A New Chapter

If I were completely truthful with myself, I put off writing this post all summer long. Yesterday, I began a new chapter in my life. It's hard to say goodbye to a place I called home. Throughout my teaching career, I've taught at four schools (including student teaching). Each campus taught me skills that would continue to shape who I am as a teacher. Seabrook Intermediate was another important part of shaping who I have become as an educator. Seabrook was my school family when I moved to Texas. I'm honored to have been a part of the Spartan family.

The new chapter of my life takes me out of my own classroom for the first time in my teaching career. This is the first summer I haven't shopped for school supplies, planned for my classroom layout, created a plan for my students. This is the biggest change I've made in my career. I've had the opportunity to pursue my dream job. To work alongside teachers and help them implement technology in their classrooms. This is what my Master's degree was focused on. I've worked towards a position like this since student teaching. I remember working alongside teachers in the computer lab to help them with an interdisciplinary unit. I was comfortable with the technology. I was strong with my ability to figure it out. I knew then that I wanted to pursue my Master's degree in educational technology. My cooperating teacher helped foster my love for technology. Mr. E helped me learn how to utilize it in the classroom. He taught me how to use technology to enhance and strengthen lessons. I learned how it could be used in a way that didn't make it just "fluff" for a lesson.

Moving to Texas was one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life. I left the security of a school district that I not only taught in for 11 years but also went to school in. It was a comfort zone and my home. When I moved to Texas, I found a new home at Seabrook Intermediate. I found a new family that pushed me to grow professionally, supported me when I needed support, and gave me a new place to call home.

When this position for learning technology coach opened up, my professional family was supportive. My administration, coaches, and team supported me as I worked to pursue my dream job. It's important to have a family that supports you as you continue to grow in life. I'm so blessed to have both a personal family and professional family that supports me through this journey.  Seabrook Intermediate will hold a special place in my heart and it's bittersweet to not walk through those doors this year.

I'm eager about my new role in the district. It's a new learning adventure for me as I navigate uncharted territory. I've been preparing for this upcoming year in a much different way. There are many unknown variables for me as I pursue this different role. I have an even bigger professional family as I move from the role of a classroom teacher to a learning technology coach. I'm excited to work alongside these coaches and teachers this school year. I look forward to growing and finding my place in the new families. It's exciting that the schools I will support this year feed into Seabrook Intermediate. It makes me feel like I'm still at home.

Book Clubs - Part 1

In February, I wrote a Donor's Choose grant for new books for my classroom. The purpose of the grant was to provide my students an opportunity to have newer books to read for their book clubs (literature circles).

My students entered my decorated classroom. They were excited about the activity we were participating in. I'll be honest, I spent about $20 to set this all up. I bought inexpensive tablecloths, baskets, cups, and soft peppermints (for their after tasting mint). Students spent two days rotating through books. I grouped the students and that's the table they sat at for the book tasting. Each day they tasted a different batch of books. During the book tasting, the students answered questions about the book. They ranked the book 1-10 by interest. On the last day, the students filled out a page to pick their top three books to read. This is what I used to determine the book clubs. 

Here are some highlights from the book tasting. 

Book Tasting

How did the grab your attention? How did they "hook the reader? 
"The author had a fight start within the first five pages. After the fight, I didn't want to stop reading it." G.C. - The Outsiders

"The author hooked me into the book by not telling me the background information of the boy that was being taken to prison." A.E. - Scar Island

After looking at the cover, what's your first impression of the book? 
"It is questionable, I am confused whether or not the beaver is metaphorical or the story is actually centered around a beaver, but the cover really gives the reader a good idea about what the book is about." D.S. - Slacker

After reading 3-5 pages, what do you think of the book? 
"I think this book would be great to read because I have friends that can relate and I've heard what they went through and the character in the book surprises me." M.L. - The Outsiders

"Wow! It's incredible! I love the language that the author uses. It really makes you connect to the story and the characters." B.P. - Some Kind of Courage

Classroom Screen

 Our technology coach showed us this awesome free website. It’s called Classroom Screen. I use it in my classroom daily. It’s the perfect resource that has plenty of tools available on one screen. All you need is a computer, projector, and internet connection.

