One issue that I have with my class is teaching kids how to gather and use reliable resources. Nowadays, even Third Graders, want to "Google" things when they don't know the answer. In some ways I think that it is cool that they want to find answers, but I think that it is my job to teach them that there are many more ways to find answers to questions. Also, they need to learn that all that they read on the Internet may not be trustworthy. The other issue that I have in class is computers. I have three in my class that run on OS 9 which is perfect for word processing, but since I part of my ELA time is Project Based, many kids can be working on a project and we don't have enough computers in the class. I can't just let them into the computer lab unsupervised, but at the same time they are so into finishing what they started, they have difficulty sharing our computers.
2 comments:
Access to computers is a common problem. Fortunately we have a staffed computer lab. Even if there is a full class in there we have at least 10 extra computers so teachers can call down to see if there is room to send extra kids. We still occasionally run into problems. I know what you mean...kids are so enthusiastic and then it takes weeks to finish anything because of access.
The Google search issue is universal with kids. I wish there was a "Google Jr."
Interest divide issue -- it would be outstanding if we had the funding to staff the computer labs just as we staff the library. It would really support students time on task and differentiation.ra
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