Reading with Will (B Posting)

As part of our learning experience, we were assigned an activity called E-book Reading Experience. The assignment consisted of reading two e-books to a specific child and then reflecting on the experience. Our professor assigned five e-books that we needed to review prior to the actual activity. Out of those five, we needed to choose two and observe and interview the child to see how they reacted to the e-books. The purpose of this assignment was to show us how we can use technology in the classroom to enhance our students learning experience.

Initially, I found this activity to be fun and exciting. It was going to give me an idea of what it was like to use technology and allowed me to see how children would react to the use of it as well. The only worry I had about this project was finding a child because I did not know any child nearby. I ended up going to the Family Resource Center and was introduced to a boy named Will. Now, I was able to complete the assignement. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake because all children love books, regardless of whether or not they are e-books or regular picture books. I walked into this assignment with high hopes of it being successful because it seemed to me that children would enjoy these types of books. However, my hopes were way too high. It was not so successful, but I am glad that it was an assignement.

I learned a lot from this activity. I learned that technology does not always have an advantage in the classroom. From this experience, it seems that traditional ways of teaching would be more successful. I also learned that I prefer traditional ways of teaching over using technology because that is what I am most familiar with. However, I would like to become more familiar with technology, so when I do use it in the classroom, it will be successful. The biggest challenge of this project was to keep Will's attention. Throughout the reading of the e-books, WIll fidgeted and his attention flew in all different directions. In order to overcome this challenge, I needed to ask him a question here and there to throw his attention back on the story. Another challenge was interacting with Will to get his viewpoint on this activity. He barely answered my questions verbally. Every answer was usually a nod yes or no. He did not seem to interested in the e-books and this also made it difficult for him to give me an answer. I tried to get the most out of him, and that is all I really got. As a person, I learned that in order to become what you want to become, there are going to be challenges that I need to be prepared for. As a learner, I learned that technology isn't always the best way to get the point across. If it doesn't work, then it's not the right method. The best way to ensure that students learn the most is to use what you think will be the most successful method for them.