Field Work Reflection

These last two weeks I have spent a lot of time in the classroom for my fieldwork. I have completed most of it but still have my technology interview. In my fieldwork thus far though I have been able to technology used in the classroom, or the lack thereof.

These last two weeks I spent time in a high school and in a junior high. I really enjoyed my experiences teaching and observing in these settings. Everyone hears those horror stories about teaching in junior highs but I loved it. Maybe it was this particular class, but the kids were great. They were well behaved and really sweet and fun. I noticed this class had a cart that had a projector on it and other cables that I believed would be used for powerpoint presentations and such. When I went to teach this class I asked the teacher before hand if I could use the projector for a powerpoint I wanted to create. The teacher said I could but that it was kind of a pain to set it up. I felt that the teacher did not want me to use it, so I told it that it would be OK. Due to the teachers response I gathered that that element of technology was not used in this class much. I felt it was a shame to not use the great resources available.

In the high school I went to I observed a teacher who had created a really great powepoint that involved the students and had many objectives, graphic organizers, and questions. I was happy to see this teacher use the technology and resources available to her. The students seemed more engaged in this classroom and seemed to like this method of teaching.

From my observations and teaching in these two classroom I was able to see how one teacher used technology in the classroom and how the other felt it was somewhat of a pain to try to incorporate technology in the curriculum. I really enjoyed these experiences and learned a lot. I saw firsthand how technology helps students be engaged in learning. My observation and first hand teaching experiences got me more excited to conduct my technology interview in the coming weeks.