FERPA Regulations

As an educator, I protect the privacy of my students throughout the school year. The peak times that I have to protect this data is during school registration, graded materials, special education documents, public events, field trips, classroom celebrations, and social media posts. Each school has its own protocol in securing student files. At my school, we are required to store them in the office in alphabetical order. Registration documents must be signed in and returned when finished. These files are not to leave campus, and can only be viewed by school personnel that work with the student. Media and internet use forms are completed by parent guardians allowing students to participate in school media and use technology. Graded materials, medical information, and attendance are password protected. This is  also true for student special education plans. I have a list of student names that are able to be photographed for school media. I usually distract students that do not have authorization by sending them for water or delivering a note that keeps the occupied while photos are being taken. Classroom celebrations are ideal times where parents want to document quality time with their students and post on social media. I create a special space where parents and students sit to prevent other students that are not their child being posted on social media. I teach Kindergarten at this time; however, If I taught a graded level higher then First grade, I would have phone check ins and outs during the school day. This prevents the use of phones and social media during the school day by utilizing this policy. I have observed raw footage from social media posts of students on campus having sparing matches or humiliating teacher and peers in classrooms and restroom. Phones are great bring your own device tools for the classroom, but systems most be in place to prevent the abuse of these devices. It is always wise to have good things (digital devices) in moderation because it assists students in making sound decisions as digital citizens. Educators are responsible for protecting student privacy having a system in place helps tremendously.

3D Printer in the Classroom

Classroom 3D Printing

It consists of a CAD program where the object is designed, cut out, or hollowed out, and printed by the 3D printer. 

Whats new in 3D printing?

• Medical field is embracing 3D printing in the optometry area for eye prosthetic that assist in keeping the eye socket proportionate to the patients face.
• Veterinarians are using 3D printed masks to assist in the healing process of animal limbs. 
• Veterinarians  have used 3D printed ovaries for full term pregnancy in animals.
• Architects use a mobile construction 3d Printer to build a home
• 3D printed baby manikins with internal organs for the pediatric medical field

3D Printing Classsroom Integration

   3D printing can be incorporated into the classroom setting through the all academic subjects. It promotes student engagement as students solve real life challenges with items they invent and print. 3D printing makes art relevant again and encourages students to be inventors and good digital citizens.

The following lists projects can be used throughout all subject areas

Math

• Pattern Activity where students have to complete or create a pattern

Social Studies ( History)

• economic activity where students create a product to sale 

ELA

• create a character from a story 

Visual Arts

• create art using a three dimensional shape that holds an item

Science

• create an anatomical correct flower with labeled parts

Scratch for the Curriculum

Welcome to Scratch for the Curriculum! 

Here are five projects for Kindergarten that you may find valuable for student engagement in your classroom!

• Ready for use Scratch Lessons by Maytal Bendavid consists of 11 lessons supported by six  ready made scratch projects accompanied by video tutorials that describe how to code to create a game through coding with scratch website.
• Starting from Scratch By Jeremy Scott is a beginners lesson for coding. It consists of three detailed instructions of how to code for tutors and students. It also includes a screencastomatic video tutorial and media files from scratch.
• The Mixed Up Chameleon by ScratchED Team consists of coding with the integration of visual arts. Students create the art with paint, paintbrushes, paper plates, and scissors. Scratch is used to bring their individual art work to life as an animation. 
• Interest Driven Coding Curriculum by Jared O'Leary consists of 30 lessons that naturally introduce coding to students in Kindergarten through Second grade. 
• Scratch Across Every Subject by ScratchEd Team consists of multiple links that show how to integrate coding into all academic subjects. This is a must have for elementary educations there are over 50 games that inspire students to be attentive during class.

Scratch Coding

 I am excited to introduce Scratch to the educators of Davis Elementary School.  The following link Scratch Tour explains how Scratch can be integrated into the classroom setting.Scratch allows users to create and publish games, animations, and interactive story telling.This digital tool fully engages the student allowing them to code and create a product that address skills within the higher levels of Blooms Taxonomy such as analyze and evaluate. The finished products are published allowing students to share their work with other peers and perfecting the art of coding.

Diversity, Cultural Understanding, and Global Awareness

Diversity, Cultural Understanding, and Global Awareness 

As an educator, I model and promote diversity in my classroom by attending professional development that assist me in accommodating students with exceptionalities through the integration of QR Codes on learning menus that look the same, but are tier based upon ability level and curriculum standard. I model and promote cultural understanding through Nearpod and Storybird. Nearpod is an informational resource that allows me to personalize lessons content to highlight cultures that are present in my classroom. Storybird lends itself to student crafted stories that reflect the traditions and celebrations from within their culture compliment with an illustration. I model and promote global awareness through the use of digital-age communication and collaboration tools such as facebook messenger, google docs, google classroom, and classdojo. The aforementioned apps assist all individuals involved in education whether they be a parent, student, or education professional work together on projects and message one another on a local and global scale.

