This week was the first opportunity that my class had to be in the computer lab. I was surprised how it changed the atmosphere of the room. I was anticipating that the computer lab would feel uncomfortable (mostly because I’m not entirely comfortable with computers yet, and I thought my uneasiness would rub off on the rest of the class). It didn’t even really occur to me until just now that I think my class went better in the computer lab. I’m not really sure why.
In our regular classroom I always have the students circle up because rows make me nervous—I hate not being able to see everyone’s faces clearly. I thought the way the labs are structured with students in small groups around tables would be awkward at best. I would have guessed that students would have been more prone to stay in their cliques and not interact with students at the other tables. The odd thing is that everyone seemed more open to enter the discussion; and again, I’m not sure why.
When I was thinking about teaching in the lab (because I wasn’t originally planning on ever being in a lab) I began to feel obligated to use the computers—after all, they’re there! At first I was really uncomfortable about this because I didn’t want to use the computers in an arbitrary way; I really want everything we do to be connected to what we’re doing in the unit.
One way that I eased us into getting used to the computers was that I had students use them for exploration one of unit two. When I told the class that we would be using the computers, I could see right away that there were two students who looked concerned. I asked the class if they had any questions or concerns about using the computers, and one student raised his hand and asked if he could hand write his exploration. He said that he was an extremely slow typer and was concerned about getting the exploration done in the time allowed. I felt this was a reasonable request, and I offered it up to the class. Three students decided to hand write their explorations. I would rather students concentrate on what they have to say in their writing instead of being worried the entire time about the computer. I do intend to use the computers more in class, and I bet in the end these few students will feel more confident and would be more likely to want to type their explorations in class.
The next day when we were in the lab I was really concerned about how the activity would go. I had students do a website audience analysis while working in pairs. I thought the activity was a good idea, but this was the day that Greg was coming in to observe the class, and that made me nervous. I was waiting to fall on my face! But I really think things went well. The students worked the entire time; the computers cooperated; and the atmosphere was really relaxed. This was a great activity to use the computers for, and I felt that it really related to what we’re doing for our unit as far as helping students learn how to analyze audience. (And it was fun!)
I really feel that being in the computer lab helped my class click. I can’t explain why, but the environment just works for us. I’m totally stoked about this because I was really hesitant going in to it!
In our regular classroom I always have the students circle up because rows make me nervous—I hate not being able to see everyone’s faces clearly. I thought the way the labs are structured with students in small groups around tables would be awkward at best. I would have guessed that students would have been more prone to stay in their cliques and not interact with students at the other tables. The odd thing is that everyone seemed more open to enter the discussion; and again, I’m not sure why.
When I was thinking about teaching in the lab (because I wasn’t originally planning on ever being in a lab) I began to feel obligated to use the computers—after all, they’re there! At first I was really uncomfortable about this because I didn’t want to use the computers in an arbitrary way; I really want everything we do to be connected to what we’re doing in the unit.
One way that I eased us into getting used to the computers was that I had students use them for exploration one of unit two. When I told the class that we would be using the computers, I could see right away that there were two students who looked concerned. I asked the class if they had any questions or concerns about using the computers, and one student raised his hand and asked if he could hand write his exploration. He said that he was an extremely slow typer and was concerned about getting the exploration done in the time allowed. I felt this was a reasonable request, and I offered it up to the class. Three students decided to hand write their explorations. I would rather students concentrate on what they have to say in their writing instead of being worried the entire time about the computer. I do intend to use the computers more in class, and I bet in the end these few students will feel more confident and would be more likely to want to type their explorations in class.
The next day when we were in the lab I was really concerned about how the activity would go. I had students do a website audience analysis while working in pairs. I thought the activity was a good idea, but this was the day that Greg was coming in to observe the class, and that made me nervous. I was waiting to fall on my face! But I really think things went well. The students worked the entire time; the computers cooperated; and the atmosphere was really relaxed. This was a great activity to use the computers for, and I felt that it really related to what we’re doing for our unit as far as helping students learn how to analyze audience. (And it was fun!)
I really feel that being in the computer lab helped my class click. I can’t explain why, but the environment just works for us. I’m totally stoked about this because I was really hesitant going in to it!
2 comments:
Glad to hear it went well, and of course you know that I'm intrigued by the *ways you're thinking about* using the space. What can a classroom with computers in it do for a writing class that another space can't? What kinds of work might be realized in that space (that would be different in another space)? The connections between classroom design and learning are always present; it's not that teaching in the computer classrooms is a panacea, but it makes other kinds of work possible. As you continue planning the rest of your units, what seems possible now that you've been in there?
Thanks, Melissa!
I love the pics, by the way. For one thing, the perspective makes the room look large and spacious :) In another way, it really makes visible how focused students are/can be in those classrooms on *working*. I love that (and the contrast with the quick clip Samantha took of me is humbling--there I am yammering away at them while they look at me!)
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