Bradbury Walk, A Walk Through Green Town, USA
The goals for this project included incorporating multimedia into my classroom instruction. This included instructing students on the use of our digital camera, using power point, and word processing. Many of my students have had very little experience using computers, other than to play games. Another goal was to introduce students to other aspects of their community by making them more aware of the community, the use of it in literature, and an appreciation for the city where they live. One last goal was to make the sites that Ray Bradbury wrote about accessible to other students and teachers who use the novel Dandelion Wine in their classroom. The teacher who put together the walk is retiring and this will also serve as a sort of salute to some of her hard work and commitment to the community.
Students used a Sony digital camera, Power Point, Front Page, and Apple Works.
Group of Learners
The learners included 7th grade students, most of whom have Spanish as their native language. These students are able to speak fluently in English, but still struggle with their writing. By using a word processing program, and knowing that their work would be published, they were very excited and conscientious of what they were doing.
Students were eager to learn how to use the technology. They were like sponges willing to absorb everything I taught them, along with teaching me some tricks they picked up on their own. I learned that students take a great deal of pride in their work when they learn it is going to be published and viewed by many different people, other than their teacher. I have not received feedback from any other teachers in the district that use the novel in their classroom. Students are very eager and willing to use technology. It is very time consuming when teaching them how to use the tools for the first time, but our next project should be much easier. I will expand it and use it in all of my classes; I used it with just one of my classes. Parents have given positive feedback in the few questionnaires that were returned. The parents who have responded to me feel that students need to use the new technologies in regular classroom situations, apply them to what we are already doing, and continue to learn and incorporate new technologies as they become available.