Gamification Delivery Systems

Gamification Delivery Systems

The three applications that I suggest educators use to gamify the classroom are Classcraft, Classdojo, and Reezly. The chart below identifies the application features of each device making it a beneficial tool for classroom management and behavior. Classcraft and Reezly allows students to take control of their own learning. The teacher assigns quest or tasks for the students to complete with instructions. Points are awarded for completion, or assignment is returned with feedback from the teacher regarding areas that need attention for a grade to be awarded. Classdojo assist students in monitoring their behavior in the classroom. Points are awarded and deducted depending on classroom rules and behavioral infractions in the classroom. All three applications communicate with students, parents, and educators in real time encouraging collaboration and engagement between all parties with profiles. Gamifying the classroom assist with classroom managament and allows srudents to determine the order in which they would like to complete tasks that are aligned with the curriculum. Gamifying the classroom is the way to go to produce responsible students that are equip with twenty-first century skills for college and career. 

VGo

VGo

What is VGo?

VGo is a mobile robot that acts as a medium between the individuals within the classroom and a student that is home bound due to medical conditions or special needs that prevent them from attending school. This is achieved through robotic telepresence which is the ability of the VGo robot to be physically present and relay information through teleconferencing on the webcam.The elements that are necessary to use an maintain the VGo technology are wifi internet connection, digital devices, VGo robot, and VGo cloud network.There are two models of VGo available the robot starts at $3995. 

Classroom VGo 

VGo is a practical device in the school setting as long as education professionals stress to the student body that the robot is as an education tool rather than a toy. The following is a list of benefits VGo has for students and educators within the school setting.

• VGo uses webcam and display allowing students and educators to see one another and classmates.
• VGo allows students to moves independently through out the school building along with peers. 
• students remain in good standing in attendance and academics.
• actively participate in collaborative small group projects.
• student operated

AR Runner

AR Runner 

This is an augmented reality app that turns the environment around the user into a running track. The avatar collects coins as it runs. The game ends when the runner runs into a barrier. The runner is given a performance score, and a report on the number of coins collected.  The option of retrying for a higher score is offered at the conclusion of every game. 

AR Runner app features diverse avatars, mythical opponents, theme music, augmented reality, and the app is free. 

Storybird

Storybird

What is Storybird?

Storybird is a platform that provides illustrations for users to write stories. These stories are stored on the Storybird available for peers to read works that originate from amateur writers. Storybird offers the following story genres are comics, picture book, poetry, longform story, flash fiction, and blog. This gives the writer much flexibility in the story that they wish to create. The user chooses a genre, an illustration, writes a story, and then publish. 

My Storybird Example

Party of Five Story

Storybird classroom Use

Storybird lends itself to many uses within the classroom. The following is a list of ways that it can be used:

• Writing prompts in all academic subjects
• Prior knowledge activation 
• retelling a story (using character, setting, and plot)
• writing center
• math story/ word problem
• informational science stories
• informational social studies stories

Storybird is not limited to the above uses if you can brainstorm the story it can happen. 

VR, AR, and MR with Intel

VR, AR, and MR with Intel

Virtual reality, augmented reality and merged reality are instructional tools that lends themselves to build users first hand experiences to places, procedures, or things that they would not have access to if it were not for technology.

Virtual Reality

My prior knowledge regarding virtual reality consists of a computer application that manipulates the brain into believing what it sees is reality.  After watching the video, I learned that virtual reality products over time will become reasonable priced making it affordable for the public. This includes school districts allowing them to purchase the products for education and engagement purposes. 

Augmented Reality

My prior knowledge regarding augmented reality consists of the merger of reality and virtual reality together in one experience. After watching the video, I learned that augmented reality uses proprioception cues that allow objects in the real world to become a virtual object that interacts with things in the augmented reality.

MR with Intel

Before watching this video, I believed that merged reality was strictly for entertainment. After observing how merged reality is beneficial to the medical profession, I can foresee how other industries will use it to educate their clients and staff. What I learned from the video is that merged reality occurs when a computer is programmed to sense and interact with surroundings including the people that are present in the space. 

Education Today

Every education professional is looking for 21st Century ways to keep students engaged while addressing academic content that will prepare them for higher learning institutions and careers after grade school. Virtual reality, augmented reality, and merge reality all make this possible for student centered learning to take place. Students will no longer be told how something works now they can experience it for themselves. 

Wearable Technology

Wearable Technology

The two wearable technologies that I researched were the Coros Omni smart bike helmet and the Phillips SmartSleep Tracker.

