Thursday, June 25, 2015

Integrative


  1. Utah's Three Regions
    1. Using a digital story full of pictures of the different regions of Utah the teacher will help students fill out a Venn Diagram of each region.
    2. Students will explain similarities and differences they see in each region to a partner using their graphic organizers.
    3. The teacher will ask the students to hypothesize how Utah's regions might be different if it's location on the earth were different, such as by an ocean.
    4. The teacher will ask the students what the "big idea" of this lesson was. Students will include this summarization on their Utah Maps they've been creating on arcgis.
  2. Utah's Five Major Native American Tribes
    1. Using PowerPoint presentations the teacher will walk the students through the lives of Utah's five major Native American Tribes. The students will have a graphic organizer to fill out. This organizer will ask for the region of Utah where each tribe lived, their lifestyle, shelter, and their food. During the walk-through the teacher will ask questions to help students search for patters, similarities, differences etc.
    2. Students will explain the similarities and differences they see in a small group using their graphic organizers. 
    3. The teacher will ask the students how Utah might be different today if the Pioneers had never come and the Native Americans had been left alone. Students will hypothesize, write down their hypotheses, and then share with a partner.
    4. The teacher will ask the students to generalize their conclusions. She'll ask what was the "big idea" or "main theme" the students learned from this lesson.
  3. Utah in the past
    1. Using a map of Utah and a description of fossils found in different counties of Utah students will label different parts of Utah. They'll label them ocean, tropical, or swampy based on which fossils were found in those different locations.
    2. Students will explain the similarities and differences of the locations, the fossils, and even Utah today with a small group using their maps.
    3. The teacher will ask students to hypothesize what fossils we might have found in Utah if the climate had been different. Or hypothesize how Utah would be different now if the climate had stayed the same as when the fossils were alive.
    4. Students will create a podcast describing what they discovered, what the "big idea" was, and their hypotheses.

Inductive

This is another model that I'm presenting to the class, so here is the link to the WebQuest that I created for it.

Problem Based


  1. Fractions
    1. The following fraction task will be projected on the board using the Explain Everything app, my iPad, and my AppleTV:
      1. You and your two friends want to have a pizza party. One friend says that they're going to eat 3 slices of pizza. The other says that they're only going to eat two. You decide that you're going to eat 4 slices. The pizza has 12 total slices. Please answer the following questions.
        1. What fraction of the pizza will your first friend eat?
        2. What fraction of the pizza will both of your friends eat?
        3. What fraction of the pizza will be left over after all of you finish eating?
    2. Students will then get into groups of three and develop a plan for solving the problem. They can decide if they want to draw it out, use manipulatives, etc.
    3. Students implement their plan and work on solving the problem. The teacher will walk around and assist any groups.
    4. Groups will present their findings to the class using the Explain Everything app. The teacher will lead a class discussion and ask students what they could've done differently, how they could improve their plan, and what are the benefits of having different ways to solve the same problem.
  2. Citizenship
    1. The teacher will show 1-2 videos to the students about bullying. Then she'll ask the students how we could help stop bullying in our school/class for the next week.
    2. Students will be put into groups of 3-4 to develop a plan to solve the problem. The teacher will walk around and help any groups that need it. She'll remind students that the plan needs to be a week long plan, and that they should have some way of showing that they're following the plan.
    3. Students will follow their designed plans. The teacher will help students document their implementation and will ask questions throughout the week to remind students to follow the plans.
    4. Students will create 30 second videos evaluating how following their plans helped reduce bullying or promoted kindness in the school/class. These videos will be shown to the class.
  3. Water Conservation
    1. The teacher will show an infographic on the importance of conserving water. Students will then be presented with the problem of how to conserve water. Students will be asked to conserve water during the entire Water Cycle Unit.
    2. Students will be put into groups of 3-4 to develop a plan to conserve water. The teacher will walk around and help any groups that need it. She'll remind students that the plan needs to be something that they can do for several days and hopefully for the rest of their lives. She'll also remind them that they should have some way of showing that they're following the plan.
    3. Students will follow their designed plans. The teacher will help students document their implementation and will ask questions throughout the Water Cycle Unit to remind students to follow the plans.
    4. Students will create an infographic that demonstrates how following their plans helped conserve water. The infographics will be posted throughout the school.



Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Inquiry Model

Because this was the model that I demonstrated to the class I'm not going to blog about three different lessons. However, here is my WebQuest that goes with my class demonstration.


