Effective Learning Environment

Hello everyone. This is Carol Greenwood and as much as I am looking forward to this class I am also nervous about trying to comprehend certain types of technology that have not been a part of my daily life. However, I really want to learn as much as possible so that I can teach my students with confidence and without fear. Just recently I received a Smart Board and as soon as I have training on it I will begin the process of incorporating it as much as possible into the classroom. As of now, my students have access to a mobile lab, which accommodates 4 classrooms. The laptops are used for a variety of uses from research, interactive lessons for keyboarding, math fact practice, talking books, math and reading comprehension sites, garage band, iPhoto, imovie, PowerPoint and even using Adobe InDesign for our yearbook. As a district we are required to begin teaching keyboarding. The interactive site, All The Right Type, teaches students how to navigate the keyboard appropriately and gathers data every time they log in and do their work. Fastt Math is another interactive program that my students use on a daily basis to practice their math facts. There are different levels they need to reach using games of various skill levels until they have mastered a specific level and can then move on. Study Island is an online provider of standards-based assessments with instructional tools for the teacher and practice tools for the student. The students move through reading passages and answer comprehension questions using strategies taught through online tutorials. Study Island is a fantastic tool we use weekly to work with students whole group, small group, and independently. PowerPoint is another awesome tool for presentations and fairly easy for students to navigate, especially since most students are not afraid of technology. Students in my classroom have been exposed to listening and viewing a PowerPoint as well as creating their own for oral speaking projects. Finally, I am in charge of our yearbook club which many of my sixth graders are a part of. InDesign allows students to create captions, place photos in boxes, use spatial awareness to fit specific information and photos, and navigate a design program. In addition to learning InDesign, they also had to learn how to use iPhoto to edit and crop photos they had taken. The effectiveness of each one of these technological tools in the classroom are crucial to the overall learning and cognitive growth of my students as well as engaging them as learners. They are able to prepare for a future with ever changing technology as well as use different approaches to comprehension strategies.