I never thought I’d say that I’d love to incorporate more technology into myclassroom. My room always seems to be the one that breaks the TVator or can’t get the laptop working or for one reaosn or another isn’t able to get the videocamera to record. I had pretty much begun to think there was a curse across my room that prohibited any technology from entering correctly. Wow have I changed my mind!
First: I now have a cart in my room with a projector and arm that has capabilities beyond my wildest dreams (as a teacher of course!). I’m able to display student work, write notes along with the students and quckly put up manipulatives and directions for students to follow independently or with other students.
Second: The new computer in my room has faster capabilities and no longer takes forever to load up a page. The students are able to take AR tests very quickly without having to wait too long!
Third: UNITED STREAMING! The abilities of this technology are amazing. You have to have a username and password (Frederick County recently began subscribing). You can look up images, whole videos, clips or clip art on any subject. From math to Social Studies to Language Arts, you’re able to incorporate interactive learning into any lesson! It’s very simple to use. You search the topic of your choice, it offers you a selection of items and you click on the preview button until you find one you’d like to download. It’s so easy, even a technologically impaired classroom can handle it!
Those are the three major pieces of technology that have ‘reversed the curse’ in my classroom. I actually get excited to learn about more technological capabilities for the classroom, instead of fearing that it will not work when I try to use it!
So…for anyone else who may have been hesitant to use new technology before…take a lesson from me! Go ahead and embrace it! Technology is the way into the future and the more students see it, the better off they will be!
