Using Digital Still Cameras in the Classroom

Chapter 7 of Boni Hamilton's book, Integrating  Technology in the Classroom, discusses the use digital cameras can have in today's classrooms. I had never thought about using a digital camera in the classroom, but it is a great idea and opens so many doors to activities and lessons for the students. There are many steps to take before they can be used at the primary level, but Hamilton provides important steps and tasks to successfully integrate them into the classroom.

First, the teacher must teach how to use the cameras and this can be done in many different ways. One way suggested that I would use, is by training 3 to 4 students on how to use them and then have them teach their classmates. This develops leadership skills, student-student learning, and differentiation for the various learners.

After teaching the students, it is important to come up with a plan for possible mishaps. For example: providing neck straps for easy mobility, creating a sharing protocol or schedule, keeping them in a common place, labeling all cameras, appropriate use, and creating time for downloading and editing pictures (Hamilton, 2015). After teaching students how to use the cameras and usage expectations, is when the fun part starts. Digital cameras can be used for SO MANY different learning purposes!

Digital cameras can be used for field trips, expressing emotions, year book, science projects, presentations, art projects, creating digital movies, learning vocabulary, and writing with visuals. These are just some of the ways a camera can be used in the classroom.

Personally, I would like to use cameras in my classroom next year in a couple different ways. One way being that I would like to collaborate with my other grade level teachers before going on field trips and allow the students to take pictures of what they are learning. This is a great way for them to remember and recall information after the field trip. They can refer back to the pictures and incorporate the pictures in a presentation or provide evidence for learned content. This also allows students to express their knowledge in a creative way.

Another way I would integrate the digital camera into my classroom is to build my students vocabulary, more specifically my ELs' vocabulary. By allowing EL students to have access to a digital camera at school and at their homes can provide them with the opportunity to take pictures of objects or concepts they do not understand, but want to understand. They can take pictures throughout the day or at home and then show them to us. We can show the student the English vocab and use their native language to help them make a strong connection. While we try to aid EL students as much as possible in the classroom through visual and audio tools, we do not always know what they understand or want to understand. This is an opportunity for them to take control of their education and help them both academically and socially.

One of the best parts about using digital cameras in the classroom is that they are now inexpensive, often can be donated, and many schools already have access to them for teachers. It is just a matter of communication and collaboration that can get the digital camera into the classrooms. They have unlimited uses and allow for teacher and student creativity.

Resources

Hamilton, Boni. (2015). Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Tools to Meet the Needs of Every Student. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

SnapChat in the Classroom?

#1: What is your initial reaction to SnapChat?

            I have been a SnapChat user for a little over a year now and I can say it is my most used social media. When first learning what SnapChat was a year ago, I was not that interested and figured it was just like all the other social medias and did not see why I should add another social media platform into my life. After some convincing from my friends, I decided to really check it out. Sounds a bit ridiculous, but I quickly fell in love with it and use it on a daily basis. I liked how different it was from Instagram and Facebook in that everything disappeared after 24 hours. I felt I could post various events throughout my day without being “that annoying person” blowing up someones feed. SnapChat gives everyone a choice to view your story, where you are forced to see everyones' posts from Instagram and Facebook. 

#2 What is the application to education?

            SnapChat can be motivational, engaging, personalized, and informative if applied in the right way. I think the idea of using current tools that our students are using in their everyday life is a great idea, but also must be done correctly. I think if I did ever use SnapChat as an educational tool, it would be something I only allow students to use outside of the classroom as it can be a distraction in the classroom. It is also a social media that I do not think has a lot restrictions and if not taught correctly, can be used for the wrong reasons. 

#3 How might you use SnapChat in teaching?

            I will not use SnapChat in my 5^th grade classroom next school year, with the biggest reason being, that the Privacy Policy clearly states you must be 13 years of age. Also, while majority of 5^th grade students have phones, I can’t expect that they all have one and would be allowed to use SnapChat.

I can see some ways in which using SnapChat can be beneficial in the secondary and college level classroom, but don’t see many benefits for it in the younger levels. If I were teaching at the secondary level I may use it to send some morning motivation. I think it can be a great tool to build rapport and let your students know you are thinking about them and want them to do well. For example: During testing week or finals, sending your students some morning motivation and words of encouragement can inspire them. Not only sending them words of encouragement, but even letting them into your morning routine. Perhaps showing them what you are eating for breakfast, or that your human and are running late too, but will get to school and make it a good day. It can also be a platform for students to ask us questions outside of the classroom, play trivia type games, ask extra credit questions, and address current social issues going on in the world.

