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I have been working for over 20 years in a Montessori school where the fundamental skills of phonetic reading, math facts and cursive writing are taught at a very young age. Our Montessori philosophy believes in working with concrete materials and then leading students to abstraction. In the past, our Montessori school has not been driven by technology because our emphasis has been on fostering and developing these basic skills that all students require to succeed. However, as we know, technology is a big part of today’s world and is woven into just about every aspect of our lives. I am not tech savvy myself, and require guidance on how to make this change happen within the classroom.
This year our classroom has been given 4 desktops, one laptop and 5 ipads. My challenge and struggle this year will be how to continue teaching our enriched Montessori curriculum and integrate technology to enhance student learning. How can I open up a whole new world of engagement, personalized learning, and collaboration with the use of technology?
We are currently using Raz kids for a reading program with our grade 1’s and IXL with students who require additional assistance with math or language skills. I know this is a start, but there is so much more I can do. If anyone has any great apps that they use with their younger students please pass them along. If anyone has any great ideas I am more than grateful to hear what you are doing.
@rcampolucci You are in luck! Cohort 21 has a rich roster of Tech Integration specialists in it’s coaching and facilitator. It is my area of expertise along with @ashaikh @adamcaplan @lbettencourt @ljensen to name a few. On top of that depending on the age and stage of our kids and the area you want to add some integration to you will have lots of other members to choose from.
It sound like you have identified some areas where technology or some online tools can help support student learning
IXL – helps you see patterns in student learning and can inform instruction since you can get a quick diagnostic snapshot of where kids are at very quickly. This data drive tool is quite robust and chances are you have only scratched the surface with it – Have you seen their live dashboard? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y-ymj1C9Jc
Did you know that IXL also has English / Writing / Grammar support as well?
RAZ kids is also a great is tool to help support students as they learn to read.
In the C21 homework what area did you identify as an area of learning urgency? With this current cohort what challenge has presented itself? We can look there as a first step towards meaningful integration.
However as we begin to formulate our action plans lets (as @lmcbeth) likes to say “Fall in love with the problem not the solution.
@gvogt @nblair
Thanks @rcampolucci for this post. You should connect with Marisa @mhoskins because you two might find some common ground!
Garth.
I am always kind of amazed by how the 3 of us who are technology integrators at my school are often the first to say “if the task is best done with a pencil and paper, don’t use technology for that task”. There are many reasons to be careful with how and why you integrate technology into your programme. However, as you say, it’s not going away and it can also help you and your students to do things that are not possible with paper. Tools like IXL and RAZkids can help with student engagement and teacher oversight of progress but what I really love is using technology to support empathetic provocations, documenting the learning process and as a creation tool. As an SK-Grade 5 integrator I’d be happy to chat!
I agree with you – the basic skills need to be developed first (reading and writing) but to use technology as a creative tool is perfect. I would love to chat and see what you do with your students using technology.