WHO:
|
Jane
Scruggs
|
| INTERVIEWED
BY: |
Kirsten
Swearingen
|
| WHEN:
|
2/4/01
|
| WHY:
|
Proxy
user, teaches combination 2nd and 3rd grade class.
|
1. What is your
involvement with children?
I teach combined a 2nd and 3rd grade class-most kids are 8 or 9 years
old.
2. Do you recommend
books for them?
Sort of…I keep books in the classroom-I have about 200 right now. I bought
them myself.
3. How do you choose
which books to recommend? Do you recommend different books for different
kids or a few books to all of them?
I tried to choose ones that looked fun. Also authors that I'm familiar
with, heard good things about (word of mouth from other teachers, classes,
VA State Reading Association conferences, Newberry and Caldecott award-winners.)
I mostly have fiction in the classroom. Boys seem to like adventure books.
Most prefer fiction to non-fiction. Non-fiction things, like spiders and
rocks. Arthur chapter books are a current fave-they're new.
4. Do you know
kids who like to read? Do they like to use computers?
Yes, kids in my class like to read and use computers. I teach computers
in the classroom. Few have computers at home.
5. Do the kids
you know go to the library regularly? (At school, on their own) How do
they pick out books there? Do they ask the librarian? Do they ask other
kids?
Yes, the kids go to the library once a week. We talk about reading levels,
so they try to find ones that are on the right level. Also, they have
to choose one book in English and one in Spanish, since it's a language
immersion program. That guides their choices. The main way they pick out
book is the ones that are popular-word of mouth. When a book becomes popular
with a few, then EVERYONE wants to read it. And brand new books are usually
a hit…there are also book fairs and Scholastic order forms-kids want to
order books-it comes in the mail and that's fun. We don't have a Great
Books program.
6. What problems
do you see kids having with computers? What do they ask you for help with?
What do they seem to really like?
Typing's hard. Searching (but adults have trouble with this too)-it's
hard for them to review all those words on a search result screen. Better
to have it teacher-guided. A mouse is no problem.
7. Do you know
kids who use the Internet? What websites do they mention as their favorites?
They use the Internet some. Most things are written for adults so it's
not a big part of the curriculum. They don't chat or use message boards.
Sometimes I hear a few exchanging e-mail addresses but that might be for
the parents to arrange rides or outings. We do use WebQuest-guided web
searching. You click on a link to go to the next step-very clear what
you have to do, step by step. That's much safer than free searching but
links are often dead. Example assignment: poetry about an animal-search
to find the right words, include them in a poem and illustrate it.
8. Do you know
kids who play video games? What are their favorites? Are there video games
that they don't like to use?
Tony Hawk Skateboard Game.
9. Do you know
kids who use educational software? What do you think might motivate a
kid to use educational software? What would turn a kid off using it?
Yes, they use Type to Learn, a math and science program, and KidPix (used
for illustrating stories). Kids really enjoy typing up their stories-they
feel proud of themselves. Prefer typing to surfing the Internet. One kid
has put a lot of work into illustrating the story she wrote (we were just
working on that today).
|
