St. Clair Career Day & Farm Day

Friday was career day at St. Clair Elementary School! I felt honored to be invited to speak to the K-5 students. The kids were engaged, respectful, and ask pertinent questions about my career. I must add - it was fantastic! As a former high school teacher, being able to interact with students from multiple grades levels is by far one of the highlights of my current position. After I explained the intricacies of my career, we had a little fun with technology. You guessed it, the iPads and they loved it!

Part of my presentation involved explaining the differences in classroom technology today compared to when I started teaching in 1999. While preparing for career day, I realized that we could look to farming as an example of how technology integration is beneficial to society and especially production. In today’s agricultural environment, technology is imperative for production. I personally feel that technology is imperative for today’s educational environment.

You might be asking yourself how on earth I came up with a farm analogy. Well, I had the privilege of attending farm day on Thursday. If you've never been to farm day, you've missed out on a big treat! I was impressed with the variety of activities that was offered to all 2nd grade classes for the entire county. The high school students and community volunteers did an excellent job at explaining the differences in agricultural today compared to years ago. One of the highlights was the cattle area. The students were introduced to a milking cow and learned about the different types of cattle. They were told that cows used to be milked by hand but now a machine was attached to the udders for massive milk production. This is a much more efficient way to get milk in large quantities. The next station enabled the kids to 'milk' an udder. Needless to say, they thoroughly enjoyed it! 

My impression from farm day: times change and we have to change with them if we want to be sustainable,  especially in education. A farmer who is relying on milk sales to provide for his family would be more prosperous by utilizing technology for collecting milk in masses verses using his hands. Technology enables him to collect milk from multiple cows at one time. This increases his milk production and his earning potential. I'm not comparing children to cattle but the analogy would still be applicable. Utilizing technology enables teachers to reach out to a variety of learners and hold their attention. To me, implementing technology in the classroom enables students to maintain focus and sustain knowledge. This results in an increase in student engagement which leads to productivity in the classroom. My theory: if students are engaged, they are attentive. Attentive students lead to an environment conducive to learning. The learning potential increases because the teacher has fewer disruptions due to discipline issues.The trickle down effect isn't a larger salary but it does foster a larger knowledge base. I truly believe that students retain more when they are interested in the way the material is being presented. Much like an active machine makes the milking industry more productive, the actively engaged learning environment equates a more productive learner.