The school tries to incorporate technology use in the classroom, but it is difficult because most of the students do not have computers at home. All teachers provide their students with their email address for communication purposes. Mrs. Tate has only had 3 students and 6 parents contact her this way. There are two computers in each classroom. One computer is for teacher use only and the other is for the students to work on accelerated reading and math programs. When asked about the computer lab at her school, Mrs. Tate wrote:
"The computer lab tech is just there to open the lab and help with computer issues in the school. She is not required to teach a class. It is up to the teacher. The classes go to the computer lab twice a week. (One time being reading, the other for math) Our school is a Title One school, and instructional time is carefully monitored. The teachers do not have the "freedom" to be able to participate in blogs and chat rooms because of the time constraints put on them from our principal/district. The students in the upper grades (3-5) might get some extra computer lab time for web based research if they have a project to complete."
The librarian at Providence is attempting to use blogs with the 4th and 5th graders. First, she has to teach the students about internet safety and then they will begin blogging. Since she is the librarian, the students will blog about anything they read. Their blog is located at
http://mustangreaders.21classes.com/.
There are no posts at this time. While in the library, the students will also be using Google Earth.
Mrs. Tate has used podcasts that she was shown at a workshop in her classroom. Because of the structure, that she mentioned above, being enforced at her school, she is not able to use that tool that often. When asked about using using technology to develop a lesson plan, she referred me to a site that she likes to use called Sites for Teachers.
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