Coros Omni smart bike helmet

 

The purpose of the helmet is to protect the brain if a cyclist is involved in a collision. It also offers other features such as bone conduction audio, caution lights, phone notifications, and an emergency contact notifications. The helmet connects to mobile app on smartphone through the bluetooth. The smart communication feature gathers data data about the cyclist and analyzes it assisting the user with navigation and emergency alerts when necessary. The helmet comes in patriotic colors and black starting cost is $129.99. More information about the Coros Omni smart bike helmet can be found on this website https://www.techradar.com/news/coros-omni-smart-bike-helmet-lets-you-listen-to-tunes-while-still-hearing-the-road.

The purpose of the sleep tracker is to allow the user to rest well by interfering with their sleep waves. The device targets shorts sleep waves allowing the person to wake up with less fatigue than they usually have without the tracker. The sleep tracker has sensors that collects and analyzes data while manipulating sleep waves for a better nights sleep .The sleep tracker connects to a mobile app through bluetooth connectivity, and responds to sleep waves that are emitted by the users brain.The sleep trackers starting cost is $399.99. More information about the Philips SmartSleep Tracker can be found on this website

https://www.usa.philips.com/c-e/smartsleep.html.

Top Hat Vs. Nearpod

Top Hat Vs. Nearpod

If Top Hat and Nearpod were people they would be siblings. Top Hat would be the brother, and Nearpod would be the sister.  I  was first introduced to Nearpod in this course. Last month, I attended a professional development that showed the benefits for the classroom. Top Hat and

Nearpod are mirror images of themselves. They both allow the teacher to conduct a lecture from the classroom, while students  follow along on their own digital device.  Both applications require student engagement  by requiring the students to  record responses to academic questions on their digital device.  The only difference that I noticed between Nearpod and Top Hat was that Top Hat will allow students to record their attendance.  While Nearpod records data that allows the teacher to determine the students who were present for the lecture. This missing feature in Nearpod can easily be corrected by the instructors simply adding an open ended question that ask them to record their name.

 I give both Tophat and Nearpod two thumbs up.  The determining factor would come down to which application Top Hat or Nearpod would fit within the school districts budget for academic resources.

Realsense Technology

There are many ways that RealSense technology is beneficial to its users.  The following are ways that RealSense technology is useful when using images, video, cameras, scanning 3D images and collaborative projects. RealSense technology is beneficial for images because it allows the camera to recognize faces, and track a particular subject from within the environment. RealSense technology is beneficial to users because it offers gesture controls which allow people to interact with technology and other people through a variety of applications. RealSense technology is beneficial to video because it allows users to remove the background, and apply a new environment creating the desired scene for production. Speech recognition is also available through RealSense technology which allows users to control technology with their voice. RealSense technology is beneficial to scanning 3D images because it allows users to inspect, create, and print models of actual products. RealSense technology is beneficial to individuals that collaborate with other people through video conferences. Lastly, Realsense technology allows users to collaborate together to create and complete products in both the academic and corporate world.

Instruction through Gameafication

Gameafication Classroom Use

 I would use gameification in my classroom because I know the benefit gaming has on the learning environment. The two ways that I will use gaming in the classroom would be as a skill based center and as a formative assessment tool.  The skill based center activity would focus on math and English language arts. The first way that I would use gaming in the classroom is to make it a skill based center during small group rotations. I currently use Edgenuity in my classroom for Math and ELA it sets students on their own personal learning path. The program reads to them and the students select their responses using the mouse or keyboard. The data collected from the student responses are utilized to make instructional decisions, and form response to intervention groups.
 The second way that I would use gameification in the classroom is for formative  assessment. As I teacher I utilize formative assessment before a lesson assess my students prior knowledge, and during the lesson to track student progression of learning. Gaming in the classroom will equip students with the 21st century skills necessary for college and careers. This is a positive move for educators to allow students to be responsible for their own learning and keep students engaged with academic content.

Technology Trends 2018-2019

Technology Trends in the Classroom 2018-2019

The  Whitepaper entitled Technology Trends in the Classroom: What's on Tap for 2019 and Beyond highlighted six technology trends for 2018-2019.  The technology trends that were mentioned are applications that I have experienced first hand, or heard great reviews about its use within the classroom. Educators are looking for apps that will engage students within the classroom, while allowing the student to gain academic knowledge.  The first trend is Game-based learning commonly known as gameification. It has game-like qualities that gives students access to assignment called quest, and rewards points and badges for completing assignments. The second trend is called Device Mesh. This trend allows students and educators to communicate with one another through a digital device. The device becomes the medium that connects the multiple parties together for the sake of academic achievement. The third trend is personalized learning. It is a hybrid approach to teaching students academic content  personalized learning paths and in class instruction. This approach engages the student because it focuses on the unique interest of the student while meeting academic needs. The fourth trend is computational thinking, coding, and robotics . This trend engages students on a cognitive level in which they create codes to contribute to an assignment in which they produce a game for users to play.The fifth trend is augmented and virtual reality. Augmented and virtual reality creates an instructional setting that allows the class to engage in activities on the school campus that they would not have access to due to budge and safety reasons. This trend is idea for virtual field trips. The sixth trend is Data mining which is the collection of data that is used to answer academic questions education professionals have about student academic performance within the learning environment. All technology trends address the needs of educators and students to produce engaging lessons that take student thought and understanding to higher level of thought within blooms taxonomy. Theses trends also assist teachers in asking questions regarding student data and improving the quality of instruction.

