Technology...

Today's society is so different from the one that I grew up in. I know that I will be aging myself, but when I was young remotes were still connected to the TV,  phones were still attached to the wall, there was no internet or anything else we would label high tech. At school we used pencil and paper for all of our homework and we had to read textbooks to learn the materials. I know that does not sound too exciting, but I feel that I was very well educated. Technology has come along way, and I think I had an advantage by seeing the evolution unfold. I believe that my advantage is the disadvantage of students today. Students just do not appreciate what they have in front of them and how easy some things are now compared to 20 years ago, 10 years ago, even just a few years ago.

I think that in some ways we are too reliant on technology and all of its benefits. There really is not much around these days that does not have some sort of a technology component. Even when I go visit some of may family up north at the farm, where you would think there wouldn't be any technology, it is everywhere. There is no milking a cow by hand anymore, it is all done with high tech machines. The movies and shows on TV that deal with computers taking over the world and what would happen if we suddenly could not use computers always make me wonder if these scenarios were really to occur...would we survive. Is there such a things a too much technology? Or not enough technology?

I do believe there can be too much for some people. The people that spend every waking hour plugged in. I am related to some of these types of people. When I go to a family function we really do not socialize anymore. The new form of socialization is sitting in the living room with a phone or iPad in our hands surfing the web or playing online games. My favorite memory of this type of situation was all of us playing the popular game SongPop together in the same room. It still makes me laugh when I think about it. We did not even talk to each other! This is where I think the technology gets in the way. People not knowing how to interact with other people face-to-face.

I also believe that we can go the complete opposite direction and have too little technology. I would definitely not be a fan of going back to the dark ages. I like being able to cook a meal in the microwave, which I do recall getting our first one! I also love my DVR and being able to watch all of my favorite TV shows that I have missed. Drinking clean water is also a big one for me! These are just a few things, but I am sure I could go on and on.

So what does all of this have to do with how we use technology in our classrooms? I believe that we need to use technology and its many benefits in our classrooms, but we need to make sure we do not go overboard. There are also some very beneficial activities that do not require technology and also promote students interacting together to find an answer or complete a project. It is our job as an educator to make sure we are weighing the pros and cons of every activity, assignment, or project we give our students.

One other concern for technology is how many students do not always have access to the internet. My district is considered a low income/at-risk district and many families do not have the income to afford the conveniences of the internet. There are also districts that are not as equipped as others. Some districts are one-to-one with their technology and others do not even have a single computer lab. This is a caution for students that are just graduating from college and will be looking for a job soon. Your big ideas may not come to fruition if you end up in some of these lower income districts, so have some back up plans!

Counting Circles

In class we have been doing these exercises called counting circles. Everyone in the class stands in a circle and the teacher gives a starting number and then the amount that it will change by as it is passed around the circle. The first time was a bit scary because I was afraid that I would get the answer wrong or that I would take way too long to figure out the answer. As the exercise progressed those anxieties eased up, and I realized that some people were fast and some were not. After we got all the way around the circle plus maybe a few more people going twice, the teacher picked a person down the line from where we stopped and asked the class to figure out what that person's response would be for the problem. Once we all had answers, shown by a thumbs up, we were asked to share the answer and how we came up with our answer. Multiple people shared out their answers and how they got to their answer. What I like a lot about this exercise is you are practicing mental math and at the end you see that there are many ways to get to the same answer. It is also a good way for you to realize that you made a mistake. When I shared my results and I explained what I did, I had made an error with my mental math, but I saw were I went wrong as I was talking through my process. I believe that this would be a great exercise for students to do at the beginning of class as a warm-up. I will be using this in my classroom and I my even try to figure out a way to tie it in to my band classes...Rhythm Circles! That could be fun!

Introduction

Well I am starting this blog for a class that I am taking. I have been teaching now for 14 years in the area of instrumental music. I am only part time so I have decided to finish my math minor so I can add the math endorsement to my teaching certificate. I am hoping that the district that I teach at will be able to bring up to full time by adding in some math classes. The class that I am taking is called Math For Secondary Teachers and I was a bit afraid that the class was going to be all about teaching basic, such as, classroom management, how to make a lesson plan, ect. We have only met three times and I am happy to be very wrong. This class has made me do a lot of thinking about how I will teach math an how I was taught math. I can't say that I thought teaching math was going to be easy, but I did not think that the transition would be too difficult. I am beginning to think that it is definitely going to be a little more involved than I thought. I am glad that I will be keeping this journal of what I have learned so when I do teach a math class I will be ready!