POST #2: Challenges to Using Iowa AEA Online Resources

Perhaps the biggest challenge for me will be utilizing the web sites when subbing in classrooms.  If I know ahead of time what grade I will be teaching,  hopefully I will be able to access some material ahead of time. As each school has a different code, It would be helpful if Subs could get a code specific for Subs, but I understand the need for security.  Maybe allowing limited access, for a particular day might be something to consider.

I feel that the biggest challenge will be is deciding what I want to use and incorporating it. I still can't believe all of the valuable resources that there are on the AEA website and I know it will take a lot of time going through which ones I will want to use. I know that the CultureGrams and the iClipart will definitely be the first 2 that I extensively research to come up with a better plan on how I will use them. The next one that I really want to research is the Learn 360 because of the awesome digital videos that are on there. I am just going to have to carve out time each day to 'play' around with all the resources that are on the website. Thank you to the AEA for coming up with such an extensive resource to help out our teaching.

I think one of the challenges for me would be from my basic searching during the class I found that there are not nearly as many resources available for Kindergarten.  Now again this was just basic searching throughout the course introductions of each available resource so the challenge would be to do a more indepth search to find resources that I could use in the classroom.  Even though this is my second year teaching the curriculum I am still not fully comfortable and at times I am searching for things at the last minute so that is why I need to take the time to do a more indepth search so I know what is available.

This is the first time I have really explored the digital resources that are available through Iowa AEA online. I am looking forward to finding resources that will work in my classroom.  I think the biggest challenge for me will be to find resources that will work best within my current curruiculum map and will also fit the needs of the preschool level. I plan to look even deeper into the resources that are available over the summer.  I plan to look over my lesson plans and search for resources that will fit into our current plans.  The new resources may be in addition to what we already do or could even replace other activities.

The biggest challenge that I  face currently is the technology that is available for students, in our building.  We have "Learn Pads" and they do not always work the best. We also have one computer lab and each teacher is scheduled to use it for 30 mins per week.  The current math curriculum that we are using is pretty technology heavy, so most of the time that teachers are in the computer lab, they are working on math.

One thing that will hopefully help over come the first challenge is that I-Pads are in our near future.  These are more Teacher and Student friendly, so will be easier to access Iowa AEA Online.
I would also like to help our teachers navigate the Iowa AEA Online site to further their knowledge.  I can see where it will be very beneficial for all the grades that I work with. This can/will be done in a building wide Professional Development or I can work with teachers at Grade-Level meetings.

My biggest challenge will be to have my students switch to using SIRS, photos, and sounds from the AEA online site for research. They are so used to just googling the topics and what shows up first is what they use. As a science teacher, I try to emphasize the severity of plagiarism and the miss use of copywritten materials, but its hard to get them to see that at the high school level.
To overcome this, I will have to be more diligent in requiring them to use only materials from the AEA site for their projects. I have also been taking a class on Google classroom, which I can see using both of these programs to enhance my classroom. And meet more of the 21st-century requirements also.

 

I believe my biggest challenge when using these resources is being overwhelmed. The many different resources available through the AEA can be very overwhelming.  I had no idea! I only recently relocated back to the state if Iowa and these resources were not available before we moved to Illinois. So not only learning to navigate the site, but also learning what content is available can a be a challenge.

I am a special education teacher and I will be co-teaching language arts this next year in the high school. I have not worked with the teachers in this department and have no idea how much they know about the resources this site has to offer. It may be challenging to begin implementing these resources into our curriculum. My goal is to find one or two resources that fit with the course curriculum and develop lessons that will allow the students and myself the opportunity to use them effectively. As we move forward, I can add more. I see many uses for the resources in the language arts curriculum.

I think my biggest challenge will be trying to find the resources that would work for my students. Some of the students I work with are either deaf or hard of hearing.  The challenges I may face is to be sure the information how my students interpret them correctly and be able to using  the resources. For example, some of the books are audio along with subtitles. At the school that I work at, some of our kids prefer to listen to the signed version of the books. Many of the students I work with has the sign language as their first language before writing and reading English. That is probably the biggest reason why the challenge is for them to understand and enjoy an book from the website.

For other resources the students may use for the research, it may pose challenge for my students because the grade levels that I work with, they just learned about how to use the AEA library website.  Another challenge for me is to teach the kids the correct way to look for the right sources for whatever topic they want to research on. Again, the AEA library is a wonderful site to start teaching those kids who have an challenge in identifying the correct sources versus the false sources, and all that are necessary for the research they were doing.