Newsela in the Classroom

Newsela in the Classroom

The site allows student to access article collections that range in reading Lexile levels to differentiate Reading passages for students. Students also take quizzes on the content within the article. Newslea has a feature that allows educators to customize assessments. Students that have exceptionalities within the classroom are able to access information as their peers do with slight modification.

Newsela Site Amenities

• Collection of information in all academic content areas such as Social Studies, History, Sports, Economics, Art, and Science.
• Text Collections
• Student binder that collects data on academic performance
• Power Words
• Customization Binder
• Accessible to all students no matter their physical disability
• Text to speech option

Newslea Use

Newslea is used in the classroom by students and teachers. The teacher creates a class in order to create and assign assignments. The teacher assigns and then invites students to assigned classrooms. The teacher assigns articles to students. The teacher creates instructions of how they would like the assignment completed. The teacher has the ability to highlight an annotate parts of the article they would like to bring to the students attention. Teachers can create and assign writing prompts for students response. Students complete the assignment through Newslea. The teacher reviews student responses to the completion of assignments.. The teacher also has access to the amount of reading time the student committed to reading the article.

My Classroom

In my Kindergarten classroom, I would use Newslea as a resource for informational text. I would read the article to the students  and conduct the close read  in whole group. I would annotate and highlight academic vocabulary . I would also use the highlight feature within the article to highlight important concepts within the print. During center rotations, I would use the text-to speech opinion and writing prompt feature that accompanies the article. If I had a one to one classroom with each students assigned a device I would assign the quiz immediately following the article reading. However, I teach Kindergarten so I would take a collection of response to device answers from the quiz.

Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling is an interactive story that is told through pictures, audio, video, and web publishing to tell a story. Digital stories are available on digital devices can be as short as 2 minutes and as long as 10 minutes. Joe Lambert and Daniel Meadows are the founders of digital storytelling. The first digital stories were published in the 1900's. People are familiar with digital stories as digital essays, computer-based narratives, and interactive story telling. 

Digital Storytelling Links

1. Make beliefs comix
2. capzles
3. PicLit

Additional Storytelling Links 

Examples of Digital Storytelling

Germ Digital Story

Saigas in Distress- The Mystery of the Dead Antelope

The Boat

Digital Storytelling in a Nutshell

The following is the who, what, when, where,and how of digital storytelling. Digital Story telling is the a collection of pictures, video, text, and audio that are arranged to create an interactive story that is told through a narrative. 

Seduction of Video Game Designers

The elements that are important to players are: 

• Systems and Puzzles
• creative environment
• power
• surprise rewards
• Story line
• multi-game players

Players stay engaged with the following tools and autonomy:

• weapons or magic
• challenge that changes as the plot thickens
• constant progress
• need to control 
• tension and resolution 
• progression from one level to the next
• disproportionate feedback
• social interaction
  

As I reflect on the information presented in the article I have a new found understanding of how the inclusion of gaming elements in the learning environment can be beneficial to students.
Students will enjoy a mystery where they control what happens and the challenge changes as the complete the story line.  Social interaction will encourage student engagement as they work in groups to receive points and rewards for the completion of tasks. Students experience tension and resolution as they turn in assignment and receive feedback and grades for classroom assignments. Gaming in the classroom through class assignments encourages peer interaction and motivates students to complete work.Gaming in the classroom definitely returns the joy of learning back to the classroom.

Top Technology Trends

As I reflect on the article, Keeping Pace With edTech: The Top Educational Technology Trends. I agree with the article that the influence of technology is increasing in education. Technology has gone from being taught in isolation to becoming intergrated in all academic content areas.  This school year, Montgomery Public Schools required teachers to include technology standards within our lesson plans. The teacher evaluation tool also assess how students utilize technology within the classroom. Technology is an educational tool that assist every population that is present on the school campus. Administration collect data to determine budget, attendance, and educational data. Teachers use technology to teach, review, assess, and document student progress. Classified employees use technology to access building and document time at work. Students use technology to complete academic tasks. Parents use technology within the building to check student grades, enroll students, and complete parent surveys. Technology lends it to many more functions within the school day. There are only a few example of how technology has become apart of our daily school operations.

My opinion is that technology was created to make tasks easier to complete with minimized effort. The technology trends that stood out to me in the article were customized learning programs, cloud computing, 3D printing, augmented and virtual reality. Technology is beneficial for students educational experience not one learner learns the same way we learn differently and at a varying pace.Schools utilize technology because they are able to customize the students learning experiences. Cloud computing can assist with reducing the academic budget. MPS has done this with google classroom each student has been given an account where they can receive, complete, and turnin course work. 3D printing prepares students for careers following grade school education. Virtual and Augmented reality I must admit is my most favorite technology because it allows students to inexpensively experience activities, places, and events.

