Field Experience Report

Observations:

On January 22nd, 2015, I was lucky enough to be invited into Gilbert H. Hood Middle School in Derry, NH by Mrs. T, one of the unified arts computer teachers. I met with Mrs. T in her classroom around 8:00am, 10 minutes before her first class of the day. Her room was set up with 20-30 iMac computers on desks along three of the walls. Mrs. T’s desk, materials, and storage space were in front of the fourth wall. The center of the room housed a medium-sized table, a projector unit, and mostly empty space. The three walls that had the computers in front of them were all whiteboards and had tons of important information written on them (such as class instructions, reminders for digital citizenship, and steps on logging in). The fourth wall had mostly various posters about computer use, motivation, and the like.

After giving me a brief overview of her classroom and some of the programs she uses in it (the big ones were Google Drive and Edmodo), Mrs. T welcomed in her 8th grade class and had them do typing exercises by playing different typing games online. Mrs. T placed herself in the center of the room so that she could easily see all of the students’ screens. This allowed her to efficiently manage the classroom and keep her students on task when they became distracted. Once the students had worked on their typing exercises for 10 minutes, Mrs. T informed them it was time to begin the day’s assignment: creating a Voki and placing it on the websites they had been working on.



Apart from the verbal instructions Mrs. T gave to the class, each student had access to written instructions in the form of a shared Google Doc on their Drives. Furthermore, Mrs. T used the projector and large screen to show the students how to create a Voki and place it on the website by doing the process on her own computer. These simultaneous teaching avenues allowed students to follow along or work at their own pace as needed.

Once the class period was over, Mrs. T sent me to a handful of other classrooms to see more technology use in motion. First, I witnessed how an 8th grade science teacher used Google Chromebooks in order to have her students work individually on their tasks. These students were able to research tectonic plates, create their own tectonic plate puzzles, etc. in order to complete their assignment. Secondly, I sat in on an 8th grade Reading and Writing class where the teacher showed me how she kept track of all the students’ assignments on PowerSchool and through Google Drive. Both of these tools allowed her to not only grade, comment, and provide support for her students, but also keep their parents updated on their progress. The students in this class were using a mix of laptops, cell phones, and pen/paper to work on a research project.

Finally, I was directed to a 6th grade Spanish class in which the teacher was using assistive technology in the form of a head-mounted microphone device so that she would not have to raise her voice (she had some vocal cord issues that required the use of this technology). Once the students in her class were set on their independent classwork, the teacher showed me the tools she uses to bring technology to a one-computer classroom (the one computer being her MacBook). She showed me how she uses Web 2.0 tools such as Blendspace and Thinglink to provide students with everything they need to make it through the course. She explained to me that she does this so that students who might be absent or need to go over a lesson again can access everything they need from home. Essentially, she is making it so that her students have no excuses.

I returned to Mrs. T’s classroom to witness her giving the students a test (using Google Docs) and then said my goodbyes before signing out of the school and heading home.

Field Experience and EDU 533

The most readily apparent connection that I found between my field experience and something that I’ve learned in my EDU 533: Learning through Technology course is how Google can be successfully implemented into a classroom to promote independent learning and decrease actual direct instruction. Through the classes I observed, I noticed that (with the exception of a few brief lessons) students were mostly working on their own projects at their own pace. Occasionally a student would come up to ask the teacher for help, but most of the time, students knew they could find all the resources they needed on their Google Shared Drive or Web 2.0 tools like BlendSpace or Thinglink. The instructions and resources were there and it was up to the students to take initiative and seek after their own learning. In fact, this kind of learning reminded me of the concept of a flipped classroom. Since I visited the school mid-way through the week, any lecture or direct instruction had already been given; if the students had watched this portion of instruction at home, I wouldn’t have been the wiser.

Quality of Field Experience

As this was my first time visiting a middle school since I was in middle school myself, I have to say that I was definitely shocked. Seeing such little direct instruction or apparent guidance felt like a radical shift to me. Luckily, Mrs. T and all of the teachers I shadowed for the day were happy to guide me through this strange new world and explain what exactly was going on. Thanks to their explanations and willingness to show the cogs in the machine behind this new style of teaching, I found my field experience to be enlightening and invaluable. While there were some inherent hiccups (like students who became distracted and fell off track or were falling behind in their work) it was definitely great to see a Google-fueled school up-and-running and chugging along.

Interview

After the field experience, I e-mailed Mrs. T a series of interview questions on technology in the classroom. She was kind enough to get back to me quickly and provide thorough responses to each. In the interest of time, I’ll include the major questions with a brief summary of each response.

• In what ways do you feel technology benefits students in the classroom?

Mrs. T replied that since students are so surrounded by technology these days, it only makes sense to bring it in to the classroom. She suggested that technology like Kahn Academy can be used to help students who are struggling, assistive technologies can help students who are non-communicative or have other special needs, and technologies like blogging and podcasting can help students with anxiety issues.

• What, if any, concerns do you have about technology in the classroom? What are your thoughts on digital over-saturation?

Mrs. T responded that she didn’t have a lot of concerns in this regard if the groundwork on Digital Citizenship is laid by the teacher prior to any lesson including technology. She stated that technology, like many other things in life, is all about moderation. The only concern she really had was that overuse of technology can make a child stressed or anxious when the technology is removed.

• How do you feel about a flipped classroom?

Mrs. T expressed that she believes flipped classrooms present a lot of benefits such as extra time for students who need it and the ability to rewatch or reread pieces that might be confusing. She stated that there are some pitfalls (such as getting the students to actually watch the videos) but for the most part, giving the student the opportunity to learn virtually and get help with their “homework” in class is of clear benefit.