Instruction + Technology = Awesome!

I'm back! It's been a while and I can't believe that we are in the last month of school. Hello May! The coaching world has been pretty hectic lately preparing for our school's first annual technology fair. I am so proud of all of the teachers and students for all of their hard work. The instructional technology coach and I have devoted 30 to 45 minutes to "media time" in each classroom where we are able to help "teach the tech". Teachers are responsible for content and providing time for students to work on their projects. Our "media time" has been so diverse and fun! We have co-taught lessons on digital citizenship, app features, researching, presentation skills, searching and using Creative Commons images, and summarizing research. Working with all grade levels every day, all day has been so refreshing. One thing that I have really tried to focus on with teachers is instruction and assessing digital work. It is extremely important that students know their expectations and not all about making something cool on the IPAD. I have really stressed that they have to show what they are learning through their projects. I offered professional development on creating rubrics and checklists for teachers. It was the perfect amount of collaboration and work time. Most teachers left with a rubric or checklist ready for their students. We have spent a lot of time working on storyboarding. This has been very beneficial to our students. This is actually a great tool for teachers to use. With big projects like the ones that we are working on, it is so important that the students have a plan in mind. Some teachers required the storyboards to be completed before the students could actually begin working on their iPads. Some teachers had certain students who were struggling with ideas to use storyboards.  So often, technology takes over and there truly has to be a balance between instruction and technology. This tech fair preparation has really opened our eyes to this importance.

Check back in soon to hear all about our QR code bulletin board that links to awesome student work. I will even include a pic!

Happy Blogging,
                        Rida