Blogging with Shonda GAETI 2014

Our last day for summer is here. So I have spent the last four weeks working with some really good people. I have gone through 4 weeks of technology that I have never seen. If some one had told me Aurasma existed I would not have believed them. It's just unbelievable all the things that you can do with technology. The sad thing is that somewhere in the world it old technology. I have some many things to talk about when I get back to work in August. I have so many things I want to show my students and co-workers. I really didn't have an idea of what GAETI would do for me. It's hard to believe that these 20 days have past by so fast. Oh how I will miss everyone. Good thing I was on my best behavior not like some other participants such as Josh and Teresa. I can't wait until September for our fall meeting to see what everyone has been working on. I can just tell Mr. Joblin will have tons of stuff. I will periodically add things to my weebly page. So that all for now.

Today was today we presented our lessons plans. I tell you I am drained from listening to 14 lessons plans. I was under the impression that we would walk through our lessons but it seems some people didn't get the memo. Some people actually taught their lessons. So can you imagine spending 8 hours talking about different lessons. I most likely forgot everything. There were some very detailed lessons. Katey did an excellent one because she incorporated different learning strategies for understanding. Another lesson plan was Ed's Middle East Involvement. What I like most about his lesson is that he serves as the facilitator. Collins showed the best guided practice. Just that short lesson got me interested in taking French.

We presented our art projects today. Every body did such a great job. Tomorrow we will be presenting our lesson plans. So I plan on working this evening on making my presentation better. I need a little more technology. I think I talked to much today. I didn't get any work done.

I was finally able to finish my art project today. Now that it is over, I think I could have put in a little more effort in to the design. Earlier we walked over to Allen Hall and did some work with infographics and AudioBoo. Dr. Lee showed us some really cool stuff that I would love to integrate into some lessons. We finally were able to get our copyright session with Ms. Cannady after lunch which was cool. It seems like we all are guilty of copyright infringement. Some teachers stated their principals told them to make copies of chapters because we they did not have enough books. Not good at all.

I am finally finding out why lesson planning has been so difficult for me in the past. BIG PLANNING!!! I have come to realize that dividing a unit into small lessons is the most effective way of planning. This will be my first time creating my own lesson plan. Last year I basically used the outline of my textbook, however, it wasn't very effective for me or the students. So I guess I have homework tonight because I really want it to be a good lesson plan. When I present, I want honest feedback on how I could make it better and whether or not my particular use of classflow.com was a good use of technology for the lesson. Technology was the theme for today as well. Dr. Lee actually walked us through creating a Canvas course. I must admit that it seems a bit time consuming. Canvas would have to be something I use for Government because it starts in January and I can work on the course August through December. I finished the class cutting part of my art project and now I about to GO.

Day 15 of GAETI!I am trying to keep up the energy. We took a walk to the library for presentations on using Prezi and Ipads. I really like Prezi because it gives me options beside using boring powerpoints. However it is a little more time consuming to create than powerpoint. A really good feature of Prezi is that presentations can be saved and used without an internet connection. The second presentation was on using Ipad. I don't own an Ipad personally nor do I have access to one at school. I do see the benefits of using it as well using other tablets. It seems no one is encouraging using other tablet brands. There is no doubt that Ipads are quality products, but there are others tablets that are cheaper with their own advantages that can be just as effective. I would love to a presentation on using another device to see how that device will work. I guess because Ipads are consumers' first choice and are being incorporated in colleges and schools around the world it would be

More technology. Today we got to play around with webquests. The class was divided in to groups to work our webquests. Although I was experience in creating webquests I still wanted to play by the rules. When doing group work I think it is very important to get input from every single group member. So came up with a geography webquest that incorporates gps, blogging, and photography. We still have more work to do but we are off to a good start. After lunch, we explored other technology tools such as storify.com and padlet.com. I an really excited about using padlet in the classroom. I can using things that I never heard of and I like it. However, my brain is hurting from all the ideas bouncing around in my head. It like we are starting projects every hour and not finishing them. Now I am starting to see the real benefits of art at the end of the day. I get to give my eyes a break from computer and I get to focus things other than how can I use this in my class or will these be better f

