Michele Jacobs

Tri-City Elementary

Buffalo, IL

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Technology Vision

The Tri-City School District's vision is one that will use technology to enhance instruction and provide more opportunities for the students, staff members, and community members. The vision makes a clear attempt at focusing on community members becoming lifelong learners through activities at the school. The school envisions using a progressive approach and current technologies in its delivery of instruction. These will be accomplished through engaging the learner, staff development activities, and more community involvement. The end result being that the school will produce "productive citizens now and in the future technological world". The vision statements attempt to bridge the gap between where we are currently and where they would like us to be. The vision statement is posted in the offices and in each classroom. The logo that is quoted is written on documents on school letterhead.

Technology Vision in the Classroom

The Tri-City School District's vision for classroom usage of technology will be accomplished through engaged learning activities as well as a change in teaching strategies. The traditional way to educate by paper and pencil is long gone and the use of technology has taken over. The integration of technology within the framework of the curriculum is a priority. Our administrator is always encouraging us to use programs that are related to the subject we are covering. Our administration is very supportive of us attending conferences that deal with the integration of technology. The vision that takes over in the classroom sees students and teachers as co-investigators. Due to the fact that we only have one computer per classroom at present hinders the amount of integration that many of us would like to see. However, I do feel that we effectively use our one mac per classroom well. Our students are on the computer daily and it is not just a teacher's resource. My district is making an attempt to keep up. For a school our size and given the budget we operate under we continue to make gains. The struggle to obtain funds that will increase the number of computers in each room is ongoing. I have written and will continue to write grants that help this need.

Reflections of the Classroom Vision

My classroom to some extent does reflect the vision statement. I use the latest software that I acquire or the district purchases with my students to expose them to current materials. My students are engaged in projects that integrate the technology that is offered. I attend workshops that are technology based, and am always wanting to learn more. My students create books on the computer and develop their writing skills (sentence composition) as well. Future aspects of technology in my district include the cabling of all classrooms for Internet connectivity this fall. This aspect of technology excites me as a teacher because there are so many more possibilities. I am serving as a Technology mentor this fall and will host "technology nights" where community members will use the lab facilities to engage in the software available.

Ways to Improve My Classroom's Use of Technology

I feel that I use the one computer in my classroom effectively but am sure there are so many other ideas out there that I have not thought of. Researching lesson plans and uses of technology on the Net would be a great way to find new and fun activities. I am really excited about my project for this fall. The creation of e-portfolios will be fun for my students and challenging for me.

I feel that as teachers we need a new mind set when it comes to using technology. The time constraints are an issue due to the fact that we as teachers are expected to finish our text books by the end of the year. If you are truly integrating technology then this requirement should be more flexible. As long as the same skills are covered by the end of the year then the means that you provide this instruction should be up to the teacher. Technology used correctly can enhance instruction in any setting. Children have so many different needs and learning styles that perhaps a child that doesn't understand the concept the first time may understand better doing the accompanied computer skill activity.

I would like to better integrate the programs I have acquired into the skill area units that they would fit. This is something that would take some time but with the number of programs that are mine personally I would have access to them when that unit came up. This is an important project for me in order to feel that I am integrating all of the available software with the curriculum in place. Making better use of my planning time would give me the opportunity to do this.

Our grading system is on the computer and many of the teachers rebelled against this notion. After a year of the program they are all "hooked" and require little assistance. This was a big step for our building. The continued use of the grading program would be beneficial to all teachers.

I want to use the peripherals more to enhance the projects we create. I want to use the digital camera and the quick cams in order to become comfortable with them. These are new to our district this year and will take some time to become familiar. In the elementary we do not have a scanner but the high school does, so I would like to learn to use it and be able to transfer the data onto my Macintosh computer. Nancy showed us during orientation that it can be done but until you do it yourself its still the "unknown".

As a mentor I want to share the knowledge gained throughout my coursework with my colleagues so that they too can be excited about using technology. We rely on each other to bring back good information and ideas and share them. I hope to do more of this in the coming years.

I hope to instill in my students a feeling of comfort about the technologies that are available to them. So much of what we do in first grade is teacher centered because the teacher takes more responsibility for the learning. I want my students to become more responsible for their learning and take a more active role in technology. I want them to become familiar with the technology so that they will become risk takers and be more creative. What a great start for a six year old!

Classroom Environment

My dream classroom would be equipped with 2-3 scanners, 2-3 digital cameras, video equipment, a large screen tv that is hooked into the network computer, and 20 laptop computers. The room would have tables built for young children that have ports built in so they can plug in their laptop. The chairs would be very comfortable and not tip backwards. There would be several centralized very fast printers. My shelves would be cd-towers with all the latest software available. The walls would be decorated with web site url's and would change depending on the topic we were studying. The room would be equipped with a cappechino machine for me and juice machines for the students. The room would be well insulated and air-conditioned. All books at their level would be on disk and multiple copies would be available. Since a laptop(equipped with all programs needed for the entire year) would be provided to each student at registration there would be no need for textbooks. Our classroom would include a technological science lab where we would do experiments on the computer. If a laptop needed repair, a new one would be waiting for the student. This would alleviate any turn around time on repair situations. We would communicate with the office via e-mail and our attendance would be downloaded on computer using a retinal scan for attendance and hot and cold lunches. Lunch money would be automatically debited from the parents checking account each month. Attendance fees would also be debited direct. Our field trips would be taken using virtual reality screens so that we may travel all over the world and share our experiences.

A Day in the "Techno Classroom"

Bobby is a first grade student at Tri-City Techno World School District. He rides to school on the tram that takes him directly to school in 4 minutes. After eating breakfast in the computerized lunch room Bobby picks up his laptop and heads off to class. The moving walkway takes Bobby to Mrs. Jacobs' classroom in 1.2 minutes. Bobby completes the retinal scan for attendance and pushes either hot or cold on the scan screen for lunch. This information is sent directly to the office. Bobby sits at a table and plugs in his laptop and prepares himself for today's assignments. Mrs. Jacobs has the students load their homework disk into the computer and pulls up their individual files. The computer grades the homework and sends Bobby a message on his grade. All grades are accompanied by positive reinforcers such as: Way to Go!, Keep up the good Work!, Awesome!, Super!, or Terrific! After reviewing today's reading lesson using a "Living book", Bobby puts on his headphones and starts reading. He then answers questions concerning the book as well as reading about the author and illustrator. Bobby then puts his reading disk away and checks out a reading book on disk from the resource library located in his classroom. Bobby's mother calls for a teleconference. Mrs. Jacobs pulls up Bobby's file and confers with Bobby's mom. Bobby used to be a behavior problem at Rainway Outdated School, but since Bobby switched schools he is a different student. Bobby says it is because "they keep you engaged all day, there is no down time". Bobby moves through the rest of his day in very much the same way. During Science Bobby goes to the science lab located in the classroom and gets to see how they create a bridge by using a program that shows the actual construction on hyper speed. Bobby summarizes his activity and downloads it to his portfolio. In Social Studies Bobby is surfing the net exploring Stonewall Jackson and the Civil War. Since Bobby is in first grade and can read a little, the Internet web sites that he would access all read the information to him as he follows along. At the end of the day Bobby is given his homework disk. Bobby takes his disk and laptop and awaits the tram outside of Tri-City Techno World School District.

I had wanted to create my classroom where the students take their coursework on the Internet from their homes, but that idea is not a dream, we are living it! (This would however eliminate any discipline problems.)