While doing my final reflection I couldn't help but think about the journey that was now coming to an end but really this journey is just starting.  I have learned so much about technology in this class that it makes me excited to go out and learn more about technology.  This class was just the first stepping stone in all that I hope to learn about technology and how I start to view my classroom.  If I put everything that I have learned into my video it would have been extremely long so I had to shorten it.  I did my final reflection via iMovie and then uploaded it to YouTube but the final copy is here:

Thanks for a wonderful summer or I guess spring class everyone! I wish everyone the best of luck in their next years whether it be internship, pre-internship or teaching! Have a great rest of your summer!

Enjoy.

I had the awesome privilege to ask Joli Barker some of the questions that I had been wondering about throughout this class and even before. The answers that she gave were so awesome and I learned a lot about different technologies as well as a couple helpful hints :)

Here is how our conversation played out! (We communicated through email!)

Hi Joli,

My name is Carlee Quiring and I am profiling you for my ECMP355 class with Dean Shareski.  I was just wondering if I could do an interview with you to round out my profile?

Thanks so much,
Carlee Quiring

absolutely! What do you want to know?  :D

Oh that is so awesome! Thanks so much.  I have a few questions okay like 10.  Here they are:

• What is your favorite piece of technology to use in the classroom?
• What is the students favorite piece of technology to use?
• What advice would you have for new teachers?
• What is the most useful piece of technology you use?
• What do you use the most often in the classroom in regards to technology?
• How do you balance technology in the classroom?
• How do you keep up to date with all of the new things in technology?
• Do you use computers, cell phones, tablets ect. in your classroom? If so, which ones do you use and are there other to add to the list?
• How can you use blogging effectively in the classroom or with you students?
• How do you communicate with parents?
• What is the most challenging aspect of technology in the classroom?
• What is the least challenging aspect of technology in the classroom?
• Are there any websites, apps or other resources that are "must-haves" for teachers?

Thank you so so so so much :)

• What is your favorite piece of technology to use in the classroom?

digital camera/video camera and green screen.  This allows students to be super creative and expressive with their learning.  It can be applied to a variety of Web 2.0 tools and apps that integrate these images and clips seamlessly and creatively.

• What is the students favorite piece of technology to use?

Tablets.  Hands down.  They enjoy creating with their tablets and playing games on them.  I try to avoid 100% consumptive apps, however, because I want them to utilize technology as a means of discovery or expression as much as possible.

• What advice would you have for new teachers?

Don't try to do it all at once.  Choose 1-3 new technology tools and get really proficient at them then branch out.  Also, believe in your students.  Allow them to struggle and discover their own potential.  Be a facilitator not the primary source of information.  Create lessons that elicit evidence of self-worth, belonging, and significance in their world. 

• What is the most useful piece of technology you use?

a camera/video camera:  it is useful in documenting performance and capturing what we call the OMG effect...Observing Major Genius!  (they came up with that one :D)  BRB is "Be Right-Brained :D

• What do you use the most often in the classroom in regards to technology?

In terms of actual sites, I am a Discovery Education, BrainPop, ePals, Wikispaces, Math Pickle girl.  The most frequently used sites.  As for devices I use MacBooks (we are a MAC district ;/) and iPads/ipods everyday.  The students also create lessons on the Smart Board.

• How do you balance technology in the classroom?

It is seamlessly integrated.  They use technology to learn, discover, create, communicate, as well as part of our gamification concept.   I will send you a link to a couple articles and my blog if you want more info on this.

• How do you keep up to date with all of the new things in technology?

I have a massive PLN and regular Twitter following that I engage with daily.  I attend conferences and am a TCEA, CUE, ISTE, DEN, Microsoft Partners In Learning Network member.

• Do you use computers, cell phones, tablets ect. in your classroom? If so, which ones do you use and are there other to add to the list?

I use iphones, ipods, ipads, minimacs, macbooks, smartboards, XBOX 360, Kinect

• How can you use blogging effectively in the classroom or with you students?

We blog daily.  Whether it is a daily reflection blog, a way to communicate with classes around the world, or with each other to discuss learning, we blog daily. 

• How do you communicate with parents?

http://www.fearlessclassroom.blogspot.com/2013/05/fearless-parent-relations.html   This explains it all :D

• What is the most challenging aspect of technology in the classroom?

Time management and adequate training of students.  As well as the unpredictability of technology :D

• What is the least challenging aspect of technology in the classroom?

diving in and trying!  I am a risk taker and willing to try even if I fail.

• Are there any websites, apps or other resources that are "must-haves" for teachers?

mathpickle.com
discoveryeducation.com
educreations app
explain everything app
sums stacker app

Here is my blog www.fearlessclassroom.blogspot.com
my class wiki is www.brockstars2011-2012.wikispaces.com
the gamification article is http://www.fearlessclassroom.blogspot.com/2013/04/fearless-gaming-in-classroom.html

I could take about this all day :D  if you want more, I can give you more!

