EM+Theory-Into-Practice+Paper

Technology has become something that is no longer the “unknown” in the classroom, as it once was. The //advanced// technology that used to be in the classrooms was known as calculators and the teacher’s computer. This is no longer the case. Technology has advanced and grown in so many ways. I have been out of high school for about seven years, obviously, I have been out of elementary school for even longer. I am back in elementary school now, as a teacher, and I do not know how teachers of days past made it through without the technology I use on a day to day basis. Technology in the classroom today involves so many different things. Of course, there are still calculators. There is still the teacher’s computer. A TV is no longer rolled into the classroom to watch a video. I have not seen a classroom with an overhead projector, equipped with transparencies, in 3 years—I am sure it has been longer for others. There are microphones, CD players, headphones, DVD players and VCRs. There are SMARTboards and SMARTtables. There are Slim Client student computers and COWs (**C**omputers **O**n **W**heels). Grants are written to get Dance Dance Revolution for the physical education classes and DVDs for art classes. Fifth graders can do a daily podcast. Every teacher has a webpage. Digital cameras, document cameras and video cameras are common accessories to any classroom. I already have a classroom. I use technology every day. Technology is the first thing my students use each morning. My classroom is equipped with a SMARTboard and projector. My students use the SMARTboard as an attendance chart and also as a way to choose their lunch. Quite frankly, I would like to use //more// technology in my classroom. I teach in a Spanish Immersion classroom, and I am just now looking into more technology tools to use with the Spanish language. The SMARTboard is a great tool for use with the both the language aspect of my classroom, but also the grade level. I teach Kindergarten. Some of the children in my class are better prepared to use the technology that is in my—their—classroom. I think the previous statement is exactly why technology is so extremely important in today’s classrooms. The children that are in our elementary schools now will need to know about the technological advances of today. They will need to know what a blog is. They will need to know how to use a computer. They will need to know these things to make it in tomorrow’s world, which is exactly where they are headed. Not only will our current students //need// to know about technology. They //want// to know about technology. Their lives revolve around technology. I have fifteen students in my classroom. Every single one of them has a Wii video game console. In my day, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation was the thing to have. The difference is that not everyone had them. And that was okay. Technology is part of these kids’ day to day lives. It is what they enjoy and what they love—why not use that to help teach children? It has always been said that a teacher must make learning interesting to a child, and connect it to their lives. The use of modern technology is one of the ways to do exactly that.