Kids these days: They just don’t know how to communicate …

 

The art of life is a constant readjustment to our surroundings.

~ Kakuzo Okakaura

There are all sorts of posts on social media and comments being made about how “kids these days” are becoming less social and less able to interact socially/intelligently because of smartphones and tablets and computers and drones and wifi and cyborgs … (WATCH THIS–> We are ALL cyborgs now. ~ Amber Case)  but I can tell you that this weekend I took a road trip with three 12/13-year-old girls who spent the entire weekend reading, writing, researching, AND speaking with one another both through traditional language (speaking), through writing (texting, messaging) and through visuals (Instagramming, SnapChatting). They type; they talk; they make videos; they share images; they giggle; they consume viral content; they CREATE content; they experiment; and they are just like I was when I was 12, except that they have modern technology–(just like I had modern technology when I was 12. It just happens to be 26-year-old technology at this point in history).

Here is one of the many non-digital activity the girls participated in this weekend.

Here is one of the many non-digital activity the girls participated in this weekend.

 

I understand why people see it this way. There are people (kids and adults) who over-use the technology that is so readily available to us. There are people who rarely see sunshine, or have hunched backs from constantly huddling over screens. There are people who have taken waaaay too many pictures of themselves (myself included). But, I do not believe for a second that modern technology hinders communication. Social media is a form of literacy. If you don’t learn it, you will become, in a way, illiterate. Refusal to learn is refusal to live life to its full potential.

The girls spent a lot of time using their screened devices. I am the mean mother who still hasn’t purchased a smartphone (nor a stupid phone) for my daughter, but she has an iPad from school and her friend has two smartphones, so she let my daughter borrow the smartphone she no longer uses, as a wifi-ready device for the weekend. There were several remarkable things I’d like to note about what happened our trip.

On the way to South Dakota, the girls decided that they wondered what it would be like to time-lapse themselves for the entire way there. One of the girls time-lapsed herself sleeping the other night and that idea spurred this idea. They set up one of the iPads and began time-lapsing the trip. Then they decided it would be pretty awesome to not only have a time-lapse of themselves, but also of the road, so they set up a second iPad. We had simultaneous time-lapsing going on. It was a rather nifty experiment.

This was part of our self-guided statue tour of the USD campus.

This was part of our self-guided statue tour of the USD campus.

 

The next thing that happened was they did a lot of sharing through digital communication. They also talked … a lot. They would be talking while they were sending each other digital content. Color-me-impressed with how much talking occurred this weekend. (It was nearly non-stop.)

These girls are documentarians. If you wanted to create a timeline of our weekend, you could. You might be overwhelmed by the massive body of work, but you could definitely chart our activities through the girls’ pictures and posts. At the end of the trip, my daughter’s two friends told their moms to follow me on Instagram so that they could see what their weekend was like. As a mom, I would really like to be able to see that. If my child is away from me, I would find it a blessing to know what she did while she was away. (Now that my oldest daughter is away at college, this is especially true!)

Anytime the girls were unsure of something, they researched it online. The answers are there. We were able to talk about website credibility through this. We were also able to practice concert etiquette–one of the important components being–>put your phones away during the concert! When the girls started to interact in catty ways with girls who weren’t physically there, we had the opportunity to talk about how staying out of “the drama” of being a girl is really better than engaging in it. If someone baits you online, it’s best to not take the bait! We had some excellent conversations. If someone says “like for a #TBH DM” don’t hit LIKE. Don’t do it! I learned some things this weekend, but I think they did too.

We saw three separate concerts while we were at USD this weekend.

We saw three separate concerts while we were at USD this weekend.

 

At one point during the trip, there was a “fight,” as often happens when you get three girls together for any extended period of time. After said fight and after a little parental intervention (AKA group therapy sesh), I witnessed the three girls work out a problem they were having through Snapchat. One of them sent an (intentionally) unattractive photo of herself to the other with the message, “Why can’t we be fweinds?” right before the concert started, and then they were all holding in laughs and giving each other knowing looks that conveyed “WE ARE FRIENDS” or “fwiends” if you will. Up until that point, I thought Snapchat was a good-for-nothing app that served only as a way to send inappropriate images to one another under the guise of “safe anonymity”. It still CAN be that–no doubt about it–but if we educate our children how to use such apps responsibly, then amazingly enough, even Snapchat can be useful.

