Technology in the Classroom
I am not technologically-savvy, so my experiences with technology in the classroom are rather limited. Every morning we begin homeroom with a student-led broadcast called “Channel PAW;” my class watches this on an old television sitting on one of my round tables. Every now and then we watch a movie; however, I do not have a DVD or VCR attached to my ancient television, so I have to rely on my handy dandy resource teacher to set up the projector and her laptop. (I don’t know what I’d do if it were not for her!) I have recently made use of the overhead projector, and I have found it to be a tremendous help because it really keeps kids focused. Moreover, I sometimes allow students to research on the computer. The only problem with this is that there is a grand total of four computers in my classroom, and two of them are fickle and work only when they want to. I also have the honor of housing one of the printers for the top floor. As a result, many teachers and students print to my room. When the printer is working, this can be annoying since people are constantly in and out of my room. On the days that the printer does not work (which are more numerous than the days it works!) I have to resort to the math teacher’s room across the hallway to print out my own lessons and handouts.
Now, professionally, I use technology all the time. For some reason, I reject all of the handouts, tests, activities, etc. that accompany my textbook and opt instead to write my own tests and activities. I suppose I do this because it allows me more control over my curriculum and because I know my students better than the Prentice Hall textbook does. Thus I use my computer, printer, and USB stick on a daily basis.
