Using the Tools Appropriately: Unpacking ISTE Standard #2

ISTE Student Standard #2 Digital Citizen: Students recognize the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.

Warning: I will get on my soapbox here a bit. Helping students to develop appropriate
digital citizenship skills is an imperative part of the educational process not only for their
own safety and legal obligations but for the care of others as well. I feel very strongly
about the importance of all educators that have technology in their classroom speaking
into appropriate usage- with rights come responsibilities.  As a four year Common Sense Media
Digital Citizenship educator I start teaching grade-level appropriate digital citizenship in
kindergarten to talk about the importance of wise choices and the impact it can have on you.
If you are in a technology-rich environment I highly recommend your school district adopting
a digital citizenship curriculum and embedding it into your district’s scope and sequence right
in the various subject matter curriculum itself. Let your technology teachers spend extra time
on it but every teacher should be speaking into digital citizenship issues because we are all
stewards of it. We should see ourselves as both consumers and creators of the Internet.
This past school year a group of fifth graders at our school had been taught how to create
a Google site. On their own, during their own time, they created a website of cartoons for fun.
Because I had been speaking into digital citizenship the whole time they had been at our
elementary school, they allowed me to make some suggestions to better protect themselves
as well as help them learn how to track visitors to their site. If they had been 16-year-old boys
doing this, I doubt I would have had that same opportunity but what an amazing blessing it was
to me to see these students become empowered learners from a previous lesson and then to
seek me out to figure out best practice. It was one of my all-time favorite teacher moments.

We live in a world of instant gratification, instant reciprocation, instant retaliation. Students who
are 18 need to learn that by forwarding one inappropriate photo that was sent to them by the
person who took it could put them on a sexual predators list for the rest of their life. Teaching
digital citizenship is probably the easiest standard to meet without technology itself. Every
person has heard some horror story and quite possibly they have even had a family member
that has lived through one. But I believe we also have a responsibility to share the positive
influence technology can have as well.

If you are in a low tech environment:

• Have students participate in a station rotation Common Sense media digital citizenship

curriculum that supports their grade level.

• Talk about valuing the intellectual property of others and show them examples of

plagiarism and ways they can detect if they have accidentally plagiarized.  

• Have students google themselves or their parents to see what they find. Use that to talk

about the digital footprint they are creating and how it will remain long after they are gone.

If you are in a no-tech environment:

• Watch age-appropriate videos to discuss various digital citizenship issues.
• Create discussions on “what if” this happened and what would be the correct result.

Common Sense Media also has several unplugged options to choose from.

• Speak from your heart.

One of the most effective lessons I teach is sharing two stories with my students. In 2011,

President Obama was coming to visit Chattanooga, TN. Our family owns a donut shop

in Chattanooga and I immediately thought, “How cool would it be if the President came to

visit our shop?”  

Being a techie, I immediately started tweeting the #POTUSinCHA hashtag to invite him to Julie Darling Donuts. The problem was that I was currently in Atlanta at an edtech conference and I

didn’t know that the majority of the politicians in Chattanooga were boycotting the

event. His visit had become a political hotbed. On my way home from Atlanta I received a

phone call from one of the local news stations and they asked if they could interview me about

why I wanted him to come and about the special flavored donut we were going to make in his

honor on the day he was in Chattanooga. Oblivious to any agenda, I jumped on the chance to

give our 2-year-old company some publicity for free.

When I was interviewed I told the reporter it wasn’t about politics, it was about respecting

the office of the presidency. That evening the piece aired on the nightly news and before

I could say “Chocolate Salted Caramel Donut” my company and myself were being viciously

attacked on social media and via emails. This story made national news! I was called everything

from a racist (because the donut was chocolate) to an exploiter. The Republicans were

mad at me for welcoming him and the Democrats were mad at me for capitalizing on him

being in town. I received hate emails and threats personally. I remember being so distraught

the next morning when I would read all that was said and we were actually quite worried

it was going to be the demise of our shop. President Obama did not visit the donut shop

that day and a group of friends also started a Facebook support page for me that week.

Looking back, it was so hard. People who didn’t know me or know anything about me

made so many assumptions about me and when anyone tried to speak up, it just made

it worse. I laid in bed for 4 days sick to my stomach thinking I had ruined our business

with one tweet that invited the President of the United States to my donut shop.

The upside to this story is that up to that point, it was the busiest week we had ever

had at the shop but it came at such a personal expense to me. I was bullied and

ridiculed by adults. It has become my greatest lesson for teaching digital citizenship.

But I don’t like to leave students, parents, or teachers scared of the Internet.

