Updated thoughts on technology

I have been continually thinking about using technology in the classroom throughout this quarter. In Spring quarter I will be teaching a unit on Australia, and I would like to incorporate technology into the unit.  The main problem I forsee is access to computers.  We only have two computers in the classroom and limited time in the computer lab.  There is a mobile cart that I may be able to use, or I am thinking about bringing my laptop for them to use.  This is more of a logistical concern, but I have seen the value of using technology in the classroom, and I am determined to use it.

The readings further bring the importance of technology home.  I agree that tech isn't just shiny new tools, but that should be used for a real purpose.  I have seen the power of using Voicethread and Photostory.  They both are a platform in which the students can have a beautiful finished project, become more adept at using technology, and provide another way to show or learn information.  Bloom's Digital Taxonomy will continue to take over the traditional paper and pencil ways of learning.  As teachers, we need to keep up with the technology, especially when most of our students will be using it.

I have seen how technology can empower children.  If you look back to one of my earlier posts, I used Photostory with her.  She is working hard on both reading and writing, but often gets quiet and shy when asked to share these things.  Her kindergarten teacher does a great job at having an author share time when the students share their stories.  This story was the first one where Cami came up with her own concept and wrote and illustrated it with no help.  This was a huge accomplishment for her!  Because of this, I wanted to share it with anyone that I knew that would appreciate her hard work.  Cami and I created the Photostory together, while my fourth grader watched and learned how she could use it on her own.  Cami was beaming from ear to ear at her finished project, and she multiple people emailed her comments which I shared with her.  My only disappointment was that I could not send it to her teacher, as the district blocks .mov files.

I can see that this would be both a valuable way to work with all of my students, especially my ELL students and it is something that can be shared with the parents.  My fourth grader is assigned different book genres each month and there is a project attached.  How great would it be to have the students do a commercial or a book review and post it to Voicethread?  I get excited just thinking about it!  I would like to have small groups in my classroom all read the same book and comment about it on Voicethread to share with the whole class.

I have really enjoyed collaborating through Google docs and Skype with my cohort members.  I don't think that my field instructor is wanting to use Google docs, but I would like to introduce my master teacher to it so we could plan lessons together.  There is so little time for us to get to discuss curriculum because we are often talking about students and how to best help them. 

I also have to mention an app that a friend introduced me to: Hey Tell.  Hey Tell is similar to a walkie talkie, in that you record a message and it is sent to the other person, who also must have the app.  It is essentially verbal texting, with no fees involved.  While I am planning lessons, I would love to be able to Hey Tell my master teacher with a quick thought on something that I think would be effective.  Besides the fact that it's free, it has an advantage over texting in that you can hear the voice inflection and expression, whereas sometimes you can misinterpret a text message.

Math: Final Reflection

I have learned a lot from our math class this quarter.  One of the biggest things I learned was that much of what we use in the elementary grades can be applied to middle school.  For example, using manipulatives.  As teachers we need to consider that each student has a different learning style that they prefer, and many children are hands on.  That doesn't change whether they are 5 or 35.  I know that for myself, hands on and practice is the best way for me to learn any task.  We need not ditch the manipulatives just because the students are performing higher level math.

It was a huge wake up call this quarter to talk so much about discussing the logic and reasoning behind a process.  I grew up only learning the process and memorizing formulas.  That said, I disliked a lot of math because it was all memorization.  I remember when I would break out in cold sweats before a test anxiously waiting for the teacher to hand out the test so I could hurriedly write down all of the formulas before I forgot them.  What did that teach me?  Only that I could memorize formulas, but I never knew WHY they worked.  I don't remember one single time when something as basic as "carrying the one" was ever called by what it really was, "carrying the ten."

This class has also fueled my desire to use both group work and technology in my classroom.  Four minds are definitely better than one, so why not work in groups?  Just about everywhere except school people have to collaborate, so why not start early?  I know that I was much more comfortable doing tasks in this class, such as tangrams, when I had the support of my group to help me.  It is also amazing how much technology is out there, and there are so many applications for it to be used in the classroom.

