Thing 5: Final Reflection (Thing 12)

As I look back at the Cool Tools experience, I am thinking about how many times I went to the Cool Tools site to explore and research for teachers and students I work with every day. I am an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher and I am always looking for ways to enhance the teaching and learning technologically at the schools I work with. Each time I have gone to the site and browsed through the topics and resources I have been amazed at how much is out there. The Cool Tools resource is incredible. Just last week I was meeting with colleagues and we immediately went to the Cool Tools site to look up helpful tools for the topic we were working on. As far as challenges to the projects, the main one I encountered was getting overwhelmed at times by how much is out there. I would end up in a rabbit hole and I had to stop and tell myself to narrow down the scope of what I was looking at so that I didn't go on overload. I think about what it is like to be a student in the digital age and I can see our students getting overwhelmed with the vast possibilities of research on the internet as well as what app/tool to use for the job. I plan to think aloud with students about my experiences of not knowing when to stop or which tool to choose so they can see they are not alone when it happens to them. All the things I have tried have inspired me to want to learn more. I can't wait for next year's Cool Tools PD. I like how the blog forces me to think about and reflect on topics for tech learning. The site also helps me as I create PD for teachers who are going to use technology with their students. Sites like HistoryPin and the sites related to Digital Citizenship are ones I plan to return to frequently. Interestingly, being a parent myself, I found the SnapChat information extremely useful for parenting. I shared it with my parent friends too. The hardest part for me was forcing myself to sit down and write the blog posts. Once I was engaged in the writing it was really fun. For the next time I would like to dedicate time to blogging. I think putting it in my calendar could help with that. I also want to take better advantage of the community that exists through Cool Tools. I am hooked!

Thing 4: Digital Tattoo (Thing 17)

My first thought upon reading the title of this assignment was a question: why call it Digital Tattoo? Tattoos can be removed, but I am pretty sure Digital Tattoos are permanent. I was drawn to this assignment because a class I am working with had an encounter with unexpected inappropriate content. Everything turned out okay, but the teacher was left with concerns about how to ensure her students' safety while online. I designed a series of lessons for the students where I hoped to facilitate dialogue. My exploration for this lesson led me to some things I like. I think this Digital Intelligence or "DQ" image is great to use with teachers so they can begin to see all the facets of digital citizenship. I especially like the quote from the site, "the acquisition of these abilities should be rooted in desirable human values such as respect, empathy and prudence. " Teachers who are not digital natives are not coming to the table with notions of what we should teach, but not the experience of being a youth in a digital age.

We already teach the values of respect, empathy, and prudence toward one another in face to face encounters. In my research for how to work with the students on what to do when some unexpected content emerges I found a great video on Flocabulary. I wish it wasn't a paid site, or rather, I wish I had a subscription to it. I used the video on Digital Citizenship to open the dialogue. Then I presented some cases that highlighted digital dilemmas on Google Classroom. The students were very engaged in the lessons and had a lot of thoughtful contributions to the discussion. I highly encourage people to check out Flocabulary if you haven't see it yet. I have used Netsmartz as well with students, but I wanted to branch out for this class. The next thing we are going to talk about is branding and how they want their "brand" to look on the internet. We will explore brand reputations of popular products. I am going to incorporate the 9 points students need to know about digital citizenship from this site. We really need to try to step into the shoes of our students and children to see what their natural impulses are and how they could turn into unwanted permanent tattoos. I definitely think there should be differentiation for differently aged students. The message can remain the same - think before you post - is it kind? is it helpful? is it something I would want my grandmother to see? We are in some uncharted territory. I think the students can be a strong voice for each other in thinking about what to do. One idea I have is to have the students make an internet etiquette guide (similary to Miss Manners) that they could share on a class webpage. Maybe it will catch on....

Thing 3: Photo Fun! (Thing 2)

