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The following post was written by VSTE member Chelsea VanKerkhove, a special education teacher at Alvey Elementary School in Prince William County.

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The exceptional students in my classroom are all non-verbal and rely on technology everyday. Technology is not only fundamental for student learning, but necessary for students to communicate. Whether it is an electronic tablet, such as an iPad, or a device which tracks eye-gaze, the students depend on technology to have a voice in our class. We also use technology to engage students in learning content material by presenting information in more dynamic ways.

The students are working on learning “core vocabulary” with their devices. Core vocabulary, including yes, no, more, want, stop, off and help, make up most of our daily vocabulary. By teaching these words it allows my students to use their technology to express themselves. We offer choices for the child involving food, toys, favorite activities and music by asking simple questions such as, “Do you want this?” It is very important to honor their wants, even if it is not the choice we as teachers hoped for. When students can communicate their basic wants, we will see them laugh, smile and sometimes even vocalize happy sounds.

Along with using the devices to communicate, we use various other forms of technology in our classroom as part of our daily routine. We use the Smartboard for our morning meeting, brain breaks, learning activities, experiments, and song choices. We also have a weekly computer lesson in the computer lab with our technology teacher. In addition, we use various switches to practice cause and effect. Using a Power Link switch, we are able to use a hand mixer, blender, food processor, and popcorn popper during cooking lessons. We are also able to use the switches during our scientific experiments, such as using the switch to activate a blow dryer when determining the effect wind has on various items.

While technology is important for all students, my classroom uses technology to enable them to communicate and perform tasks that they would otherwise be unable to do. My students are very accustomed to technology as an everyday part of their lives and their learning experience. This has made technology not just an augmentation, but a necessity.

This short video will give you a view into my classroom.

David French is a member of the VSTE Board of Directors.

I often say that I have the greatest job in the world. I get to work with fantastic students and teachers every day. As the school principal, I have the opportunity to make decisions that can have a life-long impact on children. I truly don’t take that responsibility lightly. With 30 years as an educator (over half of this time being a principal), I have experienced a lot of change in what happens in a school. Now more than ever, we face an evolution of our students like we have not witnessed since dry erase replaced chalkboards.

Those transformational moments

Every now and then, we get to experience moments that shape our next steps. A few years ago this happened to me. Brandon was a fourth grader at Corporate Landing Elementary School. Brandon was a bright student but I knew he was not doing well in the classroom.

He was not interested in what was going on in the classroom. He had a traditional teacher but that kind of classroom was not meeting his needs. Students just don’t learn from worksheets. After school, he would be so deeply engaged into his pocket video game that you could not possibly disturb him.  I realized at that point that if we could transfer lessons onto that format, students would love it. From that point on, I made sure I learned as much as I could not only about the new kind of student in our schools, but how can we better meet their classroom needs.

When the Principal sneezes the school catches a cold

Teachers will only do what their leaders do. There are some that will take the reins and go, but most look to us to lead them. I realized that if we were going to meet our students where they are, I had to make this happen. Most all of our teachers want to be the best they can be, but they are most often looking for help to get there. It is our responsibility to provide on-going professional development opportunities

for our teachers that are relevant to engaging the 21st century learner. Providing them with the appropriate tools and keeping them current in those tools will only make it easier for our teachers to grow with the rate of evolution we are seeing in with our learners.

You can talk the talk but you had better walk the walk.

I always say that I will never ask a teacher to do something If I cannot do it myself. How can we ask teachers to try new strategies and tools to meet the needs of their learners if we are not willing to get outside our own comfort zones? If we are asking teachers to teach without worksheets, yet we hand out papers in our meetings, what is that showing our teachers? We talk much about student agency, but tend to overlook teacher agency. If we develop our teachers- then we are developing our students. As the principal, I have forced myself to learn new ways to doing my job using digital tools. Teachers see that. I always say that if I am willing to learn new ways, why shouldn’t others in our school do the same thing?

It is OK to fail

Once during a teacher presentation, one of my videos didn’t work. At first I thought that was bad and embarrassing;  but immediately I realized that it was one of the best things that could have happened. Teachers need to know that when you challenge yourself to grow, there are times things may not work as planned. I make it a point to let others know that as long as you are stretching yourself and trying new things to engage your students, that will happen and that is OK. Those who have not made mistakes have not tried anything new. Teachers feel comfortable with this if they know their principal does the same thing. They will grow at a faster rate if they feel safe taking risks. Taking risks must be part of on-going conversations. Over the past few years, those educators who challenged themselves to grow and use new tools in the classrooms were the ones taking risks. That has changed. Now the ones NOT using new tools and continue the traditional practices are taking larger risks. They risk losing their students each day. Today’s student requires a different teacher than they did a few years ago.

