Technology in the classroom

This week I was introduced to the use of the Smart Board in the classroom. The teacher used it to graph some linear equations as well as for the Bellringers at the beginning of every day. The classroom that I am in is equipped with some top notch technology such as laptops, graphic calculators, and the Smart Board. In my opinion, a challenge of having technology in the classroom is using it effectively and not just to say that technology is used in the classroom. It must produce a valuable learning experience that cannot be duplicated easily on paper. I believe the students will like using the various types of technology because it is something different as long as the activity has value and is not confusing. I think almost everyone in the class needs to have or be able to conveniently share the technology or it will not be useful. I hope to integrate much technology into the curriculum that I teach.

http://www1.center.k12.mo.us/edtech/SB/SB.html
This website has some tips for using the Smart Board.

http://www.nctm.org/about/content.aspx?id=1242
This article has information on using calculators effectively in the younger classrooms.

http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-2/graphing.htm
This resources talks about the use of graphic calculators at the middle school level. That is what the students have in the classroom that I am currently in.

Missing students

After being in the classroom for a couple of days, I realized that attendance is a major concern especially for first period. One day this week about a third of the students in the class were absent. The other days there was always at least one person absent. Having class without all the students present makes teaching difficult. At the end of class, my supervising teacher spends time going over the work she is missing from students. Being that middle school students are already reluctant to turn in their homework, retrieving work from absent students makes it even more difficult. I decided that I would see what I could find about attendance. I think it is so crucial for the students to be in school. It is hard to learn when you have missed some of the material.

One of the first websites I found was http://www.nwrel.org/request/2004june/. I found this after looking at the Indiana Department of Education website. The website had great information on why students don't attend school and strategies to encourage attendance. The website says that poor attendance may be an indicator of a student who may drop out of high school. This shows that improving attendance at the middle school is crucial so that students stay in school as opposed to opting to drop out when they have the chance to in high school.

By searching google for ways to improve attendance, I was able to find a few resources. One resource that I found was at http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin/admin442.shtml. This explained some ways for teachers to use incentive programs to improve attendance at different levels. I found this website useful for information for my future classroom.

I also used the state website to find data on attendance. The data said that the middle schools with the higher attendance rates alos had the higher percentage of students who passed both parts of the ISTEP. That may not be a surprising statistic, but I think it proves the significance of attendance to success in school. I found this information on data about attendance at http://www.doe.state.in.us/asap/data.html.

Attendance is a major concern. I think it is important for teachers to discuss with their students their reasoning for missing school. Sometimes it may not be the student's fault. As a teacher, I hope to just be supportive and show each student the value of being in class.

Beginning Excitement

It is great to finally be in the classroom every day. This week we were able to go to get into the middle school and begin our practicum experience. It is so nice to see the elements we are learning about our college courses truly at work. School starts at 8:10, and that is when I get to join the 8th grade students in their classroom. It is nice to see the before school activities and to have the students first period, even though I have noticed they usually need some time to wake up. They seem to lack sleep just like most middle school student do. This shows how crucial it is to have exciting activities and enthusiasm as a teacher. Sometimes observation is the best form of learning, and that is what I am getting the opportunity to do now. For now, I am enjoying the first week at the middle school getting to know the students and my classroom teacher, interacting one-on-one with the students, and learning how things go at the school. I have been in the classroom in the elementary grades for my college classes, but never in the middle school as I am an elementary education major with a middle school math endorsement. The differences in the students and the daily activities are obvious. I am excited to learn through this experience. I know it will be a rewarding one. I already feel as if I am learning so much just through observation and assisting the students one-on-one, but I can't wait to be in front of the classroom and teaching.