ABC Elementary

Jennifer McNutt
July 23, 2015

ABC
Elementar
y

Position Paper

The use of technology has become a common place at ABC Elementary. Teachers at
our school put great effort into the integration of technology into each and every one of the daily
lessons we teach. It is through these practices that we feel we are able to reach learners of most
every type. It is true that a lesson can be delivered through lecture alone. Yet, only a small
number of students will be able to grab on to what is being taught, and then benefit from the
material. However, with the simple addition of a smart board so much more is added to that same
lesson. Tactical learners are then able to interact with the board by touching it. This is how they
learn best. They too are now able to get some benefit from this lecture. Smart boards also allow
an instructor to add audio and visual. Once this feature is added audio learners can hear the
lecture while visual learners can actually see it. The simple addition of a just a smart board has
now allowed for three new groups of learners to benefit from the very same lesson.
While it is understood that the School Board feels that all concentration and funding
needs to be put behind efforts in helping our students pass the standardized multiple choice
exams. It is still just as important to keep technology as a strong presents in our schools. It is
from the combination of superb teachers and technology that our students learn. Together, good
teachers and good technology form the basis for substantial, lasting education improvement
(Kinnaman1). While it is often the teachers that create the lessons plans, it is technology that aids
in the creation of the actual memories. Great teachers and technology work together like a fine
oiled machine. One is only made more effective with the aid of the other.
Lets say two groups of students were going to learn about animal cells. The first, group
of students in this example have no access to technology. In this case, the teacher was forced to
simply stand in front of the class and give a simple lecture on the subject at hand. The second,
group has access to technology. In this case the teacher was able to do things a bit differently.
While this teacher did give a lecture on animal cells, she didnt stop there. Following the lecture
the second teacher ask her student to logon to Microsoft Drawling tools. From here she then ask
her students to create and label animal cells of their own. Once their drawings are complete the
second teacher then has her students make models of their cells. Looking back on this example,
which group do you think was able to learn more from the same subject? Furthermore, come test
day, which group of students do you think is going to be able to remember more of the
information they were taught?
If technology is completely erased from the schools in our district, our student will
ultimately fall behind. Without the exposer to technology in school, our students will be lacking
some of the simplest skills needed for college. Over time, students would not have had any
exposer to even the basic skills needed to operate a computer. Our students would probably not
even be able to complete as little as a type written essay. Students of other districts will easily
excel in these areas. Clark County students will be left to struggle.
I come to you today in hopes that you will understand that the loss of technology at ABC
Elementary as well as other schools in our district will prove to be catastrophic. The goals of our
district should not be simply passing a standardized test. Our main goal should be giving our
students the best education we possibly can. This goal can only be accomplished with the aid of
ever advancing technology. Once technology is taken out of our schools our students will begin
to fall behind when compared with those of other districts. We will in essence fail our students. Is
this really a name we want to hold for ourselves?

Works Cited

Kinnaman, Daniel E. "Schools Need Good Teachers and Good Technology." Technology
Learning 15.8 (1995): 98. ProQuest.Web. 22 July 2015.

Identification of Standards

The State of Nevada Department of Education understands what an important role that
technology plays in education. Their goal is to insure that every school in Nevada is provided
with the appropriate funding it needs to provide students with necessary technology.
Furthermore, the State of Nevada strives for all teachers to be prepared to use this technology on
a daily basis within their classrooms.
In 1997 the Nevada Commission on Educational Technology was established. This
committee consisted of a total of 12 members. Their main purpose is to oversee the 20 million
dollars in fundings for two major plans, The Nevada Technology Plan and the Nevada Ready 21
Plan. The goal of these two plans is to have a 1:1 technology ratio within Nevada schools.
Common Core was first established in October of 2010. Common Core became the base
for the Nevada Content Standards. The main focus of this new curriculum is in the subjects of
Math and English. Common Core curriculum promotes equal education standards across all
states. The main goal is the success of students in life, college, and career without limitation do
to location. Common core hopes to develop better textbooks, materials, technologies, as well as
comprehensive testing. This would replace the standardized test that we now have.
The Computer and Technology Education Standards are a set of guidelines implemented
by the Clark County School District. Students are first accessed in the third grade to see if they
are meeting technology goals. At this level students should be able to use basic tools for research.
Students should also be able to tell a little bit about computers and other technological systems.
Students should have a good understanding about internet safety. Students should also be able to
discuss some jobs that are associated with the technology field. Students will once again be
tested in the fifth grade. At this level students should be able to use correct finger placement on
the keyboard. Students should also be able to use programs such as Spreadsheet, Word, and
PowerPoint. Furthermore, student should be able to add, change, and delete the names of files
with ease. Their knowledge of computer systems should have grown by this point. Student will
again be assessed in the eighth grade. At this point students should have general knowledge in
almost every basic computer skill. At this level students should be able to do most projects with
little prompting on technical instruction. Ethical behaviors should also be understood. Students
should be able to conduct research and select topics with ease. Students should also be able to
distinguish between reliable sources. Students are tested for the final time in grade twelve.
According to the guidelines students should be proficient in most every skill discussed above.
They should have a basic knowledge of most computer functions. Twelfth grade students should
be able to write a properly formatted Word document with ease.
The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) are used to facilitate the use of
education technology by students, teachers, and educators to promote school improvement in the
United States. These standards were devolved by the International Society for Technology in
Education. Teachers can utilize these standards when making lesson plans to make sure students
get the maximum technological benefit. Teachers can also use these standards to make sure that
students of all learning types can benefit from their lesson plan. In the following pages I will
make a detailed lesson plan. In this lesson plan I will be using NETS student standard #1 (found
at: http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx. This standard it titled the Creativity and Innovation
standard. It states that; Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and
develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Lesson Plan

