Welcome Parents! I am so excited to kick off another great school year, and am grateful to be your child’s educator for the coming year! This blog is a place where we can all communicate and share ideas about different topics in class. Today I will begin our ongoing dialogue about technology in the classroom. Parent involvement is very important to the success of your student’s education. You all have special and different talents that I think can really help this years learning environment be more engaging and beneficial than with me alone. I am asking for your help in supporting the fundraising efforts to include critical technology improvements in the classroom. I have several exciting projects planned this year and the incredible impact that can be made with technology in the classroom depends on effective fundraising efforts.
Teaching students the proper and appropriate usage of technology is very important to me as an educator and I am sure the same to you as a parent. Many parents have been hesitant in the past to welcome the use of technology and the Internet with the concern that students will spend more time goofing around or playing games than working and learning. I understand those concerns and strongly believe teaching the students ways technology can be very effective in learning, helps to open their eyes and minds to endless opportunities for extensive education. Roblyer and Doering say it well: “…it has become increasingly clear that the technology itself provides only the raw materials for enhanced educational strategies. Meaningful technology integration is dependent on how teachers plan for and use these powerful tools.” I take this role very seriously and with your support will enhance my student’s knowledge, attitude, behavior, and achievement with the proper integration of educational technology in my classroom.
My “wish list” to enhance educational technology in my classroom could be infinite, however, there are two priorities for the success of this years dance classes. As you may or may not know, our dance room is under construction for the majority of this school year, we will no longer have mirrors, and our sound system to utilize during class. I see this as an opportunity to incorporate two new forms of technology into the dance classes;
- I would like to purchase a camcorder to set up while the dancers are not in front of mirrors to tape their routines. I would then create weekly videos for the students to review and critique their performance and progress, as well as share constructive feedback with their peers to help everyone progress as a whole. The Sony HDR-XR160 HD Camcorder is well known for filming action sports and high definition footage. This video shows a good example of capturing action sport footage: Sony Video.
- The second important item on my wish list is a portable sound system, our classes will be in different areas (depending of availability) and I want the students to never have to be without or unable to hear their music while dancing. The Alesis Transactive Mobile is portable sound systems with iPod connection as well as microphone connect which is great if we are ever dancing outside. Here is a good video describing its features: Sound System Video.
I would love to hear any fundraising ideas you may have, or if you would like to be involved in our fundraising efforts. I know we share the same passion for the success of our students, and I cannot do it alone. The technology I propose is just the beginning of our children becoming more engaged, motivated, knowledgeable, and successful, not only this year but into their future. Please feel free to post any comments or suggestions below; together we can integrate the benefits of technology for the education and success of dance this year!
Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2010). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (5th ed.). Boston, New York, et al.: Allyn & Bacon.
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