Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Week of October 21
Various forms of media, technology, and resources have been modeled in our class to promote powerful teaching and learning in elementary social studies. Discuss the use of technology and media in your field placement classroom and the ways in which you might integrate these resources in your own classroom.
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Social studies in my kindergarten class is very integrted with literacy, so my co-op uses mostly fiction and non-fiction to teach the students about their community, country, their relationships with others, etc. I think that he could use the projector and stories to change it up or have books on tape that he can play with a big book. We do sight word books that are small. Everyone has one and we color the sight words and word family words. I think the students would enjoy using transparencies and markers for the same lesson. Have the students sit on the carpet and have them read together. It is completing the same objectives because the students are still learning their sight words and word family words. Some of these small books talk about communities or geography (where the beach, mountains, etc are.
ReplyDeleteMy co-op is not a big advocate for videos, but I think that if picked properly, videos on social studies related topics are a great tool to utilize into your room. Videos can then be turned into discussions, journal enteries, or projects. He is already intergrating social studies and literacy, so why not add in technology?
After reading the article in class about using pictures to teach about history, I love that idea. Using old pictures and new pictures alike show students how their communities have changed, stayed the same. Pictures can explain what occured to keep or change the community the students live in. It makes topic more relatable and they learn more if the students are engaged and interested.
My coop incorporates technology everyday into all of her lessons. However, the smart board and doc cam are not used much during social studies. She has the students use resources such as books and computers to research their tribes they have been working on. I like the idea of allowing the students to use computers because it teaches them to research at a young age. Now, I have not seen her “teach” much social studies so I am not completely sure if she uses the smart board.
ReplyDeleteI would use the smart board and doc cam which is where it connects to the computer to the smart board and allows you to place a piece of paper or show the textbook and enlarge it for students to follow along in reading or work together. It can also freeze worksheets, if they are being worked on as a class so they can follow along, and it has much better picture than a projector. To teach social studies, I would incorporate all of these things into my lessons. In addition, to go along with Kate mentioning the camera, I also love that idea. I have a big interest in photography and would introduce this to students in the class, introduce a lesson such as churches. Allow them to take pictures of old churches where we live and try to find what they used to look like (if they changed at all). Using technology in the classroom helps encourage and engage students in school, it has a more positive effect on them.
In my first grade classroom, social studies is integrated with literacy which is similar to what Kate said. My co-op focuses on books about pals, how to be a good citizen, and how to be respectful towards others. I talked to my co-op about this question and she discussed that she uses an overhead projector. She will be showing a picture of a sheep or zoo on the overhead projector sometime next week. This will allow her to know if the students have ever seen a sheep or have been to the zoo. She also discussed that the class has used weekly reader on the computer. In addition, she shows nonfiction videos and will show a pumpkin harvest next Friday. The class will be getting a smart board, doc cam, and six laptops. The students listen to a book on tape during centers.
ReplyDeleteI think I would show videos on YouTube based on a social studies concept. I like the idea of what Becca said about using the smart board and doc cam to place a paper in a book or workbook in order to enlarge the page. It will allow the students to see the picture in a bigger format and it will promote discussion in the class. I would also allow students to work on laptops and computers to look on social studies websites to learn about transportation, citizenship, etc. After students read a book, I think it would be good for them to answer questions concerning about how to be a good citizen. I really like the idea of allowing students to bring a picture of their relatives and homes. It lets the students to relate it to their lives. They can compare then and now. This will let students to reflect on their thinking and it will motivate them to learn. It will promote discussion in the classroom.
In my placement, I have seen many different forms of technology being utilized by my co-op. Everyday, she uses the overhead projector for students to do work of the day and paragraph edit. The overhead allows for students to make the corrections for the paragraph right on the board and then they can be erased later. Students also use the computers whenever they finish reading a book 3 times. They take their book adventure test online which is 5 multiple choice questions that students answer based on comprehension. Several times my co-op has used the smart board to teach students some concepts in mathematics and english. Students really like that the smart board is interactive and they can come up to complete the question. None of these technologies have been used with social studies that I have seen. For social studies my co-op uses books for students to read. Some of the books that my co-op reads to the students promotes good citizenship. I know that closer to thanksgiving, the students are going to be putting on a play about the pilgrims. This is a fun way to reenact a major event.
