Artifact #1: Using Google as a Collaborative Site (EEND676B)

The work I am most proud is from the Using Google as a Collaborative Tool assignment. In this assignment, I used Google three ways:  Google Forms to “Choose Your Own Adventure,” Google Docs to write a complete narrative from the Google Form and Google Drawing to create a cover page for the story. I loved all three parts of the project, but what really made the idea sing was the use of the Google Form to “Choose Your Own Adventure.” I can’t take credit for the idea. I just knew I wanted to use Google Forms, but in a way I never have before. Appropriately enough, I did a Google search to find innovative uses of Google Forms and I stumbled across the “Choose Your Own Adventure” concept and it was love at first sight. But like any relationship, it was love-hate. It was so difficult to make the form work. It was truly a Tim-Gunn-make-it-work moment. I first had to have an idea of the overall story and the different avenues it would take. But the more ambitious the story became, the harder it was to create the form. For every new choice I created, I had to have alternate story paths. I finally realized I needed to simplify it and find ways for story plots to circle back to similar spots or I would never finish the Google Form.  I was so determined to make this work, failure was not an option. I kept telling myself, WHEN I figure this form out...not IF I figure this form out. Ultimately, I did figure it out and it exceeded my expectations.

A “Choose Your Own Adventure” could be used in so many ways in the classroom. It could be used as an informal assignment to build skills for a larger assignment. Or it could be used as a collaborative activity, and groups could work together to create their own “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories. Or it could be used as the springboard to a formal narrative assignment as addressed in Common Core standards. The features used to create the “Choose Your Own Adventure” could also be used to create similar forms, but with different functions. For instance, teachers could create a quiz that lets kids advance to the next question as long as they get the answer right, but as soon as they get an answer wrong, it sends them to a review video and a new question.

I feel like every time I complete an assignment for this course, I learn something new. I’m constantly pushed outside my comfort zone.  Using Google Forms to create a story would never have occurred to me had it not been for this course, but now I feel like I have all these new tools in my teacher toolbox and I’m not afraid to use them.

Artifact #2: Hot Seat (EEND676B)

Although there is nothing “techy” about my next artifact, I chose to include it in my blog because it made a strong impact in the classroom. I’m talking about the “Hot Seat” discussion technique. In this activity, one student assumes the role of a character from a novel and the rest of the students ask questions of the “character.” The student in the hot seat must answer the questions like the assumed character would. Because of this “Hot Seat” activity, all kids were actively involved in the classroom discussion and they had a ton of fun pretending to be a character from Harry Potter. Because of this activity, I was able to engage kids in the discussion of a novel in a way I never have before. It was so successful that I plan to use it in my next novel study.

A major challenge of this activity is the amount of prep time. Since I teach instructional students, I prepared a handout that explained the Hot Seat concept as well as introduced the questions in advance. The kids took about a period to answer the Hot Seat questions and another period to get each of my four students on the Hot Seat. Larger classes would need even more time to get through the activity. In fact, larger classes may want to turn this into a group activity. I used the Hot Seat for literary discussion, but I could see a history teacher having kids assume the persona of a historical figure.  A science teacher may have the kids become an inventor.

Because of this Hot Seat activity, I now feel like I need to push myself when it comes to introducing different discussion avenues into the classroom. Time is always such an issue. Where do I find the time? How do I fit this activity in? But I realized that the real question is How do I NOT make the time? If it weren’t for this assignment, I probably never would have found the time to do this activity. And then it’s only the kids who lose.

Keeping up with the Jones's...Technology Style

My issue related to technology was sparked by a survey question I received about two weeks ago:  "Do you use your SmartBoard as an actual SmartBoard or do you use it as projector." My answer was simple:  Of course, I use my SmartBoard as a SmartBoard and you are going to have to pry it out of my cold dead hands if you plan on taking it away from me. But this got me thinking. Now that we have all of this new technology, are we abandoning all of our old technology? Don't get me wrong. I love our new Google platform and I am trying to utilize it more each day, but I have a lot of time invested into my SmartBoard presentations/activities that I don't think are Google compatible. 

An article in TeachThought called "5 Problems with Technology in the Classroom" referred to this new phenomena as "pace of change." What the author was really referring to in the article was how some school districts just cannot keep up with technology that is changing almost daily. My district doesn't seem to have that problem, but they are almost tackling it too well, to the point where I feel I can't catch my breath because the speed is hyper drive. Sometimes I feel as if I am being asked to abandon old technology just because there is a new flavor of the month. And I suppose that's not just true of a SmartBoard. There are loads of applications out there that are in one day and out the next. So here is my question for all of you. How do we keep up? How do we keep pace with the ever-changing face of technology without constantly feeling like we are reinventing the wheel? I don't mean this question to sound so rhetorical because I would love some feedback.