Technology in the Classroom

My first lesson plan involving technology actually served as an extension to a prior lesson I had taught. The lesson preceding my technology lesson consisted of teaching students how to write a basic message to their parents/guardians, which would be shown to their parents/guardians during Parent-Teacher conferences. Once the students had completed their messages, I instructed them that while we were in the computer lab, they were to create a picture, using Kid Pix, that relates to the content of their messages. For example, if a student wrote about a class party, I would expect that student to create their own picture that represented the class party in his/her own eyes. After a half an hour of computer lab time had passed, I quickly printed off each student's picture and brought them to class. Using the flex camera in the classroom, I invited each student to come up and present his/her picture, if he/she so desired, (I left that option open for anyone who was especially shy, or who did not want to display his/her picture). One by one, the students came up to the flex camera to display and explain the various parts of their picture. As they walked up to the front of the room, I gave them ideas of things they could clarify, like: who was in their picture, why they chose to use certain colors, and what exactly they drew. In carrying out this lesson plan I was pleased to find that the students were highly engaged and excited to complete the task I had assigned. Their pictures turned out amazing and it was fun to hear their individualized explanations for how and why they created their pictures.