Week 7

This was the week before Spring Break, and what says break time more than benchmarks all week? We spent most of the week either administering benchmarks or being in "testing mode," but amidst all the testing we still found time for technology integration in the classroom.

Students finished up writing their reflections from previous week and worked in collaborative groups, supporting learning objectives for my internship.  Students were also introduced to the drawing tool in Lesson 8 of the Seesaw Learning application.  Students are one step closer to getting "Seesaw Certified." In this lesson students worked in collaborative groups to create a life cycle of their choice. Students then had to use the microphone, captions, or labels to explain their drawing.

Students also used the drawing tool to demonstrate an understanding of math concepts.  We were learning about data, so we decided to draw dot plots.  After I modeled how to create a dot plot using the kindle, students then were given a set of numbers and told to plot them on a dot plot of their making.  

Students used a combination of the text tool and drawing tool to create their dot plots.  I could have extended the activity further by having them write 2-3 sentences about their dot plot, or having them write questions that could be answered with their dot plot.  

Students finished their online STEM virtual investigation on topic of lifecycles.  While I had two students control the animations and read the instructions, the rest of the classmates went through the scientific process in their journals and came up to the interactive whiteboard to interact with the investigation.  The virtual investigations are very engaging for my students, and I have noticed that they are retaining the information at a better rate versus reading from a textbook.

We did not have too much time for robotics this week, but I did meet with one small group at a time to go over reflections.  Both groups of students are participating in meaningful learning that is getting me excited for more technology integrated activities.  Tech has become such a big part of our classroom environment.

I also took some time to work on putting together my research, which is showing how online journaling/blogging increases engagement, promotes peer collaboration and improves literacy skills.  I have already gathered qualitative data that supports my research, and when it comes to improving literacy skills, students are recording their voices, stopping mid paper, and revising/ editing their papers.  Hearing their papers read aloud by themselves is definitely making students more conscious of their writing.

Now its time to enjoy a week of Spring Break!  I look forward to updating you after the break with how our class is further integrating technology into our classroom!

Week 6

This past week was very productive and helped me move closer to my goal of integrating technology into my campus.  This week my intervention students received their robotics folders to help organize their work. Students were told expectations and shown the robotics rubric.   Students were given time to begin a Blockly assignment with Dash robots and began tracking their progress using their assignment organizer.   My homeroom continued with Seesaw Lesson 5.  I continued assisting students with taking a photo of their work and encouraged peer collaboration.  We also discussed appropriate/not appropriate photos to use on Seesaw.

My campus recently expressed concerns about behavior, which made me think of an application titled Class Dojo- an app used for behavior management. Students receive weekly reports, and the system is very positive.  My hope is that the data I have been collecting since September will show administrators the effectiveness of the technology application in reinforcing positive behavior.

This week I had my supervisor observe my robotics group– While my students continued working on their robotics assignment, my supervisor spoke shared with me information about Lego Robotics as well as Presentation software titled “Spark.”  I am hoping to utilize Spark at the end of the semester as a way for my students to present what they learned about robotics to the group.


Our class began Seesaw Lesson 6, where students set and recorded their goals on paper. The class was introduced to the rubric that they would use to self-assess their writing. Students were shown a writing example that was read aloud. The teacher then went over the steps for taking a photo, tapping the microphone, and reading the story. Students were given five minutes to brainstorm their “5th Grade Goals.” After the brainstorming period students were given a 15-minute silent writing period. The teacher then went over the steps for taking a photo, tapping the microphone, and reading the story.

This week was definitely rubric-focused.  My robotics students were introduced to the journaling rubric that they would refer to when writing reflections on programming sheet. Students continued working on projects, teacher recorded student progress into Seesaw in the form of video that students could leave feedback on.

I reviewed with my homeroom students the rubric that they would use to self-assess their writing. Students then took snapshots of their writing using the Kindles and uploaded the work to Seesaw. Students then added their voice to their posts. Students were then asked to use the rubric to assess the quality of their post.



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Students continued to post their goals to Seesaw, taking pictures of their writing and recording their voice to go with the image.


