October 2016 - Kristine Rebstock
Name
Kristine Rebstock
What Do You Teach?
Campus Instructional Specialist - formerly 5th grade science
Where Do you Teach?
Victoria Walker Elementary
How Long Have You Been Teaching?
18 years
How Does Educational Technology Play a Role in Your Classroom?
Using technology in my elementary classroom has been essential for many years now. I've used multiple tools to gather student responses to elicit total participation and to provide valuable formative assessment of my students' understanding. ActivExpressions, Plickers, Kahoot, ClassFlow, and Google Classroom have served as venues for a variety of ways students engage in learning. Creation of digital products, peer response to others' learning, and web-quests to guide student research are just a few ways technology has been integrated in to my classroom.
How Do You Find Technology in the Classroom Helpful?
Technology in the classroom is essential for organization. We use Class Dojo as a way to organize classroom communication with parents for topics that range from behavior, to class stories told in photo form. In addition to the many ways ActivInspire flipcharts are helpful to teaching and learning, we've also used them to help with morning attendance, breakfast survey, and random student/group choosers.
What Is Your Favorite Piece of Classroom Technology? Why?
Hardware: Student computer/tablets 1:1 - Students with access to tools for learning/creating is critical for 21st century digital natives. Students who have access to computers/internet can be better problem solvers because they have access a nearly infinite amount of knowledge, resources, and opportunities to collaborate.
Software: ClassFlow and/or LANSchool - having the ability to share, monitor, and co-create with students is made easier when using these two tools.
Website: Google Classroom - My students have enjoyed learning to use the Google Classroom interface to create, learn, share, and collaborate. I can't think of a single lesson that couldn't be enhanced or made easier and more fun to complete by using Google Classroom.
What Is On Your Technology Wish List For Your Classroom? Why?
I'd really love to see scanners in the classrooms. Creating digital portfolios of student work has been a wish of mine for a long time. Student led parent conferences can be made more engaging and informative when digital portfolios are involved.
What Do You Love Most About Teaching?
My favorite part about teaching is seeing connections and engagement in students' eyes. I get teacher goosebumps when a student is able to make sense of a new concept because they are able to connect it to a personal experience or when they figure out how to apply current learning to a new concept or in a new way.
Nominated by:
Diana Truesdale, Elementary Technology Integration Specialist
"Mrs. Rebstock first and foremost has the utmost respect of her students because she has the utmost respect for them. She is a technology leader who is unafraid to try new things with her students. She engages her students to the fullest extent by utilizing a variety of technology tools. If she encounters an issue with a particular tool, she faces it head on and does not stop until she figures it out. Mrs. Rebstock is truly a fearless, incredible tech star!"