Posts

New Google EDU Features as Mentioned by Michelle Emerson

Image
 If you have not already heard, there are some new Google Edu features coming in the coming weeks. My influencer, Michelle Emerson with Pocketful of Primary  explains these updates and shares how they will be useful in your classroom.  In her video, Michelle mentioned some updates. Below, I have highlighted the updates coming to Google Classroom, Docs, Slides, and Chrome. As a teacher who primarily uses Google chrome, I am personally pumped about these updates.  Google Classroom: AI is going to begin being an option through "Practice Sets". Students will be able to identify gaps in understanding in the class level and student level. These sets can be shared with others.  Google Docs: You can now add some pre-made templates in this update. For example, being able to choose between meeting notes and email templates, makes it comparable to the templates also in Microsoft Word. There is now an option for timers and stopwatches within documents.  Google Slides: ...
1 comment
Read more

Gains & Losses When Using Technology in the classroom

Image
      I was in school between the years of 2000 and 2018, and during this time, I saw the use of technology in classrooms completely boom. When I think back to my grade school days, I remember the only technology in my Kindergarten classroom was the big box T.V. that hung in the corner of our classroom. Fast forward to eighth grade where we were using SmartBoard technology and using laptops were common. To think that in 10 years I went from starting with barely any technology in my classroom, to being fully surrounded by technology is unreal.           This week when reading Chapters 7 & 8 in  Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology , I found the idea of gains and losses pretty intriguing. I have highlighted and bulleted some gains and losses for using technology in the classroom.  Gains:  - Student engagement is much higher with the use of technology in the classroom.  - Different platforms like G...
4 comments
Read more

Assessment Technology Study: All About Plickers

Image
       This week, I decided to dive into a new technology that I have never heard of before. This technology is an assessment tool that teachers can use to measure student progress in a more "discreet way". With Plickers, teachers can start a class queue where they can add questions that they want to assess, and students answer those questions with their Plickers cards. While students are answering these questions, the teacher can use their mobile device to "scan" answers and receive real time results. After the session ends, the teacher can print out a score report for recording.  Pros and Cons of Plickers      Pros: I do like having a "discreet" way for students to submit their answers. The answer choices are displayed on the Plickers cards where the mobile device can scan for the answers, but students could not necessarily "cheat" with this technology. I also like having instant results that takes away the "grading" aspect of assessm...
5 comments
Read more

"Pocketful of Primary": A Review of a Popular Teacher Influencer

Image
       This week, I started closely following Michelle Emerson with Pocketful of Primary , which started as a YouTube channel and has grown into so much more. Michelle began her career teaching 2nd grade and documenting the experience in weekly vlogs on YouTube. Her career then progressed to more lifestyle  content as her channel grew. I first began watching her vlogs back in March of 2020 when the pandemic hit, because she had a good variety of videos about using various technologies to enhance digital teaching.      When the pandemic hit and teachers were forced to turn their homes into their classrooms, I think there was a huge learning curve with teaching online. The video I watched this week was " My Current Digital Favorites: Best Websites for Virtual Teaching! ". In this video, Michelle outlines her favorite digital teaching tools that can be used for both distance teaching and in the physical classroom. I really enjoyed listening to the we...
4 comments
Read more