Conference Reflection

     I was most excited to attend this conference. Nicole gave a demonstration on paper circuitry to 

our 

staff this past spring which piqued my interest. Combining the topic with art in an elementary setting is right up my alley. 

     Before the conference began, the only knowledge of paper circuitry I had was received during Nicole's presentation. A few days before the conference began I researched circuitry kits to give to my youngest daughter for her upcoming birthday. She is always making and creating things out of discarded things around the house to use with her dolls, and I thought with the added element of electricity, it would jazz up her creations (I was wrong, but more on that later.)

     The first obstacle to overcome was to sign up and use Twitter. As I think back, I think my mind automatically does this during the day, thinks in short snippets or writes lengthy essays in my head about things that I think are important, but may not be necessarily important to anybody else. As it turns out, maybe my thoughts could be useful to others? And posting those quick thoughts could actually be fun? All the while I was learning more about elementary paper circuitry and thinking about how I could incorporate it into my classroom. 

     I was basically starting with a blank slate, and needed more knowledge to be able to teach it effectively. By the end of the conference I had a good base, but still not enough for me to walk into my classroom and deliver a meaningful lesson on it. This course will enable me to find windows of creativity that go beyond my world of blocks and play-doh, something that I am excited about finding, and use it with my students.

     As I am moving up to an intermediate grade next year, what are the things I need to have on hand to provide the students with a rich maker space? As I did a little research during the conference, I found out it's not much different than the things needed in a primary classroom. That bit of news was great because I could bring many of the items that my own kids have outgrown or lost interest in but are still usable at school for my students to use- upcycle and recycle ! I have a growing box of maker goodness ready and waiting for summer to be over so it can go to school and be used by new students!

     So, while I was taking the class, I had to see relevance to me and my world and make a connection to be able to teach it. Thankfully there were many creative people in the class who shared their ideas! In addition, using the Tweetdeck will allow me to follow specific topics, such as paper circuitry, in a concise manner, furthering my understanding of paper circuitry and virtual teaching and its uses in a classroom. I don't want it to be a 'one-time' only lesson. I want to find ways to incorporate it throughout the year, and teach the children to be able to use it independently to enhance their learning.

     Where do I fit on the Virtual Teacher continuum? I think somewhere in the middle. I think that as the technology changes, people's comfort level adjusts with it. While I don't/haven't used social media in my classroom, I have definitely brought the World Wide Web in when developmentally appropriate, using it for current events (when the volcano blew on the Alaskan chain this past spring) or viewing example uses of simple machines. My own children have used Edmodo sporadically in their upper intermediate classrooms, so I am a bit familiar with that program. Could I use that in my own intermediate classroom? This school year I will be using a TV and IPAD in the classroom, which replaces my projector. Those are new tools that I will be learning. But definitely, I am the student in this class, learning new language, new tools, their meanings, and how all of it will fit into my work as a teacher. 

     So, back to my youngest daughter and her birthday present of a real awesome paper circuitry kit.

She was not thrilled, even downright mad after opening that gift. She hadn't seen much of what I had done in the paper circuitry class, so the whole thing was foreign to her too. I brought out the computer and showed her some pictures of what she could do with the gum drop lights and tried to make connections for her (just like I had to do for myself earlier in the week.) Finally, I brought up her wax museum project where she dressed up as a famous person and had to put her research on a display board. On the board she had made a fake button for people to push if they had a question for her. I explained to her that had she known about paper circuitry then, she could have made her button light up and then I showed her the page in the circuitry book that said 'don't press.' After she saw that, she was interested and has worked through several pages in that book. That is the quest, to see the relevance and meaning to what I am learning about being a virtual teacher, and to use it on my journey in the classroom.