How a 4th-grade teacher from Pittsburgh uses EdTech in the classroom
Meet Tiffany Ward, a math teacher from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has been teaching for over 8 years on different education levels: from kindergarten to 1st and 3rd-grade. Currently, Tiffany teaches 4th-grade. We asked Tiffany about her experiences in introducing educational technology in the classroom and using ShowMe to create her video lessons.
As many teachers out there, Tiffany is constantly looking for a perfect solution that would work for her students. Her priority is to find time for each student and make the learning as much personalized as possible. ‘‘I am currently working on reworking our classroom schedule to find more time for students to explore one another’s digital creations!’’, she describes. Tiffany admits that she would like to create a strategy for students to efficiently give and receive feedback on videos or slides they create.
Tiffany uses educational technology to identify and personalize student goals, track data, as well as influence student creativity in the classroom. ‘‘During small groups, students work with me on independent math goals, then they are tasked with creating a short video resource to teach others what they have learned about,’’ she explains. Tiffany’s students during independent work time use several math websites in conjunction with journals to identify their own learning targets.
Among EdTech solutions that Tiffany practices frequently in her classroom, she points out Google Classroom, Khan Academy and Kahoot. In the past, her students have used Scratch to code their own math games to share with others.
ShowMe has been present in Tiffany’s teaching experience for over 4 months. Tiffany uses the ShowMe app to create videos for reviewing information learned on a particular day. She also creates quick posts of possible math solutions that students can evaluate, compare or contrast with their own solutions.
Tiffany confesses that ShowMe has helped her in gaining a better understanding of students’ mathematical thinking when they are working independently. ‘‘While I can collect data with standard exit tickets or other forms of assessment, it is helpful for me to see snippets of students as they draw, write and speak their way through explaining solutions to math tasks,” Tiffany adds. ShowMe also allows her to give students more autonomy in giving one another mathematical feedback by watching one another’s video creations.
Motivating students to use educational technology is one of Tiffany’s goal. “I encourage students to photograph their work and use their voices or drawings and models in their videos to demonstrate their thinking in a way that would make learning targets clear to another student,” she describes, “This facilitates a peer-to-peer model in which students partner with me to help one another meet academic goals. Using the app naturally encourages student engagement in Standards for Mathematical Practice as well as collaboration and creativity.”
Tiffany confesses that her favorite ShowMe’s feature is the integration with Google Classroom. ‘‘I love that I can compile and post videos easily to Google Classroom for students to reference throughout the day, as well as at home for homework help‘‘ she explains.
When asked if she has any tips for educators who want to start their adventure of flipping the learning process with ShowMe, Tiffany answers, ‘‘ShowMe is amazing for helping students increase ownership of their own learning. It provides a way for students to demonstrate pride in their work, as well as a purpose in sharing what they’ve learned with others.“
If you are interested in using ShowMe for creating video tutorials for your students download the app today! Contact our support team at support@showme.com if you need assistance with setting your account.
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