Tech Club Visit #2

On May 13th, our group met at the CDC to execute our first lesson.  We were a little nervous and unsure of how it would go, but since we came with a purpose, we were going to execute that purpose and make it fun.  That is exactly what happened.  The week before we planned to teach the students how to say their colors in Spanish.  I found a website that was a color and shape click learning activity.  The web address is www.123teachme.com which features many Spanish learning games and activities.  I tried it out at home several times in order to feel comfortable navigating the site and to make sure I, too, knew my colors in Spanish.  

The CDC has 2 iPads available, so together we decided to look at the website on one iPad to learn the colors.  We would use the other iPad to let the kids take pictures of objects that were the colors we taught them.  For example, we used the website to teach them that blue in Spanish is azul.  We then sent the kids to find something azul and used the word repeatedly while they excitedly captured their object.  They came back with pictures of chairs, clothes, trash canes, carpet squares, and anything else they could find.

Since it was our first visit, we weren't sure how the kids would behave or how they would react or even more importantly, how WE would react to them.  It felt chaotic at first until we embraced the chaos.  I had a script in mind of how to engage them initially, but it was a struggle to hold their attention once the iPad camera was in use.  The kids enthusiasm was awesome and their adaptability and fearlessness to experiment with a different language was so innocent and accepting.  They had no qualms about sounding funny at all.  They loved it and learned quickly.  Using technology to identify the color, assign it to a shape, hear it, and capture it themselves engaged many modes of learning all at once.  I believe we impacted them.  The topic definitely worked.  The technology worked, but the technology at this age is completely fascinating and taking pictures became the most favorite activity. While taking pictures was not what we were teaching them to do, the employment of technology made a lasting impression on them.  Perhaps they walked away thinking that learning was fun!

The CDC refers to this time as "Reactivity" time which means that the kids are allowed to move from station to station and engage in any learning or play activity they choose.  When we started the lesson, only 3 kids joined us.  By the end we had about 7.  We might try to bring them all together for the next lesson or at least announce the activity so that more kids hear about it and want to participate.