Celebrating Failure in Rm 613

I'm in the final stages of my Master's program at Boise State University and my personal blog has definitely slowed down as a result. Even though this blog has been really quiet, I have been updating my edtech blog for my degree quite regularly. Its seems silly to double post things that I have published on one blog to another so I figured I would just share the link. Each class has had varying levels of blog integration and I've linked them below: Edtech 501: Intro to Edtech Edtech 502: Educational Website Edtech 503: Instructional Design Edtech 504: Theoretical Foundation of Edtech Edtech 505: Evaluation Educational Technologists Edtech 532: Technology Integration   (still being updated) Edtech 533: Youtube in the Classroom Edtech 537: Blogging in the Classroom (that was actually done on this blog!) Edtech 541: Educational Games and Simulations  (still being updated) Edtech 542: Project-Based Learning

For me, my favorite chapter of Aaron Hogan's  Shattering the Perfect Teacher Myth was Chapter 5: Valuing Vulnerability. He focuses on destroying the myth that the best teachers have all the answers, which is definitely one that I battle with every day. In fact, if you look back to the first time I did a project-based unit I struggled with my role changing from a 'sage on the stage' to a 'guide on the side': "By the end of the project, I was surprised at how much they were getting out of the project that didn’t involve me directly teaching. As self-centered as that sounds, its true. I grew up with teachers that stood up and directly explained information...it worried me that maybe the students didn’t learn anything from the research, but I know from their passionate conversations, presentations, and eagerness to complete the project that they did get something meaningful out of it. ( Original Post )" As I read through the chapter, I couldn't ...

Recently, I made a shocking discovery: I am considered a Millennial. Yes. I'm part of that generation that is the current bane of everyone's existence as shown below: Ok, I definitely laughed at a few of those and even made me think of my sister, who is also a Millennial. But I also kept thinking that I'm not that person. I don't think everyone deserves a medal. I struggle to decode slang. I moved out at 18 years old. And so on.  These thoughts were pushed even further into my mind by my EDTECH 537 course, where we've been reading about generational differences in regards to technology. The articles raised two major questions: whether or not generalizations about different generations are accurate AND whether or not these differences influences the way people approach technology.  For me, I agree with Professor Reeves who stated that, "It is definitely not recommended to make assumptions about any one individual, regardless of gender...

Classroom of the Future. A simple Google search comes up with so many options and ideas that its incredibly overwhelming. With so many options, its hard to decide or even determine what would be best. Flexible seating? HD Screens? Voice Projection? Furniture? Coffee Shops? The reason I bring this up is because an exciting opportunity has come up about possibly redesigning my classroom, specifically the technology. Of course, I have a million ideas when I'm brainstorming, but now my brain is drawing a blank. So I need your help! What would your ideal, classroom of the future have? As a reference, my classroom has a standard projector with Apple TV. My classroom is completely 1:1 with Macbook Airs and all the tables are also whiteboards. Below are pictures of my classroom from this last school year and here  is a link of a 360 of my classroom.

Routine is everything in the classroom. It gives structure to students who may not have much of a structure at home and alleviates anxiety since students know what to expect. Sample Quick Write from 2013 When I first started teaching, I would welcome everyone to the classroom, go over announcements, and then we would complete the Quick Write for the day. I created a nifty little template for students to complete and submit at the end of each week. Typically it would be a prompt that would either review the previous day's lesson or introduce the day's lesson. The Pros: It was a great routine for the students that allowed them reflect, discuss, and engage for the period.  The Cons: The audience consisted of me and maybe a TA so grammar, proof-reading, and full explanations were not a priority for students. The paper was frequently lost, which required students to either start over or receive a zero. As the school year progressed, it felt almost impossible to keep...

Eight months ago, Parent Edtech Conferences was simply an idea that I had about improving education and a few weeks I officially made it a reality. And I'm so glad its over. It's not because it was a horrible or terrible experience (in fact it was really encouraging!), but I knew that I needed to have the experience of the first conference before I could really start expanding and growing my idea. I officially launched the conference to the public after Minarets Fall Showcase, which is our version of back to school night. I bombarded parents with flyers in their quarter grade packets, emails, and posts on social media. The conference was held on Wednesday, November 16; next year I plan on having the conference much closer to the start of the year for further relevancy, but with this being my first conference I decided to have it later so I could plan it better. Original Flyer with Survey Flyer Once Sessions Were Set An aspect of th...

My feelings towards October. October is always a fun month; please note the sarcasm. Its the first month without any breaks or three-day weekends (at least in my district), the start of cold/flu season, and grades are due for the end of the first quarter. On top of that, I was also in the middle of my first semester of my Master's program, the new advisor for both CSF and NHS, and planning my #googleEI project that is scheduled for November. By the end of the month, I was stressed, exhausted, and completely drained, like so many teachers around the country. Unlike Octobers in the past, I got to finish the month by attending and presenting at #FallCUE up in American Canyon, CA.  I didn't have much time to get pumped and excited for the conference so I went up with my to do list weighing me down. But once the conference began, I immediately forgot about my stress and became re-energized by collaborating and sharing ideas with educators around the state. My highlights f...

