Final Week of Practicum

Once again, I have not seen my teacher use technology in her classroom. She has made several comments that she should probably try to integrate it more into her classroom, but she has been teaching for many years and has several routines that she already uses.

This week I was able to use technology in a read aloud lesson. I read my class a book about Thanksgiving and I used Google Earth to show the students different places that were significant in the story of the Pilgrims. We looked at England and Plymouth Rock, as well as the school that I was in, so that the students could make a direct connection to what we were looking at. The students responded very well to this lesson and really enjoyed looking at the different places. When we were done, the students wanted to keep looking at places.

The students have been learning quite a bit about the history of Thanksgiving and the different events that took place. They could use the digital storytelling program to produce their own retelling of the Thanksgiving story. They could then share their stories with the other members of their class.

Week 3 of the Practicum

Much like the weeks before, I did not see a significant amount of technology used in the classroom that I am working in. My teacher has been teaching for several years and has many routines and lessons she uses that don't involve the use of technology. The only technology that I really see the students use is when they go to computers for half an hour every week. In talking with some other members of my cohort, we found that it is difficult to use technology in younger classrooms, especially if they aren't used to it, because they get distracted and excited and it is hard to manage the class. We did talk about using that aspect as an incentive to get students to behave, like saying "If you don't sit quietly and pay attention, we won't use the technology."
This week, I used technology once in one of my lessons. I read a book about turkeys to my class and I made a PowerPoint presentation showing different pictures of turkeys. The students really enjoyed it and were able to see what turkeys truly look like.
One idea I had for a lesson using technology, as it is Thanksgiving soon, I would like to read a story about the first Thanksgiving to the students and then use Google earth to show the locations of different events that took place.

Week 2 of the Practicum

As I talked with my teacher this week again about different technology that can be used in the classroom and in the school, I didn't really gain any new information about what I might be able to use. My teacher really does not use any technology in her classroom, and said that I can feel free to try and integrate any type of technology that I can or want, but kind of gave the impression that I would have to come up with it on my own. One of the other 1st grade teachers has a projector that can be made available for other teachers' use if necessary, so I will probably end up using that for a lesson.
This week I did not use any technology in my teaching because I didn't really have time to plan it out in my lessons. For two days of the week my class had a substitute so I took on quite a bit more responsiblity in the classroom than I was planning on, so I focused a lot on that. Next week, however, I plan on using technology in at least one of my lessons.
I am planning on using technology in a shared reading lesson this week. I am teaching a poem to the students, and I am planning on showing pictures and words through a PowerPoint presentation. I am going to try and find more technology to use in my lessons besides just a PowerPoint.

This Week In Practicum...

This week was the first week in the practicum. As I observed the classroom, I looked for different technology in the classroom. The only technology that I noticed was 2 computers and a TV/VCR/DVD player. I discussed this with my teacher and she told me that the school does have some technology, such as a computer lab where the students go to do computers once a week. However, in the classroom, she doesn't really use any technology when she is teaching.

One idea that I have had where I could use technology is to make some sort of interactive PowerPoint that could be shown on the TV screen, or through the use of a projector. Adding narration, music and pictures could turn a seemingly uninteresting lesson into a really exciting and interactive learning experience. This could be used in a reading lesson or a math lesson, or any other lesson that needed to be made a little bit more interesting than what it is at first glance.

I didn't get a chance to use any technology during my teaching this week. Hopefully I will be able to have access to some soon and start incorporating it into my lessons.