January 2017 - Mallory Lindon
Name
Mallory Lindon
What Do You Teach?
8th Grade ELA
Where Do you Teach?
Baytown Junior
How Long Have You Been Teaching?
4 years
How Does Educational Technology Play a Role in Your Classroom?
I use technology everyday in my classroom. My students come in everyday and use their iPads to scan the QR Code for their daily reading logs and even use the iPads to scan the QR Code to sign out to use the restroom. We use the Promethean Board to play Kahoot, Quizizz, and to present to the class their group or individual presentations that they created on their iPads using Google Slides and Docs. I work along with Jennifer Stephens (Junior School Technology Integration Specialist) to create actively engaging lessons for my students using multiple apps and the students really love the opportunity to collaborate and use the iPads. I love using Google Classroom because it streamlines everything and keeps me from using the copy machine too much.
How Do You Find Technology in the Classroom Helpful?
Technology allows me to take a step back and let the kids take the wheel in their learning. It allows them to be more independent in addition to providing me with the quality feedback needed to help them to be successful. Technology also allows the kids to collaborate and be creative in ways that straight paper and pencil work denies them.
What Is Your Favorite Piece of Classroom Technology? Why?
My favorite piece of classroom technology would hands down be the iPads. The iPads have tools that take my teaching to a whole new level. I can remember being a student and wanting to go further in my projects or in my essays, but I didn't have the means to do so other than to make time to go to the library. With the iPads, my students can go farther than I could when I was their age. Seeing them come up with new ways to connect to various pieces of texts that we are studying, and collaborating on movie posters, or analyzing images for mood and tone makes me feel accomplished as an educator and makes my students hungry for more learning opportunities. The iPads are truly a wonderful piece of technology. I use them everyday from students booking time to read in my library during silent reading by going to Classroom and clicking on the link that I uploaded for them to taking a test, quiz, or survey using Google Forms so I can receive instant data. Just recently, I learned how to use the iPads to administer a test through Eduphoria. The students loved how I instantly knew their results and what the class percentage was and it is beneficial to me when I meet with my team and with the CIS and other administrators to disaggregate the data in order to better serve my students.
What Is On Your Technology Wish List For Your Classroom? Why?
I would love to have the Apple TV and the Apple Pencil for my classroom. With the Apple TV, my students who are shy and don't feel comfortable getting in front of the class to present will have the opportunity to still be a part of the activity and present their work, but they can stream it from their iPads to the Promethean through the Apple TV. The Apple Pencil would be great with annotation of texts for my students. They struggle with annotating using their fingers and sometimes the keyboards don't quite fit the bill. With the pencils, it would allow them the feeling of writing and will help prepare them for when they have to annotate on the STAAR, in novels, and any other time in their academic career. The pens would also be useful when we use apps where the iPad can become a white board so students can show their answers when we do a check for understanding activity.
What Do You Love Most About Teaching?
I love the fact that you never live the same day twice for one. Teaching is the only profession that I know of where not only is every school year different, but every single day is different. We make plans for what we will do for the week, the month, the six weeks grading period, but those plans can quickly change from day to day because the needs of the students when it comes to certain concepts will be different. You constantly have to stay on your toes which I love. There is never a dull moment when working kids. But, I would say that what I love the most out of all of the adventures in teaching that I've had in my four now going on five years of teaching, would be when my students come back to me and say that they learned so much from me; not just about reading and writing, but about life in general. They tell me that they have taken the talks that we've had and activities that we did and have applied them to every facet of their education and their life. They tell me that I'm their favorite teacher and thank me for what I've taught them and for expecting more from them. To me, hearing that makes all of the ups and downs 100% worth it. I'm proud of all of my "babies" and I know that they will do wonderful things in this world and I smile inside and out knowing that I had a part in that.
Nominated by:
Jennifer Stephens, Junior School Technology Integration Specialist
"I have never met a person more motivated that Mallory Lindon. She implements technology in a way that is student driven and hands-on. Mallory has moved beyond the simple use of powerpoints and makes her lessons come alive with ActivInspire flipcharts and APPS. I always enjoy my time at Baytown Junior because I know that Ms. Lindon and her students will be doing something with technology."