Ideas for teaching with a computer in class

From what I learned this week is that if I don't specify in my plan that I need certain things to happen with my kids in class, I won't get a good development of them. All the articles during this week have given me some ideas in the way we plan and carry out a class. I read abut different ideas to do when we do not have access to a lab. I read about how to make something interactive with few resources. And I like the idea of using a single computer to make students more interactive among them in class.

My little thought and concern is if I can balance how much students need to be autonomous, until which grade is it good for a 4^th grader to be very independent in order to be part of his or her own learning. I read theories and articles with hints and lists but the real thing is that I need to be careful because it is going to be different from kids. Kids and parents tend to depend on the teacher. Here in Nicaragua there are many parents that think if teachers are not controlling what students do for a task it is not ok. I think I need to make some effort in teaching and providing kids and parents some ideas and some facts about what they obtain by gaining independence. It is a long way as I said at the beginning of the course but I am working little by little.

Independence means feel and be free to think, to decide and to do. That is the idea of supporting and facilitating kids. They are going to be able to differentiate, to decide whether or not to read an article. To measure themselves, to see if something is valuable or necessary for them and to give opinions about issues in order to be part of our plans modification or activities.

By now with my project, students are beginning to use emails, and this is a huge step for me. They had never done this before and I have some parents who have not helped me to let kids use internet at home. So, let me keep working on parents’ confidence.

My challenging step is the implementation of webquest and blogs. they are too little and I have to keep working on that.

Regards,

Yariela