Technology in My Classroom

My name is Pat Todd and I am a 5th grade teacher at Highlands Elementary in Naperville District 203. However, I did not begin my "work life" as a teacher. After earning my bachelors degree in Business, I worked in sales and sales management in the medical industry. Fifteen years later, I needed to find a work life that was more compatible with my life! Soon after spending some time in a classroom as a volunteer, I was hooked.  So I worked as an LBS assistant during the days and attended school to earn my masters in Education and teaching certificate. Since that time I have been lucky enough to start as a 2nd grade teacher and spend the last 4 years in 5th grade. I love being in the classroom with students.

I sincerely enjoy using technology in the classroom and feel strongly that it should be incorporated in every grade level.  Honestly, I learn so much from my students when we engaged in an activity using tech tools. So many of them have been exposed to apps and sites that I haven't seen.  They bring that experience with them to my room. They also bring that sense of exploration that makes learning fun! Canvas is used to encourage students to really manage their school life online.  We post assignments, explore literacy with reading groups, create and upload videos to explain learning experiences, keep text resources available, take quizzes and so much more.  Kahoot is a great interactive review tool in my room and we are only just beginning to truly use the Google environment. Next year we will be one to one with Chromebooks and I can't wait. It has been challenging working with a class where one person has a PC, another an iPad, and someone else a Mac. 

One of my most humbling EdTech moments occurred in my first year of teaching while I was being observed.  I was excited to have my principal watch as my reading groups ran self-paced online discussion groups with guiding questions, responded to each other and finally created a collaborative book review. Unfortunately, all internet access was dropped in the building about 10 minutes into the lesson. I scrambled to pull together an alternate activity. Lesson learned; think flexibly and always have a back up plan! 

That's what I hope to give to my students. Be willing to explore and learn technology options at every opportunity,  but don't assume it is the only way to get everything done.