iTouch now: the final decision

Yay for technology...

Eh...for our iTouch.

I really wished I could have found more or better uses for it in the classroom!  I did use it (when I was able to - no wi-fi for guests) for my literacy lesson, though.  I used dictionary.com and didn't need to have wi-fi.  However, I really wanted to use my iPad because it's bigger and easier to see.  I found that, having only one iTouch, it was more distracting for the students.  They thought it was cool that I had brought one in, and that I was using it for school (since they're so used to iPads, iPods, and iTouches as only forms of entertainment).  I don't know how many times a student asked me if I played Angry Birds on my iTouch!  I understand that it may not be likely that a school would issue iTouches for each student, but I wonder (still) if the students and teacher would find the technology to be old and useless...eventually.

We all wished that our iTouches were newer and had a camera/video feature.  Or 3G.  I found myself not really using it because of this reason.  With the students, the only app I used was dictionary.com.  I would have liked to allow students to use the educational math games I downloaded, but I felt it would have been too distracting to the other kids who wouldn't be able to use it at the same time.  Plus, I think my master teacher would have frowned upon my giving a "video game" to a student.

Though I was not able to use the iTouch as much as I would have liked, I think I could have easily used it to record students reading and play it back to them.  I think they would find it interesting to hear themselves read.  It might make them aware of how the sound when reading:  expressions, pauses, pronunciation, pace.  I see a lot of benefits for the iTouch; however, for the moment, I don't see it with this particular iTouch.  I think there are much more possibilities with a camera/video feature and 3G.  I am very glad that we were able to experiment with it.  It made other teachers wonder what we student teachers were learning in our tech classes.  It definitely needs more experimentation in the classroom, but I really do believe there is more benefits to having technology at the palm of your hands.

I guess, my biggest question as of now is:  how can the iTouch help the teacher during teaching, during lessons?  I see how it can supplement learning.  The students can use it for projects, as a dictionary, as a recorder.  But how might a teacher use one iTouch for a lesson?  Would it be used that often as part of a lesson?  Or would it pick up dust, just like the other dictionaries in the class?

iTouches for Differentiated Teaching

There obviously many uses for iTouches for differentiated teaching in the classroom.  Just take a at Google Earth and you'll be mesmerized for hours.  You'll never want to look at a globe or a regular old map again!  There are so many ways you are able to look at space, earth, water, and topography.  I would love to have iTouches in my classroom.  Especially the new ones that feature camera and video.  So many tools wrapped into one little iTouch!

But then I remember all classrooms (just about) that I pass by - dusty, sad, boxy, bulky macs.  No one ever turns them on or pays any attention to them.  They're hooked up.  They work just fine.  Why doesn't anyone ever touch them?  Truth be told, did I ever use my class iTouch more than once (which was mainly used for voice recording)?

The truth is, technology is changing every day.  I bought my iPad only a 8 months ago.  Now there is a 2nd generation iPad already!  I can't keep up!  And now it features camera on both sides!  Oh, so many things it can do!  Students are very aware of this, too.  They know how old those class computers are.  They're so old, they may not even know how to work it once logged on - or even worse, they get bored because this old computer doesn't hold a candle to their spiffy macbook at home.  Plus, can we get enough iTouches in the classroom so that every student may use it at the same time?

I do think that there should be uses for technology in the classroom.  We can skype with other classrooms across the nation, take a field trip to the national library, or make a glogster to present our science experiments.  Old or new, technology has a place in the classroom.  We just have to use them!  My district doesn't allow guest wi-fi, so I was unable to use my iTouch in the classroom, but there's no reason why other teachers shouldn't take advantage of technology and all its possibilities.  Students won't even care that the iTouches are older generations or that the computer isn't sleek and skinny.  If it works just fine, and they are used regularly, it will have a very positive impact in the classroom for student learning.

Math Identities

It was interesting to read from the article "Complex Identities" that some students think they need to be creative to be good at math and some students think they need to be obedient to be good at math.  It was also very interesting that when asked to place a classmate on a number line (from good at math to not good at math) it was comparatively different to where that actual student placed himself/herself.

I thought about my classroom, given this information.  Then I thought about the time my master teacher told me that I shouldn't spend so much time guiding a particular student.  "He gets it, he's just not a focused student most of the time.  You don't need to pay so much attention to him."  As soon as she said that to me, I had a hard time dealing with that.  How could I just let him go without aid?  I could see on his paper that he was not giving the right answer to the math problem.  I know she doesn't want me to lose time (she feels pressured in math to stick to a timeline) and to make sure that if I have the majority getting "it" then I have to keep moving on.  But after reading this article, I still maintain that I can't, in good conscience, leave a student behind like that.  What if, to her, he "gets it." But in reality, he is playing a really good act and fooling her?  It's something to think about...                             

