The face of education has changed since I started elementary school more than

40 years ago. I remember classrooms had movies, film strip and overhead projectors.
We used pencil, paper and mimeographed worksheets. At home, my parents had a set
of World Encyclopedias and a manual typewriter with which my siblings and I wrote
papers: in high school we finally upgraded to an electric typewriter. Today, in my first
grade classroom, I have an 80 inch flat screen T.V., five desk top computers, five
laptops, two iPads and iPods, an Elmo, and a Justand I use to hold my iPad. Families
do not need sets of encyclopedias, because they have the internet at the tip of their
fingers. Most students are familiar with many kinds of technology and many of these
students have at least some access to technology at home as well as in the classroom.
I need to engage students in the content I am teaching, and one way I can do this is by
utilizing the tools of our digital age. I have heard that Albert Einstein once said, I never
teach my pupils, I only provide the conditions in which they can learn. While the tools
of education have greatly changed since I was a student, the essence of education
remains the same: teaching and learning.
As a teacher, my job is to foster an environment that facilitates and maximizes
student learning. I will plan and implement lessons to provide the conditions that are
challenging to students; I will accomplish this goal through the use of technology.
The job description of a teacher is multifaceted. A teachers duties include: planning
and implementing curriculum, promoting lifelong learning, meeting the social and
emotional needs of students, appreciating the cultural and economic diversities in the
classroom, and assessing the students learning as well as their learning styles. If a
child cannot learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn

(Estrada). When I saw this quote, I thought of Howard Gardner; Multiple Intelligences
and the use of technology are a perfect pairing. For students that are visual-spatial
learners: photographs, videos, digital drawings and multi-media experiences can be
used for instruction or as an assessment tool. Linguistic students can read on iBooks or
use an app for note taking, and bodily-kinesthetic learners can use technology to
manipulate their environment or as a tool to measure progress. Students who respond
to music can listen to their iPods while working or use a computer to create new
sounds. My library club members recently used the website code.org to experiment
with logical and mathematical puzzles in order to create a video game. Thoughtful use
of technology can enhance the curriculum and help teachers personalize students
learning.
When assessing learning styles, I need to realize that hands on might mean
manipulatives to one student, but technology to another. My lessons need to include
both manipulatives and digital tools. Appreciating the cultural and economic diversities
in my classroom entails that I take into consideration the availability of the technology
my students have at home. I will have a plan for students who do not have technology
readily available to them. I teach first grade, and aside from reading and spelling, I do
not assign homework, but I do assign optional digital assignments on the Pearson
website and Istation. Last year, I had a student who did not have internet access at
home, and I let her stay after school two days a week so she could get the extra reading
practice on Istation that she needed. When I am a librarian, I will offer extended library
times so that students who need to access the internet for homework will have
technology available to them. In addition to recognizing a students learning style, I

draw upon the principles of Constructivism. In Constructivism, the teacher develops

lessons that students connect to their previous schema. Technology cannot simply be a
way for students to show what they know, it should also be a means for students to
construct their own learning and connect this new learning to their prior knowledge.
One way for students to do this is to reflect on their learning. In a classroom with one to
one iPads, students can use a journaling app to reflect on lesson. A class blog is
another way to allow for student reflection. Students can comment on a post made by
the teacher or by other members of the class, building upon the learning of others.
I need to ensure that I am not including technology as an afterthought. The
most important thing that schools can do, is not to use technology in the curriculum
more, but to use it more effectively (Palfrey and Gasser). The technology in my
lessons needs to be integrated into the content not just something that we do for the
sake of using technology. Some challenges are to stay up-to-date on the digital tools
available to me and give my students the freedom to use these tools in meaningful
ways. In the seven years I have been teaching, my classroom has seen a variety of
different tools come and go. By staying abreast of our ever changing technology and
implementing that technology in meaningful ways, I can begin to prepare my students
to become motivated, insightful, and enthusiastic thinkers who live in a digital age.