Technology in the Classroom

We definitely live in a day and age when technology is prominent in the lives of everyone, even our children. My students, who are in 6th grade, spend hours everyday using technology. Most of my students communicate with their friends mostly through text messages and they all have computers at their homes. It was about two years ago when I realized that if I was effectively going to engage
my students, I needed to increase the amount of technology I used in my classroom. One of the “projects” I adopted was that of a classroom blog. I created a blog on our classroom website and assigned my students weekly homework that needed to be posted to the blog. Usually the assignment includes reading an article and posting a response or summary. I was expecting my students to love the weekly blog assignment, but to be honest, most of them hate it. I think they dislike it because it isn’t something that can be done quickly; it requires critical thinking and it’s difficult for students who struggle with writing. The parents of my students usually love the blog assignment because they are able to access their child’s writing and see the writing that other students have posted. I have tried to increase student effort on the blogs by choosing some of the best blogs each week and posting them in the classroom (I make a conscious effort to make sure that different students are chosen each week). I also try to add some degree of choice to the assignments by sometimes allowing the students to choose what article they’d like to read or what topic they’d like to write about.
I am torn about how I feel about the blogs. On one hand, they’re effective and I see how the students’ writing improves throughout the year. I am able to give the students quick feedback about their writing and the blogs ensure that the students practice writing on all different topics. Overall, it is a great teaching tool. My reservations about the blogs come from the fact that technology isn’t foolproof. Often students will post to the blog, but it won’t end up showing up on the website. Sometimes the blog won’t work on a child’s home computer and I’ll have to make arrangements for the assignment to be completed at school. Another thing that bothers me about the blogs (which I hate to admit) is that they take me forever to grade. I always have to spend an hour or two on the weekend grading them and providing feedback. Sometimes I wonder if all the work is really worth it.
I am pretty certain that I am going to continue to use blogs in my classroom next year, but I am hoping to try to make some adaptations that might reduce my frustrations. This summer, I also learned how to use GoogleDocs. I think that my students might have a great time working on GoogleDocs and it would be a great way to incorporate both technology and cooperative learning. The way I figure it, technology isn’t going anywhere, and so I better keep learning new ways to utilize it in the classroom so that I can stay one step ahead of my students.

Fairness

Social bonding plays a very important role in motivating students because it increases students’ sense of membership and belonging. While discussing the importance of social bonding, Alderman (2008) mentions how essential it is that students believe that they are being treated fairly in comparison to their peers; children of all ages are aware of subtle inequalities and discrimination, both of which have a negative influence on an individuals sense of membership. Alderman asks, “To all students have equal access to resources and the best teachers?” (208).
When I read that question, it stopped me in my tracks. I think most of us who are involved in the American education system would answer a resounding “no” to this question. There are inequalities all throughout the education system, most of which related to socio-economic status. There are several reasons why lower-SES schools are typically underperforming. These schools often lack supplies and basic necessities, they have a difficult time recruiting high performing teachers, and when much of the school population is struggling to survive, school takes a lower priority. These reason were obvious to me, but it had never been quite so clear to me that the lack of fairness in lower-SES might play a significant role in the difficulties that these schools face. All you have to do is take a look at a school in an urban area of Denver and compare it to a school ten minutes away in the Cherry Creek School District and you will quickly realize that we are swimming in inequality. Kids are smart and they know when they are being denied a fair chance at resources. It is hard to develop a sense of membership within a school if students are feeling devalued in comparison to their peers who attend the school ten minutes away.
I certainly don’t want anyone reading this to think that I don’t believe low-SES schools can be successful because I know there are examples out there of excellent schools that have defied the odds. What are these schools doing right and how do we spread it throughout the nation?
Why does this inequality exist within our school system? Is it how we fund schools? Is it our class-driven society? Is it discrimination at work? More importantly, how do we begin to bring equality to our schools? How do we solve this devastating problem?
I definitely have more questions than answers this time

Motivation to Teach

Motivation to Teach

I watched Dangerous Minds last night and was immediately flooded with memories of being of naïve and carefree child. I was in 6th grade when I first watched Dangerous Minds and after watching the movie, I decided I wanted to be Michelle Pfeiffer when I grew up. No, I didn’t want to be Michelle Pfeiffer the actress, I wanted to be Ms. Johnson the teacher. I was filled with ideas of being an inspiring teacher that changed childrens' lives. I wanted to face the challenge of teaching and come out on top. I wanted to be the teacher that connected to all of her students and was passionate about teaching.
When I told my parents that I wanted to be a teacher, they supported the idea. I mean, I guess they supported it the way any parent can support a pre-teen girl; after all, almost every 12-year-old girl wants to be a teacher, vet or nurse. Years later, when I was in college and headed toward the profession of teaching, my dad spoke his truth. He told me, “Liz, you’re so smart, don’t you want to be something better than a teacher?” Ugh! After I got over being angry, I became even more motivated to teach. I would prove him wrong; I would become Ms. Johnson from Dangerous Minds and I would be so satisfied with my job that I’d make him eat his words.
My teacher prep program gave me a minor dose of reality, but I was still motivated and enthusiastic. I was ready to change lives on a daily basis and give teaching 100%.
Here I am, five years later, wondering where the Michelle Pfeiffer in me went. I am tired. I am underappreciated. I work my ass off, but I am no miracle maker. So what do I do? If this class has taught me anything about motivation, it’s that I need to figure out what I really want and start setting some goals.
So here is what I have come to. I am a 6th grade, general ed teacher, but I really like teaching math. I am tired of planning for every single subject. I am tired of feeling like I only have time to make “okay” lesson plans for every subject; I want to be able to make excellent plans in one subject. I think I want to teach older kids. I am going to work on getting an added endorsement in math. I need to pass the Praxis and I need to get more college units in math. I went to the library today and checked out some algebra and geometry books- step one. I know that teaching is the right profession for me, I just have haven’t found the right niche. I need to start making those baby steps toward my bigger goals if I am every going to be happy and get a little of my Michelle Pfieffer back. Here I go!