Technology in the Classroom - Blog Post 4

                Technology in the classroom is a tough subject. Our students are required to have a laptop every day for school, and with it come huge advantages and disadvantages. For one, if the students are losing interest, a great way of getting them engaged with a lesson is for me to ask them to find a video or example of the topic they are learning. This often gets students sharing and back on track in a quick five-minute activity. We also have a fairly comprehensive LMS. However, the students have learned to use the LMS too much as a crutch. Often, they will not study or complete assignments if they are not listed on their calendar. This has made for some particularly infuriating situations regarding assignments and assessments. Last year, when it was first implemented at our school the excuse “but it wasn’t on FinalSite” set me off pretty quickly. We have now developed an Upper School planner for the students to try to keep them more reliant on their own planning rather than checking online. Overall, the LMS is great. It allows us to edit papers, give and grade quizzes online, post documents and resources and has an integrated gradebook. From a teacher’s standpoint, it is great as a resource.

                The big disadvantage of the laptop is the obvious distraction that it provides the students. I find it incredibly frustrating when I am teaching at the front of the classroom and students’ eyes are glued to their screens. At the beginning of my third year of teaching, I was fed up with students playing games and managing their fantasy football teams during class. I made a new policy that notes would be hand-written unless the student had specific accommodations for computer use for writing. The students weren’t happy with my new policy, but the true pushback came from the parents. Despite my citing of journals about retention of written information over typed, the parents were very upset on Back to School night. They argued about “Why buy the laptop in the first place?” among other issues. The arguments soon moved to my department chair and principal and the policy was shut down. Once again I am back to the challenge of trying to get my students to pay attention to me at the front of the classroom rather than their screens.

                I can see the appeal of the technology in the classroom. It has distinct advantages in many ways. However, I would like to challenge myself and my students that they can learn just as well through interacting and experiencing things over learning it from a screen. Everyone today, including me, has too much screen time in their life, and I would like to figure out a way to get the students engaged without media.

                Blog post: Week 3- Technology/ No technology

                This week is my favorite week of the year at my school. It is the week of the 10^th grade trips. For 3 days, the entire tenth grade chooses to hike, bike, or canoe (or a combination of the three). For the past 2 years, I have co-lead the canoe trip, paddling 25-30 miles from Antietam Creek to Point-of-Rocks Park via the Potomac River. It is a great way for the students to be out of their comfort zone and to bond with each other and the faculty leading the trip. This is an interesting experience for us as faculty. There are some teachers that complain that it wastes valuable class time and does not contribute to students’ learning. Others, including me, argue that it is a unique experience that teaches the boys something that most would not be able to experience. Very few of the students have experience camping outside of car camping, if they have camped at all.

                What does this have to do with Technology? It doesn’t. That’s the point. It was three days of unplugging students and getting their hands dirty. Oftentimes students are so plugged in, they forget to look up. This canoe trip was a perfect way to get them to learn about themselves and each other. While we were on the river, students asked about geology, the history of the area, and why certain plants grew in certain places. They learned about the invasive and destructive Blue Catfish, and that they should try to fish for them as much as possible. They also learned that going without a shower for 3 days is not the end of the world.

                We have learned about DOK this week, and what better way for a student to bring context to something learned than to have the students find it in nature and ask questions about it. Or, if there is not a planned curriculum, find ways to take that experience and tie it back into the topics you cover after the trip. Sure, I am biased because I love the outdoors, especially when I can make students enthusiastic about being outside. But I believe this is one of the most important aspects of learning that a student can experience.

Week 2 Teaching Blog

Blog post: Week 2.

                This week was the first full week of school for our students, as well as parents’ night last night. Needless to say, I am pretty exhausted. This week I focused on activities that could “warm up” students to my expectations. For both my junior and senior classes, I began the week with an APA workshop. In class, students were to find a primary source on JSTOR, the school’s subscription-based primary source database, and write a 150 word summary about it in proper APA format. The assignment also had to include a title page, a running head, and a reference page. To simplify the assignment for the sake of time and for future use, I created a template for APA formatting on Word and assigned that they create a JSTOR account for homework before the workshop. Upon arrival to the class, I had the assignment on the overhead as well as the LMS. Students were able to quickly go to their assignments and begin after a brief explanation. The class went very smoothly and the students were thrilled that JSTOR has a “cite paper” feature where they can copy and paste the correct citation. It was a really successful class because the students went from looking at APA as a cumbersome task to something that is very manageable. During the assignment, I was able to sit down with students that were struggling with either their computers or the work and give them individual attention as needed. This also allowed me to take some notes at the end of the period on who would need a bit of support in some of the larger assignments that the class will do later this year.

Today we have also finished the first complete “cycle” of our schedule. This year is the first year that we are trying a two-week cycle for classes. We have also added an extra block to the schedule. This allows students that would like to take extra classes to have a free period throughout the week. The schedule thus far has been well received. However, there is one major drawback.  Some classes do not meet for up to 5 days, depending on the block and the week. For example, I might see a class on a Wednesday for week A, and then the next time I would see them in week B is Monday. To prevent students from forgetting everything they have learned from the last class, I have taken a page from my online classes at Stevenson. Students will have a small reading assignment and then either have an online quiz or a ~250 word response to a question. Amazingly, all 31 of my students turned in the assignment after the 5-day gap. I was thrilled. To assist students that may have trouble on these styles of assignments, I have allowed the two learning specialists to enroll in my LMS page so that they can see the assignments, and I have posted my free periods on the door of my room so that students can come by for extra help. The learning specialists and I have already helped a number of students.