Technology in the Elementary Classroom

This video is a really neat example of one of the really cool things that Smartboards are able to do in aiding classroom instruction. The below video is a demonstration on how you are able to dissect a frog by only using the Smartboard no live specimens needed. I think this is really a good alternative for students who need to perform dissections for a grade without having to actually cut into a real animal.

I chose to follow Deborah J. Stewart on twitter.  She is very active on both twitter and Facebook.  She is very technologically advanced when it comes to posting things in the education field.  All of her blogs are interesting and fun to read. The best way to enhance your classroom and teaching skills is through other people’s trial and errors. She also puts funny things on there in between her links to useful information.

Although I am not as involved in these online spaces as Stewert, I wish her style would rub off on me.  She describes herself as interested in early childhood education teacher trainer, speaker, and freelance writer.  She has been in the field for over 20 years.  Her main goal is to make a difference in the professional development in many schools.  She has many classroom management ideas which I find to be very useful when I have my own classroom.

Here is her homepage so you can see if you find her as interesting as i do.

http://www.preschoolprofessional.com/

I think that technology will bring a change in the traditional student and teacher roles.  Most of us were taught in the traditional method of having the teacher dispense information to the students.  The teacher was the center of attention who  set the goals for the classroom and provided the structure by which we all abided.  The student on the other hand sat passively listening to the teacher trying to absorb everything that was being said with little or no input into the way things are done.

When technology is brought into the classroom the students suddenly get to play a more active rather than passive role in how things are done.  The student is actively making choices about how to generate, obtain and display information.  The teacher on the other hand is no longer the center of attention but a facilitator for the class room.  It is the teachers job to provide support for the students and make suggestions as he/she rotates through the classroom looking over the shoulders of the students who are independently working on their technology based projects.

I absolutely love Miranda’s music!  For everyone who does not know of her music she is a country music star.  What i enjoy about her twitter page is that she is real about what she says. she does not just talk about her up coming shows and tours. She tweets about what she is doing that day how she is feeling etc.. just like us non-music superstars do. In the one post she talks about how it was opening day of deer season back at home for her. Also she talks about how cold it is in Chicago. It is really refreshing to know that some one of her status uses twitter for the same types of things i do as a normal run of the mill college student does. For anyone who wants to have a taste of who she is check this out.

This very is very interesting. It shows how a district in Colorodo uses technology to enhance communication and learning. It shows how a techer changed the whole dynamic of the classroom by videotaping his class. Now children have to veiw the lecture before class for homework, and do what used to be homework in class. Technology has changed the classroom for the better in this case. Enjoy!

Since no one I know outside of class uses twitter I decided that Oprah would be someone worth while to follow. Much of the tweets that are on her page some how refer to her show. Many explain up coming events that will be taking placeand new guests that will be appearing on the show. Although I did find out that she went to maui before her new season started. Also i thought that it was nice to see that she took time to tweet in remeberance of the victims of september 11th. I am a faithful watcher of her show and a devoted fan so i will continue to follow her and track her different tweets even after this couse is over.

The famous Oprah!