Pedagogy
When I was in school, there were plenty of times that I was doing work on those old, purple mimeographed papers. Overhead projectors were becoming common by the time I was in Junior High (we didn't have "Middle School" yet...we were still in the 3 yr. Jr. High/3 yr. High School system). In 9th grade, my math teacher brought a TRS-80 into his classroom and the software for it was contained on a cassette tape. The X-Wing fighter on a Star Wars game was just that: a capital "X". Whoooooo....graphics! Movies were shown by projector and grades were kept by hand in gradebooks. By the time I was in high school, everybody had a calculator and there were rumors about graphing calculators on the horizon.I've had some questions about what one does with a smart classroom aside from showing Episode III and so I continue to postpone the Prodigal Son series for a bit. The truth is, we are all still learning what to do with the technology we have. And the more we talk about it, the more ideas come, and the more excited all of us education-types get.
Today, my Algebra class listened to Mozart while they worked on their warm up problems. Yesterday, my Calculus class listened to Green Day but that falls into the "showing Episode III" category of extra-curricularness. Classical music, especially baroque, is a great tool in aiding the thinking process. Also, it calms the little buggers down.
I imported some graph paper into a very cool program called Microsoft One Note. This allowed me to write down the warm up problems ahead of time, and graph them on the screen for the students. No more overheads with their annoying high-pitched fan. No more inky fingers at the end of the day. This looks better and has the HUGE advantage of being interesting to the kids. They glom onto technology and even pay attention when it's being used to make them learn. Another bonus is how easy it is to save documents on a computer. I can save something, write all over it in One Note, and then revert to the saved form for the next period. And One Note can import anything...a PDF file, a screen shot, an HTML (internet) document...anything. Oh and how about this? With wireless capability, I can put my PC tablet on a kid's desk and have her work from there.
What about the rest of it? There are lots of math videos, practice tests, etc. available on VHS. More will come on DVD. For now, I'm going to use it to show short clips of things (funny things, math-related things) as an intro or a break in the 95-minute period. For instance, one of the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes of The Simpsons involved Homer walking around on a 3D math grid. It even showed the x-, y-, and z- axes. Pretty cool and a great way of introducing three dimensional graphing.
There's more. I'm still learning and most of you are bored. But the key, for now, is that the students are so into it. Interacting with technology really engages their little brains and will pay huge dividends in the long run.
Plus, y'know, it's cool.
posted by Thurman8er @ 10:58 AM
5 Comments:
It's great to "see" your excitement about the uses of technology (at whatever point in history!). I was talking with people today about how to teach language (help teach English to asylum seekers from all sorts of countries). Technology in this sense includes pictures and simple games, but its still the same - keep the material real. Thanks for your enthousiasm!
(eyzwoxu) - exclamation while playing with that x-wing fighter
You had me at math videos!
You've touched on the reason why I believe the use of technology is appropriate in my field as well.
zzzzz. Uh. Oh... Great post! I'm going out there right now for that math refresher course.
I think a good joke told in a dry way is the best way to keep their attention. And preparing it is great fun.
When I was subbing, I did a lesson on plate tectonics using a laser disk and bar codes to scan in the teacher planning guide, which showed clips that went along with the lesson. It was actually fun to do, and the fourth graders I had yet failed to impress commented that I knew a lot about this stuff. So, technology made me look smart. Heh.
O.K. Steve, yesterday you were leaking and today I’m salivating! It’s hard to type with all of this slobber on the keys.
And Brady, you’re killing me! How could he sleep through such an exciting post! Unfortunately I’m still in marked up fingers/overheads/noisy fan country! I do have a 27 inch monitor in my room that I use PowerPoint on but it’s not the same as your “smart room.”
I’m sorry, it’s hard to type with all of this moisture on my keys and my knees are starting to hurt as I bow down to the technology in your classroom.
Makes me all fbzifr inside.
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