shelly fryer
Shelly Fryer is surely an extraordinary woman. She is currently a 3rd and 4th grade teacher at Positive Tomorrows, a school dedicated especially for homeless children. She has a passion for learning and her students. She also has a passion for technology integration in the classroom, something that I struggle with. Her blog (link above) has already helped change my mind about technology in the classroom, and I know that as I continue to follow her inspiring work, I will grow and learn even more.
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In Shelly's post Technology 101 Skills for Teachers, she discusses how important creativity is when integrating technology into the classroom. This was the first post of hers I read, and this is what kept me reading ahead. Every time I've been in a classroom where technology is actively used, it has failed. Teachers will just give the kids an iPad and then tell them to play on this math app or vocabulary app for the whole class. There ceases to be any student/teacher interaction, and the kids are glued to a screen, bored out of their minds. If they aren't bored out of their minds it's because they're Snapchatting each other. It doesn't work. So when Shelly right off the bat acknowledged that that isn't what tech in the classroom should be, I knew I would like her. There are thousands of ways to create with technology and they can all be used in the classroom (if the teacher takes the time to learn). The first thing she talks about is how important it is for the teachers to learn the technology along with the kids. By using the tech first hand, teachers can help students if they have questions and get students' creative juices flowing. In addition to talking about the importance of tech literacy, she gives a wonderful list of examples of apps she uses in her classroom and how she uses them. From this section, I got an idea about how to incorporate QR codes into my "book taste test" lesson. It will save paper and get kids involved with their technology in a good way. I also liked her emphasis on giving students the tools to be creative with tech outside of the classroom. By exposing students to certain things, teachers give them a springboard to go out into the world and do good with their knowledge. That's what teaching is all about in my opinion. Overall, this article was an excellent introduction to Shelly and tech in the classroom.
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In Shelly's post Welcome to Room 108, what caught my attention first off was how Shelly came upon the "Welcome to the 4th Grade" video. She discovered it on Twitter! This was a great reminder to me that education ideas are everywhere, and I need to remember to have my eyes open always. But this post is mainly about how technology can be a classroom bonding thing. I generally think of technology as a solitary activity. I see kids at the park sitting on the bench next to their parents fixated on their devices. I work at the local swimming pool over the summer months, and I see more kids on their phones than speaking to one another. In person communication is stifled when technology comes into the picture, but Shelly redefined that. By having the students work together with technology, she eliminated the solitary factor. A large part of schools is socialization, and I hate to see that disappearing because of technology in the classroom. So instead of letting the students tap around on their devices alone, let them CREATE TOGETHER using technology as a tool, not a crutch.
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In her post Building Relationships with Students, Shelly again redefined teaching in my head. Most of the teachers we have growing up are "hands off" kind of teachers. They sit at their desk, bark instructions at the beginning of class, and then say nothing else until "dismissed". For this reason, I strive to be a hands on teacher. I'm always up out of my seat (I never sit behind my desk when student's are in the room), making eye contact with students and engaging with each one. Hands off teaching was a dirty phrase in my head, something to steer away from. But the idea of Global School Play Day is genius! It's not hands off because of laziness, but it's hands off because student's work better when they have some of their own agency. By letting students interact and play, unrestricted, multiple positive things are going on. They get a day of break from sitting at their desks and learning in the traditional sense, they get social interaction, they get to be creative, they get to exercise leadership, and so many other things, all while the teacher is hands off. Hands off in order to foster creativity is wonderful, hands off due to laziness is not. Shelly helped open my mind about hands off teaching. I can't wait to implement some form of Global Play Day into my classroom.
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The last post I'll be talking about is Technology Projects for Enriched Assessment. Boy am I glad I read this! I'm a super old fashioned, paper and pencil kind of person. When I was in school I deplored taking tests and assessments online, and I've often thought that had they been on paper, I would have been less distracted and performed better. But I was thinking so small! Assessment isn't just tests and quizzes. In this post Shelly comes up with and shares several different ways to assess students with technology that will expand their learning, not squash it. My favorite was projects. My content area is English, and I loved the idea of creating collages as an assessment of literature comprehension. Instead of the typical literary analysis essay, by having the students pick a character and create a collage about them, or picking pictures that they feel represent the theme of the work, I know they understand the material but they didn't dread writing an essay. By getting students excited about assessment instead of being afraid of it, I think they'll do better.
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Overall, Shelly Fryer has changed my opinion about my classroom. It doesn't have to be what I typically think of. I need to be a lot more open minded when it comes to my classroom. I'll definitely continue to read Shelly's blog and continue to get ideas!