Week 7

One type of software that I would use in the classroom regularly if I had a classroom is Microsoft Word. I have seen many students utilize this software and it is good to start out at an elementary level because they will have to use this software in middle school and high school.

As a paraeducator, I go and observe and assist in many classrooms. I assisted one teacher as she utilized Microsoft Word to meet her writing objective. Students used Microsoft Word to write their personal narrative pieces. Students double-spaced their pieces so they could print them out and meet with partners to peer edit each other’s papers. Using the computers also helped to advance their “home key” typing skills. It also helped many students to catch spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes before they printed them out. Many students in her class also struggle with handwriting. She has 4 students that are special education and have trouble writing words correctly. Using the computer made it easier for them to work with partners since everyone could read their handwriting.

            One problem that did arise was that she has only 6 computers in her classroom. By breaking students up into different rooms, every student was able to work on a computer for a 30 minute chunk and get a lot done rather than just working for 15 minutes in a center. When sending students to the computer lab, she realized that those computers didn’t have Microsoft Word. It was taken off as a way for the school to save money. They were equipped with a different writing program. It allowed students to edit Microsoft Word documents and save documents in a Word format. It seemed okay in theory, but there were so many problems that came up. Some students weren’t able to pull their writings up in the computer lab. They would simply look like symbols. Some students did fine in the computer lab, but after they saved it, it wouldn’t open up on a Microsoft Word computer. A couple students even ended up losing everything they had worked on. I personally think that the school should not have taken Microsoft Word out of the computer lab. There will always be problems with saving documents from a different program and Microsoft Word is something that students can use regularly, especially in older grades. There would have been a lot fewer problems if Microsoft Word were on all computers in the building.

Although there can always be technological issues, I think Microsoft Word is a great software to utilize for writing objectives and more. It is so important that students start using this program early so they can be prepared to write papers in higher-level grades.