Inspiring Passion & Curiosity with Technology

Technology allows me the affordance of easily exploring my interests, as well as investigating new ideas. I like dabbling in video/photo/audio editing, various kinds of digital design, as well as creating original materials for my class. I use a variety of bookmarking tools to help me keep track of ideas. The tech tools I regularly use are too numerous to mention in this post. Recent favorites include PicLits, WorkFlowy, TubeChop, PicMonkey, Weebly, and most recently DomoAnimate.

I am reminded of the recent phone interview I completed last fall for my first teaching job. We talked for a good 30 minutes and toward the end the principal asked me this question.
Interviewer: "What would you do if a student said your class was boring?"
Me: (Thinking) "Well, that's pretty much impossible!"
Interviewer: (Laughing) "That's the best answer we've heard all day!"
I love this true story because I think it really shows how I feel about what I do. It is not just some job, it is my life and passion. I am constantly striving to improve and grow. My students notice that and want to join me on our journey for knowledge! As educators, we are powerful forces demonstrating curiosity and an eagerness to learn, simply by personally modeling it. As the adult in the classroom, you are the role model for students about how to approach learning. Is it a chore, simply another task to be accomplished? Or is learning something that engages your mind and requires use of your unique talents? Every moment is an opportunity to learn something new about this amazing world we live in. My brain gets a happy feeling when I am learning, perhaps the sensation of synapses connecting in new and interesting ways. I love to learn and feel privileged that I get to share that learning with my students every day!

Technology is a vast playground of digital learning and educators have the responsibility to model and teach appropriate use of technology tools, allowing for student input and decision making along the way. Using technology is an incredible way to peak student interest about new ideas. Technology should not only be used by teachers for teaching students, but students should also be able to use technology tools to research interests and new ideas. Students should then be allowed to express their knowledge using technology. Teachers can give students the freedom to choose a technology tool to demonstrate content mastery. This gives students input and the ability to make decisions about their own learning. Teachers then take the role of an advisor or facilitator, guiding students on their personal journey of learning. There is no better job in the world in my opinion!

Please find below my something I created using something. It demonstrates the main ideas from this post. This was the first time I used DomoAnimate and am happy with the options available, as well as ease of use.

DomoNation.com:
Inspiring Passion & Curiosity with Technology by MrsGalbreath

Like it? Create your own at DomoNation.com. It's free and fun!

Tech Survey

I created a survey using Google Forms to share with my colleagues to learn about their current use of technology, as well as possible options for future technology professional development. Here is the link to the survey. Here is a short video about using Google Forms.

After reviewing responses from 15 colleagues, I noticed a few trends. My survey included questions about comfort level with different kinds of technologies. Most of my colleagues are pretty comfortable doing the basics on the computer including sending email and creating documents. Some of the more specialized tech tasks such as creating spreadsheets, posting to blogs or wikis, recording or editing audio/video, or collaborating online were less familiar to my colleagues. The majority of my colleagues also responded that they were unsure who to go to when faced with a tech problem. It is clear, however, that my colleagues believe technology can increase student learning and are eager to learn more about it themselves. My colleagues are especially interested in learning more about our Kunos and Google Play apps. All teachers at the elementary level received Kunos (Android tablets) in December, but our district has yet to offer any professional development regarding this new tech tool. Colleagues are also interested in ways that students can use technology.

We do our students a disservice if we are not training them how to use these modern tools. With this in mind, I plan to start a Tech Club for 4th and 5th graders at my school for the Fall. My hope is that students can become the "go-to expert" with a particular piece of software or app, even creating tutorials to share what they know with teachers and students.

With the information I gained from the survey, I will be planning technology professional development for my colleagues at my school starting this Fall. We will meet once a month before school to talk about specific software, apps, and interesting ways to incorporate technology into the classroom on a daily basis to maximize learning and minimize downtime. I am hoping that these meetings will help to alleviate some of the uneasiness and hesitation many of my colleagues have about technology. In the right hands, technology is an incredible tool for learning.

On a related note, I am quite excited for the Literacy Technology Education Conference (LTEC) tomorrow in Indy! This conference is part of Indiana DOE's Summer of eLearning initiative. Looks like they are offering some really great break-out sessions. I am hoping to come away from the conference with new tools and new ideas!

