techTeacher

Posted on 11/02/09

This is most certainly NOT stupid!!! And you are not the only one!

We're using donated 2nd and 3rd generation machines and big old
CRT monitors. Perhaps you could find a business or another
school (college?) in the area that would give you their
hand-me-downs? Maybe there's a business in the area that would
be honored to have a new computer lab that they purchased for
you named after them? I know there's some Obama stimulus money
designated for technology. And grants.... It's out there and it
is a lot of work to find it.

I would suggest shooting for something smaller and more
manageable rather than a Smartboard or suspended
projector/laptop system right off the bat - those just scream
dollar signs! Perhaps try for a few projectors that teachers
can share. We finally have 3 (for 400 students) and it's a
battle to find one that's free! I use my personal laptop with
it. I can only dream of a day when there will be a designated
laptop for each projector!

You can also use resources from the web on your overheads...
you'll have to get creative, but use whatever kinds of
technology that you can squeeze into anything you do in the
classroom. You could burn some DVDs of online videos and show
it on a TV screen, or listen to a podcast. You could print out
online pictures for references. You could create a teacher
website and post "cool links" for kids to explore on their own
to begin to point them in an educational direction.

What kind of computer access do your students have in their
homes and/or the library? Perhaps you could create an
assignment for them to complete on their own?

We've got a hand-full of teachers that came from tech rich
schools are are chewing their nails from not having those
resources available to them here! We're creating a technology
committee to try to come up with some solutions and a plan for
the near future of technology integration in our school. Maybe
you could create a focus group and create some data about how
having a few of these resources available for your students
would be of a great benefit. Find studies online to show your
administration. It could be that someone is tying their hands
with this tech problem? Is there a school board to get all
fired up?

I'm in my 3rd year here and it's just going to take time to
catch up, and I have a feeling that we won't ever be caught up,
but at least we'll be in the race. Good luck with your efforts
- gather the troupes and go get what you need! And network with
whomever you can that has resources or can get your resources!

On 11/02/09, BethAnn wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> This is really stupid, but it's really frustrating. The
> only technology we have are the old-fashioned overhead
> transparency things.
>
> Anytime someone mentions Smartboards or ceiling-mount
> projectors that connect to the computer, we are just told
> how poor we are. There is only one computer in my room,
> and the computer lab is open only on Monday afternoon.
> There's 350 kids in our school.
>
> Thanks for listening!
> BethAnn

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