Vonnahme Master’s Portfolio 1

Technology

Samantha Vonnahme

ED 698 Master’s Portfolio Spring 2024

University of Alaska Southeast

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When I first started working in the classroom where I currently teach, there was a

SMART board installed on the back wall. The majority of a whiteboard was covered by its bulk

and a retractable projector screen, when pulled over the top, plainly showed the various bumps

and contours beneath. When the teacher attempted to use the board in conjunction with math

lessons, it would never calibrate correctly and we spent many frustrating minutes trying to

allow student participation with a tool that never really worked. The reality was that we would

have rather had access to the whiteboard for all the smartboard was accomplishing. The next

year, the smartboard was removed.

This is obviously a poor example of technology in the classroom. With the potential to

enhance student learning and allow for student-driven learning, the board’s failure to function

properly ended up wasting class time and discouraging further integration of technology with

content. The smartboard debacle was also an example of how the novelty of a certain

technology can make it seem cool and therefore worthy of use. This type of thinking is probably

what motivated the choice of technology presented in the 3rd grade literacy group lesson on

writing narratives. The lesson was perhaps not a poor example of technology use, but certainly

one to elicit reflection on how technology can be used to its greatest potential. When I reflect

on the smartboard, for example, half of it wasn’t even accessible to the students and the

teacher wanted it to be useful for interactive learning; learning that involves students in action

and teamwork and creative thinking. Technology should never be used based on popularity

alone. It should make really good lesson plans even better. It shouldn’t be the jumping off

point, it should be one of the antidotes when you fall flat on your face after the jump.
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I will be the first to admit that I operate under the belief that a kindergarten classroom

benefits from simple, straightforward instruction that is rich with movement, music,

imagination, and relationship. I have students who come to school talking about how they

stayed up watching their iPad or have spent hours playing video games like Fortnite—with

content far above what is age appropriate. I think every single child in my class this year has a

favorite video game and a few of them even want to be YouTubers when they grow up. As I

listen my eyes begin to bug out and big warning letters spelling, “SCREENS SCREENS SCREENS”

starts living rent free in my mind. My initial reaction is to do as much as I can to remove the

students from technology of any kind. Perhaps a cute, fun tool like the story generator from our

group lesson on narratives would be permissible, but my school experience was relatively tech-

free, so why not theirs? The immediate flaw in this thinking is that I am allowing personal bias

to influence the way I teach without considering the needs or experience of my students. Cofie

(2021), Fisher (2021), Howard et al. (2021), and Payne (2018), all agree on the negative

influence bias can have on instruction. The children in this generation are digital natives. They

are surrounded by technology; it is an integral part of their experience and, according to Merrill

& Merrill (2019), I need to adjust.

I remain a believer that students do not need technology to have a rich education. I do,

however, also believe that we can miss out on significant opportunities for learning in its

absence. If the lives of my students are already saturated in technology it indicates they do

much of their learning by visual means, something that Merrill & Merrill (2019) also propose.

Images have always been captivating, but they have not ever before made up the majority of

means through which people receive information. It would be wise to implement similar
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strategies for sharing information and encouraging wonder and curiosity, whilst also teaching

its use appropriately and moderately. A tool suggested by Moline (1995), for example, is Google

Maps which can help my class explore where they live and the way each student’s home fits

with the location of the school. In regards to other tech, I also have the opportunity to be

taught by my students. In the future, I think it would be interesting to have the kids share about

an app they use at home, and teach us how to use it. Then we might explore how it could be

useful in school. Kindergarteners love to share about what they know and what they are good

at, so not only would I be learning about tools of which I am not aware (whether they are useful

or not), but the presenter would come to feel important and that their voice is valued in the

classroom.

In the group project for teaching a lesson on narrative writing, what the reader cannot

see is that the online plot generator was the jumping off point for the lesson plan. We picked a

standard related to writing narratives and then went hunting for a tool the students might think

was cool and engaging. Writer’s block was the problem the tool addressed, but it was contrived

to suit our purposes for using the plot generator in the first place. The “cool” and “engaging”

factors took precedence in the plan and nothing was indicated about this lesson being one in a

unit on narratives—hopefully placed towards the completion of the unit, when the building

blocks of setting, characters, and plot had already been thoroughly explored. Otherwise, the

tool could overwhelm students who had received improper scaffolding.

A technology tool that is merely cool and engaging, however, can stand apart from

lessons and serve as a brain break for the whole class—not just a reward for some, as Merrill &

Merrill (2019) warn against. In my class, we use movement videos from YouTube on occasion
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when the students are cooped up inside during the winter or when they simply need a break

because they are kindergarteners. The students also have access to Freeform on the iPads they

are issued by the district. Freeform is a digital drawing, note-taking, and image compiling

application we currently only use as a brain break even though digital art certainly has its place

in formal art lessons. It can also serve as a way to explore personal creativity using a medium

that might be more familiar to some kids than paper and a crayon. This platform bolsters the

confidence of some of my students who are intimidated by simply being asked to partake in art.

Using Freeform can alleviate this intimidation and pressure.

Technology makes the most significant difference when it is more than a novel add-on

like the one in the narrative writing lesson or fulfillment of a requirement. Miller (2023) writes

that teachers should identify their problems, goals, or needs, then figure out if there is an

educational technology tool that can help. I think I would do better to practice identifying goals

more explicitly so I can find technology that enhances those goals. Sometimes I am able to

achieve this, especially in science lessons when I know the students will make more

connections if they see something in a video, rather than hear it from me, without

accompanying images. They also have access, such as Moline (1995) suggests, to interactive

maps and animations that can make science concepts come alive.

