tech tech tech

I'm a fan of technology. I find that it keeps my kinders a little more engaged with a new component of their education, it provides to hook to deeper learning. Today, there are so many different ways of incorporating technology into education that you could drown in it. As a new teacher, I think that I float on top of the pool pretty well, with only the occasional wave to leave me sputtering and wondering what on earth is going on. I think that for many others however, this is not the case.

This semester I have been taking a Technology in Education course as a part of my graduate degree plan. A lot of the activities have been mundane and mostly just time consuming, mindless activities. I came to the realization throughout the course though that this was not the case for all of my classmates. I feel as though I have been fortunate in being able to grow up with technology surrounding me in one way or another. My grandfather had a computer for almost as long as I can remember. My family got a home computer sometime when I was in middle school. In elementary school I was one of the fortunate ones that was able to play the original black and green Oregon Trail on giant floppy discs. I've just adapted and adjusted with the changes as they have come. When I don't get it, my mister does, and I'm happy with that.

Today I wrapped up my final assignment for my technology class (and am now essentially done with grad school for the semester, woohoo!) and I led a technology training for the teachers that work with me. The state of New Mexico is making changes regarding how it evaluates teachers. A part of this is to upload artifacts to a state website so that those who are removed enough from education to be called policy makers can judge whether or not I am an effective teacher by looking at a couple of PDFs. Making and uploading PDFs is now easy as can be with a couple of apps (Tiny Scan and Dropbox). I opened my mouth last week at a grade level professional development session with my principal about how easy this was and next thing I knew I was on the agenda for today's staff meeting to teach everyone how to do it. Overall the training went well. I prepped the other teachers with an email encouraging them to sign up for Dropbox and come prepared with questions. Most of them did and we worked out any remaining glitches this afternoon. I do however, have some teachers that did not grow up with technology as I have. As a result, small group trainings will now ensue and hopefully the technology that our school has purchased for us (including iPads) will be used more often and effectively. Of course, we'll see how much of my free time that I am rejoicing in by having finished grad school for a little while is now used up by helping others. I guess that's the price I pay for opening my big mouth.

Today was not all new-fangled technology though. Some of my students earned innovation time today and as a result I was presented with this fantastic water airplane!

My faceless inventor!

go team

As a second year teacher, I am a protege to an experienced teacher, my mentor. We meet every Tuesday afternoon to discuss the happenings in kindergarten, how things are going on my end, school goals, and any questions, concerns, or difficulties that I am having. This is a time for me to absorb all of the knowledge that she has to share, since she is retiring at the end of the school year.

Today, we began our discussion talking about assessments. We spent yesterday and today doing language arts and math assessments that will produce the data that should drive our next quarter of instruction. As we were discussing this, I mentioned that last week I took the time to copy the weekly assessments that we will need to do in language arts, the benchmark assessments for language arts and math, and a couple of other little things that we will use on a regular basis. The next step was how to get copies for our whole grade level. And my question was answered with action.

My mentor took me down to the main office and she taught me how to fill out work orders for our district print shop. Our fellow kindergarten teacher also happened to be in the office, and so we sat down and filled out all of the work orders - about 14 in all. Yay for teamwork! If I had been trying to do that on my own it would have taken a good 30 to 45 minutes. With the three of us we were done in 15! Go team!

As an added bonus, this helps us to be better organized for the rest of the school year - and if you know me, I love organization!

sometimes it is okay

Collaboration. I know that I have ranted about it in the past. But, sometimes it is okay.

On Wednesdays, during my planning period, I have a grade level meeting during which my two fellow kindergarten teachers and I plan for the coming week. We review what has worked well for us in the previous week and changes that we might like to make to have our classes run a little more smoothly and effectively. I have really grown to enjoy this time with my fellow teachers, who are, unfortunately, both planning on retiring at the end of the school year. They have taught me a lot in the past year, and these collaboration sessions have allowed me to grow as a teacher and become more effective in my practice.

Last year, I was soaking up all of the knowledge that they could throw my way. This year, the tables have turned a little. Our school has become more technologically advanced, providing each classroom with C.O.W.s (Computers On Wheels). We all have laptops, document cameras, and projectors. This allows us to access the digital resources that were developed to match our mathematics and language arts curricula. Therefore, this year I provide technical advice, and they continue to give me an abundance of ideas to help me teach a concept in a new way that may make more sense to struggling learners. This year, we collaborate, we all have different strengths to share to help one another out.

As I said, sometimes, it's okay! 

get it done

As usual, the weekend has been full of getting things done. School things, home things, life things. It's nice to have the weekends to help make the rest of the week run more smoothly.

Yesterday I had a fantastic day of food, fitness, and a little bit of fun. I took a break from my usual long run and did some walking to accommodate for a slightly sore ankle. I walked downtown to the farmer's market and co-op and came home with a couple of bags full of goodies. Our countertop filled up with fruit, veggies, homemade jam and bread. 

After dropping off those goodies I drove out to the state park and hiked my favorite local trail, Pyramid Rock. With all of the rain that we have been getting the desert is green, green, green. It's fabulous! I followed up my hike with a trip to the grocery and wrapped up shopping for the week. 