I currently use cloud computing and individualized learning programs in my classroom. If there were a technology genie, I would wish for 3D printer, classroom sets of digital devices, and applications that would allow augmented an virtual reality lessons.

What would  your three wishes be for technology in your classroom?

.

Ryver

Ryver in the Classroom

Ryver is a collaboration tool that is used within the classroom. Students participate in topic based discussion threads. Work together on group projects and assign roles for group members to complete tasks for a project. Messaging feature allows students to chat in real time as a group or individual messages. Overtime a finished product is presented to the class all coutesy of Ryver.

Ryver Features

• messages
• chat
• thread discussions
• assignable tasks
• discussion boards
• task boards
• voting
• Privacy
• avatar

How it can be used 

I would use Ryver in the classroom to introduce a discussion topics. Students will create avatars and vote on the topic that interests them. Student led discussions will occur amongst the student body in public and secret groups. Students will be separated into groups and tasks will be assigned to group members. Students will utilize messaging and tasks boards to produce a finished product. 

BackChannel Chat

What is backchannel chat?

 Backchannel chat are the conversations and questions that an audience member has during a presentation. Backchannel is any application that allows audience members to ask and answer questions during the presentation instead of waiting to the end of the lecture. Backchannel apps allow students to enhance the conversation by adding on to the discussion in real time while the presentation is taking place in the classroom.

Backchannel Chat Apps

• Answer Garden
• Google Slides
• Tozzl

How to use backchannel chat: Google

1. create a google account
2. go to Google apps and create google classroom
3. create a class
4. share class code and Google presentation with students
5. click in middle of the page where it says share with class
6. click google drive and upload google slide presentation
7. type a message in the share with class box and click post
8. present the slides to class
9. students can backchannel chat using speaker notes

Students are able to access presentation from their classroom time line

Backchannel Chat in the Classroom

The backchannel chat app that I would use in my classroom would be Google Slides. I use it for presentations in all academic subjects. I currently teach Kindergarten, so I use Google apps for students to login into educational programs. If I taught a higher grade level, I would share the Google slides presentation with students. They would open Google Slides on their digital device and follow along with the presentation. This backchannel app allows them to have on task conversations and ask questions about the academic content that is being presented. The app also gives a voice to students that do not like speaking in front of crowds of people. Misconceptions can be corrected with immediate feedback. These conversations can be viewed after the discussion allowing students to review academic content. Lastly,teachers can print presentation for documentation of individual student or whole group understanding.

Nearpod

Nearpod 

Nearpod is an interactive education application that allows educators to create presentations where they can incorporate research, virtual field trips, and formative assessment tools within a lesson.

The link below is a Nearpod lesson created for a professional development for new teachers
Cycle of Instruction

Nearpod Classroom Use

Whole Group Presentation 

Nearpod allows teachers to present lesson content onto student digital devices. The app prevents student devices from opening windows now related to instructional content. This assist the students with staying on task. Students are able to interact with the lesson through open ended responses, fill in the blank, quizzes and more. At the conclusion of the lesson, teachers are able to pull data from the presentation to determine if students understand the content taught during the lesson. 

Self Assessment

Students are able to determine how well they understand academic content lesson through participation in formative assessments throughout the the lesson. They can visually see their

academic performance between themselves and their peers. 

Games Can Make the World Better

Games the Holy Grail to Life

My first impression of Games Can Make the World Better was that
 the notion was true. The Bobo Effect proved it possible with children,
and social media challenges prove it true with adults. Only the strong
willed resist the urge to follow the crowd where social norms change daily.
During this course, I have learned much about gaming in the classroom.
 It has caused me to change my instructional plans in how I deliver
academic content to students through digital devices. The Title One school
 that I teach at is all about collecting data, research based practices,
formative, and summative assessment to best serve the student body.
Gaming in the classroom lends itself to total student engagement
and of course student learning. According to McGonigal, the four things gamers
do that make them virtuosos is their urgent optimism, tight social fabric,
blissful productivity, and epic meaning. I believe that all four characteristics
describe the model citizens that we all would like to become; however,
other factors allow, delay, and sometimes prevent us from meeting our goal.
This impacts the motivation of the human spirit. I understand how
McGonigal connects gaming and learning to enhance student experience
as they gain their education. I agree, students are more optimistic in a gaming
 challenge in comparison to course work because they do not have several lives
to redo the task until the get it right. School officials attempt to create real life
with a safety net to prepare students for life after graduation. Traditional schools
 attach the labels of pass and fail because in “real life” people are not given
 unlimited chances. This results in the human spirit giving up on the challenge
they attempted because they have failed and its documented in someway that
they were unsuccessful. Many educators forget that academic learning is within
the experience, so grading an assignment and returning it to the students to do
over does not stunt student growth, but assists in the perseverance needed to be
 successful in life. Tight social fabric is associated with the collaboration that
 occurs within the classroom during academic dialog and group projects that
encourages social networking amongst students. This is a tool necessary for
 success in college and career. Blissful productivity occurs when these
relationships are built and the students find their niche within the group much
like citizens performing careers within the community. Epic meaning occurs at
 the conclusion of the assignment or assessment where the student is given points
based upon academic performance much like a game, but with meaning that can
be applied to everyday life. In conclusion, I have more respect now for video
games and their use in the classroom. My first impression was that video games
were a pass time intended for entertainment, but I have learned it can be used for
 learning as well.

