I was able to speak with two ELA teachers in my building about their use of technology and the difficulties they face when trying to incorporate technology into their classroom.
I began by asking them what forms of technology they currently use.
They responded by stating that they really don't use that much currently. One website that they personally use is Reading A to Z. From my understanding, this is a website where they are able to print different material for the students. The website states, "Reading A-Z offers thousands of printable teacher materials to teach leveled reading, phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, reading fluency, alphabet, and vocabulary. The teaching resources include professionally developed downloadable leveled books, lesson plans, worksheets, and reading assessments".
I then asked them what difficulties they have with incorporating new technologies.
Their biggest concern was the time factor. They see their students for a short time each day and were unsure how it would fit into their schedule. They expressed a desire to incorporate smartboards into their classroom. All of the general education classrooms in our school have smartboards, however their rooms do not. They also do not have the knowledge of the different technology tools that are out there. They have been teaching for many years and are not up to date on what is available to them. They went on to say that they wish they had more professional development opportunities so that they could learn how to use different software. They were willing to try new things if they have access to them.
Well said, Tom! "After looking at the ELA standards, I have a better understanding of their purpose. Many of the standards correlate to different subject areas..." I like how you can relate what you've learned to your field. I also like the iPad apps you shared here. I wish we have F2F time to demo these apps. :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with much that you see and I try to make well rounded students as well. It must be very difficult to add ELA into material as a physical Education teacher! Students usually look forward to the whole workout side of gym. I couldn’t imagine including writing into this field. I know A gym teacher that included an assignment where students write down everything they eat each day for a week and compare it to how they should eat. Thought it was a cool way to include some reading and writing.
ReplyDelete