Introductory Blog Post


Hello everyone! My name is Alicia. I am a teacher in Cicero. I've been teaching since 2003. For 14 years of my career, I taught in 3rd grade and for the 2018-2019 school year I will be teaching second grade!! I'm pretty excited but at the same time I am nervous about the change. Some other exciting news, unrelated to education, I am a Navy mom! As you can see, from the picture above, I have three children that are my entire world! My oldest is a sailor, my youngest is daddy's girl, and my middle child is my twin (we think alike and my husband says we can be stubborn, I like to think we are persistent)! My children are also my current events resources, lol. I learn so much from them and sometimes I get technology ideas from them! I enjoy incorporating technology into the classroom as often as I can. The more I learn about technology through the cohort at St. Francis University, my confidence about using technology in the classroom increases. I have also noticed technology is useful in providing differentiated instruction. This is why I'm interested in obtaining an endorsement in technology.

 Some of my favorite tech tools to use in the classroom are my Promethean board, Google Classroom, and Google's read&write tool. My favorite method of communication with parents was through Class Dojo. Yes! I'm still dwelling on the fact that we no longer use Class Dojo! Now, I have gone back to paper and pencil communication...I write notes! I also make phone calls for communication. As for tech failures, I've encountered all kinds of problems but mostly minor problems. However the most memorable tech failure was when my Smart Board wasn't working. I tried using my chalkboard and realized I didn't have any chalk! My students offered me paper and pencil and some said, "I guess you'll be teaching the old way, huh? Paper and pencil." Sometimes simplicity works best!

 Through my tech cohort, I have learned about so many new tools. I've started to incorporate things like FlipGrid, BandLab, and Google Forms. One tool I enjoyed experimenting with is Screencast-o-Matic. It is a simple tool to use to make a tutorial. I have also added Quizziz to my list of favorite tools.
I'm looking forward to continue to enhance my tech skills throughout this cohort so that I can share all these new ideas with my students, classmates and my grade level team!


Comments

  1. Clara ProsiliakosMay 18, 2017 at 7:22 PM

    Hi Alicia,
    I agree when you say that we can differentiate instruction through technology so all students learn according to their own needs. Thank you for sharing your experiences as a teacher. I can feel how much you enjoy doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JennyMay 19, 2017 at 9:37 PM

    Hi Alicia,
    It was great to meet you! Tech problems can be frustrating, but you have the right attitude and hopefully over time the problems diminish, or at least change. You have a great mindset about it!
    Jenny

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katy MascheriAugust 27, 2017 at 3:53 PM

    Hi Alicia,
    I appreciate you sharing your amusing no-chalk moment! While technology is wonderful to use in the classroom every day, we should always be prepared for when it fails. I recall several occasions where, in desperation, I have lined up multiple student whiteboards with instructions to hold up in the absence of a functioning SMART board.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mrs. SierraOctober 18, 2017 at 3:39 PM

    Hi Alicia,

    I enjoyed reading about all the tools you use in your classroom. I may have to copy some of your tech tools!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mrs. SierraJanuary 10, 2018 at 3:30 PM

    Hi Alicia,

    A agree with your technology likes. I also enjoy using Google applications and have also had many minor technology mishaps in my classrom.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Literacy+January 10, 2018 at 3:39 PM

    The ability to use technology to differenciate instruction is awesome! I love the idea of flipping the classroom and allowing more time to have academic conversations in the classroom!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Clara ProsiliakosJanuary 11, 2018 at 4:28 PM

    Alicia,

    I could not agree with you more, through the tech cohort our knowledge about digital tech tools has abundantly expanded and transferred to our teaching. Hope we can share more ideas and tech resources in our upcoming courses.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Heidi MorganMarch 8, 2018 at 10:33 AM

    Alicia, you seem to be building your tech toolbox! I am glad you are in our 679 learning community.

    ReplyDelete

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