Monday, June 22, 2015

Concept Development

  1. Pioneers
    1. As a pre-assessment for the pioneer unit have students list everything that you think has to do with pioneers on padlet with a partner.
    2. Group all the items that you listed and label your groups using padlet.
    3. Regroup your items. Keep the first grouping. Decide which grouping you liked better.
    4. Write a sentence explaining which group you liked better and why.
  2. Water
    1. As a pre-assessment for the Water Cycle unit, students will answer the question on AnswerGarden, "List as many things as you can that you know about water."
    2. Ask students to group the different answers on a piece of paper and label their groups.
    3. Ask students to share their grouping with a partner and decide which group they like better, or if they should create a completely new grouping.
    4. Write a sentence explaining why they grouped it like they did.
  3. Environment
    1. As a post-assessment students will list everything they can remember about environments with a small group.
    2. Students will then group and label their list.
    3. Ask students to share their groupings with another group of students. The combined group of students will now create a new grouping based on their initial groupings.
    4. Students will create a concept map using Total Recall App on their iPads.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Concept Attainment


  1. Quadrilaterals
    1. First I will present different examples and non-examples of quadrilaterals. These will be a square, rhombus, rectangle, parallelogram, trapezoid, triangle, circle, hexagon, etc. I'll present them using educreations on the board and drawing them in front of the students. Students will have whiteboards at their desks. They'll draw a line down the middle and put yes or no at the top. Under yes or no the students will draw each example after we've decided which category each shape goes in.
    2. Next I'll ask students to form a hypotheses of what we are drawing. I'll ask the students to share with the class as well as with a partner. I'll write the hypotheses on a new educreations page. Students will still have their whiteboards with the examples and non-examples to refer to as we create hypotheses. Once we've decided on a hypothesis I'll ask students to draw a shape that fits. We'll continue until we have the critical attributes of quadrilaterals figured out.
    3. We'll summarize the critical attributes as a class and define the concept. If students haven't figured out the exact name of the concept I'll let them know at this point.
    4. Finally I'll ask students to draw a picture using only quadrilaterals on a poster. Some students may need to be put in groups for differentiation. Others may need to use manipulatives.
  2. Adverbs
    1. Using the dustbin game I created on classtools.net we'll go through the different examples and non-examples of adverbs. Because this game doesn't list the words so students can see them after they've played, I'll have the students get out a paper and copy down the categories and words as we go.
    2. Next I'll ask the students to form hypotheses of what we are learning about. I'll guide the students to the correct attributes of adverbs.
    3. We'll summarize the critical attributes of adverbs as a class and play the game again.
    4. Finally I'll ask the students to create their own dustbin game and test each other.
  3. Vertebrates
    1. First I'll show pictures of examples and non-examples of vertebrates. (The non-examples will be invertebrates.) We'll place the pictures in the appropriate yes or no columns as a class.
    2. I'll ask students to form hypotheses based on the examples and non-examples. We'll keep going until we have the critical attributes of vertebrates.
    3. We'll summarize the critical attributes and I'll explain to the students that these attributes describe vertebrates.
    4. Students will create a concept map of vertebrates using popplet. I'll walk around and give added support where needed.


Thursday, June 18, 2015

Socratic Seminar


  1. Citizenship
    1. For this seminar students will watch three video clips beforehand to be prepared. I'll explain the importance of being prepared. Students will be expected to participate in the seminar. I'll have two cards for each student during the seminar. When a student says something they'll put their card in the middle of the circle. When they've used both of their cards they can't say anything else in the discussion until everyone else has said something. I'll remind the students that during a socratic seminar the students need to be respectful of what each other says.
    2. During the seminar I'll monitor the students. I'll also ask questions and take any notes. Some of the questions I'll ask are:
      1. What specific types of citizenship did the videos name?
      2. What does citizenship mean?
      3. What are some examples of citizenship in our classroom?
      4. How can you show more citizenship in the school?
      5. How could you teach citizenship to someone younger than you?
    3. I'll help the students summarize the seminar.
    4. Students will blog about the seminar and self-evaluate their participation in it.
  2. Hatchet
    1. I'll conduct this seminar after we've read Hatchet as a class. Same rules and guidelines apply to this seminar as the last.
    2. During the seminar I'll monitor the students. I'll also ask questions and take any notes. Some of the questions I'll ask are:
      1. What was the secret that Brian was keeping?
      2. How does keeping the secret make Brian feel?
      3. Would you have kept the secret? Why or Why not?
      4. Do you think you could've survived in the wilderness like Brian did?
      5. If you could make a movie of Hatchet what parts would you keep or leave out?
    3. I'll help the students summarize the seminar.
    4. Students will podcast about the seminar and self-evaluate their participation in it.
  3. Japanese Internment Camps
    1. For this seminar students will watch three video clips and read an article beforehand to be prepared. I'd also like to read Journey to Topaz as a class. Same rules apply for this seminar as the first.
    2. During the seminar I'll monitor the students. I'll also ask questions and take any notes. I'm also going to project the questions on the board. Some of the questions I'll ask are:
      1. When were the Japanese Internment Camps?
      2. Why did the USA put the Japanese in camps?
      3. Should the USA have put the Japanese in camps?
      4. How would you feel if you were put in a camp?
      5. How could you teach someone else about Japanese Internment Camps?
    3. I'll help the students summarize the seminar.
    4. Students will blog about the seminar and self-evaluate their participation in it.


Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Cooperative Learning Model

General Cooperative Learning Model
~Native Americans Review~

  1. First I would tell my students that they are going to be creating Digital Stories on one of the 5 major Native American tribes in Utah. I will explain that the students will be divided into groups of four and each person in the group will have a job. Those jobs are, researcher, writer, narrator, and driver. 
  2. I will tell my students about the importance of responsibility, and how each person must fulfill their jobs. I'll also explain that it's ok to help others with their jobs, but that doesn't mean to take over the job completely. I'll lead a discussion on why these things are important and we'll talk about what happens when these things don't happen. I will also relate it to their future careers for authenticity.
  3. Students will create their Digital Stories on their assigned tribe. I'll walk around the classroom and monitor students' behavior and help them with their stories.
  4. Students will blog about the activity summarizing what they learned about responsibility and working with a group.
  5. Within the blog students will also answer two questions.
    1. How well do they think they helped with the project?
    2. How well do they think the other members in their group helped with the project?
  6. As a class we will watch each of the Digital Stories. I will use them as my final assessment of my students' understanding of their assigned tribes.
Jigsaw Cooperative Learning Model
~Methods of Multiplication Review~
  1. First I'll explain the Jigsaw model and what we do with it.
  2. I will explain to the students that while we are working on this Jigsaw lesson, it's really important for the students to listen to each other. They want people to listen to them, so they should be respectful and listen to the others that are teaching too.
  3. I'll group the students into their expert groups and home groups. The expert groups will need to be differentiated by ability. Each expert group will need a mixture of higher, middle, and lower math students.
  4. Have the students get into their expert groups. Each expert group will be assigned a specific method of multiplication. They'll also have a video to watch that explains their method completely. Students will take notes on the video so they can teach their home groups. I'll also meet with each group and help them understand their method.
  5. Students will teach their home groups. Each student will have a handout with different math problems that they must solve using each of the methods of multiplication. The handout will also have questions regarding how well students explained their method to their peers, and how well they listened when a different method was explained to them.
  6. Students will now complete a quiz on their own that asks them to use a different multiplication method for each question.
Graffiti Cooperative Learning Model
~Rocks and Minerals Review~
  1. The Graffiti questions students will answer during this lesson are:
    1. What are the layers of the earth and what are they made of?
    2. What is a mineral?
    3. How many facts can you write about Sedimentary Rocks?
    4. How many facts can you write about Igneous Rocks?
    5. How many facts can you write Metamorphic Rocks?
    6. What is weathering and erosion?
  2. Students will be divided into six groups. They will be randomly grouped.
  3. I'll explain the Graffiti process to the students.
  4. I'll explain to the students that the social skill we'll be working on during this lesson is respecting others' ideas. I'll explain to the students why this skill is important and that while students are working with their groups, they need to be respectful of the ideas of the students in their groups.
  5. Markers will be distributed to groups. The posters with the questions will be posted on the walls of the classroom.
  6. Groups will answer questions. Rotating from question to question after a certain amount of time on each.
  7. Groups will return to their original question and will summarize the answers. Students will create a presentation to share with the other groups. The students can choose from PowerPoint, Prezi, Powtoons, or some other similar technology to present. Students need to have their tech choice approved by me before they create their presentation. Students will be reminded of the social skill of being respectful of others ideas.
  8. Students will share their presentations with the class. I'll reinforce the idea of being respectful of others ideas.
  9. Students will blog a reflection of the activity explaining how well they contributed to the group and how well their group worked on respect.
  10. Students will complete the formal Rocks & Minerals test.

