I love the idea of incorporating technology into today's lessons and classroom, but my opinion on technology hasn't always been positive. i use to think that teachers used technology as an escape route when they didn't want to teach. i believe that i thought those things because i had teachers in the past that didn't know how to use the resources they had to their fullest and i believe that this is one of the main problems teachers are having with incorporating technology into the classroom. my whole life i grew up with technology and knowing how to use it so i see incorporating technology into my lessons easy but for teachers who didn't grow up with all of these resources they are having a hard time simply because they don't know how to use the technology given to them. Chapter one has showed me six key issues i should take into account when I'm incorporating technology into my lessons. i think always keeping these issues in mind will help make not only my lessons that are incorporating technology but all teachers lessons on the right track to including technology in their everyday teaching.
Two Questions:
1. How can we help teachers feel more comfortable with using technology in their everyday teaching instead of having them feel like its something they "have to" do?
2. To me I see technology go hand and hand with math and social studies lessons, but how could technology resources be incorporated into a reading or writing lesson without it feeling forced or unnecessary?
Lisa-Marie,
ReplyDeleteI like your first question because I asked how would teachers who are not technologically savvy learn new technology to utilize in the classroom. I think teachers should have workshops provided by the schools in which they work. The workshops would allow teachers to interact with technology and socialize with other teachers simultaneously. This creates a more family-oriented work environment as well in which teachers can rely on each other.
From my experience of teaching tenth grade English, I used the Smart Board as an interactive tool in writing an introduction paragraph of a short response or essay. I had students come up to the Smart Board and write what they thought was an introductory paragraph based on a topic that I provided. The students were very focused to see what mistakes were on the Smart Board. Each student was given an opportunity to make corrections to the paragraph on the Smart Board. There are also other interactive lessons to create with Smart Board, such as with literary terms. It all depends on the dynamic of the classroom.
I hope that helped.
Lisa-Marie, your second question reminds me of how I utilize the SmartBoard in my kindergarten classroom. I'll share a few ways we use it daily to aid in early literacy development.
ReplyDelete- When my students enter the room in the morning, they must "sign in" by finding their name on the SmartBoard and sliding it onto an image of a notepad. Recognizing their name is a crucial early literacy milestone. At this point in the year, all can write their name as well, so they have the option to slide their name out of view and use the pens to write their name on the notepad.
-As part of morning meeting, a morning message is written on the SmartBoard. I read it to them, then children come up to identify parts that they know by circling with the pens or highlighting. At the beginning of the year, I ask them to find letters. Later in the year we identify known letter sounds, and at this point of the year they can identify high frequency words and many can read the entire message back to me!
- There are several websites that "read" children's books aloud. Think of it as Netflix for literacy - the pages of the book have been scanned into the site, are read aloud, and the pages turn at the appropriate point. Each day at snack time, we "watch a story" on one of these such sites. It is a great opportunity to expose the children to more literature and language. Some websites even have the words at the bottom of the screen so that children can "read along" as they identify words that they know! These websites are invaluable to me in providing more opportunity to experience literature as well as in keeping snack time and peaceful and relaxing time =)
Hey Lisa,
ReplyDeleteGreat Post!
I understand what you mean by how in the past some of your previous teachers used technology as a tool when they didn't have anything prepared. I feel that as educators it is our duty to incorporate technology inside the classroom. I've learned to embrace technology because it makes life much more easier, students have become more receptive to certain lessons when they are able to use touch screen devices. There are some students who do prefer the old fashion way of coming up to the blackboard and verbally giving their response from their seat. I feel like a educators we have to have a back up to when technology fails. There are days when a smart board may not be working or the internet may be down inside of the classroom, I feel like these are the times when teachers have to always have an additional plan. I feel like at the rate society is going we are definitely becoming innovative and very soon students will be required to come to school with a laptop instead of a notebook. When it comes to using the smart board for all four major subjects, it takes a lot of time and preparation in order to engage our students. For each lesson i teach on the smart board, I have to try it first to see whether or not there are any glitches that may come up. The smart board allows for students to begin to question and investigate various ways in obtaining the answer. There are textbooks now that can be read a loud via the smart board, although many may feel that it takes away from students learning, the auditory learners are benefiting from this experience. I feel like if you develop a system using technology to cater to all learning styles then students will have an exceptional learning experience.
1. I think that for younger teachers who are fresh in the job would not have such a tough time being comfortable using technology everyday in the classroom because they have grown up with using social media everyday in their personal lives. For older teachers I think it will be difficult to get used to the idea of using technology every day, but with the help of other teachers and even their own students they can feel more comfortable. For these teachers they should start using technology a little everyday in their classrooms and then eventually they will get comfortable with it and eventually will see all the benefits of it.
ReplyDelete2. In the fifth grade class that I currently student teach in, my cooperating teacher always uses the overhead attached to the smart board for her reading and writing lessons. Currently the students are learning how to write research-based argument essays and she pulls up all the articles that the students should use on their essays on to the smart board and models for them how to go about writing it. She creates Venn diagrams and other charts on the smart board and the class fills out the diagrams together. Also a lot of textbooks for reading and writing now have online links where the class can access books online, so instead of bring the books home they can do their hw online and post the summarizes directly to the site (similar to what we do in this class)
I hope that helped!
i think teachers can feel more comfortable with using technology in their everyday teaching by exploring the technological tools on their own. This allows teachers to have trial and error. I also think that teachers should get together and have workshops that help build on those skills they lack in. this might help promote their understanding and therefore encourages them to use technology in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAs a former student teacher, I enjoyed using technology to teach students reading and writing. I enjoyed using the overhead projector to help guide students reading and then would create an activity on the whiteboard that helps build their comprehension. This really worked well with the third graders. all students were engaged. Students were also asked to bring their books and use their post its to highlight what area of reading we were focusing that day.
I grew up and attended school in China. I remember the first time I had an access to computers when I was in 4th grade at school's computer class. We were taught to get familiar with the software, hardware and keyboard of computer in class. We had our own computer at home when I was in 5th grade, but I was not allowed to go to the Internet. The only thing I could do with that computer was watching video clips once a week. Parents and teachers in China don't usually encourage kids to get engaged in technology.
ReplyDeleteIn the classroom, many teachers got used to using the blackboard. A few teachers in our high school used powerpoint for presentations, that's all that I could recall the technology had ever been used in my experience.
It's amazing to see a variety of technologies being used in the classroom in the States. I totally agree with you that teachers should incorporate technology into the lessons.
Your first question also popped up in my mind when reading through your reflection. Maybe we can discuss in our next class.
I think that an ideal classroom is a student-centered environment. I would like to ask teachers who have incorporated technology into their lesson plans if technological tools are required for their lesson. Perhaps the answer is that it is not necessary and it sometimes makes the teacher appear dependent on technology. Effective results of learning will come from the students’ performance. Students need to learn about not only numerous subjects but also to effectively read, converse in discussions, creatively think, etc. If teachers design a student-centered lesson plan, students will have more chances to study themselves. Then more teachers would feel free to teach with technology.
ReplyDelete