In an unusual mood for making food, I started prepping food for the week. I got fruits soaked (in water and white vinegar to help them last longer and clean off any junk that they acquired in transit) and put away. I prepped a veggie lasagna with squash, eggplant, and mushrooms. I made hummus from scratch. I made beans (also from scratch, a habit that we acquired in Peace Corps). Things are looking pretty spiffy around here considering we have two nights of grad school this week that we'll need quick food for.

We topped off the evening by going out to Gallup's monthly Arts Crawl. We saw a friend perform with the local belly dancing group and watched some other friends workout with a local fitness group called Iron Warriors. We also got rained on. After checking out our favorite art stores/galleries we decided to call it an early evening and got to the car right before a blinding downpour began.

Today has been equally productive with cleaning and laundry done before noon. Grad school has been thrown into the mix, with the mister wrapping up one of our group assignments for our technology in education course. We've had some more good food and are building up energy for a busy week to come.

Happy Sunday! Remember to rest and rejuvenate!

collaboration

Aaaahhhhhhhh. It drives me crazy sometimes. One of my graduate classes this semester is all online. I have taken online classes before where there are conversation components. This kind of collaboration is fine. I am required to respond to some people's ideas, however, my grade is not dependent upon their work. They do their work, I do mine, we get our grades based on our individual participation and ability to hold an educated conversation on the topic that we have been presented. This class is different.

With my Technology in Education course, there is real collaboration required. We read books. We work together to put together a report. And, each individual must respond to specific questions about the book. Our first group collaboration is due Monday (tomorrow). Last Monday I read the book, put together a basic summary, answered my individual questions, and posted it to the online server that allows others to make corrections, add their contributions, etc. I have heard from one other person in the group. Okay, two, since I can talk to the mister and he is in my group also. 

If you know me, this is stressing me out incredibly. There is school tomorrow. Followed by more school. Sure, we have until midnight, but I don't stay up that late. And I want to make sure this thing is done. I hate that my grade is dependent upon whether or not someone else does their work. I know that not everyone does their work way in advance, but come on people. Get it together. This is an easy assignment. Just type up a couple of sentences and get it done with. Then I can breathe easier. 

I know that I am a bit of a perfectionist and an overachiever. I admit it. That is why collaborations freak me out when I can't just call a meeting (one of our group members is in Florida). I want to do my part and get graded on that effort. I don't want to be graded on someone else's effort. So again, aaaahhhhh. 

Now that that is out of my system, it is on to things that I can control, such as cleaning the house, doing laundry, and getting work done for both the classroom and other grad school classes.

And once more, just because I can, AAAAAHHHHHHH. And, done.

sunday

Today's pile

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of sitting down and doing some crafting. I could relax, without any worries, and just be. On Monday, the realities of being a teacher and a grad student sank in. Classes started and with them, the pile of work grew exponentially. This Sunday, I am able to go about my normal morning routine, but I know that instead of sitting and relaxing and taking some me time, I will be sitting and reading, or writing, or finishing up the last little touches on my lesson plans for the week.

This semester, the mister and I decided to take three graduate courses. This may sound slightly insane (and perhaps it is), but by doing this we will only need to take one course when next summer rolls around. It will be a month long course as opposed to one that consumes the whole summer. While we may be kicking ourselves for it now, I think that we will sit back with a sigh of relief next summer when we are able to head east and enjoy some time with friends and family that we have not seen in far too long.

On today's plate I have reading for a class appropriately called The Teaching of Reading, some more reading for Introduction to Special Education, and I will probably sit down and pound out a couple of assignments for our "bonus" class, Technology in Education. This "bonus" class is one that everyone has told us is tedious and somewhat annoying, but from what I have seen so far, this also means that it is easy. I have completed some of the assignments already, such as "Write a 5 page paper about yourself," and "Write a 5 page paper about your family." Others include, "Use Paint to create four pictures that tell a story and insert them into PowerPoint." I think I've got this.

On a positive note, it is just after 9:00 and I have worked out, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, vacuumed, and started laundry. The mister is plugging away in the kitchen so that we have some tasty treats to eat on the run (i.e. during a 15 - 20 minute break during classes on Monday and Wednesday nights), and so our Sundays go. Welcome back to reality. 

missing

Technology is wonderful. Except for when it is not. This afternoon I had a little case of the "is nots." Every day I am required to take class attendance in the morning and in the afternoon. This morning my kinders were all (well, except for the absent ones) checked in and we were good to go. The automated phone system would take care of notifying the absent students' families and I was all set to teach my students.

The morning went well. We read and wrote, and practiced letters, syllables, and reading comprehension strategies. When lunch time rolled around, I sat down to record my afternoon attendance and this is the message that I got:

Where did my class go?

What a surprise! I am up to 18 little learners in my class and 16 of them were present today. Technology let me down. I went to check in with the office and was told to check back in at the end of the school day. I checked in at the end of my planning period, still no class. I went and talked to our clerk and she called the tech department for the district. By the time my kiddos were being checked out to their parents I once again had a class. Phew. My 18 kinders are all mine again, which is good because one of them has a birthday tomorrow and I don't want to share her!