So education technology has always been around since the beginning of schooling in the U.S.,
we had paper, pencils, slates, but what has really changed over the last two decades has
been that we have moved from kind of a whole group instruction with technology where technology
was really supplementing what was already happening in the classroom and now what we're
seeing are classrooms where there is this idea of personalizing and individualizing
instruction through technology.
We also don't necessarily see the students doing the same things on their devices anymore.
Students could be using the same piece of software but doing very different things with
it based on their learning interest, based on their differentiated learning levels.
So we don't have to teach to the whole and wait for everybody to get to a certain place
before we move to the next place in the continuum of learning and this enables us to meet kids'
needs in ways that are where they're at.
So when they are ready to move they're able to move.
Even though the other three kindergarten teachers are considerably younger than I am, I am actually
the one who uses technology the most and is always looking for new ways to use technology
in the classroom and so they love it when I share ideas of things, oh I found this,
we can do this together in the class.
I don't start with technology, I don't start that technology is what I want to use so what
am I going to teach?
What I do is figure out what is it I want to teach and is there a way that technology
can make that a better experience?
So we have our one main classroom which is called our 21st Century Classroom.
When you first walk in you're going to notice whiteboard walls.
We call those the idea walls that you can actually write on just like a whiteboard.
Our tables are movable for different configurations but they also are whiteboard material on the
tables.
The other thing in the classroom we've found is that we're able to differentiate instruction
meaning that maybe a group that needs more time on a concept they work at one table,
but there may be another group that needs to accelerate and so the teacher has the ability
to display different things depending on what the students need.
So each one is a math problem.
A lot of kids process by talking.
Listening to other people think and how they think about problems and their modeling their
thinking is a powerful way to ignite learning in kids.
And so any time we can put them in a collaborate group where they're hearing other people process
in a structured way, my job then is how do I set up tasks and conversations so that my
kids can build the blocks for each other to get there.
Having spaces like that have pushed me to be better at moving away from the stage, moving
away from being the expert in the room, partnering up more with kids in that way.
(vehicle sound) What we have found is if you wait to give
teachers directions it slows the whole process down.
So making sure that the teachers know that they have permission to try things that they
know will meet the needs of their learners in the classroom I think is one of the things
that is a great asset here.
I have found that if you plant the initiative or plant the goals then the teachers find
ways to accomplish that.
They are the best teachers of each other for things that work well for students.
It used to be that as a teacher you'd walk into the classroom and you had a textbook
that you taught from and you taught the lesson and you tested the kids at the end and the
learning was very stagnant.
What we do now is we have the common core for a basis for what needs to be taught but
the teachers do a lot of pre-assessing, the teachers use a lot of technology to number
one, engage the kids, number two, get feedback constantly from the kids on their learning
and then number three, instead of taking a test at the end of the unit let's create a
project that shows me what you know.
It's a rather intimidating process I think for people to learn along with students so
I think we're pretty candid.
I'm learning with you, oh I made an error so don't do that, but we usually try and fuse
it into our lessons.
Modeling all the way, model, model, model.
Yeah, to make it seem very natural for us.
So this is how you use it, this is the mistake that you can make with it and then the we
do, we all go and do it together and then of course the you do, you go and do it on
your own.
And I think that's important that they see us make those mistakes because sometimes with
tech it can seem not super user friendly with certain systems.
And so it's like, well we just saw Miss Berry mess up and she figured out eventually and
so that struggle is good sometimes.
So being able to push beyond the struggle with using those tools is important.
So the National Education Technology Plan has a new focus for teachers which is really
wanting and recognizing that for teachers to use technology effectively they need a
lot of professional development.
Many of our teachers did not grow up using technologies, they did not grow up seeing
teachers using technologies effectively, some of them were not even trained when they went
through their teacher preparation programs because it was long enough ago that they didn't
have those opportunities.
We constantly talk about differentiated learning and how you can't teach to the whole anymore,
it's just, it's not fair to students.
You have to meet students where they are and for teachers that becomes a very difficult
job because now I'm not teaching to one entire group, I have 25 individuals who need different
kinds of things each and every day.
And so technology, especially one-to-one technology, can differentiate that learning for the student.