One of my biggest pet peeves in my classroom is when the technology does not work. I have 5 laptops in my classroom and more often than not only 3 of them are in good working order. The usual problems include freezing, no internet connection, or the students are unable to log in. When the computers do not have these three problems the students still complain that they are running too slow.
I recently planned two days of math stations in my classroom which promoted differentiation and individualized assignments for my students (huge push in my county right now). I was so proud of the hard work I put in planning these centers and was very pleased when the students were enjoying their work and actually learning something. Right up until the fabulous algebra games I found online could not be accessed because the computers were not working - surprise, surprise! I had to stop working with my small group in order to try to remedy the problem with the computers. I was unable to fix the problem and had to tell the students to go get a laptop from the cart in the hall. This is a terrible solution because it takes those computers at least 5 minutes to start up and then halft the time they have a problem. Needless to say I was no longer proud of centers. The group on the computers were not learning anything and I abandoned my small group.
However, this Tech Savvy teacher is not discouraged. Next week I'm going to incorporate math menus and if the computer is not working then the students just have to go to the next thing on their menu.
Check out two of the fabulous algebra games that my students did not get to enjoy...
http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/alg.cgi
http://www.vectorkids.com/vkvariable.htm
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