I have found Tapped In to be extremely helpful and resourceful to me and the experiences I am currently facing.  Because we are all in the same boat right now, my fellow pre-service teachers and I are asking and posting questions that concern us all, and the answers that the mentors give are beneficial to all (which I love!).  And because there are multiple mentors, a wide variety of opinions are offered in response to the questions.

I also like the fact that more than just technology in the classroom is discussed.  Though Tapped In was set up for us during our technology class, our questions and concern cover a much more broad scope, and this is the perfect opportunity to have our questions answers, our concerns shared, and our worries relieved…or at least a little.

I also had the opportunity to chat with a middle school math teacher from Arkansas, I believe.  I was just going through the discussion on tapped in and she started talking to me.  It turned out to be a wonderful conversation: she asked me questions that really got me thinking, and gave me some wonderful advice.  Without tapped in, I never would have had the opportnity to pick this teacher’s mind and get the wonderful advice she offered.

Not only is this a wonderful tool to use now, but I think it will be very beneficial in the future.  If I have a question, comment, or concern, I’ll have a place to share them and receive feedback.  And not only will my questions receive feedback from those in my area, but I can use the different perspectives from those around the world.  It can be used a place to get great ideas to incorporate into lessons, a place to share concerns over problems in the classroom, a place to vent frustrations (because I’m sure I’ll have them).

For everything Tapped-In offers, it is simply invaluable.

I recently taught my first full lesson plan and I must say, I’m very happy with the way it turned out. I have no doubt the students were on their best behavior simply because I was not the regular teacher and they were fascinated by a new face. But to be honest, for my first lesson ever, I’d take quiet fascination over utter chaos any day.

There were only a couple of glitches (forgetting a certain handout, lightbulb problems in the overhead, etc) but my cooperating teacher said it was an excellent lesson on coins and their relationships among each other. For the technological aspect of the lesson plan, I found a game online involving coins.  During the “independent practice” of the lesson, I had some students work on a problem at their desks with partners, and others studenets  go to the computers in the back and play the game.  The students spent roughly 3 minutes playing about 2-3 rounds of the game before they were asked to switch.  (This way, all the students had the chance to use the computers.)  The kids were receptive, dove whole-heartedly into their problems, and (gasp) raised their hands without blurting out answers.

I’ve been so stressed lately about deadlines and extracurriculars and meetings and projects and exams and summer and so many other things, I’ve forgotten to just slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. After completing my lesson, I just sat there and enjoyed what I just accomplished. I received about 8 hugs before I left from my adorable first graders and it competely made my day. Couldn’t have asked for things to go better.

Virginia Tech.  There are so many different emotions going through me right now: sadness, shock, sympathy, etc.  Though none of my friends were injured, or worse, a few of my friends have close friends/family that we directly impacted by what happened on Monday.  Viewing this as a student, I’m stunned.

Viewing this as a future educator, I’m frightened.  I’m not going to lie.  When I signed up for this job (not literally, but when I first thought about becoming a teacher), the thought that I might one day die because of a student was not a thought that entered my mind.  Bomb threats, shooting sprees, metal detectors, drug-sniffing dogs, policemen…these were never things I thought I would have to face.  And granted I know I will be working at an elementary level, but it seems that violence knows no bounds, and might not give a second thought in crossing the elementary line.  And that frightens me.

When I imagine teaching, it’s always been a picture of me standing in the front of a classroom with smiling faces staring expectantly at me, just waiting for their next learning opportunity.  Never once did that turn into me barricading the door from a shooter walking down the hall.

Just my ramblings.  Sorry it’s so depressing.

This past week, I taught a math problem in my first grade classroom.  After completing it, I was asked to show the students how to make a coin flip book.  In one of my groups, I had a little boy who kept picking up the coin stamps and saying, “This guy got a haircut,” in a staccato voice.  I kept having to repeat my instructions and made sure he was looking right at me, or else he would go off in his own world.  After this group finished, they handed me their flipbooks and went back to their seats.  I looked at his, and about half of it was correct, with the other half being not even close to right.

My next group had a little group girl in it who could not pay attention to what I was saying.  She kept trying to leave the table to ask the parent volunteer about bowties.  It took all my energy to make sure she stayed in her seat and make sure the other students were correctly following instructions.

After her group finished (and her flipbook turned out somewhat more successful than the previous student’s), I decided to go talk to the parent volunteer.  I asked her if the first student’s first language was English to which she asked me why I thought it wasn’t.  I explained to her what had happened, and she replied that both students I had dealt with were the Special Education students of the class.

This got me thinking.  I know there are theories that state when dealing with Special Education students, they appreciate it when they are treated like all the other students, which is what I, unbeknownst to me, was doing.  But in doing so, they didn’t get their work accomplished to the same degree as the other students, which would, in fact, later harm them as the flipbooks were used in reviews.  So how does the balance work?  Do I just treat them the same, and let their work be slightly (or grossly) behind the others? Or do I treat them as students with special needs, and give them some extra attention that might help bring their work to the level of the other students?

