Last summer I had the privilege of attending the North Texas Visioning Consortium 2014 Summer Conference. With thoughts of Makerspace still fresh in my head, there was a group of library media specialists in Mckinney ISD hosting a Learning Commons discussion that I chose to attend. One of the resources Melanie Burford,
@MelanieBurford3 shared was called Toilet Paper Tech. I loved it! In fact, I have been using it since! Thank you for the inspiration Melanie!
This effective, yet simple resource has allowed me to share #edtech resources with our staff at Sigler Elementary throughout the year. While we are improving our understanding of instructional technology at Sigler Elementary, we have staff members ranging from "confident" to "beginner" in regards to incorporating #edtech into their classrooms.
Time is the commodity everyone wants more of, but cannot seem to create, I felt Toilet Paper Tech was a fun and easy way to expose teachers to #edtech tools without taking more time from their day.
So, how do we introduce #edtech tools to teachers without taking time for their day? We do it by maximizing the time they have. Yes, even when they are in the bathroom!! By taking a photo of the Toilet Paper Tech Poster or scanning the QR code on the poster the teachers have access to a new tool each month for them to implement into their classrooms.
As I mentioned, we have a wide range of technology learners on our campus so we started with the biggest Professional Learning Network in the world, Twitter.
Each month I keep my eye out for what teachers may already be using in their classrooms or tools that I may be able to incorporate into staff or leadership meetings that may be an #edtech tool to enchance the learning in classrooms throughout our campus. I am reminded by Matt Gomez,
@mattBgomez that we do not teach technology, we teach children. He adds, "Make a great lesson - the best lesson you can for your students and then, add the technology that makes it even better, more accessible, more global."
While discussing #edtech with Alan November,
@globalearner author of Who Owns the Learning, he puts it differently, "If you are using an activity that existed before the internet, stop using it."
Both men emphasize the importance of #edtech, which is why Toilet Paper Tech is a great resource for our staff and exposing teachers to #edtech tools so they can begin to fill their toolbag.
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| Plickers - Fun to use with leadership teams, staff meetings and whole group/small groups of students |
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| Remind - Teachers and Administrators can connect with parents to communicate |
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| Post-It Plus - Stop collecting sticky notes and capture the notes taken to sort them as needed |
I was excited to share Post-it Plus with the staff as it came straight from one of our teachers, Mr. S,
@Sschweikhard By no means, do I need to be the only one researching and exploring #edtech tools. I was so happy when Scott brought this to my attention, I wanted to share it with others!
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| Friendly Competition assessing student knowledge. Be sure to use it with your staff as well! |
While February is still a couple of weeks away, I was able to get ahead of the game a little bit, so Kahoot is making an appearance early.
The world is full of #edtech tools, but we want to be able to share tools that can impact students positively and enhance their learning. We are not interested in showcasing technology, just for technology's sake.
Interested in implementing Toilet Paper Tech on your campus. What are you waiting for?
