Week Seven: The Role of Technology: You will focus on the role of technology in the lives of students.
Core Questions: How is technology used in your classroom? In the library? In the school? How are students engaging with technology (in school and outside school)? Have an informal conversa on with a few students to see how they

use technology, how they think technology helps them in their learning & ways they would like to use the technology. Have a discussion with your cooperating teacher to see how he/she uses technology in instruction, assessment & professional knowledge.

 

 

I had lots of fun this week. To start off the afternoon, the students were learning what more than a certain number meant. For example, the teacher would ask the students what one more than 13 was, and most of the students were able to answer, 14. We got to walk around the classroom and check their work to make sure they had the right answers before moving onto their next assignments. Their next task was to write to the best of their abilities to write a little story about any topic they wanted and then draw a picture. All the students had their own creative idea and many wrote about Christmas, what they want and what they love about Christmas. After recess, we got to go with the class for their library time. They all exchanged their books and then got to pick two new books to take out. The students were all so excited to get to browse around the library and find new books to read.

Technology is key in the classroom as well as the school. In our classroom, there are ipads with learning games and activities the students can play when they have free time, can’t participate in a class activity, or need extra practice with numbers, letters, reading, and more. This week in my field experience, the teacher played calm music for the students to listen to while they wrote their stories. Also, the teacher often uses her smartboard in the classroom to show students examples of what they should be doing. There are lots of other forms of technology used throughout the school as well. There is an intercom system which the principal as well as others staff members can use to share announcements and call for certain people to come to the office. Also, the teacher showed my partner and I one day how their online records for marking look. It was cool to see how the marking system works and the ways the technology helps to speed up that process. Almost every room I have had the opportunity to go into at the school has a smartboard and projector. This piece of technology is great in showing students examples for art classes, videos for the students to dance along too, information videos, and other examples to be discussed in class. The teacher in the grade 1 class room I go into has used her smartboard for all these things and probably more. Technology is a key factor in the classroom as well as the school.