First, I want to point out that you have access to several different languages. It converts the text into the language of choice. That’s an excellent opportunity, especially if you teach a foreign language. I think about one of my friends from Louisiana. She’s a Spanish teacher and this would be a perfect tool for her to use in her classroom.

You have the choice to set the background. There are many crisp, clear images that can be used. There are also solid color backgrounds as an option to reduce distraction. My favorite part about this section is you can upload your own image. This allows me to upload images based on the seasons, holidays, or topic discussed in class.

There are several tools available. The best part is it’s all on one screen at a time. The creator really had a classroom teacher in mind. It’s so nice to not have to bounce back and forth between several different windows. I know that there are many wonderful tools integrated in different software programs. I have found that for me personally, this site has everything I need in one easy location.

If you haven’t tried classroomscreen.com, I highly recommend you check it out. You won’t be disappointed. Here’s what my classroom screen looks like this morning.

Piecing Me Together - Book Talk

Synopsis from the School Library Journal 

Gr 7 Up –High school junior Jade is an “at-risk” student from a rough neighborhood in Portland, OR. She is also a talented collage artist, and she attends an elite private school on scholarship. More than anything, she wants to go on a study abroad week offered at her school to use her Spanish skills. Instead, she is given an invitation to join Woman to Woman, a mentorship program for young women like her: poor and black. Her mentor, Maxine, is from a more privileged background, and Jade doesn’t see what she can learn from her. But in spite of her early resistance to Maxine, Jade begins to open up and gain confidence, and, eventually, she is able to express the importance of her family, her community, and her art. The two strong female characters and the ways in which they struggle with and support each other form the center of this tale. Most young people will relate to Jade’s search to find her voice and learn to advocate for herself in appropriate ways. The lack of a romantic lead may leave some young teen readers disappointed, but there is a real, refreshing strength in a fully fleshed-out female character whose story is her own. This is a memorable novel that demonstrates that a happy ending doesn’t require a romantic subplot.

Personal Reflection

I really enjoyed this book. I personally give it a five star rating. I felt like I connected with Jade on a different level. This book was able to convey the struggle with privilege and give a perspective of coming to terms with oneself. As a reader, I could see what Jade's internal conflicts were. I could relate to her struggle to be proud of who she is and not feel the need to be "fixed" by others. Jade finds her strength as she learns to speak up for herself. As an individual who is sometimes quiet, I appreciate seeing how she grows stronger and finds her voice. It is definitely a book I will put in my classroom library. 

Flipgrid - I've got the fever!

I must say that I've been diagnosed with Flipgrid Fever! My instructional coach has been working to try and get me to use Flipgrid this school year. I got excited and set up my grid. Then I tried it with one class and just never pursued it from there. The class I tried it with was kind of chaotic towards the Christmas break. So like many things, I put it on the shelf and didn't touch it again.

My kids are now participating in book clubs (literature circles). I decided this was a great way to have them participate in a discussion question, especially since their STAAR writing test was over. My students LOVE this program! It is so easy and they can answer the prompt in 15 seconds. These videos gave me an insight to student's thinking. It was great for my quiet students who I struggle to get to speak to me. They can share their thinking in a space without feeling the pressure of the teacher "hovering" over them.

Here's how easy it is. First step is to go to info.flipgrid.com and sign up. You'll have the opportunity to create one grid for free. The membership is reasonably priced if you are interested in obtaining the full version. So far the free version has been exactly what I need at this time.

My student's have enjoyed doing this activity. I've been getting more out of them, especially my quieter students. It's so exciting to give these students a voice. I'm looking forward to making flipgrid a staple in my classroom. Here's a sample of one of my topics. Please excuse the smiley faces, I wanted to protect my students. I hope that you'll be able to catch the fever too! 

Collaborative Book Clubs Grant

I'm so excited to annouce that I received a Donor's Choose grant this year for my book clubs. I was able to obtain five books each of 13 different novels. I can't wait for my books to arrive! My students are going to be so excited.

Collaborative Book Clubs

Last year I ran across a blog entry about hosting a book tasting in your classroom. Check out the blog entry here. I was so excited to do this in my classroom. I was able grab some books from our book room. I bought table cloths, put together a "menu" of books, set up after dinner mints, and their recording journal. My students really enjoyed this activity. They were able to choose their top 3 choices of books they wanted to read. One of the downfalls was that the books were outdated, they were in rough shape, and that posed an issue for my students.

