Year End Reflection
I began the 2010-2011 school year overwhelmed since I was starting a new grade so everything I had created last year with the SMART notebook, I was unable to use it again. So my goal that I had set for the 2010-2011 school year was to just get create more SMART notebooks for that coincided with my new grade level as well as set up a school blog that I would use as my main means of communication with parents. It was difficult at first because I was learning new curriculum. As I became familiar with new curriculum, creating notebooks and integrating technology became easy again. I started on day one with blogging with parents and updating my blog on a daily basis. There were days when it was hard to update it as I had to leave right afterschool for coaching extra-curricular but I was able to make it work. Many positive comments have been made by parents that the blog is a useful communication tool. Therefore I would say my technology success this year was creating a classroom blog and creating SMART notebooks for Language Arts, Science and French curriculum. I would also like to say that another technology success for me this year was moving on the “Technology Integration Matrix. I would say that I am at the “Infusion” stage with some “adaption” still.
Another area that I feel I had success with this year was in the area of mentoring. I have had the opportunity for mentoring with the other Grade 8 teacher at our school. We do a great deal of sharing between subjects. It has been quite funny because many times when I would be teaching her students, I needed my own room to use the SMART board. The problem was that she had also planned a lesson with my students and needed the SMART board too. So I guess that is a good thing that we were fighting over who was going to get to use the SMART board. One of us would then run down to book the other SMART board in the school to book it, but it too would be in use by another teacher. So the SMART boards are getting used in our school. It would be nice to have time at a staff meeting or on a TPD to get a few minutes to show the teachers in our school some of the neat pieces of technology that are out there. There have been many teachers at my school asking me if there is going to be more teachers that can apply for the SMART project so it is obviously something teachers find value in!
One of the experiences that I value in the SMART program is the opportunity that we are given for PD days. I believe it is so important to continue to provide SMART teachers with PD opportunities like the ones we had this year. I am able to accomplish so much when I have these days. Learning about Twitter and iGoogle was an eye opening experience for me. PD days give me the opportunity to explore and learn when regular school days are so busy. I also like the personal PD day that we get as well. This year I spent my day planning and creating SMART notebooks for a Greek Mythology unit. It was nice to just explore and play with SMART notebook, knowing that I would be providing my students with unique learning opportunities. The collaboration with other SMART teachers is rejuvenating and exciting. We can bounce ideas off each other and learn from each other. This is such a valuable tool that I would hate for these days to disappear. I also believe it is important for the SMART teachers to have an opportunity to show teachers in their own schools as well as other schools the value of SMART boards.
I have two areas of focus for my goals for next year. I will continue blogging with parents on a daily basis to keep them informed of what is happening in the classroom. I would now like to add blogging with the students. This will be through students blogging with each other and myself as discussion pieces through assignments and I think it would be very cool to blog with them about current events using kidblogs. The second area that I would like to continue to develop is creating more SMART notebooks especially in Mathematics. I didn’t teach my own my this past year but will be teaching it in the upcoming school year so I would like to use the SMART board as my main teaching tool in Mathematics. I am looking forward to being able to work towards my goals in the SMART project next year.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Discussion Session for Feb SMART PD
Modifications and Recommendations
Sessions for the serious in the summer and pay us the sub wage…. It saves money overall, and teachers would be refreshed and have time to plan further beyond their day.
Could there be another initiative to set up data projectors and mounting systems in classrooms. Schools could fundraise for themselves, just we would appreciate the IT help with mounting and troubleshooting issues.
I know that there are many teachers that would be interested in another roll-out of technology. But again keep the application process in place with the yearly checkpoints to ensure professional accountability to the board.
ONE MAJOR RECOMMENDATION… teachers who go on maternity leave or who are asked to move schools should either be placed with their Smartboard or have their Smartboard moved with them… Otherwise, where’s the motivation??? We have all composed many documents that we would like to use again – and it would probably be incredibly deflating to have the technology that has become essential to teaching disappear…
Where would we like to go???