During Science I had my students self direct themselves through an interactive whiteboard virtual investation about life cycles. Students wrote scientific method in journals and drew and labeled pictures as they were guided through a smart board lesson controlled and read by their peers. Students were asked to come up to the board several times to interact with Mimio smartboard.


We had "Read Across America Day" on friday, and I had the students scan QR codes with their Kindles in order to trigger a read-aloud of a Dr. Seuss story that they then listened to with their book buddy. Students then used the technology to helped their buddy take Accelerated Reader (AR) tests over the books read.  I also discussed with technology teacher website code.org. She was unfamiliar with the website, which features self-guided modules that teach students to code.

On Saturday, I proctored and judged junior high and high school optics examinations.   While stressful, it was a really exciting experience, and I also helped with operations of a Smart Board used during the testing period.  I had a chance to work directly under three physics professors and was even able to provide assistance as to how incorporating a tablet into a lecture would be more engaging for students.

I also did a bit of research this week.  I viewed a pre-recorded presentation titled “Ask an Expert: Programming and Team Management” by First Lego League. I also researched STEM activities for Read Across America, April. https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/egg-drop-activity-stem-challenge-young-kids/.  Finally I reread chapters “Social Media and Education,” Sound educational design using social media,” and “Common aspects of social media functions and practice” from the textbook Using Social Media in the Classroom by Megan Poore. 

This week was long, but very productive.  I look forward to continuing to research and continue activities with my students that will go toward my internship.

Week 5

This past week the robotics group grew from 10 students to 15 students, meaning new procedures and expectations were to be put into place.  The good thing about the change was our work space went from a closet down the hall to my classroom, making it easy for students to get to  their robots and make the most of what precious time we have for intervention.  Students were introduced to a rubric they would be using to rate themselves on their programming performance.  Students were also given checklists and a troubleshooting guide to help them take charge of their learning. 

Students were also introduced to the reflection sheet that will be used weekly or biweekly in order to reflect on that day or week's programming.  I have not yet decided if I wanted this to be a weekly or biweekly task, but I do know that I am going to have my groups post onto Seesaw weekly with a summative reflection.  My groups have already used Seesaw to write their goals for robotics and the rest of their fifth grade year.

Our group also was able to get two more devices, so now our classroom has 8 kindles (one is an older kindle that does not run the Wonder or Blockily applications but does connect to the internet), 4 desktop computers and 2 laptops.  This makes it so much easier for our classroom to seamlessly integrate technology into our curriculum and keeps students from having to wait for a device.

I read up on a Case Study involving the Dash and Dot wonder robots.  The challenge presented in the study mirrors my own objective for robotics: to "inspire students to participate in programming and other technologies; while improving student motivation and engagement" (Segiet, 2016).  This case study helped put into perspective what exactly I was trying to achieve with my Dash and Dot robots.  In the case study, the researcher was also wishing to start a coding club for the following school year, making the research and findings very relatable and relevant to my own internship and studies.  You can find the PDF to the case study below:

http://wonderworkshop.sunburst.com/ww_case-study1.pdf

Week 4

This week was a little difficult when it came to getting my internship hours in.  Fifth grade had back-to-back benchmarks on Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday was our Valentine's parties.  Thursday, however, we were back on track and I had the chance to meet with both my robotics group and my homeroom group to continue our Seesaw lessons.

Today I put the power of programming back into the students' hands as they worked together to navigate through the learning modules on the Wonder Workshop application.  Our first programming session was a teacher-guided lesson on nested loops using the Blockly app, so this was a different approach that students had not yet had a chance to discover. 

Through trial and error, and by seeking help of fellow "programmers,"  the students continued to surprise me with how quickly they worked through the modules, as well as how they were able to customize the modules to make them their own as they also fulfilled the tasks at hand.  It was very rewarding to sit back and watch as they problem-solved and helped each other through some difficult steps in the programming process.

However, as much as we are having with programming, the STAAR test is lurking just around the corner.  I am going to begin using Quizziz on the Kindles to help this group of students refine their knowledge of content before they are able to continue with the learning modules on Wonder.  Students will still be getting to program as well as receive refinement along the way.