GeoSketch

The geometry game we played in class was a worthwhile tool.  I was very fascinated with it!  So fascinated that I sometimes found myself placing more importance in finishing my puzzle rather than listening to the lecture!  Whoops!  I suppose that is good enough evidence that GeoSketch is a powerful tool.  If adults are so entranced with this tool/puzzle, I can imagine that students would be interested in these puzzles.

I really like the puzzles because you really do have to know shapes and the definition of those shapes.  For example, I did not remember what makes a rhombus a rhombus.  In consequence, the puzzle would not be right and I had to remove all of my shapes.  I had to start all over again because the rule of the rhombus would not allow me to get the right angle I needed to fill up the overall shape.  Hopefully though, as a teacher you are not giving a lesson while you allow the students to experiment with the GeoSketch.  Otherwise, the students may not pay attention to you while the work on their puzzles!

Math Playground

I was just wandering around the internet and came across this site, mathplayground.com.  I found it to be really helpful - a really good resource for math teachers.  If you have computers in your room (and you are one of those teachers that actually turns them on and let's students use the computers), this would be a nice tool to use for those students who finish early or if you have free time (in my class, the teacher implements a "Friday Free Time" reward in which the students get about a half hour or so to play leggos, draw, play make-believe with stuffed animals.  Being able to play math games would, in my mind, be more productive).  It has games for kids, manipulatives, math work sheets for teachers, and math videos.  I tried the manipulatives (thinking blocks) and it was really interesting.  There are side notes to help tutor the student (if help is necessary).  And it's okay to get the answer wrong!  In fact, it's a safe place to mess up because the "tutor" helps you to see your error.  It doesn't hurt your grade or embarrass you in front of other classmates during an actual lesson.

Math Lesson (Observation)

My lesson went really well!  I was a little bit surprised that it did because I was up all night worrying and fretting over how I might screw it all up.  The day before my master teacher suggested that I teach the lesson before my observed lesson, just so the kids get used to me teaching math with them.  That lesson didn't go well, so of course I was worried the observed lesson would flop as well.  I suppose the extra nerves was in my favor because I studied my lesson plan over and over again...until the wee hours.

However, when I gave my master teacher my proposed plan, she basically told me to change the lesson.  I had chosen not to go with the teacher's guidebook lesson and try a differentiated lesson (which is supplemented in that book) that involved a collaborative group project.  On one hand, I do understand the pressure she is undergoing with math.  I think she is a lesson or two behind schedule.  On the other hand, I was hoping an internship would allow me to try out different ways of teaching so that I may be able to find out what kind of a teacher I would like to be.  So far, I feel frustrated that I hardly ever get to try out new ways of teaching.  I understand that it is her classroom and that I am a guest in her classroom, but I also thought the understanding was that I would get a chance to "mess up" here and there and experiment, try out different teaching methods.

We are learning about all the great ways to get students to learn in a collaborative group setting in our courses, but I feel very frustrated that I never get to try these methods out in the field.  The students hardly ever get to do group projects or work together as teammates.  Maybe this'll have to be something I try out after I get my tenure.

Assessment to Instruction

 After getting to know two different buddies, I know have a third buddy to get to know all over again!  Though I have enjoyed these students, it is very difficult for me to gauge each new buddy's ability, strengths, and interests.  My new buddy, T, is an interesting kid.  Based on our first meeting, he is very soft-spoken and appears to read and write fairly well.  He has wonderful accuracy when reading, but does not retain a lot of information after the passage has been read.  After reading both stories (Amelia Earhart and Early Railroads), he read with amazing accuracy, but his level of comprehension put him in the frustration category.  A few things that caught my attention were his answers, word for word in the passages, when the questions related to technical or mechanical aspects of the story.  Since I am getting to know T, this gives me a jumping off point as to the sorts of stories he may be interested in reading or writing about in the future.


As a result of our findings, it would be logical to consider implementing a comprehension lesson as a shared reading lesson.  Because my first impression of him was shy and a little timid, I feel that shared reading would create a safe learning environment for him and the other students to to practice reading.  The teacher will model the behavior that a good reader would do while reading.  Tovani has many examples as to how she listens to her inside voice.  She also models how she asks questions, makes inferences, predictions, and opinions.  I also like how she promotes writing in the book (if allowed) to mark down these inside thoughts.  She also admits to daydreaming or easily becoming distracted for pages or two before realizing she hasn't been paying attention.  I think telling young readers that it is natural that things like that happen is important so that they don't feel like poor readers.  The lesson for T could be very simple as having the teacher model his/her thoughts while reading a short passage (maybe a paragraph).  While the students are following along, either on the doc-cam or reading from a class textbook, they can practice comprehension.  When the teacher vocalizes his/her thoughts, the students can easily observe how a good reader has a conversation with himself about what has just been read.  The teacher can place a sticky note on the page and write down any questions she had about the paragraph that may not have made sense or that more information is required to fully understand its message.  Then the students can practice this one strategy in their own independent reading time with sticky notes.  This would be a good start as an activity to build on reading comprehension.