Assignment 5

For my 9^th grade English Language Arts class I would like to get a nice computer to use as a teacher. This computer would be a Mac Book Pro 15 inch screen 2.0 Ghz processor. This mac book has a 4 Gb hard-drive, a built in battery with 7 hours battery life, and a graphics card. This laptop computer costs $1799 on the Mac website. I would load Windows 7 on this computer to have the option of both a mac and windows computer for all students needs and to be able to use a wider variety of programs. This computer would be for my use as a teacher to create and develop lesson plans. It will be in laptop form so that it is portable for me to take home and to use hooked up to a projector system or any other system at any location in the school.

In addition to the laptop for the teacher, each student will get a classroom response system, or a “clicker”. I will use the turning point technology brand clicker model response card RF. These clickers will help me, the teacher, in taking attendance and tracking participation and quizzes. I will take daily attendance and have class participation points through the class to make sure the students are participating and paying attention. The response system will also help me give quizzes more efficiently, and grade quizzes more efficiently. They will also help me make quizzes and participation paperless, since most schools budgets are lowering and cutbacks are being drawn on in every area.

For the classroom I would also like to have a flip camera. A flip camera would give me the option and ability as a teacher to connect with parents and the community as well as get students interested in their school and school work. The camera could be used by me as a teacher to record events during the day and then put them on a blog or website for parents to see their childs' progress and work. The students could also use the camera for their school projects since it is extremely easy to use, has built in software, and a usb portal built in for easy uploading to a computer. Students could use the camera to record projects, school and local news. Flip cameras are sold for $80 at best buy and have a 1 hour recording time. I would need to also buy a tripod and extra batteries for this camera.