I would like to get to the point in being either Transformation or Infusion area of the Matrix. I also want to continue to get the students involved in technology in all subject areas as I find that I focus on some subject areas more than others.
Year 1 Goals:
Initial Implementation
What worked…
We were able to use the Smart board in daily lessons, tools such as:
• Smart software (linking videos, webpages);
• assessment tools (Senteo Assessment tools to enhance formative assessment process in classroom);
• Wikis and Blogs for student, parent, teacher and administration communication;
• Off-site tutors (hospital tutors or traditional tutors) using teacher wikis and blogs; student publishing using classroom blogs;
• Interactive for students – increase student participation;
• Teacher accountability – the ability to save and print what we discussed during the class;
• Good for students who cannot copy notes from board (or even jot notes) or for students who miss classes.
What didn’t work…
• Transforming the documents from Word or Powerpoint into Smart board documents – Unfortunately it takes so much time to do this well;
• Smart software takes a lot of time to put together nicely. (a couple teachers say they prefer Powerpoint);
• Teacher assignment changes (ie subject, grade level) really impacts how much you can use from year to year;
• Wireless slate is not as interactive for students in the classroom, smart boards are better… however a wireless slate is better than nothing;
• Sometimes can be difficult when you have a sub… you have to print off the Smart docs for class, because no one wants to leave their computer for a sub.
• Not having our teacher laptops over the summer.. .this was a MAJOR CHALLENGE for planning for the following year.
Year 2
Collaboration
• Teachers are learning how to make wikis and blogs and how to use some of the Web 2.0 tools. In each school our group members have taught others to learn how to blog;
• When we were given the Smart Collaborative PD day – teachers were able to collaborate and teach each other how to use the different tools in various lessons.
• Confidence to share and collaborate with all teachers in the school to integrate different forms of technology –the school PD days are good for sharing time.
• The Smart board teacher sessions that we have each year allow for great time to collaborate… then in turn we go back to our schools and share what we have learned.
Benefits of Technology in the Classroom
• Having the Smart board has renewed our energy and enthusiasm – Having the technology whether it’s a Smart board or an airliner… has propelled us into constantly looking for ways to improve our teaching. Whether it’s learning how to integrate another form of technology that captures our students interest or ideas for planning.
• After the Smart board PD sessions we all felt renewed and energized to try out another innovative tool with the Smart board to capture our ever technology driven students.
• Students are way more enthusiastic about “handing in assignments” which can be turned in via e-mail or just posted on the site (ie: glogster, kidblog, voki avatar links)
• We love the idea of purchasing teacher laptops, but everyone wants IT support… This was stressed by all members of the group as being quite essential.
Sessions for the serious in the summer and pay us the sub wage…. It saves money overall, and teachers would be refreshed and have time to plan further beyond their day.
Could there be another initiative to set up data projectors and mounting systems in classrooms. Schools could fundraise for themselves, just we would appreciate the IT help with mounting and troubleshooting issues.
I know that there are many teachers that would be interested in another roll-out of technology. But again keep the application process in place with the yearly checkpoints to ensure professional accountability to the board.
ONE MAJOR RECOMMENDATION… teachers who go on maternity leave or who are asked to move schools should either be placed with their Smartboard or have their Smartboard moved with them… Otherwise, where’s the motivation??? We have all composed many documents that we would like to use again – and it would probably be incredibly deflating to have the technology that has become essential to teaching disappear…
Where would we like to go???
I would like to get to the point in being either Transformation or Infusion area of the Matrix. I also want to continue to get the students involved in technology in all subject areas as I find that I focus on some subject areas more than others.
Year 1 Goals:
Initial Implementation
What worked…
We were able to use the Smart board in daily lessons, tools such as:
• Smart software (linking videos, webpages);
• assessment tools (Senteo Assessment tools to enhance formative assessment process in classroom);
• Wikis and Blogs for student, parent, teacher and administration communication;
• Off-site tutors (hospital tutors or traditional tutors) using teacher wikis and blogs; student publishing using classroom blogs;
• Interactive for students – increase student participation;
• Teacher accountability – the ability to save and print what we discussed during the class;
• Good for students who cannot copy notes from board (or even jot notes) or for students who miss classes.
