Lessons Learned

During my time as a tutor in my PDS I have learned many things - some predictable, some not. I have enjoyed my experience and through my observations and lessons some things have caught my attention. I learned that some students are not always what they seem. For example, one student was very compliant and on task, however it was revealed to me that she was the only student in the class failing. Another student was disruptive and rebellious -- I found out he was gifted. I also have learned that activities that I enjoy may not be as entertaining for my students. For example, I love crosswords yet when I incorporated one into my lesson the students were less than enthused. Finally, I have learned that it is sometimes difficult for high school students to think outside of their world. In order to really get something across to them I must make it relevant to their lives.

Instructional Technology Integration

What's the difference between technology use and technology integration? In my opinion, the difference between technology use and integration is based on the students' participation. Technology use would seem to be when the teacher uses technologies to present the lesson and to organize the classroom. For example, these would be such things as online grade books or teaching with a PowerPoint presentation. However, technology integration would be when students are actually utilizing the technology within the classroom to enhance their own learning. These could be activities such as an online blog centralized on the curriculum or online labs such as MyEducationLab.com or MyMathLab.

Action Research Wonderings

When I first arrived at my PDS they began reading the book Night by Elie Wiesel. This is a non-fiction book about the horrific events of the holocaust through the eyes of a young man. While observing the students I saw that they seemed to be interested in the content, however, I could tell that they probably have not been exposed to much diversity. For example, there is one African-American student in the class and a few of the students were suggesting things for him to do because he is a minority. They said things like, "Dude, if I was black and a teacher yelled at me I would always say 'It's because I'm black isn't it'". Although certain phrases like this are common, it really bothered me to think that even now, when we have an African American president students still are not taught equity and tolerance of others of different races, ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds. So for my action research question I asked, "How does providing examples of literary work of diverse authors help students learn tolerance to promote equity and social justice?