So week three into the school year and we are approaching the end of our unit. I introduced vocab early via quizlet and an interactive game called gimkit and the students responded well. Today I had two separate students quote different words we have been working on verbatim. Needless to say I was one happy teacher that is until I asked them what it meant . . . They stared at me blank faced. They could quote the terms but were unable to apply it to what we were working on. The technology component created a sense of interest and they did learn which terms matched the definitions, but they needed me to help them make the connection. This brings me back to some modifications that I may need to make on my Teachnology Philosophy statement to ensure that my students can use technology as a tool but realize that it’s not the end all be all.
Amy Jindra
Just another St. Cloud State Sites site
I’ve had that exact same experience this year. I had my students create posters for various short story terms (things like plot, exposition, point of view, etc.). They had to include a definition and a picture depicting the term on their poster. I also said that their definitions had to be in 7th grade terms, which meant they couldn’t just go to Google and find the definition. I was amazed by how many of them struggled with that task. It made me take a step and question how much learning they’ve missed simply because they can repeat a definition or look something up on Google, but cannot actually tell me what it means. I’m glad to see my students aren’t the only ones that struggle with this!