Skip to main content

It's All About The Learning

Chromebooks, tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops. There is so much to choose from for a blended learning classroom. How does a teacher begin to figure out which one is best?
For starters, it definitely helps to have a knowledgeable and accessible director of technology. My director of technology, after listening to my blended learning ideas, decided that Chromebooks would probably be the best option for my sixth grade class. And after the first several weeks, I like the decision he made. The students, who are beginners with the Chromebooks, are starting to use them with ease now. The students are up and running in no time, and with no help from me. So, there is that "independence light" at the end of the tunnel that I was wondering if I would ever see after the second week. The students will get there, and probably much faster than one may think.

It is easy to become excited picking a device. It is easy to become wrapped up in the device that was chosen and read about all the things it is capable of. It is easy to start planning elaborate lessons with the new classroom tool. It is easy to see its drawbacks when starting out, too. It is also easy to become lost of what the true intent of that device is. Whatever the device, it must always be all about the learning. No matter how many bells and whistles it has, it must always come back to the learning. If one loses sight of that, no device will work.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Turns Out Teachers Are Mind Readers (Thanks to Recap)

Imagine if you could hear every single student's thinking, thoughts, and ideas on a topic, and respond to each and every one of them without finding time to schedule individual student conferences. Imagine if your students could let you know how well they understood the topics covered during the week. Imagine how much insight you could get, and how you could adjust your teaching to meet the needs of individual students.   Well, a few weeks ago I came across Recap, a free student video response and reflection app, on my Twitter feed. It allows me to hear every single student's thinking, thoughts, and ideas, allows me to respond to each and every one of them. I checked out the site and immediately put it into action in my class calling the Recap assignments, #flashbackfridays. For 6th graders, not much is cooler than the hashtag.  My 6th grade students instantly took to it. Every one of my students are able to share their insights through a reflective process in a way that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Enter The Twilight Zone with Blended Learning

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.  I feel that opening part of the show  The Twilight Zone  directly relates to my school year this year. This is my second full year of running a blended learning classroom, and I feel as if in some way my sixth-grade students and I have crossed over into the Twilight Zone. Strange but wonderful things are happening in and out of my classroom, that I have not, unfortunately, witnessed before in my 15 years of teaching. Students are embracing the idea that learning can take place anywhere, anytime and that their voice matters to others, as they enter a whole other dimension in Google Classroom. They are seeing learning opportunities on their own outside of the school day and wanting to sha...
Post a Comment
Read more

What I Learned from the Elf on the Shelf

There I was at 7:00 AM, bleeding, blood all over my hands, kneeling over our family's beloved Elf on the Shelf, Oliver, in the dining room, and my six-year-old daughter waking up and coming down the steps. It was my worst case scenario. My little girl was going to come downstairs and see me covered in blood with our Elf on the Shelf laying on the floor and think that I did something terrible to Oliver.  Why was I covered in blood and bleeding at 7:00 AM in the dining room with Oliver laying on the floor next me? Because I was trying to make the Elf on the Shelf experience better for my daughters. The night before, I moved Oliver to a spot in our house that was just okay. I knew it was just okay at the time, but I thought it would do. The next morning I woke up, and decided I could do a better job with my placement of our elf. As I was moving him around in the dining room, so he would be hanging upside down like Batman, (much cooler than my first placement), I bumped a glass tha...
Post a Comment
Read more