Unconference

In an unconference you get everything you can get from a conference and much, much more. Whether you attend one to get to know others in your field to build your community  or simply have a question and need it to be answered; an unconference is place to be. Here you learn, share and exchange ideas dynamically. Asynchronously complex problems are explored for deeper understanding along with networking and collaborating. 

I recently attended an unconference that Emerging Tech hosted. They are a community of professional educators who explore all the ways to integrate technology and 21st century learning into their classrooms.  I attended their latest unconference, "There's an app for that!" This unconference was great. Successful educators from around the U.S. came together to share out resources and tools that they have found to work great in their classroom. The apps that these educators recommended are not only apps that have proved to work well in the classroom but are apps that you can mash up, which is paring apps to other apps, to create rich experiences with projects or whatever it is you are using them for. 

In 60 minutes I added some amazing resources to my toolbox. Some apps that are worth mentioning are: Notability, Koma Koma, Lightbot, Nearpod, Join.me, iStop Motion, CrowdFlik, Chromville, PaperPort Notes, My Brainpop, Aurasma, Paper (FiftyThree), Poems by Heart, Poetry, Remind, Read Wrtie Think, Scan, ScreenChomp, Strip Designer, SnapSeed, Socrative, Subtext, Symphonizer, Thinglink, TouchCast, VideoScribe, VoiceDream, WordLense, WhatWasThere. All of the mentioned apps are solid and worth looking into. Discovering unconferences has changed the way I will now acquire knowledge for professional development.

Professional Growth

I have always been an enthusiast of technology. Every aspect of how technology has changed the world has only enhanced my everyday life and education experience. During student teaching I found myself having to create a unit on the book “Island of the Blue Dolphins.” My master teacher gave me the freedom to do what I wanted with this. I began to research and did not find much on this topic that caught my attention as being worthy of an introduction to the book. The only thing I found was a brief history of the book and biography of the author. Instead of just reading this to my students, which is what seemed to be the choice of introduction for most, I decided to make a prezi presentation to introduce the author and the history of the woman the author based his story on. In the end, I had created a great visual presentation of the books background. I included images; video and even audio of the woman the main character in the book was based on. My mentor, who is an expert in technology integration and is a respected educator/researcher, supported and fostered my growth in continuing to integrate technology into my lessons. He suggested I master the art of technology integration by continuing to further my education earn my Master in Digital Teaching and Learning.

Through out this wonderful program I have learned many invaluable skills from amazing professionals. Aside from the content I expected to learn, I gained other skills. These skills are among the best skills any professional could have. I learned how to work under pressure and deadlines. During this time I was already working full time and the thought of taking on grad school full-time was an overwhelming feeling. At first I was not sure how I was going to get through it but as I went on my professors really modeled how to break down big projects, assignments and responsibilities. Along with the confidence levels of taking on work I would have never thought I could handle; it was a wonderful experience getting to now amazing Christian professionals who work hard to be the best inside and out. These professor are individuals that can change others just by being an example to them. They are good-hearted, Christian professional who devoter their life to be a service for children. My experience here has showed me that the idea of the person I want to become is indeed possible and there are others who are living proof of this. Everyone I have met here holds a special place in my heart, I have learned much about teaching and innovation but learned much more from the relationships I have made. The “Hidden Curriculum” sure does exist in graduate school as well.

Upon completing my Multiple Subject Credential and Master in Digital Teaching and Learning I have grown a great deal as an educator. Beginning with learning about classroom management, procedures as well as the latest and most effective techniques to teach. Through out student teaching I got first hand experience on what its like to have my first classroom. I was very lucky to be mentored by a person who I respect highly. He pushed me a great deal to refine my lesson writing, delivery as well as technology integration. As I continued on to earn my Master of Arts in Digital Learning I realized there was much I had to learn about technology. My eyes were opened up to see the difference between images and video that are effective versus video and images that are poorly done, which in turn makes them ineffective. Just knowing the basics of photography and video making/editing makes an impact on the products I produce. For that reason anything I create or bring into my classroom will be that more effective. Also, learning about and applying Gardner’s theory on Multiple Intelligences is a skill that will last a lifetime. Gardner’s Theory changed the way I look at people. I see them through a lens that shows me a persons strongest intelligence and it helps me understand the basis of their behavior. This is something one just cannot unlearn. This particular skill will make me the most purposeful and effective lesson creator.