I like to remind them of the good things that have happened in my life because of

the Internet. This is my favorite success story: In February of this year, our 7-year-old

border collie named Secret went missing. She didn’t have on her collar, she wasn’t

chipped, and she had disappeared from a location she wasn’t familiar with. The truth is,

it felt pretty hopeless that we would get her back. But I’m an edtechie and I knew

first hand the power of social media. I do what I do best, I flooded my social media

accounts with photos of Secret and put out pleas to anyone and everyone to be on the

lookout for her. This silly dogs photo was shared over 2,000 times by friends,

family, acquaintances, and downright strangers. People I didn’t even know would

send me messages on Facebook telling me they had driven around the area she

was originally lost in looking for her. If everyone wants to know “Where’s Waldo?”

then a close second would be “Where’s Secret?” 2,000 reshares. It’s mind-boggling.

I remember telling my husband that I would keep looking hard for her for one week.

I followed up on every supposed sighting (there were only 2) and someone in our family

checked the local animal shelters daily to see if she had made her way back there.

We drove around Red Bank, Tennessee yelling out the window for hours. Six days

after her disappearance I got in bed and told my husband, “I don’t think she’s coming back.”

The next morning was my monthly #CHAedu #coffeeEDU at the donut shop.

Local educators that want to come together once a month to discuss education topics

of our choice for one hour. It’s a very fluid, organic meeting that I love. That morning

we had more participants than we had ever had and right when it was time to start,

my phone rang...and I answered it. It was the executive director of our local humane

society and he told me he thought he had Secret but she had been hit by a car and

would need surgery. Both my girls were working at the donut shop that morning

and I quickly updated them and left. The meeting went on without me! I may or may

not have driven a tad erratically but that is not pertinent to this. As I entered the

building the director told me she had been brought in the night before due to a phone

call they had received that a dog had been hit in Red Bank. They had taken her

to a local animal hospital for x-rays and to make sure nothing was life threatening

and one of the ladies that worked there thought she recognized the dog. The next

morning she called the humane society because she had scoured social media and

found the photo and gave the executive director my contact information. Our Secret

was back with us, a little worse for wear, but 2 surgeries later we have all put that

loss behind us. We have not forgotten the power of people coming together using

technology for a greater good. We spend so much time warning, threatening, and

scaring kids about social media but what an opportunity for me to model usage that

had an outcome with a happy ending. Crowdsourced dog finding! We all have stories

and the more real they are to our students, the more likely they will have an impact

that will matter at the appropriate time.

Other ideas for creating "Digital Citizen" opportunities in your classroom:

                        NO TECH                                LOW TECH                       HIGH TECH                         

Digital Citizen

Use newspapers to discuss articles that used technology and then discuss the impact of media on our footprint. Also, pull in a discussion on the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship using these articles.

Have students volunteer to be “googled” or google yourself as a teacher and talk about the importance of an appropriate digital footprint. Discuss if having no footprint is good or bad?

Have students create a Fakebook for a historical or fictional character then discuss the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship and how they relate to your character.

Hindsight: How I *WISH* I had Supported Our Technology Rollout

According to wikipedia, the first iPad was released on April 3, 2010 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad). Simon Sinek originally published his book Start with the Why in 2009. Oh to have read that book then! Mobile devices in education have been a messy journey. I find great comfort in knowing we aren't the only school that has muddled through this. I hear, see, and gain insight from people all over the country as I ask "What works for you in this situation?" as we finished up year 6 of a 1:1 plan that continues to develop and adjust to the ever-changing needs of our students. Our school started out as BYOT in middle and high school and we are slowly transitioning to chromebook rollouts over the next few years. Our elementary school started with a rolling cart of iPads and we have slowly added more and more into the mix for use and a chromebook cart as well.

In the beginning, we introduced Google suites and annotation options to our upper school teachers but there was never really a "why" that all our teachers feel comfortable hanging their hat on. Most recently, our upper school teachers have been held accountable for the following:

• All mechanically scorable assessment items must be completed in Canvas.
• Students must be allowed to submit written work (papers) electronically without having to submit an additional paper copy.

Over the last few years, we have created a Technology Integration: Goals and Outcomes for Students document. This document is based on the ISTE Standards for Students and it represents the technology skills and abilities we want to see a graduating senior from our school being able to accomplish. This is our why. These goals and outcomes prepare students for their future. It seemed we finally figured out the why but I will say even knowing that is a need, it is hard for educators to discern what that means to them and their classrooms. Heck, it is hard for technology leaders to discern how best to move forward in creating these opportunities for all students!