Over the last year I've been working very hard to try and update my classroom novels. I've been blessed by so many different people this school year. My home flooded in Hurricane Harvey and much of my classroom library flooded with it. I can't begin to tell you how many people poured out on me. They sent me books from their bookshelves, gift cards, money, etc... I've been able to update my classroom library. I still wanted to obtain some novels for the book clubs.

In February, I decided to submit a Donor's Choose grant in hopes of obtaining books. My grant was funded towards the end of February. With this grant, I was able to get 13 different novels for my book clubs. Once the novels come in, I'll sketch out the days for our book clubs. This is one of my favorite activities. I absolutely LOVE the group discussions that come from the book clubs. I hope my students will have the chance to partner up and work with students they may not normally work with.

After last year, I learned a few things that should make this round run well. I divided the groups into an A group and a B group. That way I was conferencing with half of the groups each day. It was difficult to get to the groups and have meaningful discussions. I think I'll do it differently this year. Honestly it would be good to have 1-2 groups to conference with on an given day. That may make the rotation for reading the books and conferencing much better. The students will have lesson meeting days, but there can be more quality conversations. Each student will have a role to participate in during the book club discussion day. That's just one of the things I'll do differently. I also plan to help the students map out when they will read the books and how to divide up the pages. It was tough on Pre-AP last year trying to get it all in. I know the pitfalls to avoid with that. Here were a few of the resources I found helpful last year.

Depth and Complexity Literature Circles
Literature Circles for Middle School
Book Tasting
Because Sometimes You Just Need a Worksheet

I look forward to incorporating a more Workshop style for my upcoming book clubs. I'll post more after I formulate my 2018 Collaborative Book Clubs - Book Tasting.

OneNote Collaboration

The past week I've been able to collaborate with one of my 7th grade team members in OneNote. We were able to work together to share OneNote with our faculty. It was such a neat experience. We were able to talk about the different ways we use it in our classrooms. I felt like many of our faculty members were very excited about having the opportunity to use this program. That made me even more excited about using OneNote.

I'll be honest, it sure does help to have someone else who's using it too. It gives a sounding board, someone to share ideas with, and to be excited about using it. I know that this year I've been using it on a small scale compared to what the program can do. We've had a few hiccups along the way, but now I have someone to collaborate and troubleshoot with. Here's a sample of our PowerPoint.

Presenting this to our faculty was awesome! After our presentation, we decided to create a OneNote notebook that we could share and collaborate on. We can add pages, test out the collaboration space, and so much more. I feel like this is just the first step in being able to use OneNote to collaborate as teachers. I can see so much potential in this. I can't wait to explore it more in depth.

Twitter

Up until this school year, I've been a twitter dropout. I signed up for an account several years ago. I tried using it. Part of my problem was I liked to write more than 140 characters. I was encouraged by my administration and my humanities coach to really give it a go this year. I dabbled with it a little bit at the beginning of the school year and now it's one of my favorite social media platforms. 

As an educator, there have been so many benefits to using Twitter. First and foremost, I've been able to learn from other educators outside of my circle. I've been able to see the exciting things they are doing in their classrooms. I've learned about OneNote, Workshop model, and just met some inspiring people. 

Another thing,  I've really enjoyed is following authors. The first time an author liked my tweet, I felt like a million bucks. I like being able to give some quick feedback to them, even if they don't have time to answer. Twitter has brought me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to have the opportunity to reach out to others.

Honestly, I'm so glad that I started to use Twitter this year. I've been able to connect with people that I would have never had the chance to connect with before. I feel like this social media platform has made my search for educational resources much more effective. I can zone in on things I want to learn specifically and network with others about those topics.

Revealing their thoughts in OneNote

Once a week for the last several weeks, I've been giving my students one writing prompt in OneNote. It is something I found on TPT. It's called 300 Common Core Creative Writing Prompts. I've been able to pick one a week to have the students respond to the picture prompt. I'm really enjoying these. I feel like they are even useful in my writing practice.

I can honestly say I'm so excited about their progress. I'm able to get a better quality answer from many of my students. I find that the quality is better instead of just "how much" they write.  Some of the prompts are challenging for my students, but most seem to be easy for them to understand.

