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Rules, Routines, Procedures…….and Technology!?!

Wow! What a start to the school year! With just me and 23 little kinders life can be kind of crazy as I am sure many teachers can relate to.  We have spent so much time learning the rules and routines of the classroom and now it’s time to start the learning! But I often wonder….did I spend enough time on those routines?  It sometimes seems that the first month is not enough and that is just talking about how to be a student.  And now they want me to use technology too!?! More routines and procedures to teach! …..well that’s how I felt my first year with one to one devices! My opinion has certainly changed since that first day but it took some time.

Technology is no different when it comes to school.   While technology is present in many of our student’s lives it looks different at school than when we are using technology at home.  I now embrace using technology in the classroom after seeing all the learning that can occur and would love nothing more than to dive in right where I left off last year but I need to remind myself to take a step back.   To really use technology in the classroom and be successful at it, you need to set up the routines and procedures  before even putting devices in students hands and my new Kinders don’t have any of that set up yet.  So start slow! And know that it is ok to start slow.   A very wise administrator once told me that spending 6 weeks (if not more) reviewing those routines and procedures is ok! Be sure to include technology in that timeline.  It seems like it should be so easy just to give them all the ipads and let them go but it can certainly prove to be more challenging than expected.   As I am writing this post,  I am having flashbacks to a few years ago and can hear all my little Kinders with hands in the air waiting, ever so patiently…..or not, as I make my way around the room, wishing I would have taken more time before the activity to explain expectations.  I encourage you to take the time and set your year up for success so you don’t have 23 hands waving at you!

As I am writing this post,  I am having flashbacks to a few years ago and can hear all my little Kinders with hands in the air waiting, ever so patiently…..or not, as I make my way around the room, wishing I would have taken more time before the activity to explain expectations.  I encourage you to take the time and set your year up for success so you don’t have 23 hands waving at you!

So all that being said, what should we do to set our year up for success when it comes to using technology.   When working with our youngest learners we need to make sure our expectations are very clear.  I love using anchor charts and pictures to explain what our ipads are used for, our rules when using them, and even how to fix technology glitches.   You can find many of these anchor charts in the K-3 series book as well as many other tips for setting up technology in your room!

Of course as your year goes on, there will probably be glitches but I can guarantee if you take the time in the beginning to set up the expectations, your year will end up being a success!

Wishing you a wonderful and glitch free school year!

Kristy Hopkins

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From Uninspired to WOW!

Today is Saturday, August 26.  I’m nearly two weeks late of my expected blog post.  But truth be told, on August 14, I was feeling a bit, well, uninspired.  I was working in my classroom and getting thing organized, cleaned and looking pretty to start the year, but thoughts of using technology were last on my mind.  It may have been because I found boxes and boxes that looked like this:

Devices that had been stored for the summer, un-opened, dusty and uninspiring.

But then something changed.  The first day of school came, the children walked in and I saw their smiling faces.  I was excited for the start of the year and so were they!  I walked around with a permanent smile on my face for nearly the entire day.

Being a teacher isn’t just about teaching subjects, it’s about making connections, building relationships and fostering a love of learning that runs deep and is genuine.  Remembering that was just what I needed to start the year.

This year is different for me.  I have taught kindergarten for the past 17 years.  I am the author of the K-2 Now Classrooms book which was written from my experience as a Kindergarten teacher.  However, this year, I am the Reading Specialist and everything is as new for me as it is for the kids in our school.  New, exciting and refreshing.

In thinking about what inspires me, I remembered it is the children AND the teachers I work with.  Being able to spend my first two days walking into each classroom and talking with all the teachers in our building inspired me.  I was able to notice things in just two short days, that I hadn’t noticed before.  Themes.  Themes of building relationships,building trust, building learners.

On day two of school.  I was in multiple classrooms that were building foundations for learning.

So, how does that relate to technology?  Well, what I saw, were still dusty boxes of devices, sitting in a closet, but what I witnessed from teachers and heard, was the building of excitement and expectations of how devices are used in the school setting in a MEANINGFUL WAY, long before they are even passed out and powered up.

I saw posters like this:

I heard discussions and excitement about the return of devices to students hands.

In the classrooms that were prepared to hand-out devices, it was done thoughtfully and with purpose, fully explaining every step.

 

One teacher created a PowerPoint to review all the buttons of an iPad and their importance.  It was a great refresher!

Additionally, she beautifully executed some lessons in our K-2 book in which we outline taking a selfie and uploading it to the home screen.  An activity which greatly excited the students and created a buzz in the classroom that included much chatter and giggling.  What an amazing way to start day 2 of school.

As the weeks evolve, so will the use of using technology.  What is important to remember is that technology also needs to be used to build learning, creativity, problem solving and relationships.

I challenge you to use technology in a creative, meaningful way this school year.  The NOW Classroom team is here to help, and hopefully inspire you every step of the way.

Make this year fun.  Make it meaningful.  Make it creative.  ENJOY every minutes with your students and inspire them to do great things and think beyond the classroom walls.  Enjoy the journey!  Happy School Year 2017-2018!For 8/14/17

For 8/14/17

By: Beth Hatlen

 

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Digestive System Choice Project

After learning about the digestive system, students created a project to show their understanding of the path that food takes throughout the digestive process. Students were to pretend that they were a piece of food and write or speak their journey in the first person. The project was a student choice project meaning students were able to pick how they were going to show their learning. Many students chose to use their ipads and used iMovie, Keynote, Strip Design and many more apps.

This video made with iMovie.

Whitney Cavanagh @Mrs_Conboy

and Janice Conboy @WhitneyCavanagh

6th Grade Teachers

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Taking Care of iPads with Primary Students

Little ones CAN and SHOULD be responsible for their own devices! Make it easy in these few steps

Teach your kids appropriate use with an anchor chart, poster, or inforgraphic. Add on to your anchor chart as new issues and observations arise.

 

If your students take their devices home, have an easy way for them to transport the devices AND teach them as part of your anchor chart how to take devices home!

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Kirstin McGinnis

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Hunting for Letters in Kindergarten

Today in class, we went on a letter hunt with our Kindergarten Students.  We reminded students of our rules for using ipads:  Hold it with two hands, use walking feet and only take appropriate photos.
We introduced the lesson by modeling how to locate the camera on our devices (iPads) and how to point and shoot.  We also reminded them how to zoom in and out by pinching or spreading their fingers.  Students were then given a recording sheet to color letters as they identified them.  Once all the letters were located, we asked students to sit back down at their seats.

BONUS!  This lesson can also be used as formative assessment for matching and identifying letters! CC  RF.K.1.b – Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

We then modeled for them how to use the editing features in the Photo App.  We showed them how to align the box to isolate the letter they found and make it larger.

Our next step will be to import these into an app to create an ABC book.  Be on the lookout for this in our next post!

Blog Post by Kindergarten Teacher Beth Hatlen