Teacher Reflection

As the final year in the LI CARES grant, this seems like an appropriate time to reflect on the process that the Farmingdale Team experienced.

When we first met three years ago, anxiety seemed to rule the room.  As techno-based phrases and words and concepts were thrown about, an observer could physically see a change in the body language and facial expressions of the teachers in the room.  Shoulders stiffened.  Jaws tightened.  Questions and comments and fears and concerns were raised – mostly about adding so much of what was unfamiliar into the familiar territory of curriculum and classroom management.

“Our first technology meetings several years ago were horrifying,” commented Celia Blumm, Humanities 10 ELA teacher, “and debilitating.  We would leave in a brain-dead trance of anxiety and confusion.”

The one thing that we always knew was that we would focus the next three years on the idea of tolerance and
prejudice.

With a lot of hand holding and patience and cooperation, we succeeded that first year with a project that involved the recording of our students as they read Holocaust testimonials.  With the assistance of the team leader, the students performed as part of Farmingdale High School’s Diversity Week.

We also took those first steps into the world of classroom blogs, as students shared their experiences and reactions while reading The Book Thief, by Markus Zuzak.  

 “It was safe space for students to talk about text,” said reading teacher Susan Byrns, adding that it was an attempt to level the “academic playing field.”  In fact Humanities students were able to work with the Reading students so that they could better understand the text.  

By year 2, the team seemed to be more comfortable with technology.  We also knew that the second year’s project needed to be more spectacular.

For starters, the team leader enrolled in two Elluminate training courses.  This was essential so he could Elluminate with all of the students involved in the grant, to introduce them to Matthew Shepard in preparation of a field trip to see The Laramie Project at Adelphi University.

Continuing with the idea of tolerance, we thought of tapping into the creativity of the students.  The team leader introduced the teachers to three free Internet-based programs: ToonDoo, Animoto, and Glogster.  These three programs opened up a world of enhancing instruction: comic strips, movies, and posters.  

Teachers then brought the programs to students, who were encouraged to illustrate a tolerance issue with which they felt most passionate.  No limits were placed on them.  Students addressed everything from genocide to eating disorders to child abuse.  Their projects were then uploaded onto classroom PB Works pages.  Then, during the high school’s Diversity Week, the team created a virtual art show, in which the projects were projected onto an enormous screen in the Commons, while students and staff could comment in real time.

In year 3, it’s safe to say that the team was incredibly comfortable.  They embraced the iPad.  The team leader encouraged the teachers to play and to explore apps.  Within a short amount of time, the iPad was used to enhance teaching in the classroom.

Of great concern to us was the ability to make the iPads accessible to the entire class.  The cables made it possible to connect an iPad to a projector, and then onto the Promethean board.  Classes were able to do whole class review, as well as explore art galleries and take virtual field trips to locations described in literature and taught in social studies.  

Our goal was to keep the year 3 project simple – but that quickly disappeared.  As the team leader, I admit that I was inspired by the technology and I was curious about just how far we could push things.  Still working under the tolerance umbrella, we chose a short story that takes place in London.

It seemed only natural to reach out and find a partner school.  Plan A was to find a school in Great Britain; Plan B was to reach out to other high schools in communities named “Farmingdale.”  Fortunately, a school in Edinburgh, Scotland, took the bait, and we were able to meet in the virtual classroom.  I am pleased to say that the technology on our end, as well as the conducting of the Elluminate session, went very well.

Now that the grant cycle has come to an end, the FHS team is definitely more comfortable in not only using technology, but also exploring it in ways that can appropriately supplement their lessons.