Continuing to learn about new technology and its benefits, as well as being able to implement the tech into the classroom is important. I am not super tech savy, this episode was a way for me to gain some knowledge about these new advances in 2024. In this episode, I learned about 8 new prominent tech tools that could be utilized benefit teachers.

1. MagicSchool- offers more than 50 AI-assisted tools. Speeds up tasks like lesson planning, assessment building, communication with parents.

2. Diffit- from a reading passage, can level the wording for different reading abilities. Also generate vocab lists, discussion questions to accompany that passage.

3. Eduaide- creates many things that a classroom might need. Guided notes, classroom ice breakers, emails to parents, even rubrics. 

4. Wix Tomorrow Classroom- ability to create a website. Has free resources, lesson plans, activities, templates. 

5. Sembl- whole bunch of math activities, specifically at elementary level.

6. Upschool-  site offers free courses and other learning materials to equip students with skills to solve real-world problems. Goal is to "change world through purposeful education."

7. Flaticon- lots of icons to add visual support for learning. 

8. Dollar Street- a global neighborhood. Show real world families on a virtual street based on their income. This could be used to develop global awareness and debunk stereotypes. 

Some job examples are:

Messenger Leader- I can follow directions and hallway norms

Line Leader- I can help lead the class by following hallway norms

Lunch Basket Leader- I can work with others and follow hallway norms

Equipment Tub Leader- I can work with others and follow hallway norms

Library Leaders- I can work with others and follow hallway norms

Computer Leaders- I can log in to the computers in the morning

Art Smock Leaders- I can use a loud voice and look at my audience

Substitute Leader- I can do all leadership jobs and fill in for someone

Pod Leader- I am good at organizing and working with others

Here is the link for the job application

Things that I learned:

1) Being too helpful for students in the long run is ultimately unhelpful. The purpose of school is to get students ready for life, if they are being saved every time something bothers them, they will not learn to, "swim," on their own.

2) Savior mentality is often a way for teachers to avoid the unpleasant reality that they really cannot save kids by themselves. According to the article, teachers attempting to be the savior of students' struggles leads them to understand that they are unable to fix the problems by themselves. Unlike what is shown in movies.

3) Instead of feeling pity for students, teachers should begin to know the student as a whole. Understanding students as a person helps teachers see that they are also people that go through struggles. Building relationships stops teachers from talking down to students and lowering expectations.

4) Students going through trauma do not need a teacher to lower standards to help them. These students rather need a community of people to help uplift them. If the student does need something, contributing to the help is something that could be done.

5) Assuming students' have a bad at home life and that as a teacher we could be the one to love our students leads to bias. This could be due to behavioral problems, students that are poor, colored or disabled. There is a large difference between not loving a child and not being able to purchase the correct resources to parent correctly.

6) Rather than attempting to be the savior of a student, help students find the proper resources they need. If a resource is unavailable to students, address the systematic issues that create the scarcities.

What I learned-

1. Teachers are feeling they aren't doing well enough through podcasts, books, social media, and school leadership.

2. When doing something difficult and not getting any feedback that you are doing the right thing, it makes it easier and easier to give up.

3. Although sometimes even in a tough situation even the tiniest bit of praise can help.

4. Some things that teachers could be given positive feedback on are:

   1. relationships and rapport with students

   2. decision-making

   3. clarity and delivery

   4. classroom management and logistics

   5. lesson planning

   6. design

5. teachers work hard on everything they do to provide their students with the best possible education they can, giving them a little bit of encouragement that they are doing it right gives them the hope to keep going.

While listening, I learned that the main difference between an engaging lecture and a boring one is student engagement. If students are expected to sit quietly and listen to a droning lecture for 45 minutes, it is unreasonable to assume that they will be consistently paying attention or that any learning will take place. However, according to the podcast, splitting the information up into more bite-sized pieces and only talking for 5-10 minutes at a time is much more conducive to holding students' attention. These 5-10 minute sections are best separated by some type of student engagement. This may include (but is not limited to) any of the following strategies:

1. Polling to check understanding

2. Facilitating class discussion

3. Allowing time for small-group discussion

4. Using student engagement platforms such as Peardeck

what I learned

1. Unconditional positive regard doesn’t take accountability away from students for their behavior

2. people are allowed to mess up and allowed to have struggles and that shouldn't invalidate their worth

3. unconditional positive regards mean "I care about you, you have value, you don't have to prove anything to me, and nothing will change my mind." so being positive and supportive to your students.

4. prioritize getting to know your students.

5. collaborate with other teaches within your school.

1. Informal Conversations - This is when teachers and parents engage in rich conversations with the student/child. During this "stage" one can start these conversations with preschoolers. Keeping the conversation going is the key role in this stage to ensure that the child gets used to talking and using words that their superiors have used.

2. Anchored Word Learning - This is when read aloud are used. Primarily to engage the students in reading, of course, but to also get familiarized with some complex words that they can get the chance to know how to pronounce, look up, and connect with outside familiarities. For example, when younger students are reading picture books, or having them being read to them, they connect the words in the book with the pictures that go along with these words/sentences to help them connect them in their minds for the future.

