Instructional Technology

Virtual Reality can be used to enhance traditional reading lessons to immerse the student into any environment. They can experience new places that they may otherwise never know existed. VR can also be a stepping stone to creating interest in the topic, so that students will be more engaged with their reading, and can inspire further reading on the topic.

Computational Thinking can be taught using Powerpoint-styled lessons to help students visualize difficult math processes. It can also provide additional aides, such as mnemonics, to promote learning and retention. It is always available, so students can to go back and review concepts as needed.

Gamification turns "learning" into "playing". This can make learning and practice much more enjoyable, so that students will be more engaged with their lessons. This also promotes learning and retention.

Participatory lessons engage the students, and help them learn about different experiences and points of view.

Google Classroom is a free and easy way to distribute, teach, and evaluate student learning using the internet. I had started using it just prior to Covid-19, and when our school district shifted to distance learning, I and my class were already largely prepared for the transition. The greatest challenge was using it wholly to teach my class, rather than simply to supplement the traditional classroom.

Classkick is a powerful internet tool to teach any kind of lesson. It is essentially a "digital whiteboard" which I can use to demonstrate complicated topics such as math strategies using all sorts of visual media. The interactivity means students are engaged with the lesson, and can see immediate results. I can focus on individual students to help them when needed, and can also look at classwide trends to determine the efficacy of my lessons.

Scratch has been a fun website to code my own learning programs for my students. I have developed my original spelling program into a vocabulary program that students can review to study definitions and reading concepts we have learned in class.

Classdojo is another internet resource that I've used for years, and yet became even more important during distance learning. Teacher-to-parent and parent-to-teacher communication is easy and instantaneous, and I can also send information such as images and PDFs if necessary.

JupiterEd is a grading website that is very customizable, and provides internet access for teachers,, staff, parents, and even students! It is a paid service, but it is much more user-friendly than my district's grade portal.

I♥PDF was a tremendously important website for me to use the digital versions of my school curriculum and adapt them for Google Classroom. Although students had taken their textbooks home, they would often misplace them. This made it easy to provide digital copies that were always available no matter where my students were at.