ReplyDeleteIn my classroom, I want to make social studies fun. So besides using books, magazines, and photos to teach students about social studies, I want to use other resources as well. I think that students would enjoy seeing videos, playing educational games, and working in small groups would be a more enjoyable way to learn different social studies concepts. I think that the brainPOP website is a really useful tool, and that is one website that I would want to use in my classroom because it contains so much information.
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ReplyDeleteTechnology is constantly used in my Kindergarten classroom each day. I would say about 90% of the activities we do include some form of technology.
ReplyDeleteMy co-op and I both use the Smartboard for activities such as morning question, morning note from the teacher, calendar, word work, math, powerpoints, movies, Brain Pop Jr., and modeling how to complete a worksheet or craft.
In addition, my co-op used money she received to purchase a classroom iPod! This is used constantly throughout the day for fun songs, goodbye songs, lining up songs, alphabet songs, calendar songs, and color songs.
I love how much my classroom incorporates technology into the day because I feel it enhances the students social skills, while also teaching them something academically valuable. Along with it just being plain old fun for kindergarteners!! They love the chance to use the Smartboard, too.
I would definitely like to incorporate music into my classroom as much as possible to get the students moving and focused. I really hope I have the opportunity to teach with a Smartboard as well, because it really gives a teacher so many resources and tools to work with to get the students excited about a task. Also, it is alot easier to explain or model something on the Smartboard than to hold up a worksheet!
In my placement in an urban Harrisburg school I see a small handful of electronics and technology. I see a tv that plays the morning announcemtns every single day. I see a projector that is broken and has been for most of the year. I see 6 computers and only 4 of them work. Some how I see the URBAN part of the school show with all the broken technology. The school uses the computers for writing and a special math program that the students can get prizes for playing it often enough. The teachers really hope to get smartboards one day but it is completely out of the budget so they will have to stick with what they have.
ReplyDeleteI personally love to incorporate technology into the classroom, and especially because we are becoming a technology-driven world, the students need the practice with it when they can get it. I know some schools have the money for it all and they use it well, but we can't forget the schools that have little to nothing and have to make do. Teachers are true teachers when they can make something great and learnable with the materials they have. You can use technology in ANY subject and students will probably enjoy it when they get to see it. That is not to say you should turn every lesson into something with technology, there needs to be a balance of everything to make each day something differnt and not the same stuff on a different day.
Typically my co-op does not use a lot of technology to teach her students, however, today during a whole-grade lesson I was able to see several examples of technology being used in conjunction with a social studies lesson (the first I have seen in this class)!
ReplyDeleteDuring the whole-grade lesson, 4th graders met in one of the other teacher’s rooms to discuss the field trip to an air and space museum the day before. The teacher showed photos projected onto a large screen from the other day’s field trip, asking the kids to recap what they learned from some of the exhibits they saw. A 4th grade student acted as technical assistance for the teacher as he led the class discussion. It was interesting to see a student running the slide show from the laptop, and I could tell that the teacher has taught his class to take part in using technology too! After the class spoke about the different types of aircrafts they saw the day before, the teacher explained that the kids would complete a timeline on the history of flight. They then showed a movie outlining the development of aircrafts, and there was a discussion following the presentation with movie stills included in a PowerPoint. The teacher discussed the time-line and used a document camera to allow kids to follow along with the class-generated timeline. I was really impressed because the teacher integrated the technology so seamlessly with the lesson. (I later learned that this particular teacher purchased all of his technology (except the laptop) out of his own pocket.) The kids were engaged in the movie, although it was long, and the technology that was used seemed to be a very successful learning tool for the kids.
