Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Carrying Out My GAME Plan
As I continue to play with my SMART board and attempt to improve my skills and techniques I realize that I have it mounted too low. When originally asked where I wanted the board, I wanted it to be low enough so that all students could reach the top. I did this with the mentality that I wanted the students to be interacting with the board. I now realize that the counter in front of the board blocks parts of the screen, depending on where a student sits in the class. I am going to have the board raised 12 inches so that it can be better seen. To accommodate for shorter students, I am going to steal an idea from one of the videos that we watched for class. I saw a grade school student standing on a stool to reach the top of a smart board. It is low tech, but should help improve the students' ability to utilize the technology that I have in my room. I have also been playing around with some websites that will allow students to dissect a fetal pig using the SMART board if they refuse to dissect the actual specimen that we have in class. I am torn though, because I worry that more students will refuse to dissect the actual pig because they would rather not get their hands dirty and just do it using the technology. I look at it kind of like refusing to go on a field trip and choosing to take a virtual field trip to the same place. The technology offers opportunities if the real experience is not accessible, but I still think that the students will benefit from doing the actual dissection more than doing it in a virtual setting. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
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I completely agree! Students should not use technology over true authentic learning experiences. You may be correct in thinking that students may view the SMARTBoard as an alternative method to the actual dissection. One method to help avoid this may be by using the SMARTBoard during the dissection process to walk the students through the steps. So when you take a step on the board, they will do that exact step as well. This may help solve some of your problem.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Mark I think you are right that if offered the opportunity some students will choose the technology over the read pig. I think Christina's idea is great to have you do it for demonstration while they follow along. Maybe you could have one group work on the smart board each day so that they all have a chance to lead the class but everyone also gets to do it hands-on. Do you have students who opt out of the exercise due to religious issues? You could have those students use the smart board as well.
ReplyDeleteI have students opt out for many reasons and sometimes it is religious. I try to get them to do it but never force them. The alternative that I give now is a packet where the students have to use diagrams and any other resources they can find in order to label and explain the function of the different parts of the pig.
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