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The more information we have about a student's performance, the better we can address their progress!

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Asking the question "What are we doing with technology in our classrooms?" led me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole and if I hadn't made the decision to climb out, I'd still be chasing all the answers. Teachers are using technology tools to help meet students where they are, enable valuable classroom management strategies, and ensure they are staying on task. Teachers are concerned about students' digital citizenship and online safety, and looking for opportunities to share their observations. Teachers are realizing that we added all this technology to our classrooms, but we rarely ask what the pedagogical value is. We are looking for solutions to less internet access and more smartphones. "Mobile pedagogy" is an area that could use more research, and if we can adjust our preconceived notions of the "evil" of cellphones, we might be able to harness this incredible tool for learning.

As a result of my rabbit holes, I am sharing a collection of findings that I believe are helpful to educators.

Our district has to do a better job partnering with parents. The "Kids Online" resource I created includes 8 links to a plethora of possibilities for families to consider as they realize their child is an online citizen. I hope that teachers can share this with parents and be inspired to create parent events where we invite families in to tackle this challenge together.

I discovered Be Internet Awesome and will be implementing in our Advisory (homeroom) time with our 6th graders. There is more to learn about it, but if we could begin this type of serious digital citizenship eduation at 3rd grade, I think it would be of great benefit to our community. Florence Martin's surveys to teachers show that young students are exhibiting behaviors that reveal some of them have very little oversight at home. On one hand, educators feel like they have enough on their plates to teach our students. On the other hand, as teachers we are in a great position to at least share resources with parents.

Meanwhile students aren't accessing their classwork from home and it appears there are some obstacles. Limited internet access, lack of functional laptops, and an inability to keep track of passwords have led to frustration and apathy. Our district could do a number of things to make this a smoother process. One thing that would have a huge impact would be subscribing to Clever - a tool that puts all the resources in one place and only requires one login and password.

Technology continues to change at breakneck speed, so teachers will continue to be flexible and adaptable. In the process, I hope we continue to revisit our pedagogy and how it interacts with the technology we have welcomed into our classrooms.

*Graphic inspired by Okojie, Mabel CPO, Olinzock, Anthony A., Okojie-Boulder, Tinukwa C. (2022). The Pedagogy of Technology Integration. The Journal of Technology Studies, 32(2), 66-71. https://doi.org/10.21061/jots.v32i2.a.1

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As 1:1 became more and more common, researchers stopped to ask if we were using technology for the sake of shiny novelty, or actually to the benefit of the student. SAMR and TPAK are two frameworks that can help teachers process these questions and determine if technology is elevating the DOK (Depth of Knowledge) as they are integrating it into their classrooms. Research repeatedly shows the benefits of "ongoing online (formative) assessments to gauge student learning and then tailor

instruction for personalized learning experiences" (Warsen, Vandermolen 2020). Link to "When Technology Works: A Case Study Using Instructional Rounds and the SAMR Model" can be found below.

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Click through the slides to discovery how Read Theory has provided my classroom with data and my students with a motivating reading experience that strenghtens their skills.

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As educators at IWMS, we have been grappling lately with the role of technology in our classrooms. There are many factors to consider and, honestly, it seems as if the goalposts are moving constantly. This resource aims to create a “North Star” set of ideas that, regardless of the latest trends or controversies, can redirect us to what’s most important regarding technology and instruction.  It’s true that the world is changing. But we can feel confident that students, for the foreseeable future, will be expected to manage technology in their own lives from a young age. As teachers of those students, let us arm them with tech-related experiences and principles that will enrich and improve their daily lives.

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This online resource encourages teachers to:

Develop a Professional Learning Network in person and online.

Use technology to be sure your classroom is as accessible as possible.

Address cultural and socioeconomic diversity in the classroom.

Find ways to differentiate your classroom.

Ensure the online resources we are using are credible.

Evaluate and justify the ways you use technology in your classroom.

Collect useful data from assessments by finding the best tech tools.

