I have a light table in my classroom. When we had it delivered it was exciting for all! We found a place for it, plugged it in, and wow it did indeed light up.... then what?
This is where the meaningful integration of technology takes place! What could we do to really use this light table to our advantage? I wanted the children to be able to find meaning, explore and relate this activity back to their real worlds, their reality.
Many of the children in the class love animals. At center time, they want to role play animals and pets. One child is the pet owner and the other is the puppy. They have to feed, walk, and take care of the pet. It was during this play that the "puppy" got hurt. They asked, 'where do we take the puppy if it is hurt?'
What a neat, simple and elegant idea. And I think the real accomplishment here was that you followed your instincts as a teacher and let your students show you where to take them in the lesson. People often talk about technology vs. human teaching, and you show that this is a false dichotomy. Great teaching opportunities happen when we are intuitive and resourceful. And I'm glad you had this resource in mind for your students. Look at the learning adventure it opened up for them!
ReplyDeleteVery cool idea Terry-Lynn. As a former vet tech I bet if you went in to a vet clinic, or even the vet college, and told them what you were up to they could find you some cool old x-rays. They are recycled after the legal time limit, but they are not worth much so I bet they would give them to you once the clients name has been removed. I remember doing some that would have been great. Preg checks showing a whole litter of puppies, skulls, snakes, birds, even a hamster or two.
ReplyDeleteYour students are very lucky.