Thanksgiving Assignment

**Sorry for the lateness, Week 13 didn't show up on the website like the others **

I called and talked to my mom about her technology use in her everyday life. She's a first grade teacher, and her use of technology has definitely changed over the last few years. She has braved the transition of everything being either on the blackboard or on worksheets to having a laptop to utilize SmartBoard activities and online grade books. She said the transition was tough at first, no one likes changing their ways initially, especially if they way they are currently doing things is working. Our school district back home did their best to make the transition smooth by having workshop days for the teachers where they learned how to properly utilize these new tools to best help their students. My mom would also bring her laptop home where my brother and I would help her play around with her new SmartBoard software and create fun games for her students. No matter how many workshops you attend, I still think that the best way for anyone to learn how to use a new technology is to play around with it a little on your own.

The school now has a couple carts of iPads for the teachers to use in their classrooms, but my mom had already had one of her own at home for a few months before they were introduced to the school setting, so she had quite a bit more background with the Apple software than she did the SmartBoards. Even though she was familiar with the technology, it was still a learning experience to find effective ways to keep 20 first graders on task using a device that they probably use to play games on at home.

At first she felt that these new technologies were making her classroom less productive. It was a learning curve for both her and her students. But as time went on, and she mastered new skills, overall it helped to make her classroom more productive by bringing it into the new age. The same pattern followed with her enjoyment of her job. It's stressful at first to bring something new into a classroom setting when you've been teaching for so long, but after she got the hang of it, it helped her and her class enjoy the school setting overall.