Reflecting on my Journey

I began this Journey of creating a lesson that integrated new technology into my classroom work thinking...what can 5 and 6 year old's do that will not be playing on an app or watching videos on the technology in our room?  We had been focusing on writing narrative pieces in our literacy time and I started playing around with Seesaw, I played around with the draw tool and realized the students could digitally publish their narrative pieces!  I started with two of my strongest students and set out to teach them how they would use the draw tools on Seesaw to publish their work.  They loved drawing their pictures on the ipad, but found it hard to draw with their fingers.  We eventually got stylus pens and they said that was much easier to use.  They quickly figured out how to add color and how to record themselves with the tools.  Typing was another area I felt they may struggle with, but after showing them the space bar and shift keys they got right to it and were successful!

 https://drive.google.com/a/rcsdk12.org/file/d/0Bye68Gqsf53tZ25SYWNqVjdXM1k/view?usp=sharing

 https://drive.google.com/a/rcsdk12.org/file/d/0Bye68Gqsf53tMnVUbENpZnZnT2M/view?usp=sharing

  https://drive.google.com/a/rcsdk12.org/file/d/0Bye68Gqsf53tX2hQd1lxTTduVEE/view?usp=sharing

I originally allotted a week to complete this lesson, but quickly realized that they needed some supervision and support to complete.  It took a few weeks to complete.  I also had some 6th grade buddies stop down to supervise and keep the students on task.  

Students were very engaged and love digitally publishing their work.  I did notice that their first pages were pretty strong and by the last page they put less color and detail into their drawings.  

The students were proud of their work and all said they enjoyed working on Seesaw Draw to publish better than the paper and pencil way they usually complete writing tasks.  

I am still in the process of creating a rubric to assess the digital work the students completed.  I am basing it on the Aesthetics and Function of the digital publishing.  I had to research and find an example to help create my rubric.  Not many examples to go by.  Here is the example document...

CLC thoughts:

I have loved the opportunity to jump into a focused activity that allowed me to incorporate technology into my normal lessons, but enhancing the students engagement!  Students took tasks that they were successful with and tried a new way to publish!  They learned through modeling and experimenting how to create their digital story!  

I was able to learn a little more about how to use Seesaw tools in my classroom.  I had done some work last year, but never dug deeper.  This class allows you time to work with technology and feel more comfortable with each new step you take!  My goal is to eventually have much of the work my students do recorded into Seesaw...keeping a digital portfolio of their growth!

Is the use of technology making a difference in our students learning?

Technology is a great tool to enhance learning, but could never take the place of good instruction! 

Do students learn from Technology?  I think they develop or improve skills with technology, but the learning takes place before they use the technology.   

When we plan as teachers, often we can use technology to present or enhance the lesson, but we are interactive with the students and the technology.  That interaction is where we check for understanding. 

When allowing students to use iPads or Chromebooks, I often think...what is the goal?  Can all students do this activity?  Can I differentiate it or find a different app if this one will not work for everyone?  Can the student work independently with this app?  What data can I get from students after they use technology? 

Technology is one of the bigger tools in my teacher toolbox!  I just want to make sure my students get excellent first instruction before they go and work on a piece of technology.

Teach me app...students apply knowledge already taught, and keeps track of students progress.

Planning and Goal Setting

In a Kindergarten classroom very little work is independent.  As I have worked with this years group of students I have found that many are open to new tasks and challenges.  I believe I have a few students that are ready to use digital tools to enhance their writing and publish their work.  Paper and pencil tasks are necessary, but I felt that it may be more engaging to dive into digital illustrating (using ipad screen to draw pictures and color), typing of writing (using keyboard on ipad to type writing), and introduce the self recording of students reading back their work (they love hearing their own voices).

Here are some examples of the writing pieces ready for digital illustrating:

I have decided on using Seesaw and having the students upload this work using Draw on the app.  The tools and very simple and easy to use.  They can draw with their fingers and add colors to their drawings.  They can then touch the typing icon and begin typing on the page with their illustration.  Draw also has the added feature of recording the student reading their writing.  This will be very engaging for students as they work through this process of digitally publishing their work.  They will also be able to share it with peers from our class and collaborate to edit and improve their work.  

We will also be able to give parents the opportunity thanks to Seesaw to see their child's work!