Our desire to set skill lists and minimum usage requirements for teachers is a feeble attempt at best to reform education with a tool. Google, MIE, and Apple have created leveled educator certifications to prove teachers know the tools and platforms but the question still remains...are we using technology in a transformational way? The last 2 years I found myself focusing on this. How do we help teachers to see how to use these devices in their classrooms for transformed learning. I found myself focusing on the ISTE Standards for Students because they seem to focus on reforming the educational process from the student perspective. I then looked at each of the 7 standards and broke them down into really hands-on applications for teachers to consider in a no tech, low tech, or high tech environment. All of a sudden I found myself writing a book. A book that I have not published but one that keeps pulling at me.

In November 2018 I led a session called "Tech Knowledge...Gee!" at the Tennessee Education Technology Conference that basically looked at the topic of my "book in process" and helped educators dissect each of the ISTE Student standards to look at ways they were potentially teaching each topic in their classroom in no tech, low tech or high tech ways. If they looked at the standard and couldn't think of an option, we as a group sat together to brainstorm ideas for them. Those that attended found the concept extremely helpful because they were no longer looking at the device or platform but more as a concept they wanted their students to understand. For teachers, this created a clarity that they did not have before. It is our nature to look for recipes that have the ingredients we already have in the kitchen. For educators, we often do this. "I have 5 chromebooks and Google suites, what can I make with this?" But often this means we are missing out on the gourmet meal that we could cook.

Over the next few weeks, I have decided to break down the chapters of this book into blog posts to help others look at technology integration through a different lens. I will say that some of the ISTE Standards for Students lend themselves to certain disciplines. Don't force yourself to hit every standard just so you can say you did if you are an English teacher BUT I do believe every standard can be supported in every classroom. Stay tuned for more!

"And what about technology?"- The progression of an instructional technologist

I've hinted at this moment in another recent blog post but I just want to share what progression in technology integration looks like for me. A few years back I was holding teachers accountable for 2 technology enhanced projects a year in our lower school. Today, there is no checkbox accountability for usage because it has just seamlessly become part of who we are at Chattanooga Christian Lower School.

In the beginning it would be fair to say that there were times when I was leading conversations towards tech integration. I know some people might disagree with me but I do believe in the beginning that often has to happen in order to open mindsets. I co-taught with teachers as they introduced technology in their classrooms. I was the safety net for those that were uncomfortable.

Today, it has just become part of instructional consideration for our teachers. Is there an app I can use that supports math instruction? Is there a way I can digitally have students share their learning? Our lower school teachers have adapted and adopted technology in ways that intentionally support their classroom learning without me directing. Now, I often come up with suggestions on how technology can support certain ideas or I share some new tool that I think would bring value to the classrooms but I'm not standing around watching to make sure integration is happening- it is.

I'll be honest, I didn't realize when the shift happened. I tend to share my Tech Tip Tuesday ideas just to give teachers some fresh resources. I will always be seen as the techie but I also have been a part in helping our teachers understand project based learning and how STEAM education can support this learning. Which leads me to the following moment that felt like fireworks of success went off-

It was the first few inservice days back in school for our teachers in January and the lower school curriculum coordinator and myself were visiting each grade level to help the groups with their project based learning plans. We were sharing concepts, answering questions, giving ideas, etc. Half the day had gone by when a teacher looked at me and said, "and I guess you expect a technology component to these?" It was as if the world around me got quiet. It dawned on me that I had not mentioned technology all morning long as we were talking professional development and I was the technology coordinator! My answer was this quirky, less than confident sentence..."well, you guys are doing tech integration really well now and uh I would think that if you felt it would enhance this PBL you would use it, right?"

I remember walking out questioning myself. What was I doing? Was I truly doing my job if I wasn't expecting technology integration? And then it hit me...this is what it SHOULD look like. I'm not saying we have arrived. There will always be areas that need growth (for myself and for our school) but this moment has left me with a small sense of accomplishment. I won't linger here, I'll keep pushing forward in other areas, looking for ways to be innovative. BUT it's nice to know I've grown.

Five Educator Groups for Technology Integration

Recently I've been thinking about technology integration and I read this article https://ondigitalmarketing.com/learn/odm/foundations/5-customer-segments-technology-adoption/. While this article is not talking about eduction, the labels of the 5 segments of technology adopters resonated with me as I daily work with teachers helping them integrate technology into the classroom.

