Let's Tech Out!

Let's Integrate Technology! When I was in high school, I remember how popular Snapchat became overnight. Everyone couldn't get enough of it and were obsessed in keeping their streak going! Snapchat was very addictive and still is for many teenagers.  via GoogleImages Because I am a 1st grade teacher, I do not think it is appropriate to use Snapchat in my classroom. However, I would highly recommend middle school and high school teachers to incorporate it in their classroom. In the article, Getting Started with Using Snapchat in Your Classroom , John Walter mentions,  "Our students are using Snapchat, and what many educators fail to understand about the app is that students are not just taking a picture. They are having a conversation. They are telling a story." (Walter, 2017) Instead of just dismissing technology, we should embrace it! By using social media in the classroom, students are given the opportunity to have their voice be heard by other individu

Looking back... It's hard to believe that eight weeks have flown by! Prior to taking EDU 776, I tried to incorporate technology as much as possible within my lessons. Nevertheless, I was always unsure as to what kind of technology to use.  Throughout these eight weeks, I have learned new tech tools, researched the impact technology has on students today, and immersed myself in projects to stay educated on technology. As mentioned in my previous post, I teach 1st grade. Throughout these eight weeks of school, I have noticed my students love using their iPads. They love listening to reading, posting assignments on SeeSaw, and coding using Scratch. Although they love using their technology, it is oftentimes difficult when they do not have a component of technology to use or visualize with when I teach a mini lesson.  It is very difficult for them to listen and focus in on a mini lesson that is more than 10 minutes on the carpet. Thus, I will begin to implement videos where I will

The Results of Data Mining This week for my online course we had to data mine ourselves and see what we are able to find online that is public.  My name is relatively common so if I were to Google my name thousands of other Jennifer's would appear within a second!   Ever since starting college, I became more cautious of my digital footprint and what I post online. Prior to college, I used social media to interact with friends and family and constantly shared information via online. As a teenager, I would share my location, what I was doing and who I was with. I was oblivious in recognizing internet safety.  via GIPHY.com First off, I find it very humorous that online scams and many websites confuse me for my dad. My dad's legal name is J. Bilmer Ortiz so often times they think it is my name, Jennifer because of the J. Throughout the years, I have received a lot of mail from AARP and Medicare because of this confusion! Thus, i t's no surprise that many sites conf

Let's Tweet About It!  via GIPHY.com Twitter has been around since 2006. However, with technology becoming more common in today's society, it is very likely many individuals have it downloaded on their phone ready to be accessed with a simple tap!  As an educator in my district, it was recommended to create a Twitter account to find resources, share our classroom life, and stay connected with other educators across the world! Prior to creating my educator account, I also had a personal account where I shared my student teaching experience and life throughout college.  Twitter can be used to tweet opinions, share ideas, provide feedback- the options are endless! With p rofessional learning networks, or PLNs people are able to collaborate within one another and share ideas on a certain topic. Throughout my time researching, I came across Dori Digenti's article,   Collaborative Learning: A Core Capability for Organizations in the New Economy.  In this article,  she

What is Classkick? This week, our focus for EDU 776 is to explore a tech tool that is not commonly used in our daily teaching. Throughout my first week of orientation, I was constantly hearing of the tech tool "Classkick". Many teachers in my district swear by it and use it daily. Although there is this huge hype about Classkick, I never really immersed myself in this tech tool. Thus, I decided to finally check it out for myself! Please watch my video on the left to learn more! You can also view my Google Slides here Classkick is a  free  app teachers can use to assign formal assessments or any other school work. Students are able to work at their own pace to complete assignments. As students are completing their work, the teacher is able to observe how for along each student is taking to respond and view their progress overall. Something I found very interesting about ClassKick is that students can privately ask a question about something they are unsure of to th