Another way I could see myself using SnapChat is with my girls I coach. I coach 2 girl soccer teams and think it would be fun to send my older girls words of motivation before games. It could also be beneficial in that I can stay in touch with them during the off season and share individual drills they can be working on to build their skills. In my personal opinion there are educational ways to use SnapChat, but think I would chose to use it as a tool to become more personal with my students and make those strong student-teacher connections.

#4 How might you use SnapChat in your life?

            I use SnapChat on a daily basis and most often am documenting various events throughout my day. It may be something as simple as a picture of what I am eating to videos of my travel adventures. I also love using it to send close friends inside jokes and silly filters or faces. I can say that I only use it for social aspects and do not review the SnapChat stories they post of pop-culture gossip or events from the news. While I love SnapChat, I also think it can take up too much of my time and can be a distraction during times of working, but when used with digital citizenship it can have some positive impacts on you and your classroom.

ELA Essential Knowledge

The school year 17/18 will be my first year instructing inside of the classroom. While I have been working with K-5th grade students for 6 years now, it has always been outside, PE type, instruction. Next school year I will be a 5th grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher and while I just found this out a couple months ago, I have began to build possible Web-based resources that I will use in the classroom. I hope other ELA teachers find this post both informative and useful. 

ELA essential knowledge can be broken into 5 key areas:

1) Reading- Students read and understand a variety of literary information and texts.

2) Writing- Students create a variety of written texts with main ideas, organization, and details.

3) Research- Students can access or locate a range of relevant and reliable sources and analyze, evaluate, and present ideas with supporting evidence.

4) Listening and Speaking- Students listen and respond to the ideas of others and can contribute their own perspective or ideas through conversation and group dialogues. 

5) Oral and Written Conventions- Students learn and use oral and written conventions of the English language when both speaking and writing. 

I plan to build these 5 areas in my students by engaging them in group/cooperative activities, building on their prior knowledge, using Web-based resources, and empower and encourage them to set personal goals for themselves. 

Below are some great resources I have recently learned about and am excited to try in my new 5th grade classroom. I hope some of you find them useful as well or perhaps you have personal experience using one of them and can provide me with feedback on successes or challenges using these in the classroom.

NewsELA

I recently discovered this resource when talking to a 4th grade teacher at my previous school. When I informed her I would be teaching 5th grade ELA, she suggested I look into this site. This is a great resource where students can read news articles about sports, science, social studies, health, arts, and more. What is so great about this site is that the entire class can be reading about the same topic, but in a format that is at their reading level. They have every article for every level that also have comprehension questions at their level. Teachers can instantly see their progress and use this as an assessment. The teacher can even add in annotations in the articles so the students can see these and you can be sure students are staying engaged. Another great feature is that they have every article in Spanish as well. This will be extremely beneficial to me as my school is 85% ELLs. Click on the link above and take a look at this great ELA tool.

No Red Ink
This is resource to help students improve their grammar and writing skills in a fun and engaging way. They pride themselves on getting rid of all the graded papers that are covered in red ink and so often get thrown in the trash. This is a way for the students to control their progress and review content as needed. As the students use this site, it gets to know them and their personal interests, such as sports, pop-culture, music, and their friends. Teachers can see progress and create assignment and quizzes that meet the specific needs of individual students.

To see a short video about this tool and the various features and resources it offers visit this hyper link: No Red Ink Teacher Resources










Scholastic 
This is a great resource that can be useful to teachers, students, and parents. This is a great site that offers a wide variety of resources ranging from unit plans, grade level and content specific lesson plans, printable worksheets, professional development training, top teacher blogs, student activities, and so much more. I know many teachers who use this resource on a daily basis in their classroom or to help them produce strong lessons. I know this will be a great tool for me in my classroom and to improve my teaching methods and strategies. 

Digital Literacy

I am what society considers a "Millennial" and grew up with early technology in my classrooms. In my elementary years the most technology I recall was the use of projectors and the few computers in the classrooms where we mostly used learning games and Word Processor. It wasn't until Jr. High and High School where I began to see more technology being incorporated into the classroom as well as the beginning of social media. I feel fortunate to have grown up when I did. I learned how to find and use resources without the easy access a phone gives us today, but also learned how to use computers and technology in their beginning phases. I feel this has helped me adapt to the ever changing technology and gave me a strong foundation of problem solving and critical thinking skills in the realm of technology.

Today, in the 21st century, I would describe myself as a life long learner who is most dependent on technology and peer-peer learning. My education gave me the skills to access information through a multitude of sources, including the internet. Because of the accessibility, I find the internet to be the most useful way of finding out information I do not know. I am on my phone all day long using both the internet and social media. I find it easiest to use the internet to find out new information, but I also like to learn through talking with other people. The art of listening can teach you a lot and open many opportunities for you. I hope to instill good listening skills in my future students.