My home room also got to work with Seesaw a little this past week as well. This past Thursday students completed lesson 6, which had them post a selfie to Seesaw that included positive words about themselves.  Students really enjoyed seeing their posts projected on the board as I approved their comments.  Students also enjoyed helping out eachother and bringing eachother up as they encouraged their classmates to take selfies. 

Week 3 - Jumping into the technology

Week three of my internship has been a very productive one.  The week starting by me introducing my home room students to SeeSaw, a journaling application that puts students in control of their own personal E-portfolio.  This week students got to watch me model posting and taking pictures on SeeSaw, along with learning about "Netiquette."  I was also able to meet with my GT/TPSP group and introducing them to their Dash and Dot robots they will be programming with for the remainder of the school year.

This week was very exciting for both myself and my students.  On Thursday I received Whispercast training so I can have access to and control of applications downloaded onto our Kindles.  I also ordered a Amazon charging tower to help manage charging of the kindle devices.  With Benchmarks next week I am looking forward to intervention time as I continue to use technology to help the students interact with their learning and eachother.

Week 2- Getting the ball rolling

    Now that I have been given the okay to start piloting robotics, it is time to make sure that the technology that I have will work for the project.  I was at a standstill with the Kindles, since I did not have the ability to download the required applications needed to program the robots.  This week my supervisor delivered the loaner robots we would be using for the pilot, which of course was very exciting.  There would be enough for groups of 2 and 3 to work together collaboratively with the robots.  

    Now for getting our devices on board to launch.  I contacted our district's technology coordinator, who signed me up for Whispercast training and gave me permissions to download apps onto not only the kindle fires in my classroom, but in the entire school. 

   This opened up doors that went beyond robotics.  See, the school purchased Kindle Fires a few years ago, but did not have anyone trained to best use them.  Thus, their academic use was limited, so much so that books could not be downloaded for them (the main reason for their purchase).  Now that there was someone on campus who knew how to set up the Kindles for academic use, students could get the most out of these tools. 

   I also got the chance to introduce one of the students who will be involved in the project to Jackson, one of the Dash robots.  I handed her a Kindle Fire with the Wonder app downloaded, and let her experiment. In five minutes the student was wandering the halls with the robot at her heels as she manually controlled Jackson with the Kindle.  When she showed my school's administration, the realization that our Kindle Fires were going to work for the project made them excited; this put much more room in our budget to purchase actual robots, instead of having to worry about devices to operate them.

    I plan on introducing the robots to my Pilot group late next week, and I can't wait to share our experiences!

Internship and Research - The Beginnings

With the holidays over and this new semester underway, it is time to begin my last semester as a grad student at UHV.  I am very excited for the opportunities I have been given and look forward to the new experiences to come.

As far as my internship goes, I had some ideas as to what my internship would entail.  I had gone to a staff development early January where I was introduced to BreakoutEDU, a program that puts learning and problem solving back into students' hands.  This is where I met my Internship supervisor, who was giving the training.  I was very interested in trying out Breakout at my school, but did not have the funds to purchase the physical "Breakout Box" and programs.  While the physical "breakout box" was not yet within reach, Breakout did have a digital component that had free Breakouts that I definitely will try this semester. More on that later.

It was my first week back from Winter break that a wonderful opportunity was presented to me.  My administration informed my fifth grade team that we had been offered a grant in the amount of $4,000 to jumpstart Lego Robotics at our campus.  After seeing my interest and knowing that this was the semester of my internship, they let me take the lead on the project. 


Along with the Lego Robotics opportunity to integrate technology into the classroom, I also planned to jumpstart blogging in my classroom, particularly with the subject of science.  Fifth grade takes a Standardized test on science, and their scores on the test is dependent on a well-rounded grasp of the concepts and applications.  After speaking to my supervisor I plan to use the free blogging platform Seesaw. 

Throughout this semester I will journal my experiences with integrating technology into the classroom, and will be conducting research on the effects of blogging on collaborative learning, literacy, and achievement in the fifth grade science classroom.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you!