It has been an exciting time with the launch of our Mac initiative. All my students have now received MacBook Air 13" with nearly enough battery for a school day. We've had our computers almost a week in fact. Our launch was done quietly and without a blowout party. I really appreciated NOT having another assembly. Students seem conscientious about learning the ins and outs of the Macs. I have tried to do some things to help teach students some tech skills without overwhelming either me or them and without neglecting our chemistry!
1. I moved the student rows into groups of 4. "Pods" if you will. Some students are still rather unwilling to work together with computers out. Okay some are unwilling to work together at all. I'm just surprised that they aren't talking together even more about their macs. I need to work on NOT answering questions but asking another group member to give an opinion.
2. I've got a class with the same prep and a few more minutes each day. They have helped me preview assignments and give good feedback. I was actually pretty grouchy with this group BEFORE the macs but they especially love them like I do so the mood has lightened considerably and I think we feel like partners in this technology piece. (Part of this comes from the introducing smart kids to problem solving and asking them to show their work in your style. After they begin to see the point, they relax.)
3. I am grading much more efficiently now than paper and pencil. The kids respond well to fast feedback but I find it very difficult to get them that feedback without assistance. Sometimes the assistance is online grading, but even with the summaries and question writing I assigned I found the electronic grading process much easier.
4. I try to check edmodo every few hours and answer kids questions throughout the day and evening. The phone app helps. Since we were already trying to use edmodo before the launch we are all breathing easier since its always there now!
5. I have started smallish and been flexible with assignment dates. I postponed the Keynote assignment due date because students were wanting to work diligently but having some issues learning about citations and how to work with multiple open documents. The keynote didn't come until after students were using their web cameras, their browser, edmodo assignments, pages, etc.
I am so excited to see how this will change student engagement with chemistry. I hope to see students learn more but I've always had good grades. I don't expect student scores to rise drastically - just the timeliness with which they know their grades!
That was supposed to be a closer but its crazy how much more confident I am when I can get papers back immediately. Giving feedback like "Leave out 30 more words and resubmit this summary" is exciting. I believe that students like a chance to improve work, but I've always found it difficult to manage. One student actually thanked me for giving the work back promptly with a chance for correction!
I am bone tired and ready for bed but it is so much fun to be reflecting about technology in my classroom! I am not just trying to find innovative ways to get a bit of tech in order to engage students. My students have the tech and now we can just work on reading, writing and problem solving! It's funny how getting more tech has actually allowed my focus to stay closer to the real goal - learning!
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