SCOOP IT! Today we were introduced to Scoop It. SI is this cloud bookmarker that allows you to organize and access all your bookmarks through internet access. I have bookmarks on my smartphone, tablet, and laptop and found it difficult to remember on which device I stored a specific bookmark. I am thinking about using SI as a research gathering tool. Dr. Lee gave us links on teaching google search and educational search engines. My students find research extremely hard because the are not familiar with searching. Also, we shown shortcut of adding bookmarks to our tool bar and links to websites. Earlier in the day we were given a CCSS presentation. The most important thing I got out of that presentation was what a CCSS classroom look liked. A CCSS classroom would incorporate reading and writing with appropriate text. I have realized that I was guilty of watering down text to help my students. I will have to eliminate the excuse that students are below grade level. Instead, I will hel

I have taught for an entire year without creating my very own lesson plan. I have been taking ready made lesson plans and altering them for my own use. I didn't realize how hard it would be. However, backward design does help. As an alternate route teacher there are some important things that you just don't get. Classroom management and lesson planning are my two missing puzzles pieces. I was able to complete my first year of teaching but only by being the last one to leave work and taking what I couldn't finish home. I think this year I will actually use my planning period for PLANNING. So tonight I will be doing some homework. I had no plans of doing work this summer. All of a sudden I had a light bulb moment now I want to plan my entire year of U.S. History. This year Economics/Government will be my saving grace. My place where I can be more creative, more4 hands on, more flexible. Also, we were able to video chat with Dr. Chin-Chi Minh and I think she is hilarious.

The day was spent talking about school policies and what we can do to get the district and principals to see the benefits of students bringing their own devices(BYOD). With low funding and state implementation of 21st Century skills, it seems BYOD is the only solution to my problem. I want the districts to know that the benefits of BYOD out weigh the problems. I plan on finding research on schools where cell phone and tablet use had increased student achievement and classroom instructional time. I got some really good ideas from other GAETI participants on things I can ensure the district internet polices are enforced as well.

Today we went over some more tech for classroom use. I am now see the benefits of using Google Drive and limited student excuses for not having their assignments. I am see that the cell phone can be a very vital part of my lesson, however, getting my students to understand that cell phones would only be allowed during certain activities will be a pain. My problem is that students want to justify using their cellphones on Thursday due to the fact that I that allowed them to use it on Monday using Google Map. It is like a losing battle with them. Our schools do not have funding for technology, but all most all of the students have smartphones. This would seem like a win situation but the sad truth our students do not understand justification. I was introduced to the wonderful world of augmented reality. I can imagine all the things I could do with the app. I know there are the things our students need exposure to. I really do want their unwillingness to obey the rules to prevent them fr

So we did this pair activity today where we had to identify a problem and present a solution. I teamed with Coach Odom and he had an idea for a mentoring program for 6th graders. He stated about transitioning from elementary to middle school. However, I could not relate because I come from a small school with a 128 students totaled in grades 7-12. I see this concept as being great service-learning idea. I really think this will be great for our students and teacher both. I will see if its possible this year.

Yesterday was a day that I have been waiting on. Teaching Econ last year was an absolute pain. We used the outdated textbook that didn't adhere to the state curriculum. I was teaching two other subjects so I didn't have time to find material. Dr. Smith have had lots of information and places to go to find supplemental materials. It was so well organized. I was thinking about complaining about all the hiking last week and on yesterday all I wanted to do was go out side. I was 5 minutes away from catching cabin fever. We also was introduced to Service-Learning. I was very interested and will be contacting the department on how can I make it a reality for my school.

