Trying Technological Teaching

So what does it mean to teach in the age of technology? Well, a few things I suppose. Students who walk into my classroom will be more savvy with computers, cell phones, video cameras, and anything else you can fit into the category of modern technology than I am. I have to expect this. Some may not, in fact many may not, but the reality is that in order to teach them, I must do so in the most effective way. I have to meet them where they are; I have to reach out to them where they come from and hope to engage them. By the time I am in front of my own classroom, who knows what my students will be familiar with, but there is no question that they will live in a technological world. Thus, in order to reach them sufficiently and teach them effectively, I must match their environments (or at least try to) in terms of the technology they have and use. This is simultaneously exciting and intimidating. I came into this course this year scared of technology. We had to set up four online accounts before the  first day of class. That was an intimidating assignment. However, throughout this course I have learned by doing, and have come to a much more comfortable level with technology. In fact, I am excited about using it in my classroom. Webquests, podcasts, and powerpoint slideshow films are a great way to have students create content centered projects. They will simultaneously learn how to use these programs and whatever content their project is on. My goal as a teacher is to learn more about technology so that I am comfortable enough to use these programs in my own classroom. Technology can be an avenue for engagement if I use it correctly.  As a final note, this semester I have learned by actually using these programs. I have learned the programs themselves, but also the content I worked with. This exemplifies the importance of learning by doing. I will use this strategy to teach my own students, and much of this doing and creating can easily incorporate technology.  

In my Elementary Science Curriculum and Instruction coursework this semester, my excitement to teach science was shaped into a realistic view of what it might look like. This is an intimidating prospect, but a good one. I have learned a lot this semester about teaching science. Students will walk into my classroom ready for class on the first day of school not really knowing what they are in for. Teaching science is about teaching a way of thinking. It is about teaching an interest in the world around you that these kids already have. They may have suppressed it, given their environments and given their expectation that they are supposed to be orderly and follow rules in school. Do not get me wrong, I will have an orderly classroom (hopefully), but there were moments this semester when I was teaching science when it felt as though these kids were so scared to break the rules that they forgot to explore what was around them. I certainly need to figure out how exactly this balance will work, but I am excited to set it up. Science is a controlled curiosity in the world; kids have the most curious minds of anyone. I will do my best to harness this in my classroom and organize student centered inquiry based learning that helps them to come to an understanding of content as well as form an idea of what science really is. 

This semester, I took an Elementary Mathematics Curriculum and Instruction course as part of my work for my Elementary Education degree. At the beginning of the semester I was excited at the prospect of teaching math, seeing that it was one of my favorite subjects in school. After spending four months studying how to teach math, actually teaching some lessons, warmups and problems, and reflecting on all of this as it occurred, I have come to a similar, yet more informed conclusion. Mathematics education is essential in todays schools. We need to be teaching students a strong base in number sense, computation, measurement, etc. if they have any hope of getting to college. Even as a university student, I have friends who are uncomfortable with math, and this hurts them in all of their classes, not only those with direct use of math like economics or the sciences. Teaching students to feel comfortable with math and to be excited about it as elementary kids will set them up to succeed later on down the line. Further, in this global economy the competition is incredibly strong, especially in math. If I can teach my kids effectively, they will hopefully go on to be successful math students in high school and on. Also, in teaching math, it is important to show the usefulness of it. The problem solving approach that the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics emphasizes and encourages allows for math to be put in context for students, thus making it an important part of their lives, both currently and in the future. I will make use of this strategy in my classroom. 

Recently, I read an article by Diane Curtis entitled, “Disabled Bodies, Able Minds: Giving Voice, Movement, and Independence to the Physically Challenged.” (http://www.edutopia.org/assistivetechnology)This article included a series of stories of physically disabled students who, through the use of technology, were able to succeed in the classroom or in another area of their lives. They included a student with cerebral palsy, and two with extensive disabilities limiting the use of their limbs. One of the limited mobility students uses a headband that can read his eyebrow movements in place of a mouse in order to use a computer and thus communicate with his teacher. The girl with cerebral palsy uses a similar setup based on her cheek movements that allows her to communicate with her teacher. These are two examples of how using new approaches to putting in information can help two previously excluded students to use technology as a communication tool. The third student was one with limited mobility who plays the euphonium. A musical instrument specialist and engineer worked together to create a joystick that he could use in place of his fingers to push the keys on the instrument. This student has struggled for years to find activities that he can take part in with other students. With the help of these specialists, he is now able to do so in the band room. All of these stories are incredible to read about, because they allow kids who have historically been excluded from most activities and classrooms to be an integral part of those activities and classrooms. These breakthroughs give a whole new set of possibilities to special needs children. As Sheryl Burgstahler, director of DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology), an advocacy program for disabled students at the University of Washington, says, ”Students can now use their brainpower instead of their physical capabilities to go to college and then on to careers so they can have the life all of us want to have.”