I feel like the biggest challenge for me implementing the materials in the classroom will be having the time to work with the students on using and navigating the program's material.  Coming from a classroom where all the students had one-to-one laptop use, we had our laptops readily available at all times.  This provided us time to build upon our digital skills.  In my up and coming teaching position I am not sure how their technology program and availability works for that specific grade level.  All the students seem to come into each grade at various levels of technical ability, but since most of them pick it up very quickly, and am going to incorporate the AEA material consistently.  To overcome challenges of time and ability levels I am going to create another Symbaloo page for my specific grade of students.  I will have all programs I want them to access on that page, and routinely work on using these programs and improving upon our skills.  Students will have a familiar and consistent pattern to locating and using information provided for them.  

Since I am moving from teaching kindergarten to 4th grade next year, I feel my biggest challenges in using the Iowa AEA online resources in my classroom next year will be me getting familiar with the 4th grade standards and curriculum. It will also be a challenge finding the time to look at all the online resources that can help me teach the standards. The upper elementary grades in our district don't use textbooks, so I'll be planning many lessons and I'll be working with my 4th grade team to plan lessons. It will be a challenge to be a new member of a grade level team when I'm learning the expectations and the curriculum. After taking this class and learning about how AEA online resources can help, I hope to come to the PLC meetings with knowledge on how we can make lessons even better using online resources. This summer I plan to become very familiar with 4th grade standards, and then through this class, become confident with what online resources are available to enhance learning for students and keep them more engaged.

I think my biggest challenge will be taking the time to teach my students how to use the AEA resources.  I already use a few of the resources and have explained to the students that the resources are free to them.  I also explain they can use the sound and iClipart without worrying about copyright.  I want to start adding other AEA resources such as CultureGrams.  I didn't know about CultureGrams until I took this class.  I plan to use the site during my International Foods unit.  
I plan to overcome the challenges by writing my units including the AEA resources.  I was not aware there were lesson plans on the AEA site.  I plan to look at the prepared lesson plans to see if any of them fit my curriculum. I have used Teen Health and Wellness in my health class.  I plan to write more lessons using the site in my Intro to Foods class.  I want to use the nutrition information that is available.  Time is always a challenge in teaching.  I plan to write some of my lessons using the AEA resources this summer so they are ready for the school year.  I will also go to my present lesson plans and add the AEA resources that fit the lesson.

At first blush I feel like the biggest challenge I will have in integrating the AEA online resources into my classroom will be sorting through the vastness of the resources that available in order to pinpoint relevant resources for my classes. I can also foresee problems related to becoming proficient enough in using the various resources that I am comfortable sharing and demonstrating the resources with my students. I will  take my time and select from the various resources that the AEA provides the one that I feel will provide the greatest utility and throughly familiarize myself with it's content and how to use it and then once I feel that I have a good working understanding of how to utilize it I will introduce it to the students. From there I will begin to dig into the next resource.

I have a feeling that there will be three main challenges that I will come up against: time, attitude and technology. I really want to do a proper job with this information. I have no doubt that if I do the footwork at the front end, the students will be able to self direct rather than depend too much on me. So fitting this into a unit or the first two or three units of the school year will be key. While I am changing schools, I have no doubt that the attitude of students will be similar. How many times do we struggle to get students to at least click on the third page of google search results(rhetorical question). I do know that Xavier is 1:1 with iPads. I am curious to see how the network is filtered. One issue at Columbus was that a couple of students would bring their own laptop to class and work on that. That was harder to control and it became a thing where most students were bringing them. It was not addressed very well, and slowed down the network quite a bit.

The time challenge will probably be the easiest to deal with. Xavier is switching to a block schedule next year and that should provide ample time to incorporate these resources into lesson plans. While I may not actually use this phrase with teenagers, I can see "tech time" becoming a semi regular thing. As far as attitude goes, I will have to talk to the members of my new department and ask what they do. Using a part of a rubric dedicated to number and depth or resources is not out of the question. The iPad component will also depend on how the rest of the school operates. One of my first stops will be the maker space to visit and see how the network is utilized.

