Stepping Out of the Arts and Crafts Box and into the Computer

I will have to admit that this was definitely not an easy lesson to come up. It was especially hard because I needed to incorporate technology and digital spreadsheets into the lesson. I am an Early Childhood/Elementary (ECE) major and the only thing I could think about was arts and crafts, blocks, play, reading aloud, and creativity. I was not able to think deep enough to create a lesson as fine as the ones presented during class e.g. the lesson on nutrition of breakfast cereals. The only activities that came to mind were counting blocks and putting that data into a digital spreadsheet, but in my mind I kept on hearing Dr. Cyrus’s voice asking “Well, what are they going to learn from that?” Now whenever I make any lesson plan I will always ask myself that exact question.

I needed to get creative and think harder. I asked myself “What could elementary students count and collect data in which they could input on a digital spreadsheet. I finally came up with the idea of counting money, but then I thought 5th grade students, the grade that I had already decided to base my lesson on, must already know how to count money. Then I realized that I could use their prior knowledge of counting money to teach them something related to money such as budgets. I began to write my lesson with the objectives being the hardest part to complete because I knew that we were going to share our work with the class. I just remembered that objectives should include demonstrative verbs so I researched further on how to make objectives. I came across a site that was very helpful and the line that helped me the most was “Objectives should also be directly measurable.” (Lesson Plans Page) How else would you assess the child if the objective is not measurable?

I was glad to have gotten my head out of the arts and craft box and story books and into the computer instead. The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) for Teachers standard 2A is to “design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity” (International Society…). I finally realized that I will have to learn to create activities that incorporate technology into lessons during this technological time. I am a firm believer of creative arts and I am now a believer that students can be as creative with a computer as they are with crayons, markers, and paint.


Sources Cited:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS for Teacher 2008. Standard 2A. Retrieved February 15, 2009. From International Society for Technology in Education. Website: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

Lesson Plans Page. (February 12, 2009). 10 Steps To Developing A Quality Lesson Plan. Retrieved February 15, 2009. From lessonplanspage.com. Website: http://www.lessonplanspage.com/WriteLessonPlan.htm

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