Week 4 Reflection
An essential question to consider: How do you evaluate, during your planning process, what technology tools you will use to deepen, assist, and/or inspire authentic learning?
This week we read chapters one and two of "Tasks Before Apps" by Monica Burns. She says that when we are planning our lessons, our focus should be on the learning goals, not the technology. I love that this fits perfectly with our previous readings about UbD.
In my classroom, I identify what I want my students to learn based on the standards and then write down the learning targets for them to see every day. During my planning process, I keep those goals in mind and look for the best ways for my students to learn. Sometimes this includes technology tools and other times it does not. However, in today's world it is typically more exciting and engaging for students if there is a digital component. So I will often find thoughtful ways to integrate digital tools into their lessons.
Last year I dabbled in Google Classroom and found it to be a great tech tool to keep my students organized and lines of communication open when they are traveling (which is so often). Based on my experience and student feedback, I jumped in with both feel this year and it has been excellent in every way.
I have also loved using technology for review, reflection, and assessment. I like to use Kahoot and Gimkit for review before quizzes and exams. I think Padlet is a versatile tool that allows every student to reflect on their learning and share their opinions openly with the entire class (or multiple classes). Lastly, I learned of Quizzizz last year and started using it for assessment. My students like the game-type feel it brings to a quiz and I love that it grades the quizzes for me!
I have had some great success while implementing tech tools over the years, but also some major flops. So I always like to reflect on how the lesson went and whether or not with was worth the time and effort to do again with future lessons. There is usually a steep learning curve for everyone and that time must be worth it in the end.
Resource:
Burns, M. (2018). Tasks Before Apps : Designing Rigorous Learning in a Tech-Rich Classroom. ASCD.
This week we read chapters one and two of "Tasks Before Apps" by Monica Burns. She says that when we are planning our lessons, our focus should be on the learning goals, not the technology. I love that this fits perfectly with our previous readings about UbD.
In my classroom, I identify what I want my students to learn based on the standards and then write down the learning targets for them to see every day. During my planning process, I keep those goals in mind and look for the best ways for my students to learn. Sometimes this includes technology tools and other times it does not. However, in today's world it is typically more exciting and engaging for students if there is a digital component. So I will often find thoughtful ways to integrate digital tools into their lessons.
Last year I dabbled in Google Classroom and found it to be a great tech tool to keep my students organized and lines of communication open when they are traveling (which is so often). Based on my experience and student feedback, I jumped in with both feel this year and it has been excellent in every way.
I have also loved using technology for review, reflection, and assessment. I like to use Kahoot and Gimkit for review before quizzes and exams. I think Padlet is a versatile tool that allows every student to reflect on their learning and share their opinions openly with the entire class (or multiple classes). Lastly, I learned of Quizzizz last year and started using it for assessment. My students like the game-type feel it brings to a quiz and I love that it grades the quizzes for me!
I have had some great success while implementing tech tools over the years, but also some major flops. So I always like to reflect on how the lesson went and whether or not with was worth the time and effort to do again with future lessons. There is usually a steep learning curve for everyone and that time must be worth it in the end.
Resource:
Burns, M. (2018). Tasks Before Apps : Designing Rigorous Learning in a Tech-Rich Classroom. ASCD.
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