Let's face it... whatever your relationship with technology is... kids love it and it's not going away!  It can be a powerful learning too and I used it a great deal in my classroom.  I use technology when needed to challenge, support, and enhance the learning needs of all students.   

We all just have to remember there should be limits set on the amount of time a child spends wrapped up in this media staturated environment.. be it TV, Xbox, wii, computers, PSP, DVDs, or ipods.  We have to balance their time because technology is just too accessible and too addictive for our young ones (everyone, really)*. Remember, nothing should replace snuggling up for a parent/child bedtime story or running around and playing games outside.  It's okay for kids to say they are bored.  It's when they get really, really bored they are forced to use their imaginations to entertain themselves and interact with each other . This is a good thing.  We want kids to think for themselves, make their own fun, and communicate by speaking not just texting. Balance in all aspects of life makes for a happy person. So embrace technology in your household, just set limits for total electronic time. That goes for the older ones too, which reminds me, I need to get my teenagers outside for some exercise and fresh air!  

*Alarming statistic..   The average child is spending from 7-10 hours a day on electronics! Study results

Thanks to our district's investment in technology, I am lucky to have these wonderful resources avalible to your children!

If you are unfamiliar with a smartboard, it looks like a giant white board (and acts like one too). It is attached to my wall with a ceiling projector shining on it. It is wired to my desktop computer and is a large touch-screen computer monitor. I can pull up any website on it and I can create my own materials to use on it as well.  We use the Smartboard every morning for calendar and the Question of the Day (kids tally votes and compare). We do Interactive Writing (we "share" the pen and work together to create a writing piece) on it.  We also read along with stories, songs and poems.  Countless other lessons are conducted using the board. It is an engaging and fun piece of equipment.

We are very lucky to have one of the only Smart Tables in the building. It works like a Smartboard only groups of children can play on it cooperatively. It's a lot of fun and some of the games require teamwork to get the correct answer.

We have 5 student computers in the classroom.  There are wonderful websites which read books to students and let them read along with it.  The computers are used during center time to play math, science, social studies and language arts games.  

We do have a classroom ipad. The ipad is wonderful for small group viewing or individualized activities.