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Find Yourself a Professional Learning Network

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Find Yourself a Professional Learning Network

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When I first became a parent, I armed myself with books, magazines, and the advice of my peers. I knew there was plenty I didn’t know and I would need as much help as I could get. When my second was born, it happened to align with the advent of blogging and social media. Suddenly, I didn’t only have access to the “experts” in various fields, but also the old wives tales, anecdotes, and new strategies people were discussing and trying. (This was especially helpful with potty training!) As people opened up about the personal highs and lows of life on social media, I was relieved to feel less alone than I had 5 years prior. I also discovered that my mother and her peers had nothing of the sort to help comfort and direct them. On the contrary - as young parents in the most frustrating moments, they often felt alone and shame because no one talked about much of the frustration and heartache that comes with everyone’s parenting journey.

I know we are not all parents, but I also know professionals in today’s world are discovering the trials and errors of peers from all over the country and all over our field, just as I did as a flailing parent years ago. Thanks to social media and the plethora of information on the internet, many of us have found ourselves a part of informal professional learning communities that share new successful strategies and offer encouragement in the face of common struggles. We should never attempt to teach or lead in a vacuum, but should regularly seek out the counsel and experiences of schools around us who might have something to share.

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The richness of our classrooms come from the variety of learners we have in the seats. I’m grateful to be part of a community with a colorful student body that can share different experiences and life stories. This diversity of course means we have students of all levels and abilities as well. One room is not homogenous and so neither should our teaching strategies be one-size-fits-all. A healthy, vibrant classroom utilizes differentiated classroom management, instruction, and application approaches that hope to reach all our kids because they are as diverse as our students are. Technology can assist with that.

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We teach our students to assess the credibility of the sources they find online. What is the "teacher" version of that process? Apply the CRAAP strategy to whatever you are consuming online.

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The SIFT method can be credited to Mike Caulfield while at WSU Vancouver, who can be found at hapgood.us/about/

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Research Guides: Evaluating Online Sources: A Toolkit: Evaluating Online Sources: Initial Moves

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Strategies for evaluating online sources

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The impact of using technology to efficiently assess students has been studied extensively and the results are clear. Not only does immediate feedback provide students with the tools they need to improve, it can act as an equalizer neutralizing the socioeconomic disadvantages that some students carry (Barana, Conte 2023). "Promoting Socioeconomic Equity Through Automatic Formative Assessment" is linked below.

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Educators are sharing some of their best ideas and perspectives on social media. It's changing the landscape as more teachers feel supported and inspired. Click here to find out how you can be part of the movement!

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Contributing to the Digital World of Educators (1)

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Creating An Online Landing Spot for Your Stakeholders: Padlet

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Creating An Online Landing Spot for Your Stakeholders: Padlet

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Teachers often want an easy way to share with both parents and students, and the LMS (Learning Management System) is not usually the answer. Some schools have websites for teachers and grade levels, but depending on the infrastructure, this can quickly get complicated.

Google Sites and Padlet are two great options for creating a static landing page that offers stakeholders an easy way to access the valuable links and information teachers want to make available.

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As the Social Studies year progresses, this teacher builds the Padlet for students and families adding links and information. This is the final edition at year end.

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Creating An Online Landing Spot for Your Stakeholders: Google Sites

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Creating An Online Landing Spot for Your Stakeholders: Google Sites

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Teachers often want an easy way to share with both parents and students, and the LMS (Learning Management System) is not usually the answer. Some schools have websites for teachers and grade levels, but depending on the infrastructure, this can quickly get complicated.

Google Sites and Padlet are two great options for creating a static landing page that offers stakeholders an easy way to access the valuable links and information teachers want to make available.

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How to Make a Website with Google Sites (Beginner Tutorial)

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Google Classroom gets cluttered and younger students can struggle to find things. Students can bookmark their teacher's Google Site and easily access the frequently-used classroom links from there.

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Welcome to Mrs. Wagner's ELA Class Site! I am so glad to have a single location where I can share resources and information! This site is where you can find my class expectations, grading standards, frequently asked questions and contact information. In addition, students will use this site as a

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High School History teacher with great tips and tricks! Tells it like it is.

