There was an assembly at my school last Friday called Amazing Hero Art. The artist, Rob Surette was flashy and exciting and had a very positive message in his program. Other than how fast he painted the portraits of Abrham Lincoln and the others, he kept the students and staff amazed and interested by using Power Points to teach the history of the people he was painting. With each new portrait, a new slideshow began. The slidehows included music and video that added to what he was painting. Each picture or song in the show was a clue to whose portrait he was painting.
One of the topics in the show was about the inventions. He focused on Thomas Edison and how the invention of the lightbulb changed the world and helped to create movies. It was incredible to see how technology has changed in such a short time. We've gone from the invention of the telephone to communicate with people to computers that can send an e-mail to friends, family, or business clients at anytime of the day or night to cell phones that we can use for e-mail and storing music on.
Rob Surette listed his top 10 inventions as part of his show. The one that struck me the most was the computer that types what a person is thinking. What a great thing to have for those students who have special needs and have no other means of communication. For the people who cannot speak or write, but can think. This would give them a means to communicate without boundaries. If only Helen Keller could have had such technology? Think of all the kids with autism, cerebral palsy, readers and writers that struggle with getting the words out and how technology like this computer could change how we as teachers can help them.
I'm sure that the thought computer has its downfalls too, but it just goes to show that there is still so much out there that we don't know about and someday have to use in our schools.
If interested, Rob Surette's website is amazingheroart.com. He was inspirational and truly amazing!
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It is amazing how far technology has come in the past ten or twenty years. Can you imagine what wonderful inventions could be part of the daily lives of future generations?
ReplyDeleteI was speaking with a group of teachers last Friday about the pressure we feel as we prepare for the Connecticut Mastery Test. We believe that some students have so much knowledge to share but their scores on the test don't relect this. I have youngsters who can read and comprehend material on grade level but score at the Basic Level on the CMT because they have difficulty getting their thoughts onto paper. Wouldn't it be wonderful if these children had the opportunity to sit in front of a computer and orally answer or even think their responses as the computer typed! What a great advantage that would be for them! I also think we should soon be giving students the option of typing or writing by hand their open ended responses on standardized tests, because some students have a great deal of difficulty writing with a pencil but are quite proficient at keyboarding. It's interesting that the current trend in education seems to be towards differentiated instruction and tailoring daily lessons to each student's unique learning style, yet we continue to provide one system of assessment for the majority of students in our public schools. I understand that it would take a great deal of money to purchase laptops for each student in Connecticut, but I believe if "there's a will, there's a way".
I just looked at Rob Surette’s website. He must have delivered a very engaging presentation. I remember Bob Maxon coming to my classroom about 10 years ago to discuss his job as a meteorologist. He was able to draw an outline of each state using a black magic marker on chart paper without looking. My second grade students were mesmerized. I wonder how this new generation of students would respond a decade later.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct about the positive possibilities that are now available for students and others with physical, developmental and cogitative challenges due to technological advances. About fifteen years ago, I had a student who had access to assistive technology on an Apple IIG that included a specially purchased program and speaker to read aloud sounds, words and stories using the “Stephen Hawkin’s voice.” It was a very big deal at the time to get the funding to purchase this technology for this student’s use and many administrators had to be involved in the decision to include access to this technology in his I.E.P. Technology has certainly improved and the decrease in the cost has made it considerably more available to assist a greater number of students. Although, even today, I find the decision to purchase and include the use of assistive technology in I.E.Ps to support and promote student learning requires a lot of discussion with administrators and extra meetings before any decision is made.
I agree with Reading Mom's statements regarding differentiated instruction and assessments. I work at a school designated by the State of Connecticut as a HOT (Higher Order Thinking) school. We acknowledge and encourage the development of students’ Multiple Intelligences based on the work of Howard Gardner. Our school receives state funding for teacher training and visiting artists. I always found it to be a disconnect for the state to recognize the theory of Multiple Intelligences, support lessons and activities that acknowledge and develop these intelligences and then require the district to administer a statewide assessment like the CMT without regard to students’ developmental levels or learning styles. Until this year, most students had to take grade level CMTs rather than take a version of the test based on their independent or instructional levels. A small percentage of a district’s population can now be considered for off level assessments with the proper documentation. I believe that in certain cases, some students are allowed to use a keyboard when taking the CMT. In second grade, when considering classroom technology use for students with 504s or I.E.P.s who would benefit from having a word processor available but do not have serious physical or cognitive challenges, questions that arise include: When should we teach keyboarding skills?; Will the student develop functional penmanship skills if they are using the keyboard for written responses?; Where will we get the funding to purchase this technology? and What about the other children in the class who will not have the benefit of the same type and amount of access to technology? I am hoping that through our discussions, research and reading as participants in this class, we will be better informed when partaking in these school and district wide discussions to support student learning through technology use.