Various forms of media, technology, and resources have been modeled in our class to promote powerful teaching and learning in secondary 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.
Today was a great opportunity to see technology in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMr. Lister, my co-op, could not talk today and I had to teach all day long. Before school started, I was able to watch the FNN News Station produce the newscast. Mr. Lister is the advisor for the FNN and I was able to see all the equipment in it. Although this is not in the classroom, it is still a good source of technology within the school education system. While I would not use the equipment in the classroom that is used at FNN, it would be cool to see myself one day running a news program in the school I teach.
I had another wonderful opportunity to see technology at work today. First, I taught all day and I used a projector to give notes to the class. It is a basic piece of technology but I would definitely want something this simple in my classroom. In addition, Mr. Lister showed me the grading program on the computer today. I would like to see a grading system like this because it is a great way to calculate the scores of the students.
Finally, 11th period is study hall. Usually the students have work to do but today none of them had anything. During this time, Mr. Lister pulled out an old sound piece and a microphone to speak to the students because his voice was scratchy. Then he pulled out an old reel projector and showed actual scenes of battles of World War II. It was really awesome! I would love to use this piece of technology to show primary film sources to my students. Today was a very exciting day and I think it was my best placement so far.
When I think of technology in high school I think of power point. In almost every high school classroom that I have been a part of observed, I have seen power point being used. I really like the benefits that power point has to offer but I also think that it has its downfalls. When I was teaching on Friday, I told the students before I started that they did not need to write everything down that was on the slides. As much as I preached it, I know the students did. My co-op notices this when he teaches all the time, and he made it clear to me that no matter what I say they will always write everything down. This is a problem because when they are writing they are normally not listening to the teacher. If I am going to do power points I am going to have to figure something out to make sure students are listening and not writing.
ReplyDeleteI also want to find some software that will allow me to make handouts, charts, and diagrams easily. I am trying to make some of the handouts and things on Word and it works, I just think that there is a better option out there. This is technology that is not strictly used in front of the classroom, but behind the scenes to make the classroom more successful.
I love how technology is such a large part of the classroom and I want to be able to have students use computers/laptops regularly in the classroom. I think there is so much information and web sites on the internet that can be used by students individually or in groups. I would love to have laptop cart access in my classroom someday, because I think i can be successful with this capability.
Mr. Lusk uses technology in every lesson he teaches. The smart board allows him to use power points, show videos, and create diagrams that all of the students can see. The smart board was also very useful in the game I presented to the classes last week. It was easy to click on the board and get the answers quickly, which created a nice pace for the game and kept students involved.
ReplyDeleteI have also been able to get familiar with the program the teachers use for attendance and posting grades up online. This is beneficial because it allows teachers to post any assignments and notes that students may have missed, and allows the students parents to check up on the student and how they are doing in class.
I will be completely honest, my co-op doesn't ever use projectors, smartboards, overheads, films, etc. ever. He told me so. He said that the only time he will do anything with technology in the classroom is to play Christmas music during the holidays and show a film if it is mandatory. He has a television but it is only used for Channel 1 on Fridays and the FNN student news.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were sitting in on their department meeting on Friday they mentioned about how each teacher can request to have these items but they can only afford to buy them a few times a year, not when they're neccessary.
Though I feel my co-op is still an effective teacher, I feel like he could really enhance his teaching style (especially for multiple learners). Though his lectures are great, I do notice he sometimes gets off track and so do the students. I feel like I would utilize alot more technology, because not only do I love seeing visual aids to help me learn, they're just out-right fun sometimes and give us a break from the monotony of a lecture.
If I had one truly negative thing to say about Mr. Longenecker's classroom is he never uses technology of any kind. He's very old fashioned in his delivery and while he has a projector and a laptop, the two never seem to meet for any reason.
ReplyDeleteI think media can be an awfully useful tool, especially to give a diverse option of passing on information to the students. Many students are visual learners and having some kind of technology, even something as simple as a powerpoint, can be incredibly useful to those kinds of learners. Using video clips and audio clips are just additional ways to engage students in their learning.
I think it's incredibly important to give students the opportunity to see and use the different technology out there. Nearly all students now are indoctrinated in modern technology from a very young age and to deprive them of those tools at an upper level is ridiculous.
Friday really showed me the cost/benefit of utilizing technology in the classroom. After checking notebooks for the end of the marking period we watched a video segment from the History Channel's the Story of Us. It covered all the material the class had learned about colonial america, so it was a good video to end the marking period with. While some students were extremely engaged in the video, others took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons the sleeping may have occured is becuase of the quality of the technology. My co-op and I needed to borrow a TV and DVD player from the science teacher across the hall, becuase my co-ops laptop could no longer play DVD's after the IT department altered the software on it. So we couldn't use a projector which in my opinion would have been much more effective.
I would certainly use video technology in the classroom, but I would also take into consideration the effects of technology, such as a small TV over a projector, before deciding whether or not to utilize said technology.
The students are also given their announcement everyday in class through some ancient TV's that are installed in every classroom. I like this idea, but at the same time the quality is really affected by the use of lower-level technology.
Other than those things, my co-op has used an overhead projector for note-taking and a projector to show a music video of the "Middle Ages Rap." My co-op is very knowledgable about technology and I feel that he uses it to a great degree in his classroom and this makes him an effective teacher.
I hope to one day be in a school and not worry about technology failing and can utilize every aspect of modern education.