What didn’t work…
• Transforming the documents from Word or Powerpoint into Smart board documents – Unfortunately it takes so much time to do this well;
• Smart software takes a lot of time to put together nicely. (a couple teachers say they prefer Powerpoint);
• Teacher assignment changes (ie subject, grade level) really impacts how much you can use from year to year;
• Wireless slate is not as interactive for students in the classroom, smart boards are better… however a wireless slate is better than nothing;
• Sometimes can be difficult when you have a sub… you have to print off the Smart docs for class, because no one wants to leave their computer for a sub.
• Not having our teacher laptops over the summer.. .this was a MAJOR CHALLENGE for planning for the following year.
Year 2
Collaboration
• Teachers are learning how to make wikis and blogs and how to use some of the Web 2.0 tools. In each school our group members have taught others to learn how to blog;
• When we were given the Smart Collaborative PD day – teachers were able to collaborate and teach each other how to use the different tools in various lessons.
• Confidence to share and collaborate with all teachers in the school to integrate different forms of technology –the school PD days are good for sharing time.
• The Smart board teacher sessions that we have each year allow for great time to collaborate… then in turn we go back to our schools and share what we have learned.
Benefits of Technology in the Classroom
• Having the Smart board has renewed our energy and enthusiasm – Having the technology whether it’s a Smart board or an airliner… has propelled us into constantly looking for ways to improve our teaching. Whether it’s learning how to integrate another form of technology that captures our students interest or ideas for planning.
• After the Smart board PD sessions we all felt renewed and energized to try out another innovative tool with the Smart board to capture our ever technology driven students.
• Students are way more enthusiastic about “handing in assignments” which can be turned in via e-mail or just posted on the site (ie: glogster, kidblog, voki avatar links)
• We love the idea of purchasing teacher laptops, but everyone wants IT support… This was stressed by all members of the group as being quite essential.
February SMART Professional Development
WOW! It's always amazing how after we have these PD days I always leave with so much more knowledge because of the collaboration we are doing! Today, I just created an avatar and added it to my blog! So cool! It is nice to meet with colleagues and finding what works for them and how to make it work for my classroom too!
My SMART journey is going well. Now that I am feeling comfortable with teaching Grade 8, I am beginning to develop cool SMART lessons. My goal was to create SMART lessons in the areas of Science and Language Arts. I have found that I've created some but not as many as I would like so I will continue to work on this as a goal. I have found the SMARTBoard very useful in Core French because by Grade 8, let's face it, French is not that enjoyable. By making Core French more interactive, the students tend to forget that they are still learning the vocabulary.
Again, I must stress how important it is to have these days for PD!
My SMART journey is going well. Now that I am feeling comfortable with teaching Grade 8, I am beginning to develop cool SMART lessons. My goal was to create SMART lessons in the areas of Science and Language Arts. I have found that I've created some but not as many as I would like so I will continue to work on this as a goal. I have found the SMARTBoard very useful in Core French because by Grade 8, let's face it, French is not that enjoyable. By making Core French more interactive, the students tend to forget that they are still learning the vocabulary.
Again, I must stress how important it is to have these days for PD!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
My Project Goals for This Year
This year I’m teaching a new grade so all of my notebooks that I created last year are now not helpful. So one of my individual goal this year is to start over and create notebooks for my new grade level. Last year my focus was using the SMARTboard on a daily basis in math. This year math is not a subject that I teach so my goal is changing. Another goal for this year will be to develop SMART lessons in Language Arts and Science. I have already started by using it on a daily basis with DOL sentences. My last goal for this year is to continue to blog not only on my school website for my parents, but also on Smart project blog too.