Etherpad

Etherpad

Let me introduce you to the program Etherpad. Here are the who, what, when, where, how, and why you should use Etherpad in your classroom.

Who

• Educators
• Students
• Small Groups
• Partners
• Classrooms
• Grade Levels
• Schools

What

Etherpad can be used as an education collaboration tool for group assignments that require student or education professionals to create projects, presentations, and documents together. The program shows the document in real time allowing all members of the group to contribute to the finished product.Users can see one another work on the document at the same time; there is also an option in which users can chat with one another.

When

Etherpad lends itself to any academic subject. It is appropriate to use it before, during, and after an open ended responses, fill in the blank, or multiple choice formative assessment. It can be used the same way in profession development.

Where

Users have access to Etherpad documents on any digital device no matter their location on Earth.
Documents can be accessed anytime day or night.

How

Etherpad displays a box much like blogger, google docs, and Microsoft Word. Inside the box users control the font, text size, images, hyperlinks, list, spell check, and other editing tools that are necessary for a publication. Download or share document when it is complete. 

Why

• Etherpad gives all users a voice in one document. 
• efficient use of time
• It allows an educational institution to go paperless.
• allows students to apply 21st century skills needed for college and career
• extends class time to meet assignment due dates

Plickers

Plickers is a educational tool used within the classroom to collect student responses revealing their understanding of academic content that has been taught. The data collected from student responses

The Plicker app is compatible with all digital devices. It is perfect for all a BYOD classroom setting. If students do not have access to digital devices the students can use the plicker card to registser responses. There are many uses of Plickers in the classroom. It can be used to record student attendance. Plickers can be used as a formative assessment. The data collected determines the instruction that follows and student grouping for response to intervention.

As a Kindergarten teacher, I would use Plickers to record attendance in my classroom. I would use it to formatively assess students during the lesson. At the conclusion of the lesson, I would use Plickers as an exit slip. The Plicker tool can also be used as a pre-assessement tool before covering new information.

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Augmented Reality in Education

AR Zoo: Augmented Reality Zoo Animals 3D Photos

This app could be utilized by all grade levels of school age children.
I am a Kindergarten teacher which requires me to teach all academic subjects.
These subjects consists of English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies,
Visual Arts,  and Health.  I would use this app in the following ways across
all academic subjects.

English Language Arts

Alabama College and Career Readiness Standard :
W.K.2 requires students to use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative or explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
Activity:
Create an informative or explanatory text regarding the characters in the picture.

Math

Alabama College and Career Readiness Standard :
K.OA.1 requires students to represent addition and subtraction
sentences with drawings or pictures.
Activity:
Write an addition sentence that matches the picture. Examle: 1 baby + 1 jaguar = 2 

Science

Alabama College and Career Readiness Standard :
ACOS.K.3 requires students to distinguish between living
and nonliving things and the basic needs that must be
met for them to survive.
Activity:
Compare/Contrast living and nonliving things in the photograph.
Compare/Contrast basic needs of baby and jaguar

Social Studies

Alabama College and Career Readiness Standard :
ACOS. K.10 requires students to use vocabulary related to giving and following
and following directions.
Activity:
Where is it?/ Quess Who? - Students use position words to find an object in the photograph.

Visual Arts

Alabama College and Career Readiness Standard :
V. K.11 requires students to distinguish between images and real objects.

Activity:

Compare Contrast images vs real objects - Students use Venn diagram to
determine what  characteristics the image and real object have that are
the same and different. 

Health

Alabama College and Career Readiness Standard :
H. K.8 requires students to list behaviors that promote personal safety.

Activity:

What Would You do?- students will list unsafe behavior of the baby in the photograph. They will then list what should be done to return the setting of the photograph back to a safe living environment for the baby.

Closing

I would encourage students to interact more with the photograph by writing text to assist in meeting the completion of the academic standard.  Some standards require lists, equations, collaboration in small group, or the publication of a document.

SeeSaw in the Classroom

What is SeeSaw?

