Learning to Incorporate Technology in an Authentic and Meaningful Way

"Is this just substitution?"

"By choosing to incorporate this tool, will my lesson be more authentic?" 

"Am I just trying to make this lesson look Cooler?..or are my choices really redefining the learning outcome for my students?"


For the last couple of weeks, these ideas have been tumbling around in my head.  Since I began my graduate work at Appstate, these questions have been ones we have tossed around quite a bit. In conjunction with these questions, my school district is embarking on a total REFRESH for next school year. I'm super excited about all of these upcoming changes, but I'm also a little leery too. It's easy to get new computers, but the level of REFRESH that we are looking at involves overhauling instruction too, and it also means rethinking and redefining the way we are teaching.

Part of this training has led us to explore the SAMR model of teaching. I will admit, prior to our talks about refreshing what we are doing for next year, I had not heard of the SAMR model. Quite frankly, when I would sit down to plan lessons I did not consider all of these elements. Now, when I think back to all of those Sunday nights I would spend lesson planning and wondering if what I was doing was rigorous enough, I would have liked to have had this model to compare them too.

For some, understanding SAMR can be hard to understand. Clearly, there is an above or below the line approach to lesson planning with this model. I think above/below the line has a negative connotation associated with it. Sometimes, we need to get back to the basics and sometimes I kid simply needs a study guide or guided note-taker---but not all of the time. I prefer the idea of swimming in the shallow or deep end of the pool. It feel great when one can make it to the deep end and swim with ease; however, we cannot stay in the deep end, always. We have to toggle back and forth or we will drown. It's important for teachers to understand that they don't have to re-do everything they are already doing. Simply put, they can start to move or redefine some aspects of their teaching or lessons--not everything. As an instructional coach, it's important for me to remember to nurture my teachers through this process and to keep reminding them that swimming in the SAMR pool is not about staying in the deep end always. Personally, one of my favorite things in this world is a good cup of Starbuck's coffee, so when I saw this info graphic related to SAMR--suddenly it all made sense.  Sometimes we need a good o' cup of coffee and sometimes we are in the mood for a full blown pumpkin spiced latte.

Am I really making a difference?

I've been thinking a lot lately about my role as an instructional coach at school. I've been questioning if i'm taking the right steps, delivering the best materials, offering the "right" kinds of help. Am I really helping my colleagues to grow in their instructional practices and use of technology? I'm busy all day; there is no question about that, but am I really making a difference?

When I was in the classroom, it was easier to see the fruits of my labor. Actually, I saw them daily. I could teach a concept and immediately gage if my students "got it!" I could create and then deliver lessons, and I knew right away if it was working or not based off of how engaged my students were.

Working with adults is much more difficult; it's a harder process to diagnose the needs of my co-workers at times, and then it's an even slower process to put a plan into place. There is no pre-defined curriculum for instructional coaching. It's almost like working triage in an emergency room. I simply go where duty calls--and I'm good with that. I enjoy the ever shifting pace of my day. However, during the ever shifting pace of my day, I want to make sure it's purposeful and truly helpful. It's storage because when I was a teacher, I would dream up lessons in my head and then spend all day on Sunday creating lessons that I knew I could try out the next day in class.

Today, I still have have ideas rolling around and I want to create, but finding the right audience for those ideas is more challenging. Now, I spend my time thinking about instructional strategies that can be used across all content areas instead of how I can make my students really understand Heathcliff's motives for revenge in Wuthering  Heights. I guess I'm just creating for a different audience now :)

Nonetheless, I want to see my co-workers grow and develop and transform their own teaching and learning to ultimately benefit all of the kids in our school. I want to make sure that I am providing my teachers with the very best resources and instructional coaching I can provide, and I want to see them be successful so badly. I want to see them inspired and feel great about themselves. So here's to continual learning for not only me and my colleagues. Together we will navigate this "road less traveled" and I know it will "make all the difference."  ~I will always be an English teacher at heart.

Rethinking the Way We Use Google Tools for AP Classes

Since the beginning of the second semester, my PTP cohort has been focusing on ways we can better incorporate Google Drive and its tools more effectively into our classrooms. Actually, as an ITF we have been pushing for our teachers to use Google Drive more verses the applications on our students' machines in an attempt to better organize their work and also make it where students can keep their work from year to year. At the beginning of second semester we met as a cohort and brainstormed ways we could use Google Drive and its add ons in our upcoming units.

In order to kick us off, I created a Tackk with various "how-to"s and things to think about regarding Google Drive. This was a good starting point for members of my cohort who didn't have much experience with Google Drive to learn the basics before we started talking about how we could incorporate Google's components and at a higher lever of Bloom's where we ideally want to be in AP.

So far, everyone has set a small, workable goal for incorporating these tools. For example, Lisa, an AP US History teacher in my cohort, has experimented with having students write essays on a Google Document and then use the comments feature to respond to each others work. I have incorporated Google Presentations in my class for Jane Eyre and assigned multiple students to collaborate on one presentation for their assigned chapters. Erika, and AP Language teacher, is trying to use Google Sheets to create a data tracker for her students to track their progress on standards in her class.

At this point, I'm really pleased with the progress we are making so far. I'm excited that we are all experimenting in different areas, so we can share ideas and spread the knowledge between our classes to impact more students.