This is real, this is me...
Hi! My name is Brittany Davega and I am in my third year teaching. My first year was fully remote thanks to the pandemic so last year was my first year in person. I teach first grade and I love this age! I am originally from St. Louis, Missouri and I moved to Chicago after graduating from University of Missouri (Mizzou). I enjoy walking outside, shopping, eating, and hanging with friends. Every year my family and I go to Maui, Hawaii. I am grateful to be in a profession that allows me the two weeks every year with my family.
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Personal v Tech
As a 24 year old, I am experienced in technology but I wouldn’t say I enjoy all parts of it. I believe it has many benefits but also has natural occurring downsides. My friends and I have experienced waves of anxiety ridden episodes as a result of social media and technology. From middle school Facebook fights to Snapchat "top friends" lists and now proposal and wedding video drama; I find it can be very damaging to the human pysche when not used mildly and with discretion. Although these are my inner thoughts I still participate regularly with social media...
Classroom v Tech
In my classroom we have one-to-one Chromebooks that all students use. During reading centers and math centers students use the Chromebooks to listen to reading, word work games, math games, and more. Our district uses Clever to house all of our school apps. We use Epic, Learning A-Z, IXL, Freckle, ABCYA, BrainPop, Lexia, Edmentum, and more. My first graders used these apps in kindergarten so they come to me as little experts! We have a projector that is connected to my computer so we can project things from my own computer or the document camera. I have daily issues with this process. Some issues are common and I can solve quickly but others require assistance. In a few weeks we should be receiving Promethean boards. This will be a nice upgrade for our school and students. I am excited for the students to engage with the boards as part of centers and whole group lessons. I look forward to using my new school issued laptop to boom things from my computer to the Promethean board as I walk around the room. It is not ideal to be a teacher tied to their computer station area in the classroom. I also have a little anxiety surrounding the new technology being added to my room where I am looked at as the "expert."
I look forward to gaining a better understanding of how I can use technology in my first grade classroom.
Very nice to meet you, Brittany. Thank you for sharing your views on technology. I agree that social media can be a double-edge sword and appreciate your honesty in continuing to use it. It's great that your district has so much technology available to teachers and students. Perhaps one of the positives of using it with 1st graders is as they get older it will lose it's "thrill" and be looked at as more of a tool. Only time will tell. Looking forward to getting to know you this fall.
ReplyDeleteHi, Brittany! I am looking forward to getting to know you through our coursework. I love the Camp Rock reference right off the bat. You definitely caught my attention and made me want to open up Spotify for some nostalgia! I think you are going to love the Promethean board. I had one at my last school where I taught first grade, and my students loved to get involved in the lessons. The past few years I have been using a Smart Board with my students and have found the same thing. Moving forward, my district is moving to all apple TV's and I will really miss the interactive features of my Smart Board. I can't wait to hear more about your journey with the new Promethean board!
ReplyDeleteHey Brittany! I loved reading your blog and insight on the effect technology has had on you - I am sure a unique experience being so young. I am 29 and can relate to the mental and social/emotional toll technology has had. However, even with a 5 year gap between us I can imagine you have even more to say about the topic. Do you think your own relationship with technology will show itself in how you have students use technology in the classroom? Is safe technology part of your personal pedagogy? I definitely think teachers right now are part of the trial-and-error generation of figuring out the appropriate way to implement technology into the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHello Brittany! First of all, I absolutely loved how you used Camp Rock to start off your post, I even started singing. It got me hooked instantly! I actually was singing this song not that long ago with my college friends. I can't imagine what it was like having your first year being remote. I actually spent my entire student teaching experience remote. Thankfully my cooperating teacher was my own third grade teacher, so I didn't have to go through getting know her. I enjoyed my experience, but I definitely felt like something was missing. The connections that I like to build with students felt minimal since there wasn't moments where I could get to know them on a more personal level, or joke with them. I wish it was in person, but I certainly made my remote experience worthwhile. I give you major props for working with first graders! I have patience, but not sure I have that much. I think fifth graders can be tough, so I can only imagine the littles. I think it's great that you go to Hawaii every year. I too experience a lot of anxiety when it comes to social media. You and I both use Brainpop. I literally try to use it with any lesson since it is so fun and the students love Tim and Moby! I always wonder how well the littles are able to use Chromebooks. Are they completely independently when it comes to working on them during class? Also don't stress out too much about your new Promethean board. We use something very similar, and once you get the hang of it it's amazing! I always reach out to the technician at school, or YouTube everything when I don't know how to do something. It is definitely a lifesaver once you get familiar with it. It was really nice to get to know you! Thank you for sharing.
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