Sunday, April 7, 2013

Learning to Unlearn


In the classroom there are always going to be things you have will have to unlearn. With there being so many new things out and the world constantly changing you are always going to be unlearning implied knowledge. This may be a challenge to some people.  There are many things you have to unlearn that all takes place in the classroom. Keeping your classroom current with new technology makes a big difference in the classroom and to the students for better learning opportunities for them.
In a classroom there are many things that the teacher has to unlearn, there also things that you have to relearn. It is not what we already know it is something new and different from what we already know. You have to relearn and construct new knowledge that improves practices. Doing this relearning keeps you up to date with the new technology out there. Having new technology in your classroom is a great way for students to be able to use the new technology,  by relearning how to use it and incorporating in the classroom it is beneficial to everyone.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Interactive Whiteboards in Today's Classroom


In today’s classroom many Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) have been introduced to the classroom. I feel that the IWB’s are a great learning tool to have in your class. They are great ways for the students to get involved in the lesson with it allowing the students to come up and use the whiteboard themselves. They also have a lot of different options for the teachers to use for their lessons that you would not be able to do anywhere else.

However I don’t find that they are a necessity. Although they are a great tool I don’t think that each and every class would need them, depending on the teachers teaching and learning styles. Referring from the article in the Washington Post it said, My kids were bored with itafter about three weeks."  It could be a good tool to have but it could become just the common board that everyone gets bored with. The teachers have to keep the lessons interesting not just use some new whiteboard to get the kids involved.  

Differentiation could be used when referring to the IWB’s because in the classroom the teacher could use the whiteboards to do different group activities with it or the IWB could be used at a station for the kids to go too. It would also give them the opportunity for the students to use the board in different ways along with playing different games and fun group activities. This could be a great tool for differentiation.