KAITLIN BARNES
TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
There are several different ways in which I integrate technology into my teaching. The first way came through a blended learning, project-based learning enrichment class that I taught to rising fifth graders this past summer. The second way is through my reading instruction, using Padlet, real-time feedback, and NewsELA. The third way is through my social studies instruction, where students use Google Drive to work collaboratively to apply their knowledge of the concepts we learn. Each of these strategies allows me to engage my students with a variety of technology tools and provide them with new ways of accessing, evaluating, and communicating information.
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Please use the Table of Contents below to navigate this section of my website. Clicking on each underlined subtitle will bring you back to the top of this section.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
For the past two summers, my school has offered blended learning, project-based learning enrichment classes to rising fourth and fifth grade students. Alongside another teacher, I taught this summer's course, which focused on the history and experiences of immigrants and refugees in America. Students used Google Chromebooks (at a one-to-one ratio) to explore these issues and design a product that would help immigrants and refugees adjust to life in Houston. Students collaborated with a group to design and create their own learning products, and they used technology to access the resources needed to develop their products. Throughout the summer, students supplemented their technology-based learning with a novel study and guest presentations from immigrants, refugees, and the organizations that work to support them.
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Students used a variety of computer-based platforms to learn and demonstrate their knowledge, such as Padlet, MindMup, Wix, Weebly, Google Docs, Google Slides, Flipaclip, PowerDirector, and Screencastify. At the end of the four-week course, students presented their learning at a project expo that was attended by teachers, families, district officials, and the Education Director for the City of Houston. Incorporating a project expo supported and expanded students' communication. Students had to communicate their ideas not only in writing and through technology, but also verbally as they responded to questions and comments from visitors.
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Click here to view the full summer enrichment website and see other ways that students used technology.
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After students heard from guest speakers, they completed a speaker reflection writing prompt using Padlet. Padlet allowed them to see what other students were writing, and they learned how to embed images in their responses by copying and pasting image URLs. As you may be able to tell from looking at their responses, the summer class included a mix of native English speakers and English Language Learners. The photo shown above is a picture of our guest speaker, not of a student.
Students used MindMup to brainstorm ideas for their final products that would help immigrants and refugees. Using a digital mind mapping software allowed them to collaborate with their classmates and use images to communicate their ideas in a new way.
For their final product, this group of students chose to make a video that would give Houstonians information on how and why to help immigrants and refugees living in their city. They created a slideshow in Google Slides, wrote a script, and recorded their presentation using Screencastify.
This group of students created an animated video for their final product. Their video gives information to students about how to help immigrants and refugees at their schools. They used Flipaclip to animate the video and PowerDirector to add images and voice.
After my summer course ended and the regular school year began, I did not have access to technology in my classroom until the middle of October. My school purchased 12 Chromebooks for my classroom, and I applied for a Teach for America grant that allowed me to purchase 10 more. As of now, I once again have a one-to-one ratio for my classes, and I am working on finding a balance between traditional reading instruction and integrating technology and 21st century skills into our daily routines.
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One way that I have successfully integrated technology into my reading instruction is through NewsELA. Every Tuesday is known as "Tuesday Newsday" in my classroom, and we take 20 minutes of our reading block to read a high-interest news article and respond to a few questions. The goal of Tuesday Newsday is to expose students to the real issues that are occurring around them, and to build their familiarity with the different components of non-fiction text. Tuesdsay Newsday also increases the volume of different topics that my students read about, which builds the background knowledge that helps them make inferences and draw conclusions.
Prior to receiving my Chromebooks, I was printing news articles, but now students can access news articles and comprehension quizzes entirely online through NewsELA. Using NewsELA digitally also allows me to access data on how long students took to read the article and how many questions they missed on the comprehension quiz. This data allows me to see who did not understand the material, which informs my small group instruction, and NewsELA will automatically adjust the Lexile levels of the next article for students who struggled with the article that was written at grade level. In this way, NewsELA is a technology tool that helps me continuously monitor student learning and quickly adapt in response to a student's individual learning needs.
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This is the data gained from our first Tuesday Newsday, when students were just getting used to the NewsELA format. This data tells me that I need to adjust the level of next week's article because the 5th grade level was inaccessible for most of my children to read independently. I also need to revisit the importance of close reading, since many students spent less than 7 minutes reading the article.
Chromebooks also allow me to digitize some classroom routines that were previously done with pencil and paper. For example, students now use Padlet to respond to each week's Currently Reading prompts, and using the Google Suite allows them to collaborate on group projects.
Technology has also allowed me to provide more tailored and responsive feedback to individual learners, thereby adjusting my instruction in response to student needs. The "Insert Comment" feature on Google Drive has proven very useful, because I am able to leave comments in real-time on the work that students share with me. This allows me to get a pulse on how they are doing, and it allows them to see my feedback in writing, which helps them to successfully address it. Providing feedback digitally helps me easily and quickly adapt my instruction to the needs of individual students or groups. In addition, because the comments are made digitally, it is easy to go back and find a record of comments that were made previously, which helps me assess whether students are adjusting their work in response to feedback and corrections.
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In social studies, students have been using our Chromebooks to demonstrate their understanding of the events and topics we learn about. Google Slides and Poster My Wall allow students to visually represent their knowledge and work with others, and technology also allows students to work more efficiently, which is important since we only have about 35 minutes per day for social studies instruction.
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During our unit on the American Revolution, students applied their knowledge of Lexington and Concord by recreating the path that British soldiers, militiamen, and Paul Revere took prior to "the shot heard round the world." Students read about the topic, we discussed it as a class, and then they worked in pairs to represent the events on Google Slides.
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Google Slides allows me to make comments on students' projects as they are working. I was able to encourage this student on the work he had done so far and remind him to make explicit connections to our class novel. After seeing my comment, he went through and added an example from the book to each slide. In this way, I am collaborating with the individual learner to help him implement the skill of including text evidence.
The students on the left did not include all of the necessary components in the map (they omitted Paul Revere), while the students on the right included a map key to help viewers understand their map.
After learning about the three branches of government, students chose the branch that they thought was the most important. They were assigned the task of creating a poster about their chosen branch, and were given the choice of creating their posters digitally or by hand. Many students decided to use Google Slides to communicate their understanding because they are familiar with the processes for adding text, images, and backgrounds.
This student is an English Language Learner who struggles with syntax and grammar, but he is still able to explain the major responsibilities of the Legislative Branch and why he thinks it is the most important.
This student was able to explain in writing the duties of the Legislative Branch, but needs help selecting pictures that are related to his chosen topic. This tells me that I need to deliver a mini-lesson on selecting pictures so that other students can learn how to do this as well.