Students and Technology

I am in the Bellevue School District, so the obligatory first piece of technology I talk about has to be the Smart Board. I don't know its full potential yet, but basically it is like a computer screen the size of a projector screen. In addition you can write on it in different colors with these cool pen things. The teacher has used it so far to model how to do a math worksheet, show videos and show a picture slide show. I have put it to great use as well by playing hang man on it with some kids. The room also has about 6 computers that the kids can use as well, although I've only seen them on it once since I've been there, and that was during choice time so they were just playing games. At home some of the students have ipods, and use the telephone and computers. I haven't been able to gauge their technological prowess too much though, but I am betting I will as the quarter progresses.

How Students Learn

Hao and I are in a third grade classroom in the Bellevue School District, and so far its been great. For literacy our students are learning and practicing literacy skills in many different ways. One way the students are engaging with literacy is through a teacher read aloud. The teacher has been reading a chapter book to the students for a few weeks, and after they hear a section each day they are prompted to answer questions related to what they heard, they sometimes develop these questions and other times are given them by the teacher. Also the students create some sort of book report about a book they have been reading about every month or so. The teacher is really creative with these reports and allowed for an integration of art and literacy. One example was that the student were able to fill in what looked like a large piece of film strip with both text and pictures relating to their story. The students seem to really enjoy these projects which range from poetry to non-fiction projects. Also the students are given independent reading time each day, and the classroom library has an abundance of books to choose from. These are some of the literacy activities that I have witnessed so far, and it seems that the students are given a variety of ways to learn and practice their literacy work.