Stepping outside of our comfort zones

As a teacher my intentions are to prepare students for the future. Yes I care about the test scores but more importantly I want them to be prepared for real life. Not only do I make them research apps, brainstorm activities, self evaluate, peer evaluate, take risks and attempt to show their creative side, I also make them present to their peers on a weekly basis (GASP! HOW DARE SHE!) Some of the presentations are very short, others longer but they have to present their findings and what they created. Here is the issue...I dislike being in front of a crowd of my peers. Give me a class full of students and I do fine, but my peers are another story. In order to not be a "Do as I say, not as a I do" type of teacher, I have started to branch out of my comfort zone.

Last spring, I presented at a small mobile learning symposium at Bowling Green State University. The experience was not that bad so I decided to start looking for more opportunities. What I found was a very limited number of presentations on students with special needs and the incorporation of technology into their classes. I found my niche!  I spent this morning presenting two different sessions one being a paper"less" classroom and the other was meeting the needs of all students in the digital age. The feedback I received was positive and by the end of the morning I was more comfortable. Last week I submitted a proposal to present at OETC in February.  I should know more in a few weeks if I have the opportunity. Either way I plan on attending.

Things are trucking along in my classroom. In my absence I gave my students an experience with app dice. We have been talking about digital citizenship and internet safety for the past few weeks. Students were choosing a random item from a bag and roll an app die (Thanks Tony Vincent) to see what app they would be using to create a visual explanation of the item. I was really excited about this project. I hope they were also. Too often we get stuck in the apps we like and are afraid to go outside of our comfort zone. This activity required the students (and adults) to go outside of their comfort zone.

Whirlwind of a start

I can't believe that we are halfway through the first marking period. We had midterms earlier this week and it was eye opening to both some students and parents. Middle school is a little different than elementary school and the expectations have moved the bar up just a bit. Overall, I think the transition for most kids went very well.

Classes are going well. The resource rooms are going slower than I would like but we will speed up at some point. I have found that one day worth of lesson plans in those classes last me two or more days. But, the kids are showing growth. Even though we are 1 to 1 with an iPad for each student, I put into place a interactive math book. In the book, we have the typical table of contents, but I have also included their "I Can" statements complete with a place to show they that they can solve the problems. In addition, I have started to add a QR Code that links to a You Tube Video on how to do the skill. Sometimes we all need a little help remember what we did in class.

I am still loving my iPad classes. I can count more days when everything is working and going well. Although this week was another story. Everything went wrong. The projector bulb is quickly dying, my Activboard wouldn't work, the laptop was stuck at the loading Windows screen and then went black, and then the Internet wasn't working. Days like that make me want to cry and I feel like a failure to my students. I have to remember to take a step back and realize there are so many amazing things that the kids are creating. We just finished creating Snap Guides which are how to guides. I saw everything from how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to how to put a saddle a horse. My 7th graders were more willing to take risks with this. They loved eating all the things that people created in class. The 6th graders kept it a little safer. It was amazing to see a student type on a braille typewriter and the confidence that they showed. Typically we don't always see the confidence in kids, but this project brought it out.

There are always a ton of ideas swirling around in my head in relation to the iPad and student creations. Some of them work, others are HUGE failures.  Still a learning experience for all of us,