Hello Everyone!
This is my first post for my new blog. I like the idea of sharing my thoughts on educational technology use throughout the school day. It seems like as I develop words for my blog I come up with more and better ideas for my job. In my first post, I think I will give a chance for the reader to get to know me better.
First, I lost my first name due to the television show, Seinfeld. In fact, when I was in the IT industry for a while before teaching, my business card used to say just "NEWMAN". "Hello, Jerry!"
I recently left the high school English classroom to become the Tolleson Union High School District's Instructional Technology Integration Specialist (ITIS). I taught high school English at the same school for 12.25 years, since the school was opened in 2004. During my last few years of teaching, I decided to focus more on technology use in the classroom. I received a grant to have an iPad cart of 40 devices, and decided to do something that I have not seen done before. I created the Paperless High School English classroom. I did away with textbooks, hand-written essays, and worksheets.Students entered my classroom, grabbed an iPad, and started working bell to bell. I achieved almost 100% engagement and no longer had the risk of losing a student's paper. Very rarely did I visit the copy machine.
A typical class period consisted of students completing bell work with the Socrative application, doing interactive reading within the Nearpod application, and submitting word processed work within the Blackboard LMS application. Class-time was well utilized and students appeared to enjoy participating in this paperless environment. The best thing about my paperless implementation was the ability to keep all grading up to date. I did not have to bring mounds of paper home each night to grade, just my iPad or Laptop. Grading was fast and I was able to give better feedback to my students on their work.
Last summer I realized that I wanted more teachers to have the ability that I had in my classroom. I want to share my wealth of technology use and how it made my teaching better and more efficient. This is why, when the opportunity arose, that I decided to leave the classroom in order to coach the teachers of my district on how to be more efficient by integrating technology into their daily instruction to enhance the learning process within their classrooms.
Colleagues ask me, "Do you miss the classroom?". I respond in a very political way, I miss the students but I enjoy my new position.
Areas that I plan on focusing in future blog posts are:
This is my first post for my new blog. I like the idea of sharing my thoughts on educational technology use throughout the school day. It seems like as I develop words for my blog I come up with more and better ideas for my job. In my first post, I think I will give a chance for the reader to get to know me better.
First, I lost my first name due to the television show, Seinfeld. In fact, when I was in the IT industry for a while before teaching, my business card used to say just "NEWMAN". "Hello, Jerry!"
I recently left the high school English classroom to become the Tolleson Union High School District's Instructional Technology Integration Specialist (ITIS). I taught high school English at the same school for 12.25 years, since the school was opened in 2004. During my last few years of teaching, I decided to focus more on technology use in the classroom. I received a grant to have an iPad cart of 40 devices, and decided to do something that I have not seen done before. I created the Paperless High School English classroom. I did away with textbooks, hand-written essays, and worksheets.Students entered my classroom, grabbed an iPad, and started working bell to bell. I achieved almost 100% engagement and no longer had the risk of losing a student's paper. Very rarely did I visit the copy machine.
A typical class period consisted of students completing bell work with the Socrative application, doing interactive reading within the Nearpod application, and submitting word processed work within the Blackboard LMS application. Class-time was well utilized and students appeared to enjoy participating in this paperless environment. The best thing about my paperless implementation was the ability to keep all grading up to date. I did not have to bring mounds of paper home each night to grade, just my iPad or Laptop. Grading was fast and I was able to give better feedback to my students on their work.
Last summer I realized that I wanted more teachers to have the ability that I had in my classroom. I want to share my wealth of technology use and how it made my teaching better and more efficient. This is why, when the opportunity arose, that I decided to leave the classroom in order to coach the teachers of my district on how to be more efficient by integrating technology into their daily instruction to enhance the learning process within their classrooms.
Colleagues ask me, "Do you miss the classroom?". I respond in a very political way, I miss the students but I enjoy my new position.
Areas that I plan on focusing in future blog posts are:
- Blended/Personalized Learning
- Integrating Microsoft Applications into Instruction
- Use of Video Production in the Classroom
- Green Screen Technology Usage
- Formative Assessments
- 21st Century Skills
Have a great day! NEWMAN
I can relate to your story and how technology naturally increases the level of engagement for students. I look forward to reading more about the topics you mentioned!
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff, sounds like we are kind of in the same boat. This was my first year as a tech coach and I am still getting used to being out of a classroom -- but I am in love with what I do now. I am excited to follow along with your blogging journey.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff. Glad you've decided to share your adventures in a blog. Our career paths seem to be quite similar. I spent just over 12 years as a middle school social studies teacher and I too got a grant for iPads in my classroom. I never quite made it to completely paperless though. I'm excited to be wrapping up my first year completely out of the classroom working as a Tech Coach too. I'm looking forward to sharing and learning with you!
ReplyDelete