When is it time to retire?

I haven't even started teaching yet, and already I am wondering about when I should retire! It's not that I am burned out or anything....

I went to my Mom and Dad's house because they finally got high-speed internet. I set up a gmail account for my Mom so she can start e-mail her lovely daughter, and we sat down so I could teacher her how to use it. I was SHOCKED to find out that my intelligent mother doesn't even know how to double click. I felt like I got punched in the gullet. When I asked her what was wrong with her (it wasn't quite worded that way), she said she has never had to use a computer. She taught for 37 years and said she knew it was time to retire when her 5 year old students knew more about computers than she did (like how to turn them on and off).

Students in my classroom know more about computers than I do, so is it time for me to retire?

Students' view of Technology

While in my ed tech placement, several of the students asked me why I was observing their classroom. I responded to them by saying that I was there to watch how they use technology in their class. Nearly every time I said this to the students, they would say something along the lines of "we NEVER use technology in our class." What? These are the kids who make podcasts and use digital cameras on a daily basis.

This made me wonder what students actually consider technology to be. When I asked them this, they mentioned gadgets like iPods, iPhones, and video games. We have seen some examples of how teachers can incorporate these devices into their lessons. What concerns me more is that it seems like teacher will never be able to keep up with kids and how quickly they use technology. What is going on when students don't even consider computers to be a special technological tool?

Tech. at my Internship

I am doing my field internship with the famous "Guy in a Tie." I have visited his classroom now on three separate occasions, and I must say that I am impressed. Not only is Jeff a great teacher (organized, enthusiastic, approachable), he truly engages his students by using technology.

Many of you may be aware of some of the tools he uses, but I will name the two that I have witnessed and am most impressed with. Podcasts. I have seen Jeff's students record podcasts on two occasions. The most notable is he had his 6th graders write papers about evolution as if it was a sporting event. For example, one student described the progression from single-celled organisms to humans as a soccer match, complete with fights and goals. The kids read these stories into a microphone, hooked up to a computer, and recorded their podcast in Garage Band. It was extra credit this time, but this kids really got into it.

The second cool use of technology that Jeff uses is that he has his students take quizzes on-line. Wait, didn't I do that in college? The students, at the tender age of 11, are responsible for getting on a computer, taking the quiz, and doing all of this before the website closes at an established time. I like this because it is something the kids will likely have to do in the future, and it teaches them to be responsible.

I am excited to see the other ways the students use technology in Jeff's classroom!

Cell Phones Save the Day!!!

I am pretty critical of cell phones and how they are used. There is nothing that infuriates me more than hearing a phone ring in class or listening to people talk on their phone in the bathroom. Furthermore, I usually do not find cell phones to be appropriate in schools, but I have had to warm up to their presence as my placement school has pretty lax rules on cell phone use.
I can't stand it when I see students text messaging in class, taking pictures instead of doing work, or leaving the room to make a phone call. However, today in class, cell phones saved my lesson. I had to teach a lesson where students had to do simple calculations that required the use of calculators, but no one had calculators. I had that panic moment where I thought - oh holy s--t, what am I going to do? A student must have noticed my panic stricken face because he said "why don't we use our cell phones? They have calculators." Brilliant. Most of the kids, or at least one in every pair, had cell phone and were able to make the calculations. Maybe cell phones aren't so bad after all?!

Block Scheduling and Technology

I have been in my student teaching placement for about 6 weeks now, and my mentor teacher includes the use of technology in nearly every lesson. We are always using laptops and going to the computer lab to work on projects and reports. As many of you know, getting 30 Ninth graders to move to the computer lab, turn on the computer, and then actually get to work can take up to half of a 50 minute class period. However, my placement school has block scheduling, and I have observed that this structure facilitates the use of technology.

Our block schedule allots 90 minutes for each class, which can be a lot of instruction time (especially in English and History classes), but I think this amount of time enables students to sit down with technology and really take the time to get involved. It promotes using technology such as blogs and podcasts because the students have the time to familiarize themselves with what they are working on and to ask the teacher questions in class.

This is not to say that using technology only works in blocks schedules, but it does seem to be more efficient for the teacher and students.

Calculator Scare

I heard a story on NPR today about how Texas Instruments invented the electronic calculator 40 years ago. I looked at my husband and asked "how did my parents do math when they were in their twenties?" I imagined my mom sitting in a mustard colored room trying to use an abacus to solve division problems. I could not believe that the calculator is so new! I would never be able to maneuver my way through my math or physics homework without my graphing calculator. Were my parents not subjected to math problems of the same caliber? This may sound naive, but I really never thought about life without a calculator. I remember life without computers, but a calculator seemed so basic.

This shock made me think of how dependent we become on technology, which is something we read about in Neal Postman's work and something we often debate in the MAC program. Is technology a crutch or a catalyst? I noticed today how heavily I rely on auto-spell check when typing papers, and I became afraid that I do not know how to spell anything correctly on my own. What is going to happen to me when I cannot write words correctly on the blackboard when I am a teacher? Can smart boards fix this problem?

Technology has so many great benefits. During the NPR story today, the inventor of the calculator was asked whether he thought that people were dependent on calculators. He said something along the lines of "cars replace the need for walking, but people can go so much father." I guess that could be true of calculators. All I know is that when it came time to figure out how much rent I owe this month, I resisted the urge to get out the calculator and added the numbers up by hand....

Cell Phone Etiquette?

I was out at a restaurant with a few friends the other day, having nice conversation and unwinding after a long week. It is great to have that experience, but the entire time I was there I kept feeling that the people I was with were waiting for something else to happen. The reason: Everyone kept checking their cell phone to see if they got a new text message or call.

I am guilty of checking my phone every now and then, but I think it becomes a problem when it is continually done in a social setting or in class. After noticing this, I started wondering if we should teach cell phone etiquette in schools. Then I started thinking about expanding it to cell phone and computer etiquette as well. Kids are bombarded with this new technology that many of their parents do not understand, and as a result, they are not taught when and how to use it properly.

Is it really the schools job to teach students about manners, or is that the parents job? I know that I will not tolerate the use of cell phones or i-pods in my class unless we are doing an activity that requires them. If we encourage our students to say please and thank you, maybe we should teach them manners regarding technology.