Utah Compose

At UCET I went to a class on Utah Compose and I learned SO MUCH!

Implemented it right away the Monday I returned with my students.

Success!

I would have to say that my most favorite part of it is after you log on, you can scroll down at the bottom of the page and there are sample essays. The most improvement I ever saw in my students' essay writing was when I showed them previous essay examples that students had written, and what their scores were. I showed them highly scored and lowly scored ones. I didn't tell them why they received the scores that they did-the students were easily able to see what was 'wrong' or 'right' with the essays. Anyways, these sample essays that are on Utah Compose show a student's essay from the lowest points, and how she was able to change-through feedback-to get a high score.

As soon as I showed my students these essays, they focused more on the details of their essay writing and all significantly improved.

All because I went to UCET.

I love technology!

UCET

I find myself like a kid at Christmas waiting for this conference each year.
I'm going on several years strong!

Love the excitement there! 

Love the new technology!

Love the stuff I come away with!

I am in awe of the many things that teachers are doing for their classes to bring new technology in and immerse it into their daily routines. I used to be so afraid of trying anything new-in fear of not doing it right or not knowing everything about something before I try it. Well, I've shied away from that because I have learned that once you learn something, if you teach it or use it, it sticks all the more! That is what technology does for me. I love trying something right away. I find that if I try something out and use it for more than a day or so, I am that much more apt to actually use it with my students.

I loved all of the classes that I attended, and I can't wait for the next year's conference!

Just. Do. It.

Ever since I started my technology endorsement, I have been exposed to SO much technology! I can't even keep up with it.

Sometimes. Its. Overwhelming.

With that being said, I have decided to Just. Do. It. Just take the plunge. Any time I learn something new, instead of waiting for a while to try it out with my students (because I am either afraid to try it, or unsure of how to do it), I have just plunged into it.

And, it's been amazing!

We are lucky at our school to have 3 chromebook carts, so I have been able to have many days in the week where I can experiment trying out new apps/websites with my students. This past week I started frontrowed.com. I couldn't believe how much they all loved it! They instantly wanted to get the right answers so they could earn coins. I kept reminding them to work smart and slow and take their time through each math problem, and noticed that slowly, one by one, students started getting out their notebooks and not just 'guessing' the answers. They were working better and more focused.

This new website will allow me to observe where they are at individually in their math while letting them think they are just 'playing a game'. It was so much fun watching them and I am so excited to see their results!