Elementary Tech Bytes
Week of February 27
The Messy But Awesome Reality of 1:1
Finally, after letting the devices sit a couple of days, I got tired of the students asking me a thousand times a day when we were going to use the iPads. I tried a simple digital citizenship lesson at first, and it worked seamlessly. I felt like a rockstar. The kids were excited. What was I so worried about? This iPad thing was easy.
The next day, I decided to go all in. Any type of creativity app I could throw at students, I did. You know what? It was probably the most epic fail of my career. Creativity apps? I couldn't even get them all logged on. I was overwhelmed with more problems than I could deal with. The kids were bouncing off the walls. In my frustration, I vowed that I was done.
Later that afternoon, as I drove home feeling slightly sorry for myself, I got to thinking. Yes, that entire scenario was a huge mess; however, I learned a lot from the disaster. Then, I had to laugh a little, because I acted just like my students when I gave them something difficult to attempt.
Over the next few weeks, I regrouped and started on a small scale. Did everything go right moving forward? It wasn't even close. However, every lesson got a little easier, and students caught on quickly. Things that initially took ten minutes to work through were completed in seconds. Looking back now three years later, the initial investment of time the first year was completely worth it. I was able to build on what I had done with my last class every year and provide students with some awesome experiences I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.
A few thoughts as you get ready for next year...
- Start small and keep progressing forward
- Even on days when you feel like you can't, you can do this.
- Don't worry if it doesn't go right the first time. There is always tomorrow.
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