Showcase: Integrating Technology into the Bridges Elementary Math Curriculum

The new Bridges math curriculum offers opportunities for student engagement and technology integration through the use of the Digital Display Materials and creative use of student responses. Google Cast for Education is a powerful and easy to use tool that allows teachers and students to "cast" their screens from any Chrome browser to the projector. The only requirement is a computer attached to the projector and laptops in the classroom. This allows the teacher and students to show their work without being tied to the desktop at the front of the room allowing for more interactive work, the ability to move throughout the room, and even giving students a way to virtually raise their hand when they have something to share.

 

At Fouse Elementary, Heather Griffith has been using technology in amazing ways to meet student needs and increase engagement. She has graciously allowed us to record her lesson and has also provided the lesson plan materials that she used in her planning. In this lesson you will see students working in several ways: First students work in small group or on their own while others work with the teacher in a group for intervention. When new content is presented, the students provide input and discussion by sharing their work with the class and working together to identify and learn from mistakes.
 There are two videos attached to this post showing important aspects of the lesson and how it was planned. If you are interested in using this lesson, materials are attached to this post, As always, if you would like to learn more about any of the strategies or tools used in this Showcase, contact your Ed-Tech Coach for more information.

Video 1: See the Entire Class Period 
This video shows the process the entire class period followed from intervention/ group work through the main lesson. Text boxes can be used to navigate to different sections of the lesson. (Length 27:40)

Video 2: Tech Integration Highlights
This video shows how technology can be integrated into the Bridges curriculum from the teacher side as well as from the student side. Again, text boxes are included to ease navigation to different areas of interest. (Length: 8:54)

Lesson Plan Materials: 

Click the Link Above for PDF/Larger font sizes

 

Showcase: A Westerville Teacher Discusses Blended Learning

Blended Learning and Personalized Learning are two of the more recent ways of visualizing instructional practices that meet the needs of all learners. While the theory behind these concepts - that all students should have content and activities that meet their needs available to them - is an easy one to grasp, the practice of setting up a classroom to differentiate for all students can be more than a little daunting. Heather Griffith, a 4th grade teacher at Fouse Elementary has been using Blended and Personalized learning techniques along with flexible seating to better meet the needs of her students. In this Showcase Video you will hear about:

- A typical day in the classroom

- How 2:1 Technology makes a difference

- Why set a class up this way? 

- How flexible seating helps these strategies

- Struggles and successes

- Recommended starting points for teachers looking to shift their teaching style

It is worth your time to watch the whole video, but if you are pressed for time you can skip to the points that most interest you by looking for the orange question bubbles in the video. 

Additionally, example materials are included below that were used to help organize the classroom and guide students in their activities. 

Daily plan for students to schedule their independent work time

Schedule from teacher perspective

Schoology and Google Classroom continue to move closer together with what they are capable of. Schoology has added Classroom-like functionality this year. For more on anything you saw, contact your ed-tech coach!