Seesaw is a digital portfolio that allows students to reflect on their learning and track their academic progress. Parents have access to student work samples and online journal. They are also able to comment on their student's work. Seesaw is an appropriate program for the diverse groups of learners within the classroom.Student work can be documented through PDF, Word documents, photographs, PowerPoint Presentations, blogs, drawing pictures, creating videos, and much more. 

SeeSaw 21st Century Learning and Assessment

There are many ways that Seesaw lends itself to the 21st Century learning within the classroom. Seesaw allows students to go paperless. Students are able to store their assignments, photographs, videos, and presentation within their student profile. Seesaw would be an excellent program to use with Student Led Conferences. Student Led Conferences are lead by students. Parents come to conference with their students as they  present a collection of their course work. 

Seesaw requires students to use the following twenty-first century skills :

• student drives their own learning
• inquiry based
• collaborative assignments
• critical thinking &problem-solving
• communication skills
• apply academic concepts to real life

Seesaw from the teacher perspective is beneficial to the assessment process because it allows all student work to be collected in one location.  The student work that is uploaded to Seesaw can be used for both purposes of formative and summative assessment.  The teacher is able to view pretest  and post test to assess student learning. The teacher uses the feedback received to plan classroom instruction and student assignments. 

99 Problems Animated Video

Animation in the Classroom

Toontastic Animated Story App

    

Toontastic is an app that allows users to create animated short stories,
classic stories, and science reports. I would use Toontastic within my
classroom in all academic subjects. Literary Elements are a state
mandated standard for Kindergarten. The students would use Toontastic
to apply what they know regarding the role of the author, illustrator, and
plot of a story. Toontastic app reminds the student what each part of the
story consists of right before they create the before, during , and after of
the story. There is also a feature that allows the student to draw their own
character and narrate their own story. The last portion of the story making
process is to Title and Name the author of the story. They are then able to
publish and share with the teacher and classmates. The teacher would you
a rubric to grade students on the story they created with Toontastics as it
corresponds with the College Career and Readiness standards.

Classroom Friendly Animation Apps

Animation in the Classroom

The web link above will direct you to a website with five animation apps

that are safe for students to use within the classroom and at home. One of the

featured apps is Toontastic which is what I used to create the animated short

story above. The 4 remaining apps are Tellagami, Animoto Video Maker, FlipaClip, and Puppet Pals. All apps are free and compatible with either

Android or Apple devices. All five can be used during the English Language Arts block in the classroom. Currently the subjects of Science and Social Studies are integrated into the ELA block that all five apps are beneficial to all subjects.

The following are benefits identified by the website

• students take responsibility for their own learning
• appeals to a diverse population of learners
• take sstudents through the story writing process

Augmented Reality Exploration

AR Dragon

• This app was utilized on a Samsung Galaxy 8 Note Android Device
• The user is given an egg. The eggvhatches by the user tapping on the egg. The egg hatches and you are granted a dragon. User scans the room and summons the dragon into reality. The objective of the game is to care for 
• I have summoned my dragon Oggy. He has already broken the first rule of not getting on the furniture.

Kings of Pool 

• This app was utilized on a Samsung Galaxy 8 Note Android Device
•  Kings of  Pool a virtual reality game that allows players to play a game of pool. You are able to send messages back-and-forth between the 2 players. The objective of the game is to get all of your balls into the pool pockets before your opponent.
• I started the game in the lead knocking in two pool balls on my first try. My opponent is an equal match he struck two balls into the pool table pockets as well. The circular icons on the screen allow me to change pool sticks, instant message, and change position of pool stick on the table. 

BYOD: Bring Your Own Device

What is BYOD?

BYOD is an acronym that means Bring Your Own Device. It is a practice in which

students and educators are allowed to bring their own digital devices

for use on the school campus to complete academic tasks.

Pros Vs. Cons Implementing BYOD

The following statements are the pros to implementing BYOD:

1. Students are able to complete tasks with efficiency

because they are familiar with their own device.

2. It saves the school money in purchasing digital

devices for the entire student body, not to mention

students update digital technology more often than

the technology budget allows.

3. BYOD promotes student responsibility in regards to

bring necessary materials to class, and taking care of

the device reducing the likelihood of vandalism or repairs.

The following statements are the cons to implementing BYOD:

1. School campus wireless network may be inadequate

in providing connectivity for all the devices on campus

limiting academic productivity.

2. Digital devices can cause an unintentional segregation

amongst students based upon socioeconomic status.
Student will be divided three ways. Those who have current

devices, out of date devices, and those must borrow because

they have no personal devices.

3. Parents may prohibit their student from bring their own

device to decrease the likelihood of their students' device

being damaged, stolen, switched, or lost.

My Classroom BYOD

I embrace the concept of BYOD in my classroom.

However MPS and the students that I educate

function on a limited budget.

My school

has the highest elementary population that live in

poverty out of the K-5 schools within our district.

