A few weeks ago I was presenting "Putting the 'You' in YouTube" at a national ed tech conference, when I went to reach into my purse. Much to my surprise, I almost grabbed a scorpion! Yikes!
Despite Being Slightly Panicked, I Managed To Snap A Photo
I carefully whisked it out the door and two women who happened to be standing by the doorway kindly helped me dispose of it. About ten minutes later I realized I should probably go apologize to those women since I had never even bet them, went charging at them with a scorpion and then disappeared. So I introduced myself, apologized, thanked them and chatted for a few minutes. It turns out they were vendors at the conference, and urged me to send them my contact information. Long story short, after answering some questions and sending them links to some of my presos, my blog and my YouTube channel they said they were eager to help me with technology in the classroom. I have since met with them a couple times and today our Promethean Board was delivered!
In their words a Promethean Board is similar to a Smart Board but MUCH better! So far, I have to agree and I love the built in projector on top so our shadows don't block the board. Someone from the company is coming to do a few lessons with us next week and I can't wait to learn more about it! The students were VERY excited about this new classroom addition!
Since students technically have to be 13 or older to create their own Twitter account, whenever we have partcipated in classroom Twitter chats, we have all worked together under my account.
Last week students had to "tweet", keeping their message 140 characters or less, and adding at least one hashtag. They tweeted one thing they had learned this year.
Our non-digital Twitter bulletin board was a lot of fun and allowed students to tweet and forced them to think carefully about word choice. If you still haven't jumped into the "twitterverse" and are interested, be sure to watch the Twitter Tutorial Video my class put together earlier this school year.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU so much for all your support and congratulations regarding my recent Arizona Technology in Education AssociationTeacher of the Yearaward. The last week or so has been a whirlwind of excitement and activity!
I am very grateful to have a job teaching an exceptional group of students and lucky that I have such amazing, caring, supportive parents working with me as well. When I started teaching the self-contained class a few years ago I have to admit, I did not fully understand exactly what I was getting myself into. The K-2 s-c was a brand new position, and as far as I know there was not another such class (or one even similar) anywhere. Believe me, I looked! I was also fairly annoyed to learn that PVUSD was a Mac using district. I'd spent the last decade or so using a PC and felt very proficient with it. The closest thing I had to Mac experience was with an Apple IIC in the 80s. I figured Macs were for graphic designers - that wasn't me, so why waste time figuring out an entire new operating system?
After taking many courses, going to lots of trainings and constantly scouring the Internet for new resources, I learned a lot. I realized I LOVE Macs and laugh at my original closed-minded thinking. After spending five years teaching profoundly gifted learners, I would never choose to go back to a more traditional classroom. I love creating lessons around the interests and needs of my students. I love watching the students take classroom projects to a level that actually astounds other teachers and classroom visitors. (A 7 year old did THAT? Are you SURE?) Technology and 21st century learning make it all possible.
Governing Board Meeting - March 15, 2012
Collaborating with other teachers globally, finding existing lessons online, piecing together different strands from assorted activities to create a lesson which will work for my particular class and letting students develop their own 21st century skills, makes 2nd grade in 2012 nothing like 2nd grade a few decades ago. I love working with children who are brimming with knowledge and excitement and are not only eager to learn, but are eager to teach me about their diverse interests. And believe me - they do! It's often mind blowing what can be learned from a 2nd grader. Did you know there is no such thing as a brontosaurus? Do you know that strawberries are not actually berries? Do you know how to quickly close every open app on an iPad? Do you know the history of the stock market? Do you know how to write using the Hindi alphabet? Did you know butterflies taste with their feet? Do you know how to speak Chinese? These are just a few of the many things I have learned (okay, I am not yet fluent in the Hindi alphabet or speaking Chinese, but the kids are teaching me) over the past few years. When planning lessons I try to put myself in the role of the student and think back to my own elementary school days. Like many of the s-c students I had a very hard time sitting still, got bored easily, enjoyed hands on activities and would have rather been reading a book under my desk than listening to a mind numbing lesson. Obviously not every single lesson can be a party or technology focused, and there are times when formal, written assessments are necessary. But I try to create a healthy balance so the students remain engaged, excited and enjoy learning. That is my goal. I love incorporating contests into the curriculum because the students love it. They get excited and will put far more time and effort into an essay knowing there is a slim chance to win a prize than they would if it were just an ordinary assignment. I love having the students wear "lab coats" (actually men's white dress shirts I bought at Goodwill) when we do science experiments because along with protecting their clothing it makes them feel like "real scientists." I love incorporating technology into the curriculum because it adds a whole new level of appeal to learning and it teaches the students real life skills - email, research, presentations, collaboration, creativity and global learning to name a few. I love finding new and unusual ways to get my students excited about school and learning.
