TEACHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

We were doing a lesson unit on cells. What better way to study cells, than to actually look at them through the microscope. We teamed up with our 4th grade colleague Mrs. Church to look at various cells. We started out with an onion cell, for it is easy to see the cells in formation. The children then had to draw what they saw, and compare it to their cell drawings that they made the previous week. We took it one step further and had the students look at actual human cells. I can say that for most of them, what they saw on the slides was not what they were expecting to see!

Here are a few pointers that helped our lesson run smoother, and can help you, too!

• Having such a big class and expensive and sensitive equipment, make it a point to review the rules of handling the equipment, rules of conduct and the consequences with the students.
  
• Make sure that your are constantly on the move! Make sure that you eat something, so you don't run out of energy.
• Stop the entire class when needed for things such as checking if everyone looked at the microscope, and knows what to do.
• Break the students up in groups, and assign a group leader for each. Make the leader responsible for preparing the slides.
• Most importantly, have the class cleanup their mess! It is a tough job to clean everything yourself!
  
• Have some worksheets or books handy for those students who finish early. Better yet, have them write a reflection about their experience.

Star Reading/Star Math
The students take a test in math and reading. They do this on the website "Renaissance Place". Each student logs into their own account. Here, we determine their math and reading levels.

Accelerated Reading
The students have one hour of reading on Thursdays and Fridays. When the students have finished with a book, they log into their "Renaissance Place" account and take a comprehension test on the book that they read. Goals are set for each student. The more they read and get correct answers on the test, the more they are closer to reaching their goals.