I am observing at Mercer Elementary in a 3rd grade class. The students all have chrome books. However, the entire grade shares a cart of chrome books. There is not an issue of charging the laptops because they charge in the storage cart. This allows students to just pick up the laptop and start to work. The students use the laptops appropriately because other websites are locked. So, in school students can’t go on social media. Social media is not used in the classroom since some students might not be able to use it. My first day visiting some of the girls asked me if I have a snapchat or instagram. I told them I have both platforms however, I told them it would not be appropriate to add me. They did understand since I am over 10 years older than them. My siblings are around their age and they do have monitored social media so I think social media is fine as long as it is safe. I think social media can be a great resource but it can also be so dangerous. For classes I have used social media as a tool for assignments and it has been nice to use. I do think those students are too young for that right now since social media is such a touchy subject.

My students rarely do small group learning, they only really do partner things. The students do math flashcards in pairs. Their teacher does do small group directions and differentiates instruction. This way the students that have IEP can have different instructions and sometimes different assignments. The students do sit in a group. They sit in tables of four students. However, they are rarely allowed to openly communicate with each other. I think this would bring a different dynamic in the classroom. I think students should be able to talk about what they are learning in a quiet manner. If students make a comment to another student they get a speaking out tally. But sometimes I hear the comments and they are constructive thinking and about what they are learning. So, I think the students should be able to discuss their ideas. The only time they are allowed to talk in class is when the teacher calls on them during a whole group discussion.

The teacher in the classroom does use her computer and an active board regularly. However, she prefers not to use technology. She said she likes to write things out better so she usually writes on white boards when she can. For digital storytelling she will read a story and then she will turn on a youtube video that talks about the story and the author. She then connects these videos to have the students write about them. I think it would be a good creative assignment to have students write a digital story. This would allow students to have creative ideas. This would work only if this was an in class assignment. I am not sure if every student has a home computer. Since the students have chrome books at school this would work easier.