Technology in the Classroom

The use of technology is everywhere today. The classroom is no exception. Students and many teachers like to use technology to help reinforce topics. In the school district where I substitute, the district has been participating in the 21st Century initiative for quite a few years now.  There are smart boards in every classroom, 8-12th graders have a laptop computer that they can take home.  middle school students have use of a laptop in the school, 2-3rd graders also have use of laptops in their schools, and K-1st graders have use of iPads in schools!  Teachers take advantage of this in different ways. As a substitute, I have had to attempt to use these technologies in class!  It's not always done successfully!  Most commonly, students use their computers or iPads during morning work or some other specified time in the day.  They have certain games to play for math and reading.  Sometimes they can use their computers or iPads during indoor recess.  Then they can play other things on them. These devices have apps or bookmarked websites that the students use. Sometimes a computer isn't working properly, and I have to try to help.  Luckily, there are always more computers than students, so I often have them get a different computer to try.

On occasion, I have to make use of this technology.  All the classrooms have some type of Elmo projector to use.  The newer ones are the most user friendly.  One teacher left me instructions on how to use this to project worksheets or textbooks onto the smart board. I was so grateful for that! These instructions helped me in her classroom as well as others that had the newer Elmo projectors.  I'm still trying to figure out how to use the older Elmo projectors.  These must be connected to a school laptop before use.

Other teachers have been helpful in this area.  The carts containing the laptops and iPads are locked every day.  I have always been fortunate enough to have another teacher unlock the one I would need.  Teachers also have helped me to get an Elmo working.  Even with all this help, the technology still does not always work.  Recently, I was to show a video from the internet onto the smart board.  Another teacher set it up for me at lunch, but by the time I needed to show it, the computer had turned off and would not turn back on again!  So no video!  We just moved on with the next part of the lesson!  During another day, the internet wasn't reliable in the school that day!  The teacher I was subbing for had submitted lessons by email to another teacher, but we couldn't get them without the internet!  I came up with a list of things to do for the day based on newsletters, but after we started with this, the email came through.  The students were to work on their laptops for their computer special, but they were having trouble because of the internet issue.

This technology can be a helpful, useful, engaging tool, but sometimes, nothing beats a chalkboard and chalk!