My biggest challenge to implement resources gained is to change the stereotypes, mindset (for Ss, families, and administrators) of how a PE classroom is "run."  I am fairly certain I am the only secondary teacher in four buildings (16 teachers) who will make the concerted, self directed effort to create procedures and routines where technology use moves from one lesson check off (to meet a PLC lesson) to literacy to fluency.  That's not a brag; I am one of the few who also teaches traditional health classes in that same grouping of staff.  So training and modeling (and patience from students; vulnerability in the learning process for all) will be needed.  

I am piloting a flipped class in only one of 5 Team Sports classes I will lead in 2018-19 school term.  Great organization and purposeful learning targets will be needed (syllabus) while flexibility and choice to reach desired outcomes may need some flexibility and more discussion/reflection this year.  So I need to be conscientious to not sacrifice movement time - which means the class with the highest pre-assessment data on fitness testing may be the class selected for the pilot.  But I will (hopefully) increase Ss owness, family connection and conversation, and artifacts to demo "learning" and transference - which is what we strive for in any class, especially in creating life-long exercise participants and goal setters.    

We are fortunate that every student in our building has access to a PC and free wifi access (in the building and throughout sites in the city).  

Ryan, I agree!  No blushing....it can be intimidating, overwhelming!  I feel same.  

Matt - I agree in recognizing the need for consistency, like becoming a part of a daily conversation.  Even if 10 min daily in an elementary setting, to every Monday in a HS setting, or the like.  Making the concept of digital use in the classroom supports many (personal, SIP, and BOEE) expectations.  Good luck!

The most challenging part of implementing the use of the AEA Online resources is that there are so many and they can do so much. This course has given me a peek at all the good things these resources have to offer. It can be a bit overwhelming trying to learn in ins and outs of them all. My best tactic will be to decide which ones are best suited for me, my students and our needs. Because I teach very young children, this will eliminate some of the resources.  Next I need to choose one or two to begin incorporating at a time. Look at which features will be most helpful in my class room. Then, make a commitment to using that next year in my classroom, and delve into how they can best be used. Then, when I have a good handle on one or two I can add another.

     I’m lucky to work in a high school where every student is issued a MacBook Air, so availability of computers is not a challenge.  My biggest challenge will be to figure out how to adjust my curriculum to incorporate more of these resources.  It’s easy to get caught up in all the possibilities, but reality dictates careful and meaningful selections.  Also, even though all students have access to a personal computer issued by the school, many do not have access to those computers when the school day ends.  Some students do not have internet access at home, and others are not allowed, for various reasons, to take a computer home.  So, it’s imperative that I allow class time for students to complete the research, projects, and activities. So, my first step will be to make meaningful curriculum choices and adjustments.  Then, I will need to have very clear instructions, perhaps some screencasts, to walk students through new territory, so they have as much work time in class as possible, and I save myself from repeating instructions multiple times.  

This year our 4th and 5th grade teachers are departmentalizing.  I will be the primary math teacher, along with teaching some language arts.  The biggest challenge for me is to implement the resources into my classroom for the subject area I will be teaching.  I feel the AEA Online resources focus mainly on science and social studies.  I feel bad I haven’t integrated these resources into my social studies classroom the last three years.  There are some excellent resources,  and they are very engaging for the students.  With that being said, I will try to overcome this challenge by using the resources to help kids in their writing during language arts.  The 4th graders write a research report on an animal of their choice.  I can see the students utilizing Britannica and many of the video resources to find out information about their animals.  They also write opinion papers on a variety of topics and may be able to use the resources to support their opinion.  Finally, I will share the FreedomFlix and TrueFlix resources with my colleague that will be teaching the social studies content for 4th and 5th grade.

I think that one of my biggest challenges will be to overcome the lack of technology available in my setting.  I have a unique position where I teach at an off-campus jobsite.  I build a house each year with students from the foundation to completion.  I am planning to get a Technology center with a Wifi Hotspot that will be kept in the trailer so students can work on various assignments and problem solve thru the different resources while on site.  The QR code will help greatly because every student it seems carries a smart phone with them, even more than they carry a pencil.  I feel that I will be able to use a lot of the Iowa AEA Resources in the beginning of the year when we are doing our program orientation and basics of construction units.  Another struggle I feel I may have is that I may not have time to incorporate everything that I want to from this class.  I have been out of teaching for the past 6 years and my boxes of teaching materials can almost all be found on one resource or another from this class.