Technology is Neat.

I got something that I lovingly refer to as a "mini magic board." It is similar to an interactive whiteboard, but cheaper, not as high-tech, and is in fact not actually an interactive whiteboard at all. (It is interactive though.) I used it a few times today and it was so much fun. It would be even neater if I had an actual interactive whiteboard, but what I have is great, because I have it (and the district can't afford the whole interactive whiteboard). I'm not sure if it is a time saver or a time waster, yet. Once I learn how to use it and take advantage of it, I'm sure it will be even better. Today when I used it was already worlds better than last week when I first tried it, so my use of it will improve with time. Regardless, it is really exciting and I can continue being the grade tech-geek. (Yay.)

Also, today I kept loosing everything. My classroom is a mess of piles of paper and I could not remember where I had put the pile of papers I needed at one specific moment. I dawdled on stretching out the opening discussion for an activity much longer than I wanted to, while I wandered around the classroom digging through piles, looking for the papers I needed. At one point, I finally asked the students. "Where did I put the pile of papers I had put on this table a few hours ago?" One child suggested I look over on the round table. I looked over on the round table and there was my pile.

I need to remember to rely on the children more often. They're observant little ones.