This week was pretty good but was also very crazy. not sure why but it seemed that every student was getting hurt or having issues with each other. There wasn’t anything that got uncontrollable but was still a lot of work for Mrs. P and myself. during math and daily 5, I went around and helped the students, I really enjoy hearing them say Mr. K; it makes me feel like a real teacher and just makes my day. But other than that it was a pretty standard day with lots of math and reading.
I took a look around the school and peek into other classrooms to see how they use technology, from what I could tell the use of technology is pretty standard. some classes have tablets and some have computers. when I asked the teachers they said the computers are mainly used for academic purposes like online books, finding information, and doing research while also getting the higher grades to start writing essays. the younger grades mostly just read and do audiobooks.
In some cases the Tablets are used as rewards for kids when doing very well in class, they may get 20 minutes or more to play a game or watch some educational videos. I know in our class Mr.P uses a kind of digital projector, it has a camera and displays whatever the camera sees on the wall, she uses this to go over math problems and the pronunciation of words when reading stories
I asked Mrs. p about how technology is used in the student’s home, and from what she described its kinda disappointing and sad. she says many of the kids come from low-income homes where they are basically raised by things like computers, phones, and tablets. she said for many parents it is easier and cheaper to just give their kids a tablet then buy things like art supplies, board games, puzzles, activities, and physical games like basketballs, soccer balls, etc.
When I asked the students what they normally do when they get home about 80% of them mentioned things like video games and tv while some others mentioned playing with pets and drawing.
I then asked Mrs. P how she personly uses technology outside of what the kids see. She said all the teachers are connected through their own email links, she orders supplies and makes a request through the computer as well. she also said most of the contact she has with her students’ parents are through email or through text only a few parents meet face-to-face.
For the younger grades, Tech is not as big as a priority in the classroom but is still used every day in all the student’s lives, Cant wait for my Final day!! but don’t look forward to saying goodbye to all these students.