technology inventory

This week I had the opportunity of visiting a first grade classroom at Brookside Elementary in Springville, Utah. The teacher had a number of technologies available to the students which I will elaborate on. The list starts with:

1. TV/VCR/DVD combo
2. Overhead projector with pull down white screen
3. 1 computer for the teacher
4. 2 computers for students with a self-monitoring Waterford Education tutoring program
5. A digital camera
6. A sound system (microphone around teachers' neck) and speakers throughout the classroom (this was to help her not have to speak so loud, and also for a hearing impaired student to be able to hear more clearly
7. The teacher has created a classroom blog to share with other students and parents
8. A listening center with DVD players and headphones and DVD's of high quality music

The teacher had enough of a wish list (5 more digital cameras, A computer projector, a lap top) that she was in the process of writing a grant to obtain those items. She uses technology every morning by pulling "the good morning song" off of the computer (it was bookmarked for easy access). A lot of her art work was gathered online. I asked her if she might be interested in learning about other online resources that I could find out from my technology class. She was very interested and I want to make her a list of websites, downloads and software that could be helpful to her. She told me she would love to have a Smartboard. She let me browse through her blog and it was well organized with great pictures of the children doing class projects and working together.

The teacher mentioned that the students have a computer lab that they go to once or twice a week. I did not have time to visit the lab to see what kind of computers they had or what programs they had acquired. I suggested that she take a look at the "Storyboard" program we used in our class to see if it might be useful to her. I believe she is a very capable and opened minded teacher where technology is concerned and would benefit from a bit of guidance in how technology resources can readily connect to curriculum objectives.