Genius Hour - Week 2 (MOD 3)

The routine aspect of the genius hour project is definitely one of my biggest challenges--but to be honest I feel like I have no excuse. Without any children to take care of, or a coaching position that requires me to stay after school constantly, or even a pet to come home to...15-20 minutes a day is SO doable. That being said, adding something new to my daily routine is a true struggle and adjustment. However, I am trying my best to stick with a daily 20-minute period where I can work at this passion project.

Eliminating distractions has been the most beneficial way to truly focus and commit to the 20 minutes a day I am spending researching and learning about the issue of hunger in the Chicagoland area. When I sit down and take out my laptop, I put my phone on airplane mode, and I do not allow myself to get tab-happy--only tabs relevant to my research are open. No Facebook, Youtube, email--nothing else is open. I do not have the TV on in the background and I don’t even play music, for fear of getting sucked into the world of Spotify playlists.

The time of day that has been working best for me to devote to this project is when I get home from work (typically around 4pm). I make it a priority before I start grading papers, lesson planning, or napping. This is the time of day I still have a slight bit of motivation left. When I have commitments after school (like tutoring or chaperoning a basketball game), this can throw off my routine. By the time I get home around 5-6pm, I am exhausted, and the true intrinsic motivation has to kick in. The good news is I love this project! Yes, some evenings I would rather lay in bed and binge Netflix, but since the foundation of this experience is something I am genuinely passionate about, it makes the 20 minutes a day seem less of a “to do” and more of a “may do” and making the conscious choice each day to learn more about the fight against hunger. 

Also, I rallied 4 friends to volunteer with me at the Chicago Food Depository in December, so recruitment has been a success!

Genius Hour - Week 1

Week 1 (Oct. 14, 2019)

After reading the quote by Mark Twain, I sat down and began to reflect on what are my true passions in life (aside from teaching), and within minutes, it became quite clear. My first passion lies in creativity. I like repurposing objects--turning “old things” into aesthetically pleasing, purposeful transformations. I love to draw, paint, and build things and devote my weekends to projects. 

Another passion I have revolves around ways to build up my community. I volunteer at the Chicago Food Depository a couple times a year, and the mission to end hunger in the Chicago region is something that has become of high interest to me. The junior high that I teach at hosts a food drive every year in the fall, and we have a food bank within out building that serves families within our district in Schaumburg, Elk Grove, and Hoffman Estates. I think when I started teaching, I learned just how serious and unfortunate the problem is with families struggling to put food on the table. It affects not only the family’s health, but the children’s ability to focus in school, as well as an emotional impact when a child feels food insecure. 

For my genius hour, I want to explore and learn more about the fight against hunger, specifically in the Chicago area. I want to educate myself and groups I am connected to (family, friends, coworkers) about the seriousness of hunger and why it is a cause worth fighting for. Additionally, by the end of my genius hour, I’d like to rally a group of friends and family members who will commit to volunteering a Saturday of their time to volunteer at the Chicago Food Depository with me. I think once they have this experience, it will not only make a positive impact for our community, but for them as individuals as well.

This week, I began researching statistics and information about the types of groups who suffer from hunger and food insecurity. The Greater Chicago Food Depository’s website contains lots of useful information on the topic, and I learned that 1 in 7 people in Cook County currently experience food insecurity. The Food Depository serves more than 213,100 households each year, and many households who are food insecure do not qualify for federal nutrition assistance programs. Furthermore, although we know poverty and food insecurity are often linked, many people living above the poverty level remain food insecure--this may be due to factors such as “unemployment, lack of access to transportation and health problems.”

Learning these statistics was quite alarming to me, and although I knew hunger was a huge problem Cook County faces, I now feel more knowledgeable about the situation--and more eager to keep learning and to do something about it. Moving into the next couple weeks, I plan to pick a date to plan a group outing to the Food Depository, make a list of people to invite, and with my interest in creativity, design posters centered around the statistics of hunger in order to spread awareness (and hopefully convince people to join my volunteer group).

Sources:

https://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/hunger-in-our-community/

MSED 676 (Collab Web Tools) - Artifact #2 - Collaboration Activity Remixed

This assignment challenged me to re-work an assignment I use in my classroom regularly so that it contained a collaborative component in order to increase engagement. The assignment that I chose was a writing assignment that assessed the students' argumentative writing skills. After reading the short story, "A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry, students had to answer the following prompt: Was Ben Price justified in his decision to let Jimmy Valentine walk away and continue his life as Ralph D. Spencer?

Students then had to use the writing format ACES (Assertion, Citation, Explanation, Summarizing Statement) to argue whether or not they felt Ben Price was justified. Initially, this assignment did not contain a collaboration piece in the rubric, however through this module I learned how important (and easy) it is to add this component. So, I added to the assignment that once the students completed their written response, they were to share their document with the members of their writing group. This assignment was pushed out as a Google Doc, so it is very easy for students to hit the Share button and add their group members to their Doc. They then had to make comments on each other's writing with suggestions or specific pieces of praise they found the writer did well. This was a fast and efficient way for the students to peer edit the work of the others in their writing group.

Once they were done peer editing, then they were able to officially turn the assignment in for me to grade it. I found that adding this one piece of peer collaboration and feedback added more meaning and engagement to the overall lesson and assignment.

Link to assignment:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nUibflZGHbnuqaCR4cr1nQtt_QmAhHvnYiSr7b6pqq0/edit?usp=sharing

MSED 676 (Collab Web Tools) - Artifact #1 - Interactive Story

Throughout the course, one assignment that taught me the most about online collaboration was the "Using Google as  Collaborative Tool" assignment. While working with 4 other group members from the course, we had to create an "interactive story" using Google Slides. We first brainstormed together ideas for a story in which our characters faced a problem that they'd work through the Google Slides to determine a solution. Our group decided to go with a story where the main character is a student who moves to a new school and needs to decide which sports team to join in order to get more involved. Along the way, the reader discovers different scenarios that may happen to the main character based on his/her decisions.

