I am placed at Scarlett Middle School in Ann Arbor. In my opinion the technology available at Scarlett is more than accommodating. All staff are provided with a mac laptop that they can use to take attendance and record grades. In addition, staff are allowed to take these laptops home with them. Teachers use Powerschool to record grades and the grades that are entered can be easily viewed by parents and students. In regards to wifii, the school has a unsecured network that anyone can access and connection is very fast.
Scarlett Middle School has four computers available in the library and students are allowed to log in and do work during lunch, homeroom period, or after school. Scareltt also has a computer lab, but these labs must be reserved by a teacher. This limits access to computers for students. The school also has a macbook cart that has 30 mac laptops. Teachers can reserve the cart if they wish to use it in their classroom; but, because there is only one cart so teachers may or may not be able to use them in there classroom depending on prior reservation.
Each class has a screen and a projector. The projector enables teachers to present powerpoints and videos. My mentor teacher does not use it often but as a future educator I would definitely put the projector to great use. In regards to science equipment, the science department also has a cart that has 30 microscopes and these microscopes are heavily used in the biology classroom I am in. I appreciate that each students can potentially work with microscope independently. When I was in middle school my science class only had two or three microscopes. I noticed that when I entered college I found learning how to use a microscope a bit difficult. The students in my classroom are experts at using microscopes and I feel having exposure to working with science equipment is very beneficial for students who may pursue science careers.
Hey Sara, in my Tech In My Placement survey I found much of the same things that you did. The thing that I noticed the most was the LCD projectors and laptops/computers. It seems as though almost every teacher I have observed in my placement utilizes the projectors and their laptop everyday, and I feel that when I eventually have my own classroom I will do much of the same. Projectors and laptops are pretty much the two tools that a teacher needs, or some iteration of them. Students use that computers a lot. There has already been a lot of research done in my class by students. Laptops/computers are the everything tool for schools I feel, and that's something I don't mind at all.
ReplyDeleteWow Sara! I didn't really think about some of the technological needs of a science classroom like microscopes. Microscopes are quite the interesting device when it comes to student interaction with them compared to computers since most students do not have access to microscopes anywhere else but the classroom. This fact becomes pertinent when there aren't any or many microscopes available in the classroom. Because of a lack of experience due to a lack of resources, a student may be behind if they go into an area of study or field where their peers were more accustomed to the technology. This made me think about what sorts of technology or devices are important for students in the realm of mathematics but not often found in the classroom....this is an important thing to think about and I would not have done so without reading your blog. So thanks so much, Sara!
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