Ashley Pesch's Blog

My Digital Space  I have admitted before on my blog that I know I spend too much time using technology. I use technology all day professionally for both my teaching and coaching job. I then come home and use it for more professional work such as my classes. As well as personal use for mindless scrolling or to plan my wedding. I loved creating this map of my digital space because I truly got to see where my time goes and what sites I am using the most. I found it interesting though to analyze which websites I am a visitor and which I am a resident.  Source: Created by Blog Owner SURPRISE!  When placing my most used apps and bookmarks on the digital map there were a few surprises. The first surprise was realizing I placed Google Sheets in relatively the same area as the social media app, Instagram. Instagram is an app I use daily for both professional and personal use. Professionally I have a teacher account that I am definitely a visitor on. I don’t post very much on that ...

  Examine your Relationship with Technology My Overall Relationship with Tech Technology is a big part of my life. I use technology for all sorts of things. My district is a one to one district so I use technology daily for my job. I am currently taking online graduate school classes therefore I use technology for my own education. I use technology to create and organize things for my upcoming wedding. I also use technology in my personal life for fun like scrolling on Tik Tok or using my Kindle to unwind and read. I am not going to lie, I do feel like I use technology too much. Especially once you write it all down and see how much you use it. It makes me take a step back and realize maybe there is something I can do about that.  The Tool that has my Heart  Source: Blog Owner's Instagram There is a certain piece of technology that holds more meaning to me than others and that would be Instagram. Instagram is a social media platform where users can post pictures, videos, ...

Technology in the Classroom! Technology is within all of our classrooms at some capacity. It is the way we as educators incorporate technology into our classrooms. One model a district may use is the SAMR model. The model has four levels of utilizing technology in the classroom. The four levels are: substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition.  Source: Giphy What is SAMR? S - substitution. This is exactly what it sounds like. You are replacing things that can be done with a paper and pencil with a digital version of it.  A - augmentation. This level is one step above substitution. In this level you are still in a sense substituting those paper and pencil activities however adding a little twist to it. The biggest idea that resonates with me is gamified activities such as playing a Kahoot. This can be done paper and pencil is more fun with the use of technology and its features. M - modification This level is where transformation begins to take place. You are no...

 Hello!  A Little About Me Source: Personal Photo My name is Ashley! I am a fourth grade teacher and high school cheerleading coach. This is my sixth year teaching and my third year coaching. I have taught fourth and fifth grade. I am certified in all sorts of areas such as ESL, SPED, and middle school ELA. I currently teach in the district I attended as a student, and this year I was placed in the elementary school I went to! I was super excited to be back where I went to school as a kid. My fourth grade teacher was who inspired me to be a teacher so to be doing the same thing is so special to me. I have to mention I attend Elmhurst College for my undergrad, go Blue Jays!  When I am not teaching or taking graduate classes, I am busy getting ready for my wedding! I get married in just shy of three months. I have many projects to finish. My Fiance and I also just bought a house. This is crazy time in our lives right now, but we are embracing it and enjoying every minute of...

See ya Social Media! Image Source: Pexels Taking a break from social media is something I didn’t know I truly needed. I am definitely guilty of scrolling for what could be hours on Instagram, Tik-Tok, Pinterest and more. Especially recently as I am planning a wedding, I feel like I am constantly on Tik-Tok and Pinterest looking up ideas and sending them to my friends. I also just scroll for pure enjoyment. However, when I saw that giving up social media for a few days and blogging about it was an option for our last blog post, I knew I had to try it out.  I am not going to lie, I was nervous at first thinking there is no way I could last 48 hours without social media. I completed the social media hiatus Friday April 26th and Saturday April 27th. Here is a recap of how it went. Friday :  Friday was a little bit of an easier day. I started the social media break Friday morning. I usually start my morning by checking social media while I have a cup of coffee. Knowing I couldn’t c...

Image Source: Pexels What is Media Literacy? Media literacy is what we take from the media that we see. Media literacy is the message we take from the media and how we interpret that. We are able to access, analyze, evaluate and create media. There is a quote I saw in a screencast when learning about media literacy. I kept thinking about it. I even had to go back to write the quote down because I wanted to share and elaborate on it. “We are the 1st generation of educators with the power and responsibility to shape how the future generations will use technology to become good digital citizens.” This is so much to wrap your head around. As an educator, I use technology and the internet everyday with my students. When I was in my students' shoes as a fourth grader, we barely used technology. I remember it being a big thing to go to the computer lab for a project. In fourth grade, my teacher had a projector with transparencies. I vividly remember in fifth grade, one of the fifth grade ...

The internet and social media is huge in our students' lives. Even my fourth graders, who are under the age of 13, are always talking about Tik Tok, Snapchat, Messenger Kids, and more. So many of my students have said to me they rather stay inside and be on their phones or playing video games, than playing outside with their friends. Hearing them say this is mind blowing to me. For one, my fourth graders shouldn’t even be on social media websites as they are well under the age of 13. Also what kid doesn’t like to play outside?  CIPA & COPPA With kids being so active on the internet, there have to be laws in place to protect students while they are in school. There is CIPA (The Children's Internet Protection Act) and COPPA (The Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act). Under CIPA, if a school is receiving funding by E-Rate there are some things the school needs to do.  School districts need to have filters on their internet so students do not have full access to all th...