EEND 675 Foundations Artifacts

The tools that I would like to highlight and that are part of the extensions we use in my district are ExplainEverything and Pear Deck.  They both can be used to engage students both in the classroom and when using remote learning.  There are free options available however subscription-based options provide extra support and resources. 

Explain Everything is an interactive whiteboard platform that allows teachers and students to collaborate, share, and learn. Teachers record and share lessons using options like images and videos. Students record and share videos as evidence of their learning. Here are instructions on how to set up a project using Explain Everything. Here is a sample of a completed project. 

Pear Deck transforms Google Slides into interactive slides by allowing you to include different types of questions for students to answer on their own or during class. The teacher mode allows you to see who is participating and display responses anonymously.

Here is an example of a Slides on finding News Sources that used Pear Deck to assess students' understanding of the concepts.

EEND 678 Effective Technology Integration. Artifacts

The topics we have covered over the last 8 weeks focused on leveraging technology effectively. This looks different for all of us given our roles, students, resources, and districts. My role as a teacher-librarian is to provide instruction, support students' literacy and reading for pleasure, and create collaboration opportunities with teachers.  Technology allows me to achieve these goals. The tools/artifacts I decided to share support students' literacy both in the classroom and for their own reading pleasure. 

Sora is the student reading app from Overdrive Education. It provides students with access to ebooks and audiobooks that can be downloaded to their devices (Chromebooks) and or phones.  Schools can set the number of ebooks students can check out and the length of the checkout. District libraries can share books between schools and/or help students borrow from public libraries. Teachers can assign books to be read and check on reading statistics. Students can highlight and take notes that can be downloaded as a PDF or to Google Drive. Here is a presentation on how to access our Sora App. 

Newsela is an instructional content platform that publishes daily online articles on a range of topics and reading levels and integrated assessments. Newsela helps students develop critical nonfiction literacy skills. Teachers can engage each learner with up to date content, view metrics on student usage and performance, differentiate with 5 reading levels, including articles in Spanish are available as well for ELL, and search by standards.  

EEND 713- Reflection

My two takeaways from this class are Authenticity and  Flexibility. For engagement to happen in an e-learning environment students must feel their assignments are authentic, relevant to their learning, providing them choice and ownership. Alongside authenticity, there needs to be flexibility for students and teachers to adapt to change, to modify plans, to change technology, to abandon and pick up new projects.

EEND 713- Engaging E-Learning- Artifacts

I tools I chose to highlight for this class allowed me to engage with students during remote learning. While I had used them in the past it was during remote learning that I truly realized how helpful they were to connect with students and help them stay engaged with their learning.

Screencastify allows Chromebook users to record video tutorials, presentations, etc. You can record your screen, yourself, or both screen and self.  Videos are limited to 5 minutes unless you have a subscription. Videos are saved to Google Drive and can be shared via Youtube.  Here is a sample I created for classes conducting research on how to use one of our library databases. Screencastify can be a great tool for students to review instruction after class, or to preview skills before class. For remote learning, it is a great way to connect with students by including yourself in the video.

Google Docs is a part of the Google family of tools.  A word processor that allows users to create and edit files online while collaborating with other users. Google Docs are versatile and allow users to include interactive links and multimedia.  Teachers can share documents with students, and students can share with students for collaboration during group work, with real-time work and/or the history of any documents available for all to see. Here is a sample of my unit lesson plan which includes links to multimedia, and additional Google docs.

Genius Hour week 8_ Reflection

Hard to believe that the last 8 weeks have gone by, that another school year has come to an end, and that summer is truly here. The last 3 months have been surreal, I don’t think any of us could have predicted how different our lives would be in 2020.  

For me, this project has been a way to reconnect with purpose and creativity in my life.  World pandemic and house confinement had me lacking initiative and the desire to learn new things.  By going back to doing things I enjoyed I found a renewed sense of purpose.  Throughout this process, I have learned that you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to continue growing, that having routines help build preparation, but that you also have to be flexible to adapt to changes.  

This week I took another step to add a new challenge and push myself out of my comfort zone. I started a running plan based on the Hanson model. It is taught by Nikki Humphrey, wife of one of the founders, along with two other coaches. It’s virtual through Facebook and limited to 70 women from across the country. Some of these women have amazing stories and successes- running Boston in 3 hours! My goal is to become a stronger runner and person by following a prescribed training plan and leaning in for support.  

I found this quote on their book and struck me that it could apply to other aspects of life “Being a great racer is part preparation and part flexibility” 

This class has provided me with experiences I can take into my class, especially with remote learning becoming a part of our daily lives. Creating authentic assignments and opportunities for students to pursue their own interests will support the development of the skills needed to succeed in the 21st century.  Pursing inquiry, evaluating sources, leveraging technology, and ethically creating and sharing new knowledge.