Things can go wrong!

One thing I learned about my 'Set' assignment using the smart board was that technology is not always on your side. Things can definitely go wrong! I think my classmates did a great job in staying patience as we all dealt with the obstacles the day threw at us. The smart board is a tool that can assist in our teaching; however, I believe that keeping it simple is also beneficial.

For this assignment, I chose to do a set for a kindergarten Language Arts lesson, that would introduce the students to the letter 'F'.

Would I have changed anything in my 'Set'? Well, as teachers, we should always be changing our lessons. For the most part, I believed that my set was effective. One complication I faced was the sound not working. I had planned for the smart board to say the letter 'F' out loud as a way of getting the student's attention. Because it did not work, I got the students to say the letter and what it sounded like. And to tell you the truth, it worked out even better because every child was involved. If I would be given a second chance to do this assignment, I would make it shorter and use the concept attainment game as a way of teaching about the letter F instead os making it my set. If the smart board did not work, I would have a backup plans that would include a drawing game or perhaps have a bag of objects that represented things that started with the letter F and make it a hands-on activity. When technology is involved, we should always have a back-up plan because life throws curve balls at us, and as teachers, we need to be ready to make sure our students stay on task.

One thing I kept in mind, is that this assignment was to do either a set or a closure to a lesson. This kept me calm, because if I were in a regular classroom dealing with a similar situation as we encountered that day, I could make the set or closure shorter or 'more simple' without using the smart board and continue with teaching the outcome.