No More Waiting for the Technology to Work!

Funded Jan 23, 2018

This new technology has changed my life as a teacher and it has changed the learning experience of every child in my class. As a teacher, I often need to enlarge and project either a piece of student work, a text, or a source from the Internet. With the smart TV and Apple TV, I can now do so in a way that makes sense in 2018, without additional speakers for sound. The sound is projected right through the television.

Our old system was ancient and difficult to use. We used to spend endless and precious instructional minutes adjusting the old projector, pulling down the shade, turning off the lights, while kids are making bunny ears in the light all the while. Not to mention the cords! None of the equipment I used previously was wireless, so there were multiple cords running under the carpet or near the area where kids sit for lessons, which is a tripping hazard for children.

Another major change is that I can be at the front of the class when I am teaching from the screen. As a teacher, when I was using a projector with cords, I needed to stand behind the class and point to what was being projected. Or I would set it up and go back and forth between the projector and the screen at the front. This makes it very difficult for children to focus on the lesson when I am teaching from behind them. With our new system, everything is wireless. So I can be in the front, holding my laptop, while it tirelessly projects onto the new TV.

Finally, the picture is so clear and crisp. Before, there were times when the video or image from the Internet was barely visible on the screen. Now, with a wireless connection, the TV is able to tirelessly mirror anything I bring up on my teacher laptop.

In our class we use the TV all the time for a multitude of purposes. We often watch Brain Pop videos on topics we are studying in social studies. I have an iPad that I can now use in place of a projector. I can set the TV to mirror the iPad and then zoom the camera on a piece of children's work or on a text we are using to practice reading strategies. When a child is explaining and showing a math strategy he or she used to solve a problem, I can show it on the TV for all to see by using the iPad as a camera. During Choice Time (play time), kids love to have me put on "How To Draw" videos while they draw on clip boards. A couple of the photos show kids doing this.

My students and I are so very grateful.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Rivas