Teaching Guides
Introduction to the Computer Classroom
What do you wish you had known before you started teaching in the computer classroom
Ted: Although I knew how to USE the computers for the Daily, I hadn't given much thought to how and when I would print and collect it. I actually did not collect a Daily until the second week, then realized that students probably did not feel a great deal of motivation to do them since they weren't being collected. (Of course, I had some students who would have been very obedient to the end, even if I hadn't collected them at all.) My point is that I think new teachers to the computer classroom should give a lot of thought about how and when/how often they will collect the Dailies. One final point is that one of the biggest things that has bothered me in the computer classroom is that with 24 students in a circular room, I really have no place to stand where I am in the circle and can see everyone's face. Also, I don't have "my own" desk or area to put my books and set out handouts before class. When we come to the table for discussion I do have students come in closer and sit in the circle with them, but when I'm showing an overhead or at the whiteboard, I feel that I'm very far away from those on the other side of the room. Also, in 227, when I'm at the whiteboard, I'm always blocking someone's view, it seems. I think a teacher can work around these things, but just wanted to bring them up as "logistical" concerns that may not exist so much in the traditional classroom.
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