TPACK and Acvitities

How can educators take advantage of these items to better improve instruction?

Easy! Its a recipe!
A quality lesson can only be made using 3 ingredients:

1 idea of content
1-2 ideas of pedagogy
 1 or more tools of technology.

Start with content and decide what your students need to know. Then add the pedagogy; How are you gonna teach it? Then last, add the technology that will HELP the implementation of the lesson. If teachers follow these easy steps of the recipe, they will have success and create a "delicious" lesson for their students!

My Favorite Tech Tools

 We are sure that you have some favorite tech tools and gadgets. In this month's blog post, choose your favorite (or two) and tell us about it. Don't forget to include ideas of how it can be used as a teacher or as an instructional tool. 

I absolutely LOVE my Ipads in my classroom! I use them all day everyday and my kindergarten students really enjoy using them. I use them for reading centers by having students play phonics games on apps we downloaded. I use Biguniverse for leveled reading groups during guided reading. I use them as a behavior incentive during reading workshop and allow my "super silent readers of the day" read their books on the Ipads on Biguniverse instead of the plain paper leveled books. I use them during STEM as a math review center using math games and apps or for science looking up weather and other activities.  Lastly I use them as interventions for my low performers on Tier Plans to review letter sounds or sight words during my pull out time for some extra guided practice. They are wonderful tools in a classroom and we have 5 but that is plenty as long as you think in a small group setting.  

Top 10 Reasons I Became a Pinnacle Leader

10. To make my classroom technology rich.
9. To experiment with new technologies.
8. To learn more about programs on the web.
7. To prove kindergarteners are capable of using technology purposefully.
6. To become a leader in my county.
5. To become a leader in my school.
4. To add something awesome to my resume.
3. To meet others who could give me ideas.
2. Because I am getting my masters in Instructional Technology.
1. To become a better teacher!

School year, part 2!

The first part of this year was overall the best I have ever had. I love the new common core curriculum and the teaching style and I like the new additions like the writing units and phonics lessons. Figuring out testing was the biggest obstacle but nothing too bad to stress over. I love having the laptops and Ipads, even though it has taken a while to get my little ones able to independently use them and stay on task. I compared my first semester to Elf since I was always smiling. :-)
Second semester, I am so excited for because my students now understand the procedures and are finally becoming more able to use the technology independently. They know my expectations and some of them are now able to navigate to certain websites all by themselves! We are even typing sentences now at this point and next week we will be "publishing" our how to books on the computers using powerpoint to make books. I will soon add them to google and let them make books on google presentation but I want to get some more typing practice in.
I am just going to keep on smiling like Elf and keep up the positive attitude and faith my students can do anything they set their little minds to. Witten's Kittens are gonna have some fun this semester!

Pinnacle Reflection Fall 2012

Pinnacle

• Learner-centered Teaching: Make sure to spotlight ways in which you have been able to focus instruction on the students and in small-group or centers. What has worked well and what pitfalls could you share for the rest of us? I have used my laptop centers twice a day everyday for both literacy centers as well as STEM centers. The students use the center independently mostly on websites that allow practice of the literacy skills being taught that week or as a math review game. Each day I rotate the group that goes to the center so each day different children get to use them and everyone gets to go to the laptop centers twice a week. The students are engaged and it allows for me to do my independent reading and math groups without being interrupted.I also am lucky to have Ipads to use with my small guided groups which I have used Big Universe, a website that has leveled nonfiction guided reading books. My students have really enjoyed these books and I have figured out ways to use it best and for differentiation. The Ipads are funny sometimes though and when I download a new app, sometimes the old ones disappear which has been troubling.
• Relation to Common Core & Essential Standard: How were you able to use technology while adhering closely to the new curriculum? The new common core standards are all about learning through hands on interactions and through play. The use of the laptop center allows students to learn through interactive online games. It allows students to think deeper and learn through experience and also keeps them engaged and on task. I love using the laptop center for STEM time because it is a great tool to integrate science. I use unitedstreaming.org a lot for students to watch a clip on the laptops about a science concept or to expose them to a culture through video clips. I have found that having this visual tool has also helped inspire the students in writing which is now with common core very self directed with topics of their choice. The Ipads are similar in the fact that the students can play learning games and I love the nonfiction guided reading books on the Ipads to help integrate across the subject area.
• 21st Century Skills: Perhaps the opposite of the prior question, how were you able to use technology and learner-centered instruction to promote the acquisition of 21st century skills? I am using the laptops to make my students more independent. Also we sometimes use them to practice typing and writing. My students read on the Ipads and they have become so good at using them. At this point they can already independently open the Ipads and get to Big Universe and choose a book to read for Independent Reading Time.

Student Work Samples: see videos