How does OneNote make this process more meaningful in the classroom? Honestly, I feel that OneNote has given me better insight into what my students are thinking. I have a group of students who thrive in being able to use their laptops in class. I see the benefit of having students typing their answers into OneNote. It gives them a place to write without feeling judged. As a teacher, I can see what they are working on in real time. I can see their thought process as it unfolds. I feel that it's less pressure for them feeling as tough I'm hovering over their shoulder.

I have students who don't typically write anything. Some of my students struggle to write legibly. Using OneNote has given me opportunities as a teacher that I feel I didn't have before. I really like having the opportunity to have access to their binder at all times. I can go back and reread something, leave feedback for students, and help them with organization.

Here are some student samples. 

Shadow Day

In February of this year, I had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Meyer’s classroom. Mrs. Meyer’s teaches 7th grade ELA. I observed two inclusion classes and a partial PreAP class.

Mrs. Meyer’s welcomed me into her classroom with open arms. She was very transparent with me regarding her classroom setting. She was flexible and willing to allow me to see any element of workshop that I needed. The fact that she was willing to change her lesson to meet my needs demonstrated the type of teacher she is.

Her classroom is amazing! She has flexible seating, an incredible library, and student centered environment. I looked at her bookshelves for quite some time searching for new book ideas.

There is a strong sense of classroom community in her room. It is obvious that her students respect her. She has established a positive relationship with her students. She knew exactly what they needed and worked to meet those needs.

As for workshop, I was able to see the process from start to finish. I was so excited that we were working on the same skill in writer’s workshop. I was able to gain a few new ideas to bring back and utilize in my own personal classroom. Another thing that made the shadow day so meaningful.

There were several take-aways I had from Mrs. Meyer’s classroom. 

• Classroom management and routines are imperative! Workshop doesn’t work without clear routines/procedures. The first twenty days of workshop procedures resonated with me at this time. 
• Students needed to be sent back to their work spaces with a clear purpose. This purpose should be an extension of the mini-lesson taught in class. Students were given a clear purpose, a time frame to work within, and expectations of the evidence of the work.
• Small groups are possible! I’ve been struggling to determine how to set up small groups to work with me. I saw first hand how students are often able to sort themselves into that particular group. She worked with the group that needed her most. If she saw students off task, she invited them to the group to work with her. This was my biggest take away! I was able to create a “help desk” in my own personal classroom. The first week of implementation, students were crowded around it begging to work with me. I felt like I was working on a level that was able to meet my student’s needs.
• Workshop looks different in everyone’s classroom. The structure of workshop is the same: mini-lessons, purposeful independent practice, and conferencing. This shadow day gave me the confidence to implement workshop into my classroom. 

The Power of Collaboration

As educators it's easy to close our doors and just do our thing. It's tempting to just fly under the radar and keep to ourselves. I think we miss out on ideas when we avoid collaborating with our colleagues. I find that it's easy to talk about what's going on with students, complain about things, or make small talk about what's going on outside of school. It's difficult to be vulnerable and share what's going on in your classroom. We potentially face being judged when we share what's really going on in our classrooms. I know that I often think about that, when asked what are my students working on.

I'm an overachiever by nature. I want to be the best that I can be. I want to be willing to try to grow myself as an educator. I'm internally motivated like that. I will say that I've been like that ever since I can remember. I have found that one of the best ways that I can grow is by collaborating with my colleagues. It's in having those vulnerable conversations that I can come up with some of my best ideas for my classroom. It is vital to have those conversations with each other. To share our failures and our successes. Those encouraging moments help us to continue to do what we do.

Each week, I look forward to our "Thursday Talk". Our humanities coach meets with us each Thursday and we collaborate and share what's going on in our classes. We share where we are in our transition into the workshop model of teaching. We share projects, books, activities, success, and failures. We lay it all out on the table and help each other pick the pieces back up.

At first it's tough to be vulnerable. To expose your "failures" to each other. It's raw. It's real. It's pertinent. It helps us grow. We are able to gain the encouragement we need to keep going. We get a fresh perspective detached from the "problems". This, my fellow educators, is such a significant part of our jobs. We need to sharpen each other as educators.

