Orientation For FacultySequence
Take this entire presentation and move it to a SmartBoard file so that everything is accessible from that one file, and so that the entire presentation models some of the capabilities and uses of the SmartBoard. - Apple Video: When I Become A Teacher...
- ask Ellen Brady if she'd participate (rather than having just the "specialists" inform, hear it from a classroom teacher)
- state the purpose of the orientation
- interactive presentation using the SmartBoard
- expand to an activity
- time for discussion and digestion
- movement moment - stretch and reorganize chairs/desks to facilitate watching of movie (or jump to conclusing moment)
- show ADHD movie (possibly but not definitely)
- concluding moment - hand out an apple for each teacher
Purpose
RCDS middle school students have been using laptops since 1999, making this the start of our 8th year having laptops in school. Usage is dual platform, which means students can choose between Apple and Windows. Students encounter many challenges requiring the gathering, analysis, understanding, explaining, and sharing of information. (So do teachers, for that matter!) Computers and related technologies help students meet these challenges by providing digital environments where they can easily explore and manipulate information. Students also have a variety of learning styles. Computers can help students to tap into different ways of approaching understanding, and assist teachers in reaching students with varied learning styles. That is a brief history and the rationale of our laptop program. However, the words "laptop program" are really not accurate. We do not boast of having a "pencil and paper program" or a "textbook program"; rather, those are simply some of the tools both we and our students utilize on a regular basis. After so many years of students having laptops at RCDS, the computers and use of them are ubiquitous and transparent. Our philosophy is to provide the best learning environment for our students, and that translates to providing a varied set of tools which help students tap into their learning styles; the laptop is but one of those tools. It's been a nice, long summer, and I'm willing to bet that many of us are still in a summer mode. The purpose of this gathering is to gently reorient us towards getting back in the classroom; a classroom that will include a diverse set of learners, of which I include all of us as learners, along with our students.
RETURN TO TOP Interactive SmartBoard Presentation
Facts to be sure and include: - time spent on direct instruction (p. 37, Teaching with the brain in mind, Eric Jensen, 2nd edition 2005)
- time and capacity limitations of short-term (aka working) memory (pgs. 132-133, Teaching with the brain in mind, Eric Jensen, 2nd edition 2005)
- attention time, in answer to the question "How can I keep my students' attention?" (pgs. 94-95, Learning and Memory: The Brain in Action. Marilee Sprenger, 1999)
Visuals:
 Introduce the Student Wiki  Activity
Possible activities: - identify similarities and differences of possible room layouts for different activities/teaching methods (i.e. lecture, note taking, cooperative activity, using laptops, using paper and pencil, etc)
- maybe use a Venn Diagram on the SmartBoard
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