- What motivated you to become a tech nerd this summer?
I decided to become a tech nerd this summer to continue learning and using Chromebooks. I was a part of the Phase 1 roll out and this year has been great in my classroom using more technology. I wanted to get more ideas I can incorporate in my classroom next year. I also get bored in the summer and I love to learn, so summertime is a perfect opportunity to play around with technology and increase my skills.
- What you hope to learn about in Tech Nerd Camp 2.0?
I hope to learn more ways to integrate technology in my classroom. I teach high readers and I want them to have meaningful critical thinking projects that they can do online that go with the skills and strategies we are learning in class. I also teach a group of struggling math students. I want to find ways to help them learn and retain the skills and strategies we are learning in math class. For my history class I'd love to learn more ways to bring history alive for students. In writing class and all the other classes I want to give my students a broader, more authentic audience. I'd also like to connect my students with other people in the world. For example, if I can get my students to video chat with someone who was in WWII or to talk with an author. I'd like to find things about technology that I didn't know existed before.
- How would you describe your current comfort level with technology? What tools do you use already in your classroom (if any)?
I would say I'm fairly comfortable, but I definitely don't know everything. I'm very comfortable with google products, but I haven't gotten too far into google apps and extensions. I use a lot of online websites and resources that go with certain subject areas. I love using google docs, forms, and slides. I don't have much experience with google drawings. I have never learned how to do the cool things that sheets can do to calculate things for you. That could be a cool thing to learn. I've tried things like prezi, powtoon, etc... sometimes I find them cool, sometimes they are more of a hassle to navigate than others. I'm open to learning a lot at camp. Thanks!
