EEND679Y- Artifact 2

Another artifact from EEND679Y that was challenging to create, however, I was extremely proud once it was created, was my info-graphic that compared two Assessment Tools. I have seen many different infographics, and they are always eye opening, and easy to read. However, I found they are very difficult to create. I was easily able to select my two different assessment tools, Kahoot and Quizlet, however, it was more difficult to create. There were a number of great resources that were outlined within our course resources during that module. I ended up modifying the template, to make it fit my two resource. It took a great deal of time to create, however, I was please with it in the end. I'm not sure that info graphics have a place within my kindergarten classroom, however, I can see how they'd be useful to share information, and that older students would LOVE creating them.

EEND679Y- Artifact 1

The first artifact for EEND679Y that I selected was my Digital Badge assignment. When I first sat down to start on this assignment I was very skeptical. I wasn't sure how this would fit into the a classroom setting, let alone my kindergarten classroom. Then, however, I read one of my classmates reflective blog posts. They included an image of Apple Watch badges, and as an Apple Watch user those silly badges do seem to motivate me.

When reflecting back about the assignment in this course, I realized that digital badges might indeed have a place within my classroom after all. I plan to incorporate them into my classroom from the very beginning of the school year, and interweave them with my iPad Boot camp. When I designed my badges, I planned that my students could earn a badge for safely handling their iPads.  However, I do think that I'll need to find a way for my students to display their badges, as we are 1:2 iPads. Perhaps, I could print the badges on little stickers, and the students could add them to their iPad licenses. I'm hoping they will motivate them as they'll visually be able to see them, and understand what to work towards next! I hope that they are as excited about the digital badges as I am! 

     

EEND679Y Reflective Blog Post

Over the last year of taking Technology Courses through the University of St. Francis, I have been introduced to many different new technology resources. When I started these courses, last summer, I was moving from second grade to kindergarten, and very unsure what kindergartners would be capable of technology-wise. The discussions that I've had throughout this course with other kindergarten and first grade teachers have been tremendously helpful. I've learned first hand from my colleagues what works in their primary classrooms and what does not. 

With the help and encouragement of my colleagues in these courses, and my team mates, I jumped in headfirst into SeeSaw. My students started to create their own digital portfolios. Each week they completed different "SeeSaw missions," and by December I had shared each student's portfolios with their parents, so they could also see their child's progress. During this course we read Bill Ferriter's article entitled, "My Digital Portfolio Planning," he discussed two different types of portfolios, "Learning Portfolios, which are all about giving students chances to collect evidence of their own growth and progress as learners," as well as "Showcase Portfolios, which are designed to give students a space to spotlight their very best work." This article caused me to reflect upon my SeeSaw use throughout the school year, and which type of portfolio my students were creating.Throughout the course of the year, my students created Learning Portfolios, and the digital portfolios did indeed showcase their learning over the course of the year. This next school year, I want to increase the amount of writing my students include within their SeeSaw portfolios, as I feel that their writing samples, truly will show what tremendous growth kindergarten students make over the course of a school year.