Hey Readers!
Welcome to my first blog! Believe me, this is SUPER scary and I am not sure the best way to dive into my first ever blog post, but here we go!
Image Source: Personal Photo
My name is Bridget Soukup and I just started my fifth year teaching 8th grade ELA and Social Studies. Whenever I tell peers that I teach middle school, you can only imagine the types of reactions I get. They range from, "Wow, how do you do it?" or "Yikes, bless your heart", but I assure you, I would not want to teach any other grade level. The kids are so creative at this age and you really have no idea where their minds are going to take them. This makes the classroom SO exciting! (I also love that I can be sarcastic with them as well 😏) Overall, I love my job and I wouldn't have it any other way.
There are many things in my life that matter to me and one of them is my dog. You might even consider me to be a "crazy dog mom", and I am okay with that. I have a golden retriever that means the absolute world to me. Thinking back to Spring 2020, many educators remember the time where we were all sent home and were planning to come back to the classroom after two weeks. During those two weeks, I made the impulsive decision to get a puppy. Little did I know that those two weeks would turn into months which turned into an entire year of being home. During that time, I was raising a little guy, teaching him not to go potty in the house and not to chew on my socks while I was on Zoom. Although he was an impulse decision, he has been my best decision.
Image Source: Personal Photo
In my school district, we are starting to use technology more and more. We use Schoology as our learning management system. We started using this platform during COVID. Slowly, over the past few years, we are starting to convert more and more of our physical copies into digital copies and posting them onto Schoology for our students. Prior to COVID, students were not allowed to bring their one on one ChromeBooks home. They used to have to return them to the ChromeBook cart at the end of the school day. This changed when they were sent home for an entire year and now the students use their ChromeBooks daily. It has been quite the change over the past few years, but I certainly believe it is for the better. Since then, we now have digital hallway passes. The tool for this is called Smart Pass. This is a super nice tool to use because you can limit the amount of passes students can use, you can block students from being in the hallway at the same time, and everything is time stamped incase something happens in the hallways or bathrooms. Image Source: https://www.clever.com
Overall, I would say both teachers and students use technology in my classroom. I have students create digital presentations and videos to check for understanding. I use technology to display ideas and even create videos myself. If I am absent, I will usually post a video on Schoology for my students to view while I am gone. I found this to be super convenient for both the students and the substitute teacher. In the video, I simply explain the tasks to complete for the day and show examples of any assignment they need to complete.
Technology is constantly advancing and there is always more technology to learn. I am constantly trying to stay up to date with the different tools I can use in my classroom. I find that the students are really engaged with the technology we use!
I am super excited for these upcoming months and what I will be learning in my class. I am eager to learn how to incorporate more technology into my classroom!
Image Source: www.giphy.com
Your first blog post is perfect! Great to meet you, Bridget. I taught 4th grade for 15 years and thought it was the perfect age so I can relate to your passion for your crew. Lots of great emotions for your kiddos being the 'top dog' for a year before high school.
ReplyDeleteAs an ELA teacher, how are you feeling about ChatGPT? Looking forward to learning with you this fall.
Hi Bridget!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing. First things first, I love your fur baby! Golden retrievers are adorable. I work with 9th grader so similar age group as you. I agree with people when they say, “Bless your heart.” Middle school is a tough age group.
I have heard of smart pass! We were suppose to get it at my school, but then there was a change in leadership and we ended up not getting it. I hope in the future it is something we could get!
Hi Bridget! Thank you for sharing your Blog. I am in the same boat - I am nervous about this whole blogging thing. Something that I wanted to get into but the whole writing down my thoughts so they make sense always scares me. My recent impulse animal was two kittens after dealing with a few rodents (and when I say a few I mean closer to 30 plus) and was done with it. My kids love dogs and stop everyone who has one but we have definitely turned into a cat family (only had dogs prior).
ReplyDeleteI am loving this Smart Pass thing. I am going to look into that more because I have wanted to incorporate more technology into students leaving my room for bathroom breaks, etc. Did you find it easy to incorporate into the classroom? I get 24 different classes over the course of the year (6 classes per quarter for 4 quarters).
I am a Middle School teacher as well and that is a consistent comment I hear from anyone who hears what I do. I am with you - I love this age enough though it has its moments. I couldn't imagine any other age group!
Hi Bridget! Thank you for sharing your Blog. I am in the same boat - I am nervous about this whole blogging thing. Something that I wanted to get into but the whole writing down my thoughts so they make sense always scares me. My recent impulse animal was two kittens after dealing with a few rodents (and when I say a few I mean closer to 30 plus) and was done with it. My kids love dogs and stop everyone who has one but we have definitely turned into a cat family (only had dogs prior).
ReplyDeleteI am loving this Smart Pass thing. I am going to look into that more because I have wanted to incorporate more technology into students leaving my room for bathroom breaks, etc. Did you find it easy to incorporate into the classroom? I get 24 different classes over the course of the year (6 classes per quarter for 4 quarters).
I am a Middle School teacher as well and that is a consistent comment I hear from anyone who hears what I do. I am with you - I love this age enough though it has its moments. I couldn't imagine any other age group!
PS - sorry for the repeat. I was logged in but it posted Anonymously.
Hello, Bridget! It is so great to meet you. I have to begin by saying that your dog is adorable. Thank you for including that picture because it truly brightened my day. I love the GIF you chose to use because the positive energy that Michael and Dwight are giving truly do capture the positivity of teachers!
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that your school district has fully integrated technology into even the tiniest of details! How do you like the use of the Smart Pass in your classroom? What is the procedure for a student to use the bathroom, have hallway access, etc. when they are not able to use their computer (left it at home, not charged, etc.)? I can imagine that this also tracks excellent data for those students that may need more behavior/elopement support.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I linked my blog in the assignment tracker in case you would like to check it out! Unfortunately, I do not have a pet to share on there, but I do have a couple travel destinations and book recommendations.
-Daniella Cozzi
Hi Bridget! I have to say this is my second blog that I have created for a class. Intimidating, but forces me out of my comfort zone to learn and dig deeper into the world of technology.
ReplyDeleteMiddle school is definitely a tough age to teach as students are trying to find their own identities. I love the idea of Smart Pass. Most of the classrooms at my school would not find this of good use since students are on devices for a limited amount of time. I would however find this would be useful for the middle school in my school district to use as they have issues with students in the bathrooms. Is this used on the student's devices or is this used on one single device in the classroom as a student leaves the room? Maybe it could be implemented in classrooms using one single room iPad before a student leaves the room. Then it would be useful for elementary and middle schools.
Hi Bridget! I am also very nervous about blogging and I am hopefully going to get better at it as time gets going! You started out so strong and your first blog was awesome! I get the same comments teaching middle school, but I agree. Once you start teaching middle school, it's awesome and I wouldn't want it any other way! Wow I love the Smart Pass your school is using. At my middle school we just rolled out passes for each classroom in which the students take when they leave the room. I would be interested in seeing how the digital ones go, that would be really cool to use!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and looking forward to more blog posts!