In my own classroom, I would love to have a couple pieces of technology for me to use for instruction. Ideally, I would love a document camera so I can guide students more easily with classwork as opposed to having to write everything on the blackboard. In addition, I can see myself using academic TeacherTube videos to incorporate visual media into my teaching. I feel there are so many visual resources that are at my fingertips on the Internet, and I would love to take advantage of these. If I am fortunate enough to have these resources, I would love to take advantage of them because I feel that sometimes technology can provide students an extra motivational push to learn.
I do not see too much technology integration in my placement. The only time I see it is not during social studies, but during Reading and Writing. My co-op sometimes uses powerpoints to do activities with their spelling words. Today, she did show the students a video, but it was on penguins and a story they were reading in Language Arts. The only other time I see technology is when my co-op uses a projector for various activities. My classroom does not even have any computers. I was surprised by this because all of my other placements have had computers. However, they do have a nice computer lab, but still I think it would help to have them in the classrooms.
ReplyDeleteIn my classroom I think I would like to use technology integration. While I am not a huge fan of powerpoint, I think they can be useful to use for some subjects or for some activities. I think there is so much on the internet these days that could help the students that integrating technology is necessary. Today, there is so much you can do with technology, and this can help the students in all academic areas.
Technology is used, but is not prominent in my placement. My co-op uses the overhead projector to display the "daily fixes" (or work of the day), as well as, various Reading and Writing exercises. She uses the overhead projector to teach grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, paragraph structure, etc. Also, like Cristina and Kate my co-op uses technology to teach Social Studies by integrating it into the Literacy Lesson that she demonstrates on the projector. The projector is a tool that allows all students to see the material of study, in a clear concise way.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, however, the overhead projector is the only form of technology used in my actual placement classroom. There are Smartboards located in each of the common pods, but I have never seen my co-op use them. There are also no computers or laptops in the classroom for the students to use to further enhance meaningful learning and understanding.
Although the projectors are typically the only form of technology used in Mrs Rights third grade classroom, I did get to take a mini field trip to the Planetarium with them today! We ventured over to the local high school to learn about space, planets, and stars. I couldn't believe what an impact this form of technology had on student learning! It was awesome to see how engaged and attentive the students became in learning about space because they got to experience it through a visual simulator. This field trip to the Planetarium fully showed me just how important technology is to effective instruction and learning!
In my own classroom I will be sure to use a variety of different types of technology. I will use Smartboards and doc cams in order to have the students fully interact with the material being studied. They will be used as a way to transition from demonstrating material through a hand written sheet to a PowerPoint slide to a video on YouTube. It will allow me to display material in a variety of ways to facilitate the multiple learning styles in my class. I also feel that the Internet is such an important factor to integrate into my classroom instruction. I will use a variety of websites such as Brain Pop Jr. and YouTube to provide information to my students. I also would love to have computers or laptops in my room for students to do independent reviews, as well as, "free-form" research. For example, during my lesson today a student asked how fast a particular animal in the book was able to swim. I would have loved to have pulled out a laptop, after the lesson was complete, in order for the student to "Google" how fast this particular animal swims. It would have created such great active learning and exploration!
In conclusion, I thoroughly agree with Kyra in that we are such as technology driven world, that not using technology in my classroom would just led to ineffective and unbeneficial teaching and learning.
Technology is constantly integrated into my second grade classroom throughout every subject area. From the first day I was in the classroom my co-op had me working with the Smartboard. The Smartboard is used constantly throughout the school day and has been integrated into the lessons that I have done with the class. My co-op has shown me how to scan documents and worksheets on to the Smartboard, which is something that I now do daily when I first enter the school building. I never had much experience with the Smartboard before my placement, but now I feel comfortable using it every time I am there.
