“Don’t worry head. The computer will do all the thinking from now on.” –Homer Simpson
Students in sixth grade have never lived without the internet. They have always had televisions with remote controls. They have been surrounded by technology from a very young age, and that is what they are used to. Students LIKE technology. They learn best if a computer tells them it’s so.
I gave a lesson on graphs to a third grade class in September. Rather than explaining the different types of graphs to them, we went through a game about it on the SMART board. Every single student could tell me the names of the graphs afterwards, and describe them using the images from the game. Technology speaks to these students louder than my voice that is certain.
I attended a workshop on how to make a community on the LBPSB school board. It is an amazing and highly customizable resource that I intend to use to build a classroom community that is extendable to parents and guardians. It can offer students extra hints on homework, examples, and forums for discussion. Students can post images and write what they think about them, and others can respond. In a population that is already Facebook literate—yes, in third grade—this is a valuable tool to allow students to share and communicate about ideas related to but not necessarily integral to whatever is being taught in class.
Students adore the opportunity to write on the SMART board. It involves them in the lesson, gives them the opportunity to teach what they know to the class, and gives them access to a technology they don’t have at home!