This is a dilemma to ponder…

Today I had an interesting discussion with my roommate about technology in the classroom.  Currently, she is student teaching and has taken over 5 classes that she is full-out teaching (and doing a fabulous job!!).  I started by asking her what technology she had incorporated into her lessons and compared that to the technology that was already used by her cooperating teacher.  Here’s what I found:

CT = Cooperating Teacher   J = Julie, my roommate

~The CT uses a limited amount of technology.  For instance, she used the internet to find new research about a particular subject, but then takes that information and disseminates it before presenting it to the students.   J might initially hunt down the new information, but she only provides the students with the links and asks them to consolidate what they find into webquests and presentations.

~ The CT uses an abundant of videos to help teach the lessons.  J also uses videos to help wtih the students’ understanding of certain stories, but she also doesn’t watch the entire movie.  Instead, she allows the video clips to explain the more complicated, underlying issues within the story and then stops them for a discussion about what the students just watched.  In a quantitative sense, this is less “technology” going on in the classroom, but this might be the perfect example of “More is less.”

While this might seem trivial to some, it’s very beneficial to me to listen and seen how others incorporate technology into the classroom.  Talking about technology is one thing; hearing how it is integrated and actually used successfully by my peers is quite another.

Praise the Lord - I understand!  To be completely honest, all throughout my learning of how to incorporate technology into the everyday classroom, I’ve had doubts.  I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of fluidly using technology in elementary lessons without it being a huge distraction (or in my case, complication).  Yes, I heard mentors talk about blogging, wikis, projects, etc. but growing up without technology in the classroom and not seeing it used, it was a stretch of the imagination for me.

Until today.  I saw Mrs. J pick up a regular looking pen and start writing on a special computer pad.  Then, miracle of all miracles, what she was writing was being transcribed through the computer into a projector that displayed her writing on the wall.  I mean, it was just like the writing on the wall in biblical times!!  Ok, my analogy might be a bit off, but it was just that phenomenal for me!

That got my mind going: if a woman who has been teaching for 30+ years can slowly, but surely, incorporate technology into her everyday plans, then surely I, who grew up with some of this stuff and am currently taking an entire class on technology in the classroom, can do the same!  No, it might not be perfect the first time around, which is something my OCDself has to be okay with, but I can do it.  I can pick up a pen and write on the wall (figuratively, not literally); I can have children blog without getting too high tech for me; I can have students work digital cameras to make photographic projects!  I can do it!!!

Just thought I’d share my technological breakthrough.

For this assignment, I chose the video “The Changing Role of a Teacher: How project based learning creates a new role for the teacher: mentor and guide.” In the video, a teacher is reviewing an assignment with two elementary-age boys. The boys were supposed to collect a wasp to study its mouth parts under a microscope, but they could only find a bee and a beetle. The teacher was trying to explain that while they could not use a beetle, the bee was a good representative of a wasp. He was playing the role of guide as he led the boys through a thought process of why the bee and the wasp were similar and why it would be okay to use a substitute.

Linda Darling Hammond of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future spoke at the end of the video stating: “Teachers need to be able to elicit students’ thinking and also be able to interpret what they hear students saying in terms of their learning. What does it mean about a student’s progress when they protray a problem in a certain way? Teachers also need to be able to continually elicit understandings about how kids are thinking about their work, not just if they have the right answer.”

This video really hit home with me, for a couple of reasons. The most frivolous reason being Robin Williams was the narrator, and I’m a huge fan of his. But in all seriousness, this video clip had many important messages in it, some spoken and some just picked up. First, comparing these students’ education in elementary school against what I had is a complete 180 degrees. The fact that the teacher mentioned “getting online in the classroom” and using microscopes was something that I never had. It was really good for me personally to see how technology can be incorporated into everyday settings in elementary school.

Also, what Ms. Hammond said about the way teachers need to think about students’ answers was another important, and true, point. I can remember teachers just telling me that my thinking was wrong, but not why it was or where I went wrong in my thinking process. With this new technology age, it’s very important that teachers utilize their roles as mentors and guides and allow students to further their own ways of thinking. If they wind up at the wrong conclusion, teachers need to be able to walk them through step-by-step and find where the student went wrong.

Overall, I thought this video was very informative and applicable to what I as a teacher will be facing when I get into the education system.

Technology and I do not get along.  We were introduced a few years ago and ever since our first meeting, technology has had it out for me.

In all seriousness, I have many problems with technology.  If something breaks, and Ctrl-Alt-Delete doesn’t fix it, then I’m at a complete loss.  I’m familiar with the basic programs: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, AIM, etc.  Mid-difficult programs thoroughly confuse me.  I only know one way to fix problems, and if that doesn’t work, I typically just ask my more computer literate boyfriend to help me out.  What makes technology (and especially computers) more frustrating for me is that I honestly try: I try to understand what the flashing box with text means, but no matter how many times I’ve heard/learned the words, I still don’t get it.  I am as proficient at technology as I am at directions, and if there’s not a straightline between point A and point B, I’ll be stuck at point X with the map upside down.

We didn’t use much technology in high school.  I went to a very small private school (my class had 35 people in it), so the funds for technology were non-existent.  We learned how to operate Word Powerpoint in 12th grade, but honestly, other than that, there wasn’t much more interaction with technology.  At college, my professors have basically used powerpoints.  We haven’t gone much beyond that.

Basically, technology and I have a love-hate relationship: it loves to hate me.