Here is a great website I found that does a wonderful job incorporating technology into class lessons throughout all subject areas! Check it out :)
Irene and Erin are both 4th grade teachers; one of them teaches at Pine Glen Elementary while the other teaches at Francis Wyman Elementary School. Both teachers try their best to incorporate I-Pads into each subject area as best they can. Erin talks about how the children in her class love working with I-Pads. It causes less distraction so they can accomplish more work than they could before. Beforehand, students would raise their hands constantly because their pencil broke, or they couldn’t find their textbook. Now, students have more hands on learning and have the tools for a deeper learning experience than could be offered with just a textbook and paper. For literacy lessons, Erin has students use the I-pad to record themselves reading, games that focus on phonics and phonemic awareness, games that focus on spelling, word memory games and also for students to write personal journal entry’s. Irene uses the I-Pad for similar purposes as well as Erin when it comes to literacy. She talks about how students can receive immediate feedback when using the I-Pad to see how well they did on the games. They can also go back and look at all their journal entry’s to see how much their writing as improved. An App that she also uses is called I-talk recorder. Students use this app to capture a photo of their written work and record themselves reading a poem, journal entry or book. When they are done, they can send it to the drop box so Irene can get a sense of where her students are at in reading and writing. When it comes to math, she using an app called ST Math. ST Math helps students enhance their logical thinking and problem solving skills. There are many different games students can play to focus on a specific area they need help with. Irene’s students love using the I-Pad and don’t even realize they are working on math because they are having so much fun with the I-Pad and the math games.
ISTE- T Standard:
4A. I believe that “applying technology in assessing student learning of subject matter using a variety of assessment techniques” best matches the article I read because both teachers use a variety of assessments to test student’s abilities in each subject. For example, in literacy and writing, Irene and Erin have students record themselves reading poems, their own journal entries, stories, etc. to test their reading skills as well as writing. They also have students play games to familiarize their phonemic awareness of sounds and words and to test their spelling abilities. They also use games for students to test their familiarity with sight words. For math, they have games that assess students in different categories of math, such as multiplication, story problems, fractions, etc. Using the I-Pad, Irene and Erin are able to use a variety of assessments to see where students are at in different subject areas or within different contexts of the same subject area (for example, they know their sight words but they cant pronounce them correctly). It is very important to provide a wide range of assessments to test our students knowledge. Some tools and methods may work best for one student but not another. By providing a variety of tools and assessments, we can help each student as best we can by providing them with the right tools to enhance their learning. The I-Pad definitely is a great technology resource that can benefit a wide range of students!
5D. While browsing the ISTE-T standards, there were a few that did not match the article. The one that stuck out the most to me was “using technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning.” Both Irene and Erin talk all about how important it is to incorporate different styles of learning and teaching into their curriculum and ways they do such. However, they do not mention how they express their ideas and ways of teaching onto the parents. One thing that I have always learned when it comes to being an effective teacher, is to make parents aware of what is being taught in class, ways to teach the students effectively, and how parents can use some of the tools and methods the teacher uses at school, for them to use at home with their children. Not only that, but some parents may not agree with all the different technology tools teachers are using in the classroom. I think it would be very beneficial if Irene and Erin either sent out newsletters each week of the technology they use during class lessons or to create a blog for parents to see what their children are doing during class each day. I think Erin and Irene are doing a great job using different sources to enhance learning but it is very important for them to share their ideas.
Here is the website for the article if you would like to read more about it!
Irene and Erin are both 4th grade teachers; one of them teaches at Pine Glen Elementary while the other teaches at Francis Wyman Elementary School. Both teachers try their best to incorporate I-Pads into each subject area as best they can. Erin talks about how the children in her class love working with I-Pads. It causes less distraction so they can accomplish more work than they could before. Beforehand, students would raise their hands constantly because their pencil broke, or they couldn’t find their textbook. Now, students have more hands on learning and have the tools for a deeper learning experience than could be offered with just a textbook and paper. For literacy lessons, Erin has students use the I-pad to record themselves reading, games that focus on phonics and phonemic awareness, games that focus on spelling, word memory games and also for students to write personal journal entry’s. Irene uses the I-Pad for similar purposes as well as Erin when it comes to literacy. She talks about how students can receive immediate feedback when using the I-Pad to see how well they did on the games. They can also go back and look at all their journal entry’s to see how much their writing as improved. An App that she also uses is called I-talk recorder. Students use this app to capture a photo of their written work and record themselves reading a poem, journal entry or book. When they are done, they can send it to the drop box so Irene can get a sense of where her students are at in reading and writing. When it comes to math, she using an app called ST Math. ST Math helps students enhance their logical thinking and problem solving skills. There are many different games students can play to focus on a specific area they need help with. Irene’s students love using the I-Pad and don’t even realize they are working on math because they are having so much fun with the I-Pad and the math games.
ISTE- T Standard:
4A. I believe that “applying technology in assessing student learning of subject matter using a variety of assessment techniques” best matches the article I read because both teachers use a variety of assessments to test student’s abilities in each subject. For example, in literacy and writing, Irene and Erin have students record themselves reading poems, their own journal entries, stories, etc. to test their reading skills as well as writing. They also have students play games to familiarize their phonemic awareness of sounds and words and to test their spelling abilities. They also use games for students to test their familiarity with sight words. For math, they have games that assess students in different categories of math, such as multiplication, story problems, fractions, etc. Using the I-Pad, Irene and Erin are able to use a variety of assessments to see where students are at in different subject areas or within different contexts of the same subject area (for example, they know their sight words but they cant pronounce them correctly). It is very important to provide a wide range of assessments to test our students knowledge. Some tools and methods may work best for one student but not another. By providing a variety of tools and assessments, we can help each student as best we can by providing them with the right tools to enhance their learning. The I-Pad definitely is a great technology resource that can benefit a wide range of students!
5D. While browsing the ISTE-T standards, there were a few that did not match the article. The one that stuck out the most to me was “using technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning.” Both Irene and Erin talk all about how important it is to incorporate different styles of learning and teaching into their curriculum and ways they do such. However, they do not mention how they express their ideas and ways of teaching onto the parents. One thing that I have always learned when it comes to being an effective teacher, is to make parents aware of what is being taught in class, ways to teach the students effectively, and how parents can use some of the tools and methods the teacher uses at school, for them to use at home with their children. Not only that, but some parents may not agree with all the different technology tools teachers are using in the classroom. I think it would be very beneficial if Irene and Erin either sent out newsletters each week of the technology they use during class lessons or to create a blog for parents to see what their children are doing during class each day. I think Erin and Irene are doing a great job using different sources to enhance learning but it is very important for them to share their ideas.
Here is the website for the article if you would like to read more about it!