When I look at the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) chart on the Florida Center for Instructional Technology page (http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php), I can see where my strengths and weaknesses are in the classroom. With me being a paraprofessional, my duties and responsibilities with technology is different than the classroom teacher. I will be rating myself based on my small group language groups and only on one classroom that I have consistent and daily small group interaction.
I would say that I work under Active Adaptation for my groups. Active Adaptation is defined as,
Students work independently with technology tools in conventional ways. Students are developing a conceptual understanding of technology tools and begin to engage with these tools.
The teacher chooses which technology tools to use and when to use them. Because the students are developing a conceptual and procedural knowledge of the technology tools, the teacher does not need to guide students step by step through activities. Instead, the teacher acts as a facilitator toward learning, allowing for greater student engagement with technology tools.
Technology tools are available on a regular basis.
I feel that I fall under this category because, when we do use technology in our small groups, I tend to pick the technology for them, but allow them to explore it on their own. The students don't have an option of when to use them either because my small groups are scheduled at a particular time for a certain amount of time. I don't see this level of participation changing to any other levels due to the nature of my small groups.
With the way that my small groups are set up, I believe that I work in the Collaborative Entry level. It is defined as,
Students primarily work alone when using technology. Students may collaborate without using technology tools.
The teacher directs students to work alone on tasks involving technology.
The setting is arranged for direct instruction and individual seat work.
In my small groups, I've not used much collaborative work, but could see myself growing to a Collaborative Adaptation by the end of the next grading period by incorporating more collaborative technology use. The students could do small group projects together to explore reading and language.
I believe that Constructive Adaptation might be the best fit for my small group instruction because this is a regular way of teaching,
Students begin to use technology tools independently to facilitate construction of meaning. With their growing conceptual understanding of the technology tools, students can explore the use of these tools as they are building knowledge.
The teacher has designed a lesson in which students' use of technology tools is integral to building an understanding of a concept. The teacher gives the students access to technology tools and guides them to appropriate resources.
Technology tools that facilitate the construction of meaning are available to students for conventional uses.
I have used various apps and games to allow the students to build a more concrete understanding of certain concepts such as parts of speech. They are given a game or two to choose from and work with that to build off of lessons that I have taught. I am unsure how I might grow in this category due to how my small groups are set up, but would be interested in finding ways to move up to the next category at least.
When looking at Authentic, I would have to say that I am more at an Authentic Entry level when working with my students.
Students use technology to complete assigned activities that are generally unrelated to the world beyond the instructional setting.
The teacher assigns work based on a predetermined curriculum unrelated to the students or issues beyond the instructional setting.
Resources available via technology in the instructional setting include primarily textbook supplementary material and reference books or websites, such as encyclopedias.
I usually don't have it related to their specific lives outside the classroom setting and is more geared toward more specific subjects in the instructional setting. I feel however, I could make marginal changes in this because when the subject is more authentic, the children tend to learn more. I would love to see myself move to the Authentic Adaptation by the end of the next grading period.
Under Goal Directed, this category is almost not even one that I can measure myself at. At best, I might be at Entry, but that is stretching it. I believe that I could improve on this and find ways to show growth of the students that I work with. This one will have to take some looking into because I am unsure how to even implement this into my small group instruction. Goal Directed Entry is defined as,
Students use technology to complete assigned activities that are generally unrelated to the world beyond the instructional setting.
The teacher assigns work based on a predetermined curriculum unrelated to the students or issues beyond the instructional setting.
Resources available via technology in the instructional setting include primarily textbook supplementary material and reference books or websites, such as encyclopedias.