The article suggests "not everyone will adopt a disruptive idea despite obvious benefits." The article then quotes the research of Rogers to place adopters of technology in the following segments (my thoughts follow each label as it relates to what I see in education:

• Innovators - These are the people that actually thrive in change and long to be change-agents because they are not convinced the status quo is what is right, or best, or easiest, or (fill in the blank). Innovators are often alone in their convictions and because educational systems change very slowly, they are often very frustrated with the day to day of educating. My definition of innovation has always been "the point where need intersects with passion under an umbrella of creativity." Innovators don't always use technology to get a job done but those that do are often seen as risk takers or rebels. For some administrators this is seen as a good thing and for others it is terrifying. The innovative educator is willing to fail, they have an open mindset, and sometimes have to be corralled back into the fold for the good of the whole but innovators need opportunities to try things. As a rule, there are very few innovators in a school building. In fact, I bet the 2.5% mentioned in the article is just about right for educators that are innovators in a school system. 
• Early Adopters - These are the ones that are willing to take a risk and even feel comfortable with learning things on their own to understand things better but they aren't necessarily the ones out their looking for the cutting edge thing to change their classroom. They are the ones that once they hear about it they think "YES! That's what I need." Early adopters have a strong influence on the other educators in their building. Because they are often seen as individuals that understand technology easily, others are watching to see how they react to new technologies. Early adopters tend to look at technology as a way to teach differently instead of trying to fit a technology into the way they already teach. 
• Early Majority - These are the educators that are obviously a bit slower in adopting the idea of change in the classroom but being followers, they look to the success the innovators and early adopters have had and decide to join the party. The early majority often feel they are not equipped to use technology but rarely take the initiative to learn more on their own without clearly laid out resources at hand. The early majority's success or failure with new technology is often in direct correlation to how well they feel that technology fits how they teach and how often they are willing to try to use it. The early majority often feel they need hand holding and support but tend to thrive once they truly understand the capabilities of the technology.
• Late Majority - These educators are the ones that do not really want to change but feel they must either because they are being told they have to or because they realize their lack of change is making things harder for themselves. These are the skeptics among us. The ones that fear that "next year there will be something else you will want us to do instead." These are the ones that may not truly believe that technology integration is what is best for the students so unless they are "forced" they do not adopt or adapt. These educators often don't feel equipped to "take on" technology but they don't take advantage of growing themselves in that area either. These are the ones that panic when something doesn't go right and truly appreciate and expect great support. The innovators, early adopters, and early majority really have little impact on the thinking of the late majority adopters but the late majority adopters often give a balance to the early majority and innovators in discussions. When I "win over" a late adopter it is like Christmas morning for me. These are the educators that sharpen me to know my stuff and be able to justify my reasoning for tools. 
• Laggards - These educators are the ones that either vehemently oppose all things technology or strongly believe (and maybe rightly so) that they can teach their classroom just as well without the use of technology. The laggards are the ones that will refuse to follow set norms in a school about technology usage in either an intentional and/or unintentional way. There is often something in their life that makes them fear the technology. These educators often do not have much influence upwards due to being viewed as closed-minded. 

Obviously each segment of technology adopters bring value to the conversation of what is best in the educational setting. Each group presents a balance to the others that often leads to a more acceptable medium adoption rate of mass technology rollouts at schools. I believe schools need representatives of all segments to best meet the needs and have a pulse on the community the school serves. 

I often find it interesting how educators can move from one segment to another based on the technology being rolled out, the grade level of their students, and the subject matter curriculum they are teaching. Unlike the article, I have found that age doesn't necessarily place a teacher in certain segments. Some of the most amazing technology integrators I have seen have been over the age of 55. I do think the receptiveness to change is the biggest indicator. And the truth is, as a rule, education systems do not change quickly. You could walk into almost any school in the U.S. today and see rows and columns of desks with a teacher in the front just like you did in the 1800's. Education is built on tradition. Educators are often the type of people that thrive in routine. It's the nature of their world. 

I believe education as a whole has changed more since 2010 and the advent of the mobile device than in any decade in my lifetime and dare I say in my father's lifetime as well. I also believe with the constant growth of educational technology towards smart software, quick assimilation of data, streamlining of basic tasks, and the ability to personalize learning more easily we will see the average classroom continue to wrestle with the exponential change opportunities out there. I truly wonder what the education system will look like for my grandchildren one day. Will it be better or worse? More sterile? More active? Less relational or more relational? Will certain schools stand firm in the idea of traditionalism and what will that look like for those students? 

Nitty Gritty of Technology Integration

Lately our school has been in a discussion of what technology integration should really look like. Some hard discussions have happened but progress is being made to better identify how technology can both support the learning in the classroom and prepare the students for their future. One of the things I keep hearing over and over in discussions is "I just don't know where to start." As an instructional technologist, this is where I feel my support comes in. Helping people find good resources and consider ideas for integration. The following slide presentation came about because I truly want to help others at our school to find ways to integrate technology in their classroom that allows them more efficiencies as well as empower our students to know how to use the tools of technology for learning endeavors:

               Technology Integration by Subject Matter

Digital Learning Day Reflections

Last Thursday Chattanooga Christian Lower School opened our doors for observations of technology integration. We had both local and regional educators come and visit our school for the day. Our teachers didn't do anything they don't do every single day, we just opened the doors to allow others to see it. We had 12-15 different educators visiting from 5 different school systems.

