30 Day Blogging Challenge: Day 2 – Technology!

Day 2 Prompt: Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. You might also write about what you’re hoping to see out of this edtech integration.

Technology is an amazing thing for rural teachers. Being in a small town (about 1000 people), can set certain limitations on things like going on field trips, or inviting professionals into the classroom. However, with technology, those things can happen – virtually! This year, I would like to capitalize on this, and work in include Skype or Google Hangouts as ways of inviting professionals into our classroom. In the past, I’ve always said that I wanted to do this, but haven’t taken the time to contact anyone or set up the meeting. I am going to set a goal for myself of having one “visitor” in each class. These visitors might be college professors, professionals in the field we are studying, or someone with a passion for the subject area. I am really excited to get my students outside the classroom, city, and state by utilizing this great technology.

Comment below with ways you have used technology to break the barriers of your classroom and bring the world to your students!

Classroom Rules with Memes

This year, I decided to switch things up a bit for explaining classroom norms of behavior, rules, and expectations. It is so important to teach procedures and expectations in the first few days, even if you have the same students as last year. I usually make the “rules” speech on the 2nd or 3rd day of class. For classes of students I’ve had before, I shorten it to changes from last year and an over-view of other things they should already know. For the new freshmen, its a little more intense and detailed. Since most of my students have heard  the talk multiple times, I thought it was about time to make it a little more fun and interesting! This is not my own creative, special idea, but one that I saw on Pinterest (which I love!). I created a powerpoint of memes that can be used to describe rules and expectations for my classroom. I did not create any of them, just searched for them online! There were many more that I didn’t use as well. There are just one example below, but I encourage you to make your own powerpoint! I hope you enjoy it and use this idea in your classroom as well!