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| Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at http://goo.gl/mN130I |
Before I even started teaching almost three years ago, I attended conferences about education, technology, working with students with special needs, and bullying. I have always enjoyed learning and applying what I have learned at conferences in the classroom. I never feel like I leave a session at a conference feeling like I learned nothing. I even idolized many of people that I have seen present and it inspired me to step outside of my original thinking of "I will never be one of those people talking in front of others." I always told myself that I was too shy to present in front of groups of people or I was afraid that I would make a big mistake and look silly presenting.
This year I decided that I would attempt to present at a conference. I originally was thinking about presenting at MACUL(Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) Conference in Detroit in one of their Spark Session but I wasn't sure what I was going to present on at that time. There is so much I wanted to share, I didn't know where to start. That is when I thought about MACUL's Mobile Learning Conference that I attended last year. They had smaller sessions compared to the large groups at MACUL Conference. I thought it would be a great place to start.
It was hard to decide what topic to talk about at a conference but then I remembered...Co-Teaching with Technology is not talked about much. Co-Teaching and technology is something I do an a daily basis at Albion Community School in several different classes. I am passionate about keeping my students in the least restrictive environment and using a variety of tools to help them succeed. I knew this is something I would love to share with others. I also thought it would be amazing if I could get one of my co-teachers to co-teach this session with me. That is when I submitted a session to talk about co-teaching and technology.
A couple of weeks later, I received an e-mail stating that my proposal for a session has been accepted. I was more than excited. I told everyone I knew that I would be presenting at a conference with some great co-teachers. I had a lot to do. I had to decided with my co-teachers how to present the information we wanted to share. I spent many days over Spring Break pulling together pictures and screenshots of our students works. The co-teachers and I also collaborated several times over Facebook. We then decided to set up a meeting at Panera Bread to discuss the slides and other tools that we wanted to add to our slides.
Once we came back from Spring Break, we had 4 days to make sure we were ready to present at the Mobile Learning Conference. I have always thought it was important for students to teach others about what they are learning and doing in the classroom. The 4th grade co-teacher and I decided that we would select a couple of students to explain how to use some of the tools we use in math on a daily basis. When word got out that the students were going to be recorded and it would be posted on the internet, everyone in her class wanted to make a video.
Once Friday came we were ready to go. I felt a little nervous but I went through my presentation enough times that I knew I could do it. When we arrived to Kalamazoo RESA, Donna, the co-teacher that was presenting with me, and I checked out the room that we were going to present in. It all felt real at that moment. This was going to be my first time talking in front of a group of people I didn't know. Yes, I have presented at PDs at my school but this felt like a different world. I was ready and I knew that I could do this. I knew what I was going to talk about and I had a desire to let others know what cool things my students were doing.
9:45 rolled around and the presentation began. Donna and I ready to go. We had QR codes posted around the room for access to our presentation and I tweeted the Google Slides out on Twitter. We team taught during this presentation. We took turns talking about things we were doing in our classrooms. Once and a while we would add on to what each other was saying about the presentation. It was a great demonstration of what co-teaching looks like in the classroom. People asked questions and gave comments about what they are doing in their classroom, and also gave suggestions for what else we could be doing. It felt like we were having a discussion with the people that came to our presentation.
When our session was over I knew I wanted to present again. I enjoyed sharing what we were doing in our classroom and talking with others about what they were doing or could be doing in their classroom. Some people even told me if I present once, I am going to want to do it again. They all are right. I will be presenting again in Chelsea at the Chelsea School District Early Childhood Technology Conference.
Check out our presentation on Co-Teaching and Technology here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WLHyI73hZOPCLLC3enY1koPBmBqwe5uXF6slQDiFwjc/edit?usp=sharing
It was hard to decide what topic to talk about at a conference but then I remembered...Co-Teaching with Technology is not talked about much. Co-Teaching and technology is something I do an a daily basis at Albion Community School in several different classes. I am passionate about keeping my students in the least restrictive environment and using a variety of tools to help them succeed. I knew this is something I would love to share with others. I also thought it would be amazing if I could get one of my co-teachers to co-teach this session with me. That is when I submitted a session to talk about co-teaching and technology.
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| Source: https://mobilelearningconference2015.sched.org/ Screenshot of the description of our session |
Once we came back from Spring Break, we had 4 days to make sure we were ready to present at the Mobile Learning Conference. I have always thought it was important for students to teach others about what they are learning and doing in the classroom. The 4th grade co-teacher and I decided that we would select a couple of students to explain how to use some of the tools we use in math on a daily basis. When word got out that the students were going to be recorded and it would be posted on the internet, everyone in her class wanted to make a video.
Student Explains Front Row Education- Frontrowed.com
A Student Explains IXL- IXL.com
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| Donna and I right before we presented |
9:45 rolled around and the presentation began. Donna and I ready to go. We had QR codes posted around the room for access to our presentation and I tweeted the Google Slides out on Twitter. We team taught during this presentation. We took turns talking about things we were doing in our classrooms. Once and a while we would add on to what each other was saying about the presentation. It was a great demonstration of what co-teaching looks like in the classroom. People asked questions and gave comments about what they are doing in their classroom, and also gave suggestions for what else we could be doing. It felt like we were having a discussion with the people that came to our presentation.
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| Small but very involved group! |
When our session was over I knew I wanted to present again. I enjoyed sharing what we were doing in our classroom and talking with others about what they were doing or could be doing in their classroom. Some people even told me if I present once, I am going to want to do it again. They all are right. I will be presenting again in Chelsea at the Chelsea School District Early Childhood Technology Conference.
Check out our presentation on Co-Teaching and Technology here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WLHyI73hZOPCLLC3enY1koPBmBqwe5uXF6slQDiFwjc/edit?usp=sharing