Name of lesson: The Letter Jungle

Grade Level Appropriateness: 1
Technology Content Standard Addressed:
Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products
and processes using technology. Found at: http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx
Other Content Standard Addressed:
Students will use intensive English and Phonics skills for this project. Students will be required
to listen for the sound of their letter when finding pictures for their creatures to be used in the
stories they will tell to the class. Students will be required to use shapes of all sizes when making
their creatures. This will bring skills used in Math into this project.

Objective:

Students will demonstrate good use of drawling tools to create letter creatures with
accuracy of 65%
Students will demonstrate excellent creative thinking in making their creatures with
an accuracy of 85%
The students will be able to identify letter sounds with 85% accuracy.
The student will be able to tell a short story about their letter creature, and why it
likes the pictured objects they have shown. Thus proving understanding of the topic at
hand and good communication skills with 75% accuracy.
Student will be able to identifying shapes used to draw letter creatures with 90%
accuracy.

Create letter creatures by use of drawling tools in Microsoft PowerPoint. Use existing knowledge
of shapes to create their letters. Creature models and pictures that begin with the same sound will
aid in information recall for visual learners.
Materials needed to facilitate the lesson:

Computer, keyboard, hard drive

Access to the Microsoft PowerPoint program, drawling tools, and clipart.
Access to shared folder where student will save their work and I will later print to
decorate the classroom

Suggested group size: 2 students to 1 computer (class size 20)

 Procedures:

Log on to computer and open up Microsoft PowerPoint

Once there click the home tab followed by layout and then select blank slide
Now instruct students to look at the heading that says drawing at the top of the
screen. It is these tools that they will be using to create their letter creatures. They
can create any letter creature they want.
Where you see the drawling heading click the arrow down button. This will open
the drawing tools menu. You can simply put your mouse over any of the shapes
and it will tell you what each of them are (triangle, rectangle, and square). You
will find a tool to draw straight lines as well as one called freeform that lets you
draw shapes of all sizes.
To use a tool simply click the one you want to activate it and bring it down to
your blank slide. Hold your left mouse button down and drag till the shape is the
desired size. If you make a mistake click the right mouse button and then cut and
it will be erased.
Once a shape as been drawn student can edit it. Right click the shape and then
select format shape from the menu. Students can change the fill color (color inside
the shape).White or no color will make it look see through. Line size and color,
this will change what the outside of the shape looks like
For the project I want students to use basic lines and shapes to create letter
creatures. Once their letter creature is complete have the students surround him
with clipart pictures of things he likes. Tell the student Remember your creature
only likes things that begin with the same letter as he is.
To get clipart pictures go to the Insert tab at the top of your screen. Now click the
icon that says clipart
Now just enter in the name of the picture you are looking for in the search box
followed by the word go. Now click the picture you want.
The picture will now move to you screen. If students want to move the pictures
left click the little circle and drag it to be bigger or smaller. The four arrow icon
can help you move your picture.
When students are finished with their creature, and have also selected some
pictures about him, instruct the students to make up a little story to go along with
it. Ask the student questions such as Tell me about your letter and what shapes
you used to make him. Tell what words you discovered began with your letter.
What other fun fact should I know about your creature?
Do not forget to save your creature to the shared folder so I can print him off for
our classroom board later

Assessment:
Students will be graded on their ability to work effectively in a group. Their effective use of
technology will also be looked at. The time, effort, and creativity students put into making their
creatures will play a part in their grades as well. Attention will be given to the students ability to

associate word with their correct beginning letter sounds. Students will be assessed in their
ability to identify shapes.