After experiencing this type of collaborative work, it started to make me think about ways I could utilize Google Slides and Google Docs in my classroom in a similar manner. Although I think the logistics of how to create the interactive story would be a lot for my students to handle, I think using Google Slides in general for a group presentation is a great idea. Instead of requiring my students to create links to slides, I would just simplify this activity and require the students to contribute equal amounts of work to the overall slide deck (each student required to create a certain amount of slides).
Without a doubt, G-Suite comes with endless amount of opportunities for students to collaborate online, and Google Slides is definitely a frontrunner for tools that work well for this objective.

Link to Interactive Story:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fu8D0iWRm6jD_LrdEG4MOcdb0urDc16QU2SE-dxVgwo/edit?usp=sharing

Educational Tech - Artifact #2 - Flipgrid

Another resource that I found useful and something I plan to incorporate in my own classroom is Flipgrid. I know of a couple other teachers who use Flipgrid at my school, but I never took the time to explore what it was all about until this course (MSED-675Z), and I am grateful that now I have some experience with it! My students are 1-to-1 with Chromebooks, which makes it easy to Flipgrid, a website that allows students to record videos of themselves and post them in a group where they can see all of their classmates' responses, as well as any videos I post. I think Flipgrid is a more engaging and fun way for students to respond to questions I may post, to post reflections on a unit or book they have read, etc. It can be used as a formative assessment as well, since the students individually record, respond, and post. Instead of having students provide a written response to a question, this is a way they can orally respond, which requires them to practice slightly different communication skills than are normally required in a traditional classroom setting or activity.

Click to see my Flipgrid response.

Educational Tech - Artifact #1 - Guidelines Poster

One of my favorite assignments in this course (MSED-675Z) was creating a Guidelines Poster for my students to help remind them of the classroom technology expectations. I loved the creative freedom I had to create a visually appealing list of expectations. I plan to get the poster printed and laminated to hang in my classroom, in hopes that this upcoming school year, my management with regards to technology and the Chromebooks will run smoother. I plan to address these expectations in the first week of school and refer to the poster throughout the school year if any behavior problems arise (and I am sure they will!). I used the website Canva to create the poster, which was a site I had never heard of or explored before. However, now I plan to create a few more posters using their templates and tools. It's definitely one of the more impressive online poster-creating websites I've  come across.

Reflecting and Takeaways - Foundations of Educational Technology

My journey through this course was a fun yet eye-opening one. This course was so engaging and allowed me to explore various apps, websites, and online tools that I plan to try in my own classroom. While it allowed me to add to my tool belt of tech resources, it also was a space where I could reflect on how technology is already being utilized in my classroom, and where I plan to take it in the upcoming school years. It was also interesting to hear from teachers all across Chicagoland about their experiences with technology, their struggles, their gains, and how we all can keep growing in our practices.

One focus of the course that led me to go most out of my comfort zone was when we discussed our involvement with online PLNs. While I embrace the use of technology in my classroom, I never took the time to consider how I could grow my professional network and community of educators via online. I was never big on blogging, the social media platform I use most is Instagram—and I wasn’t even following other fellow educators. A goal I have for myself moving forward is to keep building my connections with educators online because I now understand how useful it is to be able to collaborate and share ideas with people that are all advocating for education in ways that I may not have thought of or tried before. Thanks to this course—and my classmates—I am now following educators on Instagram and Twitter that I probably would not have discovered on my own.

Another takeaway I have from this course is the importance of using technology as a tool with the intention of enhancing and enriching the learning environment—and not to use it as a substitution just because it is more flashy or appears more engaging. Unless it is serving a true purpose for the learning experience of the student and is an effective way to meet their goals, technology is not the end all be all. Even though our students may be one-to-one with Chromebooks, it is still okay to conduct activities or assessments with paper/pencil if it is a better option. It is crucial to provide an appropriate balance—however that may look for each teacher’s own classroom.

Our current digital age is not going to come to halt, nor does it appear to slow down. Therefore, this course has taught me the value in appreciating, accepting, and embracing the tech tools our students now have access to. It also has shown me how important it is for us teachers to be positive role models and mentors when it comes to digital citizenship and responsibility online. If we can educate our students on how to ethically, appropriately, and efficiently access technology, we will mold them into the type of students that will be prepared to navigate this tech-heavy world once they leave our classrooms.

Introduction

Introduction

My name is Paige Hussey and I am a 7th grade language arts teacher. I have my ELL endorsement, and that population of kiddos hold a special place in my heart! I am in my 5th year of teaching, but third year at my current district in Schaumburg. I taught my first two years right outside Indianapolis, IN. 

I serve as the 7th grade language arts representative for our building's Staff Leadership Team (SLT), and I LOVE the school I teach at, so I don't even mind I have an hour commute (I live in the south suburbs). I have realized over the last few years just how much I enjoy teaching junior high and every day my students challenge me, make me laugh, and remind me why I love this profession. 

Fun Facts About Me:

1. I completed my undergrad at Indiana University (go Hoosiers!), where I was the President of the Filipino Student Association. My cultural identity is extremely important to me and I have a lot of Filipino pride.

2. I love to bake, especially fun-flavored cupcakes and desserts.

3. I just got engaged! On Oct. 6, my fiance, Joe, popped the question in our home after dinner. We are so excited for this next adventure and plan to get married May 2022!

I also really love dogs! We adopted our dog, Luna in Dec. 2019!