching. Staying connected with other educators can help me grow and stay up-to-date with new ideas, so I am glad that I am following this community now.


Resources:

HyperDocs: I was able to find several already made HyperDocs by just searching for specific ones on Twitter. These are ones that connect with current units I'm doing in class. There are a whole lot out there on Twitter!
            
 Mesopotamia: Hammurabi Code HyperDoc by Nicole Beardsley (@beardsleyteach)
 Plate Tectonics HyperDoc by Stella Pollard (@Stella_Pollard)

 How-to HyperDoc: Intro HyperDoc for students and teachers by Nicole Beardsley (@beardsleyteach)

I follow Ditch That Textbook on Twitter. They provide and share a lot of great resources and lessons, especially related to technology. 

I also follow Smekens Education. A few years ago, I attended several writing and reading conferences from this service. I gained so many ideas in writing that I still use today. I am happy to follow her (Kristina Smekens) on Twitter as she shares different resources and writing tips via videos.

I have been following Seesaw, too. I saw a recent post that spelling tests could be dictated to students by using Seesaw. By using this, it can allow teachers to administer several individualized tests to students. See tweet @MrsKylieHand

Web 2.0 Tool

I spent a lot of time looking through various lists and descriptions of Web 2.0 tools. I had a really tough time selecting one as there were many that caught my attention. Nevertheless, one that caught my eye is called Write About. I learned about it from Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day.


I teach writing this year and have my students write daily in a journal. I have been giving them a different prompt each day at the start of class.  Since my students have Chromebooks, Write About seems like something that would work really well in my class, and I know my students would enjoy using it. You can learn more about it in my narrated presentation:

About Write About...
With this tool, I can share a prompt with my students to their account. Students can either write what I share with them, or they can select prompts that are more interesting to them by searching through different categories. The neat thing is that students can share their posts with the teacher and their classmates, and they can comment on each other's writing. I could write along with them and provide feedback right away. They could also share these posts publicly with other students within their age group for comments. Students can also use this at home, or they can write during their free time when they finish other work early. 

Teachers and students can see how much they write in a given time each week or month. From various videos I've watched on Write About, teachers have said that their students are writing more because they are writing about things that interest them, and they enjoy being able to respond to their classmates. Check out this video from YouTube to learn more about what others are saying.

You can set up a free account for your class, but each student is only allowed 5 posts with this version. For a fee, you can set up an account that includes unlimited writing for your class or for the whole school.

Image source

Forgot to mention....
One thing that I forgot to mention in my narrated presentation is that teachers could create their own prompt instead of picking one already on the site. That's a great feature! The students can even write about something related to what they're studying in other classes.

So excited!
I am truly very excited that I learned more about this tool this week. I definitely know that it will be a big hit with my students. I can't wait to start using it! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get my school to buy an unlimited account for the year!! I'll keep you posted....