I've been spending more time at my elementary school this semester and I'm really getting a better sense of how the classroom works and what the kids are like. It's really interesting to see how the kids have grown and matured since August. I've also been spending quite a bit of time in the computer lab to get my technology practicum hours since my teacher does not use technology at all in the classroom. I really like the way the computer teacher introduces the lesson, shows the children how to get to the programs they will be using on the Smartboard, which is an awesome technological device that is like a touch pad on a huge screen that the students can easily interact with. The younger students K-2nd grade have been working on math skills, counting to 100, since it was just the 100th day of school. While, 5th grade has been concentrating on Word skills, this past week was inserting a table and naming all 50 states and capitals. It's amazing how easy it is to see the difference between those who have a computer at home and those who don't. You don't even have to ask because those who don't have one at home take much longer to find keys and know where things are on the computer. I was amazed to see how difficult it was for the 5th graders to type, I thought they would be much faster and more proficient. They really seemed to struggle. I was also surprised at how much I was needed in the computer lab, I'm not sure how the computer lab teacher does it on her own sometimes. The children constantly had questions about something regardless of how through she was in the introduction of the lesson. I didn't get to just sit and watch, I was moving around the lab helping students with whatever they needed. The computer lab teacher told me how grateful she was to have me there, it really helped her out! I've really liked spending time in the computer lab, it definitely makes me more interesting in different kinds of technology and the importance of taking my own students there for free time to build their technology skills.