Podcast-Teaching with Technology

The podcast episode features an interview with Mrs. Allison Millard, a teacher who discusses her use of technology in the classroom. She mentions using tablets and a program called iReady for assessments and learning games. Students also use tablets for research projects. Mrs. Millard mentions using quizzes and games like Splash Mouse and Epic, which provide real-time feedback. Technology makes assessing students easier and allows for tailored instruction. However, there are challenges in teaching students how to use technology and dealing with technical issues. Over the years, there has been a significant increase in technology use in classrooms, replacing traditional methods and enhancing lessons. Mrs. Millard tries to address the digital divide by providing equal access to devices in school and keeping technology-based assignments in-class. This episode of Teaching with Technology is brought to you by the TeacherSafe Smart Teacher Training Collar. This collar delivers a mild shock each time you forget attendance. It's paired to a remote in the front office so that when they see you've forgotten attendance, you'll get a gentle reminder. You'll never forget attendance again. Learn more at our website, TeacherSafeSmartCollar.com. You're listening to the Teaching with Technology podcast from ELED6650. Hey, everyone. It's Brittany. Today, we're going to be talking with a teacher, Mrs. Allison Millard, who's going to answer some questions for us about how she uses technology in her classroom, how it benefits her, some drawbacks, and how she overcomes the digital divide. Hi, Allison. Thank you so much for answering a couple questions for us today. No problem. Thank you. All right. So, what types of technology do you use in your classroom? Well, for my students specifically, we use tablets, and they use a program that our school has called iReady. They use that frequently over the last year, actually, doing assessments on that, and also it has learning games created for them based on their assessments. We also used tablets this past year for the students to do research projects, and they were able to research different biomes at school, and then they were able to do a project on that at home based on some of the information that they found out at school. And let's see. Those are the main ways I use technology for students. Awesome. Does that answer your question? Yes, that's great. Okay. Do you have any kind of apps or games that you use with them besides iReady, or is that pretty much what you all use in second grade? That's pretty much what we use. In the past, I have used more games, and I would love to kind of add that back in, this past year of teaching. I've used the quizzes. It's not an app, but it's a website where I can create, like, a little quiz for the game for all the kids, and they can all sign in at the same time and kind of compete against each other, and they usually enjoy that. I've used, like, Splash Mouse, Epic. I did not use those this last year. I kind of dialed it back a little bit. And do all of those give them, like, real-time feedback? Like, is it graded on the screen, or is that something you have to go back and do? The quizzes is in real-time. Okay. Splash Learn, I can go back and look and see kind of what they did. Awesome. And how often would you say your students use some kind of technology in your class? You can do days or times of day. Well, okay, so second semester, I added that, the tablets, into our literacy centers and our math centers. So it was a rotation that they had in literacy and math, usually once to twice a week. Okay. They would rotate into that center where they would play either a math game or do a reading game or a reading project or something on their tablet. Awesome. And how would you say technology – and I'm going to ask the flip side of this later, but how would you say it makes your life as a teacher easier? Well, as far as being able to assess my students, it makes it tremendously easier assessing where they are in the need they have and being able to use a program like iReady or another program that's similar because it gathers all that data for me, and I can see exactly the areas that they have that are strengths, areas that are weaknesses, and then I can tailor independent instruction for them or small group instruction based on what they're needing to work on. So that's hugely helpful. I also enjoy, you know, giving them – like, that they have games that I can assign to them that are specific on skills that I want them to work on. For me as a teacher, just in planning and things, technology is, I mean, a necessity in my opinion. Yeah, a big time saver, yeah. Like, and I'm still learning how to utilize it more and more to help me streamline planning and construct all those things, so. Me too. I am too. Yeah. It's definitely learning, and I feel like it's changing all the time. Yeah. Sometimes it's time to learn new ways to do things. Yes. And so kind of the flip side of that, what issues would you say are your biggest things you run into with technology, whether it's, like, actual physical stuff, like with internet or hardware, or even if it's just maybe the skills that your students have or don't have when they come into second grade? Yeah. Second grade is definitely a big learning year for them, so I would say one hard thing is training them to use the technology and how to, just like simple things like how to log in and sign in, you know, how to get on the internet and search for something. They have to be taught how to do that. Thankfully, our school has a lot of safety measures put in place so they can't accidentally end up somewhere where they don't need to, which is wonderful. Sometimes it can keep us from going to a place that we want to go to on the internet, so that can be a hurdle because there's so much safety blockers on there that that can slow us down sometimes. But let's see. What else? Those are the biggest. Obviously, technology doesn't always work when you need it to work, and especially in a lesson, if I'm planning on showing a clip or something or using technology in a lesson and it's not working or whatever, it's not loading or the internet is not working, that can totally make me have to pivot what I'm doing. It can be very frustrating. In your time teaching over the years, what are some of the biggest changes you've seen in using technology in the classroom? Well, when I first started teaching, like 20 years ago, there's been a huge difference. We didn't use much technology in the classroom. I think I saw an over-protector back in that day. And I did have a computer, but the students didn't have computers, so now every student having their own tablet in school, and even my own kids in their school, and the technology, everybody has their own tablet or computer in class. Versus 20 years ago, the teacher had a computer, and that was basically it. We had CD players and headphones for a listening center, but that was basically all the technology I had when I first started teaching. So big changes in 20 years, yes. So what have you seen technology replace then? Based on what you had then and then what you use it for now, what do you think are the main things that it replaced in the classroom? That's a great question. I don't know that it's replaced anything, but it certainly enhanced a lot of things. So I'm able to, you know, like even as simple as like in a reading lesson or something, when we're reading a book together, I can quickly pull up a picture or a clip of something to just add to their understanding of what it is we're reading about and put it up on the TV. And I did that a lot. Like most recently in the spring, we read a book on Helen Keller, and I was able to pull up like clips from her actually speaking and then clips from a movie about her just to help them have more understanding of what we were reading. So that's a way that it really enhances our lessons. So I guess that's – I'm trying to think if there's something that's like it's actually replaced. I would love to have something like a smart board or one of those document screens or I don't know what they're called, but where I can actually, you know, like be writing and projecting. That would be amazing, and that would obviously take place like over a projector. A smart board would take place as a whiteboard. Those – I would love to use those in the classroom. I don't have them right now. Thank you. Yes. Okay, so last question. How do you overcome inequities or, you know, what's known as like the digital divide in your classroom or in your school? Well, I mean, in school, everybody has access to a device. So that's not like in school and in class. That's – there is no – everybody has equal access to a device. And I try to do – I try to do any kind of assignment or something where they are going to need technology. I try to keep it in class and not have to be something they have to do at home necessarily. And so that's one way to help that. So if there is anyone that doesn't have access to it at home, it's not something that they have to bring home anyway. Awesome. Thank you, Mrs. Allison Millard, for being on the show today and answering some questions about how you use technology in your classroom. You've been listening to Teaching with Technology. I'm your host, Brittany. And I hope you'll learn something and gain something from listening to how Mrs. Millard uses technology in her classroom. And it will help you in your own classroom. As always, Teaching with Technology has been brought to you by the TeacherSafe Smart Teacher Training Caller. Because you know what's better than getting a group email that says, reminder for everyone to turn in attendance even though you know they're talking about you? It's getting a gentle, remote shock from the office staff that's completely TeacherSafe that will remind you to turn in attendance without the passive-aggressive email. Thank you, TeacherSafe.