Yesterday we had a professional development day as our first quarter came to an end. Overall the day was structured with quite a bit of freedom so we could meet with our department and grade level. Since Pierz is a smaller school there is typically one teacher per grade level per content area. This means I am the only 8th grade English teacher in the building. My frustration has been increasing every year due to being voluntold to take on new classes or switch grade levels every single year. During the meetings yesterday it came to light that a new class that I am teaching this year more than likely will not be offered next year. This means that yet again I will be asked to teach something new, develop curriculum, and let my work from the last year go. I am getting so burned out. I want to deliver the best content possible to my students but if I don’t have a chance to refine, reflect, and remediate, I don’t think I’m going to be able to. Aside from all of that, it takes time and effort to put together standards based engaging lessons with the right amount of technology. Perhaps it’s the busy time of year or the fact that I feel like I am the one getting the short end of the stick, but is anyone else feeling the same? Or experiencing something similar of switching grade levels and therefore content? P.S. love my kiddos but I don’t get to enjoy them or what I am teaching with all the extra “stuff” happening . . . .

Here is one of the final projects turned in for the Horror Genre Unit (Student and parent gave permission for it to be shared). A more detailed overview of how this unit turned out will be shared in a follow up post. For now here are the project expectations and choices that the students had:

Visual Representation Project Options

Pick one of the following options to complete a visual representation of the second story you read. If there is something that you want to do that you don’t see on the list chat with your teacher! Make sure to read the directions carefully to make sure you don’t miss any parts.

Visual Element Needs to Include:

1. Three out of the five horror story elements need to be incorporated
   1. Theme, Setting, Characters, Parallel Worlds, Suspense
2. Key plot events from the short story you are representing
3. A quality product was submitted in a timely manner.

Project Options:

1. Movie Poster 
   1. Alone or with one other person
   2. Create a movie poster for the story you read
   3. Include the title and author somewhere on the front
   4. Posters should be colored and try to lure in viewers
   5. Your teacher will have the right sized paper available 
   6. Examples here
2. Film Trailer 
   1. Up to four people total
   2. Using a movie app (I recommend iMovie on an apple phone) create a trailer
   3. Trailer should have the effect of a real horror movie trailer
   4. Trailer needs to be shared with the teacher as a youtube video link or upload it to google drive then shared with the teacher
3. Creative Writing – Children’s Story
   1. Independent Project
   2. How can you incorporate the storyline elements so that a child could understand? 
   3. Minimum of 10 pages
   4. Colored illustrations need to be included on every page 
   5. Think creatively to make it appropriate while still adding the story elements
4. Other
   1. Other options need to be proposed to the teacher
   2. Need to have a plan as to what you are doing and how it is visually represented

I was chatting with our Media Specialist (Librarian) about my upcoming presentation on the various digital libraries we have access to and I was surprised to hear her opinions on reading on personal devices. As a one to one district I am looking for ways for my students to utilize them in ways that make sense to them, reading is one of those ways. She mentioned that she was not a fan. She is very progressive and knowledgeable in everything tech and literature related and this really surprised me. In probing a bit more she expressed that there needs to be a balance in everything and that includes technology. Students are being asked to complete so many different projects and assignments digitally. They need a chance to unplug and learn the value of something timeless like reading. I respect and appreciate her stance, many aspects of it I agree with. However I am not ready to dismiss the opportunities that digital libraries offer. Obviously this format is not for everyone, but helping my students find balance with their devices should be a teaching moment that I seize.

8th grade is new to me . . . Having recently transitioned from seniors back to the middle school realm, I am struggling.  I am struggling with the smell, with the frequent popping of my personal bubble, in addition to the drastic decrease in the level of maturity. More so I am struggling with the mindless gaming that my young gentleman seem to be enthralled in. Before class, after class, during class, the moment there is a lull in conversation, as soon as I look away, there is an open chromebook with the rapid movement on the keypad. Having engaged them in conversation related to what they are playing and why, their answer astounded me: what else are we supposed to do? There seems to be an understanding that if there is nothing of value, in their minds, to do, that the only realistic option is to hop on a device to spend the time. I’m at a loss of what to do. My goal would be to teach them self control in addition to the timing/respect idea that that comes along with device use. However, what is my role and when is the opportune time? Do I have the conversation with all of my students, who could probably hear it? Or do I focus on the students who need to be steered towards a more focused direction? I am sure within the next week next steps will become clear, but as for now something that has been occupying my thoughts . . .

