I am currently in my final teaching rotation of my master's program. Big sigh of relief, I'm almost finished! Being that it is my third rotation, I'm placed in a rural school district about 30 minutes away from my home. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first walked in the doors, and boy was I blown away from everything that Rural High School has to offer it's students.
Every student, grades 3-12 receives a Macbook for the school year.
Yes, a Macbook.
Rural High School was lucky enough to receive a technology grant to fund Apple products in their schools. It opens up a whole new side of teaching for me, and makes me a lot more comfortable using technology in the classroom.
You would think that the macbooks would be a distraction, but they aren't. The students are very responsible with them, and I never catch them on any other websites during class.
The availability of macbooks allows for me to incorporate project based learning. They can take practices tests on the computers, do research, and anything else that the world wide web offers.
I'm used to having Smart Boards in my classrooms, but now my students can all hook up their laptops to the smart board to share the information they're finding. I can also use clicker quizzes to do a quick assessment of my students' progress.
My students stay on top of their grades since they can check them online at any time during the day.
Make-up work is a cinch, and most of my students email me the day they are absent asking for missed assignments.
Accessibility to computers has greatly matured my students. I feel as though I am a college professor instead of just a high school teacher.
Welcome to the 21st century of Education. I'm loving it.
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