Revising my Infodiet

Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching., a photo by deeplifequotes on Flickr.

Although the internet offers a tremendous amount of information, it can be a challenge to sift through the junk to get to the good stuff. It matters what we put into our bodies for food and for information because we know these things affect us physically and mentally. We have to remember “that humans are not oriented toward truth but to meaning” (Gee, 2013, p. 133). We gravitate toward people, ideas, and concepts that we connect with or are similar to our own. While this may be comfortable, it does not provide an accurate view of a world that is vastly diverse.

Unfortunately, my current infodiet is minimal and not very diverse. It consists of a local news channel website, Facebook, and occasionally Twitter. This would be equivalent to eating only apples, bacon, and chocolate for every meal each day. While these are my favorite foods, I am missing some important vitamins and of course, variety and balance in my meals. To add a little color to my infodiet I decided to look for an assortment of people and organizations on Twitter that will expose me to new viewpoints and ideas, ones that I would not normally encounter.

The first group of new information sources I found all have to do with Google in some way. Recently our corporation purchased Android tablets for all the teachers and I am trying to learn as much as I can about them so I can share what I learn with my colleagues. I am now following @GooglePlay and @GoogleEduTeam to stay up to date with any new developments. Google Play is poised to come out with more education apps this summer. Here is an article with more information.

My next group of new resources is focused on general education and technology. They include @WeAreTeachers and @TheConsultantsE. These are two great resources for tech and teaching tips. I am most excited to start following Nicholas Provenzano @thenerdyteacher. He is the 2013 MACUL Technology Using Teacher of the Year and the 2013 ISTE Outstanding Teacher of the Year. I love the banner on his blog! It includes cartoon robots and the words teacher, leader, learner, and nerd. That pretty much sums up my career in education! Plus his most recent post is about Star Wars. What’s not to love?

The last group of new resources deal with language. Language is what I do in the classroom all day long and a new perspective would be helpful. I found @onestopenglish which provides frequent links to resources and professional development opportunities for English teachers. Finally, my goal for next school year is to get more parents and families involved at our school. Language can still be a barrier but I think @ColorinColorado will be able to help with that. Their updates provide resources tailored for language learners, but even cooler is their website: http://www.ColorinColorado.org/. This is a bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners and I am very excited to share this incredible resource with parents!

Revising my infodiet is something that I needed to do and something that needs to be done on a regular basis. In my ever searching journey to find truth AND meaning, I know that broadening my viewpoint and considering alternate possibilities is always going to be a positive part of my life. Knowing more about the world I live in, helps me to understand myself and my place in this world. I hope that I too can help to encourage and expand a community of thinking where learning is always valued.

Works Cited
Gee, J. P. (2013). The anti-education era: Creating smarter students through digital learning. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Martin, R. P. (2013, February 21). [Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.] [Photograph]. Retrieved from Flickr database.

Special Needs & Technology

Our world is changing. Society is becoming increasingly globalized. The United States alone is home to hundreds of cultures and languages. It is estimated that there are more than 5.5 million students enrolled in U.S. schools whose first language is not English (Swanson, Orosco, & Lussier, 2012). I personally serve over 100 of these students in grades K-5 as the English Language Learning teacher at Parkside Elementary. I am finishing up my first year teaching and I love my job! I am continuing to learn more about my students, their families, and their cultures. I have long been intrigued by the variety of cultural and linguistic differences present in the United States and across the globe, and am now interested in finding out more about second language acquisition. I am most interested in the cognitive processes involved with second language acquisition and how this knowledge can help me make well-informed instructional decisions for my students.

