Reflection 9

Teaching styles have evolved over the years. More and more technology has been integrated in teaching. Every year or so a new invention is created to better aide the teacher in the classroom. Grade books use to be all written by hand, now they have a program which allows them to grade faster. This program is almost virtually error proof and gives the teacher more time to use for planning, etc. Before the use of technology, teachers would use verbal instruction and some visual aids such as: maps, chalk boards, and posters. This helped the teachers instruction be more diverse. Some students learn information better when they can see it. Some need a text book and others might just need to touch and feel for themselves. With the new technology, The learning styles of students are taken into consideration. It helps them to understand the material and be more open to learning it. I have learned not to shun technological advances. I use to be skeptical about a classroom that was run by this method. I am more open to the idea because I now understand the benefits this can create. There are so many options for a teacher now a days. I have seen this technique first hand when I was doing my service learning hours. The students were learning how to create compound words. The teacher used a the over head projector to show the students how to do this in a fun colorful way. For example, the screen displayed a picture of a brain and a storm. The teacher would drag the pictures together and it would create the compound word. The picture was animated to show a Student “brainstorming” ideas. I thought this was the most wonderful thing I had seen. If this type of method was used while I was learning, I probably would have been more interested in Language Arts. Computers are being used to do amazing things. I think people should be more open to letting the teachers explore what other things can be done. I Also have gotten to like the idea of the digital story. Being a Visual/kinesthetic learner, I know first hand what its like to be stuck in an auditory classroom. I think that auditory delivery paired with the new technology, would be pleasing to all the students in your classroom. I can’t wait to learn more about the benefits of technology in the process of instructional delivery.