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Module 7- Games and Simulations in Education

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https://www.abcya.com/games/clear_it_multiplication The game/simulation that I chose to take a closer look at was, ‘Clear It Multiplication’. The reason I chose this one was because there is a direct link to our IXL games. We use IXL for data tracking in my classroom and after they have finished their weekly quiz to see if they mastered the skill or not, they can then play games based on that skill while the others are finishing their quiz. Multiplication is a skill that students work on, starting in third grade. Although they have had two years to practice, a lot of them still struggle with these basic skills. Not knowing, or having an automatic recall of your multiplication facts can really hinder your understanding of other fifth grade math concepts. The goal of this game is to try two factors to equal the product that is above (pictured below). For example, if the ‘target number’ is 6 then you could use 2 and 3 or 6 and 1 to get a product of 6. Since multiplication is such a heavy...
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Module 6- Exploring Two Platforms/Apps

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The two digital platforms that I chose to do the case study on are IXL and Sora. Both are applications that my students use almost daily in my classroom. I have worked in two different districts and both of which used these platforms, so I have had the opportunity to explore both of these. The first part of the case study I am going to talk about is through the use of IXL. IXL is a learning platform that allows students to work on ELA and Math skills on their Chromebooks or Ipads. The students are able to have lessons assigned to them, they are able to choose their own lessons or skills to work on, and the teacher can create quizzes based on the skill or standard they are testing. The part that is appealing to educators is that if you have a student who is performing above or below grade level, you are able to assign skills based on where the student is at. Educators use this to fill in gaps or lessons that a student is in need of mastering or working on. Teachers can use this to see h...
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Module 5- Blog Post Annotated Bibliography

Literacy is always something that I am trying to learn more and more about. I hate doing the same things everyday and watching my students continue to get more and more bored. I have started integrating some components of digital literacy in my class (from taking this course) and I have to say WOW! For example, I had them create a meme based on the reformation, after we read a chapter about the heliocentric and geocentric systems and my students loved it! One thing I am interested in learning more about would be the use of digital story-telling and audiobooks in an ENL/Diverse classroom. Next year, I am expected to have four non-English speaking students so I want to implement some of these into my teaching. This is of interest to me because I can directly relate this to my job. I feel as though so many times we are given tasks that we can't use or haven't been able to implement. I am excited to research and learn more to better help myself and my students for next year.  Topi...
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Blog Post 7- Annontated Bibliography for Diverse learners and digital literacy

Literacy is always something that I am trying to learn more and more about. I hate doing the same things everyday and watching my students continue to get more and more bored. I have started integrating some components of digital literacy in my class (from taking this course) and I have to say WOW! For example, I had them create a meme based on the reformation, after we read a chapter about the heliocentric and geocentric systems and my students loved it! One thing I am interested in learning more about would be the use of digital story-telling and audiobooks in an ENL/Diverse classroom. Next year, I am expected to have four non-English speaking students so I want to implement some of these into my teaching. This is of interest to me because I can directly relate this to my job. I feel as though so many times we are given tasks that we can't use or haven't been able to implement. I am excited to research and learn more to better help myself and my students for next year.  Topic...
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Blog Post 6- Module 4- Community Toolkit

Getting along with my students? Easy! Now finding common interests between my students and our classroom community… NOT so easy. I find it incredibly hard to even put on a movie for the students that even HALF of them agreed on. Finding interests in our classroom is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Now combining our classroom, myself and the community around us = quite the challenge. In my classroom… and I'm sure any fifth grade classroom, we struggle with getting along. My students have been together since kindergarten so they all know each other very well. I have done a positivity project and second step in my classroom in HOPES of helping them get along. Do you think it worked? NOPE! I think for this project that will meet the interests of all our needs would be something to do with animal shelters. Syracuse is full of animal shelters that all have animals in need. In this project I will ask students to use their Chromebooks to make digital flyers for donations as well a...
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Blog Post 5- Module 3- Leveraging tools, texts and talks

Throughout all of these articles, there has been a lot of information to take in and use in the classroom. Not only do they tell you ways in which you can incorporate learning online and in the classroom, but they also encourage you to do research online and use that in the classroom. One thing I took away from the readings was that there are right and wrong ways in which your incorporate it into the classroom. As for designing and supporting activities beyond the screen, I wasn’t always the most comfortable with this task. Due to being a ‘newer’ teacher I still find myself learning the curriculum and taking data when needed. Data is something that my school is very big on right now. If a student isn’t meeting the standards, my school wants to data or ‘proof’ that they aren’t meeting the standards. In my classroom, each student has a data binder in which they categorize their work. Math goes with math and so on and so forth. Anything that we do that is linked to a standard, we will pla...
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Blog Post 4- Module 3- Integrating new literacies into the classroom

I would like to say, as a younger teacher, I am probably more apt to incorporate digital literacy in my classroom than those who have been working in this field for a long time. I would like to say I am 80% confident in my ability to assign something online with the intention of it being an extension activity NOT a ‘time-filler’. So many times, as districts, we have a plethora of applications we can use for our students but we use them as a time-filler rather than an opportunity for them to learn about the online features. I am lucky to have the librarian in my school… who I use regularly. They are always willing to show us new websites or applications that students have access to. They also provide a ‘library FYI’ page where students have access to all KID appropriate and AGE appropriate research tools to help them as needed. I found it interesting yet appropriate when Aguilera stated, “To invite students to engage more deeply with these behind-the-screen conversations, we can focus o...
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