Google Expeditions
I thought the Google Expeditions were so cool! I spent some time visiting the Coral Reefs, because I wish I was near the water right now. I really liked having a screen in between sharks and myself. Students will love being able to go under water and see the beautiful sights and sounds that most of them haven’t had the chance to see with their own eyes yet! In this year of no field trips in my county, many of our teachers had special virtual field trip days. Students got to eat outside, wear their class shirts and go on virtual trips. I know our 3rd grade students got to visit Monticello virtually in place of their usual field trip.
Layered Technology
The Layered Technology information was fascinating. I never taught virtually, because Hanover County was face-to-face all year. I feel like I am a bit behind with things such as Bitmoji classrooms. They are so cool, but I haven’t made one on my own. The information that I enjoyed the most was about the graduate school at St. Vincent’s. I loved the KUBI and the fact that students could still be a part of classroom learning and discussion even when they are at home. The robot on wheels was also very cool! I thought the KUBI was also a very nice addition for our elementary school students. I had so many students that had to quarantine this year and many would want to ZOOM in, which wasn’t very convenient for the teacher. If they could be sitting on their own desk, then that would be so helpful. They wouldn’t get behind and they could still talk to their classmates and not feel so isolated. How cool would it be to be able to call on those students! (I wonder if they can be muted too??) I know that I would really enjoy trying out this technology in the library! I would love for our students to still feel part of their class, even if they couldn’t be there in person.
WOW! You were face-to-face all year! Then yes, you missed out on the Bitmoji craze and the rushed lessons on how to do things virtually that had always been done in person.
I have to agree, if you can mute the Kubi, then I would be willing to have them in class. That was the best part about Zoom. No more behavior problems – either mute the kid or put them in the waiting room. Class room management was so easy!
We will all miss the mute button! haha I had to proctor music this year too and I had a few kids that wanted to zoom in. I got to enjoy a little bit of the muting fun. Masks made them a little quieter at first too, but then they got used to them. I was very thankful to be face-to-face, though I will not miss cart life and all of the other crazy things that this year brought about.
The virtual field trip I did sounds like something similar to what you did I also used Google Arts and Culture to access coral reefs. I think that is a great option for students that don’t live near those types of natural beauties. I have to agree with Heather about Zoom helping with classroom management. I definitely missed putting students in breakout rooms or muting them when things started to get out of control in the classroom!
Our school is hesitant to do field trips this year. I think the virtual option is a great idea!
It really is! As hopeful as I am to return to normal, I’m guessing that it will be another field trip free year! Google trips here we come.
Amy, interesting thought that field trips will be a no go this year. I am hoping that the kids get at least an outdoor experience. While the virtual field trips are great to go to far off lands, I do think there is value in the socialization of the bus ride and the hands- on experience provided in real life. Maybe libraries offer hands-on baskets of “artifacts” to go with the virtual field trip.
The Google field trips will be a great resource for our students this year. I agree with everyone, I don’t really feel like there will be many of those this year. Our grade chair is responsible for scheduling field trips. She does not really like the hassle and responsibility of taking the students out of the building so our field trips are limited unfortunately.