Today we focused on learning interaction. We explored different ways of engaging students through technology. The morning started with the smartboard. My previous use of the smartboard consisted of powerpoint presentation, video, and note taking. I didn't have access to games or any other interactive learning tools. We were given numerous websites where we could access template for our particular subjects. This information was very helpful and engaging.I learned so many things but we are asked to describe two thing. First thing I learned I don't always have to use templates or software, I can actually create my own games. My biggest surprise was using Excel to creat4e game boards. Secondly, I learned that this all takes time. I decided I would devote 30 minutes a day to create a game. However, I have to decided which course I want to first use the game for and what lesson will most beneficial. Today is our last day with Dr. Huang and I must say it has been great. My mind in s

Feeling free today. Today was a very productive day. We did two activities to help us understand that our students do not have the same thinking patterns as teachers. I think that was my biggest mistake last year as a first year teacher. I started the year assuming my students were equipped with the basic skills to be successful. I thought they would be able to perform not knowing their thinking was different because they didn't have grade appropriate social studies skills. Now I know why the caged students sing, lol. So, I have decided to have crash courses for each of each subject this year to get students familiar with the terminology that goes along with social studies. For U.S. History, I know students will need crash courses in government, economics, and geography. Once the students and I are confidence, we will move into the history of the United States. Also, Team, Base Learning(TBL) is something I really enjoyed. I gave out two group assignment last school term and tha

I am so glad I didn't let the rain keep me from coming to the workshop today. It was fun, fun, fun. There we so many things I found helpful today, but I was ask to list two so here they go. First things, give art related projects to students without any research requirement is just an art project. My students are always asking if they can draw political cartoons or create posters. My response is that we don't have time. For some reason, my students think that all projects should be done during instructional time. I would insult them if I suggested they complete a project at home or even worse on the weekend. I do think I can create a lesson plan on research using MAGNOLIA for primary and secondary sources. The second thing I found helpful was a deeper knowledge of Understanding by Design(UbD). I have had some experience with UbD in a graduate course, however, we did not go into detail. This approach to creating a lesson appears to be more useful. It is easier to decide where yo

Today was a surprisingly fun day. Despite walking across campus and climbing I don't how many flights of stairs, it was a really good day. I wished I would have taken this worksop before I started teaching last year. I spent a whole school year leaving work at 4:30 because I was constantly looking for supplemental text and informative websites. It just amazes me that I have been to three museums within the last four days that I never knew existed. Working for a underfunded school district would not be so bad had I known there were places within a 20 mile radius that would have been great for our students. Today I fell in love with this activity called "Found Poem". It is an activity that can be done with primary or secondary sources. The students are divided into groups and each groups member will select around 5 words that stands out. The students write their words on paper, then the group will arrange their papers to create a poem. It was a "light bulb" moment

Today required a little more physical work than I expected. I don't remember struggling to walk arose campus when I was 18. I so out of shape. We did this need activity, sort of an Amazing Race kind of activity, where were divided into groups for a scavenger hunt. Each team was given GPS systems and clue sheets. Using cordinates and clues, our team walked around campus like a team of chickens with their heads cut off. I can laught about it now. I really like the activiyt, but would substitute the GPS systems for smartphones and use some buildings in our immediate area. I think the students would love that. Also, there was a presentation on the sterotypes of American Indians. The presenter used cartoons and movie clips to show how American Indians are characterized by media. I saw so many ideas and activities that I can create based on this presentation. Technology is my friend so I can send the rest of my summer created technology infused lesson plans. Yeah me!!!!

I decided to implemented a geography crash course for U.S History this upcoming school year. I was shown a couple of great websites that I can use to help students think of the world in spatial terms. That argument regarding the world being flat was put to rest hundreds of years ago; however, my students are having problems conceptualizing Asian immigrants sailing the Pacific Ocean for California. Seriously thikning about purchasing inflatable globes. I am planning on a more productive school year for 2014-2015. Dr. Morris did a great activity with colored paper that I plan on using in my classroom. I even like the idea of having different clothing items to represent earth location. More geography tomoroow.

It is hard to be positive when everyone refuses to be happy. Trying to to see the good in the bad. I just completed my first year of teaching and I am not ready to wave the white flag. I am spending my summer perfecting my craft, seeking expert advice on how I can become a better teacher. Surrounded by negativity, I decided I didn't want to lose myself and I began to sing. Day 1 of GAETI has already erased some of my fears. I found out that CCSS with not replace the current MS framework. Matter of fact, CCSS will only enhance it.