MCPS classroom seems to help getting teachers interested with technology

Hello to all,

Yes, as Ruth was saying earlier, it is quite challenging to have teachers think they can add something new (technology) and meet their SOL requirements. I have noticed though that some of the teachers who have a MultiMedia classroom enjoy it, because they use it (or should use it!), but they also talk about it to other teachers. The Social Studies teachers and one of the science teacher eat their lunches beside my office, and even if I have the door close, I can hear them, and I often hear teachers telling what they have tried in a very positive way. They share ideas with the technology they have recently tried or with the software and/or tools they have been using for a while. I can hear the other ones respond positively, and when I walk I am pleased to see that some of them have reserved the lab to try it, or others have asked me to train them.

I understand that it is only some teachers who are acting in such a growing way, but these ones are the teachers who can eventually encourage other teachers, as they have been approached themselves.

Finally, we can not forget neither that in most areas, teachers are very stressed in meeting the SOLs requirement, because they know it will reflect on them as well as on the school, when the tests are given publicly. I will end up with a positive note, saying that, as many of you probably think, I am a strong believer that students learn and test better with technology because they are into the generation that grew up with technology. Everything around them has been with technology. So, last year, they tested out the SOL on the computers and the results were better than the previous years with the scantron. Unconsciously, this is another way for teachers to understand that technology is a need, not just a toy to play with!