Secondary language acquisition is a multi-faceted learning process involving working memory, verbal and phonological short-term memory, as well as executive functions. Working memory helps to process ongoing language activities, particularly sentence comprehension and vocabulary, and is responsible for attention and focus (Engel de Abreu, Gathercole, & Martin, 2011). An additional component to second language acquisition, short-term memory, is also connected to vocabulary knowledge and syntactic comprehension (Engel de Abreu, et al., 2011). According to Engel de Abreu et al. (2011), verbal short-term memory “is the driving force behind both native and foreign vocabulary acquisition, by supporting the formation of stable phonological representations of new words in long-term memory” (p.12). In particular, vocabulary identification (Swanson, Orosco, & Lussier, 2012) and storage  in long-term memory is dependent on the quality of the short-term memory, which in turn is affected by attention and focus from working memory (Engel de Abreu, et al., 2011). In addition, being able to identify, duplicate, and manipulate sounds is a skill needed for any language learning. Increased phonological short-term memory and phonological awareness in the student’s primary language can contribute to secondary language reading and vocabulary learning (Engel de Abreu & Gathercole, 2012). Knowledge of the sound structure of one language  can potentially give students a boost when learning a second language instead of starting from scratch. The final component to secondary language learning is executive processing which is linked to helping students focus on relevant aspects of the new language while suppressing interference from the primary language (Engel de Abreu & Gathercole, 2012). Research from Engel de Abreu and Gathercole (2012) suggests that “children with better executive processes may have an advantage in second language learning” (p. 975) as they must manage several language systems simultaneously. These components of memory work together to help students acquire the secondary language needed for their education.

My students need English to learn concepts and ideas to be successful in school. After reviewing the literature, it is clear that dynamic cognitive processes are at work when learning a second language. Knowledge of how these processes work can help inform my instructional decisions as a teacher. Understanding that secondary language acquisition has its roots in memory and cognitive functions, I found three major ideas from the literature that can influence my decision-making as a language teacher:

• Working memory - I can provide learning opportunities that allow my students to practice focusing and paying attention to what is currently happening.
• Short-term to long-term memory - I can create meaningful language experiences for my students that can help important concepts transition from short-term to long-term memory. 
• Executive functions - I can encourage my students to take ownership of their learning by being self-aware, reflective of their actions, and to think about their thinking (metacognition). It is also important to include students in decision-making and goal-setting.

Many of these concepts are already present in some form in my classroom, but I went searching for new technology tools that I can use with my students to further improve their memory and cognitive functions. Online digital gaming is a source of interest and motivation for many students, and can potentially improve memory and attention. I found a great online resource called Learning Works for Kids. This is digital game and app guide for students that need to practice specific skills or have particular learning concerns. Parents, teachers, or students can search for games on a variety of platforms to support an array of cognitive functions including working memory, focus, organization, planning, and self-awareness. There are also online sites that claim to boost memory and thinking skills such as Jungle Memory, Lumosity, and Happy Neuron but unfortunately these sites have little sound scientific research to support their claims. More promising is a working memory program from Pearson called Cogmed that is backed by mixed research and is used by psychologists to improve memory and attention. According to my readings, working memory, short-term memory and executive functions are major components of secondary language acquisition. If I can help my students increase their skills in these areas, it would be reasonable to assume that their language abilities would also increase. The evidence is not clear whether there is a direct connection between these two concepts, but it is an interesting idea that I would like to further explore with my students for the following year.

Online Games & Other Resources

Learning Works for Kids http://learningworksforkids.com/

What is working memory? http://vimeo.com/31461996

Classic Simon https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neilneil.android.games.simonclassic&hl=en

Civilizations Wars http://armorgames.com/play/5151/civilizations-wars

Short Term Memory Checker http://neutralx0.net/home/mini04.html

Sequence Memory Game
http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/memory/sequencememory.html

Jungle Memory http://junglememory.com/

Lumosity http://www.lumosity.com/

Happy Neuron http://www.happyneuron-corp.com/en

Cogmed http://www.cogmed.com/


References

Engel, d. A., & Gathercole, S. E. (2012). Executive and phonological processes in second-language acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(4), 974-986. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/1013918443/fulltext/13E612BBFCD77AD0449/1?accountid=12598


Engel de Abreu, P., Gathercole, S. E., & Martin, R. (2011). Disentangling the relationship between working memory and language: The roles of short-term storage and cognitive control. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(5), 569-574. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/2047429/Disentangling_the_relationship_between_working_memory_and_language_The_roles_of_short-term_storage_and_cognitive_control


Swanson, H. L., Orosco, M. J., & Lussier, C. M. (2012). Cognition and literacy in english language learners at risk for reading disabilities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(2), 302-320. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/907033113/fulltextPDF?accountid=12598