By Amy Bennett-Rosado, Kindergarten Teacher, Lexington Elementary
Thanks to technology, I as a teacher now have the power to fund and implement a technology-integrated classroom. I realized quickly big plans and no funds were a common aspect of teaching in public education. So here is a peek into part of a typical day in my kindergarten classroom that I partially funded and integrated with technology:
I arrive at school and turn on my laptop, projector, and interactive white board and document camera. I review my lesson plans using my online plan book, a resource I learned about through a teacher in Canada, via an online learning group. I print any pages that I need using a donated printer, from an online school-technology donation program. Class begins, and during reading, my students are divided into groups based upon the results of their assessments, administered through online software.
One group heads toward two computers to play web based reading games. The monitors and the mice for these computers were funded through an Adopt-A-Classroom donation. Another group huddles around a basket with electronic reading pens and e-books, which were also purchased with funds from my Adopt-A-Classroom donor.
While these students are engaged in stimulating reading, I read with a third group of students and record notes about their reading using a free online grade book. As Reading time ends, I use my tablet, connected to my interactive white board, to remotely play a children’s music video; this familiar song signals my students to transition to Math. The tablet I use was purchased at a local technology conference that I was able to attend for free because I signed up online to volunteer service time.
This is how my students and I progress through the day, integrated and interacting with technology thanks to Adopt-A-Classroom and other web based programs that gave me, a teacher, the power to fully fund a technology-integrated classroom.