Change

When I worked in NYC, the teaching staff could be categorized in several different ways.  One of the most striking, for me, anyways, were the veterans and the newbies.  As a SU.R.R. (school under registration review), we had a lot of turnovers.  We had so many teachers go through our school that in under 3 years, I went from a new teacher to a veteran and grade level leader in under 3 years.  Grade level team leaders were usually the most experienced teachers and generally a coveted position but in my 3^rd year, it was forced on me because I was the only one (at the time) most qualified to do the job. 

In my 3^rd year, I taught 4^th grade with 4 other teachers.  All the teachers on my team were brand new to teaching.  All were dedicated but clueless about teaching in the NYC public school system which was a gargantuan and confusing maze of policy, rules, regulations, culture, personalities (from the principal down to the part-time custodian) that was damn near impossible for most new teachers to understand, much less handle without going nuts.  On top of that most new teachers were given the most difficult classes (both behavior and academic problems) when in theory the experienced teachers should have gotten those classes.  My first year teaching in NYC public (I won’t say which district) was truly baptism by fire.  My second year was a little better but still challenging. I survived it and was rewarded with a grade level team job. Whoppee.

In the Style of Dr. Seuss (Toggle Software Programs)

One parent asked, “Why are you teaching Dr. Seuss at grade 5?”

My reply, “We are not just reading it.  We are reading it with the purpose of writing in his style.  That’s why he’s so brilliant.  His stories are easy to read but there is a message in each of them.  The Butter Battle Book tells of the futility of war.  The Lorax has an environmental theme.  There’s a Wocket in My Pocket talks of the importance of home.  The message in Horton Hears a Who is repeated throughout the book, ‘a person’s a person no matter how small.”

I loved teaching this unit but when I became a tech teacher I no longer saw how the children composed their stories but instead spent more time on the tech side of this project. The objective was for students to create a little booklet of a story written in the Dr. Seuss style.  The story must have a moral or message.  The fifth graders were going to read their stories to their second grade buddy classes.

There are general rules of creating a booklet.  There must be cover page, a dedication page and summary page.  The exemplar (linked at the end of this post)  is missing a summary page as one of the homeroom teachers came up with that requirement.  Make sense though.  The total amount of pages in the document must be a multiple of 4 (8, 12, 16, 24, etc.). And each page should have a colorful illustration.  The students used Paintbrush to draw the illustrations.

First the students entered their stories on Word documents breaking up the story on a page where there was a natural break in the story.  Some authors were editing and revising it their stories so that the story flows in a book format. The students save their illustrations as .jpg files and then entered the pictures into their book.

After all the text and illustrations were added, then it became a tricky game of getting everything to fit in either 12 or 16 pages.  We had a few kids who only had 8 pages and a few who had 24 but most fell in the 12 or 16 count camp.  Some kids had to either make the text on the pages shorter or longer to shrink or expand the story.  They also had to resize the illustrations to also make them fit.

After the student author was finished (text and illustrations, multiple of 4 count), the students turn the document in a .pdf file. Then the tech teachers ran the document through Create Booklet which the .pdf file into a little booklet that can easily be printed.  The students could have done this themselves but the program was downloaded on one computer and it was just easier for the teacher to do all the stories at once.

In the end, we had a lot of great books to show our learning in writing and technology, read to our buddies and add to our portfolios.  With the advent of iPads, I am looking to see how we can do this whole project on the iPads.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Go to this link to see the exemplar.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8g_szT2et9BVFZiWEE2YmtHeEU/view?usp=sharing

Favorite Tech Integration Project #1

One of the best parts of my job is that I do not work in isolation.  When I was a classroom teacher, I did many things on my own, not because I was anti-social or anti-collaborative but rather that was the nature of the job.  However, many of the schools that I've worked have made it easier to become more collaborative but simply giving us the time to work together.

As a tech teacher, I have to reach out a lot because teachers get caught up in their reading, writing, math and content area lesson plans that sometimes tech is given an after thought.  My job is to keep track of their what they are teaching, reach out and offer suggestions on what  they can do.

I get lots of amazing ideas from teachers too.  It's all not me.  And each time there is a new teacher, there's a fresh perspective that I enjoy.

Two years ago, a new teacher (to my school) came to me and suggested we try the Shapes feature of Tux Paint.  To those who do not know, Tux Paint is a great drawing program for young kids.  The teacher was frustrated with the "baby" things (her words, not mine) we were doing.  She  I was skeptical but in retrospect, I do feel that I underestimate the ability of Kindergartners with technology.  Since they were studying geometry in class, she wanted her students to create a picture using geometric shapes.

This was the project.

Yes, you're probably thinking, "This?  What's the problem with this project?"  In Tux Paint, using the Shapes feature is a bit of a challenge because the user has to be very careful where they draw the shapes.  Once drawn, they cannot move them.  It was hard for me because I had to plan where I wanted to draw the picture.

Well, it turns out that I did underestimate the kids.  Once taught, they made great pictures.  We first gave them a class period of "playing and exploring" the program and then they drew their pictures.  Yes, some has some challenges but in the end, I learned that with proper instruction and little faith, Kindy students (with their mouse challenged fingers) can do it. 

Getting Started

I have been an elementary school teacher for 16 years.   Most of my experience is centered in grades 3 through 6, with 6th being my favorite.  I started teaching in the Peace Corps and then in a elementary public school in Brooklyn, New York City. public schools.  I did enjoy those experience but was keen to go back aboard.  In 2002, I got a job in an international school in Jakarta, Indonesia.  That was 13 years ago.  Since then I have taught in international schools in Nigeria and now Kenya.

I have always integrated technology in my classroom practice so I have always considered myself a technology teacher.  For the past 4 years, I have been the technology teacher at my school.

I was hesitant to apply for this job when it first opened up because I thought I would have been bored teaching the same thing all the time.  As an elementary school teacher, I have always enjoyed the transitions between the subjects.  I love teaching conducting a reading workshop, then do a math game to reinforce division fact and then doing a science lesson in a given day.

But being the tech teacher is even more varied!  One period I am helping to teach 4th graders to do online research.  The next period, I am teaching Kindergarten how to draw a picture using one of the apps on the iPad.  And the next period, I am doing coding with a 3rd grade class.

I love my job.

I love it so much that I have decided to start an blog.  I have always read other teachers' blogs, getting wonderful ideas from them and commented when I felt the need.  I did not always feel that I had ideas to share but I feel ready to start my own.

So here I go.