Student Engagement / Abigail French
When Abigail French first started teaching, the biggest technology innovation in her school district was a plan to put a desktop computer in every classroom.
French left the profession for nearly two decades to raise her four children and returned to the classroom four years ago. By then, everything had changed: The new initiative by the district was to give every student a Chromebook to provide digital equity.
鈥淚t was really overwhelming, to be honest,鈥� said French, a 6th grade U.S. history teacher at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock, Va. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until this past year that I really embraced ... infusing [technology] in my lesson-planning and instruction.鈥�
For French, technology has allowed her to give students a voice in their own learning.
鈥淚t鈥檚 connected to a shift in making the learning student-centered and taking the teacher out of that role as a lecturer,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y relationship with the kids has really developed into, we鈥檙e a team. .... [It puts] the students in the driver鈥檚 seat.鈥�
Last month, she completed a unit in which students worked in groups to research the characteristics and contributions of the first five presidents. They retold the stories in the style of 鈥渘otecard confessions"鈥攙ideos that display a series of notecards to tell a story. The students filmed and edited their confessions using the app WeVideo, which enables them to add sound, music, and other digital effects.
鈥淚t was such a richer experience,鈥� French said. In the past, she taught about the first presidents by showing a slideshow presentation and asking students to fill in a set of guided notes and a graphic organizer. That was boring, she said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want them to be passive learners sitting in my classroom, just hearing history facts from me,鈥� French said. 鈥淚 want them ... creating something, taking that information and using it as they learn other skills.鈥�
This month, students were to research a 19th-century invention and then design a digital infographic to persuade others to invest.
Those kinds of technology-infused lessons are more memorable for students, said Patricia Fox, an instructional-technology resource coach for the Shenandoah County school district. She helped French design the project on the first presidents, in which students learned the content鈥攁s well as collaboration, creativity, and communication skills, the so-called new competencies.
French said the technology also allowed students who struggle with schoolwork to demonstrate their understanding and skills in a new way.
鈥淚t allowed them to really shine ... where they don鈥檛 always get the opportunity to,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat was important because everybody wants to feel seen.鈥�
鈥擬adeline Will
Differentiation / Buddy Morales
The ability to differentiate instruction is a valuable skill for any teacher. But for special education teachers, that ability is vital.
Just ask Buddy Morales.
Morales, a special education teacher at Colony High School in Ontario, Calif., works with students who have moderate to severe disabilities. Some are uncomfortable interacting with each other in class at the beginning of the year, he said. But often, technology helps them open up to others and share ideas.
鈥淪ometimes they鈥檙e a little shy, but when they go on the forums on [Google Classroom], they鈥檙e able to have a conversation,鈥� Morales said. His students can feel more comfortable typing than talking, so Morales has used the platforms to conduct class discussions.
Technology can offer powerful alternative pathways to reach students with disabilities 鈥渢o help them actualize their own learning, to help them become self-directed,鈥� said Jennifer Courduff, an associate professor at Azusa Pacific University in California who studies technology integration in diverse learning environments.
Morales, who has taught at Colony for six years, is a Google Certified Educator on campus. He teaches functional academics, preparing students for life after high school, to a class that can range in age from 14 to 22.
Many of his students struggle with reading. 鈥淪ome of them can鈥檛 produce simple letter sounds,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey need pictures, or you need to really break it down for them phonetically.鈥�
When they use Chromebooks in Morales鈥� class, students who struggle with reading use Snap&Read, a text-to-speech web plug-in. For students who can read and write more fluently, he uses the literacy platform Newsela, which offers news articles and other texts at different Lexile reading levels.
Along with traditional academic topics, Morales teaches life skills: how to compose an email or how to stick to a hygiene routine. He uses EdPuzzle鈥攁n app that allows teachers to splice videos with voiceovers, activities, and quiz questions鈥攖o customize YouTube tutorials and add in checks for understanding.
Some of the big tech companies have made strides in the accessibility of systems commonly used in K-12 schools, said Courduff, citing Google Classroom and Microsoft Office 365 as examples. In many cases, special education teachers can use these existing features to differentiate instruction for their students. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more about repurposing a tool that鈥檚 currently in the hands of the student, or that鈥檚 currently at the school site, rather than needing to have something that鈥檚 added on or new,鈥� she said.
Still, Morales said, when it comes to apps specifically designed for students with disabilities, 鈥淚 wish there were more.鈥�
鈥擲arah Schwartz
Assessment / Whitney Lawrence
As most teachers can attest, grading can be a slog. But when 9th grade science teacher Whitney Lawrence began using educational technology tools to assess student learning, gone were the piles of papers that took hours to review and return to students in a timely manner.
