Final Thoughts

Over the last eight weeks, I have been learning about new technology tools and how I can use those tools in my classroom. Technology is only going to become more advanced with time and it will never go away. As I was writing my previous blogs, I often thought about how I can use the tools that I learned about in my classroom. Would the tools work? Would the tools be engaging for the students? Would the students learn from the tools? And so on. I would have to say that I have become more invested in technology and I am now researching new items to use technology more in the classroom. I had questioned myself for so long about if the technology was going to work for me or I was going to mess up a lesson because I did not fully know how to use the site. Here’s the thing, I realized that technology is changing and it is changing fast. I may not be able to fully keep up with it, but trying to avoid technology altogether is not going to happen. Even if a lesson goes wrong, it is fine! There is no need to just throw my hands in the air and say “I am never using technology with my students again!” Let’s face it, that statement is NOT true.

https://rockresearch.com/top-10-views-on-technology/

In the last few weeks, I feel more confident using different tools and exploring new options for my students. I have not been able to use all of the tools that I learned about just yet, but there is one tool that stood out to me the most. Screencastify is now one of my favorite tools to use. I use it to make videos for my students and upload them to SeeSaw. Screencastify is easy to use for teachers. I definitely want to use Screencastify with my students to have them explain a project they created using the computer or even just to share something about themselves. 

Image Source: https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/smart-review-harnessing-the-power-of-videos-with-screencastify/ 

I went back to my first blog and I was rereading it. I think that I have become a better blogger over the last eight weeks. I never thought I would like to blog about new information and new technology tools to use in my classroom. My blogs give me an opportunity to reflect on how to use different tools and what the internet really has to offer. When I started this course, I was so excited to start and learn new information. I even used the following GIF to describe how I felt about the course.

Image Source: https://media.giphy.com/media/Ta2eHM043vhVS/giphy.gif

After this course, I realized that I feel like the following GIF (very confident) about technology and how to apply what I learned in my classroom with my students.

Image Source: https://media.giphy.com/media/wvI1UUF9pygFO/giphy.gif

 

Just A Tweet Away

Just A Tweet Away

Image Source: twitter.com 

Are you an educator? Do you have Twitter? If not, you need to create a profile for yourself! Years ago I created a private account on Twitter for myself, but I never found what all the fuss was about until I created a public, professional account. Twitter had taken on a whole new light for me when I created my professional account (@ms_mulay). I only created this account four weeks ago and I have come across amazing educators and organizations that have helped my Personal Learning Network (PLN) take off. A few of the educators that I follow are Paul Solarz, Shelly Sanchez, Todd'sGiftedRants, 21st Century Teacher, ColorinColorado, and so many more! 

Twitter Chats:

As an educator, it is important to make a professional mark, even on the internet. Twitter has many opportunities to have chats to communicate with other educators. During the four weeks that I have been on Twitter, I have participated in two Twitter Chats. The first chat that I participated in was very engaging and I had a great time answering the questions that Steven Sokohl was posting. I was writing in the comments and noticed that I was receiving a lot of feedback from other educators, which made me feel as if I was a celebrity because I never had any interactions on Twitter before. I also realized that I struggled to put in the hashtag (#) in for my responses. A goal for me is to remember to put the hashtags in my responses before I post them. I really enjoyed this chat because it helped me realize what I do as a teacher and how my job is making a difference, even in a pandemic. I also learned that it is fine to have some personal time and take a mental break because the end of last school year and the beginning of this one has really been difficult on teachers and students.

Below are my responses during this Twitter Chat.

Image Source: Deanna Mulay, Personal Images (@ms_mulay)

After the chat had ended, I was so excited to hear that there was another chat happening the next Monday. So I decided to join that chat, but participate in another way. I “quote retweeted” the question and wrote my answer to the question. I saw a few other people quote retweets the week before, so I thought I would give it a go. Again, I had a great time answering the questions that the host, Todd'sGiftedRants, was asking, but I found that more people were retweeting my responses and making comments to go along with or disagree with what I stated. I had a hard time accepting the comments because I am the type of person that likes to be hidden and not take risks. However, participating in the chat helped me realize that, as a professional, I need to be seen/heard and take risks by collaborating with other educators. Now I understand the purpose of a PLN and how it can help me grow as an educator. 

Again, below are my responses to my second chat. 

Image Source: Deanna Mulay, Personal Images (@ms_mulay)

Resources That Can Grow My PLN:

As I was looking up different people and organizations to follow, I came across amazing resources for teachers. I would have to say my favorite resource that I found was The Nuts and Bolts of Feedback. As educators, we rely on feedback such as observations from our administers, but we also look for feedback as teachers by giving our students assessments. To be a life-long learner, it is important to receive and give strong, supportive feedback. By asking students and even coworkers where they can see themselves in each of the cups on the worksheet (image below), it will help educators and administrators to support others to strengthen their feedback. This resource also provides students an opportunity to self-assess how they see themselves and what they may want to improve on. Self-reflecting is also a great skill for a life-long learner to have. There are so many resources on Twitter that I was missing out on when I did not create my professional account.

 

Image Source: https://twitter.com/FloopEdu/status/1306262600951279617 

Reflection on Twitter: 

Signing up for my Twitter account, I was reluctant because I thought it was going to be hard to chat with other educators and the tweets would be about random facts or thoughts that people decided to share. However, I found out that Twitter is a great way to find resources, connect with other educators, and build a digital footprint professionally. When I get home, I look forward to scroll through my Twitter feed and see if there are any chats going to happen or if any new books or resources are available. If I did not sign up for Twitter, I would truly be missing out on building and also expanding my PLN. So, if you are an educator who has not signed up for a Twitter account, think about signing yourself up. You never know what resources you will find!