My experience integrating technology
Welcome to York Street Public School!
My first practicum placement was in a Grade 8 literacy class at York Street Public School. This is where I had the opportunity to integrate technology into a classroom. I created a drama and writing unit with the theme of environmental conflict. My students were introduced to elements of drama, research and persuasive writing. Essentially, they were responsible for researching an environmental issue, for creating a dramatic piece to communicate the issue, consequences and solutions to an audience, and for writing a persuasive letter appealing to the "movers and shakers" of their specific issues.
The first class I began with a slideshow of environmental photographs in order to spark interest, awe, and concern. This was done with Powerpoint and Google images.
environment_slide_show.pdf | |
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After a social and interactive activity, I closed the lesson with an inspirational Slam Poetry video by Shane Koyczan. This was done using YouTube.com.
Throughout the four weeks that I spent with the Grade 8's, I used minimal technological integration. In addition to my own limited knowledge of integrating technology, York Street was also short on resources. For the research section of the unit, I took the class to the computer lab which is still their main source of technology. They did not have class sets of ipads or chrome books. I sometimes used the classroom Smartboard to complete interactive activities with them, especially for mind-mapping and brainstorming. Some students used film in their drama presentation and some used a computer to type their final letters. Other that, we were happily low-tech.