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

     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 websites and apps mentioned. I use some of them in my current classroom. 

Websites/Apps Mentioned:

    The apps/websites she mentions are: Google Chrome, Google Jamboard, Nearpod, Google Keep, Classroom Screen, Toy Theatre, Epic!, and Google Sheets. Although I have heard of most of these, there were two that I did not know about. Those two are Classroom Screen and Toy Theatre. 

Classroom Screen: This website allows for teachers to have many different elements displayed on a projector/interactive display/etc. You could display timers, clocks, transition elements, and textboxes for student use. It gives a way for teachers to have a single place to house many tools at once. I could see myself using this website to display visual timers, Class Dojo points, and directions for activities without having to toggle between tabs. It would also allow for my students to have more independence with their work as everything is displayed for them and they can self-monitor. 

    
    Toy Theatre: Toy Theatre is a collection of virtual manipulatives that are housed online and can be used when teaching virtually or in-person. When you go to the website, you can choose which manipulatives you want to use and they will display. I could see myself using this app with my students in the classroom because it is very interactive. Not only can it be used online, but if you are using an interactive display, students can see the manipulatives being moved as well as interact with them. If you are a teacher that maybe lacks physical manipulatives, this website would be perfect. 

Where do these apps fall within ISTE?

     I believe that these apps would align to the ISTE standard 1.4 (Innovative Designer). By using these apps, students and teachers are able to use a variety of tools to problem solve in an innovative way. These websites and apps function as digital tools for students to create new learning and understanding, as well as giving them the autonomy to work with open-ended problems. I could see my students using these technologies to problem solve, think innovatively, and create unique work. 


    


Comments

  1. Katie McManusJanuary 29, 2023 at 3:43 PM

    Thank you for sharing about Toy Theatre! That is such an awesome resource! I have iPads in my classroom and an Apple TV. I mirror a lot to demonstrate for my students. This would be so nice to use so that I have more mobility while teaching. Using the camera and a stand so that I can demonstrate using manipulatives keeps me from being able to move around the classroom and monitor my students understanding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mrs. Rand's Random ThoughtsJanuary 31, 2023 at 11:02 AM

    This looks like a great resource! I really like the classroom screen app. I know it is best practice to display timers to help students keep pace, but I have a hard time doing that when I also need the directions on the screen. This app seems like it would be beneficial in the classroom.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Emily RussellJanuary 31, 2023 at 6:38 PM

    Thank you for sharing! I have heard of classroom screen before but never took the time to check it out. After looking at it, I am already thinking of all the ways it can be used in my classroom. Toy Theater was something I utilized during virtual learning and it was so helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dr. ThomasFebruary 7, 2023 at 1:54 PM

    Salem,
    I also started following her blog a few years back. Do you think I should remove her blog? Has it lost focus due to her expansion? I was not familiar with the Toy Theater. VM are always useful to have in the toolbelt. Great post!

    ReplyDelete

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