The person that I chose to interview is a grade 7-11 teacher in my school. He is in his fifth year of teaching and he has taught in various schools all around Newfoundland and Labrador. He has his intermediate\/secondary education degree, majoring in math and science. He is currently teaching multi-grade science, and math. While there are only 22 students from grades 7-11 (no grade 12s this year), he often has 3 grades in one class, and the ability levels are very different. He is the only math\/science teacher in junior high\/high school. He has quite a challenge on his hands this year.<\/p>\n
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| \u201cI try to use it as much as I can, but I haven\u2019t fully figured out how to use it to its fullest potential in my math class yet. In science classes I use it all the time\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYes we\u2019ll use calculators, but I\u2019d like to be able to take advantage of some of the latest technologies\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn science I use Google classroom, the SmartBoard, and iPads all the time. We use them for research mostly. I like using iPads for research because the students lead their own learning. Once they got the hang of what I was asking from them, they took charge\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/td>\n In our school, with limited resources, reality is that there won\u2019t be as many opportunities as there would be in other places, however this teacher is using technology as creatively as possible. Allowing students to guide there own learning shifts the role of the student in his classroom.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cTechnology also evens the playing field for a lot of my students. In science, I teach grades 7, 8, and 9 together, and there is a big jump between some of the grade 7s and 9s. When we can use technology, it gives some of the weaker students the ability to be on the same level as the older students \u2013 especially those that have learning disorders in reading and writing. Since an iPad can read them the information, or they can speak and it will type for them, we don\u2019t have to worry so much about those students\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAs for cons, you always have to be careful when letting junior high and high school students do research. Most are mature enough and on task enough that I don\u2019t have to worry about them, but some waste time, looking up unrelated things, and finding games to play. It can become quite a distraction too. I\u2019m always reminding them to stay on task because before you know it, class will be over and they\u2019ll have nothing done\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYounger students always have to be guided to find reliable information as well. Not everything you look up is correct so there\u2019s always that barrier.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n The interviewee also brought up the fact that it is helping his students with learning challenges. In a multigrade class it is already challenging to reach every student, but when they also have learning disorders it can be even more of a challenge. With technology students are able to succeed without constant assistance from the teacher. It allows them to continue growing without their learning challenges holding them back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The interviewee raises an important fact, which I think many teachers would express, in that technology can sometimes be a distraction if students are not using it correctly or abusing the privilege of using it. Having regular conversations about being a good digital citizen can be helpful. With some teens, it may always be a challenge, but majority of the students should remain on task. He also spoke about younger students (Gr.7 in his context). Technology is now being introduced to students likely before they even reach school, so as students move through the grades, with more and more technology use, they shouldn\u2019t have many issues by grade 7.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAgain, I still need work on using technology in my math classes but I think that will come with time\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/td>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA lot of PD days will not be specific to using technology… There will just be a small portion of the day where they\u2019ll mention it\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201c A lot of PD is also specific to certain subjects or grades, so its not always available to me, even though I would definitely take advantage of it if I could\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/td>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The person that I chose to interview is a grade 7-11 teacher in my school. He is in his fifth year of teaching and he has taught in various schools all around Newfoundland and Labrador. He has his intermediate\/secondary education … Continue reading |