As a soon-to-be elementary teacher it is difficult to say exactly what kind of 21st century teacher I am, but I would say it is a combination of using traditional strategies while incorporating the latest technology that today has to offer. I want to create a classroom that is learner-centered where creativity, collaboration, community, and globalization inspires my students to learn and ask questions. Today's children are growing up in a revolution of technology where they can easily access any information within seconds. While having easy access to information is great, we must teach our students how to understand this information and be able to apply it to the real world. 

Through technology, I want to create fun, engaging, and inspiring lessons where students are learning from each other and collaborating with one another to problem solve real world problems. Earlier in my credentialing program, I learned what Project Based Learning is and am excited to incorporate it into my classroom. This is a great way to build collaboration, communication, presentation, and critical thinking skills. These are all skills that our students will need in order to navigate and be successful in today's workforce. Not only does technology advance student skills, but it is also a great tool for educators to use to differentiate curriculum to the various types of learners. I hope to facilitate a 21st century classroom that uses new technologies as well as give my students the skills and resources to gain knowledge through traditional strategies and resources.

Teach Like a Champion

Lemov, D. (2015). Teach Like a Champion 2.0: 62 Techniques that put Students on the Path to College. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass., 468 pp.

- Doug Lemov holds a BA from Hamilton College, an MA from Indiana University, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is a managing director of Uncommon Schools and leads its Teach Like a Champion team, designing and implementing teacher training based on the study of high-performing teachers.

- Teach Like a Champion became a global bestseller because it offered concrete, engaging, easy-to-implement techniques teachers could use to keep their students engaged, focused, and learning.

Teach Like a Champion is a great addition to my book shelf and is definitely a book I will refer back to during my years of teaching, especially my beginning years. The book is broken up into 4 different parts; Check for Understanding, Academic Ethos, Ratio, and Five Principles of Classroom Culture. Each part is broken down further into detailed strategies and methods to try in your everyday classroom instruction. Lemov gives specific ideas and strategies used by teachers from all over. Teach Like a Champion offers techniques for every type of teacher that aligns with the wide variety of students we may one day instruct. Some of the techniques are more invasive and can take time to implement, however majority of them are simple techniques that can make the world of difference in your classroom.

While I found many useful and new strategies I would like to try in my future classroom, there were a couple that really stuck out to me and caught my attention. One was in Part 4 the Five Principles of Classroom Culture and more specifically chapter 11, High Behavioral Expectations. I found many simple techniques I would like to try that include, but aren’t limited to using radar and how to make yourself be seen looking. This helps keep students on task and is really simple. We can keep our head on a swivel and strategically stand in angles of the classroom that allow us to see the entire class at a simple glance. Also, as we are walking around the classroom we can change our route so that we are unpredictable and they know they should be on task at all times. It is little techniques like this that can aid in keeping our students on task and hold them to high expectations.

Another strategy that really resonated with me in part 2 Academic Ethos, Chapter 6 is called “Cut Off Rally Killers”. When I first read through this strategy it made me giggle and recall many instances where I could have used this strategy. It is a technique to respectfully cut off students who are talking off topic or talking about something that is not contributing to the learning or lesson. This happens to me during my PE classes as well as with my soccer girls I coach. I know there has been times where I let them finish or I cut them off abruptly, but not always in the best manner. Ether I walk away feeling bad for cutting them off or we lost 5 minutes of practice time. This method gives you techniques to redirect the students respectfully and quickly.

I would give Teach Like a Champion 2 thumbs up!! A great book to have for an easy reference with some creative classroom techniques.

PBL Tips and Strategies

Differentiated Grouping

In order to have successful PBL activities the grouping strategies are important. There are many different ways to group students and it’s important to use strategic grouping for each individual project. Both heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping can be beneficial depending on what type of project it is. Grouping should be intentional and we should know why we are grouping students. We could group students for academic ability, collaboration skills, social/emotional reasons, and interests. To successfully group students we must know each individual student and design groups that will produce the best learning outcome for everyone.

Choice

Allowing freedom and choice for students in PBL activities can be beneficial in the overall learning and an effective way for teachers to access overall student learning. Giving students choice in their learning process can be a great motivational tool and gives the students a sense of power over their learning. There are many opportunities in PBLs that can allow for choices. For example; students can choose how they show their understanding at the end of the project. Perhaps a student loves writing and would like to do a written assessment, where some students may want to utilize technology to present their projects. By allowing choices we can truly access each student and give them the opportunity to express what they learned through a platform they are more comfortable with.