This past week I had the opportunity to facilitate our "Thursday Talk." I was so excited to see that we had a full house that day. There wasn't an empty seat at the table. Teachers were all chattering about what they were working on in their classrooms. I was able to share the one pager projects my students completed. We had some great discussion about them. I was so proud to showcase what my students had done. They exceeded my expectations, and I was proud to show them off to my colleagues. The other teachers were excited about this project. They couldn't wait to modify it for their own classrooms. That's a collaboration win!

When we take those moments to be raw and vulnerable, we have the chance to inspire each other with something new and different. Sometimes we share a new spin on a task we've always done. We can put our brains together and tweak a project until we can make it better than before. We can troubleshoot problems and come up with solutions for it. That's the power of collaboration. We can exponentially multiply our skills and knowledge.

It's important that everyone have the chance to share in the collaboration meetings. All voices need the opportunity to be able to share what's going on in their classrooms. It helps the collaboration to be stronger when more than one voice is heard. That's part of developing the strength of the team during collaboration meetings.

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

I consider myself to be an experienced teacher. I have taught different grade levels, subjects, and at three different schools (if you count student teaching). I find that it's super easy to become set in our ways. We work for several years to find our style of teaching. Can we really learn a new way of teaching?

Learning how to use the Workshop model has been a journey for me. I moved to Texas and this was the way they taught. I'm so thankful that my previous principal gave me a chance and hired me without knowing this method of teaching. I've spent this year really trying to dig in and try to do workshop. I've tried many different things this school year: flexible seating, reader's and writer's notebooks, and mini-lessons to name a few.

Flexible seating has been different for me. I have played around with the style this school year. My poor students have had to become flexible with me as I've reorganized my classroom. I hope by the end of the school year I'll be able to have the room just the way I want it.

I've utilized a writer's notebook this year in a composition book. My reader's notebook was in their binders. Since I've been using OneNote, I may not use the composition books next year. I hope that the technology will be something that will work well with my students. So far, it seems to be. I read a book that showed me how effectively use a reader's notebook. I felt like that was my weakest area. I have some great ideas to implement in the reader's notebook next school year.

Mini-lessons have been my achilles heel. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around them. It's hard to figure out how to stop talking and let the kids take some owndership. I'm so excited to be able to go and observe another teacher's classroom. I will be able to see a lesson from start to finish. Maybe this will help me wrap my mind around the mini-lessons. I'm sure I'm just making it too difficult.

At this point I feel like it's safe to say an old dog can learn new tricks. The old dog might be slow and struggle some, but learning nonetheless. I look forward to reflecting on the visit and gleaning some new knowledge to implement into my classroom.

How I'm Using OneNote

Technology is overwhelming at times. If you are like me, you hear/see/explore all these really wonderful ideas. When you sit down to implement them into your classroom, the overwhelming feelings swell up. Instead of spending time getting bogged down in all of those overwhelming feelings, I decided to focus on one thing. Just one... This year my focus is incorporating OneNote into my classroom.

Just before my winter break, I attempted to test run a class notebook with a few students. Some of my PreAP students overheard and wanted to try it too. So I thought why not jump in and try it out completely. We tested out a few things, but didn't delve into it 100%. I set up my class notebooks to reflect my student's classroom binders.  We talked about the Content Library and how that was like my filing cabinet. The students could look at it, but not touch. It took a little time for the students to make sure they were accessing documents from their own folders and not trying to type on mine.After coming back from winter break, I decided that I was going to really try to utilize OneNote in my classroom.

What's in our notebooks?

• Bellringers - Weekly journal writing bellringers
• Reader's Notebook - I incorporate ReadWorks passages and NewsELA articles in the notebooks. 
• Mentor Texts - I'm not sure if I'll use this section next year. I think I'll combine this into my reader's notebook next year
• Writer's Notebook - Student's writing assignments are located here
• Stems - Greek and Latin roots
• Reference - Documents I want them to be able to have for reference
• Portfolio - Right now it's bare except our 2018 resolution activities

I'm not sure if this is what I'll keep in my class notebooks in the future. I like that I've had the opportunity to try some things out and see what works and what doesn't. I will say that this has helped me think about how to streamline my binders in my classroom. Sometimes less is more, and I'm seeing that with the OneNote class notebooks. It's interesting how the perspective changes when you can visually see the paper trail.  You start to question what's important to keep or use and what's not. 