ReplyDeleteThe Smartboard is the most widely used form of technology that my co-op uses in the classroom. Besides the Smartboard there are two computers in the back that the students can use. However, I have not encountered the students working on the computers while I have been there on Thursdays. Since the daily rountine involves the use of the Smartboard for almost every subject area, and since I have been able to teach every subject area except writing I have been able to have many experiences with the Smartboard. Today I taught a formal lesson that integrated social studies with language arts. When designing my lesson I created a world map and t-chart that I scanned on to the Smartboard. Also during my lesson I wrote the answers on the T-chart on the Smartboard, as the students wrote their answers on their individual T-charts at their desks. Overall, I feel that it is very beneficial for me to get many experiences with the Smartboard, so I am prepared to use one in my future classroom if there is one provided in my classroom.
Reflecting back on the time when I was in elementary school and comparing that to the classroom that I am in now, I can see how technology is increasingly being integrated into almost any subject area. In social studies my teacher has used the Smartboard to go over activities and worksheets, play Magic School Bus videos, and has even used BrainPop a few times. What suprised me the most with the use of technology in the classroom, and especially the use of the Smartboard is that the students seem to be more advanced with it then myself and a lot of the teachers. With the younger generation being so dependent on technology, I feel that as a teacher I need to stay up to date on technology and practice with various forms of technology whenever I can. In my classroom I want to take advantage of all the great technological resources that are availble. For social studies, I really liked being able to use the Smartboard when going over the T-chart with the students. By using the Smartboard I was able to give the children a visual of the world map, as well as gave them a resource to look at the answers if they were behind on their individual papers. I also would incorporate BrainPop into my social studies lessons, as an educational resource for teaching students important concepts. Hopefully working with technology daily in my field placement will allow for me to be able to feel comfortable in my future teaching endeavors when the use of technology is available to promote students' understanding of important concepts.
Technology is constantly integrated into my second grade classroom throughout every subject area. From the first day I was in the classroom my co-op had me working with the Smartboard. The Smartboard is used constantly throughout the school day and has been integrated into the lessons that I have done with the class. My co-op has shown me how to scan documents and worksheets on to the Smartboard, which is something that I now do daily when I first enter the school building. I never had much experience with the Smartboard before my placement, but now I feel comfortable using it every time I am there.
ReplyDeleteThe Smartboard is the most widely used form of technology that my co-op uses in the classroom. Besides the Smartboard there are two computers in the back that the students can use. However, I have not encountered the students working on the computers while I have been there on Thursdays. Since the daily rountine involves the use of the Smartboard for almost every subject area, and since I have been able to teach every subject area except writing I have been able to have many experiences with the Smartboard. Today I taught a formal lesson that integrated social studies with language arts. When designing my lesson I created a world map and t-chart that I scanned on to the Smartboard. Also during my lesson I wrote the answers on the T-chart on the Smartboard, as the students wrote their answers on their individual T-charts at their desks. Overall, I feel that it is very beneficial for me to get many experiences with the Smartboard, so I am prepared to use one in my future classroom if there is one provided in my classroom.
Reflecting back on the time when I was in elementary school and comparing that to the classroom that I am in now, I can see how technology is increasingly being integrated into almost any subject area. In social studies my teacher has used the Smartboard to go over activities and worksheets, play Magic School Bus videos, and has even used BrainPop a few times. What suprised me the most with the use of technology in the classroom, and especially the use of the Smartboard is that the students seem to be more advanced with it then myself and a lot of the teachers. With the younger generation being so dependent on technology, I feel that as a teacher I need to stay up to date on technology and practice with various forms of technology whenever I can. In my classroom I want to take advantage of all the great technological resources that are availble. For social studies, I really liked being able to use the Smartboard when going over the T-chart with the students. By using the Smartboard I was able to give the children a visual of the world map, as well as gave them a resource to look at the answers if they were behind on their individual papers. I also would incorporate BrainPop into my social studies lessons, as an educational resource for teaching students important concepts. Hopefully working with technology daily in my field placement will allow for me to be able to feel comfortable in my future teaching endeavors when the use of technology is available to promote students' understanding of important concepts.
Technology is something which is very readily available for the teachers in my building to use. Every classroom has a smartboard as well as three computers for student use. The school also has a mobile laptop cart which teachers can request for use during certain lessons.
