One of my goals this year is to increase the support teachers receive in the implementation of classroom technology. One way I'm doing that is through teacher learning communities. At our first professional development opportunity, I asked the teachers in attendance to describe their relationship with technology in one word. A first year teacher, sweet and quiet-tempered, wrote the word "hesitant." She explained that she did not feel comfortable using technology because of the demands placed on a first year teacher. Besides learning a new curriculum, trying to impress her principal, meet BTSA requirements, and learn the culture of the school, she was also getting her feet wet with classroom management, and had some struggles along that end. All the other teachers, veterans of their trade, empathized and told her to focus on curriculum and get to the technology only if she could.
After a full day of training (both hardware and the philosophy behind 21st Century Skills), I gave each teacher an assignment. Find ONE new way to use technology within a lesson. It could be something as simple as showing a website to engage prior knowledge, or using the pen feature of their tablet laptop. They were to then blog about their experience using our SchoolWires blog. The first year teacher wrote:
I wanted to mention my recent success with the Digital Path option that
coincides with the Scott Foresman Social Studies program. Until
recently, I struggled to engage my students to our Social Studies
curriculum. However, this week I have begun deliver the day's entire
lesson through the website, whereby teachers can go through the
different technological supplements to each lesson from one webpage.
Teachers can also display the text, page by page, to students on the
overhead projector, and the site gives the option to have the text read
aloud to students. While the DVD was the sole instructional technology
I was using up to the present, this new method of delivering
instruction not only engages students MUCH more but also makes those
30-40 minutes per day a little easier! Let me know if anyone needs
further information on this website (www.ca-hss.com) and I can share
what I know!
Not only was she using technology, but she was already volunteering to teach others! At our second professional development, the group shared their experiences and everyone was amazed at the progress this teacher was making. That day, teachers left with an assignment to teach a lesson on information literacy (which they developed in teams) and also to pursue their own technological growth in an area that intrigued them. This came about after spending a couple hours sharing digital storytelling, electronic portfolios, etc. The first year's teacher second blog post read:
Since our last meeting, I have started to use Windows Journal for the
majority of my classroom notes. Along with the ease of using it, the
kids love it. I have also set up a class website on blogspot.com in
order to post homework, etc. I love that the students are able to
access our “classroom” wherever and whenever they want. Parents have
mentioned they look forward to that extra bit of communication as well.
The current issue I am trying to work through is how to link my daily
classroom notes with our website so that students are able to access
these in order to help with their evening homework. I really am so
thrilled about this committee… every time I leave from the day’s
discussions, I am so inspired to try the new things I’ve learned in my
own classroom. Currently, I am designing my first unit around the
digital story technology and our next Social Studies unit- and this is
coming from a first year teacher that described herself as “hesitant”
at our first meeting. I never thought I would say this, but integrating
technology to the curriculum is going to be a major part of my teaching
and I can’t wait to try all of the new possibilities with my students.
Right now, her 5th grade students are engaged in the creation of a class digital ABC book, which will teach 5th grade scientific standards to 2nd graders. It has text, visuals, and audio, and will be shared at CUE. The moral to this story? If you let technology happen, it will transform the classroom. Classroom management is an issue when students are not engaged in learning. Engage them, and you switch from becoming a manager to a facilitator.
Laura