A couple years ago, Lawrence began using tools like Kahoot, EdPuzzle, Nearpod, and Google Classroom to give students formative assessments so she could track their progression toward meeting standards. The change those tech tools have made to her instruction, she said, has been transformational.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really opened my eyes up this past year into how much time I [used to spend] grading鈥攈ours after work, just to the grind鈥攁nd it鈥檚 opened up time for more planning,鈥� said Lawrence, who teaches at Eagle鈥檚 Landing High School in McDonough, Ga. 鈥淭he kids are more engaged. ... My lessons are really personalized and planned around the individual needs of the students based on quick data from a five-minute assessment that they took in class.鈥�
Students can now track their own assessment data and make their own selections of lessons on Nearpod, based on what topics they need to practice.
鈥淚 have noticed more of an awareness from the students than ever before,鈥� said Lawrence, who is in her eighth year teaching. 鈥淭hey know what their grade is and why their grade is that and how they got to that and what it means.鈥�
The change in Lawrence鈥檚 practice has been supported by Robyn Williams, the personalized learning lead at Eagle鈥檚 Landing, who had gone through the same journey with tech tools a few years before.
Before Williams began using technology in her own science classroom, she would give students a weekly pen-and-paper quiz.
鈥淭he timeline to turn around and communicate that feedback with students, it was far too long,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had to take a look back and say, ... 鈥楢m I really using this as a tool to increase their achievement?鈥� And the hard answer was no.鈥�
Instead, students were stressed because of the weekly quizzes, and Williams was stressed because of the stack of ungraded papers on her desk. But once she started using digital tools like Quizizz, Google Forms, Nearpod, and EdPuzzle, she could give students checkpoint assessments every other day with just a couple of questions. It took the pressure off students and it gave Williams the data instantly, so she could adjust her instruction as needed.
Now, Williams is working with Lawrence and other teachers in her new role as part of a districtwide push to personalize learning through tech-enhanced instruction. In Henry County schools, students in grades 3-12 receive a Chromebook for the year, and K-2 teachers have a classroom set of iPads.
The focus on digital assessments has resulted in learning gains for students, Lawrence said. They have multiple chances to take assessments, which are graded automatically.
鈥淎s we鈥檙e working through lessons throughout the next few days, they鈥檙e able to refer back to their test scores, ... and it really connects the material better,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e making those bigger real-world connections, just having more guidance on the lower-level things they weren鈥檛 understanding.鈥�
鈥擬adeline Will
Parent Communication / Sophia Garcia-Smith
Second grade teacher Sophia Garcia-Smith sends notes home to the parents in her class in their native languages鈥攅ven if she can鈥檛 speak those languages herself.
The digital platform Seesaw, which Garcia-Smith uses to share student work and message families, can translate messages into more than 50 languages. At Orchard Place Elementary School in Des Plaines, Ill., where 70 percent of students are English-language learners, this feature is invaluable, Garcia-Smith said. More than 20 languages are represented in the building.
Before she started using the platform, the elementary teacher had to go through a weeklong translation process for any notice she wanted to send home. 鈥淭here was no spontaneous contacting of parents,鈥� said Garcia-Smith, who has taught 2nd grade for almost a decade.
Spanish-speaking parents were also hesitant to call her with questions, she said, as it took time for the school to arrange a translator and schedule a meeting. Instead, parents often waited until parent-teacher conferences (where they knew they would have a translator on hand) before discussing why a student was struggling. And that was often too late to correct a problem.
So a few years ago, Garcia-Smith started helping parents sign up for Seesaw at back-to-school nights. Some parents don鈥檛 want to register with their phone number or email address for privacy reasons, so Garcia-Smith also sends home printed codes that parents can scan to see materials on the platform, without creating an account.
With the translation capability, parents are 鈥渘o longer shy to reach out,鈥� she said. She receives messages when a student has had a rough weekend, or if they had trouble with homework. 鈥淭hose little tidbits of what鈥檚 going on鈥攖hey鈥檙e great for a teacher to know,鈥� she said. She estimates that she has regular contact with three-quarters of her students鈥� parents, compared with 30 percent to 40 percent before she started using the app.
Seesaw is just one of the parent communication tools that offers translation options鈥攁pps including TalkingPoints, Remind, and ClassDojo integrate these features as well.
Parents who aren鈥檛 facing a language barrier also say that more frequent communication helps them stay involved. Emma Rentas, whose daughter is in Garcia-Smith鈥檚 class, said seeing her child鈥檚 progress through the platform alerted her to a homework-completion issue earlier this school year.
Orchard Place knows that parents want more communication around academics and achievement, said Jennifer Bautista, the school鈥檚 principal. In a recent survey, for example, parents overwhelmingly said they wanted to know more about students鈥� math instruction. Strengthening family communication around academics is one of the school鈥檚 improvement goals, Bautista said.
Because parents can easily peruse student work with Seesaw, said Garcia-Smith, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e really seeing: In 2nd grade, [students are] coming out much better readers, or their math skills are so much better. And I feel like they wouldn鈥檛 know that with just a report card.鈥�
鈥擲arah Schwartz