Wow that is fantastic! Thanks so much :)

my pleasure!  If you like the blog, feel free to share it!


She was so fantastic! Her blog is also amazing so everyone should check it out :)

www.fearlessclassroom.blogspot.com

She has awesome ideas and information about technology, being fearless and just about being a teacher!

Enjoy!

Looking at Liz Kolb's blog is it a little bit overwhelming because there are so many different resources and ways that a teacher can incorporate cell phones into the classroom.  I have always had a hard time trying to envision using cell phones in the classroom.  I always thought that cell phones would be distracting due to texting and the internet but there are so many bonuses to having cell phones in the classroom that my views are changing.  Liz shows many that cell phones are helpful and useful in the classroom. 

ClassPager is a way to communicating with students and allowing them to answer a question directly to the question that you have asked.  I would envision using this with the parents in my classroom.  I am hoping to teach elementary school and so this would be a tool to communicate with the parents and allow them to ask questions or answer ones that I have asked them.  I can see this working if I needed help in the classroom or needed for the parents to send something with their child the following day. 

TextClues is a app where you can text directions to your students or anyone for that matter and then once they find the first clue then you can text them the next clue.  I can see myself using this app for when we are trying to do something outside or when I want my students to find something on their own.  I can give them clues as they get closer or when they find the things that I am wanting them to find I can give them clues to the next item.  I think this would be a fun way to interact as a class and get to explore the world outside. 

Remind101 is an app that we have been using in ECMP355 and it has been such an effective way to communicate with students and parents.  I really like the idea of having this way of communicating with different parents, classes or even colleagues.  I like that the people who you are texting cannot get your cell phone number with.  I think it has been effective way of communicating with us in this class and I would totally use it in my classroom.  I think I could probably even use it when we are in class maybe during silent time and I need to communicate something with the students.  I could text them if some more instructions needed to be passed on and I didn't want to interrupt the whole class.  I could even maybe send them to individual students.

The list of apps that I could use in the classroom from the blog and the session could go on and on because there are so many great apps out there.  These are just the couple that I saw and thought that there was some way that I could incorporate them in a realistic way. 

For the second part of this tech task I chose to do daily creates.  The first daily create that I chose to do was in the photography section and it was #487 -- Take a picture of something that represents your favourite season! The link to my picture is here but this is my actual picture that I posted:

Can you guess what my favorite season is? :)

The second daily create that I did was in the writing section and it was number 484.  It asked to google your favourite color and then write a three line poem about the first option.  Of course the first option that came up for me was Wikipedia! Here is the link to my poem and then the poem itself:

Somewhere in between red and blue,
A deep, rich shade that is so true,
Worn by Romans and Bishops and means royalty and piety.

The last daily challenge that I picked was a audio one and it was challenge 253.  It asked to play a song in reverse or a clip of it and then play it the regular way and see if people can guess what song it is! For this one I got to use SoundCloud which is a really cool website.  Here is the link to my song!

Can you guess which song it is?!

Even since I started elementary school in 1995 things have changed so much.  When I started school we didn't have computers in our classrooms, there was a scheduled time once a week where we were able to go to the computer lab.  Our assignments were to be hand written instead of typed.  There was an emphasis on exploring our world and going being okay with being uncomfortable with what we were learning.  We had spelling tests weekly and when we did not have spelling tests it was a week off.  We went to music, gym and library class which were some of my favorite subjects.  By the time I hit high school (2005) school had already changed so much.  Teachers were using computers, powerpoints, and different types of multimedia in order to present the information to us.  The thing I remember most about my grade school experience was that the teachers cared.  They were excited to have us in their classrooms and they let us learn in a way that is most suited to us.

One thing that I would want to change about schooling is allowing students to learn in a way that is best suited for them.  Some students learn best by using a computer or iPad, looking up words as the class is going on or typing up their essays.  There are other students who would rather write out assignment or cannot pay attention when they have devices in front of them so they need another way of taking down notes or information so that they get the most out of it.  There are so many different ways that students can learn, it is not just about a blackboard and paper any more.  There are many different devices, programs and sites that can HELP students learn.  Many teachers believe that technology is going to ruin the classroom.  I can see where they come from.  Bringing technology into the classroom is a difficult thing for me because I have grown up in a era that did not have this in the classroom.  I think although technology plays a crucial role in the classroom.  There are so many different things that you can do in the classroom because of technology and it is necessary to allow students and yourself to explore those options.

I want to be a teacher that provides the best possible learning space for my students as they are the reason why I am going to be a teacher.  It may be a space where technology is really present for many student but it may be a space where there is other sources of things for students to learn from.  There are so many different sites, programs, apps and information due to technology that it is necessary to have it in your classroom.  It is the world we are living in now and sometimes you just have to jump on the train and learn how it can make you a better teacher and how it can help students learn more effectively.