I decided to explore the Photo features a bit more. I am working with some teachers who want to do more with the photos they have to document the learning and community they facilitate in their classrooms. For this task I started with what is familiar. have been on Instagram for a while and I like how it is only photos and stories (and super positive) as opposed to Facebook that seems to be full of politics, opinion, and quizzes. I follow a middle school librarian who does a super job of promoting books and her library with her students. I think fifth and sixth grade teachers could do similar things to promote the daily learning in their classrooms. I recognize there is a level of dedication and time required to be successful with an Instagram campaign. I explored SnapChat for this assignment. I like how easy it is to take a picture and customize it. I can now see why kids like to use it. I found the information about SnapChat safety for parents and teachers to be good information. I have had a lot of questions about SnapChat including how a person would use it other than for connecting with close friends (showing my age here). I think the idea of using it for reminders to intermediate students is a good one. I could also see a teacher using it to send positive encouragement to a student about behavior and learning in a personal way. Taking a quick snap of a thumbs up or a phrase like, "You've got this!" or "Nice comment in class today!" They could also use it as a way to check in privately so a student can save face - "everything ok?" At the lower levels we are using Seesaw and Class Dojo. Not quite the same, but a good way to share photos with parents and the school community. I use these two apps with teachers already - so I did not explore them here. For this assignment I also checked out HistoryPin and it got me thinking that it would be a great way to use technology with history lessons. Many 6th grade students read Dragonwings by Laurence Yep about Chinese immigration and the 1906 earthquake of San Francisco. I would like to have students explore the 1906 earthquake on HistoryPin. I think there are a lot of possibilities for using HistoryPin to study architecture and local history as well. A third thing I learned in this lesson is that people have special apps on their phones to make the camera into an DSLR camera. Who knew??? I see some amazing photos posted on Instagram. Now I see the secret to getting better pictures. I am going to download ProCamera+ to my phone to see what it can do. I wonder how well an app like this works to improve iPad photos? Students could do a lot with taking photos on an iPad and improved image quality would be great. I am still wondering about what apps or web based features people like to use to compile end of year photo montages, especially with music. If anyone has a favorite they are willing to share I would really appreciate it!

Thing 2: Twitter and Other Online Communities (Thing 3)

I have been a member of Twitter for a while, but haven't really explored it much until the other day when we had a huge windstorm and I wanted to see updates about the storm, so I started exploring different handles and hashtags. My school related connection to Twitter started this past summer when our department had a technology day at a conference for administrators. Some teachers I know have been using Twitter to reach out to children's authors and other figures for classroom connections. Up until now it has felt a little like "one more thing" for me to try keep up with, but I am starting to feel the ways it can enhance my learning, so I am lurking more and more. For this assignment I explored some hashtags- slscooltools and edchat. I quickly went down a rabbit hole about 150 Chrome Apps and Extensions. I was really happy to see that I was already familiar with many of the suggestions on the blog. I like how I was able to filter the 150 by grade levels. I also found an interesting poster about differentiation. My favorite feature to come out of my exploration of Twitter today was the 3 Fast, Free Lesson Plans to Fight Fake News. I am finding fake news to be more and more of an issue. I don't click on much in Facebook anymore because so much of it has the potential to be fake (not too mention that it can really raise a person's blood pressure). I work with several classes of students in 5th and 6th grade and I think they would enjoy learning how to vet information and sources. I think we owe it to the students to help them learn about this now since they get so much information through their phones and tablets. We need to help them learn to navigate the posts and headlines so they can develop their ability to determine fact from distraction. I am going to continue to explore Twitter for professional connections and ideas for teaching. I think I am going to go through and search for my favorite writers and thinkers out there so I can start to get some daily inspiration. I also plan to use Twitter to help teachers reach out to more people for possible hangouts with their students. Who knows, maybe I'll even try tweetchat. My main concern is how to keep all of the tweets organized. How are others organizing their Twitter feed?

Thing 1: Blogging

About me... I'm in my 4th year as an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher for the Rochester Schools. I work with students and teachers to find ways that technology can fit into the classroom curriculum. I have taught for over 20 years, with most of my time as a classroom teacher. I currently work with 4 elementary schools. Four might sound like a lot, until you hear that I had 8 schools last year. I love helping people. I am participating in Cool Tools because I want to learn more about the tech tools that students and teachers can use to make learning meaningful and memorable. I think technology can make learning more authentic by providing a purpose. Recently I helped two classes have a hangout with Jewell Parker Rhodes, the author of Falling Towers. As the students read the book, many questions came to their minds. With some encouragement, their classroom teacher contacted Ms. Rhodes and she enthusiastically agreed to do a Google Hangout with the class. It was an incredible experience for the students and the teachers. I want to know about what new tech tools are out there so I can connect students and teachers with the world and make their curriculum come alive. During this lesson I have learned that it is not hard to get a blog started. I watched the interview with Ms. Hernandez about the blogfolios and read about getting students started with blogging. I have to admit that I was a little concerned about the blogfolios as I watched the video because most of them are in the public domain. I like the idea that teachers can work with students to make sure their posts are safe. I read the blogs with tips for working with students who are posting. I liked how the students at the school in Florida in the video created guidelines for posting comments to their blogs because that is an authentic way to teach online etiquette. I think I would be more comfortable with kid blogs if they were in a protected domain, one where students and parents can interact with the blog, but it would not be open to the entire internet. I also think a concept like blogfolios requires a deep commitment from the adults supporting the students to ensure that a safe environment is maintained. Teachers would need to be actively reading through the blogs and the comments regularly to ensure students were following the guidelines. I think blogging is a great way to teach children about how to conduct themselves on the web because it is authentic. I do think that teachers would have to be very committed to the work in order to ensure the integrity of the projects.