Is posting my morning journal entry with flashy colors really a way to grab their attention, or is it just a way to make it look nice. Are the Internet games the students play to help them with multiplication facts effective or just more exciting than studying flashcards. I believe that in this day and age with all the colorful and fast paced media, this type of excitement in a classroom is necessary. Even though my morning journals could very well be written on the blackboard and the same content would be delivered, but the fact that is on the computer screen with colors and a clip art pictures really grabs the students' attention. For that reason, I try and be as flashy and exciting as I can be in the classroom. I want my learners to feel the excitement that I get out of small things like googling a baseball team to find stats or going to discoverychannel.com to look at animals. Even if it's a couple minutes a day, I feel like I try and model proper ways to use this great resource at our fingertips, the Internet. What can the Internet do for my classroom? I like this article's view on the Internet and how and why the internet should be used in a classroom. The Internet is just another great and vast resource for teachers and can be accessed quickly and with great accuracy if used properly.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
My internet use in the classroom
When I look at my use of technology in a classroom, I feel like I do a lot of fun and creative things with my children. Every morning I have things posted on my smart board usually with pictures and different colors to liven the room, I do a lot of Internet searches with the students to model how to research unknown material, the students have created power points on occasion, I know of a lot of fun and interactive educational websites that we visit as a reward at the end of the school day; all of these among many others are all ways that I use the computer/Internet in my room. I guess what I am reflecting on now is, is it effective or flashy?
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I am the same way in my classroom- colors! clipart! Whatever it may take to grab their interest and engage them. I think its great that you use google or whatever internet site for "teachable moments". Demonstrating these practices of spontaneous use shows the students how natural/easy it is to use these tools effectively and correctly. I like to use youtube with my kids when we're talking about various topics. For example, they had never saw a flying squirrel and it had come up in a class discussion. We searched it on you-tube and the kids thought it was the coolest part of our learning that day.
ReplyDeleteThese are exactly the questions that you need to ask yourself as you use technology. Flashy could be effective; but not always appropriate/necessary. Modeling the use of the Internet is very important. Our students need to see this at all grade levels and in all subject areas.
ReplyDeleteThe reality is that students today need things to be a bit flashy. From birth through to school, children are exposed to all things electronic. It seems rare for a parent to sit down with a simple book with a child. Children learn their ABC's using the internet. My own 5 year old was having difficulties. I tried flash cards, I tried Sesame Street video's, I tried tricks in the store when we went shopping. What worked? Sending her to a website. Sitting down at the computer for 2 weeks, 20 minutes a day and all of a sudden my little girl knew her ABC's.
ReplyDeleteWhat worked for me growing up isn't the same. Children need the flash. And what's wrong with that? Nothing. It's still learning. It's still learning the same information. It's just being delivered in a different manner. My grandmother used a slate and had one notebook. My mother had notebooks for each class, but they had to last her the entire school year and slide projectors. I had 3 ring binders with filler paper that I could add to all year long and movies. Students today have their laptops and the learning opportunities are endless! Teachers need to change along with their students.