Since I was awake and couldn't go to sleep, I was cruising through the internet and decided to google myself. Have you ever done that? Googled yourself? I'm a pretty boring person, but it WAS nice to see that I hadn't made the front page of a newspaper for doing something that I didn't remember doing. I really could only find one traffic ticket that I'd only HOPED to forget. I eventually came across my old blog that I had started way back in the beginning of my wannabe "techie" phase. I'm not sure why I quit writing on it; probably because of the previous issue that I mentioned. (I'm boringl) Lack of anything to write about, maybe?
In my new school, we are just beginning to use technology in the classroom. It has been interesting moving to a school where the classroom did not revolve around technology. In some ways, it has been refreshing to not have to compete with a piece of equipment for the students' attention, but it has also shown me how much I had grown to depend on the technology component being available all of the time. It has also made me realize that not all of my students automatically know how to do all of the things I took for granted that they would know how to do on the computer. Some of the kids do have a great background, but much of their knowledge is from exposure at home, or from individual teachers introducing information to their own classroom. This means that not all students have been given the same amount of information, and are at various stages of independence.
For instance, logging in with their user name and password is something that I previously hadn't had to coach kids on, at least not for a long time. The older kids all know this, but my third graders haven't all quite gotten it down yet. (Having to remember a password can be difficult!) I think they are still at the "afraid to make a mistake" stage. Another problem the younger ones have had is saving things never to be found again, or so they think they'll never find it again. I have to admit, it IS really fun for me to be able to solve their technology problems and find their work for them. They think I'm really smart and act like I've just saved their life!
Another fun part of being at a school that is at a more basic level of daily technology use, is getting to introduce students to new Web 2.0 tools. Two years ago, I taught a 6th grade technology class and much of what we did was to create small projects using some of these tools. The students are so excited to see how easy it is to create a movie or presentation to share their ideas and information that they are learning! Once again, they think I'm wonderful when I can introduce and guide them to do something brand new and different. It is fun for me to watch them grow and accomplish new things!
If you have any advice about fun, new tools that work for your students, please either email, FB message, or tweet them to me! I am always on the lookout for new and fun (free) ways to teach kids by integrating technology. I appreciate USER-FRIENDLY tools. (In other words, I'm about like an 8 year old, so if I can't figure them out easily, they are probably going to be hard for them, also! I'd probably have to call in one of my 4th or 5th graders!)
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