April 15- I decided to change my internship due to the nation-wide pandemic. Teachers were required to use Google Hangouts with their students and were very overwhelmed with learning about this new tool. Since teachers were using Google Hangouts, I thought that learning how to use Skype would stress them out more. At this time, I found the website AwwApp and thought this would be the perfect tool for teachers to use to interact with their students. They could use this interactive whiteboard while working with their students on Google Hangouts. Also, a pro was that you can use AwwApp synchronous or asynchronous. I decided to think of a way that I could get this idea out to teachers around BCPS. I decided to use a PLN with Facebook. I found this group for teachers that work for Baltimore County. I made a post asking teachers if they have ever used AwwApp with their students. This was a great start because some teachers already had experience with this program in their classrooms and others were interested in learning about the program. This started a great conversation between educators and how they were interested in sharing the information. I added my e-mail and told teachers to reach out if they needed more assistance or wanted to share their experiences with me.
April 16- I sent out an email to all the teachers in my school about this website. Then I asked for the K-2nd teachers to have a small meeting with me to discuss about the new tool. I used Google Hangouts to discuss with the K-2nd grade teachers to show them how to access and use the AwwApp. In the video I described what tools they could use to create educational boards. I know that I am a visual learner and showing them could be more beneficial to them. At the end, I asked teachers to explore the website and think about how they implement the interactive board in their online lessons. I felt that we were able to bounce ideas off each other and think of new ways to implement this tool in our lessons. One teacher discussed how she could use this in her small group by having the children write cvc words and take turns changing the sounds/words. This was a great idea that I could do with my student (who I work one on one with) because when he writes the word, he has to rewrite the word or erase one letter each time. I am hoping to try this next time I work with him.
April 17- I asked my librarian at my school to send it out to other librarians to share with their school buildings. Also, I had my classmates discuss the new app to teachers at their school. Some teachers were willing to try, and others said that they were too busy with learning about Google Hangouts that they didn’t have time at the moment to try something else. I was trying to find ways to help teachers feel less stress and show them that they could implement this tool to make their lessons beneficial.
April 19- I created multiple boards for math and ELA to give teachers different ideas on how to use AwwApp. I decided to make boards based on Pre-k skills and send them to my co-workers and Pre-k group. Teachers could edit my board and make it meet the needs of their students. One of my co-workers called me and we discussed how she could use AwwApp with her students. We went on Wonders and looked over the lessons they offered. From that we created a board for “nouns” that she could use with her students. It was simple board because she would send the link to the students and they would be adding their answers. Below is the board we created for her students.
April 20- The teacher used the board during her Google Hangouts. She told me that the students loved it and was excited that they could write, and their classmates could see their answers. They were proud that they were able to act like the teacher and draw their example. The teacher said that she feels it would be very beneficial in a small group. First, she had all the students draw their example and the students started drawing their answers over top each other, so she had them draw it one by one. The students lost focus while waiting for each classmate to draw their answer. We discussed whys that she could modify the lesson for different groups.
April 21- I had some teachers send me a screenshot of them using it and how they felt about the app. One of the biggest concerns that many teachers had was that this app was intended for students with touch screens. The students who had to use a mouse, had a difficult time using the app. I know that many students have tablets/iPads, that was one recommendation to use a different device. It is a challenge for the ones who don’t have a touch screen at all. I know that BCPS was sending home devices with students K-2nd, so a parent could request for a device. I found that many teachers had felt that it was user-friendly and had multiple tools that were helpful. We discussed how it is easy for students to understand and use. Many students have used the “smartboard” in their classroom and see that this is almost the same thing. Teachers need to be patient with the students because this is all new learning. Just like Google Hangouts, the children struggled with muting their mics and logging in. The students need practice and after a while they will feel more comfortable with using this new website.
April 24- A co-worker at my school used the website to discuss main ideas with her students. She sent me a message saying “I liked that you could embed s Power Point. We did Main Idea. I did like that I could write their answers on the board next to the power point as they answered questions. I did find it difficult because the smallest font size was too large for the post it notes. I wish the that everything I wrote stayed on the board for the entire slide.” We discussed that she could change the size of the font or she could use the shapes to create a box and add text in the box. Also, she may just have to copy and paste the information to the next slide. There is no way that the information would stay on each slide. Overall, she said that she loved how she could embed images and a power point because she has pre-made power points that she made for lessons in the classroom. This was very beneficial for remote-learning for her and the students.
April 25- Overall, I felt like this internship had a positive outcome. Many teachers have learned about a tool that they could use to work with their students online. I was excited that the website was approved by Baltimore County and the students can use the website without having to log-in. The students only needed the shareable link to the board. The most beneficial part is that teachers can create multiple boards to share. It is not like teachers have to use the same board and constantly make changes or delete and restart for a different lesson. Teachers can differentiate and send students the board for their level/group. I am still going to reach out to teachers, and I hope I can keep extending this idea, so more teachers are able to use this board with their students. I have a feeling that this pandemic is going to affect the closing of schools and we will not be going back this year. I want to help teachers in any way that I can and make teaching less stressful for everyone.