New Technology in the Classroom

This week we had the awesome opportunity to be the first to get our hands on some new technology in the classroom! I'll be the first to admit that I'm a huge sucker for technology, and any time I get the opportunity for something new I'll jump on it!

This week we got to try out the school's new set of Google Chromebooks. The Chromebooks were purchased a few weeks ago and are finally up and running. The laptops should make online testing a breeze!

Our first day was a bit rough, we were the guinea pigs. We got the opportunity to see what worked and what didn't. Naturally about half didn't work at first, something with the chargers not charging. But on Friday, when we used them again and they were all working! Woo!

We will be seeing a lot of the Chromebooks, with AzMerit right around the corner, any chance to get to used to how they work. Last year, my class took AzMerit on the Ipads, which went great! But I am interested to see how it will go on the laptops. Also, for benchmark 2, we will also try out taking the benchmark on the Chromebooks. Eek! It's coming up so fast but these technology advanced kiddos will do great!

A few weeks ago, I had an amazing opportunity to go to a Google Summit and learn about using Google Classroom. It's pretty amazing what Google is coming up with and how to incorporate it into teaching.

On Friday, we tried out using Google Classroom for the first time. We took our spelling test online and well as a reading formative. This is HUGE practice for online testing. Simply scrolling through a passage and typing in a text box comes with its own learning curve.

It is my hope to use the Chromebooks for many more formatives and activities in the future. But, we only have one set of Chromebooks or the whole school. I would love a class set for myself, but that isn't a reality unfortunately! Unless someone wants to buy me a whole set *wink wink* Just kidding!