“If we teach today’s students using yesterday’s lessons, we are robbing them of their tomorrow”- John Dewey.

Today’s School Leader

We have always talked about the school principal being the instructional leader. We must also realize that this instructional leader is now more of a transformational leader. If we expect teachers to transform their classrooms, we must transform the schools. The transformational leader will establish the vision and goals; carry the technology banner in the school; model the use of digital tools and support their use throughout the school; engage in PD activities that focus on the integration of transformational learning in student learning activities-; provide PD for teachers and staff for facilitation of transformational learning (each year I dedicate 100% of our school’s professional development funds to send teachers to TechEd conferences); be an advocate for digital tools to support learning; and communicate the value and importance of Tech to all stakeholders.

“If children don’t learn the way we teach, we must teach they way they learn.” –Margaret Mead

 

This is a cross post from the DexterEd website and features content of potential interest to VSTE members.

DIFFERENTIATING LESSONS INVOLVING ROBOTICS FOR ALL STUDENTS
Presented by Lisa Rode, Sixth Grade Teacher, Kings Glen Elementary in Fairfax County, Virginia

Do you want to learn how to integrate robotics into the core curriculum and reach all types of learners? In this edWebinar, you will learn how to integrate robotics into core curriculum to engage students of all abilities.

During this live, interactive event, Lisa Rode, a sixth grade classroom teacher at Kings Glen Elementary in Springfield, VA, shared:

• How robotics can transform a classroom community
• Details on her journey into robotics in her inclusive classroo
• Ways to scaffold instruction for students with diverse needs

There will be time for a Q&A session after the presentation. Elementary, middle and high school educators, librarians, technology resource teachers, and anyone who is working with children and interested in or already using technology will benefit from attending this session. View the recording to learn about integrating robotics into the classroom in ways to engage all learners.

About the Presenter

Lisa Rode is a sixth grade classroom teacher at Kings Glen Elementary in Fairfax County, VA. This is her 10th year teaching sixth grade. In 2014, Lisa started a Raspberry Pi after-school robotics club to teach students programming, engineering, and problem-solving skills. She integrates technology and robotics into classroom lessons and an after-school program.

Watch the webinar

I am sure most of you have heard of the terms “digital immigrants” and “digital natives.”  All of us born before technology infiltrated our lives are “immigrants” and the ones born into this technology world are “natives.”  There is a misconception by many educators that the “digital natives” in our classrooms are very tech savvy and know so much more than we could ever learn when it comes to using technology.  Some educators are a bit intimidated by their students because handling technology seems to come naturally to them. Most students do not fear the technology since they have always been around it their entire lives.  In reality, it all comes down to attitude.  Even us “digital immigrants” can adapt and become as comfortable as the “natives” and I am proud to say that many have!  Another reality we educators must come to understand is that just because a student is comfortable with technology does not mean they know how to maximize its use for learning!

I have had the privilege of teaching many instructional technology graduate-level courses for a local university for many years now.  It has been very rewarding to work with current educators as we learn and share effective ways to utilize technology to help students learn.  This semester I have the special opportunity to teach an undergraduate course on instructional technology for the first time at a local university.  I have twenty students in my class which consists of mostly Juniors, but there a couple of Sophomores and a few Seniors.  They are all digital natives!  They cannot imagine life without the Internet, cell phones and social media. It did not take me long to figure out that even though they were natural texters, Snapchatters and Instagramers, (not sure if these are actual terms!)  they had much to learn on how technology could impact not only their learning but their teaching! You should have seen their faces when they saw how the Explore option in Google Sheets could automagically generate numerous charts to represent their data.   None of them had ever heard of Padlet and after using several in class to provide feedback on various articles I assigned them they enjoyed creating their own which allowed for audio, video and drawing feedback.  They experienced a backchannel for the first time using TodaysMeet.  Finally, they were able to use EdPuzzle to take video viewing to a new level. You could feel the energy and hear the ideas of how these tools could make a difference in their instruction. The learning has been a two-way street!  It has been exciting when they share ideas and tips on various digital tools. Teaching is a great way to learn!

So, when any of you “digital immigrants” stand before a confident, “I know it all,” bunch of “digital natives,” just remember they have much to learn when it comes to the effective use of technology. Don’t worry, they will not have any fear of using it, so show them how powerful instructional technology can be!