Amplify Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom

There’s been a lot of discussion this year around Amplify!Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom by Katie Muhtaris and Kristin Ziemke and I’m so glad I included this in my stack of summer professional reading.  This book focuses on constructing and sharing knowledge using technology.  This book kept reminding me about the possibilities for student ownership and how independent students can be with some guided initial instruction.   There are so many nuggets within this text; ideas to try tomorrow, sample anchor charts, ideas for using technology within literacy learning, and ideas to help you as a teacher learn more to help your students.  This book is a must read because it's about creating, sharing, and empowering our students.  Their voices, ideas, and thoughts need to be shared beyond our classroom walls.

These are the nudges I found for the upcoming school year.

-        try to make a vlog myself and with my students

-        technology instruction can be framed in the a workshop format

-        model online reading and offer guided practice

-        expand our blog audience sooner and bigger

-        do a mini lesson on symbols to know, creating an anchor chart

-        combine technology with normal ideas I have to curate learning

Here are some quotes that are sticking with me and might interest you in looking at this book more.

- “Connecting with an audience is essential.”

- “Technology is a tool, not a panacea for fixing problems.”

- “The simple act of giving ourselves permission to stop and watch opens our eyes to the rich fabric of learning in our classroom.”

- In reading about pairing media with text, “We explicitly teach them to watch with a wide-awake mind by noting and naming the differences between viewing for enjoyment and viewing to learn new information.”

- “Oftentimes we combine this structure with unstructured experimentation by allowing students some time to play with a new tool before the lesson begins.”