Hi, Bryan,
Just wanted you to know I followed through on commenting on three of my classmate's blogs.
I still need some help at getting all my classmates blogs linked to mine. I didn't want to interrupt your work with another student last night. (Especially because I felt like you had spent a considerable amount of your "teacher time" with me (after class) already!) However, maybe after spring vacation I can catch you after class, if no one else needs your expertise that is....
I also wanted you to know that I am really enjoying this class because I am actually learning constantly. (Hey, that's what a good "education" class can do for you.) Thank you for being so patient, so kind, and so approachable!!! And, thanks, too for your slowing the class down so I could effectively learn all the pieces of the assignment. I am so thankful for your teaching style and personality!
Many Million Thanks,
Kathi McCorkle
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2 comments:
Test from me to me on my blog. Kathi
O.K. I'm going to comment on the articles I have read.
Article 1: "Using Technology with Kindergarten Students" (from http://www.4teachers.org/testimony/index.shtml) by Chris Gathers
Chris Gathers has taught kindergarten for thirty years, in a small school district in Kansas.
Her school is K-5 with approximately 375 students. (Seems amazingly small to me - both in her district size and her school pupulation size!)
Gathers sees technology as one of the biggest changes in her teaching career (no surprise here!). In her classroom, she has three Macintosh computers for students and teacher to use. She also has a 25 Macintosh computer lab available to her. She teaches, with a "qualified paraprofessional" that staffs the lab. Her lessons last 30 to 45 minutes with her kindergarten students. She explains that her lessons may take several sessions for her students to master (but may not at other times).
She recognizes that even at kndergarten level her students have varied levels of computer experience. She uses a program, at the beginning of the year, called Mouse Practice (an Apple Computer, Inc. program). (I'm not familiar with this program but can imagine it to be similar to beginning handwriting practice skill sheets where students try to write on top of dotted lines; thus showing they have beginning control over their dominant hand using a pencil.
After Nouse Practice, students are introduced to Kid Pix Studio Deluxe (which I am familiar with and have explored thoroughly).
Her article includes the ISTE technology standards that it incorporates. The list of standards that it includes is impressive - especially for such young students (i.e. II Social, ethical, legal, and human issues and
III Technology productivity tools.)
Her lessons are integrated with Math Standards and National English Language Arts Standards. Again, very impressive for her young students!
She teaches students to use tools in Kid Pix Deluxe such as: color, pencil, line, paint can, eraser, alphabet text, rubberstamps, moving van, and undo guy.
Gathers demonstrates on a TV using an Apple Presentation System that is connected to the computer she is using.
I've seen seen similar skills taught to older primary students (in some pretty ineffective ways by various Library/Media Teachers in our school system). "Ineffective" to me means kids aren't listening to instruction, are not using computer processing wait time successfully, and are yelling out "teacher, teacher". I believe part of Gathers success at teaching these skills is that she had "relationship" with her own students because she had begun to develop the student-teacher relationship in hr classroom setting. In the media center, the Library/Media teacher has less relationship and lesstime with each individual in each class she teaches because she is not their classroom teacher. Relationship with students, in my opinion, has everything to do with computer lab management.... kids listen to whom they have a close presonal relationship! (Especially in our poverty/low income and second language school).
Gathers also related that she teaches her students to find the "K-1 folder", click on Kid Pix icon, and how to quit the program when finished. They are also taught to print and to save their work. Gathers admits some years it is a joy to teach computer skills and somes a headache!
I've watched Library/Media Teachers who I'm sure went home with migrines -- certainly,no less!However, I've also watched one Library/Media teacher simply allow the primary students to experience their own frustration level without the need to "fix" every students understanding or product.
It's called "learning" and really do we learn anything without some degree of "failure"???
After my experiences in the computer lab with children of this age, I'm impressed with even the attempt to teach these skills to kindergarten students!
Gathers does say that the Lab Assistant does help her keep the students focused and on task. (No where in the article does Gathers state the number of students she has - 25? or 30? - so I am left to conclude an "average" class size somewhere between these two guesses.)
Furthermore, she teaches her young charges to change color and line width that they are using. They, also, use the "pencil" (on the computer program) to draw shapes (which is part of kindergarten curriculum). The children use the rectangle tool and circle tool on Kid Pix Deluxe.
Yet another tool the kinders use is the rubber stamps and the alphabet letters (to make patterns). To make stamps different sizes, the kinders learn to use the shift and option keys.
Also, students draw self portraits at the begiining of the year. At the end of the year, they draw many more details and have added much more color.
Beyond the above skills, students learn to "erase" large and small parts of their picture. They also learn to write their name using the alphabet text stamps, changing color as many times as they wish. They stamp appropriate pictures, under each letter of their name (showing they have learned sound-letter correspondence).
Gathers has children use a pull down menu entitled "goodies" to select the stamp set they desire to use.
She goes on to teach many more math skills using the tools/skills mentioned above. Within the area of math content, she teaches the numbers from 1 to 20 and the corresponding written names of each number.
Within the art area, she has students draw holiday-related projects (i.e. pumpkins in October, trees and Santa in December, etc.) Likewise whe teaches the seasons by having them draw a tree for each season (Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall) and binding them together in a book for each student.
Gathers relates that students use the computer during "free play" time, rest time, and when their work is finished. Each child uses the computer ten minutes every other day during rest time. She uses a variety of math, science, reading, and art software programs.
And, her lack of knowledge encouraged her to go back and get her Master's in elementary education with a technology specialty.
She does admit that teaching kinders to use the computer does take a "lot of patience". (My comment: no kidding... even with older kids it takes a massive amount of patience!)
Gathers concludes that by the end of the year, kinders have learned the "foundation for creating multimedia projects at other grade levels." I say, "hats off" to her perseverance and extreme patience. Not to mention, the lab management issues she must be expert at to continue such an involved set of projects with kinders!
I would also love to see all of this process in action. I have seen only massive chaos with the Library/Media teacher I work with when she has kindergarten students (and primary and intermediate) students use the computer lab.
I believe the process of teaching elementary students could somehow be developed into lab management rules and observing correct usage of computers... however, I haven't seen it yet (done appropriately with elementary students)! Furthermore, in the current job I'm working in, I don't have the authority to teach these skills within the lab.
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