Technology Reflection

After researching and interviewing staff at Palmer High School, I quickly gained respect and admiration for the overall attitude of staff and their desire for student success and accommodation in the area of technology. The school’s level of technology is much higher than when I attended high school five years ago, however, Palmer High School is behind the level of other high schools and elementary schools in the area. In short, the school does an exceptional job with what they have. The school librarian does everything in her power to ensure students have access to computers for assignment purposes. The 2011-2012 school year is the first year for the MSBSD to implement the seven period day into the district’s high school schedule. Due to this change, a twenty minute advisory period was dropped, creating a time constraint for students who require access to computers for school projects. During our first staff meeting of the semester, I noticed three students in the library during our staff meeting. The librarian caters to those students who do not have computer access at home, allowing students to use computers before and after school until she leaves for the day, even if the library is full of teachers gathering for the weekly staff meeting.

The high school’s technology culture may be behind other schools in the district, but the overall attitude of the staff is focused on student excellence. The school makes due with what it has and staff always have options available to those students who wish to advance technologically. Palmer High has a number of business and computer classes and also offers a half day program with the nearby Career Tech High School, allowing students to take preparatory college classes in areas of business, medicine, and construction. In areas of artistic technology, the art department offers a digital photography class, and the class also has cinema as art courses. (IB Film and IB Art). The only improvement that can be made to the technology atmosphere of the school is an increase in the budget from the school district for technology needs. Cindy Simon, the school’s librarian is receiving a $9,500 grant which she is putting toward Kindles for student use. Presently, students are unable to download audio books because of the internet restrictions. Simon also understands the growing need for USB flash drives for storage. With some trial and error, she has started the perfect system for the school. In years past, she would actually have flash drives available for check out; however, students checked them out for the length of the school year, inhibiting other students from using them. For this reason, she bought the least expensive flash drives in bulk, and sells the affordable item for students. She does not make any money off of the flash drives, but is simply making available a necessary item for high school students.

As a student teacher, I feel I can be supportive of student technology advancement. One course I participate in as a student teacher is digital photography. This course not only urges art production, but also implements the parts and uses of digital cameras and photo technology. I begin my art survey courses with a bell assignment and short demonstration using the promethean board for presenting the material. Originally, the concept was foreign to me as I try to be hands on with my art demonstrations, showing students how to perform a task with the same materials I require of them. I soon realized that the technology did not have to work against me: I still use hands on demonstrations when needed, but the Promethean Board creates a visual lecture, making my instruction more interesting and attainable. If students are absent, I am able to print flip chart notes from the Promethean Board and post them on a bell assignment bulletin board. This way, students know where they can find notes to catch up and they can feel confident knowing that these are the exact notes presented to class. For the studio art classes, a computer lab is often reserved the day before an art piece is begun: allowing students enough time to find visual research to brainstorm their composition.

If I had the authority and budget to make an impact on the school’s technology culture, I would make sure that every classroom in the school had a promethean board. Most other schools in the district are already at this point, but Palmer High still remains at 50%. I think a key need in the art department is Adobe Photoshop on a certain number of computers as well as a few scanners. There is only one projector in the school and it belongs to the cinema class. For other teachers to use the projector, the librarian must first get permission and check availability with the cinema department. Throughout my high school years, projectors were frequently used in my history and art courses, and I think they are tremendously helpful in classroom learning. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to investigate the technology culture of the school where I am interning. I think it is crucial for educators to know what is readily available to them and their students.