Week 2 of Practicum!

This week Mrs. Valine's students got to vote for president through an online children's voting website. They got to go to the computer lab and ote for Barack Obama or John McCain. After doing so, they recieved an "I Voted" sticker. This was so fun for the kids. They got to use the technology themselves and participate in something important that thier parents and teachers got to do in real life. Mrs. Valine's class was so excited about using the computers!
Also, Mrs. Valine incorporated a PowerPoint into her lesson on singular possessive nouns. This PowerPoint caught the students attention. Mrs. Valine designed the PowerPoint so it was interactive and had kids participating while she lectured on this topic. Mrs. Valine told me that she doesn't like to use PowerPoints too often because she doesn't want them to lose their appeal and novel excitement. I think that PowerPoints are great and should be used often, as long as they are interactive, and keep the students interest. I noticed that technology is captiating to young students and they are eager to use and learn more about it.
The students also got to participate in a computer class with Mrs. Hagan, Old Mill Elementary's technology guru. These students look forward to computer class each week.
I, once again, did a listening center with Lexee, to the story of Tops and Bottoms. The students had to listen to the story on CD and respond to any questions we asked. I also got to help set up the computers for voting. I had the opportunity to plan two lessons for next week which both will involve PowerPoints: one on making wishes and one on plural possessive nouns. I am so excited to use technology in my lessons next week. I think the kids will love it!
I think technology could have been used in writing their "I am grateful for assignment." They could have shown off their work with the visuzualizer or typed up their final drafts, instead of hand writing them. I think the students would have enjoyed some interactive, technological games, perhaps from the internet, that would help them study for the tests they had on Friday.