Week 2 Assignment

Reflection on your understanding of ELA instruction.

I don’t think the ELA Standards are too far out of reach.  They are realistic and should be the norm for all students who want to succeed in life.  My understandings on ELA instruction means being able to read, write, and speak fluently.  We should be able to decode material we read, write constructively and critically, and speak properly to hold a conversation.  ELA is supposed to be instructed to get students college and career ready.  Reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language is going to be every teachers job whether you teach ELA, math, science, or social studies.  As a teacher we are to incorporate these components into our content area along with technological techniques.  This is all part of the new 21^st century learning classroom.  I like that the teacher has the flexibility to implement these into the classroom the best way they choose.  As long as the students are meeting the required targets, teachers are free to present their material as they choose.

Research one technology tool that can best assist each of the FIVE components mentioned in Learning Task#1.

One technology tool I best believe can assist the five components of ELA is the Sony Bloggie.  The Sony Bloggie is hand held video recorder that plugs into the USB port of any computer.  This tool allows students to listen and decode information presented in the motion picture.  Students can decode the language in the motion pictures.  It also allows students to create their own motion pictures.  Once you plug the bloggie into the computer, the possibilities are endless.  Students can record pages of books and share them with others to read.  This covers the reading learning task. 

Interview an ELA teacher to learn his/her challenge(s) in integrating technology.

After interviewing the ELA teacher on my team, I’ve learned the major challenge he faces when integrating technology into his classroom.  His biggest concern was not having enough time to learn the technology well enough to present it in the classroom.  This teacher is afraid the children won’t think the technology is “cool” enough like their own personal technological devices.  How can he make a student interested in something they feel is not “cool”.  Also, he feels his senior teacher status makes him out of the look when it comes to technology.  He is still using the overhead projector to present lessons to students.   With all our professional development going towards learning the new APPR rubric, teachers are not getting the proper training they need to convert their classroom into the new 21^st century learning centers.  The computers our building has for students to use are kept in a rolling cart that teachers must reserve 2 weeks in advance.  Most of the time the computers are not working and it takes too long for students to try to log in and get set up.  The 40 minute class periods are not long enough for technical support and setup.  At the end of the interview I tried explaining to him he should try to integrate one technology technique a month.  He can start small and work up to bigger things.