We started the day with a brief explanation of technology integration at our school and then gave our visitors an agenda

 of different things happening throughout the day that they could walk in and visit. I shared that they were welcomed to come and go as they please, that they didn't have to stay for an entire lesson if they wanted to go check out something else. We adopted the edcamp "rule of two feet" for this event. Our visitors were also given the opportunity to ask our students and teachers questions as long as direct instruction wasn't happening.

I believe our teachers do a great job on a regular basis at integrating technology into the curriculum of our lower school. Therefore, when I told them about digital learning day I didn't ask for anything special to happen, I just asked them to allow visitors when they normally used technology in the classrooms. For many of our visitors, technology integration wasn't happening really. It was more a stand alone class for technology. Our visitors were amazed with how seamless the integration was in the classroom settings.

As a technology coordinator I am left with some reflections from that day as well:

1. I work with innovative teachers. Teachers that don't wait for me to tell them what apps, technology, and websites they should use. Many of our teachers seek technology ideas out by themselves. They often will ask my opinions but most of them rarely wait to be told what has to be done. I realize this isn't always the case in many schools. I'm thankful for the culture of acceptance of instructional technology at CCS lower school.  
2. We are a collaborative lot. Our students don't blink when others are in the classroom. I love that this is the case. On a day when there were visitors at the school, it wasn't really that much of a disruption because we often have help coming in and out of the classroom. The days of a teacher being silo'd all day long are long past. There are student teachers, interventionists, technology support, STEAM coordinators  and observers that are all part of the village raising children.
3. I am supported. Our Lower School Head, Chief Technology Officer and Curriculum Director were setting up coffee bars, checking fuse boxes, welcoming guests, and making me look good! The events we have pulled off lately couldn't be done without an amazing team. I'm thankful for the way they listen to my crazy ideas and support me in them.
4. When your school is doing things well, you should celebrate it. Our teachers and interventionists look for ways to streamline teaching by leveraging technology. When I look at the 2016 ISTE Standards for Students
   
   and I stand amazed at how well we are hitting the bar on the standards that came out last year but are suppose to "last" 5-10 years. Our teachers are using technology efficiencies create opportunities to use the extra time for other things but also by using technology regularly they are empowering our students with skills that will help them for a lifetime. 
   
   
   
   

   

   5th Graders writing in Google Docs and uploading to www.turnitin.com

   
   

   

   1st Graders learning about Digital Citizenship with visitors observing

   
   

   

   Math Interventionist sharing about Moby Max

   
   

   

   2nd Graders doing creative writing in www.storybird.com

   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   5th Grade Paperless Math Classroom

   
   

Elementary Technology Favorites by Grade Level

Recently one of our fifth grade teachers, Alice Sikkema, was chosen to present in the poster sessions at Georgia Education Technology Conference (GaETC).  She rocked it! One of the things shared was the list of "tried and true" technology usage by grade level at our elementary school. Below is the compiled list brought to you by teachers that implement daily. New semesters are a great time to try new things. Especially second semester when students have already found their "new year" rhythm. I hope this list is helpful for you. You will immediately see that our teachers have access to iPads and many of their choices are iOS apps but often there are web versions and android apps for these as well. Good luck as you start your new year and happy integrating!

Kindergarten technology use:

Wet-Dry-Try iOS App- $4.99  http://wetdrytry.com/

 An app for teaching handwriting based on the popular Handwriting Without Tears® Slate Chalkboard activity. Students trace a letter on the iPad but the app won't allow them to trace it incorrectly. They must learn which line comes first in order to progress to the next letter.

Sight Word Ninja iOS App- $1.99 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sight-words-ninja-endless/id821374885?mt=8

 An app that allows children to quickly learn common vocabulary.

Number Match App (free) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/number-match-free/id424445851?mt=8

Number Match is a fun matching game for kids to practice numbers and counting. 

SlateMath for kids App (free) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slatemath-for-kids-kindergarten/id589371294?mt=8

SlateMath is an iPad app that develops mathematical intuition and skills through playful interaction.

Matific (cost but free trial) works on multiple platforms https://www.matific.com/us/en-us/

Matific develops mathematical excellence and problem solving skills through playful interaction. 

