Yes They Can!

One of the greatest challenges of my teaching career surprisingly has nothing to do with my students and everything to do with my peers. I am fortunate that I am able to surround myself with incredible educators that go above and beyond for their students every year. However, I continue to receive pushback from my fellow early-childhood educators on the use of technology in their primary classrooms. 

“It is too hard for them.” “They’ll never be able to do that.” “The last thing they need is more time staring at a screen.” Trust me, I have heard it all! This year I set a goal to inspire more teachers in my school and district to utilize their iPads beyond the “sit and get” reading and math programs we have. I wanted to think of a way to show my colleagues that yes, even the youngest of learners can be creators and innovators. I needed a sort of “grab and go” activity that would show the primary educators in my district that technology can give a voice to their smallest of learners and engage them in the academic content as well. 

I decided Keynote is the most user-friendly for the adults and students in my district. I wanted to make something that teachers could use over and over again while still being engaging for students. I created a set of Keynote templates that can be used for a variety of subjects and activities. They are generic enough to be used across subject areas, yet detailed enough to have students engaging with the technology in new and exciting ways. 

The templates are divided into 3 categories: digital center boards, exit slips, and response to reading activities. They can be used across multiple subjects. All teachers have to do is download and go. The possibilities are endless! I’ve had many teachers reach out once they incorporated these activities asking for more! 

Just like with our students, once you show them a glimpse they will keep coming back for more. I am hopeful that moving forward I will be able to collaborate with these new “techies” to create more technology magic in our primary-aged classrooms. Our focus will now shift to students leading the creation process with less “templates” to follow. Now that many of these teachers have gotten their toes’ wet, I know that they will be ready to dive in headfirst.

How do you encourage teachers who are more hesitant to utilize technology?

Attachments

Keynote Templates for Primary.key

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