OneNote Testimonial

I have a student this year who really struggles to write. He doesn't like to write. When I sit and work with him one on one, it's almost like he's in pain trying to write. He struggles to get started. In the beginning of the year, I'd get pages turned in blank. When I'd ask him about the assignment, he'd shut down completely. 

Last week we had a free write. I've been working with my students to spend some time writing down their thoughts, even if it's ugly. They've been building up their writing stamina. This is a sample of his writing. 

It may seem rough around the edges, but I'm so happy that he's finally writing. It gives me something to work with. It gives me a starting point to help him write better. I call this a triumphant moment! He's writing. He's writing because he likes the computer and using OneNote has him writing. That's enough to encourage me to continue to  use the program in my classroom. It will allow me the chance to refine my practices as an educator. My students are eager to try it and that's motivation enough for me.

Samples

I can't wait to see what the rest of the school year holds as I continue to explore all that OneNote has to offer. 

Techie Teacher Reflection

Before I begin with my current technology goal, I felt it was necessary to give some background knowledge. I'm no stranger to technology. I grew up in a home where it we had a desktop computer available. Mind you it was Windows 98 if that gives you a perspective of time. My father worked in the elevator industry. He worked with technology in his career. He was always encouraging me to embrace technology as it would become my world.

When I was twelve years old, I didn't really think on a global scale. I understood the use of the world wide web, but didn't see the future of collaboration around the world. I became more comfortable with technology as I continued to grow up with it. I remember learning to type on an electric typewriter in my high school typing class. We were the fortunate group that experienced the change over from typewriters to computers. I remember typing final drafts of writing assignments on old Mac computers.

As I entered college in the fall of 1999, I remember taking my first Educational Technology (Edtech) course. I excelled in that course. I was no stranger to technology, and that was my opportunity to grow my use of technology into a professional usage for my future career. I loved everything about that course. I remember learning about PowerPoint really for the first time. Oh the possibilities were endless when new technology was introduced to me.

During my student teaching semester in the spring of 2004, I was fortunate to student teach with a remarkable teacher. He was definitely a fan of technology. He had several computers in his classroom, a projector, digital cameras, etc... He even had a computer for me to use as a student teacher. I felt like the power of the world was at my fingertips. Mr. E challenged me to grow myself as a teacher. He encouraged my constant use of technology and showed me how to refine it in my lessons to be more applicable than just "using technology for the sake of using it". He even had me facilitate an interdisciplinary unit with the other teachers and our students in the computer lab. I was very comfortable with the use of technology. I learned how to troubleshoot through the problems on days technology didn't seem so great. I didn't allow it to frustrate me. Thus began my love for technology in the classroom. I liked how much the kids were excited about using it. They struggled with it, but loved the lessons that promoted technology usage. I decided at that point that I wanted to be an ITEC teacher (a district technology leader) and to obtain my Master's degree in Educational Technology.

I went back to school in the fall of 2006 to begin working on my Master's degree. I was teaching at the middle school I grew up in. At that time I was teaching math. I felt that if I could incorporate technology usage in the math classroom, I could do it anywhere. As I moved through my coursework, I built lessons that I would incorporate in my very classroom. I didn't have quite the amount of technology I wanted, but I was working on writing grants to obtain it. I'm happy to say that I eventually became an ITEC teacher and obtained a 1:1 classroom with ipads. I worked very hard for that classroom environment. I received my Master's Degree in Educational Technology in the spring of 2008.

Being an ITEC teacher was one of the highlights of my time teaching in the Calcasieu Parish School District in Louisiana. The professional development obtained through the ITEC grant kept me abreast of technology. We were given technology devices or access to different programs to stay innovated and continue being technology leaders in the district. I remember those professional development days were among my favorite to attend. I couldn't wait to see what the new technology was going to be presented to us. I couldn't wait to brainstorm with my colleagues and see what new challenges I could bring to my students. The technology facilitators were always patient, knowledgeable, and willing to brainstorm and grow me as a professional. Even now being a state away from them, I still find that I reach out to them when I need to brainstorm an idea.