First Grade technology use:

SeeSaw App (free version) works on multiple platforms-  http://web.seesaw.me/ use for children to have an electronic portfolio of their work in the classroom while also allowing their parents and myself to see and comment on their work. It helps with accountability, cutting down paper used in the classroom, and allows students to explain their thinking in multiple ways (video, audio, photo, drawings, blog, etc). Works on any device.

iPods - Tons of audio books downloaded on them. Students use these as their listening to reading center.

Matific app (cost but free trial) works on multiple platforms https://www.matific.com/us/en-us/ - individualized math games that are centered around the curriculum we are learning that gives me feedback on what students have mastered as well as what they need to be retaught.

Epic app (free) works on multiple platforms- https://www.getepic.com/ students have individualized e-book libraries based on their interests. It is very engaging and the kids who typically loath reading enjoy it because it is what they like.

Second Grade technology use:

Keynote app (cost) iOS and apple computers - http://www.apple.com/keynote/ We use the keynote app for student presentations. The students are introduced to the research process. They are assigned a topic and divided into specific groups (as known as typical collaborative learning groups.)   Students gather information using the web and are taught to reference and give credit to their resources. 

See Saw (free version) works on multiple platforms http://web.seesaw.me/ - We have recently started the implementation of the Seesaw app. This is a student-driven digital portfolio. We are working on students taking responsibility for their learning. This empowers students at a young age to document what they are learning at school and share it with their teacher, parents and classmates.  Because this is fairly new to our grade level, we provide assistance to the students; however, it is our goal to make this tool a center that students can document their efforts and eventually be utilized to enable and provide independence for their work.

Math Master iOS app (free)- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/math-masters-free/id514919162?mt=8 Math factorization and recall is important for our students. The Math Master and Blaster apps provide students an opportunity to become a math maniac with Mr. Number using their math skills. They can exercise their brains by remembering their math drills and solve the mental math problems to test their skills. There are 7 challenging games in 1 single app that targets their age group and higher. They can play basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division or the ones that are quite a challenge for them.  They can complete an equation with the correct signs or answer the random questions if they want to accept the challenge. They can solve the long complicated equations or pop a balloon with every right question answered. Or challenge a classmate to get on top of the global leader board by answering a difficult question in a minimum amount of time. We especially appreciate this app and use it regularly at a math center.  Others include Math Blaster, Math Ninja and Sushi Math.

Epic app (free) works on multiple platforms- https://www.getepic.com/ We recently started using the Epic app. It is a huge arsenal and an all-you-can-read eBook library for kids 12 and under with unlimited access to over 10,000 high-quality kids’ books. We use it during our literacy block as a reading center. We especially enjoy using this as a partnership with our parents. It’s unlimited and as long as there is technology our kids can take reading anywhere, therefore, students can meet their nightly objective in a myriad of places. 

Green Screen iOS app ($2.99)-  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8 This app was amazing. Students made commercials highlighting the finding from the resource of the local landmarks in Chattanooga. This was the objective from their first PBL (Project Based Learning). Students actively explored their assigned local landmarks within their collaborative learning groups. They made commercials highlighting the information gathered from their resources.  This app allowed some students to illustrate or use pictures from the internet as a backdrop. We especially liked this app because it was fun and allowed students to constructively critique their oral presentation and group collaboration skills. It was eye opening and very beneficial.  

Third Grade technology use:

Mr. Math Blog (free) web based http://www.mrmathblog.com/

Online math class!!!  There you will find links to videos that have been created to help your class become successful in math.

Viewpure (free) web based www.Viewpure.com

ViewPure removes all comments and related videos, allowing videos to be watched without distractions, or more likely, without "inappropriate content" from Youtube.  Think of it like YouTube without the bloat.

Kahoot! (free) works on multiple platforms https://getkahoot.com/

Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn – any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!  Great for reviewing concepts.

KidBlog (free +)  works on multiple platforms http://kidblog.org/home/

Kidblog provides teachers with the tools to help students publish writing safely online. Students exercise digital citizenship within a secure classroom blogging space. Teachers can monitor all activity within their blogging community.

Fourth Grade technology use:

MobyMax (free) web based http://www.mobymax.com/

MobyMax  finds and fixes missing math skills that are essential for math comprehension. Moby Math is a comprehensive math curriculum for kindergarten to 8th grade. MobyMax finds missing math skills with a quick, efficient placement test.

Brain Pop  (free+) works on multiple platforms https://www.brainpop.com/

Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology.  The clips short but full of great information then tests the students knowledge with an interactive quiz.

Khan Academy (free)  works on multiple platforms https://www.khanacademy.org/

Does a great job supporting the math curriculum.

