Every hour of every day, we have technology at our fingertips. As I teach my students every year, technology surrounds us. Technology is anything around us that was created by humans to solve a problem. Many times when we think of technology we stop at iPads, iPhones, computers, radios, and devices. So while we're often gifted with much more "technology" than we could have ever dreamed, we need to remember that some of this technology needs us, as teachers, to provide guidance on when and how to use it in the classroom!
This year my students, and all 3rd, 6th, and 9th graders received Chromebooks as part of a technology roll-out for our district. As I am trying to become a better educator, collaborator, and employee I have had to wrap my head around
"What does incorporating student devices into daily instruction look like in 2015?"
I recently watched a TEDx Talk by Kayla Delzer and the topic was "Our World is Changing, Our Schools Need to Change With It." It was so inspiring to me as I am working this year to make sure that our students are leaders and I, as a teacher, am a learner.
With all of my students having Chromebooks, I am trying to find the gentle balance between too much and too little on the computers. We do have technology at our fingertips, but we still need a place in our classrooms to dive into some "old-fashioned" technology like pencils and lined papers! Kayla made a great comment in her talk - "if it's not exciting on paper and pencil, it won't be exciting on a computer or tablet!" I feel as though I've gotten so caught up in "I'll just recreate it on the Chromebook for students to complete" that I've lost sight of the fact that it's still just a worksheet...on the computer!
Students are learning to be Typing Masters, completing research, and taking tests/quizzes on their Chromebooks. However, I know there is so much more they could be doing. Now I am working to discover the endless possibilities for learning!
What are you doing to make learning exciting? What are you doing to make your students leaders? What are you doing to incorporate 21st century technology in your day-to-day instruction?
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