What Are You Doing This Summer?

Summer break is fast approaching and like many teachers you’re probably thinking of upgrading your technology skills so that you can keep up with your students. The problem is that you have to give up part of your summer holiday so that you can sit in a classroom, stare at a computer screen, and learn something that you might or might not use next school year. Not your idea of summer vacation is it? Let’s face it, you have worked hard all year; you need to relax and enjoy your summer! But you want to improve your technology skills!

What to do?
If you’ve been following my blog, Classroom Technology Help, you’ll know that the best approach to learning how to use technology in the classroom is to learn one or two applications, practice them, and then teach your students how to use the applications. I’ve come up with a solution that I think that you’ll like! Imagine spending your summer vacation as you’d like – going to the beach, enjoying time with family and friends, picnic, etc. – and learning how to use technology as well. I’m creating a course – Ed Tech Basics- that will help you to feel comfortable with using technology in your classroom. Imagine having access to:

a video tutorial teaching you how to use a particular ed tech application similar to this video file

exercise files to help you to understand how to use the technology effectively

a sample lesson plan and ideas on how to use the application in your teaching practice

student handouts

ready made PowerPoint (or other applications) that you can use to teach your students how to use the technology.

Think of this course as the best Ed Tech PD that you’ll ever get, because you get to learn how to use educational technology at your leisure. Now, imagine getting a new lesson each month during the school year,by the end of the 2012/2013 school year you’ll have learned at least 10 different ed tech applications that you can use to enhance your students’ learning.

Coming Soon!
I’m putting on the finishing touches to Ed Tech Basics. The course will be starting up soon. Sign up to receive course updates. Don’t miss out on the best PD that you’ll ever participate in. All you have to do is fill in the form below and you’ll get the latest updates about the course delivered to your mailbox.

Have a great summer break!

Finding a Balance Between Technology and Teaching Style in Your Classroom

I think that one of the biggest challenges that teachers face, when it comes to using technology in their classrooms, is finding a balance between their own teaching style and the role that educational technology should play in their teaching practice.

Educational technology is a tool, which should be used to enhance learning. I’d argue that traditional teaching methods are also tools. Tools are most effective when they are used for the purpose that they were designed for and by people that know how to use them.

I will be the first to admit that I am not the handiest when it comes to using traditional tools like hammers, saws, and screw drivers. I like to tell people that I am mechanically inclined – I screw up everything. But if you give me a concept to teach, I can find ways to teach it using my toolbox of traditional teaching methods and ed tech tools.

How I Balance Teaching and Technology in My Classroom

I am a storyteller, that is how I teach. This approach lends itself well to the subjects that I teach – Social Studies and Religious Education. I feel as if I have to feed my students information (I know that’s’ old school’ and yes I’m from the old school), but on the other hand my stories do force them to think critically about the subject at hand. The other day, one of my students told me: ‘You know, Mr. G. you have an interesting way of teaching us. You tell us stories, we don’t think that we’re learning from them, yet we do.’ I have to tell you that I was taken aback by that compliment, because there are days when I wonder if I have gotten through to them.

I do struggle with finding a balance between my storytelling and using technology in my classroom. This is how I balance it out:

I’ll lecture (tell stories) about the topic at hand.
The students will often have exercises from their textbooks to answer. What a smart approach – I’m getting them to use ‘old school’ technology (books, paper and a writing instrument) to learn!
There might or might not be an assignment requiring the using of technology. Some examples of tech based assignments: participating in an electronic discussion forum, creating a digital story, using SmartArt to present a concept, videos, etc. Some examples of traditional assignments: finding articles in a newspaper, compare and contrast assignments, reading, etc.

The important thing to understand is that I don’t always use technology to help my students learn. I use the method that is best suited for the intended outcome.

I want you to understand that we all struggle trying to find a balance between our own teaching styles and using technology to help students learn. My advice to you is not to become a slave to technology. Don’t use it for the sake of using technology; use it to enhance learning.

I realize that some of you do not feel comfortable using technology in your teaching practice, that’s OK, because I’m here to help you. With that in mind, there are two things that I want you to do:

Subscribe to this blog. Simply enter your information in the subscription box in the upper right-hand corner of this blog and you will receive the latest from Classroom Technology Help.
Get on the waiting list for the Ed Tech Basics course that I am designing. It is designed for teachers just like you who want to feel comfortable using technology in the classroom. It will be starting soon; seats will be limited, so get on the waiting list now by clicking here.

What Can I Do With a Word Processor?

Most teachers think that word processing software, such as Microsoft Word, Open Office Writer, and Apple iWork are used strictly for creating documents. As I have mentioned in previous articles, word processors are more than glorified typewriters.

This article will provide you with some ideas of how to use word processing software in your teaching practice. I realize that my readers come from a number of teaching disciplines, with that in mind I am going to provide examples for the following core subjects: Social Studies, English Language Arts, Math, and Science. Typically teachers think that the sole function of word processors is for producing documents – term papers, homework, etc. – but there is so much more that you can do with these applications.

