Lincoln School Visit

We visited Lincoln Elementary School on Thursday, March 4th, 2010. My initial reaction to the school was very impressed. We were welcomed by the principal, whom helped us amongst her probably hectic schedule. I could tell that she enjoyed her job, which helped reassure myself on becoming a teacher :)

We first visited a 6th grade classroom, whom at the time was working on math. As we entered the room, the students were not startled, yet they welcomed us in which was nice. The teacher kept on teaching, and the students continued working. Within the classroom, there is a microphone/speaker setup. The principal informed us that the students have benefited greatly from this investment, and I can see why, as it is easy for the teacher to use, and helps auditory learners as well.

Each and every student in the school has a Gmail account, which could be very useful in many ways. Having a unified system like gmail, the technology teacher is able to manage and maintain order among 5oo students. These Gmail accounts are used for a number of reasons, and reasons that until I was informed by an actual teacher, I would not of believed. For example, elementary students are able to use their Gmail accounts to access GoogleDocs, which is an online collaborative website. Also with this account, students are able to use wikis and blogs which are also beneficial to learning.

I beleive that this would fit under the "Appropriations Stage." Meaning that the shift of technology use is being done by the students. Students have "rights" to their own email address/account, so they are liable for their actions. Giving students responsibility for their work, is beneficial to growth and development. There are always ways to enhance aspects of education, and I believe that by having accounts for students, they are able to collaborate with other students from other areas. So if a teacher wanted to set up some sort of "pen-pal" or similar idea with another school, the students can exchange via email and other software available. I liked how Lincoln had a gmail account for each student.

Another feature that I did not know about until my visit to Lincoln was "school tube." There are so many benefits of having YouTube and TeacherTube, but SchoolTube is a step further. According to my understanding the students are able to have broadcasts and present information to other students in the school. One idea that was expressed during our presentation was the fact that the PE teacher taped an activity that the students liked in particular. This is very useful because the classroom teacher can play this video whenever the students need some time to relax etc. I thought that was really neat.

I beleive that this application would fall under the second stage. If I understood it right, the students have little control over what is being done, however they still have input. In order to enhance this idea, a teacher could collaborate with another teacher, and possibly create "weather shows" about two different regions of the US. The students from the respective regions can put together a "weather channel" show and teach the students from the other region about the difference in weather. There are endless possibilities to do with SchoolTube.

Finally, the last thing I am going to talk about is the blogs that several teachers at Lincoln had set up. The principal stated that the Cedar Falls School District is in the process of unifying the blogs, and putting some regulations on them. I can agree with this idea, as sometimes there can be too many different styles, and the validity is lost. I believe that this also falls under the second stage, and the fact that it is teacher-directed and there is little work done by the student. However if used correctly, I believe that the student can have more power in the blog, and perhaps each student have their own blog where they can share their work and allow other students to comment.

Students learn best through social communication. In today's world, social communication can be through technology. I liked the idea that students are able to respond to others, but why not open it up more, and consolidate with "sister-schools" and open up the walls of your classroom to the open "flat" world.


-tylerh