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Witty and realistic. Classroom management, teacher truths, etc.

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Monica Genta's podcast "This Teacher Life" is a great source of encouragement and fun games to motivate our K-8 kiddos. Highly recommend all her resources.

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Monica Genta. 72,136 likes · 1,426 talking about this. Teacher. Author. Keynote Speaker. Motivator.

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TedEd offers teachers access to lessons paired with professionally made videos built to engage students. But in addition, it also offers teachers the resources to help students create their own TedTalks as well as avenues to get involved as an educator who has something to share!

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TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.

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Pinterest can be an endless source of solutions and inspiration. Follow here!

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230 Teaching ideas in 2025 | teaching, teaching classroom, school classroom

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Aug 28, 2025 - Explore angie jean’s board “Teaching” on Pinterest. See more ideas about teaching, teaching classroom, school classroom.

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When someone says, "Listen to this," be ready to head to a fact checking site. Sensationalized headlines are all the rage. Normalize constant fact-checking.

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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

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Design guidelines have been established to give educators an overview of the various ways we should be making our lessons accessible. This tool covers everything from integrating students' varied personal experiences, to making sure people can interact with the material despite a disability. It's a great starting point if you haven't given this type of thing much thought.

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DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center offers an easy to follow deep dive into various aspects of accessibility that bring access to student learning.

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A Tutorial for Making Online Learning Accessible to Students with Disabilities - DO-IT

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These instructional materials provide a path forward in improving existing offerings and designing new ones that ensure that all students can benefit from online educational opportunities.

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Use the link to access an example of how one can take aspects of their lesson that seem to complicate things for their students, and make them more accessible. As a result, everyone wins.

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PDF's can be problematic for screen readers. Chrome to the rescue! Chrome has user site settings that have Chrome open your PDF and cooperate with screen readers so that anyone utilizing that tool doesn't miss out on your content. See the attached link for more information from Chrome.

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I know many of us use Canva almost exclusively to create resources for our classes. Canva wants docs to be accessible as much as anyone. They have a "Check Design Accessibility" tool that can be found under the File tab. It gives instructions to the creator on how to improve the accessibility of the creation! Very helpful.

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Tip #2) Descriptive Wording for hyperlinks.

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Tip #2) Descriptive Wording for hyperlinks.

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I admit before being exposed to these guidelines, I was the queen of "Click Here" for my hyperlinks. Now I understand that for assistive technology to do its best work, the link needs to be very clear about where it will take you.

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Whenever your online resource has image, a screen reader will read the photo according to its "Alt Text." Alt Text is different from captions, which sometimes don't explain what the picture looks like at all. Websites having Alt Text can also help to give the viewer/listener a hierarchy of events as they appear on the page.

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Example of Creating Alt Text for Website

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When a document is organized with Headings and Subheadings, screen readers have an easier time identifying the hierarchy of ideas and conveying those to the viewing/listener. In addition, one can click on the heading in the outline to the left of the doc, and it will act as a hyperlink taking the viewer to that part of the text. This is a feature that works well in Microsoft Word as well as Google Docs.

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Using this site, we can all get an overview of the media landscape and how people perceive the information all of us are consuming. So interesting!

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Learn About Bias

About the Ratings

By making the political leanings of hundreds of media outlets transparent, AllSides allows you to consume a balanced news diet and avoid manipulation and fake news.

See top outlets in our Media Bias Chart
See full list of over 1400 rated sources

How We Rate Media Bias

We use multiple methods to rate news bias. Unless otherwise noted, our media bias ratings are based on online, written content. We typically do not rate broadcast, TV, or radio content. In some cases, we provide separate bias ratings for news and editorial/opinion content.

Learn about our rating methodology here
See which media outlets we recently reviewed

What the Ratings Mean

AllSides Media Bias Ratings reflect the average view of Americans, not one individual.

