Tech in the Classroom: Finding the Balance between Helpful and Hinderance

I went to start this blog with the idea of talking about technology in the classroom. Then I started to type and suddenly that didn’t feel like the right topic to write about. Then I thought I would talk about trauma and what it looks like in one of the children work I work with daily.  I am torn between all three topics. They are worth talking about in this blog or anywhere for that matter. For this blogpost, I think I will work through my thoughts on the use technology in the class  
I was first thinking about technology as it is something I tackle every day. The reason I say that I feel that technology is hampering some early childhood educators. It has become a crutch for so many.  Smartboards are piece of technology I am specifically thinking about at this moment. It’s their use in the classroom that bothers not their existence. 
When technology is used to keep children busy instead of the teachers making time to engage the children, we have a problem. Technology is a tool for teachers to use not a replacement for their effort in the classroom.  
My program like so many others have signs posted asking parents to not be on their cell phones when they are coming into the building. We want parents to be engaged with their children at drop and pick-up. To me it only makes sense that staff do the same when they are in the classroom with the children. Therefore, we as educators must be role models for the families as well as the children.  
In the end, I am saying we must be mindful of how technology is used within our classrooms. If we are not careful, technology will go from a tool meant to make our lives easier to hinderance to our bond with the children.