EdUCATiON
Nicholas Taylor, a teacher at Celina Middle School, makes good use of today?s teaching tools. photo by Chris Fritchie
Teaching in the 21st Century
By Trina Harlow
onCe uPon a TIme schoolchildren came home at the end of a long day, got out a Big Chief tablet, sharpened a yellow #2 pencil and began the arduous task of homework, while visions of riding bikes and baiting hooks at the fishing hole danced in their heads. The memories of yesteryear are much different from the ones today?s students will have when their schooldays are behind them. While Big Chief tablets were once promoted as ?the popular notebook for generations of children,? today?s notebooks are dell, Gateway, mac and others. Today, technology is a big part of every school day. districts across the country require teachers to be proficient in the use of technology and to include it in their lesson plans. Some technology is used in the classroom and some is part of homework assignments. and when the teacher isn?t readily available to ask for help, technology has found a way to fill that gap as well. online study tools can be helpful to students at both ends of the GPa scale. Kim Brown, a fourth grade teacher at Curtsinger elementary School in Frisco uses a site called ?Study Island.? ?after identifying gaps in student learning, I use Study Island to narrow in on these specific skills to close the gaps in students? learning,? says ms. Brown. ?Study Island allows students to practice and master these skills in a fun, game-like environment.? There are multiple applications on most educational sites. Students can work problems, make flash cards, find notes and information on current events, watch subject-related videos, use live online help and take quizzes to judge test preparedness. The interactive feature of many online study tools engages students in a deeper level of learning. Sites that get especially high marks from students are FunBrain, Professor Freedman?s math Help, eSpindle, BrainPoP, HippoCampus, WordChamp and Quizlet. Textbook companies also offer online websites where students can access their textbooks, find additional problems to work and practice quizzes and tests. Valinda Kennedy, a seventh grade math teacher at rogers middle School in Prosper says, ?my students access their math textbook online. It is so helpful to be able to watch video tutorials, take interactive quizzes and tests and get extra practice when they are struggling with an issue.? ms. Kennedy says mathPlayground is her favorite website for helping students practice multiplication and division facts. When it comes to preparing for the math portion of the TaKS test, she recommends StudyIsland for additional help. She says the games found on those sites are of high quality and more challenging than August 2009 No portion of this article may be reproduced without express written permission of Style Publishing Group, LLC. ©2009 ? All rights reserved. www.friscostyle.com 59
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