I have recently accepted the position of Elementary Technology Coach in my district. I am extremely excited but also overcome with a plethora of emotions about leaving the classroom. I have slowly started to pack up (and give away) items in my classroom but I wanted to document what has worked for me as a 21st Century Teacher.

Towards the end of the school year I always see my students emerge as independent learners. I still have teaching/learning moments with my students but I love that my students are able to search for their own answers and learn from others too. As a reward for STAAR being over I created a few math lessons that works like a WebQuest. Below is an example of what I posted on my classroom website for students to complete.

Each one of my students have a pocket they use it for a couple of things: a. Store their headphones b. Keep their class shirt in safe place so it is not lost at home c. This where they put their phones on BYOD days

My students absolutely live for our 45 minutes of science everyday. This year I have heard more "What if....?" questions than in the past. Even though they love science when it comes to the STAAR it is always such a struggle for my students because of the amount of vocabulary and then add a language barrier to the equation and it can make for an uphill battle. My team uses Quizlet (digital flashcard website and app) on a regular basis for ELA vocabulary, since they were having so much success I decided to apply the same practice to Science. I created six different "decks" and posted them to our grade-level webpage but also linked them to QR codes and posted them around the classroom and outside on my bulletin board. The students were able to BYOD and scan the code and save the address to their device so they could practice in-class, at home, in the car or while waiting for a table at a restaurant. I created two set of each "deck" one with picture and the other without pictures. I don't know my STAAR scores but I can tell you through observations my students science vocabulary has improved and they have enjoyed the practice.

Just an opinion: while the Quizlet app is very helpful the students are able to do more from the website.