The Machine is Us/ing Us

In today’s society, there is no escape from technology, nor should there be. As a future teacher, it would be a disservice not to teach my students how to use technology and also incorporate into my teaching. However, I have to be honest, watching the video was a bit intimidating. The words and pictures passed by so quickly that I had trouble keeping up with the images and text, let alone be able to soak in the important intended message. This is kind of how I feel about technology. I am continuously in awe of the endless advances, but I have a hard time keeping up with everything. I find it embarrassing and surprising that I have to teach my struggling father how to "tab over" in Microsoft Excel, but then I am humbled when my driver's education students have to help me with certain "computer issues" I have while teaching their class. Each generation has a step up on the last in regard to understanding and utilizing technology. For teachers, this means they need to be even a step higher than their students. This is formidable for many teachers, so the easy choice seems to be not to integrate it at all. This is unfortunate, because as the video quickly shows, technology allows for so much learning and connectedness.

Just this quarter, our cohort was able to Skype with a graduate student from the University of Washington who is studying in Antarctica. The entire time I was thinking how this experience is so advantageous in so many ways. The rapid transmission of information being exchanged allows or quick learning and also a connection with a real person. It is not information we read from a lifeless article. Overall, technology is becoming limitless and there is so much to gain from it.

Recess Necessity

As I am back in my main placement, I am learning about a few changes that have occurred. One of the biggest ones is an extra morning recess for my second grade class and the other second grade class next to ours. My cooperating teacher arranged this with the principal, explaining that the class is so large (30 kids), with there being eight more boys than girls. These boys are rowdy, too! It seems they never stop moving, eating and taking bathroom breaks. I forget what it is to be a growing kid. So, because of these factors, this class is allowed to get a little extra play time. They take their morning recess from 10:30-10:45 am. It is less than an hour and a half into the school day, but already these students are raring to go! During these precious fifteen minutes, I witness a large game of freeze tag, continuous spinning of the merry-go-round, several circles of hand-song games, WWF style wrestling and so on. The amount of energy being exerted is amazing. When the class comes back inside I can sense a noticeable difference in behavior. Although most of the students could easily play all day, they are for the most part, more relaxed and able to concentrate on the next activity. In addition, these extra playtime minutes aid in building healthy habits for children, which is especially important for overweight America. Another added benefit is the social aspect. Students are able to develop connections with their peers. The pros far outweigh any cons.

Of course, none of this is particularly surprising. I think most students in this school could benefit from an extra fifteen minutes of recess. The logistics of putting it into practice would not be extremely challenging, either. Students could be allocated a block of time by grade level and teachers could supervise. There is an observable difference in performance with the students in this second grade class that it seems sensible to make it school wide. As a college student, I appreciate and need a break from class every once while. Once the short break is over, I certainly notice a difference is my level of attentiveness.

With the pressure of staying on course with the curriculum and passing standardized tests, it is understandable that recess gets the boot first. Some view it as a waste of time when time is always of the essence. However, when grade school students can barely sit still and concentrate for more than 20 minutes at a time, anyway, then a lot of information is going in one ear and out the other. This would be the ideal time for a break, like recess.