So far this semester, I have observed in a second grade classroom at St. Dominic School for about 16 hours. I have greatly enjoyed the time I have spent in the classroom. The teacher, Mrs. Dudek is exceptional and knows her students well. The students would say that she is strict, but as a result the students always know exactly what is expected of them, and they are able to assess their own abilities and routines when they need to. She has a positive relationship with her students, and it shows. Mrs. Dudek often has a mini lesson as a whole group, and then breaks off into small groups for more intentional learning. 

In the classroom Mrs. Dudek uses a smart board and a document camera to aid in her large group lessons, so that everyone can see. She also has access to a few IPads that she uses during center time so that she can track what the students do in their center. She told me that she is “old school” when it comes to technology in the classroom because she wants the students to be as hands on as they can when it comes to learning. Therefore, the classroom is extremely limited when it comes to using technology, which might be a problem if they were to implement digital story telling as a lesson or assignment.

The second graders are all about 7 – 8 years old, so outside the classroom, many of them do not have their own phones or devices. However, they do enjoy playing games on their parents or guardians phones, and enjoy using the filters on snapchat. Some of the students also told me that they enjoy to play games on the computer. Many of the students expressed interest in watching youtube videos and playing adventure apps on their parents phones.

In the classroom I observe in, the use of digital story telling seems to fit right in with the history lessons that Mrs. Dudek teaches. The students often read a short story about a historical figure and then talk about it as a class or in small groups. I could digital story telling as a good fit into the classroom lesson. I think it would be difficult though, as we read in the Enhancing Students in Traditional and Digital Storytelling to make Connections Between Pedagogy and Children’s Experiences article, because the classroom has a lack of technology. However, I think that it could also be a good fit in the classroom because Mrs. Dudek is always looking for her students to collaborate and problem solve, so I believe that digital story telling could fit right into her lessons if she wanted it to. Her students often write stories and draw pictures, so with the right tools, technology, and modeling, I think digital story telling would be a success at St. Dominic.