Before starting the Master in Digital Teaching and Learning program I knew that technology had and still is changing the way we live and function in every sense. It has opened up the entire world and made it available to everyone and anyone. In the past the teacher was the source of all knowledge. If a child learned something new it was because their teacher had presented that new information and passed on their knowledge. Now children are able to attain all sorts of information with just a click away. Children have hold the source of all information in their hands, weather it be a phone, tablet or computer, they no longer need a mediator to gain new knowledge. This has changed teaching and learning in schools dramatically. Children are teaching themselves what they are interested in learning and in a way they prefer to learn it. They come into school and are being taught something they might not be necessarily interested in and in a way that they do not care to learn in. Knowing this made me feel inessential. I was also threatened by the idea that I might not be able to reach this new generation of students. I questioned my ability to reach this new generation of students. All of these concerns are gone now. I now see myself as a facilitator of learning and have learned enough to gain confidence in using and integrating technology effectively. My view on education today still remains the same, what changed is my view on my ability to match the evolving times.

Knowing how to use Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Google Drive, Prezi, Keynote, iMovie, Garageband, etc. as well as learning about amazing apps that have changed the experience in the classroom like, Class Dojo, Talking News, Songify, Animoto, Skitch, 8Mm, Common Core app, Chatterbox, Remind 101, Action Movie, Animate, etc. gave me a great jump start into becoming an innovative educator. Best of all, using Twitter and other great resources to continue to grow professionally will keep me growing as an innovative educator.

NearPod

NearPod

There are tons of educational apps out there that are highly effective. One iOS education app that caught my attention was Nearpod. Nearpod is an all-in-one app that allows a teacher to deliver content to student devices in an engaging and interactive format. It is engaging and interactive because students receive informative slides, draw its, Q & As, quizzes, videos, slide shows, websites, etc. sent from the teacher. Everything pushed out by the teachers is shared in real time on students devices. Teachers are  also able to monitor classroom activity and easily control students devices during sessions. A detailed post-session report is also available for the teacher. 

Students are also actively engaged with the interactive features it offers. The interactive features include: Poll, Custom Slide, Open ended question, Quiz, Slideshow, Web Page, Video, Draw it, and a Live Twitter Stream. All of these features give students the opportunity to become active participants in a lesson. Teacher can make informal assessments as students participate. All data submitted to the teacher shows up on the teachers device. This is great formal assessments because the data is stored in the teachers accounts. It can be reviewed later and download in pdf format. 

If you weren't convinced by now Nearpod allows teachers to create lessons and students to create content as well. Not only can you create but it also offers presentations, lessons and engaging content created by  distinguished publishers and educators. 

I love the idea that just about everything and anything can be done on this single app. Of course this all-in-one app is most effective in a one-to-one classroom. I hope that sooner than later one-to-one classrooms will become more mainstream than they are now. I can not wait to be able to implement these types of apps into my classroom.

Tweet Tweet

It has only been about three weeks since I have signed up and begun my journey on twitter land. It sure has been a roller coaster of emotions. The first ten minutes on twitter left me feeling like I felt at age 6 when I got lost in a grocery store. There was just and endless amount of information to get through and even then coming through into my news feed. There was so much to click on as far as links, hashtags and profiles that at the end of the ten very chaotic minutes I felt overwhelmed, ready to quit and cry. Just like I did at the grocery store when I ended up in the bread aisle and called out for my mom. 

The next day I was doing some research and came across a really neat technology tool that impressed me. I instantly felt like I had to share this with my colleagues but then I thought, why not share this with the world. Then and there I decided to share this on twitter.I had remembered clicking on the hashtag "#techtools" the day before and saw a bunch of other posts from other professionals who had shared new innovative tools for the classroom so I shared my discovery and tagged it "#techtools." This was a great feeling. For the moment I felt happy that I posted something relevant to education and innovative but I also had this amazing feeling of being part of something huge. A community of professionals collaborating online. I was instantly hooked! 

Twitter is one of the most used social networks used by educators for networking, collaborating, and as a tool in the classroom. The fact that you have the option to talk to "edufamous" professionals makes twitter such a powerful tool. The opportunity to  have a conversation or get daily advice from educators who are  actually applying new and  innovative tools as well as practices is priceless. Although I would still consider myself more of a lurker on twitter I do see myself becoming more and more involved.

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