Vocabulary Aquisition

Three Lessons for Vocabulary Acquisition Model with Technology.


  1. Paleontologist
    1. Introduce the word Paleontologist to the students. Walk them through spelling it on the board. Help them spell it correctly.
    2. Have the students go to Answer Garden and answer the question, "What do you think Paleontologist Means?" Lead a discussion on the students guesses.
    3. Break the word down into prefix and suffix. Look at the patterns it makes, especially the suffix -ologist.
    4. Divide the students into groups and give them books that use the word Paleontologist. Have the students make note of where the word appears and what they think it means based on the context clues.
    5. Have the students present their findings.
  2. Place Value
    1. Introduce Place Value to students. Walk them through spelling it on the board. Help them spell it correctly.
    2. Ask the students to hypothesize the meaning of Place Value by adding a sticky note to a Padlet Board.
    3. Explore the word by breaking it apart. Look at its synonyms and antonyms.
    4. Watch a StudyJams video on Place Value.
    5. Have the students answer the question, "What is Place Value?" on an exit card.
  3. Summary
    1. Introduce summary to students. Walk them through spelling it on the board. Help students spell it correctly.
    2. Ask students to hypothesize the meaning of the word summary. Students can think-pair-share their hypotheses.
    3. Explore the word and its components using Popplet. Create a class popplet. 
    4. Watch a YouTube video about writing a summary.
    5. Ask students if they want to add anything to our Popplet. Have the students answer the question, "What is Summary?" on an exit card.

Direct Instruction

Three lessons integrating technology and the direct instruction model.
  1. Utah's Three Regions!
    1. First I would introduce the lesson by explaining to my students that Utah has three different geographical regions. I would use a PowerPoint with pictures of the three regions.
    2. Next I would show my students my pre-created arcgis map of Utah's three regions. It will already be separated and have pictures of the different regions.
    3. Third, I would have the students open a new arcgis map. I will also open a new map and walk the students through separating one of the regions of Utah step-by-step.
    4. Last, I would have the students separate the last two regions on their own. I'll walk around and answer questions and help the students with any problems they may have.
  2. Fractions!
    1. First I would introduce the lesson by telling my students that we're going to learn about fractions today. I'll explain to the students that they will be determining fractions from pictures, words, and numbers.
    2. Next I'll present fractions to the students by showing a video from Scholastic's Study Jams that teaches students about fractions. Students can watch this video again and again.
    3. Third I'll guide the students through several fraction problems in their math book. I'll have the same problems on the whiteboard and I'll walk the students through several. I'll ask a few students to come up and solve problems as well, giving them the opportunity to be the teacher.
    4. Students will work on several problems independently. I'll walk around and answer any questions they may have.
  3. Podcasting!
    1. First I would introduce the lesson by explaining to my students that they are going to be radiostars! I'll tell them that they are going to be telling people about any topic they want on a podcast, which is radio on the internet.
    2. Next I'll present a podcast to the students. I can present one that I've already created or one that was made by professionals such as Stuff You Should Know.
    3. Third I'll show the students how to make a podcast by projecting Spreaker DJ on the board using my iPad and AppleTV. We'll make a podcast as a class about a topic that the class agrees on.
    4. Divide the students into small groups and have each group create a podcast about an agreed upon topic.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Initial Course Goals for EDUC 6820

For this course I have three specific goals:

1. Create a unit that only uses technology. Every aspect of the unit incorporates tech. This will include the hook, lesson, and assessment.

2. Learn about a new technology and know how to use it in my classroom. I want to have a specific plan in mind so that when next school year comes, I will use it.

3. To become even more awesome than I already am.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Blog 10

How will you acquire technology for your classroom?
Now that I've written the proposal for the grants, I think that asking for grants is a great way to get technology into my classroom. I've already used donorschoose for other materials in my classroom, so I'm also going to use that.
How does the use of technology impact your classroom management strategies?
It definitely keeps me on my toes. I have to make sure that each student is on task and isn't trying to do their own thing on the computer. Many students can be quite sneaky. I also have to help students take care of the technology so that it isn't broken.
Why use technology if you always need a backup plan?
I use it because I enjoy it and I know the students enjoy it. I'm ok with having a backup plan when I can usually use the fun technology. :)

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Blog 9

How does the combined backward design and technology-rich focus impact your unit design?

