This blog fulfills a course requirement for EDM 510 at the University of South Alabama
When speaking of technology in the classroom, there is a lot of focus on the STEM subjects. As a teacher of Social Studies in high school, finding resources to share with my classroom has been a little more difficult. Please tell me what you will be teaching and what specific challenges it presents for you when searching for these technologies.
Thanks in advance!
SErdman
I have taught English language arts in the past and am hoping to teach English as a Second Language. I have tutored ELLs in grades K-12 for the past seven years as a private tutor. It's been challenging for me to find ways to integrate technology into my tutoring. Most of the parents of the children I tutor are not interested in having their children spend time on the computer during our sessions. Every now and then, I find a family that is open to technology. For example, I was able to use Highlights for Kids' website with one family. Their daughters enjoyed the hidden pictures games and the story creator. I've also used Starfall. In the fall of 2012, I took an online course to learn how to operate a SMART board. I used the software on my laptop with some of my students and also some ELL students in a local school system. I don't think I will use a wiki or blog with the students I tutor, but I can definitely see the value of using them in the ESL classroom to encourage student collaboration and to hone language skills. I'm looking forward to learning about podcasts and the potential for learning there. Also, I love that students can interact with other students around the world using current technology. I really think that technology in the ESL classroom is very useful.
ReplyDeleteI love the Smart board. I could see how kids would love me to use one of them in class.
ReplyDeleteI have previously taught in a kindergarten and second grade classroom and it was always a challenge to implement technology into my classroom because of the lack of resources available. I took advantage of the computer lab as much as I possibly could because I only had two computers in my class and one of them was mine. I loved using SMART boards and once we finally got one in my classroom, it was not working properly, so that was very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy using interactive sites for students like BrainPop, Starfall, and Enchanted Learning. I plan on implementing Blogs and Wikis as well because they are easy tools to use and the content can be adjusted depending on the age level. In my near future, I would like to be a Reading Specialist so I have to be flexible and embed technology at all age levels as well as for the educators I will be collaborating with, which I think will be a challenge all on its own.
I have heard from friends that teach in public schools that resources are tight in this en it comes to technology in the classroom. We can talk all day about the good that technology can bring to the classroom, but if the resources are not there... I hope that the school districts see it's benefits and allocate more funds.
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