Individual and Group Work

While PBL is most commonly focused on collaboration it is just as important to use individual work as well. A well rounded PBL activity will incorporate both collaboration and individual learning. Some students work better on their own than in groups and visa-versa. We must give every student an opportunity to succeed and show their understanding both in groups and individually. This may look like letting students brain storm individually and then bring their ideas to the group or giving two assessments at the end, individual and group presentations. Not only does this method allow students to do what they are comfortable with, but gives them the opportunity to work on more challenging methods of learning.

Be a Facilitator

Because PBL is focused on peer-peer learning and collaboration, we must find a balance of being involved and giving the students control. It is important for the teacher to set the project up and make sure students understand what they are doing, but at some point we must step completely back and observe the learning process. We must become a facilitator of the project and help keep time and make sure students are on task. This is also an opportunity to check in with each group and answer questions or address any misconceptions. Not only is this step important for the students, but it is important for the teachers as well. By stepping back we can walk around the room and watch the students work together and assess the learning. This is a time for us to take notes, reflect, and make observations.

Student Survey/Reflection

I think a great tool to use at the end of the project are student surveys or reflections. It is important that each individual within each group was working and played a role in the project. By giving students a survey at the end can be a time for students to express how it was working in a group and any successes or challenges they may have had. This could also be beneficial for the teacher as we can ask questions regarding how they liked the project. By asking questions such as; Did you enjoy the project? What was your favorite part? What would you change about the project? What was challenging? Etc., we can take their opinions into consideration and make any adjustments for the next time we implement the project. 

Reading Comprehension Strategies

I have not formally taught in the classroom yet, so I was unsure of different techniques to teach reading comprehension, but after doing some research and talking to colleagues I have come up with 5 methods I think I would like to use in my future classroom.

Highlight and Doodle (Main Idea)

I learned this method from a 5^th grade teacher at my school. We were outside at recess and I noticed she had some copies of a page out of a book and noticed her drawing on it. I asked what she was working on and she said she was trying out a new way of finding main ideas and highlighting text and was creating an example for her students. She had 3 sentences highlighted on the page and in the rest of the text she was drawing pictures. This method appealed to me because I was that student who had doodles all over my note book and in the margins of my worksheets. This method definitely would have caught my attention as a student and got me interested in finding the main points of the text. One challenge I could see coming from this method is time, but as the teacher I can make sure students are working efficiently and spending time on both reading and their doodles. By teaching students different ways of finding the main idea of text allows them to have a choice in how they read text and how they pull important information from it.

Mind Movies (Visualizing)

It is important that when students are reading that they are visualizing what they are reading. I found a great resource that described it as creating a “mind movie”. Depending on what grade you are working with and the cognitive skills of the class, we can help teach them how to visualize by doing a read aloud and tell them what we are visualizing in our imagination. It is important to think about all 5 senses and different emotions. We can describe what we are seeing and then ask what they are seeing in their minds. For older students who can work more independently, we can have a chart up in the classroom that helps them remember how to visualize and ask them to draw what they are seeing. See below chart below:

Questions

Questions can be very helpful for reading comprehension. This can look like a few different forms. It may be giving students a list of questions to read before beginning the text so they know exactly what they are looking for and what to focus on. Questions can also be used during read alouds. It is important to develop their critical thinking skills by asking surface level questions and deeper level of thinking questions. Below is a small list of possible questions to get your students thinking.

-          Who is the main character?

-          Who is the main character’s best friend?

-          Why is the main character (sad/happy/mad/etc.)?

-          What is the setting?

-          What is the conflict?

-          How does the conflict get solved?

-          How would you feel if you were the main character?

-          How do you think the other characters are feeling?

-          What would you do in this situation?

Choosing the right book

It is important that students know how to pick a book at their reading level. Below is a chart I found online to help remind students how to know if the book is just right for them. As a teacher it is important to have a plethora of books in our class library that are labeled with reading levels and different genres to appeal to all interests. It is important for students to be able to identify a good book for them outside the classroom as well. They want to challenge themselves, but not to the point where they get discouraged and cannot comprehend what is happening in the story. See below:

Using Context Clues

Another great strategy I came across in my research was how to use context clues. I remember learning how to use context to figure out what a word or sentence meant and this is a strategy I use in my adult hood to decode what I am reading. I think this is one of the most important strategies to become a good reader. See below:

Resources:

https://www.weareteachers.com/21-anchor-charts-that-teach-reading-comprehension/

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/6-tips-for-helping-your-child-improve-reading-comprehension#slide-1