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Even if you are the parent who wants to wait to introduce technology to your child, America’s elementary school system has embraced technology in the classroom. Despite the risks that GetKidsInternetSafe highlight in covering this very important topic, it is irrefutable that technology is an incredibly rich resource when interfaced with traditional teaching methods. Today’s blog is an acknowledgement that when done well, technology’s interface with elementary education is a great thing!

One thing I’ve learned as a business owner, and in life, is the importance of knowing the limitations of my scope of expertise, and to outsource to those who are experts when I have an unanswered question. One of my favorite parts of the GetKidsInternetSafe project is consulting with a multidisciplinary team of experts in order to best inform you about the challenging topic of kids and Internet safety. It’s impossible for one person to be an expert in all of it. So I’m pooling the best there is so you don’t get lost in the search, like my husband and I did at first when trying to get our kids Internet safe.

For the record, I have a doctorate in clinical psychology, not education. All it took to learn my limitations was a few volunteer field trips as a parent when the teachers gave me the little ones who were a “hand-full.” The teachers and I laughed as I thanked them for their everyday expertise. Phew! An hour of clinical session is a WHOLE different ballgame than an hour with 20 little rugrats!

My admiration for educators is one of the reasons I’m so excited to watch my oldest daughter pursue her lifelong dream of being a kindergarten teacher. Although she is still in college and thus still in the exploratory process, she is starting to dive deep now and recently volunteered in a second grade classroom. She was so jazzed by the experience; she told me all about it in an hour-long phone call yesterday. It was inspiring to learn how technology is being resourced in those classrooms where the teacher goes the extra mile. I want to share some of what I’ve learned with you so you too can celebrate what opportunities technology is creating for our kids. Astounding really!

The second-grade class Morgan observed has integrated iPads in their everyday learning. For example, in a lesson about business and finance the teacher tasked her students to come up with a business idea, a product, a budget, and a public relations campaign. Throughout the month they were able to earn dollars for academic tasks that they could spend in a student store during “shopping week.” Morgan said their creativity and enthusiasm was amazing, with one boy selling Lego classes and another girl painting nails. She said the variety of products was awesome and the kids were super into it. She particularly loved how the dollars were kept in a pile on the teacher’s desk and the children would simply walk up and collect their dollar for each task with total accountability. That day, she observed the kids had each made a sales page collage and emailed the product to their teacher for grading. All on the iPad!! Second grade!!

Another task Morgan observed was language arts and reading comprehension. Each day the teacher would read a book aloud to her students. For those who preferred to read alone or with a partner, they simply left the room and went into the library to check out a book at their reading level on their individual iPad. After completing the story, they would answer five reading comprehension questions from the book. The next story, customized to their reading level, would then be made available for checkout. That means each child was reading and tracking at their individual reading level with independence. Morgan was amazed to see children that ranged from first grade reading level to eighth grade reading level all engaged in the task. No kids left behind indeed!

And the third task I wanted to share doesn’t even involve technology, but simply good citizenship. Morgan was delighted to see how the teacher provided facilitation, but required the kids to do their own social problem solving. The example she shared was when one boy left a game for his friend to cleanup, the teacher simply brought the boys together and challenged them to negotiate a solution. Morgan said the teacher didn’t lead them, but would simply reinforce skills with comments like, “That’s excellent sharing from your heart Johnnie,” and “Now what can Michael do to make it up to you so you’re not resentful and your friendship can be as good as ever?” Morgan said the boys worked it out and left with a clear and mutually agreed upon solution. Oh my gosh! As parents we can take a page from this teacher’s playbook for sure.

In closing, I wanted to sprinkle some positives into this week. Just remember when you get discouraged about the dangers of technology use, don’t forget that the benefits are transformative as well. Black and white thinking is not the answer to a complex problem. Please join the dialogue with comments after this blog and on our GetKidsInternetSafe Facebook page! How has technology helped your students in the classroom?

Thanks for your support and, as always, please share this blog link with anybody else you think has an opinion about kids and Internet safety.

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetYourKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

Watch this TED talk that demonstrates how technology helps kids learn better and helps us better track their process!

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Dr. Tracy Bennett
Dr. Tracy Bennett
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