Electronic Contact Assignment

For my electronic contact, I chose a teacher who is the 2nd grade teacher at The Lane School in Hinsdale, IL, Wendy McGreal. We shot back and fourth some emails about technology in the classroom and I enjoyed what I learned. I have never really thought that much about technology, but I know that they did use it at the school and I felt that interviewing and talking to a teacher who has younger students would be very beneficial. Now, they are not completely high tech, but there are many advances being made in the classrooms now a days. First, Ms. McGreal does use the dry erase board a lot, but she does also incorporate many different things.

Ms. McGreal is now starting to use a projector frequently, one that is set up to a lap top. Here the students can see things a lot more clear and many times it is easier to understand because they get computers. Also, it is just a lot nice to see and they become a lot more interested. Wendy also tries to get her students to the computer lab a lot because she thinks that it is a great experience for them. The Internet is regulated, and many times she tries to find fun exciting sites where they can explore just so they can get used to the internet. She also tries to use the Internet so they can find research. I do applaud her however because she told me she also makes them use books combined with the internet or cd-roms because she feels society is straying away from the important things that people should know how to do.



Lastly, Ms. McGreal is making her students type all of their papers. She says that they do a lot of writing in class, and so when they are in the computer lab sometimes they work on their typing skills. She understands that you can’t just ignore technology or things will pass you by quickly and she does not want her students to not be prepared. Also, during class projects she films them so the children can watch them and learn from their mistakes as well as have fun with it.

I enjoyed talking to Ms. McGreal a lot about technology because I feel that she has a perfect balance in her classroom. Technology is very important so she tries to slowly incorporate it. Many 2nd graders are a lot more computer savvy then adults, but that doesn’t mean they all understand how to use it. Wendy McGreal is really setting her class to be successful not just in reading and writing but the future of technology.