I do have leading goals in math, and one is for every student to master core

understandings at an individualized pace. Whole group math lessons are still taught, but the

students follow their own math path as part of the curriculum’s online tool called iReady

MyPath. There are flaws in its operation, but I have found that my lower students can work on

foundational skills they need, for as long as needed. Additionally, the use of iReady MyPath
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revealed a goal I didn’t even realize I had—something Miller (2023) has experienced with his

use of technology—and that is to keep my higher students challenged and engaged at their

individual level. The online path has brought some of my kindergarten students up to 1 st grade

level skills!

An aspect absent from the online plot generators used in the lesson on narrative writing

was that they did little to help assess a skill—something for which some tech tools are

specifically built according to Miller (2023). Given a do-over, I think I would have assessed

based on a student sharing at the end of the lesson, so their ideas could be evaluated according

to the presence of characters, setting, plot, and descriptors. Technology can trace progress and

give insight into student misconceptions, however, alleviating much of the work teachers have

had to do in the past even though such a use may not have been useful for the narrative writing

lesson. I think there is wisdom in asking how an educational tech tool can help a teacher

evaluate progress and inform further teaching before it is embedded into a lesson. There are

ways this can be done explicitly and ways it can be done as a secondary outcome of the

technology. Last year, I took a recommendation from a colleague to use an online evaluation

system called ESGI. Rather than having to keep a paper copy of kindergarten skills and

benchmarks, ESGI allowed me to choose pre-written skill checks and administer them one-on-

one, then merely click my way through. The program would immediately organize the data and

my students could see how much they had progressed and make a goal for next time.

The individual online math path I referenced earlier can also be used for assessment

purposes. I am able to see in my teacher account which students are rushing through lessons or

having difficulty passing anything. This is another platform from which I can invite student
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viewing and chat about the results together. Often, when the kids can see a visual trend, it is a

beneficial point from which to rethink their math strategies.

Currently, the classroom where I teach is equipped with a 25-year-old projector, a ten-

year-old document camera, and an iPad for each student. The projector takes a while to warm

up and the resulting image is washed out and muddy. On a good day it only takes me three

minutes to get plugged in and rolling. Three minutes seems like an eternity in the brain of a

kindergarten student. As with the smartboard problem, there are days that I think the trouble

isn’t worth the benefit, especially if my class is no longer paying attention anyway. The iPads,

too, sometimes seem to be of little use, as applications are tightly controlled by the district,

making a tool like a plot generator only available to my teacher laptop, rendered useless by a

finicky projector.

I have many hopes for the way I can integrate educational technology into my

classroom, but to be effective, it should happen in small increments. There are so many options

to choose from, and the overload can result in not choosing at all, if only because educators

feel such pressure to choose the right one according to Miller (2023). In the narrative lesson,

the plot generator allowed for countless pulls of the virtual handle. For students, this can lead

to choice paralysis, where the over-abundance of choices leads to no choice at all. In story

writing, this can actually lead to more severe writer’s block, which would not alleviate the

original problem. With this in mind, I have a list of ideas to implement, but I always want to

make sure that the tool is appropriate for each unique group of students.

I own a Google Home speaker I would like to bring into the classroom based on an idea

from Merrill & Merrill (2019) to use Alexa speakers in classrooms. It would be easy to set
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timers, ask for a rhyme, announce the weather, spell a word, etc. Gamification of schoolwork is

also an appealing option. Though video games continue to change and develop, the core

motivation for playing is to gain special abilities, beat your opponents, and level up. These same

motivators can be useful in certain academic arenas and would be interesting to try. It is simple

and kid-friendly to shoot a video on an iPad, too, and I would like to have this as an option for

students show what they know.

The current devices I have at my disposal with which to integrate technology are

somewhat lacking. Perhaps it is for this reason that my lessons often lack a technological

aspect, or perhaps it is my excuse for not implementing one. In any case, the experience with

the smartboard is not the way all educational tech tools will turn out. I only need to ensure that

my choice of tool aligns with my goals and/or student need. The world of technology shifts

quickly, so the ways I use it will surely change. I only need to be open to the possibility that, in

ignoring technology altogether, my students may miss many opportunities to learn from

technology, teach with technology, and grow with technology.

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References

Cofie, J. (2021). Strengthening the parent-teacher partnership. Center for Responsive Schools.

Fisher, D., et al. (2018). Engagement by Design. Corwin.

Howard, K.L., Wade, A., Wanless, B., & Wells, L.D. (2021). Empowering educators: A

comprehensive guide to teaching grades K, 1, 2. Center for Responsive Schools.

Merrill, K., & Merrill, J. (2019). The interactive class: Using technology to make learning more

relevant and engaging in the elementary class. ElevateBooksEdu.

Miller, J. (2023). Educational duct tape: Your guide to selecting the right tools for your

classroom. Jake Miller Educational Opportunities, LLC.

Moline, S. (1995). I see what you mean: Visual literacy K-8. Stenhouse Publishers.

Payne, R.K. (2018). Emotional poverty in all demographics: How to reduce, anger, anxiety, and

violence in the classroom. Aha! Process Inc.