Elementary+School

Post Ideas for our "story" here.

Ok, I am not sure if this is what we are looking for, but here is one idea, very rough draft... needs to be edited...

Imagine this…

As you begin your sixth grade social studies unit on your town’s local history, you are inspired to do something different this time. You brainstorm changes to make instead of using the dusty, ancient set of classroom books your school has been using for the past fifty years. You decide this year, its time to mix it up! It is time to engage your students in authentic activities geared to enhance their learning, really get them out experiencing what it is like to be a historian. Then you remember that recent technology professional development you attended and all of the new ideas you walked away with. “That’s it!” you sigh, as the light bulb switches on in your head, and you begin to plan…

As you revamp your social studies unit, you think "the more technology the better." Using MS Word for drafting and revising student work – Genius idea! The smartboard is a must for sharing final interview questions- of course! Then you remember iMovie! “Awesome!” you think, the students can use this to digitally document their interviews and then turn them into PowerPoint presentations! Of course, then you will have to show off your new innovative instruction, so the students work will be uploaded to class website and an associate podcast. Maybe it can even be broadcasted on public access television. Wouldn’t their parents just LOVE seeing their children on TV? Just as you are about to wrap it up, you recall iSight webcams and our “sister school” in China. YES! We will share these project with our sister school too…

Then… you slowly begin to slip out of your technology trance. REALITY SETS IN!

You remember your good friends Clark and Kozma; you pull out your CT State Teacher Technology Competencies, and decided to meet “everything and the computer hard drive” and the dusty old textbooks somewhere in the middle. All the while, remember your overarching goals- What are my students expected to learn? How can I use technology to support their learning goals in the most effective and cost efficient manner?

Have you ever fallen into the technology trap? Here are some pointers for effective use of technology in teaching and enhancing learning:


 * Here is another idea. Also very rough... feel free to keep or discard... just throwing it out there...**

Have you ever been sitting at a professional development workshop on interactive whiteboards and wanted to run back to your classroom and use every possible application on the toolkit the very next day? Have you every listened to a lecture on clickers, wikis, or blogs and rushed to try to implement them into your instruction right away?

If you answered yes, you have surely fallen into the “technology trance”. As educators, we have all done this. After learning about new technologies, we become excited and perhaps a bit too overzealous in trying to throw “every technology and the kitchen sink” into a lesson, much like Mrs. Robson does in her technology lesson. If this sounds familiar, it’s important to take a step back. STOP and THINK! What is the most effective use of this technology? How is it impact my teaching and my students’ learning? How does technology enhacing learning and not become the lesson in and of itself?

Here are some pointers:
 * Technology should be used as a tool not a means.
 * Learning objectives should be defined before the strategy. (What new literacies need to be taught/learned, if any?)
 * Technology should enhance the lesson.
 * Can the lesson be done better and more cost effective without technology, or with less technology?