Social Studies

Use the table function (click on ‘insert’ in the toolbar to access it) to create tables that present specific data: compare and contrast tables, a T – chart, etc.
Use SmartArt to create cause and effect diagrams. Visuals are valuable in helping students understand relationships.
Use SmartArt to create timelines. More advanced students (and teachers) might want to add pictures to their timelines to make them more visually appealing.
Did you know that you can create postcards in MS Word? Imagine the possibilities: have students create postcards based on an historical event; students studying geography can have fun with this application. I will be covering this topic in my Ed Tech Basics course which will be coming soon. For those of you who can’t wait, simply type the word ‘postcard’ in the search function (the question mark in the upper right hand corner) of MS Word.

English Language Arts

Teach your students how to properly format a document. Back in the days of the chalkboard, the Language Arts teacher was often tasked to teach students how to properly format a document. Teaching students how to properly format their work using word processing software will provide them with valuable cross curricular skills.
Let students go wild with creating book covers for book reports and other assignments. You’ll be amazed at how creative they get, when they use the technology. I often ask my students to hand in their work electronically. Creating a book cover or title page with a word processor allows kids to submit their entire project to me at once. I hate it when students hand in poorly drawn title pages.
Have students create comic strips using Word (http://www.ehow.com/how_6111871_make-comic-book-microsoft-word.html)

Math & Science

Did you know that you can insert equations and symbols into a Word document (click on ‘insert’ in the toolbar to access it)?
Use SmartArt to show cause and effect relationships.
Insert pictures, charts, and tables into your document.
Use templates to create reports, projects, etc.
Format lab reports.

These are but a few examples of what you can do with word processing software in your classroom. Learn one or two of these applications and then teach your students to use these applications to create a project – you’ll be surprised at how something as common as word processing software can engage a student.

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Why Do Gremlins Live in Your Computer Lab?

Your students are excited, because you are taking them to computer lab. No sooner do they turn on their computers do you realize that this was a terrible idea, because a majority of the kids are having problems with their computers – the mouse doesn’t function, the keyboard is missing letters, they can’t access the internet, the computer won’t turn on, etc. If you were superstitious you would blame these problems on the computer gremlins that live in all computer labs, but you know that they’re nothing but figments of overactive imaginations. Rather; you have a plan B up your sleeve -the assignment is group work and each group needs a computer. Your quick thinking saved the lesson, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could alleviate a large majority of these problems? Most of these problems can be nipped in the bud with proper computer lab management.

Computer Lab Management

Plain and simple a computer lab is a classroom! Any teacher worth his or her salt will tell you that most problems in the classroom can be avoided through proper classroom management. The same holds true for a computer lab.

Ed Tech Helper’s Computer Lab Management Tips

Have specific rules for the computer lab. What can students do and not do in the lab? Make sure that your students clearly understand the consequences of their actions.
Students must understand that they are not the sole user of the computers in the lab. I have worked in schools where 350+ students have shared 30 computers in a lab. That’s approximately 12 students for each computer – that is a lot of wear and tear on those machines. It’s no wonder that there are so many problems with computers in computer labs. It never fails to amaze me that some students think that it is OK to do things to computers at school that they would never dream of doing to their computers at home.
Each class must have a seating plan for the computer lab. Seating plans have helped teachers to track down students who have readjusted computer settings or vandalized computers in the lab. Students will often think twice, before doing something malicious to a computer if they know that the teacher has a way of finding out who used a particular computer.
You are not a computer technician, you are a teacher and your job is not to attempt to fix any major problem! Let’s face it, most teachers have no idea how to fix computer glitches – just leave it to the computer expert.
All computer problems must be reported to the teacher in charge of the computer lab. Have a system in place where all problems are collected by one person. At my school, we email our vice-principal with the computer issues, she then passes these on to the technician assigned to our school.

These simple tips can make using a computer lab much more enjoyable.

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The Ugly Duckling

What is This?

Go ahead and take a wild guess. What do you think that picture represents? Give up? It’s a picture of a duck! I know what you’re thinking, ducks don’t have four feet. You’re absolutely right! My daughter pointed that out to me twenty plus years ago, when I drew that picture for her. Pretty bright for a two year old, wouldn’t you say?

You Don’t Have to be an Ed Tech Expert!!

Obviously, I am not an artist. I can’t draw, yet I ask my students to create posters and other art work for assignments. My point is that you don’t have to be an educational technology expert to let your students use technology. You have to have faith in your students’ technical abilities, no matter what your ed tech skill level is . You will often be surprised by what they produce (as I am when my students create art work).

I have said this before and I will continue to say this: you don’t have to know everything about technology to use it in your teaching practice. Learn one or two simple applications; your students will be amazed by your technical talents and they might actually learn something about technology that they never knew.

And remember you’ll amaze your students if you just learn one or two ed tech applications.