Now, I find myself in Texas. After twelve years of experience, I felt like a brand new teacher all over again. Thankfully, I teach at a school that's similar in size to the one I moved from. While there are many similarities, there are quite a few differences as well. This district is a 1:1 district with laptops. It was like I hit a goldmine. I was sad to have left my technology behind. I had worked so hard for it. I wrote many grants and invested the time to implement it into my classroom. I didn't know how to teach without it. After reflecting on my first year in Texas, I realized I didn't implement technology into the classroom like I wanted to.

My professional goal this school year was to really work at incorporating the technology into my classroom. My school is 1:1 with students having laptops. We have a few students who have opted out of the technology usage, but the majority of them have the laptops. This being my second year in the district, it was time to utilize my technology expertise in my classroom.  It can also be an extremely overwhelming tool. There are so many options, its hard to decide where to begin. It's time that I grow myself in the area of technology and grow my students as well.

Time to kick it up a notch!

I'm an avid technology user. My students have a district issued device at their disposal. It's time to kick it up a notch and really start using technology. I really want to try to go more paperless. It's tough making all the copies, especially if I change my mind on a project. My students have so much technology at their fingertips. It's time to dig in and incorporate it into my classroom.

Things we can use:

• Microsoft Office 365 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Sway, Forms, OneNote)
• It'sLearning

Between these two platforms, we should be able to use technology on a daily basis. That's one of my goals this school year. I want to use the technology on a more frequent basis and not just for some special lesson or occasion. I've dabbled with incorporating many different things this year. This is my year to test out what works and doesn't work for me. 

Many of the things I make can be incorporated into It'sLearning. I find that using OneNote is a bit easier. Maybe I can utilize the assessment feature and assignment feature of It'sLearning. I know there's a plagerism check that should be helpful, especially teaching ELA. It would be great if this platform worked alongside our gradebook platform. 

I plan to work to try to incorporate different things for my students this year. I really want them to become more tech savvy and that technology will have a purpose in my classroom. Plus technology is one of my favorite things to tinker with. I feel like it keeps me sharp and allows me a place to find success, especially if I'm struggling with other things. It'll be interesting to see how far I've come with technology as I reflect at the end of the year. 

Caution: Triage Alert

Triage - The assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses to decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients or casualties.

Trauma - a deeply distressing or disturbing experience.  

Medical professionals have the incredible task of assigning the different triage roles in a traumatic situation. Sometimes in our own personal traumas, we forget to assess where we rank in the triage area. Are we in minor distress, delayed, immediate, or deceased. Sometimes we not only have physical trauma, but emotional trauma as well. I find myself in a different level of triage based on the trauma of Hurricane Harvey. 

I found myself saying many of the following things and discounting the trauma that took place. 

• We survived the hurricane. 
• We didn't lose our entire home. 
• We only lost one car. 
• We only had to cut the sheet rock out 22 1/2 inches. 
• We only lost what was in the garage. 
• We didn't lose everything. 
• Thankfully, we had insurance. 

There were many waves of emotions that took place as I watched my Sunday school class help cut out carpet, sheet rock, and throw our belongings to the curb. It was traumatic. We evacuated for the hurricane not really expecting to come home to a sense of devastation. I know that people had it worse than we did, but I can't discount the feelings that came from this trauma. I find that in crisis we put up barriers to secure our emotions for survival. We try to protect the vulnerability that we already are experiencing. The exposure as people go through your belongings, make assessments of their worth, and toss them on the debris pile. I cried that day. I cried off and on for a few days afterwards. Then I tried to seal up the tears and hold it together. When people asked how I was doing, I replied with simple phrases not willing myself to divulge any more than I had to. I didn't want to be exposed any more than I had to. I even began to close my emotions off to friends, family, and my spouse. I didn't want to have to feel that exposed again. My triage state went from minor to immediate over the course of a few months. I didn't want to deal with the emotions that I was feeling. I didn't want own them, dig them up, discuss them, allow them to be real. Life doesn't work like that. 

Now I find myself in a more immediate triage state. I didn't assess myself properly during the trauma and now the emotional cup is spilling over. I not longer can hold back the tears, the raw emotions, etc... Whether I wanted to deal with them or not, I now have to.