I feel that I have grown in many ways with my technology use. With every lesson that I plan now, I constantly ask the question, “How can I incorporate the use of SMARTboard into this lesson?” It is becoming increasingly easier to do this too.
In order to continue in my own professional development, I feel that it is important to continue to have our collaborative meetings where we can discuss what’s working and what isn’t and share websites and lessons. I feel it is important to continue to provide us with the PD day so that we can use it just to explore all the ways we can incorporate technology.
I plan on accomplishing these goals by using my PD day with other colleagues in the project. Last year I found that so helpful and useful. I also like that you are combining the first and second year participants together because we can use their expertise and look to them for guidance.
I feel that I have grown in many ways with my technology use. With every lesson that I plan now, I constantly ask the question, “How can I incorporate the use of SMARTboard into this lesson?” It is becoming increasingly easier to do this too.
In order to continue in my own professional development, I feel that it is important to continue to have our collaborative meetings where we can discuss what’s working and what isn’t and share websites and lessons. I feel it is important to continue to provide us with the PD day so that we can use it just to explore all the ways we can incorporate technology.
I plan on accomplishing these goals by using my PD day with other colleagues in the project. Last year I found that so helpful and useful. I also like that you are combining the first and second year participants together because we can use their expertise and look to them for guidance.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Reflection on First Year: Action Research Summary
For some reason as I looked at my blog today, I noticed that my summary of my first year was not on it. So here it is now! The first year of the SMART project went by very quickly. I went from not being a blogger to successfully creating two: one for the SMART project and one for my classroom which I will be implementing in the 2010-2011 school year.
I have really enjoyed learning more about technology and implementing the SMART board into my daily teachings. My goal for my first year was to use it on a regular basis in Math and Language Arts. I feel that I was successful in using it on a regular basis in math and developed some great lessons to help support Math Makes Sense program.
As for Language Arts I did use it but not as regularly for Math. It seemed quite easy and natural to use it regularly in Math. I went from students not volunteering at all in Math to 28 raised hands wanting to answer the questions! In Language Arts I used it more for showing them clips and such but felt I did not make it as interactive as I would like it to be.
What I really enjoyed about having the SMART board in my room is that I was able to have technology at my fingertips. If I wanted to show the students something, I could do so very easily. If we were learning a new topic and had some questions, a few clicks on the keyboard and voila...the information was there so quickly and easily. Gone are the days of having to book out the room that has a SMART board in it, and hoping that it isn't double booked. Gone are the days of having students line up and take them to the room, wasting time on task. It is quick, easy and accessable right in the room!
Thus brings me to my project goal for year two (2010-2011). I have a grade change and so I will be starting from scratch and new lessons using the SMART board for my new grade level. Since I will not be teaching my own Math, I have decided to make sure that I'm using the SMART board on a regulary basis in Language Arts and Science. Of course, I will still use it in the other subject areas but I would really like to focus on those two subject areas. I would also like to focus on using my school blog on a daily basis to keep parents informed of what is going on.
I used my SMART PD day in May which I felt was a great time to use it as it gave me the opportunity to set up my school blog and network with some of the other teachers that were also using their PD that day.
It was a great first year and I look forward to my second year in the SMART project!
I have really enjoyed learning more about technology and implementing the SMART board into my daily teachings. My goal for my first year was to use it on a regular basis in Math and Language Arts. I feel that I was successful in using it on a regular basis in math and developed some great lessons to help support Math Makes Sense program.
As for Language Arts I did use it but not as regularly for Math. It seemed quite easy and natural to use it regularly in Math. I went from students not volunteering at all in Math to 28 raised hands wanting to answer the questions! In Language Arts I used it more for showing them clips and such but felt I did not make it as interactive as I would like it to be.
What I really enjoyed about having the SMART board in my room is that I was able to have technology at my fingertips. If I wanted to show the students something, I could do so very easily. If we were learning a new topic and had some questions, a few clicks on the keyboard and voila...the information was there so quickly and easily. Gone are the days of having to book out the room that has a SMART board in it, and hoping that it isn't double booked. Gone are the days of having students line up and take them to the room, wasting time on task. It is quick, easy and accessable right in the room!