Doceri (free) works on multiple platforms https://doceri.com/

Doceri iPad app is a remote desktop app that allows you to control the desktop of your computer remotely, from you iPad. Doceri also has an interactive whiteboard that allows you to mark up the screen to illustrate important points.

Fifth grade technology use:

Show Me iOS app (free) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/showme-interactive-whiteboard/id445066279?mt=8

Great as a “whiteboard” while working on math problems with the teacher.  Great for brainstorming!  Tons of other applications!

Notability iOS app ($6.99) http://gingerlabs.com/

An annotation app. Great for math!  Students complete their work on this and submit it to the teacher.

Green Screen by DoInk iOS app
 ($2.99) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8

Fun app for students to tell a story and explain ideas.  There are all kinds of uses for student projects.  Students will have super fun using their imaginations.

Matific (free trial) works on multiple platforms https://www.matific.com/us/en-us/

The Matific approach was designed to provide optimal support for educators to convey math concepts in as effective and engaging manner as possible. Matific episodes enable a blended learning approach. Having selected the relevant episodes, teachers can seamlessly integrate hands-on math explorations into their own class learning format.

Quizlet (free) works on multiple platforms https://quizlet.com/

Makes simple learning tools that lets the student study anything.  Teacher creates flashcards for students to reinforce their learning and great for test reviews.  Lots of fun for students.  Free!

Newsela (free) works on multiple platforms https://newsela.com/

Gives students the ability to read nonfiction literacy and current events based on their reading level. Also a great way to quiz students on the readings afterwards.

See Saw (free version) works on multiple platforms http://web.seesaw.me/

Student-driven digital portfolio used in math to journal their math resources.

A place for students to turn in their work to the teacher and also a place for the teacher to share items with the students.

Ipad camera 

Students can use the camera to save information.  For example, they can take pictures of the homework board in the classroom. Other usage ideas: http://www.gettingsmart.com/2013/11/8-ipad-camera-integration-ideas-11-classrooms/

Typing.com (free) web based https://www.typing.com/

Comprehensive typing curriculum that teaches your students typing skills.  

Gmail (free) works on multiple platforms https://www.google.com/gmail/

Fifth grade students have a gmail account set up where they can only receive emails from our domain name and/or e-mails we give permissions to email our students.

Google Slides (free) works on multiple platforms https://www.google.com/slides/about/

Teacher shares Class presentations with students so they can follow along as teacher discusses concepts being taught.

Google Docs (free) works on multiple platforms https://www.google.com/docs/about/

Teacher shares spelling/vocabulary words with students.  Students never have to worry about losing this document since it is on their ipad. Students have the ability to share their learning and writing with their teachers and peers. Great for giving feedback to students via comments. This also teaches elementary students the skills of knowing how to write papers for future needs.

The Progression of our Lower School Technology Integration

This is the progression of technology integration at CCS lower school since I came on staff in January of 2004 as a part-time related arts computer teacher. We've come a long way baby!

In the last few days of the first semester of the 2003-2004 school year I was given the opportunity to speak with the teacher that was leaving the school briefly before he left for Christmas break to understand what the curriculum expectations were for the stand alone computer classes in the elementary school. In that year, students in grades 1-2 had keyboarding for 30 minutes a week and grades 3-5 had keyboarding for 40 minutes a week. The teacher often gave students the last 5-10 minutes of each class period time to play games on the computers.

After being a high school computer teacher, I decided to teach the Microsoft computer applications of Word and Powerpoint to the fourth and fifth grade students. After a few years teaching, I graduated with a Masters in Instructional Technology in 2007. The process of learning through that period really gave me a burden to help our school see the benefits of technology integration- not always technology for technology sake and not stand alone. While my main goal was always for our students to continue to improve their keyboarding speed and accuracy, I started asking the elementary teachers how I might support their curriculum with what I was doing in class. I would often contact 3rd-5th grade teachers (and it helped that I had my own girls in those grades at the time) and ask them what they were studying. Sometimes I would create web searches for our students to learn more about what they were studying in class but also learn the skill of good Internet searching. Sometimes we would type letters to people, create poems, etc that integrated with the classroom all to also learn the needed skills I was trying to give our students in computer class. It wasn’t easy- I didn’t have a curriculum map to follow and sometimes it just didn’t work but it was always my goal to integrate what I did with what the students were doing as much as possible. I wanted them to learn that technology was a tool for their learning.

To be quite honest, I always thought we were above the curve of what most elementary students were doing regarding technology. So many schools didn’t have related arts computer teachers. The lower school lab was always “shown off” during admissions walks with potential families.

