I
like to use technology and project based approaches when working with my
kindergarten students. I use technology to kick off every new science and
social studies unit I teach. Our county purchases a video-on demand program
from PBS called Safari Montage www.safarimontage.com
. It is focused mainly on science and social studies videos, but there are a
few math and reading videos available also. You can search by grade level and
topic. Many of you have probably heard of Bill Nye the science guy. He is the
host of many of the science videos that Safari Montage has to offer. I like to
make the kids feel like they are in a movie theater when watching these videos
so I always show the videos on “big screen” in my room and provide popcorn and
juice for my students. They are totally engaged in the video and it is a great
way to introduce a new unit topic. In addition to the videos I also create
SMART table lessons based on the new unit topic http://smarttech.com/table . During
center time I invite four students back each day to play interactive games on
the SMART table to reinforce the new topic we are learning about. At the end of
each unit I have students work in small groups to create a project based on the
information they learned in the unit. For example we just finished our science
unit on plants. One of the groups in my classroom, with help from my instructional
assistant, build a plastic green house and started to grow their own tomato
plants. They watered and measured them each day. Providing hands-on projects
helps to strengthen learned concepts.
IDEO is a new model that is about
the constant creation of knowledge and empowering individuals to participate,
communicate, and innovate.
Two questions this company’s
website proposes are: What would the world look like if everyone saw the
problems in the world as design opportunities? What if every child believed in
his or her creative abilities and had a means of productively tapping into
them? These are great questions that we as teachers need to think about when
working with our students. We are as teachers building a generation of design
thinkers and we must help our students foster the skills they will need to
become effective design thinkers. After reading the IDEO website and articles I
have been influenced to think more about how to help my students bring out their
creative abilities and offer my students more opportunities to explore with real
world materials. I believe that if children are given more opportunities to be
creative, work with their peers, and problem solve they will learn more effectively.
How
many of you have access to a SMART table? If you have used a SMART table what
are different ways that you have used
the table in your classrooms? Are you required in your county to have students
work hands on to create projects or is your curriculum mainly teacher directed?