With Dr. Lee
I intend to be a lifelong learner and relish learning new things and enjoying new experiences. I hope my students always maintain their zeal for learning and I can't wait to follow them them throughout their lives to see what incredible opportunities unfold for these brilliant, enthusiastic young people. Technology changes faster than anything else, so learning is mandatory! Often there is no better teacher than my own 2nd grade students. Digital natives are remarkably quick to catch on to new technologies and become experts with a program or device much quicker than I possibly could. Thank you again for your support and for allowing me to spend a school year with your inspirational children. I have never felt more honored!
Our Apple Store field trip was a huge success! Thanks so much to all the wonderful parent helpers who were part of this exciting experience. Students learned how to create a movie using iMovie '11. At the end of the lesson the "genuises" helped each student burn his or her project(s) onto a DVD for them to keep.
Possibly the most exciting part of the trip was when we received lots of applause and loud cheering as we filed out of the store. (I don't think it because we were leaving.) Students kept mentioning their "standing ovation" for the rest of the day.
This is a compilation of most of the movies created during our field trip! Impressive work!
Click below to see some photos from this field trip:
Have you heard about Family Movie Night? It's tonight, on the field and the movie begins at 6:30pm. Gates open at 5:30pm. The movie being shown is Mr. Poppers Penguins (rated PG).
My class worked closely with Mrs. Arn's 4th grade class to fully produce two commercials for the PTO. Roles included scriptwriting, acting, directing, editing and finalizing the production. The students did a terrific job!
A couple weeks ago I was casually checking my email, only to notice one of the most thrilling and exciting messages ever:
Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in the Google Teacher Academy - Washington. After reviewing your application, we believe that you have the experience and passion necessary to positively impact education in your region, and we are excited to have you join us at the Google office in Seattle.
Although I'd spent many hours working on my GTA application and creating the required movie, I was truly shocked, stunned and thrilled to actually be accepted into this prestigious program! There were approximately 4,000 applicants and 50 were accepted. In this age of instant communication the 49 other educators from around the globe who had also been accepted, almost immediately started connecting through tweets, emails, wikis and shared documents. Looking through the biographies of these amazing educators is quite humbling.
There is little information available regarding GTA and they have informed us all that we are not allowed to take any photos inside of Google and must sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before entering the building. However, I have heard from a few teachers who have attended previous Google Teacher Academies that the experience is life-changing and unlike any other training. Rumor has it that the academy will most likely exceed all of our expectations, and it is invaluable and inspirational.
I can't wait!
And believe it or not, it gets even better.
In the original acceptance email was an invitation to apply to the YouTube Teacher Academy:
We're inviting you to apply be part of our inaugural class at the first YouTube Teacher Academy, a 1-day workshop that will give you the basic training and equipment needed to become a part of a star teaching team on YouTube EDU. This workshop will occur the day before the GTA in Seattle. This does require another application (and is limited to 15 participants), but it is ONLY open to those of you who have already been accepted into the GTA.
I figured I may as well give it a shot although considering they were only accepting 15 out of the 50 of us. I felt pretty intimidated by the 49 I was up against after viewing their websites and reading about their extensive awards and technology experience. I realized the competition was very stiff.
However, a few days later I received this email:
After reviewing many thoughtful and creative applications for the inaugural session of the YouTube Teacher's Studio you have been selected to participate - congratulations!
We believe that this program has the potential to spark a transformation in the way teachers connect with students, both in the classroom and outside. Your ability to create engaging videos and envision a future classroom that thoroughly integrates YouTube EDU makes you all the ideal teachers to participate and evangelize the YouTube Teacher's Studio.
WOW! I was absolutely blown away and actually went back to the email a few times to make sure I had read it correctly.
This is the movie I created (with the help of some students, of course) to submit as part of my original application. We shot the footage the last few days of school and I did all the editing the first week of summer break. The movie was limited to a minute (and I didn't dare go even one second over for fear of being disqualified) so it is a little choppier than I would have liked. Since school was out by the time I started the editing process, I couldn't reshoot any of the footage.
I leave for Google next week. I'll keep blogging about my experience. :)
