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Technology Teacher

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56 views13 pages

Technology Teacher

Uploaded by

Spam Junk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Getting Started as a

Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn

Are you a new technology teacher or just


interested in learning how another technology
teacher gets organized at the beginning of the
school year? This resource guide includes
everything you need to know to give your students
a great start.
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
Your first order of business is to decide where and
how to set up your lessons. As a technology teacher
you're going to ask your students to go to a lot of
websites, and typing them in can be such a hassle. Having
a class website that houses all of the lesson links and
activities will make your life easier and save time for your
students to complete the actual lessons.

There are some great website building platforms out


there and you can use any one you like. I build mine in
Weebly because I like the ease of the click and drag
interface. Each lesson I build has some basic components
that are the same, so using the features in weebly I am
able to copy a page and then just change out a few
elements for each lesson. Click here to see an example
website I have set up.
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
I have two formats that I like to use for the
different levels of learners. The lesson for students K-2 is
going to look different than 3-5.

Kindergarten through second grade generally has a


"must do" activity and then learning games for early
finishers. When I first started teaching technology I got
some push-back from the kindergarten team because
they thought their students were just "playing" on the
computers. I had to show them the standards and
explain how important knowing how to use a computer
mouse is to the ability to do more complicated lessons in
the future. I take the whole first quarter to build this
skill (along with logging in to their accounts and
navigating to the class website). The websites I choose for
mouse practice nearly always have an educational
component to them that will help in the classroom.
Whether it is number sense or letter sounds, my students
are developing multiple skills at one time. I'm sharing this
tidbit with you so that you can plan how to address the
issue if it is brought up for you!

Continue Reading
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
To decide what to include in my lessons, I use the
ISTE Standards for Students. At the beginning of
creating all of my lessons, I laid out a plan for including
each standard enough times for students to master it. I
guess you could call it a pacing guide, but I didn't
complicate it with time limits at this point. It was
basically just a spreadsheet of the standards on top and
the grade levels on the side with Xs for which standards I
wanted to teach in each grade level. By the end of 5th
grade everything was covered to mastery. I made myself
a whole binder of forms to organize it. Click here to check
out the tech teacher binder.

Continue Reading
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
3rd through 5th grade has three components to each
lesson. I love to start with a warm up activity like
keyboarding for the first 10 minutes of class. On my class
website I set up a page with keyboarding practice options
and taught my students to go directly there once they
logged in. After keyboarding comes the directions and the
bulk of the lesson.
I love making screencasts of the directions so that
students can watch as many times as they need to and
refer back when necessary during their lesson. It means
more prep time for me, but it makes class run so smoothly!

So the lesson page includes the objectives, a video of


directions, and the links to the lesson activities. At the
bottom there are directions for what to do if they finish
early and usually a link to direct them to the early
finisher activities. See what I mean here.

Continue Reading
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
In addition to early finisher activities online, I
also keep a classroom library that they can use if
they finish early. I leave that option up to each
student. Here are some of my favorite technology
themed books:

• Cici’s Cellphone Circus: Screentime


• The Berenstain Bears’ Computer Trouble
• Arthur’s Computer Disaster
• When Charlie McButton Lost Power
• The Computer Teacher from the Black Lagoon
• If Your Give a Mouse an iPhone

*These are affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase one


of these after clicking through from this resource guide I
will receive compensation.
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

Chances are really good that you’ll have a day or


two each school year that the wifi isn’t working or
your devices aren’t cooperating.

For these days, it is really helpful to have some


activities printed and ready to use.

•Coding Board Games


•Mouse Practice Work Mats
•Build Your Own Computer
•Tech themed picture books with response to reading

© Brittany Washburn
activities
•Robotics challenges
•QR Code webquests and physical scavenger hunts
•Color by Code Worksheets
•Vocabulary Foldables
•Printable Keyboard Worksheets
•Pixel Art Coding

Make a class set of copies for each grade level


and put them to the side so you can grab and go when
needed.
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
When I first walked into the classroom that would be
mine (the computer lab) I was so excited! It had been an
old science lab but now it was 5 rows of computers and I
was ready to get started. As I worked on organizing it, I
realized it was lacking. I had no open wall space for
displays because there was one whole wall of windows, two
whole walls of upper and lower cabinets, and then the
SmartBoard and a small whiteboard area. I had to find a
way to project the lessons onto the SmartBoard, I needed
a space for a teacher desk, and where in the world would I
put the technology vocabulary terms?

It wasn't until about 6 months in that I was finally


happy with the setup. I chose to completely deconstruct
the first row of computers to make room for a projector
cart and carpet space. Luckily the computers in the front
row were those awesome all-in-one Lenovos. They didn't
need to be hardwired to the internet so I was able to
move them to another part of the classroom. This made
space for a desk for me, too! Well, a table not a desk, but
at least I had a place to sit when I was planning.

Continue Reading
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
I used the upper cabinets for my word wall. I
laminated technology vocabulary terms and taped them
to colored construction paper, which I taped to the
cabinets. It brought color to my room, which I didn't even
realize was missing until it wasn't. So now I had solved
almost all of my organization problems- except displaying
the I Can Statements, which my Admin requires.

Since I never write much on the whiteboard, I


decided to use this space for the I Can Statements. Yay
for magnets because that is exactly what I used for this
purpose! Each week I would choose the corresponding I
Can Statements for each grade level K-5 and post them on
the board. Occasionally if a group was off by a week I
would have to change it out for them, but it was
manageable because I had all of my I Can Statements in
a binder, laminated and ready to go.
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
Just like any other classroom, you want to provide
visually appealing posters and anchor charts for your
students.

Here is a link to the Technology Themed Décor


Classroom Set BUNDLE so that you can save a bunch
on getting your computer lab decorated.
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
Ok this one I didn't figure out until my 3rd year. It
was a group effort between myself and the other
specialists at my school.

The first thing that I did that completely changed


my technology teacher life was laminate and velcro a
"hand" and a "name tag" for each computer station. It
blew my mind that students would put their hand in the
air for a questions and then wait and wait and wait
without getting any more work done until I could go help
them. And the question was usually something like "I
can't find the q key." It was maddening. So in comes the
laminated hand to save the day. Students could "raise
their hand" by moving their "hand" from the side of their
processor to the corner of their monitor. They could KEEP
WORKING while waiting for me. Aha!

It was also really difficult for me to learn 600


names. I remedied this by having them always put their
name on their dry-erase name tag while they are logging
in. Yes I would have to replace the dry erase markers
every few months, but it was totally worth being able to
call a student by name.

Continue Reading
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

© Brittany Washburn
The specialist team at my school also did a scoring
system as a way to motivate students to behave. They
started with 5 points every class and only lost points if
their voice level was too loud. At the end of the quarter
the class (from each grade level) with the most remaining
points would get a fun reward. It worked really well for us
and we had great classroom teacher buy-in because they
wanted their classes to keep all 5 points. Read more about
this system in THIS blog post if you want the full scoop.

Still nervous? Join my Facebook Group,


the Technology Teacher Talk.
Getting Started as a
Technology Teacher
“Resource Guide”

Would you like to try my K-5 Technology Curriculum for 30 © Brittany Washburn
days to see if it is a good fit for your students? Click
here and use the code TRYK5TECH1 at checkout to get the
first 30 days for just $1!

After that it is $12 per month or you can get the full year
at a discount.

If you like to do your research, click here and read all


about it. There is even a full walkthrough video and
sample pages.

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