ReplyDeleteIn my 5th grade class my teacher uses the smartboard alot. She uses it to review topics, introduce new topics, or teach specific skills. I have not yet seen social studies in this classroom so I am not sure how she incorporates technology into social studies.
I think it is important to incorporate technology into all content areas but specifically social studies. There are so many resources available on the internet especially for students to be able to use google maps, google earth, research bodies of water, etc.
My teacher does discuss media, and/or new current topics in the news which relate to the classroom. I think this is important because it allows children the chance to make connections between school, themselves, and the world.
I think I will definitely incorporate technology into my future classroom. Children in todays society already well understand and use technology so it is a way to keep them involved and interested because they do use it outside of school.
Technology is used a little in my placement and I have seen it used a few times in social studies as well. Right now they are learning about different landforms like plains, rivers, lakes, and mountains. My teacher used her smartboard to show videos and real pictures of these landforms in the United States. All the kids were really engaged in these pictures because they were beautiful and intriguing. I could see the connection the students were making between what they had thought these images looked in their mind and what they looked like on the smartboard.
ReplyDeleteShe also used the smartboard for a social studies lesson on the continents. She found a program that had a map of the continents and you could click on cities and countries in them to learn about what the weather was like and different facts about that continent. It was really great for the students to get a visual and understand just how big a continent is. Technology is a huge part of a classroom now and it will only increase as the future comes nearer.
My teacher had used an overhead projector before in the class to go over worksheets with transparencies and have the students come up and write answers. Last placement, my co-op told me that projectors had been delivered to their rooms but had not been installed. Then, yesterday, it was installed on the wall and she was learning how to use it. It projects onto the white board directly underneath it. She can plug her computer into a cord attached to the projector and then project things from her computer onto the board for the whole class to see. The board is very similar to a Smartboard because she has a pen that can be used on the whiteboard to navigate and click on things. She had showed the students a short video on the projector the day before because they were so curious to see what it did and then on Thursday she had a story book playing. It is a program with the projector that has books on it and it reads to the students and highlights the words as it reads them. This is a great way to help students figure out words and follow along. Technology was rarely used in the beginning of the year, but now with the projectors, my co-op will try to do more things with it and have the students get involved as well.
ReplyDeleteThis can be a great learning tool for students to become more experienced with technology and learn using different strategies. This will help the students who learn better by visually seeing things and being interactive. The students were so interested in it and will be very attentive when the teacher uses it.
In my classroom, technology is rarely used. We have a TV and VHS player and she has used it once to show a Bill Nye the Science Guy video. We also have lab tops avaiable for the classes to use, but my teacher has not used them yet. Technology is also not readily available in the school. They have old projectors that can only be used in the hall (group teaching) area.
ReplyDeleteIn my classroom, depending on what is available, I will use technology all of the time. I love having students watch videos for introductions to topics. In additiion, if I had a Smart Board I would use it all of the time. I would have students come and use the Smart Board, learning will become very hands-on. We need technology in the classroom because we are such a technology driven world and students need to be able to use technology as early as possible in life!
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ReplyDeleteMilton Hershey has more teachonlogy than any school needs, but it provides the students with opportunities that they really do need to rise above their home situations.
ReplyDeleteMy co-op's love for using the smart board has rubbed off on me. I have no clue what I would do without it now. It is so much a part of the classroom instruction that I honestly do not know what my co-op would do if it broke one day unexpectedly. He uses it for math for the students to flip over the right answer, he uses it for social studies as an interactive powerpoint presentation, and he uses it in various ways for language arts as well. he does not use the white board much but instead has the smart board set up for everything.
Also, the students have ipads to use. the classroom has enough for each student and my teacher uses them often. The students will write about a teacher selected topic, type up what they have written, and find a picture online to go with their story. The students also take school mandated tests in reading and math on the ipads.
my teacher, so well as most of this colleagues, plans his instruction based on the use of this technology that many school can not even dream of having. It really does upset/worry me when I think of how much i LOVE and am starting to depend on these technological advances that I will most liking not see in student teaching or my first job.
