Technology integration

In my latest placement at an elementary school in Lansing, I was disappointed to see the lack of technology used in the classroom. While the teacher could often be found responding to emails on the computer in the room, that was the only time I ever saw anyone use it. I never even saw printouts for the students from the computer. There was nothing like an overhead projector either (which is what I have the most experience with). While I understand there are possibly some financial difficulties with exposing children to technology, I wish they had more exposure to the great technologies available for a first grade classroom.

However, I did visit my older sister's middle school classroom several times last year. She was a special education teacher for 9 autistic students in a mainstream middle school. I was amazed at the types of technology available to them: the daily morning announcements were televised, and the principal and two teachers would create a skit every week to talk about one important current event. My sister would let particular students work the projector and control the volume, which was very exciting for them.

She also had a DVD player and TV at her disposal, along with a way to project her computer on the main screen. She found interactive games for science, math, and english that her students could participate with and click the buttons themselves. For the non-verbal students, there was a computer in her classroom for them to play educational games on their own without having to speak to her or anyone else.

I hope that I work in a district that has these kinds of technologies available to the students. However, I know that I will try my best to make sure they have some exposure to technology even if my school cannot provide the latest developments.