We encourage everyone to read news across the political spectrum to get a comprehensive view of different perspectives and political leanings from liberal, Mixed, and conservative news sources. Please note that Center does not mean better! A Center outlet may still omit important perspectives, or run individual articles that display bias.

Our media bias ratings are fluid and subject to change over time as new information is gathered and biases change. See more on how AllSides Media Bias Ratings™ have evolved.

Learn what it means for an outlet to be Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, Right, or Mixed.

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Everyone is biased - and that's okay. But hidden media bias misleads, manipulates and divides us. AllSides makes media bias transparent, helping you to easily identify different perspectives so you can get the full picture and think for yourself.

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Problem: Kids are online without enough oversight.

Solution: Schools need to share their research with families, educate them, and partner with them to help kids be safe! Share this pdf with parents. It's filled with valuable resources, tips, and links.

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Google has developed free curriculum that pairs with an online game called Interland. It's clear that districts needs to implement these types of lessons earlier than we are.

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The Internet Keep Safe Coalition is dedicated to protecting children, families, and schools by assessing, advising, and certifying organizations that collect, use, and share personal information and data that is protected by law.

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Be Internet Awesome is a multifaceted program that includes a fun and free web-based game called Interland and an educational curriculum to teach kids how to be safe and responsible explorers of the online world.

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Florence Martin has identified 4 areas of concern that she has found teachers feel parents may not know enough about. Teachers in elementary schools are seeing the impact of a lack of oversight. The concept of Martin's 4C's has gained tractions and has been featured in a number of mainstream education magazines and websites. This link is to her original paper that explored her findings.

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Teacher and School Concerns and Actions on Elementary School Children Digital Safety - TechTrends

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Elementary school children are spending more time using digital technologies. Teachers and schools are concerned about the student’s digital safety. We interviewed ten elementary school teachers virtually to understand their concerns and understand the actions they take regarding elementary school children’s digital safety. Using thematic analysis, we identified themes of concerns and actions of teachers and schools on elementary school children’s digital safety. Some digital safety concerns discussed by the teachers included content-related concerns such as accessing inappropriate content, contact-related concerns, inappropriate contact with others online, sharing personal information, lack of understanding of danger, conduct-related concerns regarding cyberbullying and digital footprint, contract-related concerns such as digital security and privacy, and home-related concerns. Teachers and schools have taken several actions to address these concerns. Some of the digital safety actions included security measures and limits, monitoring student activities, providing education on digital safety, and support from guidance counselors. This study has implications for elementary school educators, administrators, parents, and students on the safe use of digital technologies.

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Our awareness of a student’s cultural background can be the building block we need to connect our content with their understanding. In our building we have the opportunity to celebrate and encourage our bilingual students and the advantage they will take with them beyond the classroom. How can we use technology to better connect with these families and express to them that we consider them a valuable stakeholder in our school?

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Click through this presentation to find links, suggestions, and guidelines!

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Check out this Presentation designed by Angela Wagner.

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Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom

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Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom

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Based on recent research and best practices, this guide uses the TPACK framework to guide teachers to ask important questions about their use of technology in their lesson plans.

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Check out this Presentation designed by Angela Wagner.

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This article does a great job giving an overview of how classrooms should look in order to create a classsroom that is welcoming to all. I constantly struggle with these ideas because many schools - ours included - are desperately lacking the resources they need to offer these elements. We don't have the staff we need to give students the support they really need; we don't even have the physical space that is required! But we do our best. Partnering with teachers is crucial. Creating a culture of equity and inclusion is vital. We look for opportunities to integrate all students and I do feel that at the end of the day all of our students feel like they are part of the same school community.

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8 Indicators of Inclusive Classrooms - Brookes Blog

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What does meaningful inclusion really look like? In honor of our recent inclusion book giveaway, we’re going to center today’s post around some insights from one of the awesome books featured in the gift box: The Educator’s Handbook for Inclusive School Practices, coauthored by Julie Causton & Chels…

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Click here for some final thoughts about the challenges and triumphs of navigating the use of technology in the classroom in the year 2025!

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Teachers & Tech Resource: Final Thoughts