My co-op uses technology almost every day. The school has recently acquired SmartBoards that are projected onto the whiteboard. My co-op has been getting used to the SmartBoard and tries to use it as much as she can. When gives students directions she types them up on her computer and projects them onto the whiteboard. She uses it to go along with her lessons as it allows her to project the stories onto the whiteboard to help students read along with her. She can then use a pen to write on the board and underline words that are projected onto the screen. It also has a video camera that the students really get a kick out of.
ReplyDeleteI feel that technology is such an important tool in our current society. It enables us to take virtual field trips that we may not be able to take in real life. I would love to have a SmartBoard in my future classroom because of all the possibilities it offers!
In my classroom, there is not a lot of technology. They use an overhead projector and white boards. There are no computers in the classroom except the teacher's. There is no TV but there is one in the pod (general area that kindergarten and first grade use). There is no smart board or way to present a powerpoint. I would use the overhead projector the same way my cooperating teacher does. To teach how to write letters and numbers. I might also use the overhead projector to present a short story or sentences that the students have to complete as a class. I do know that the school has a computer lab and that the students go to computer as a special. There is not a lot of media technology that is electronic. The students have access to books and paper materials, the school does not have a large budget and is a rural school. I think that some of the higher grades have smart boards but I am not sure. Students have to learn from books and what the teacher demonstrates.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is an important part of our world today and is rapidly expanding even in the education world. Elementary schools are incorporating lots of new and innovative technology. I remember when I was in elementary school there were only a couple computers in each class and there was one computer lab that each class visited once a week. Plus, there were chalk boards and overheads. At that time it was thought that we were technology savvy and advanced but times have truly changed since then!
ReplyDeleteIn my placement they have 3 desktop Apple computers as well as a class set of Mac Laptops. Although the laptops are older, students enjoy them tremendously during indoor recess. They have a wireless modem in their classroom so students are able to access educational websites that the teacher suggests. Also, they have a SMART-board which my teacher uses for everything. She absolutely loves it and feels her whole classroom environment has changed since she got it. She believes students are more engaged and active in the lessons. Many times she has students manipulate things on the SMART-board or she hyperlinks activities or websites. There are a lot of really interesting features and tools on the SMART-board. I feel the potential and opportunities are endless. In addition, my teacher won a grant last year and got SMART clickers for her classroom. I have only seen her use the clickers a few times and it has been during reading block. Each student has a code and they log into the system. Then the teacher clicks start assessing and students can go through questions and record the answers on their clicker. At the very end, the clicker gives the students a score. The teacher is able to print out a sheet of all of the students’ scores and answers to see how well they did. There is also an option where she can view the results of a question directly after the responses to see how the students responded. If the results are 50/50 for an answer or all the students answered wrong she goes over it and explains the questions and answer so students can better understand the concept. Students also have a computer lab class they attend once a week which has new Mac notebooks. Furthermore, the teachers are each given personal Mac Notebooks.
This past week I actually taught a Scholastic News and utilized the SMART board technology. I showed a short clip from the Scholastic News website about pumpkins. Then I read through the Scholastic News with them and had an electronic copy projected on the SMART board. For a closure activity I had pictures of different stages throughout the life cycle and had students come up to the SMART board to arrange them in the correct sequence.
Overall, my placement school especially my classroom teacher incorporates technology into daily school life. These students are privileged to have such a plethora of technology available to them.
My field placement classroom has a good amount of technology for both the teacher and the students. My co op isn’t crazy about technology and often tells me she would rather stick to the more traditional materials, but nonetheless she uses the technology she has available the best she can for her and her students. The room is equipped with a smart board which makes it much easier to project information. This board is not used as much as the white board is, but it is sometimes still incorporated when posting work on the board from the computer. My co op also has a few mini laptops that a handful of students use each day (switching off by day) during guided reading when their group is not with the teacher. The students usually have educational games or reading/writing material to complete with the laptops. I really like that they have access to laptops since it gets students more comfortable with technology at a younger age. Other than the smart board and the laptops, my co op tends to shy away from technology. She tries to use the technology provided for her, but she usually doesn’t search for ways to incorporate technology into her lessons.
