Finding PLN time in the Summer...

One of the focuses (foci?) of our summer tech academy at Castleberry was developing and utilizing our PLN, personal learning network, to become better teachers.  I listened to our local tech guru, Kelli Kelsoe, talk about carving out time for ourselves to explore, learn, think, and expand; and I remember thinking "sure that would be nice but I'm busy entertaining my 3 kiddos home all summer long and my honey do list and traveling to visit family and etc..."

Fast forward a week, I find myself sitting here in the tire shop waiting for an hour(ish) and thanks to the wonders of cell phone technology I spent 30 min reading for my personal spiritual growth, an article on the SCOTUS cell phone decision, and was about to engage in Clash of Clans and other time kill apps on my phone but thought better of it and hit my PLN.  Three articles later, I have a great idea for the fall and an interesting project idea.  Like everything good in life, I have always had the time, I just have to be intentional and creative in carving out that time.  Capitalize on those "time kill" moments that litter our schedule and you can find the time, have a great summer...

Daily Reflection - Tech Academy Day 3

PLN time - what new resources did you find?

https://www.languagecomics.com/pol-flor-episode-guide/ -- A web-based comic developed by a Spanish & French teacher

Flipped Classrooms - what app did you use to create your video and describe how the recording process was for you


I used ScreenCastOMatic, which I have you used before and I am very comfortable with. 

Your lesson and student sample - what level of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy does this lesson and activity target

Analyzing with a potential of hitting Creating if done well.

Daily Reflection - Tech Academy Day 2

PLN time - what new resources did you find?

I spent my PLN time looking for resources on social media, I found several great Spanish teacher twitter accounts and pintrest boards to follow.

Flipped Classrooms - what did you learn from the webinar?

I need to diversify several areas, mainly where I post my flipped videos and how I can receive student input.

Your lesson and student sample - what is the lesson that you are using for this course and what web tool will your students use in this lesson?


I am going to do a lesson that recaps preterit vs imperfect (two verb tenses in Spanish) by having the students create a story using Voice Thread.

Crushing Barriers

In my previous post I outlined four problems with infusing technology into my classroom and it felt good to unpack what really irks me about technology in the classroom.  I know that the positives far outweigh the negative barriers, I know that everything in life comes with barriers and obstacles, I know Johnny will remember his password one day, but a good vent session always seems to lighten the load a little bit.  

So enough complaining, time to put on our big teacher pants and get to the hard work of changing lives for the better with any tool possible including infusing technology.  Teaching has always been equally challenging and rewarding, and no matter what the subject or level of accessible technology there will always be obstacles to learning and they must be overcome.  Let's get busy crushing barriers...

Barrier #1: Teaching students to use the technology or web-app

Crushing this barrier has a one central piece, preparation.  The teacher must be prepared to use the technology or web-app.  The teacher must know how to use the app, how to create accounts if needed, and look for any possible glitches that might arise.  The teacher must know which browser will run the web-app the best, if the final product can be saved or downloaded, and how the students will submit their final product.  The teacher will save valuable instruction time by being prepared.

Barrier #2: Redesigning lessons for technology

We will crush this barrier in two ways, good planning and keeping our eyes on the long term goal.  For the planning piece, a teacher must be purposeful and thoughtful about infusing technology into their lesson plans.  Personally, I am working on infusing technology into three lessons per grading period this year, and next year I will do another three lessons per grading period.  

Which brings me to the second part of crushing this barrier, the long term goal.  By building these infused lessons in a few steps at a time, I should be completely flipped and infused in four years.  And considering I have 25ish years of teaching left in me, four years seems like a good investment.

Barriers #3 & #4: Internet Speed / Accessibility & Tech Failures

These two barriers are tougher to crush because all that hard work and preparation seems to dissolve in a matter of seconds of technological down time.  

First of all, don't freak out when technology doesn't respond accordingly.  Being flexible has been a required attribute for teaching long before infusing technology became a focus of the trade, and I hear many teachers who are apprehensive about technology in the classroom using this as their primary excuse for not getting on board.  Meanwhile the copier breaks down and they deftly swap lesson plans, the DVD player in their room goes on the fritz and they begin the lecture for the following day.  As teachers we maneuver pot holes and hazards all the time, quit using it as an excuse for not infusing technology.  

Second, plan for the breakdown.  All of my technology infused lessons have an exit strategy if everything starts to break down.  When the wheels start to fall off, I give myself two minutes to troubleshoot the technical issue.  If I can resolve it, we proceed as planned; if a resolution can not be reached, I shut it down for that class period and work my back up plan.  

Daily Reflection - Day 1 of Summer Tech Academy

What was new to you?
 I found (or re-found) new webapps Go Soap Box, Answer Garden, AWW App, & Pow Toon.


How can you use some of the tools from today with your students?
I really like the "Got It vs Confused" button on Go Soap Box for immediate feedback and the AWW App white board for creating quick drawing and illustration.


What lesson are you thinking about using this week as you infuse technology?
The Spanish lessons most adept for flipped videos and infusing technology are verb endings for the different tenses.  If I get really crazy, introducing the kitchen vocab unit with a video shot in the kitchen using real life bowls, cups, forks, and pans sounds like a blast.

4 Barriers to Infusing Tech in the Classroom

My four barriers to infusing technology are:

1. Teaching students to use the technology or webapp

Actual instruction time within the class period is extremely valuable to any teacher, especially with the scope and sequence, pacing calendars, and looming state tests dictating what is to be covered and how quickly the teacher must accomplish that most daunting task of leading the horse to water and actually getting it to drink.  Any teacher looks at the instruction time and effort needed to explain how to connect dialogue boxes in Popplet or helping Johnny find the "Forgot my password" link for the 4th time this week and shudders at the state mandated content that is sacrificed that now must be made up for at some point in the future.

2. Redesigning lessons for tech

Infusing technology is a time consuming process: researching new technology, webapps, and sites; experimenting with them long enough to establish pseudo-mastery of the necessary concepts and steps; figuring out which lesson(s) can be infused with said technology and/or webapp; and finally rewriting those lessons to infuse the technology.  All while maintaining the necessary progress on the path to those little state exams in the Spring.

3. Internet Speed / Accessibility

The only thing more frustrating than problem #1 from above is having an awesome tech infused lesson locked and loaded, even after counting the requisite 5 min to help Johnny with his ever-mysterious password, is having 25 students staring at their browser's status arrow chasing its tail over and over and over and over...  and all the while maintaining classroom management, keeping students dutifully on task while waiting patiently.

4. Tech failures

The projector and computer suddenly can't communicate properly...
That great website you found last night at home is blocked by lightspeed...
Johnny's left mouse button flies off due to excessive "forgot my password" clicking...
That great website you found last night at home is now giving you the dreaded "forbidden 403" message...

Technology will go down and usually at the moment that your principal drops in for a surprise walk through.  And given the random nature of tech's little surprises, the teacher is left scrambling for a solution, a back up plan, or re-considering that job offer as a llama rancher in Boise.