I end this quarter feeling more confident in math and equipped with many strategies to help my students to feel successful.

Math Class #7

I learned a lot in class today, some specifically about math, and more about teaching with technology in a classroom.  For math, I learned about measurement and how you can use anything to measure with.  It was also so cool to see the wolframalpha site in action. 

What really resonated me and will most affect my own teaching is what we talked about with technology.  Part of what was bothering me with implementing technology in the classroom and assigning technology as homework was that some students may not have access to a computer or the internet at home.  What Robin said today about how students 20years ago had to go to the library to do research for projects was an "a-ha" moment.  I was one of these students, and it did not seem out of the ordinary to do this.  This is the same for the students who now do not have access to technology at home.  They have a wonderful resource nearby: the public library.  Or alternatively, they can use a classroom computer before or after school, or a library computer at recess. 

The more we talk about technology, I wonder how technology will continue to change the teaching and learning in the public schools.  When I was in high school and took the SAT, we had to do all of our calculations by hand.  A few years after I graduated, students were able to use calculators.  How important is it for us to teach the "long way" of performing math calculations, etc. vs. letting the students use the technology?  In the near future will there be an app that measures items, as Robin suggested?  Will rulers go the way of protractors?  I wonder if math curriculum will change or if we will continue to teach antiquated methods.

Using Photostory with children

This is a Photostory I made with my daughter tonight.  She is in kindergarten, and is working on reading and writing.  This just shows how you can use Photostory even with younger kids.

Technology and Classroom Management

This week I was able to use the iPod Touch in the classroom.  I have been struggling to keep the students on task.  I am constantly stopping, asking for their attention and voices off.  They will be quiet for a minute, but then the chatter starts again.  I was getting very frustrated, and seeing that they were tuning me out, I grabbed my iTouch, started the stopwatch and put it under the document camera.  Once they calmed down I let them know that this was the amount of time that they now owed me from their recess time, and if they continued to talk I would start the timer again.  It worked like a charm.  :) 

Math Class #6: Making Geometry & Data Tables Fun

So last week I talked about how I really struggled with the tangrams, and that I am not good at geometry.  This week we got to play with Geometer's Sketch Pad.  So I am still not good at geometry, but I had fun with it this week.  I learned a lot about shapes and how to manipulate them to make objects.  It also reminded me of the importance of seeing problems multiple ways.  Many of us used different shapes to make the pieces needed for the face.  So there are ways to make pieces of math that students' may dislike fun for them.

I love the technology piece, but I am struggling with how to get it into the classroom.  In my main placement classroom, the teacher has a computer and there are two other computers that I have never seen used.  Computer Lab time is a rarity and it is usually for praticing typing.  How do I bring a cool program like Geometer's Sketchpad into the classroom for all the students?  I don't think it would be beneficial unless they all could "drive" the mouse and have the hands on experience with it.

I see the implications for these tools in my future practice.  Geometer's Sketchpad would work if we had a larger amount of computers in the class, or if we took turns on the computers while the other kids worked on a different aspect of math.  I would like to use Fathom to make graphs and tables using students' own information so that it is relevant to them.

Math Class #5: Cotton Ball Frogs & Tangrams

Monday's Math was a session filled with fun manipulatives.  The first was constructing frogs out of cotton balls and making them hop by launching them off of paperclips.  From this lesson, I saw again the value of having the kids compile their own data in a fun way.  We all had a blast making our frogs jump and recording the distance. 

For me it was fun playing with the tangrams until we had to construct the giraffe.  This further reinforced for me that I am not a spatial visualizer (Good thing I never went into the field of ultrasound tech like I had once thought about!)  This assignment brought up my frustration level, but also made me realize that most people have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to math.

My question is: how far into frustration do you let a student struggle?  Should the group members jump in to help, or should a student have to try and work it out on their own?

The applications I see for my class are making math fun!  Students won't even realize they are learning because they are so absorbed in a fun activity.  Also, I want students to see their math strengths.  Even if they think they aren't good at math, there should be an area that they feel confident in.