Current Projects — a Jumpstart
September 25, 2007 by Jose Rodriguez
I was looking at our weekly bulletin today and I couldn’t believe that we are at day 14 already. Sure I use technology in MY classroom. But MAN has it been hard starting this year. I had pretty good sucess last year with my classroom blog. It became an opportunity to showcase the learning that was going on in my classroom. This year I thought I would continue the different projects I had started. I would integrate the different tools like podcasts and pictures to our classroom blog. I would teach students to post and respond to eachother’s comments. It sounds easy enough so what’s the hold up?
In the innercity it has to do with an enphasis on student performance on state exams. We are in a culture that promotes directed teaching and frowns on exploration. It is difficult to justify the use of technology if there isn’t a direct link back to improved test scores. The technology I want my students to learn; communication, use of creativity, critical thinking isn’t assessed on the state standards tests. So what am I to do?
I really didn’t know how to answer this question until today. We had a webcast this Sunday as part of the Woldbridges Webcastathon. Our focus was on letting other Elementary teachers know our current projects. I heard my collegues go through their use of technology in their classrooms. I was amazed by what’s possible with some focused effort. More importantly I was networking and getting ideas. I have the basic tools it’s just a matter of starting. I really don’t need any elaborate plans. It’s a matter of putting the tools in my students hands.
Even today I just came home from a district training. Each school is getting a Multimedia cart complete with a new MacBook and a projector. With these new toys comes responsibility. The district is building in training and support. As lead teachers we are being asked to participate in a Moodle to showcase best practices and to disucuss our concerns through forums. We have specific responsibities such as providing training and access to cart back at our local schools. And of course as lead teacher I get to test it out. On my way home I was thinking that we have laptops and projectors at school. This really doesn’t add to what we already have. The difference comes in the human factor. We make the difference on the success of the program. The best tools are not based on hardware. They are based on humanware. Now that’s the JUMPSTART I needed!
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It hasn’t seemed that hard to link the technology tools back to improved student performance. But it does take awhile to train your class—management-wise before I start having them use the computers. It usually takes at least a month. My plans for podcasting are temporarily on hold as we wait for an answer from the district as to whether it’s okay to show students’ faces online.
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Great to hear from you again Mathew. We all face our challenges. I do agree that classroom management is the key to effective use of the technology. An you are right. I can find direct correlations between learning that is done online and results on standardized tests. I was referring to blocks of time dedicated to directed teaching. Having students on the computer during these whole group lessons is frowned upon. So it really doesn’t leave a lot of time in the school day. I just have to be creative in the way that I structure assignments that are completed on the computers. Thanks for stopping by and good luck with the podcasts. I would just use voice for now. Video without name association should be fine also to publish. I’ve seen great examples on teacher tube. If anything they can be uploaded to local servers inside “the walled garden” not accessible without passwords etc….
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I hate the idea of password protecting our work because the whole point of a podcast is to connect with others. Otherwise I’d rather just create films which I’ve been doing and so has this school before I got there. An official answer may be coming.
Jose, I know I’ve shared this with you before but other might benefit…my way of teaching new technology without taking time away from instruction was to teach two students either before school or during Independent Work Time and then having those students teach the rest one or two at a time. This worked well in my one computer classroom but again, it did take a month or so before I had my classroom management down enough where students knew that they had to take their computer job seriously.
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I appreciated your Jumpstart! I enjoy bringing as much technology into the classroom as possible. I think it is fun and the students like it, but it can become an impersonal approach for learning. They still need interaction, rapport, and direction from their teacher. They want respect and reciprocate by meeting your high expectations for them. Your phrasing was great! The best tools are “humanware” – I like that!
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