Interactive White Boards

Technology in school is forever changing. Every year it seems as if something is new to the way things are delegated or used in classrooms to make things a little more fun for students. We are starting to see this with the use of interactive white boards or Smart boards. In the article From 'Bored' to screen: the use of the interactive white board for literacy in six primary classrooms in England, it talks a lot about how these interactive white boards have really changed the culture in their classrooms. Students aren't as bored because the teacher is doing all the lecturing and just writing random things on the white board. Wit these smart boards the students get to interact with the lectured and even help work the interactive white boards. The interactive white boards have helped to engage the kids into certain lessons where they might not be previously engaged in. It allows the teachers to put pictures along with their presentations and gives the teachers some room for creativity. One teacher even said " it changed her teaching style completely, enabling her to experiment and be creative." So this isn't just effecting the students. It's also putting the teachers in a great spot to be successful which is very important. When the teachers are happy with how it can enable them to be more creative and experiment more while at the same time its engaging the students and they are able to interact with the lessons that is a great way to teach.

The impact an interactive white board has on teaching and learning in the classroom really is how much you want it to be. It has all the tools to be more effective than any other tool we have used in a long time. I know as a student that it can get very boring just listening to a teacher and watching them write down notes so when you are given the time to interact i think its very important and a great way for both the teacher as well as the student to learn. The impact really is hard to gage, because I believe that its gonna make things a lot more fun and easier for both the students and the teacher. I am excited about it.

To view the article look at the right side of the page and the article is under the "Interactive White Board" heading.

"Turning on the Lights"

I really thought it was interesting how things have changed from the 20th century. Before the 20 century T.V. was an after thought. The internet wasn't even heard of, cell phones were absent. Learning was just way different and kids didn't know much about the "real" world. But in today's generation kids have changed so much. Technology has shaped the kids of our generations and I just thought it was really interesting how times have changed and how now kids come to school so much more advanced in different ways because of technology.

I thought the section in this article where it talked about how that one student said he had to power down when he goes to school is really true. So many teachers think that kids of this generation cant multi-task or something. But honestly a lot of kids learn better by listening to music while studying, or watching T.V. and studying. The reason this is true is because this is what they have always done. Its what they know about school and studying. But for some reason teachers take that away from them and don't let them live the way they know and it makes school boring for a lot of students.

This article had a lot of good points and subjects that really caught my attention. I really agree with this article when it talks about how kids are having to power down when they come to school and how kids become bored because we are constantly learning about the past when we are the future. People always say you cant live in the past and stuff like that but in school that's all we focus on so I thought this article had a lot of good insights in it. Overall, times are changing and each generation is different than the last one. We should be focusing on the future and be preparing the students that way.

Beginning of Semester Reflection

Technology for me is intimidating! It is something that i haven't really figured out fully but is something that is very important to understand and to learn more about. Everyday something new is coming out or being made to speed things up or make things easier for people. Bottom line is that our world is changing and so is the technology so we as people need to start learning more about the technology and become familiar using it. This is why i am really excited about this class, I really have to stretch myself because technology is one thing I am not very confident using.

I think technology's role in K-12 classrooms should be increasing. If we start teaching the kids at younger ages about technology then they will be better using it and more confident as well. Its especially important because our world is starting to be dominated by technology, and once you fall behind in the world of technology its hard to catch up. As a teacher I want to use technology in my classrooms as much as possible. The younger generations are so fascinated by technology that I think it can also help to keep them engaged in school instead of just lecturing all class period.

Becoming a teacher

When I was a senior in high school is about the time I developed my passion for wanting to be a teacher. I had the opportunity to be a teachers aid for our high school P.E. teacher and I had the time of my life. Being able to teach the skills of staying active and being able to interact with the students was very appealing for me and it just caught my attention. As a student I always enjoyed my P.E. classes and now being an aid to the teacher and sometimes being able to play some of the games and demonstrate to them how the teacher wants it done was very fun for me. One day he had to leave for an appointment so he let me teach a lesson on kick ball and ever since that day I have fell in love with teaching, especially teaching P.E.

As far as the grade that I would like to teach I am really not sure. I have always intended to teach the high school level but I can also see myself teaching in the elementary level. I really would just like a job so I am very open minded to teaching at any level.

I hope to learn a lot about how to use technology in the classroom this semester. I am not a very technologically educated person so a lot of this stuff is a challenge for me. So i hope to become more educated in this area and hopefully master some of the new skills we learn as a class.