I am an education student currently
attending the University of Michigan –Dearborn with a major in Early Childhood
and minors in Language Arts and Social Studies.I
am currently completing my MITTEN
technology project at Garfield Elementary in Livonia. My cooperating teacher
is Julie Francis and we work with a multi-age classroom containing grades
one, two and three.
Regarding the level of available
technology, we have five iMac computers in our classroom and two color
printers. We also have a mini-lab located in our media center with approximately
20 iMac computers. In addition, we have Apple Works word processors with
Kid Pix software available, seven digital cameras and two digital video
cameras shared within the building. Lastly, we have two multimedia carts
and four laptops available for teachers to use.For
information on how this school’s technology compares with others in the
area, click on the STAR CHART.
The students are a terrific group
of 23 children ranging from ages 6-10.At
Garfield, we group children by their ability levels, so they are working
with their peers. We have specials throughout the day, which half of the
class attends at a time, allowing the teachers to work with the other half
in the classroom.This smaller
class size is terrific because it allows for more personal contact with
each student.