Thus brings me to my project goal for year two (2010-2011). I have a grade change and so I will be starting from scratch and new lessons using the SMART board for my new grade level. Since I will not be teaching my own Math, I have decided to make sure that I'm using the SMART board on a regulary basis in Language Arts and Science. Of course, I will still use it in the other subject areas but I would really like to focus on those two subject areas. I would also like to focus on using my school blog on a daily basis to keep parents informed of what is going on.
I used my SMART PD day in May which I felt was a great time to use it as it gave me the opportunity to set up my school blog and network with some of the other teachers that were also using their PD that day.
It was a great first year and I look forward to my second year in the SMART project!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
SMARTBOARD JOURNEY -MAY
I used my PD day today and it was awesome. The only glitch I had was that I had to re-do my blog as my original blog with eduperience is no more. I learned a valuable lesson though, always save your blogs as a word document first then post! I didn't save my big long reflection from December in a word document and no matter how hard I try to access it, I cannot see it. What is so frustrating is that I know the exact title and so when I type that into a search engine it comes up but of course when I click on it, it doesn't show me what I posted. Oh well, a lesson learned indeed. So I feel my blog is a bit incomplete without my December reflection! My reflection on my first year with the SMARTboard is still to come!
SMART BOARD JOURNEY- FEBRUARY SMART BOARD PERCEPTIONS
Parents have been very receptive about the SMART board. During Education week, we had an afternoon open house where parents could pop in and see their child in action at school. I choose to use the SMART board so that parents had an opportunity to see how it works. I had many positive comments about how engaged the students were. Parents have said it would be great to see this in every classroom.
Students really enjoy using the SMART board in the classroom. They like to "brag" a little to other students in other classrooms that we have a SMART board in their classroom. I find that students are very eager to come up to the front and use the SMART board (even the shy ones). It is a great motivating tool for the students.
I have found that the SMART board has been influential in all areas but especially in Language Arts and Mathematics. It is so helpful to bring up manipulatives on the SMART board and all students can see them on the board and they can come up and manipulate them. We just finished an angles unit in math and I found it so useful to be able to show how to use a protractor on the SMART board and manoeuver and manipulate it. All the students did very well on the test and I attribute that to the help of the SMART board.
I have found that the teacher laptop, data projector, SMART board and student cart of laptops have increased accessibility. Before to drag out the SMART board, set it up orient the board, make sure the students didn't move the data projector or the cart for a 45 minute lesson was a lot of work. It would take at least 20 minutes to get everything set up and then sometimes that didn't even work. NOW, it is so easy to bring something up because technology is always right there. I love the laptop carts as well. It is so nice to book out the cart and have all of my students together in one area instead of running around to the various classrooms to help them out.
Students really enjoy using the SMART board in the classroom. They like to "brag" a little to other students in other classrooms that we have a SMART board in their classroom. I find that students are very eager to come up to the front and use the SMART board (even the shy ones). It is a great motivating tool for the students.
I have found that the SMART board has been influential in all areas but especially in Language Arts and Mathematics. It is so helpful to bring up manipulatives on the SMART board and all students can see them on the board and they can come up and manipulate them. We just finished an angles unit in math and I found it so useful to be able to show how to use a protractor on the SMART board and manoeuver and manipulate it. All the students did very well on the test and I attribute that to the help of the SMART board.
I have found that the teacher laptop, data projector, SMART board and student cart of laptops have increased accessibility. Before to drag out the SMART board, set it up orient the board, make sure the students didn't move the data projector or the cart for a 45 minute lesson was a lot of work. It would take at least 20 minutes to get everything set up and then sometimes that didn't even work. NOW, it is so easy to bring something up because technology is always right there. I love the laptop carts as well. It is so nice to book out the cart and have all of my students together in one area instead of running around to the various classrooms to help them out.
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