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to use technology in my own classroom as well as make the most of what is provided for me. I feel smart boards are great for both the teacher and the students and I hope to have one in my classroom or at least to have something similar. I also love the idea of getting children using computers at a young age. Using a computer, the internet, and the different programs a computer has to offer is such a great way to integrate technology into the classroom. It is so important that students are exposed to technology at a young age, especially in this day and age where technology is such an important thing in our daily lives. Also, with things like teachertube educational videos can be found about almost anything. I plan on making technology a big part of my classroom because I feel it is a great way to explore, learn new things, and grow as a learner.
My co-op and I have discussed several times how technology plays such a huge role in society today. This being said she tries to incorporate technology into the classroom when she can; however, we do not have a smartboard so when we do use technology it comes in the form of a movie, or transparency on the projector, or a projection form my co-op's MAC when we can get it to work. So, far with social studies I have only seen my co-op use a movie as means of technology and that was only once.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side of things, my co-op does not want to use to much technology in the classroom because she does not want the students to see it as the answer to everything. She does not want the students to rely on technology for everything, but rather she wants them to use their own mind and other resources (i.e books)too.
Personally, I agree with her way of thinking and use of technology in the classroom. I feel that since technology has become such a huge part of life, it should be incorporated into the classroom, especially when it allows you to do so much more within your own classroom. Although on the flip side of things, I do not want to use it all the time and leave out/ignore other tools.
My co-op does not use a lot of technology in her teaching. Students are required to spend fifteen minutes a day on the computer, a time called ILS. They do math or literacy practice and games independently based on their skill level. Students also have a computer special where they go to the computer lab and learn basic ways to use technology. This is taught by another teacher so I have not observed it. Other than that, I have not seen too much technology used in instruction. Sometimes, my co-op will use the projector during a math lesson to share answers or do problems together.
ReplyDeleteMy co-op and I both agree that we don't really like to use technology in the classroom. I understand its benefits and know that there are effective ways to integrate its use in the classroom, but I also know that there is research that shows that too much exposure to technology in children, especially young children, can have a negative effect, the repercussions of which we are just beginning to see as our first generation of tech-savvy kids grows up (Richard Louv’s term “nature deficit disorder” as an example). I believe that education must embrace the whole child; as a teacher, I will try to provide an environment that nurtures, not only students’ academic growth, but also their psychological well-being. Therefore, I will use technology in my classroom only as much as I absolutely have to.
I have yet to see any technology used in class during social studies but, the students did do group projects on north-western states. In their projects they were asked to print out pictures online that related to their states. On the other hand, technology is used a lot in other parts of the day. Every student is required to go on the computer once a day for 10-15 minutes. They do math problems on the computer every day for these 15 minutes. Also, this Thursday, Mrs. Sangrey's students had computer lab for an hour. When they go to computer lab, they use a probgram called Study Island. Study Island are short computer quizes testing them in different subjects. Thursday, they worked on narrative elements on this program. Specifically they were quizzed on Characters and Settings. Students had to read a short passage and then they were asked a multiple choice question about the passage. Most of the quizzes are 20 questions in total. Technology allows for students to be quizzed or learn new material in a new way. Instead of learning new material through teachers activities they are allowed more independence on the computers!
ReplyDeleteI was amazed by the amount of technology in the classroom. Every teacher received new laptop this year and every room has a smartboard. The smartboard is used almost constantly all day and the students are able to troubleshoot issue with it when the teacher is unable to. Smartboard are very interactive and I think they are a great resource for all subject areas. For Social Studies in particular, technology lets the take their class to places that are physically difficult to get to. Technology also makes it easier to locate resources and materials. Technology seems to capture the students attention and hold it longer.
ReplyDelete