Powerless Teacher

Irene...it has come and gone...leaving many without power...this got me thinking...

Can you teach without power?

In this day and age of technology, do you know how to teach with out it? As I have stated before, my school is on the slower side of implementing technology. However, the success we have with our students is solid. We could begin tomorrow with no power, and our students would be given the same learning environment as if the lights were on.

How to address skills and keep kids involved.

Think if you had to go into your class room to address skills and/or curriculum, could you do it seamlessly without the use of technology? I think technology is fabulous, I always adopt the latest and greatest. However, in my classroom, I am much more disconnected. I use flashcards, hands on manipulatives, games, and books. Last year the device I used most was a document camera and a projector. My students were still involved with interactive learning by file folder games, flashcard sorting, word sorts courtesy of Words Their Way, and writing on their desks with dry erase markers. My students love to throw a squishy brain in a box after reading a word, or throw a sticky ball at a target on the board after solving a math problem...they are engaged and attentive with these activities. Two years ago my literature class loved building a log cabin out of popsicle sticks and clay for a Sign of the Beaver project. I had one student even bring in Lego figures to add in. For fluency, teachers have kids read using "phones" made from pvc piping to hear themselves and our older students make great book report projects using poster board that astound me with creativity. No technology needed.

How much is too much?

Technology provides us with many great avenues to address learning. However, can we become too reliant and forget what teaching can be without it. If you had to go into your classroom tomorrow with no power, could you teach your class with the same finesse and success?

I will be training teachers on developing Smartboard lessons this year...but I will caution them to realize that they are still awesome teachers without it and that the kids are not learning or engaged any less with out it.

Blogging

I have been developing tasks that I want to complete with the students in our school for the upcoming year. I not only teach regular classes, but teach technology. We are a unique school, and we are slow to accept technology. This is due to the fact of determining how technology can remediate versus compensate. We are focused on teaching skills, so look for tools to remediate.

However, I am looking for the current tools to use with our students. It's a fine line. Having taking up blogging myself, I am interested in introducing it to our upper school students with the help of the writing department head, with anonymity. Giving them a voice, but not compromising their identity on the internet. Love the posts I have discovered on the best ways to do this.

I teach in the lower school for my regular classes, and was trying to figure how I could incorporate this with my writing class this year, without having computers available on a regular basis. I found a wonderful blog about using paper blogs with students as an introduction to blogging. I am so excited to try this with my class this year. It gives an authentic purpose to their writing, and it also incorporates some creativity.

I am dedicating my main bulletin board to writing, namely blogs. Each student will design a background, (pics to come later) and then as they finalize a piece or complete a journal topic, it will be posted on their blog.

I thought of renaming them to plogs (paper logs), however this does not keep the tie over I was looking for. Then I realized, they would be bulletin board logs, so the word blog still fits.

I look forward to posting the fruits of their labor when school starts next week. Incorporating technology is all about adapting to the needs of the student. I look forward to seeing how I can adapt this great tool with an array of ages and abilities.

What kind of learner are you?

After taking a bit of a break from technology since summer school finished, I find myself today back exploring Google Apps in Education. (Who thinks teachers really take the summer off?!) I have been going through their online training, but as I read each of the steps, I found I was not really processing all the details. I needed to sign up and actually start manipulating the apps while reading the information. I had to read then try, read then try...and walk away...then try again. Yes, I am a visual and kinesthetic learner. After spending periods of time, I am finally beginning to understand these Apps.

This made me think about my students who have learning disabilities and how some get so easily lost in the traditional setting. It is not shocking to find that many students with learning disabilities can do okay up through the 2nd or 3rd grade. Early grades tend to focus on teaching skills more than curriculum. There is more multi-modal education worked on at these levels. However, it is when the focus switches to mainly curriculum that many falter. Students with learning disabilities need more direction and hands on time working skills than a traditional learner. They need steps micro-united and practiced for a greater period of time, as well as presented in many different ways. Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences are key here. I remember reading that a student with learning disabilities need to hear and see information a significantly greater amount of times in order to learn it. Unfortunately, there is no magic number and in a traditional setting, not always the time and leeway to do this.

Our education system is also moving to push curricular skills at younger and younger ages. In Connecticut, the CMT is a key factor in how education has changed. Take a student with learning disabilities who needs those several years of skill building, but now require them to learn curriculum when they are not ready, and it is an unfortunate outcome.

I see how things can be different on a daily basis. I have worked in public schools, but now work at an independent school for students with learning disabilities and our focus is skills. We take the time on a daily basis in every subject, at recess, in the lunch room, and even during sports and activities to build those skills. They do hear, see, and do a great number of times to foster the potential they have as learners. There is no defined timeline in which we do this, as each learner is different. However, they do find themselves and the skills that have been locked up. They are learners, but we try all the bags of tricks and then find some more...we try and walk away, then try again....until they find the success within them. It is an ideal setting for these learners, and I am reminded to day after spending about a month off and on with Google Apps, that it does come with patience, understanding, time and creativity.