I surveyed my students, 5 out of 18 students within

my classroom shared that they have tablets at

home. I would utilize BYOD during English Language
Arts Block and Response to Instruction. Students will
have the option to borrow a Chromebook, or use their
device from home. Students will implement BYOD to
enhance their phonemic awareness, phonics, grammar,
writing, reading, and comprehension skills. During RTI
and small group the students are separated into three
groups turtles (intensive), penguins (strategic), and
elephants(benchmark). The center rotations would consist
of a listening center with a program that highlights
the words as they are read. Technology center that allows
students to use google docs or google slides to create
a publication of objects that have the initial or final sound
of the letters of the week. In the writing center, students will
respond to to a writing prompt from the teacher using
blogger. The final center is the teacher table where
students participate in a mini lesson that is related to the
content that is covered in whole group or a grade level
deficit. The before portion of the mini lesson would
be a YouTube phonics or phonemic awareness video.
The middle portion of the mini lesson would be a
powerpoint presentation that address Dibels NEXT
measures. The final portion of the mini lesson is a
Kahoot game or poll everywhere students can give
responses on what they have learned from the ELA lesson.

A similar approach will be taken with other academic subjects

as well as ELA.

Smartphones in BYOD Classroom

I approve of the BYOD smartphone in the classroom

because I agree that traditional teaching styles are less

effective in today’s digital society. District wide all students

have google accounts, so I would use student smartphones

for students to research information for projects. If I had permission
from my building leader implement BYOD within my classroom,
I would develop a system where students can check in and check out
their smartphone to prevent digital distractions and theft. This procedure
would allow students to borrow devices from the school Chromebook cart,
and allow students who choose to participate in the BYOD to use their device
within the classroom. The students would utilizes the digital devices to engage
in lesson activities such as Kahoot, QR code reader, poll everywhere,and show me.
These Apps lend themselves to the cycle of instruction that is required by my district.
They would also assist me in formative assessment and instructional decisions.

Students would use the show me app in math as an exit

slip to assess student understanding of math concepts.

Blogger would also be another app that I would have

students engage in using their smartphone to collect

video on academic progress they are making in a project

based learning assignment. Students will use their Blogger

account to post dialogue, photos, and video of their learning

experience.

Digital Equity in Title I Schools

Digital Equity in Title I schools is slowing granting

equity to parents and students that they serve. My

title one school has four Chromebook carts stocked

with classroom sets for grades first through fifth.

Parents have access to school technology within the

media center.Parents use the computer to enroll

students, pay utilities,parent surveys, and assist students

with homework.True digital equity will occur when

students are allowed to take digital devices home

to complete homework outside of the school setting.

My school has a long way to go before it achieves

a 1:1 digital program where students have access to

Technology at home and at school. Teachers can

create accounts with GoFundMe and DonorChoose.org

to generate funding to bridge the gap in gaining access

to digital devices. On a district level, the technology

department will need to revise the current cell phone

and technology use policy.Kindergarten is a grade

level that is frequently overlooked due to it not being

state mandated for students to attend; however,

Kindergarten provides the building blocks in

all subject areas necessary for success in all

grade levels. It would be wonderful for

Kindergarten teachers to have access to

A classroom set of tablets. I would use the tablet

along with a learning menu to teach more

lessons in a small group setting to increase

student learning. Currently, centers consist

of academic games that have manipulatives,

pencils, paper, and shared technology. Teachers

exert much energy in redirecting students

to remain on tasks while she leads a small

group of students. Students will absorb more

information and complete tasks more

efficiently because their work has purpose

and engages them in real life tasks.

Professional Development

The Bring Your Own Device program

will require professional development

in order to properly integrate technology

into the classroom setting. Instructional leaders

and technology coordinators should collect

feedback from educator to assess their staffs

level of confidence with using technology

within their classrooms.This includes training
staff on how to teach students the proper way
to care for and use their digital devices in the

classroom setting.  When an educators

personal interest are addressed within professional

development it encourages them to grow

with the technology that is present in their classroom.

The best way to address uncertainty is to
overcome fears in the setting of professional

development. Professional development

should be offered to build upon staffs technology

deficits and encourage growth in technology

areas educators utilize with confidence.

College Career Ready Students

It is important for students to know how to use digital

devices for activities other than entertainment. Montgomery

Public Schools vision and mission statement states that

the overall goal is to produce students that are college and

career ready upon college graduation. My school district

is attempting to meet the demand society has placed on

utilizing technology to communicate, collaborate, and

obtain information to complete tasks that they will

encounter within the workforce and higher education.

Bring Your Own Device into the classroom will prepare

Student in using digital devices to research information

from credible sources needed to create a research paper.

Students need the BYOD program so they may learn

cyber etiquette and how it should be applied within the

work force and in social settings. BYOD will assist students

With becoming fluent in using digital devices and performing

operations of all types in preparation for life after grade school.