Technology -The Heart of S.O.L.E.

My Students

I don't use technology in my classroom because it's a buzzword or a trend. I use it because connecting my students with the real world will prepare them for the future.-Geek Diaries My students need to learn with technology the way they LIVE with technology on a daily basis.

I teach in a large urban district in northeast Ohio.

My school has adopted the STEAM learning model but we do not receive any additional funding from the district to implement the model. We are also classified as being impoverished with 100% of the students receiving free breakfast and lunch. The main street that my building is located on is well maintained by working class families. However, the surrounding side streets are comprised of many empty lots and abandoned buildings. I teach science and math to two 5th grade homerooms with an audience of 25 students at a time. My students are awesome! They love to come to school and our attendance rate hovers around 93% which is the district's goal. My scholars are naturally curious, competitive, and enjoy a good challenge. Unfortunately, they have a very limited schema as exposure to enriching activities is limited due to economic constraints. This has a detrimental effect on content specific vocabulary and real life connections.

My Project

Having Chrome Books in my classroom would help support the inquiry based learning format that I have adopted. Being a self organized learning environment (S.O.L.E.) basically means the students take ownership of their learning. The lessons move from the teacher being center stage in a lecture format, to that of a facilitator during the lesson. Each major concept starts with a problem/situation posed by the teacher. The students then all discuss possible solutions to the question. Students must collaborate within small groups of 4-5 to solve the problem using Google Chrome Books as a technology resource. Students all play a role in the process either by researching, writing information on group poster paper or reporting out. After a designated amount of time the class reconvenes to discuss findings. Students share out information, cite references, and pose extending questions. The teacher uses discussion/research as a spring board to dive deeper into the standard.

Chrome books will improve my classroom because currently we only have 2 working desktop computers.

Co-operative learning is difficult because the computers are not mobile. With Chrome books, students can spread out working in pods on desktops or on the floor. Chrome books will change the lives of my students because it would literally expand their horizons. They could watch a rocket launch, build and compare a 3-D object, or track the phases of the moon all within a few clever finger strokes.