Field Experience Observation and Interview

I observed Mrs. S .who is the Technology Integrator/Library Media Specialist at Beaver Meadows Elementary School in Concord N.H. I spent several hours over two days, September 17^th and September 24th with Mrs. S and learning what she does.          This is the third year Mrs. S. has been in this position, and was previously a classroom teacher in another school district. She received her certification from Plymouth State University.

Mrs. S works along side classroom teachers integrating technology into everyday classroom work and projects. Beaver Meadows is a 1:1 ratio for iPads so every student as well as every teacher has their own. Each classroom is equipped with a smart board. In each room I observed Mrs. S was working with the students using the iPad. 

I was able to observe several classrooms using their iPads for very different things. The first class I observed was a group of fifth graders. Each year the fifth grade research a country a family member immigrated from. This year fifth grade would be using their iPads to research their countries and making books as their final project using Book Creator. Mrs. S. first showed a sample book she had made using her great grandmother as an example for this project. Mrs. S. displayed her example from her iPad onto the smart board. I found it extremely interesting during my observation there was a technology glitch and the iPad froze and had to be restarted. While Mrs. S. was restarting the classroom teacher did a great job of keeping the lesson going so the children continued to be engaged. Once everything was back up and working Mrs. S. explained today they would be researching their countries and discussed the search engines they would be using for their research reminding them that these sites were chosen because they were safe to use in the classroom and that students need to only use these sites for their research. They used pic4learning, picsabay, and kidrex. The second class I observed that day was a second grade class that would be putting the apps on the iPad into folders. Mrs. S. using her iPad and the smart board walked the students through making certain folders and putting certain apps into the folders as the classroom teacher walked around the rooms helping any students who needed assistance.

During my second observation I observed a 4^th grade class. The fourth grade was working on a project about birds of prey and each child was researching their own bird. After their research they would be using this information in a pic collage. During my observation the class was doing an image search on the Internet they could use for their project. Again Mrs. S. used her iPad with the smart board to discuss how the class would find pictures and save them to their iPads. Again the class used the same search engines as were used in 5^th grade the prior week and again they talked about Internet safety and why these were sites that were safe for them to use. The second class we observed that day was the same 2^nd grade class we were in the prior week. This week they were using book creator to practice writing their word wall words. The students wrote each word three times on a page before creating a new page for a new word. I found this a different interest engaging way for the students to practice these words.

Below is my formal interview with Mrs. S.:

Do you feel your school is supportive of integrating technology?

            For the most part yes.  The administration definitely are, some teachers who have been classroom teachers for a long time are not quite as receptive but most teachers are willing to learn and excited to integrate the piece into their classroom.

Whose responsibility is it to teach safe research and social media practices to students in your school?

            We are always discussing safe practices. Each time we use the iPad for the Internet I always start off with reminding them of Internet safety and that the apps we will be using are all safe for their use.

How often do you collaborate with others in your school in regards to technology integration?

            When I go into classrooms and work on projects I am really co teaching with the classroom teacher. We work together on projects so its not like I’m coming in for a “special” like art I come in and work with the teacher on projects they will continue to work on without me there. There isn’t a scheduled time I come into classrooms every week to work with students like a “special” does. I work with the teachers to talk about what they are working on and how I can help to integrate technology into this. Sometimes I would spend an hour in a classroom other times only half hour.

What does a normal day look like for you?

Busy! I’m everywhere during the day, always moving. Having a half hour in between classes is rare for me. Because I’m doing so many different things in all the age groups there is a lot of prep work prepping and working with each teacher so the students get the most out of my time with them.

I know there is a 1:1 ratio for students with iPads; does this include all grades including Kindergarten?

            It does include Kindergarten but because Kindergarten is only half day their work with iPads is limited as there are other things that need to be squeezed into such a small amount of time.

What does a student’s accessibility to their iPads look like when you are not their working with them?

            Teachers use them without me in the classroom. Like the 2^nd grade class you observed we were putting apps she will use into folders to it will be easier for the students to find them. The older students working on bigger research projects can use their iPads without me their to continue their research. Right now the iPads do stay at school though, students are not allowed to take them home. Administration is working on a way to possibly make that a reality though.

As I’m observing each class I heard both you and the classroom teacher use the term apple up to the students. What does this mean?

Apple up means that the students should have their iPads screen down on their desks. The back of an iPad shows an apple and the old cases we used to have showed the apple. We have new cases now and you can’t actually see the apple but the term stuck and students know what we mean.

Connections and Conclusion:

            I found my time observing Mrs. S. in the classroom to be extremely eye opening for me. I had no idea technology was such a huge part of the every day class with something like a smart board completing eliminating the use of a chalk or dry erase board. The fact that every child had access to their own iPad amazed me, and that fact children in 2^nd grade could so easily navigate and embrace it as just another tool in their classroom like a pencil or notebook. It gave me insight on what my future in the classroom will look like and truly gave me more meaning to this technology class.  I know not all school systems are lucky enough to have this type of technology at their finger tips but I can see the benefits children are gaining from having these tools at their finger tips and how it will help them in future as they will be more familiar and comfortable with the technology in front of them.

            Some of the connections I made from my time at Beaver Meadow and with Mrs. S was constantly talking with students about Internet safety before they began any type of work that required them to go onto the Internet. The other piece that really connected for me was just how much technology is truly being integrated into the classroom. As I sat in this graduate class watching and learning about different tools it was hard for me to envision this truly being used every day until I was able to go to a school and spend time in many different classrooms all using this.