This has been the first time in many years that I have been nervous to start the first day of school. Not having students preassigned to tables or lockers was a bit unnerving and not knowing how students would react to the less structured environment also was a tad worrisome. However, the students adapted very well to the new environment. Response to Intervention (RTI) is also a school focus and I found the effort I made to de-clutter my classroom and to create an organized environment really suited the one to one computing environment. The students really liked the idea of sitting at tables and choosing where they sat based on their own individual needs. I was concerned that the groupings the students chose would not work because of the distraction of sitting with friends. This, however, was not the case. The students were very engaged in what we were doing and staying on task was not an issue. I was also very impressed with the speed the students were able to unpack their supplies and get ready to learn. Students have their own cubby where they keep their supplies. Not having desks has also alleviated the problem of students having easy access to a myriad of handy distractions. The students were very excited to be assigned their netbooks and all of the students were able to log on quite easily. To save time it really helped to have the computers pre-assigned to the students. It was also handy to have their usernames on hand for easy access for those students who forgot over the summer.
Planning for a one to one computing classroom is the area that I feel the most overwhelmed. Because of my lack of experience planning online I naively thought that I would be encorporating technology into my lessons slowly. However, I have quickly come to realize that in order to effectively and to authentically create a one to one computing classroom that I need organize my lessons online. This has meant for me learning to use a wikispace as the hub of my online classroom and learning to create lessons in Moodle. Organization and creating easy to follow pathways for students is key for a successful one to one computing classroom.
Well stated Bev. I do not think you were naive in thinking that you would slowly integrate technology into your classes. A lot has happened in 2 days and what the students have learned is important. If you are feeling rushed or overwhelmed, perhaps we need to focus on a class or two to start out with, instead of all of them.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel you can not tell us to slow down.
Well stated Robert. I agree maybe we are moving too fast and need to slow down. Focus on what we can handle instead of trying to include every subject. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI can completely understand where you are coming from, Bev. I can't believe how much we have covered in just two days. The students are responding very positively to what's been introduced and I can see that we want this to continue. Perhaps looking at focusing on doing a great job of a couple subjects would be better than feeling like we aren't doing the best we can because we are trying to do too much. I know that this will naturally evolve into doing more as we establish our "base" of experience. This group of students will request more when they are ready, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteHow have things been going this week? I'm so excited for you and know that your group is going to benefit from your efforts. Thanks for the invite. I'll check back every now and again to "touch base".
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!