So week three into the school year and we are approaching the end of our unit. I introduced vocab early via quizlet and an interactive game called gimkit and the students responded well. Today I had two separate students quote different words we have been working on verbatim. Needless to say I was one happy teacher that is until I asked them what it meant . . . They stared at me blank faced. They could quote the terms but were unable to apply it to what we were working on. The technology component created a sense of interest and they did learn which terms matched the definitions, but they needed me to help them make the connection. This brings me back to some modifications that I may need to make on my Teachnology Philosophy statement to ensure that my students can use technology as a tool but realize that it’s not the end all be all.

I was surprised at how difficult I found this assignment to be! Using this blog as a means of processing some of my thoughts and generating key ideas that could be flushed out seemed to be a start but not just enough. Some of the feedback that I have been getting in regards to my progress in the class has been the lack of dedication to my blog (my interpretation of the feedback) and I agree. I am used to reading something, analyzing it, and providing textual and scholarly text based evidence to support my ideas. The reason that I think I am struggling with the blog and the philosophy statement is because I no longer have the routine, which I have become very comfortable with, and shield provided for me. Asked to share what I think and why is the same basic principle but the introspection and connection to my life is one that I am not used to on top of being uncomfortable with. Blame it on the system or my particular personality, but this is something that has really opened my eyes in terms of what I perceive as a significant investment of my time and skill when it comes to writing.

 So I just wanted to take an opportunity to reflect on my personal experiences as a student using technology. Some of the least effective ways have been using online platforms as simply a digital form of a worksheet. I’m not only experience this as a student but I have witnessed it happening to my own students by some of my colleagues. Since we are 1:1 in my district there is an ample amount of opportunities to incorporate technology into every content in every classroom if the teacher so desires. There is also a sense of pressure, especially by the administration, to try and use the chromebooks on a regular basis based on the amount of money the district forked over for the students to have these devices. I definitely understand their perspective, but just because students carry around the chromebooks all day it doesn’t mean every teacher needs to have them use them throughout the day. And I think it’s because of that pressure that teachers simply turn their previously paper worksheets into digital versions. There is this false assumption that this counts as using technology in the classroom. I see this at the collegiate level as well. There is either a sense of pressure from superiorities or level of uncomfortableness with using technology that results in this flat use. 

 After having read the Teachnology Philosophy statement assignment there were a couple key pieces that I found to be not only helpful but clarifying in terms of how this will help me later on in my classroom. The first thing that I really appreciate it was that there could be references to outside sources that support our views. As helpful as it is to just go through the thought process I think it’s even more important to make sure that our ideas are founded on researched based information. Secondly, it was nice to see the list of possible blogging topics as a means of preparing for this assignment. I find myself struggling to use the blog and can’t quite pinpoint the reason as to why this is but having clear tangible topics for every posting I think will help with this. Finally as an English teacher I really appreciate the opportunity to have P review as a means of refining our drafts. In the writing process since this is super helpful but also having a chance to read what some of my classmates have developed will also be a major help. That’s all for now.

So this is my first attempt at a blog post I am very familiar with the process but I have never actually use them in a formal education setting like this and I’m kind of excited for the opportunity. I think for my first post that it’s really important that I really flush out what my current thoughts are with technology used in the classroom. I know by the end of the class we’re supposed to be creating a technology usage philosophy and so I think I need to really get my thoughts down, on I guess in this case a word processor, as to what I truly believe. The nice thing about blogs is that they can kind of be created in a sense that are maybe a little bit untraditional and so I think the things that are going to be most helpful in the sense based on my personality are numbered lists. Here are my top five current believe statements after having been in the classroom for five years with 1:1 Chromebooks all five of those years here we go:

1. Technology cannot replace a face to face interactions
2. Word processors are not the modern “worksheet”
3. Students need to be taught to use technology responsibly 
4. Brain function when using technology needs to be taken into consideration 
5. Reading on a digital device cannot replace the skills while reading physical print media 

I will spend my next few blog posts flushing out where each of these different believe statements have originated from and will restructure and identify key pieces to keep and some pieces that may need to be tossed with the use of the resources given throughout the class. That’s all for now — Amy