Saturday, August 25, 2012

my "take away"

I really enjoyed the introduction to the Literacy 2.0 text.  I highlighted several spots (in my Kindle edition :) and the one that really stood out was this-"The most profound technologies are those that disappear-they weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it."  I found myself looking around and thinking about my house.  So many things in it were not even around 50-even 25-years ago.  But now they are so commonplace and I can't imagine my life without them.  Then I thought about my classroom.  And how my experiences as a teacher have totally changed since I had my first group of 3rd graders 15 years ago.  I had a chalkboard and one computer that I shared with the students.  Five years later I moved to my current district and school and thought I moved into a whole new world!  I had a DRY ERASE board, my own computer, and a small set of laptops for students to share.  

Now here I am beginning my 10th year in this district.  I have a Promethean Board in my classroom, and so does everyone else (except 1 teacher) in my building.  And when I say everyone else, it's not really an exaggeration.  In order to get the board, teachers had to attend district-provided training and classes, and create units and lessons as a final project.  SSD teachers, "specials" teachers, even the counselor went through the training and have their boards.  The 1 teacher mentioned earlier is close to retirement and has not fully embraced how technology can impact and change her classroom.  In the end, I really feel sorry for her class and all that they miss out on.  Other technologies that have weaved themselves into the fabric-all teachers in my district now have their own laptop that they take to and from school.  Students from middle school to high school also have their own district-provided laptop that they get to take home.  Second through fifth graders have classroom laptops and kindergarteners and first graders have at least 6 desktop computers per classroom.  Not to mention all of the different types of software we have for teacher and student use.  

When I began teaching 15 years ago, there is no way I could have predicted what my classroom would look like today.  Most likely I will be teaching for another 10-15 years-at least!.  I can only imagine what teaching, the classroom, and students will look like in that time!

3 comments:

  1. I think it is so exciting the students and teachers at your school have these opportunities to experience an enhanced learning environment. When I taught at an urban school three years ago the school did not even have a library. Hopefully one day other schools will be able to catch up.

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  2. How wonderful that your district requires training to have the board in the classroom! I think sometimes districts are in such a hurry to bring in the hardware or software that the training aspect gets overlooked. Having the tools does nothing without the instructors knowing how and when to use them!
    Does your district have a policy in place for when a new teacher is hired? At that point the boards are already in the classroom. I think training is a very difficult area for districts because it does get expensive and even if you have the entire staff trained one year, the staff rarely stays consistent for long.

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    Replies
    1. Val-

      When new teachers enter the district, they remove the board from the classroom if it is already there. They leave the projector and the teacher can project onto the dry erase board, but it is not interactive. I think most new teachers go through the training right away though, because they see the benefits of having the board to use with their students.

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