Four+Classrooms

Four Classrooms:
Read each of the four classroom scenario's below. Write down your suggestions for structuring and effectively managing the activity in the classroom.

Ms. Hernandez is a fifth-grade teacher beginning a unit on basic physics. She would like to provide some opportunities for her students to test physics principles using some hands-on activities, and she has decided to have her students build mini roller coasters as a culminating product for the unit. She would also like to use any online resources that she can. She found a WebQuest on roller coasters called "Scream Machine: A Roller Coaster WebQuest" and an online roller coaster simulator, but she has only a single laptop in her classroom?her own. She does, however, have access to an LCD projector for her laptop. What advice would you give Ms. Hernandez about the best way to structure the unit on roller coasters, and what are some effective classroom-management strategies she should adopt to use her laptop and the Web sites she found?
 * Scenario 1: The One-Laptop Classroom**

Mr. Trice is a seventh-grade math teacher, and he is working with his students on the concepts of "mean" and "median." Mr. Trice has four laptops in his classroom, and he would like to integrate mathematical simulations into classroom activities to provide more hands-on learning opportunities for his students. He found a simulation on median and mean at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Web site. With only four laptops, however, Mr. Trice is not sure of the best way to integrate this simulation into classroom activities. He would also like to frame the simulation within a task-oriented lesson. What advice would you give Mr. Trice about a way to frame an activity on median and mean that can effectively integrate the online simulation? What classroom-management strategies will help him make effective use of the four laptops that he has?
 * Scenario 2: The Four-Laptop Classroom**

Ms. Stevens is a fourth-grade teacher beginning a unit on persuasive writing. She would like to help her students develop persuasive writing skills and focus on the mechanics of writing. Her school has two wireless laptop carts that are available to check out on a daily basis, and Ms. Stevens would like to have her students use the laptops to create their persuasive writing pieces. She would also like to introduce her students to peer editing, in the hopes that the process of editing other students' work will help her students focus on the mechanics of writing. Ms. Stevens has found two lesson plans, one on persuasive writing and one on peer editing, that she would like to use in building her unit. What advice would you give Ms. Stevens about an effective way to integrate the laptop cart into the writing process? What classroom-management strategies will help her meet her goal of using peer editing to support students' writing skills? How should she structure the peer-editing process to be most effective?
 * Scenario 3: Mobile Laptop Carts**

Mr. Smith is a high school U.S. history teacher. At the beginning of the school year, all of the students and teachers at his school received individual laptops, and a wireless network was installed throughout the school. Although Mr. Smith is getting used to his students bringing their laptops to class every day, he has found that the laptops can sometimes be distracting. Mr. Smith is preparing to introduce a new unit on the Industrial Revolution, and he has found a series of lesson plans at the Edsitement Web site (sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities) that makes good use of online resources. He is excited to try out these new activities, but he wants to ensure that the increased use of technology in his classroom enhances the learning process instead of creating distractions. He would also like to create opportunities for students to connect what they learn in school to the real world, and he feels that the laptops should somehow help him do this. What advice would you give Mr. Smith about effective classroom strategies to ensure that student use of laptops enhances the learning process rather than distracting from it, and how would you recommend that he connect the Industrial Revolution unit with the real world in ways that make effective use of the students' laptops?
 * Scenario 4: One-to-One Computing**