Week 1

“Many teachers teach as they themselves were taught…(Frey, Fisher, and Gonzalez, pg. 5)”. After reading the Solution Tree book this quote was the statement that stuck out to me the most. I loved their section about the time traveler from 1895 feeling comfortable in today’s classroom. While maybe they did not give today’s classrooms enough credit- surely he would have been surprised by interactive white boards, digital cameras, and computers, I think there is some truth there. I think a lot of teachers have fallen into a cycle of modeling how they were taught and also teaching with the same style throughout their whole career no matter how long. Teachers need to be the ones to bring it upon themselves to get educated on technology and use it with their students. I also thought the section about focusing on the verbs instead of the nouns was well said. With technology constantly evolving, it is not possible for teachers to use every new tool in their classroom. They need to focus on their goals and pick the best tools to achieve them. When choosing tools they should evaluate their students’ needs as well as their own teaching preference.

After reading the first chapter of the Pearson book, I am excited to read the rest. Especially since I work with preschool students I strongly believe in using a social-constructivist style in the classroom. I loved how the first grade teacher paired her students with an older buddy so they got one-on-one instruction at the computer. I also liked how she mentioned her students being interested in their classmates writing after using the computer. I think it is so important for students to be actively involved in their learning. I want to alter my activities to incorporate student interests. I want them to explore, and use trial and error and problem solve. I think it is definitely possible to align these strategies with curriculum standards. It just might involve a little more work from the teacher. I found this article when looking into problem solving and young children. 

In this class I hope to learn new or better ways to use technology to teach literacy in the classroom. Literacy is huge with working with young students and I am always looking for ways to get them more interested and engaged. I think technology is an excellent way to accomplish this goal. I want to learn how to more effectively provide students with opportunities to be creative and motivated about what they are writing in the classroom.