The following webquest is one designed for 5th and 6th graders on the 13 colonies.  http://www.tesd.k12.pa.us/vfms/shaughnessy/intro.htmThis is a very well organized, informative webquest that allows students to transfer information learned through web research into a poster and then presentation in the classroom. This allows students to learn a variety of skills and information during through the same activity. The webquest is well organized into 5 sections that are on separate web pages, but all have easily accessible links to each other. Students will not find difficulty navigating the site. It is also a fun premise in that each student becomes a historian on one colony and must report to the King of England who is coming to the colonies.  The weaknesses that I see are that the Process section has too much in it, and it includes explanations of the Tasks. This could be solved by renaming the categories and possibly splitting the Process section into a Research and a Report section. Students would do better with two smaller tasks split over multiple days than the one potentially overwhelming task of doing research and making a presentation based on it. Splitting it up may help. Students could also work in pairs in order to practice sharing information on a group project. Having a template for recording the research found may be helpful as student learn to organize their research. This could be a skill that is encouraged, but that students learn to use through practice. The teacher would be required to make a worksheet/template for research. He/She would also need to figure out how students will be split up, and what the requirements are. There is a provided rubric, but it may need to be edited a bit. Having access to a computer is necessary to complete the webquest, unless you turned it into a library based research project instead of a web based research project. Then students could just find books on the colonies in the library. This may defeat the purpose of learning the available resources of the web.  

A webquest entitled The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving can be found at: http://questgarden.com/47/69/9/070310091054/index.htmThis site is one that can be very useful for teaching students about the first thanksgiving. Its content is good, accurate, and up to date, and it provides links to other sites that can be used by the students to complete the tasks assigned to each of them. These sites require students to have a higher reading level, but serve as good exposure to the idea of a primary vs. secondary source. The webquest requires each student to complete a task on their own in addition to group work. This serves the teacher well, as students must each learn research techniques on their own, and figure out how to compile the data from each task into a cohesive final product. It is an accessible webquest, though it does require internet access for each student. This may be difficult to undertake in certain schools who lack access to computers.The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics(NCTM) Standards are available on an interactive site entitled “Illuminations.” It can be found at:http://illuminations.nctm.org/ This site is a very good resource for teachers in that it provides data on the Standards, as well as ways to incorporate those standards into your teaching plan. The site provides activities, lessons, and web links that are geared toward the teaching of a specific standard. This site is appealing in its setup, and easy to use. There is a search option that allows a teacher to find a lesson for a specific grade level and topic. The standards are illuminated through these provided activities and lesson plans. There could be a bit more connection between each standard and the provided activities. The site is free to a point, but there are certain items that cannot be accessed without membership. This membership is costly. All in all, this is a very useful site for teachers, and provides much needed illumination of the Standards. 

A 6th grade Social Studies teacher has enabled other teachers, students, and family members to be connected to his students’ learning. On this site he shows students’ work, displays homework assignments, and provides information on activities that have been done in class or will be done in class. Students have put up “funnies” (a series of jokes), essays, and projects.  This seems a great resource for a teacher to use, especially in order to connect with his or her students’ parents. Adding activities, photographs of progress made on a puzzle of the globe or map of earth, and student work gives family members something to work from if they are wondering how school is going for their child. Teresa Almeida d’Eca uses her blog to put review activities for her students. She is an english teacher in Portugal for 5th and 6th graders. “Room 613″ is less interactive, but accomplishes the same goal of connecting all those involved in the education of the children in this class. My reservations about this use of blogs as a way of connecting are few, but pointed. Using a blog as a primary way of communicating between parent and teacher assumes that all students have internet access at home, and that parents have the time to check it out.  These are not always assured. Also, it is important to have the work of all of your students on the site, unless their parents are not willing to allow you to post it. If one parents gets on the site and sees that his child is not well represented, he may ask the teacher why his child is not as supported as other students. It is important not to open yourself up to criticisms of favoring certain students, even if it is not the case.  This site is, however, a very good resource for parents. Thus, the purpose is served. It is important, however, to avoid relying too much on the blog as an avenue of communication. It is an addition to the more personal connections and tangible communications between teachers and parents.  

My professor’s email explained that we were expected to set up multiple online accounts and start a blog for our class. I tensed up immediately. “I have to do this myself, before the first class? You have got to be kidding me.”This is perhaps a perfect example of my feelings about technology. I just don’t feel comfortable with it all. Once I become comfortable with a program I can run it well and succeed, but figuring it out is another issue altogether. The cyberworld makes me a bit nervous, because it is intangible. I am a visual learner and thus feel rather uncomfortable when I can’t physically hold all the novelties of computer technology in my hand, and see them all function. That said, I think that becoming more comfortable with technology is something that I need to work on. I simply need to get over my fear of it. Smartboards, for example, can be incredibly useful for students learning, and for teachers teaching. I had a physics teacher who used them daily in my high school class, and I just recently saw my sister(a second grade teacher) use them in her classroom. Occasionally when I consider this option, I just want to go back to a good old chalkboard. This transfers as well to my thoughts about a blog. I much prefer simply writing in my journal. There are certainly advantages to the blog option, such as being able to write out my thoughts more quickly, but the pen and paper is much more personal and real. The fact that I can’t hold what I am currently writing in my hand scares me a bit, and makes it seem detached from reality. Thus, it makes me uncomfortable. It is no longer mine once it is “blogged.” Anyone can see it, can they not? It is like losing my journal on purpose so that someone else can read it.All that to say, I am a bit uncomfortable with technology, mostly simply because I don’t understand it all that well. I am, however, interested in learning how it can be used for practical purposes, especially in my classroom. After all, technology is simply science. If I can somehow conceptualize it as a tangible tool, I will become much more willing to use it. 

As a new blogger, I find this an interesting place to write. I am a Junior at the College of William and Mary in my first semester of the Elementary Education program here. If you have advice, comments, reflections, or thoughts, do not hesitate to comment. Thank you.