In 2013 our school decided to start doing computer-based testing of our lower school students. I came in one day and was told that during second semester almost a whole quarter’s worth of instruction would now happen with me rolling an iPad cart of 30 iPads from class to class when the lab was being used for testing throughout the year. I was excited about having options for instruction and learning more about mobile learning. Supporting instruction while learning about how mobile devices are best used in the classroom happened very quickly for me and I was constantly adapting and adopting new ideas.

At the end of the 2013-2014 school year CCS had a marvelous “problem.” We needed 4 classrooms for all the kindergarten students that wanted to come to our school. The computer lab was next to the other three kindergarten classrooms. Mobile technology was becoming more pronounced in the educational arena and I was asked “can we do without a lab?” I said “yes, but let me move into a technology coach role instead of a related arts teacher.”

I am thankful for administration that trusted me on this change. In order to make the transition, we set a very rigid “you must do 2 technology-based projects a year with Julie” to our elementary teachers. Some did more, a few did less, but we started integrating. As I look back over that time I realize we were leading with tech often. It often gives me a stomach lurch compared to where we are today but I can’t figure out how we could have gotten to where we are today without setting some requirement in the beginning.

From the 2013-2014 school year until this past year that “rule” was a rule of expectation. Over the years I started off modeling instruction, co-teaching, and hand holding. Today, I am much more of a support when things go wrong, I help brainstorm new concepts, and try to be a visionary for the next steps. One of the major goals I have had regarding technology integration is that we also speak into teaching students about being appropriate digital citizens. Starting in 2013, CCS Lower School has been recognized as a Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship School because of the amount of lessons we teach our students regarding digital citizenship.

In the 2015-2016 school year, in decision with our fifth grade teachers, the fifth grade became a 1:1 required BYOT iPad grade. Deciding on one device only, instead of the BYOT of the upper school, has created tension between some of the lower and upper school. Much talk and prayer was put into that decision this school year before we announced to the second group of fifth graders which device would be required. This is an area that our fifth grade teachers and myself are constantly looking at for the greater good of our whole school and our students at that grade level.

2016-2017 brought another tremendous change to the lower school due to a grant for STEAM experiences. We were able to bring on a full time para-professional to help teachers integrate more STEAM into their classrooms. Under the direction of myself as the technology coordinator, the STEAM coordinator looks at the current integrated units, curriculum mapping, and ISTE standards for students. We create opportunities for our students to not only integrate technology in the classroom but have some computer science, robotics, and coding opportunities that support grade level curricular learning as well. In the hiring of the STEAM coordinator we also set the requirement that teachers were to work alongside her in the classroom. This is not a standalone related arts class. Much like the role of the tech coach in the beginning, our goal is for our STEAM coordinator to model and work with the teachers to help them get to the place to not only see potential ways to integrate as they are working on lessons but to feel confident in doing that themselves at some point. To see examples of what is being done regarding STEAM read our blog here http://steamtastic.blogspot.com/

In 2016-2017 the requirement for 2 technology-based projects went away. We are seeing our teachers adapting blended learning into their math curriculum using Khan Academy and Matific. We are also seeing the current 3 sets of iPad carts and one Chromebook cart being heavily utilized for our project based learning endeavors and hitting the 4 C’s of technology integration: curation, connection, consumption, and creation. Technology integration in the lower school looks more seamless than it ever has and the need for teacher expectations in usage has dramatically decreased.

2016-2017 also brings with it the opportunities to once again have “technology for technology sake” into the lower school curriculum. Due to Friday afternoon electives for fourth and fifth grade students, we have offered our students the choice to participate in becoming part of a tech support team (see blog post here on tech team), coding, and engineering a prosthetic. Second semester will bring more technology-based options for students to choose from. After school this year our STEAM coordinator has offered circuitry and robotics clubs as well.

The hardest thing I’ve had to figure out is keyboarding. Since losing the lab we have wavered between no keyboarding instruction at all to this year, keyboarding being taught one day a week in grades 4 and 5 by the classroom teacher all year, and one day a week  for grade 3 next semester being taught by the classroom teacher. This is being done from a rolling cart of chromebooks shared within the entire lower school community.

What does the future look like? I think it would be fair to say that technology is a very fluid curriculum. The past few years have proven that. Goals in my mind include:

• Continuing to find the balance needed between how much is enough and appropriate for this age level
• Continuing to teach digital citizenship to our students as a priority in instruction practices across the curriculum
• Creating growth experiences for our students regarding technology
• Finding age appropriate ways for students to search the Internet for research and images that feels safe for our students
• Continuing to assess where we are and what we want technology to do for us at our school
• Bridging the gap between lower and upper school with cohesive goals to best meet the needs of our students and teachers
• Continuing to grow the culture between curriculum and instructional technology working hand-in-hand looking for innovative solutions to educational issues