Impactful Integration With Amy

This post is week 5 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators. This week's topic is all about the successes and challenges of communication during the pandemic.  It became crystal clear that during virtual learning the focus of communication needed to broaden to reach students multiple ways.  Without students coming to the virtual space of the library or classroom, I couldn't rely on signage on walls, tables and doors to spread the news of upcoming events and new resources.  Also I had to consider, how can I get my learners talking in a virtual environment? During this past year, communication had to get an over haul to meet the needs of the different learning styles of my learners and to ensure accessibility to make learning equitable for all.  When instruction was happening in person, many times I would give the directions and model how to do something.  I would include written directions for multi step assignments.  This strategy alone did...

This post is week 4 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators.   As we settled in to virtual learning for over a year in my district, my technology integration expertise definitely grew.  I felt like I was in a constant period of growth and learning.  Which tools did I discover this year and which familiar tools did I branch out and try in new ways?  Today's topic is a fun one, but also a little overwhelming to answer.  I feel like, where do I begin?  I'm sure you probably feel this way as well.  The 2020-2021 school year was the year of "all the technology tools." The Familiar I think the most frequent tools I used were the Google Workspace platform.  Getting Google Trainer certified was the best decision I made in the summer of 2020.  It truly propelled me to be equipped to train my staff and students on technology integration.  I was able to start visualizing any task and connect which Google tool would be the right fit...