I loved it and I hated it. Ha ha! I loved the fact that it kept me focused and really made me think about what I was putting into my unit. It helped me see what would be worth using and what wouldn't. I really liked having the essential questions and then going back and making sure my questions really matched the core and that my students would actually be answering the questions with their performance assessment. I realized that my students wouldn't be answering all of the essential questions with the performance assessment. So I kept looking and digging until I figured out that my essential questions weren't as aligned with the core as I first thought. I struggled to put it all together, but I feel that by having the backwards design and technology as a focus really helped me to create a strong unit. Of course I know that it isn't perfect, and I'm excited to see what your thoughts are on it so that I can make it even better. :)

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Blog 8

What technologies are available to facilitate general pedagogy?
Of course the technologies that we talked about in class are applicable here:
Digital stories, educreations, infographics, podcasts, websites, ebooks, and more. Each one can be used to help with different subjects. There's class craft and class dojo to help with management as well.

What content-specific technologies are available to promote better understanding and engagement?
There are specific websites that are geared toward certain topics that can be used. There's also youtube videos that have been created with specific content in mind. Many apps have been made particularly for math, reading, and even cursive.
Really, it all depends on how the teacher uses the technology and how they expect their students to use the technology. It can all be used to help students become more engaged and have an increased understanding of content.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Blog 7

How can technology be used for presentation of content and assessment of learning?
There are many ways to use technology to present content and to assess students' learning. There is always the "death by powerpoint" method. Of course, now that I know about Nearpod that should make it so that my students are only "mostly dead".

I really like the idea of presenting information using the same technology that I want my students to use so that I can assess their understanding. In other words, I could create a digital story about Native Americans and show this digital story to my students to introduce them to my Native Americans unit. Then I can have the students create their own digital stories at the end of the unit about the Native Americans.

How can you implement project-based, authentic, technology-based assessment and still prepare students for standardized testing?

I feel that by making sure that I have instructed my students using the standards that have been set by the state, then I will be preparing them for standardized testing. Sure, using totally awesome authentic tools is completely different than the dry, boring standardized testing but.....

So, I guess the way that I'll prepare them for the standardized testing is by including the standards in my teaching. I'll prepare them by making sure they take some dry, boring tests in my class. I'll prepare them by making some practice tests using SAGE. Thank goodness they have that feature. However...I'll prepare them for LIFE by including fun, authentic learning opportunities. (And I really believe that these opportunities will help prepare them for standardized testing as well.)

Monday, February 23, 2015

Blog 6

What state and national standards should be considered in your scope and sequence? 
In my personal scope and sequence, the state and national standards that should be included are the 4th grade social studies core standards. I also need to include the Utah technology standards for 3-5 grades and the ITSE standards for students. In addition to those standards, I am looking at the ELA and the Math standards. I want to integrate them into my lessons as much as possible. It was interesting, because I actually wasn't really thinking about how to incorporate Math into Social Studies, but I mentioned what I was doing with my 4th grade team today and one of them suggested that I look at the math standards and see which of those standards I'd be able to include. I won't be able to include every ELA and Math standard. I'm not completely sure that I'll be able to include every technology standard either. I feel that because I am focusing on Social Studies and I've created the Global Objective and Essential Questions with Social Studies in mind, I will only be including the ELA, Math, and Technology standards that will help my students obtain the objective and answer the questions.
How will you model digital ethics and responsibility, and how will those skills be incorporated into your scope and sequence?
In my opinion, I think that digital ethics and responsibility should be a different scope and sequence. It feels like a different topic all together. That's not to say that I wouldn't remind students of their digital responsibilities whenever we're going to use technology. So, let me put this a little more bluntly because that's how I roll. ;) I would teach digital ethics and responsibilities as separate lessons, then I would remind students of those lessons before using technology during Social Studies. I really liked the Netsmartz website that we looked at in class. I think that I could use that to help me teach digital ethics and responsibilities.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Blog 5

How can technology be woven throughout the scope and sequence of a course?

I've really enjoyed the refresher course on Backwards Design. It's so easy to fall into the trap of just accepting what the teachers before you have done. By using the Backwards Design model I feel that the overall global question, and the key questions for each Unit, can really guide a teacher in deciding what technologies to include in each of his/her lessons.

Teachers need to have a good idea of where they're going in order to choose the right technology to help them get there. They also need to have a good idea of what technology would be best for each lesson. Sometimes technology isn't necessary and could actually hurt the lesson.


