My Classroom in the Year 2020

Blog Post #3: Describe what your classroom will be like in the year 2020.

It is difficult and, let's face it, impossible to know what the future holds. I would have never guessed that when I was staring high school in the year 2000, that 10 years from now, almost everyone I know would be on a social networking site and that email would be a primary form of communication in my life and education. That was less than 10 years ago, so who knows what the technological world will be like in another 10 years. So here's what I think might happen in my classroom in the year 2020:

When I walk into my 3rd grade classroom, I see all the kids' cubbies along the wall and sitting on top of that area is another small shelving unit that holds a personal laptop for each student with their names and numbers assigned. From the beginning of the school year, as part of the classroom routine, we practiced retrieving, handling, returning, and charging the battery on the laptops. We also routinely do interactive math lessons using the laptops while I give a presentation and instructions on a SMARTboard. Students still get excited to come up to the screen to move the images and share their thinking. In the area of language arts, as writing assignments start to be written with the keyboard instead of a pencil, I find myself having discussions with the class about why it is still important to learn how to write "the old-fashioned way." In order to keep this practice alive the students having writing journals in their desks that they write in every day.

Most days I still feel like my students know more about how to use the laptops than I do. They come across technological glitches and problems and learn to figure them out themselves and then share this knowledge with their classmates. It also helps that a Technology Teacher comes into the classroom once a week to give a lesson on features of the computer to help students problem-solve as well as introuducing different applications and tools they can use to make new creations. They learn to apply and use these for the class projects they are assinged which require the creation of powerpoint-like presentations, digital videos, and podcasts. My students also love to enjoy interacting with each other via KidChat and other online friends on the internet during free choice time. The school has been able to create a safe-online network for students to have video calls with a school in South America.

I often look around the classroom and look at the students with ear-buds in their ears and eyes fastened to the screens in front of them and wonder if this change in the look of my classroom is good or harmful. Then I remember that it is up to me as their teacher to find new ways to incorporate the personal computer as a tool for collaboration and interaction.

My Digital Story Script: First Draft

Here is a podcast of the first draft of the script for my digital story. It is a little long, so guess I'll have some editing and cutting out to do. I also had some technical difficulties and made the file with the audio 3 times in a row. So it is not actually 18 minutes. The whole thing is only about 6 minutes. Oh well, it is a start.

EDS 204 Blog Response #1

I have a few more courses to finish up my Education Studies teaching program this summer. EDS204 is focused on learning and using technology as a teacher. Part of the class is writing blog posts about various topics, so here's one of them:

Blog Response #1: Tell us about a classroom event this year that had an impact on your professional growth and/or vision this year.

In my last student teaching placement in a 1st grade classroom, I was working on growing in the area of classroom management. In particular I was uncomfortable with giving specific and positive reinforcement of good student behavior as well as enforcing the consequence of "signing the book" for student misbehavior. Eventually, I did start getting used to being constantly vigilant and verbal about specific student behavior. I tried to be fair and consistent with all students. However, one day I ended up having some students "sign the book" who usually have good behavior, but I felt needed that consequence after I had already set expectations about what they were to be doing. The next day, my CT ended up pulling me aside because she had heard from parents that some of their kids came home upset and crying the other day because I had them sign the book. My CT clarified that the book was to be used only after trying positive reinforcement and making sure students were give a direct verbal warning/reminder first.

Yikes! I had not idea that these students were so upset by having to sign the behavior book. To me "signing the book" was a way for me to show that I was firm and fair with my behavior expectations, but for some of the students it was no small thing. After that experience I was definitely more afraid, but also more careful and thoughtful about how I give out consequences and how that impacts students. The ironic thing about the experience is that before that incidence I had sent a few students to sign the book before, but these students took it in stride because they were used to having to sign the book and it was not as much of a shock as it was for the others. Overall, in terms of professional development, getting some parent feedback about students response to behavior consequences forced me to question whether or not I was being fair to students and realize that those consequences in the classroom may be having an impact I do not see at school. I have learned to be more thoughtful in how I do behavior consequences and the lasting impact of what I say to students.