Technology-Infused Classroom

     Depending on a school budget, a technology-infused classroom could look many ways. In my opinion, the bare minimum would be a teacher computer, at least one student computer, and some type of interactive whiteboard. This would allow the teacher to create and plan using technology, the students to have some access to technology, and both teacher and students to interact together.

     While those three pieces of technology are what I would consider the bare minimum, the other end of the spectrum really has no limits. There are so many technology applications today that I personally do not know about. If the 3 teachers and 2 administrators in my building put our heads together, I bet we could only come up with a tiny fraction of all the technology applications available. And that does not include technology in the future.
    
     Here's what I envision for my technology-infused classroom:
     Students walk into the classroom and sign-in at one of two interactive whiteboards, one in the front and one in the back. This keeps track of my attendance so that I can get started right away. Each student has a tablet or other personal device. They use their tablet to scan a QR code which gives them the daily warm-up. Once completed, students either email or submit to a dropbox. I can start the lesson with some sort of hook: a video, an essential question, a cartoon, etc. This is shown on both interactive whiteboards.
     We begin with notes which are shown on the whiteboards as well as uploaded to each student tablet. Students use a stylus, their finger, or a keyboard to write on these notes. I ask questions throughout the lesson and students can answer by showing their tablets or clicking in a pop-up box that allows the answers to be shown anonymously on the whiteboards.
     At some point in the lesson, students split into groups to complete practice problems. An app that they are working on gives custom feedback. I would also walk about the classroom asking questions, giving feedback, and checking for understanding. As students complete this, they are also able to check in with me via a pop-up that lets me know who gets it, who needs a little more help, who needs a lot more help, and who is completely lost.
     The day's assignment as well as additional links to more information are uploaded to student tablets. Students have time to work on their assignment in class, but also have the materials to review at home. As students complete the assignments, I am notified. Learning analysis also lets me know what specific concepts I may need to review the next day.
     Even as I describe this, I know that there is so much out there that I cannot even imagine and so many more things that could be incorporated. However, this plan is something that I think is actually achievable and realistic. I did find several YouTube videos that show some really cool futuristic classroom technology. The video below is of several classrooms that I would give just about anything to have if only budgets were not an issue. . .

 

Visual Literacy

     Typically, teachers talk about three main types of learners: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Visual learners are the most common. Because of this, it is extremely important that a teacher considers how they will use visuals in their classroom. Common types of classroom visuals include pictures,, drawings, charts, graphs, posters, and cartoons (Smaldino, Lowther, & Russell, 2012). Visuals can help students remember content, make abstract ideas more concrete, motivate students, draw attention, repeat information, recall prior information, reduce learning effort, and enhance the classroom culture (Smaldino et al., 2012). Teachers should strive for a balance between negative space and visual space so that learners are not under or overwhelmed.
     In my classroom, I want students to immediately feel comfortable. I want the overall essence of my classroom to be warm and welcoming. In order to do this, I plan to incorporate a variety of visuals. I like to embrace my "math-nerd" side with math humor. I have a shirt that says (using math symbols) "I ate some pie and it was delicious!"

     Currently I teach in alternative education at a school for pregnant and parenting teens. I love these girls, but most lack positive role models. I also try to incorporate positive quotes and inspirational sayings to help motivate my students. Next year, in honor of Maya Angelou, I am going to decorate my window with "Phenomenal Woman." I am also taking over a bulletin board and making it "Math in the News."  These types of visuals are more about my classroom culture and environment.
     I also want to include visuals that will help students academically. I typically do not make my students memorize formulas. I believe that with the integration of technology in the classroom, students will generally have these resources available to them. As such, I want to make sure that I have common formulas, abbreviations and problem-solving strategies displayed. These things will help reduce the learning effort of my students. One tool that I use for this falls under the analogical visuals category. I use a YouTube video to help students remember the equation for slope of a line. Next year, I want to have students help me create something that will help them remember the formula without using the actual formula.

 
  As a math and computers teacher, I am well aware of the positive roles that the Internet can play in the classroom. As a teacher of high school girls, I am also well aware of the negative roles that the Internet can play in the classroom. This year, we had a huge problem with cell phones, social media, and cyberbullying. Next year, we will not be allowing cell phones in the classroom and computer access will be severely limited. Unfortunately, this means that we will have to sacrifice some of the benefits of the Internet. One large benefit that I will be sad to lose is that a good portion of my students worked really well when they could listen to music on their devices. It helped them to focus. I do plan to use this as a reward that they can earn. More importantly, I have a couple of whole group projects planned. In one project students will be researching Tessellations and creating a media presentation describing a specific tessellation. I am also hoping to compile a number of resources that will prepare me to "flip" my classroom.

GIFSoup


Reference:
Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Russell, J. D. (2012). Instructional technology and media for learning (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.