3. Tip Chart - This is a more imaged-based method to help students connect their terms, definitions and pictures altogether. Teachers will usually keep these charts posted somewhere in the room for their students guidance/assistance. So, for new units, teachers may create these Tip Charts beforehand and go over these terms, definitions and images in class with their students before beginning the lesson.

4. Save The Last Word For Me - This is where interpersonal connections are made with students and their peers to help them compare and contrast their vocabulary learning and proper use of these terms.This stage promotes peer interaction between the students and helps them with not only their vocabulary use skills, but their speaking skills as well.

5. Snap Minilessons - SNAP is the acronym for:

   S - Seeing and saying each word

   N - Naming a category or group each word belongs to

   A - Action on the words

   P - Producing an original application of the words

   This helps the student go by each step when using new vocabulary and it helps them with the memorization of the term.

6. Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy - This is when students jot down terms that they may not be familiar with, or have seen before but cannot recall the definition, and go back to find the definitions to these terms to help them identify what they mean if they hear them or see them again. This helps stimulate word growth and independence within the student and their knowledge.

7. Word Talks - This is when students give an oral presentation on the words that they have learned and feel like they should share with their peers for them to also know. This can be scheduled by the teacher for students to do at least once a week and share out with the class so everyone (the students, and maybe the teacher as well) learns new terms and how to use them in sentences.

8. Digital Tools For Independent Practice - These are sites and resources for teachers and students to utilize to help them with their vocabulary. A few examples of these resources are:

   Freerice

   Flocabulary

   Vocabador

   These are games and websites with videos that engage children in terminology.

What is ADHD ?

• ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that impacts a person’s executive function.

  
  

ADHD Facts

• ADHD is largely genetic

• shows as difficult working towards goals, resisting distractions, hold information in working memory, planning and problem solving. Increase impulsivity and quicker change of emotion "Unfortunately, all of these are often categorized as misbehavior or “poor choices” in the classroom"

• Rates of diagnosis do not necessarily reflect the actual number of students with ADHD.

• ADHD is linked to a host of serious problems. People with ADHD have a greater risk of relationship problems (including social problems in school and both personal and professional adult relationships), employment issues, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addiction, auto accidents, and suicide.

Ways to support ADHD students

• Be Proactive rather than Reactive

  • Instead of waiting for problems to arise and then dealing with them, which is more likely to be done under duress, it’s far more effective to anticipate challenges and set up a plan for preventing them. 

• Making the Internal External

  • An ADHD working memory is like chalkboard on automatic wiping

  • Visuals be able to see all the information ex color coded folders, planner, written instruction

• BREAK LARGE TASKS INTO SMALLER ONES.

  • Because ADHD makes it harder for students to manage long, complex tasks, it helps if teachers can guide students in breaking these tasks into smaller steps

• MAXIMIZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INCENTIVES

  • Internal motivation is harder to sustain for students with ADHD due to reduced working memory and increased impulsivity

  • Positive reinforcements must significantly outweigh negative ones, ncentives may need to be “richer” than what you might typically use for other students

• PREPARE FOR RESTLESSNESS. 

  • To work with—rather than against—these students’ greater need for movement, keep a supply of stress balls, fidget toys, balance balls, or wobble chairs for them to use

1. Keep them pushing

2. Give them choices

3. Reward with positivity

4. Encourage them to believe in themselves

Rather than assigning blame for the lack of motivation exhibited by your students, use these challenges as an opportunity for improvement.

First, the teacher must remove the "I do" portion of the typically used "I do, we do, you do" method. This eliminated the mimicry that goes on a lot in classrooms. Students are forced to get the gears turning on their own, begin critically thinking, and become deeply engaged in the content.

Next, direct instruction is only applied as needed rather than front-loaded at the beginning of class like how we typically see. The students work in groups and are given a task that they begin on their own and only when they are stuck or lost on what to do does the teacher come over and guide the students' thought process.

Another key part of this strategy is that the students work "vertically" meaning they're standing up around the room working on whiteboards. The creator of this instructional strategy notes that this takes away the anonymity of horizontal participation. When the students work vertically their work and efforts cannot be hidden and they cannot disengage from the content.

Another aspect is that the students work in all the same color marker, (black) and the teacher makes notes, comments, hints, etc in a different color (red). This is to differentiate between student work and instruction delivered by the teacher. It makes it easier for the teacher to see immediately whether or not the students understand the material and instead of having to wait till Friday's quiz to check for understanding, the teacher can check for understanding right then and there.

Finally, the students work together in randomized groups of three. The groups have to be noticeably randomized to the students so that they know they will have to work with everyone in the class. This also helps the students understand that they will have to participate because they never know who they will be working with and cannot just pick a partner who they can rely on to do the heavy lifting.

Overall I thought this was a really interesting strategy to increase active learning in the classroom and I think it woudl be fun to try even if it was just a single lesson activity rather than the classroom norm. I think sometimes we think we know exactly what learning is and what it looks like and forget that education is innovative and ever-changing. Mixing up instruction like this is a great way to keep students on their toes and sharpen their minds. I think that the Thinking Classroom is definitely worth a try.