Introduction

I consider myself to be technologically adept; I know my way around a computer, and I often use the internet as a resource for my lesson planning. However, I had not made much use of technology in my classroom.

I know that my students have never known what it's like to live without computers, televisions, or media of almost any kind. They use these things in their daily lives, but how could I use it to enhance their learning?

This semester, I decided to make a conscious effort to incorporate technology into my lessons. I have documented the results in the posts that follow.

Step One: PowerPoint Notes and Vocabulary

PowerPoint has become an invaluable tool in my classroom. I use it to introduce new vocabulary and to give notes. I've even used it to "talk" for me on the days I've lost my voice!

I began using PowerPoint in my theater arts classes in order to enhance the note-taking experience. Since theater is a visual field, I wanted to incorporate visual elements into the notes, in order to give students a firmer grasp of the ideas we talk about.


















Giving notes like this helps me; since I've planned my own notes beforehand, I'm less likely to forget important bits of information.

Receiving notes like this helps my students; they are sure to write down the most important points I want them to know, but the information is still flexible enough that we can open a dialogue when necessary.

I use PowerPoint in my study skills classes to introduce new vocabulary units.

Previously, the students would copy the words and complete the activities associated with the units, then take the test. All of this was done on an individual basis.

There were several problems with this approach:

1. The students would not bother to learn how to pronounce the words, so they were not able to recognize them when they heard them.
2. The students were often unable to use the words correctly. If they didn't fully understand definitions, they would improvise, often with disastrous results.
3. The students did not retain the information after they completed the tests. Their goal was to take the tests, not to learn new words.

I decided to teach vocabulary as a whole class activity. For each word, I would present the part of speech, the definition, a picture, and several sample sentences using the word. After the first few weeks, I also began including other forms of the words, since students would often use a word almost correctly, not knowing how to change the words' tenses as needed.



















Presenting vocabulary with PowerPoint gave me the opportunity to check students' comprehension before they began working with the words individually; it also provided students with an opportunity to ask questions about the words, to check their own comprehension, and to see examples of the words' correct usage. The pictures give students a visual reference when they are trying to remember definitions later.

Since I started introducing vocabulary with this method, my students' test grades have risen. In addition, I've noticed that they have fewer usage errors when writing their sentences or stories. Most importantly, I can review words months after we completed the unit, and students still remember definitions.

I use PowerPoint almost every day in my classroom. It is one of the easiest ways to incorporate technology into the classroom.

Step Two: Music and Movies

Students are not allowed to use their iPods in the classroom, but I am, and I take full advantage of that privilege!

One way that I've used my iPod is by providing background music for reading. Students listen to music when they are doing homework or reading at home; they can have the same experience in my room.

Music can indicate the genre or mood of a story before we even begin reading. For example, when my English I class read Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," I filled my iPod with spooky music, so they could experience the musical equivalent of roaming through the underground catacombs of Paris. Students knew through the musical cues that something strange was going to happen.

Amontillado playlist













iTunes is a great resource for teaching poetry; virtually every classic poem has been made into a song, and there is likely to be a recording of someone reading the poem as well. I used this to my advantage when teaching Poe's "Annabel Lee."

After reading the poem together, we listened to The Cruxshadows' spoken version of the poem. This version uses sound effects in the background, and the reader is very expressive (in a creepy way).

Next, we listened to The Society Islands' song. This version is almost a folk song; it sounds almost like a sweet love story. This offered the class an opportunity to talk about how people interpret poetry differently, and how their own backgrounds and experiences can cause them to have an experience with literature that is unique.

I cannot stress enough that I would never have found any of these songs without iTunes; the search feature is easy enough that I can type in either a title ("Annabel Lee") or a keyword ("scary"), and a great number of songs come up immediately.

In addition to music, iTunes also offers podcasts covering subjects that range from television shows to dating to Chaucer. Though I haven't used podcasts in my classes (yet!), I have a colleague who uses the Grammar Girl podcast as a supplement to her grammar lessons (Grammar Girl offers "quick 'n dirty" tips for remembering grammar rules). Students appreciate the condensed--but practical--grammar rules, and they also like the novelty of having another teacher; sometimes changing the routine just a little can invigorate a lesson.

I often use iTunes during my lesson, but I use YouTube when the lesson is completed; it can help reinforce our reading by giving students a visual adaptation of the literature. For example, I showed

this video after reading "The Cask of Amontillado."



The class watched this video after reading "Annabel Lee."

Each of these videos was produced by high school students; there are hundreds of videos available that match these titles. I chose these particular videos because they use the original texts that we studied in class.

This video gives a fantastic illustration of irony. Once my students watched it, they were able to transfer their knowledge of this concept to the stories we read, and they were able to identify irony in those pieces.



I used YouTube videos in my Theater Arts I classes to give examples of types of propaganda. YouTube has videos of commercials that are as many as thirty years old, and typically these are the most popular with my students (this Bounty commercial was very well-received; in fact, students insisted upon multiple viewings!



When my Theater Arts II class was talking about satire, YouTube was an excellent resource, as there were more than enough parodies of the plays we had already studied; these were often student-produced as well, and that added a level of interest for my theater students.

****** YouTube is blocked in Tipton County schools; to show YouTube videos, I had to download another application, ZillaTube, which converts YouTube videos to other media formats. TeacherTube is like YouTube, but the content is submitted by teachers; this site is accessible in Tipton County and has many fine resources.

In conclusion, both iTunes and YouTube have enhanced my reading instruction, and they have in turn enhanced my students' learning experience.

Step Three: Drama Society blog

I needed a way to communicate with my Drama Society (the school club for students interested in the theater arts). I considered using MySpace, because nearly all of the members have individual MySpace pages, but I rejected that idea because the site is blocked at school. I chose edublogs.org, because its interface is easy to use and because it is accessible at school.

The club meets only once a month, and often information needs to be dispersed to the membership between meetings. The blog is an easy way for Drama Society members to receive new information between meetings. Since they can access the blog from both school and home, they can always know what is happening with the Drama Society.

This blog is not interactive; I do all the updates myself, and there is rarely (if ever) a need for students to leave comments.

Updates are sporadic; I only post I receive new information.

Click here to look at the Drama Society blog.