How can both general pedagogical and content-specific technologies be utilized effectively throughout a course?

One way that both pedagogical and content-specific technologies could be utilized would be through a flipped classroom. I also think that just creating videos for the students to watch to review what they've learned is a good way. Or having the students create the videos!

Really, it all depends on the teacher. The technology can be utilized if the teacher is willing to give up some control and let the class be more student-led.

Honestly, I feel that I'm still learning about this. I'm just starting to seriously weave technology through this scope and sequence for our class. I use technology everyday, but not with such purpose.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Blog 4

What is the difference between technology in education and educational technology?


Technology in Education

Educational Technology


*When teachers use tools to supplement what they are already teaching.

*Leans more toward standardization in that the teacher tells the students which program to use and how to use it. The teacher sets up specific parameters and only allows the students to work within those parameters. For example, the teacher may want to supplement a lesson with a math game that is found on the internet. Rather than letting a student that understands the concept continue on and learn something new, that student must continue to practice what they are already proficient at, because that is what the rest of the class is doing.

*According to Disrupting Class technology in education is basically what teachers have been doing ever since the big push to put computers in schools.


*Teacher-centered. For example, when a teacher creates a podcast to review the lecture for the day.

*When technology replaces what the teacher was teaching.

*Leans more toward modularity. For example, rather than the teacher focusing on teaching a lesson in one particular way, the students could be using educational technology which could teach in several different formats that could fit the child’s needs. It has a better capability of slowing down or speeding up the lessons according to the child’s readiness.





*The author of Disrupting Class argues that one of the best forms of educational technology would be online learning. This is essentially going to school online.


*Student-centered. For example, when a student creates a podcast based on an article they wrote.

What is TPACK and how does it help us better understand the role and impact of technology?

TPACK is when pedagogy, content, and technology come together. I'm totally stealing a page out of Michelle's book and using an image that I found online because I feel that it explains TPACK perfectly for me. :)



Pedagogy, content, and technology are all essential elements for TPACK. To me having TPACK is what educational technology is. On the other hand, technology in education is when pedagogy or content are missing. The teacher is trying to incorporate technology into his/her curriculum, but they are skipping key ingredients.

I really liked the Venn Diagram that we created in class that listed several tools that we use with pedagogy, content, and technology. When it came to actually bringing all of these elements together the tools were very student-centered, such as blogging, webquests, podcasting, flipped classroom, etc.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Blog 3

How has technology been used in education?

For the most part I believe that technology has been used in education to enhance what teachers have already been doing. For example, the smart board is mostly used by teachers as a glorified white board. I myself use technology a LOT for enhancing my lessons. I use my iPad and AppleTV to project the math work on the board and then walk around my classroom to help my students with the work. Occasionally I let the students write on the iPad to demonstrate to their peers how they solved a particular problem.

How should it be used in the future?

I feel that continuing to use technology to enhance our lessons is still a good idea. We should also start looking towards using it to "redefine" our lessons. For example, rather than writing an article about a specific research topic, we can ask students to create a video of the topic. I don't believe that technology should replace everything we do in the classroom. However, I know that we can be creative and use it to help our students to understand concepts that they might not without it, become more engaged, and relate what they're learning to the real world.

Week 2

What does it mean to be a Teacher-Leader?


I feel that this little comic strip really illustrates what I initially thought a teacher-leader was. I believed that a teacher-leader was someone that had to try new things, even if they didn't want to. I felt that eventually they were juggling so many things, that they get a little bogged down. I still believe that teacher-leaders are people that are willing to try new things, but I also feel that there is more to it than that.

Teacher-leaders are:




















To be a teacher-leader means to inspire other teachers to try new things, to be motivated, to continue to learn, to share what we've learned, and more. It means to help other teachers see that there are many possibilities and that they are completely capable of accomplishing their goals.

Why is teacher-leadership so important with regard to educational technology?

Teacher-leaders can help other teachers become more comfortable with using technology. They can inspire other teachers to incorporate technology into their school days. They can be creative and use technology to encourage their students to be more engaged in their studies.

My team of fourth-grade teachers is fantastic! I love working with them and learning from them! Each one is a teacher-leader in her own way. I feel that I am more the teacher-leader when it comes to technology. Each of the teachers on my team are uncomfortable when it comes to using technology. I know that I can help them feel more comfortable with it, and use it to help their lessons. Sometimes, I can just help them to use it to make their lives a little easier.