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Leveraging Technology to Support Primary Learners

3/12/2018

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Submitted by Faith Sparzak
First Grade Teacher,  Joppa View Elementary School
What is my teaching background?
 
​Currently, I am in my fifth year of teaching.  I began my teaching career at Dogwood Elementary School, a Baltimore County Public School in Windsor Mill, Maryland.  I taught kindergarten for three years at Dogwood Elementary School.  When I transferred to Joppa View Elementary School last year, I taught kindergarten.  Currently, I am in my first year of teaching first grade.  Although I transferred teaching the same grade, the delivery of instruction was different due to the technology.
 
How often did I use devices at Dogwood Elementary School?
 
While teaching at Dogwood Elementary School, I had three desktop computers in my classroom.  The students had to share the desktop computers during literacy and math rotations. Although BCPS began the device roll out while I was at Dogwood Elementary School, kindergarten classrooms were not recipients of devices.  Fortunately, my students were able to borrow a small group set of devices from a first grade classroom in order to begin to learn how to use the devices.  However, we were only able to borrow the devices a few times.
 
How did the technology usage in my classroom change when I transferred to Joppa View Elementary School?
 

When I transferred to Joppa View Elementary School, I was pleasantly surprised to have a small set of five devices in the classroom.  With the devices, my students were able to practice typing their username and password, as well as learn how to use educational programs such as Dreambox.  When I found out that I would be teaching first grade the following year, I was excited by the idea of having one-to-one devices.  This would enable my students to use the devices to enhance their learning experiences throughout each day.
 
What is it like to have a class set of devices in the classroom?
 
By having a class set of devices that my students are able to use daily, I have the opportunity to integrate technology into my lessons throughout the day.  Therefore, my students have the opportunity to use a variety of engaging and educational digital tools in order to help them develop important skills and concepts in many different subject areas, such as phonics, reading, and math.  For language arts instruction, I have been able to send Wonders activities to the devices, as well as have my students use iReady in order to reinforce fluency, comprehension, phonics, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary.  Also, my students have been able to enhance their research skills through the use of PebbleGo.  For math instruction, my students have been able to use the devices to advance their math skills through the use of Dreambox.  Throughout the rest of the school year, I am looking forward to learning about additional digital resources and tools I can incorporate into my lessons in order to enhance learning and help my students develop the skills they need to be successful learners.
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