Technology Interview

1. What did you learn from this interview?

I learned that the technology in the classroom has a lot to do with the grants you are able to apply for or write and the socioeconomic status of the area you are in. I was very impressed with the technology in our school and classroom. It was more than I have seen in a school before. They have two computer labs and that are well used. There is time before school and after school that students can use the lab for free time. The teacher can check out the lab for their own use and it is readily available. I really liked having that lab to my disposal. When ever we had to spend more time on a webquest it was there. One thing that I was turned off my this schools outlook towards technology is that the technology specialist said that she felt it was the responsibility to the parent to teach the students to use e-mail. Even thought it is a standard for the district, she just shows the students how to e-mail once and then she is done with that. I know that it is a basic function to technology and students already know how for the most part. It was just her attitude towards the students and technology. I feel that students are more engaged with technology when they use it, verses viewing it. She claims that she does not allow the students to e-mail because she cannot control the content of the e-mails. I thought that was a poor attitude towards embracing technology and hopefully things will change in the future.

2. How will this experience affect you as a teacher?


This experience was definitely eye opening because we were in a high income area and there was a lot of technology in our school. Not to mention just our class, the school had two computer labs. I can picture myself being in a school like this. The teacher was able to have a grant that allowed her to have a smart board, Elmo and projector. She used the technology to help the students connect with any subject and it was very fun for the students to draw on the smart board or have everyone see their work on the Elmo without having to make a transparency. I feel in love with the technology in the school I was at, however, I would have had better placement for the technology that was in the classroom we were in. The teacher was not organized and it was hard to use the technology sometimes because it was not accessible because of clutter. I also would have the smart board in a better place. The teacher did not utilize the space in the classroom because the smart board is ideal for any situation besides sticking something on it like a magnet or post it note. I did a lesson where we had the students write on post it notes and there was only a 2 foot by 2 foot area on the whiteboard to put all of the post it notes. I would have put the smart board over five feet and it would utilize the space better. I really liked that the teacher incorporated the students with technology by asking them to draw graphs on the smart board or having the students use it for presentations.

3. How did this experience change your thinking about the use of technology?


This experience was eye opening for me because it made me want the technology that was in that classroom very badly. I found that I would really like to have that type of situation in my school with having two computer labs and the technology in my classroom. The students are getting computers in a couple weeks that are just for their class. The possibilities are endless with technology because of all the freedom it brings. If your class does not have manipulative blocks for math you can find one that is online and have your students do it on a computer. I also noticed that the students were very engaged with the activities that had to do with technology. I felt like as I was teaching the students were more engaged with what they were learning because it was something that they could relate to. I also learned that when your lesson calls for technology you need to have the students fully involved because they are so far a head of you. Direct instructing students with technology is a big mistake because they will quickly disengage and will not learn as much if they are discovering and doing it on their own. I really would like to learn more about grants so I can have technology readily accessible in my classroom and I learned a lot of valuable things about it in my field experience.

Saying "Good Bye" to the Smart Board...

After the privilege of using the Smart Board and the Elmo, I had to say good bye. It was a great experience learning how to use this technology and it was a lot of fun. Something I noticed is that when you are teaching something with technology it is important that it is not direct instruction. We are working with digital natives here and they have to be hands on to be on the level of understanding, because they know more than we do. I am very impressed that whenever there was a problem with a students' computer an other student was already fixing or knew what to do. I am very grateful for the experience to have learning this strategy of teaching with technology because I don't want students to ever find technology boring. I was glad we did the webquests in our class because in the final project I did the students mostly said things that they learned on their own on the webquest discovering it on their own. I am glad that I learned the students did better actually doing it instead of just being showed the site and me telling them what to do. It was harder to have all of the material for all five of the civilizations for every lesson, however, discovering their own was the most beneficial of them all. I am glad that technology played a role in the discovery because the students were able to connect with the abstract of ancient times better to their daily life. Some students even engaged with their civilization they did research online at home and the next day came to me with facts about the civilization. I am also grateful for the school I was at because they have two computer labs, which made for easy access. It was never a problem to schedule it and I am glad that those students have access to the lab before and after school. The students do use the lab to their advantage. I never was able to see the students that were there before school, but there were some that were there after school. Overall I had a good experience and I learned a lot from the experience. One thing that stands out to me is that nothing EVER goes as planned. Nothing is more constantly than change and I definitely learned that there had to always be a plan B.

Technical Difficulty

I had my students do a webquest this week on ancient civilizations and it was very difficult to find sites that were modest. It was the strict request of our cooperating teacher to have modest art. It is very difficult to have an Ancient Greece webquest that doesn't have a naked statue or something like that. Anyway I finally make a webquest for the five ancient civilizations that I am doing and the whole time even though I knew that the sites were "kid friendly" my heart was racing that they would navigate to something and I would be the one to blame. Even though I knew that they were good. It is interesting to be in an area that is very conservative. I remember when I was in 6th grade that we looked at picture after picture because our teacher explained. I don't think harmful, however, I am complying with my teacher and area of students. I also had a glitch with technology this week when I was trying to put my rubric for a presentation on the Elmo. Our teacher has a very disorganized station where she keeps her technology like laptop, elmo, remotes and it also has piles of paper etc... So I felt like I was invading personal space when I was clearing off some of the papers because I couldn't get the paper to lay straight. Needless to say I love of the technology our teacher has in the classroom, I would just set things up different.
I also like that the computer teacher in our school really enforces typing. She doesn't use technology just for games. Each student is individually tested which I think is interesting because in my elementary we were graded by our class average. I think it was just easier on the teacher. One thing I didn't like about the teacher is that one of the standards for the school is to learn how send e-mails. She does a presentation on how to send an e-mail and doesn't have the kids manually do it. I think it is sorta weird they do it that way, she also said it was the parents responsibility to teach their children to e-mail. I thought that was an interesting outlook.

SMARTBOARD MANIA!!!!

I touched a smart board for the first time in my life at it was AMAZING!!! I want one so so so bad there are so many things you can do with one. We drew pie graphs of the election on the smart board and they students are able to save the work they do on one. Unlike a real board that once it is wiped it is gone for ever, no with the smart board. You can save the work you did on the board as an image and then add to it later. It is amazing. Also, not to mention the marker doesn't run out or you can have any color you image as a marker. Also, with our technology rich lesson we were able to pull up a website on indigenous people, which is the unit we are teaching. It was great to be able to pull up the definition on the projector and compare the sites definition with the definition we made up. I loved using the smart board because you can do so many things with it. It took me a little getting use to the tools of the smart board. The kids really think it is cool. When you call someone up to use it you can see the excitement in their eyes. If I were to have a smart board in my classroom I would have it in a different position in my classroom. The way our teacher has it now it is kind of in the way, and not all the students can really see what is going on. So either, she needs to move her seating or the board. I am sure it is easier to move the seating, but anyway that is my opinion. I really liked being able to do a power point in our lesson because we were able to show things to the whole class at once. That is also like the Elmo that is in our classroom. The teacher is able to show the whole class a student who did a good job on an assignment and make things clear to the whole class on the spot instead of having to make a transparency. I have taught two times and it is going really well. The kids are really smart and they are good at taking instructions which is great. Being in this classroom has taught me some things that I know for sure I will not have. Our teacher is a MESS. She has piles of papers all across the room and in order for me to even use the Elmo, I had to clear a space for me to even lay something under it flat. Needless to say she is disorganized, but it has taught me a lot of things just being there for one week.