In fall of 2014, my classroom went 1:1 with iPads and was funded by the PTO. Grades 5-12 in my district were already using Canvas by Instructure, so they asked me to use it in my classroom. The video they sent me is the one below. While it showed me how 1st graders can use Canvas, it didn't show me how they set it up for students to use.
Home Screen
I decided to make my main screen the same schedule circles that I used on the board. This allowed my students to easily make connections to what were were doing since they had seen these icons daily throughout the whole semester.
Reader's Workshop
Below is how I set up my Reader's Workshop page. My classroom incorporated some of the Daily 5 aspects. I created a ThingLink so you can view what my students see when they log into Canvas.
Writer's Workshop
Moving to Writer's Workshop, I divided this page into four parts. Student knows that their task is to move left to right as they are writing. I change the group lesson daily, but the anchor charts, spelling, and editing checklist stays the same throughout the whole unit.
Math Workshop
Math Workshop doesn't look as glamorous as the other pages, but includes all the activities that students will be doing for the day. My district uses Everyday Math. The Canvas page below is a unit review page. I was absent that day, but was able to create a lesson using tutorials from Explain Everything to still teach my students the lesson the way I would want to teach them.
So I'll admit that I almost decided to leave the classroom over the past few weeks. There was a great opportunity with a company sharing a product. This meant a relocation, new environment, and sharing an edtech tool with hopefully thousands of new users. I had multiple interviews with them and even had what was probably the final interview before they made their decision. Two days later I withdrew my application. The problem: I just couldn't do it. Don't get me wrong, I know that at some point I might leave the classroom and be involved with educational technology as a Technology Integration Specialist or a similar role, maybe even working for an edtech company, but this didn't feel like the right fit for me. Another reason why I just couldn't do it is that I didn't feel like my time in the classroom working directly with students was over.
As teachers we are constantly being evaluated and critiqued on our teaching. Day in and day out can be a challenge, but we have to keep thinking about why we became teachers in the first place. With burnout rate very high for teachers and around 50% of teachers leaving within five years, There has to be a better way of keeping good teachers in the classroom. I could have been one of those statistics since I have only competed three years in the classroom. Luckily my district allowed me to travel to Austin, Texas for iPadPalooza. When I first got there and attended some of the concurrent sessions, I wan't totally impressed. A lot of these teachers that were presenting were doing things that were very similar to my classroom and some just weren't great presenters. I know that I'm not the best teacher in the world, but didn't feel inspired. Two days passed and then on the final day: AAAHHH. Finally seeing presenters that inspired me to make more change within my classroom. Meghan Zigmond, Don Goble, Todd Nesloney, Don Goble, and Richard Wells had me leaving with ideas on how I can improve my classroom. Meghan helped me to realize how I need to have my students creating more. Don helped me show the power of movies to share learning. Todd showed me how I need to incorporate PBL, and Richard gave me better insight how one acronym (PBL, UBL, QFAT) is not always the most effective when teaching students. Sometimes we just need to get out of our comfort zone, mix up what we do in the classroom, and ask for forgiveness when we try something new that is different from the others in our school and district. After three years of being so hard on myself, I finally felt inspired to make big changes in my classroom. The passion I had for teaching is back and I'm excited to see how my classroom will change over the next school year. ![]() This past weekend I attended the EdSurge Summit in St. Louis. I have the privilege of attending with a startup company called BrightLoop to showcase their product with other educators. It was my first EdSurge event and I was excited to talk to others about a product that I have been very passionate about since first using it in its Beta stages. I had a chance to meet with people from different companies at the networking night, as well as the Summit itself. Educational technology is constantly changing and all these people play a major part. These people care so much about the development of their product and sharing it with educators. You give them a chance to talk about their product and they light up because they love what they do and are so excited to share it with others. While some might argue that there are so many of the same type of educational technology products, one really needs to hear from each of the companies. Yes, there are similarities amongst products, but each have their own special space in the world of educational technology. Each of the have their own special something that appeals to a different type of teacher. There isn't just one product that meets the needs of all teachers, which is why one might find similar products. When I talked to teachers about BrightLoop this past weekend, I can't begin to describe that awesome feeling when people are shouting with excitement about seeing this product for the first time. They knew that this was a product that was going to help them as an educator because they could spend less time documenting notes on students and focus more on the actual instruction. Finding a startup educational technology company in their early stages allows for teachers to play a big part in its development before it makes its way to the App Store and shared with teachers nationwide. I've had the privilege of working with two great companies recently, BrightLoop and ClassKick, as they prepared to get their product ready for teachers. I met both of these companies from Google searches, Facebook ads, and tweets. Each of these companies had a product that I had been wanting, but knew that there was nothing quite like them. A lot of teachers might say "I had an idea just like that," but this gives them the chance to work collaboratively with these companies to help shape the product for the masses. As I worked with both companies, trying them out as a teacher and then with my first grade students, they always took the time to ask for feedback. They not only listened to what I had to say, but incorporated that feedback. It's a great feeling to know that some of your suggestions are becoming part of a product that will be shared with thousands of teachers across the country. They know in the beta stages that they do not have a perfect product and are accepting of feedback because they know that teachers are the ones who will get the app or program into the classroom and will share it with others. Pay close attention to startup companies because you too can play a vital part is the development of a tool that can be used in classrooms across the country. Instead of finding out about things after they have been around for awhile, you can be the one sharing with others tools that everyone will get excited about to use. When you do research for new apps and programs to use in the classroom, check out Twitter, check out EdSurge's website, do some Google searches, and give startup companies a try. These are products that need your support as they make their way nationwide to support teachers and the learning of students. Make sure you check out http://brightlooplearning.com and http://getclasskick.com to check out the products that I mentioned above.
Check out the article from Renaissance Learning in their Extraordinary Educators newsletter that talks about the use of Subtext in our classroom. Happy to share with others this awesome tool. Read this and other articles here http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R00573826269A474.pdf
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