During the first class I took to become a teacher, the professor took half of the class out and informed us that after four years of teaching half us of will have left teaching all together. Now I'm well into my fourth year and I'm still standing. In fact, I feel that this year is going to be... For starters, I have officially started my Master's in Educational Technology. I'm only a few weeks in and, while I'm overwhelmed and stressed, I'm glad that I'm finally taking the next steps in my education. It also helps that one of my amazing friends is doing it with me! I'm also blessed to be going into my second year at Minarets High School, which continues to be my dream school. As many people said, the first year was me trying to drink out of a fire hose, but now I feel confident and ready to be 100% PBL in a 21st century school. Over the summer, I participated in the EdtechTeam's Teacher Leader Certification and becoming inspired to set new g...

I believe it was the summer after my first year of teaching that I first heard about the ISTE Conference, a mega conference that attracted the elite of the edtech world. Each year, I followed people's experiences at ISTE and each year I cursed myself for not attending. It soon became one of those "I'm going to do that eventually.." goals that could easily be put off year after year. So this year I made the executive decision that I would attend. Best.  Decision.  Ever.  Its only the second day of the conference, but I can confidently say that #ISTE16 was one of my best decisions. For starters, I'm killing it with Step Challenge; the day isn't even over and I'm already over 10,000 steps. Yes, I know VivoFit. I need to move, but I'm trying to blog right now. I'm also connecting with SO many of the people I have followed on twitter for the last three years as well as meeting SO many new people with awesomely creative ideas! (...

If you follow me on Twitter , then I'm sure that you are well aware that I attend the National CUE Conference in Palm Springs last week (#CUE16). I've been a member of CUE for the last two years and attended conferences and edcamps put on by its affiliate in the Central Valley, but this was the first time that I ever attended one of its national events. Representing Minarets at #cue16 :) #minaretsrocks #Mustangpride pic.twitter.com/530iMrN0Yd — Kaitlin Morgan (@missmorgan810) March 17, 2016 To put it simply, #cue16 was like the CVCUE Conferences and GAFE Summits that I have attended, but on steroids. Everyone was there for the same reasons: to learn new tools and techniques for the classroom, to network and collaborate with fellow teachers, and to share their excitement and enthusiasm for edtech, teaching, and learning. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous that I would be lonely since I was the only one attending from my school, but these shared inte...

Last year I had my Woodlake students complete a DBQ regarding Progressivism, where they had to argue which 20th century issue they would invest their million dollars into. As always, I had students finish significantly earlier than others so I quickly threw together another project where they had to create a poster describing a current issue that they felt needed attention. This was meant to keep the early finishers occupied, but turned into a project that the students became excited about: Ebola by Mikayla Juvera New iPhone Concerns by Ramiro Padilla North Korea by Henry Pfaff Unfortunately, because of pacing and an upcoming benchmark, we couldn't invest much time into the project, but I wished that one day I could do this project on a big scale. Then a year later, my wish was granted when I was offered my dream job at Minarets High School, a school dedicated to project-based learning. I knew immediately that one of my projects would be focused on muckraking curren...

Created by Wordpandit.com As I was on my way home for Thanksgiving, I was flipping through Pinterest, I came across the image to the right and I thought to myself: Darn it. That's what I should of done for my government PBL... To back up, one of my first projects as a teacher at a fully project-based school was titled: We, the People of Mars ... This project was geared towards my sophomores in World History and the driving question was "How can we as inhabitants of a new planet create a functional government?" The goal was for students to investigate different types of governments around the world to create their own unique government for Mars.  My inspiration came from the PBL training provided BIE,  where my colleagues and I created a project according to their organizational format. After a very helpful brainstorm with another teacher, they pointed me in the direction of Mars One , an international project that hopes to one day settle humanity Mars that would ...

Last week I was at one of my favorite places in the world: Target. As I was checking out, the cashier and I were discussing how crowded it was because of Back to School shopping and how some schools, including her's, were starting next week. Naturally, I mentioned that I was teacher and starting work in two weeks. Then I got the 'look , ' the ' you can't possibly be old enough to be a teacher' look .  After a brief second:"Oh, are you starting your first year?" "On no, I'm going into my third." This conversation, whether fortunately or unfortunately, happens quite frequently because of my young age and my very young appearance. While these conversations are humorous to me, my young age and appearance did affect me in my first two years of teaching, especially with my relationship to my students. Since I could easily go under cover as a high school student, I have always made great efforts to create a clear barrier between the students ...

Last year I decided to take a chance and create a 1:1 classroom using Chromebooks. With the tips I learned at CVCUE in the Spring, my experiments with various edtech projects, and my Twitter PLN, I was eager and ready to dive into edtech. During those two weeks, I was trying new ideas every day and I heard about a new app on Twitter called Pear Deck. The logo of Pear Deck, an adorable smiling pear, was intriguing along with the fact that they offered students opportunities to engage directly with the lesson on their own Chromebooks. They could answer formative assessment questions by drawing, choosing multiple choice questions, dragging a dot to various locations, or inputting numbers. So I signed up for the beta testing and was thrilled when I received my golden ticket. Not a real golden ticket, but the adorable Pear dressed up as Willy Wonka was just as good. Instantly, my students and I fell in love with the app; students loved interacting with material immediately and I lov...