In addition to all the things I mentioned above, we also saw three collegiate orchestral, concert and symphonic band concerts, went thrift store shopping, took a self-guided tour of the statues of the USD campus, went swimming, sang songs, visited the National Music Museum where we were all able to take a crack at playing the gamelan and my youngest daughter got to spend (face-to-face) time with her big sis.

We took three "groupies" as the girls called them or "us-ies" as Dave Guymon calls them (which I favor due to the connotation of "groupies" in my generational vernacular. We took one at every concert.

We took three “groupies” as the girls called them or “us-ies” as Dave Guymon  calls them (which I favor due to the connotation of “groupies” in my generational vernacular). We took one at every concert.

 

So, do these devices make us less social? NO. We may socialize in different ways, but we are not less social. Are kids super-self-centered in that they take a thousand selfies per minute? YES. Have you ever heard of a generation of adolescents who have not been self-absorbed though? They may have shown their self-absorption in other ways, but kids have always been on some level (varying by individual, of course) of the belief that they are the sun and the rest of the people in their lives are the world–revolving around them. Being self-absorbed at that age is NORMAL. My friends and I used to stare at ourselves FOR HOURS … (no hyperbole here … ) in the mirror making weird faces and bursting into laughter. HOURS. Now, they just do it into a screen and possibly make a montage of the most awkward photos or a mashup or a meme. If my friends and I could’ve done the same, we would’ve.

YES: Our kids do lead digital lives, but they haven't stopped interacting socially with one another. They just are doing it in new ways. Their kids will do it in new ways 20 years from now. Just like I did in new ways than my parents. It's called change. It's what happens as time marches on.

YES: Our kids do lead digital lives, but they haven’t stopped interacting socially with one another. They just are doing it in new ways. Their kids will do it in ways currently unimagined  20 years from now.

 

Balance. Of course, we need balance in everything we do–not just in digital VS. face-to-face interactions, and technology vs. nature–but in work vs. play, health vs. indulgence, physical vs. mental activity, fun vs. serious, and so on. Technology changes communication, but in my opinion, communication is easier today than it has ever been. Communication is more creative today than it ever has been. And kids are the same as they ever were; they just have new ways of expressing themselves.

In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

~ Eric Hoffer

The MOSTLY Paperless (and Increasingly Empathetic) Classroom: A Revised Technology Goal

I have always been a tree hugger, both literally and figuratively.

This is me hugging a tree that George Washington planted at Mount Vernon.

This is me hugging a tree that George Washington planted at Mount Vernon.

Three years ago when we began our iPad initiative my technology goal was to go paperless over a three year period. Predictably hippie of me, eh? I wanted to phase out paper completely by the end of THIS school year. I have been toddler-stepping toward that goal ever since.

I deliver almost all handouts and assignments digitally through email, this blog, Twitter, and now most prominently, Google Drive. Students complete and submit most of their assignments digitally. The first year the students did so hesitantly and with raucous complaint. The second year it was about half and half. Half of them preferred to submit things digitally and half of them preferred the old-fashioned way of doing things. This year students almost exclusively hand in their papers digitally, without much comment, though we do struggle with a standardized process. And there will always be Luddites, even young ones, who just want to etch their responses into a stone and call it good, (or at the very least use a pencil and paper).

All through this process I grappled with the best way to deliver feedback to students. I struggle with feedback as it is. I have still not mastered a balance between high quality AND timely feedback. The students get one or the other for me. The closest I can get to providing both is the oral feedback process I started experimenting with back in 2013, but that still isn’t ideal.

Before I use technology in the classroom, I ask myself these questions: 1. Will it help my students learn new information that will help them in this class (and life)? 2. Will it help my students learn or strengthen a skill that I want them to have? 3. Will it serve to build or strengthen my relationship with my students and/or their parents? If I can’t answer YES to at least one of those questions, then I most likely won’t be using it in the classroom during instructional time.

So, at the beginning of this school-year, as I reflected on years one and two of my three-year technology goal of going paperless, I asked myself, Why am I going paperless? Is it going to help my students to become better readers, writers, researchers, speakers, or thinkers?

Ummmm …

Is it going to strengthen my relationship with my students and/or their parents?

Errrr …

So, why did I go with this goal in the first place?

Aside from the idea that going paperless seems like the environmentally responsible thing to do, I am big into the idea that if I ask my students to do something, I should be doing it too. I’m very much against the “do as I say, not as I do” attitude, so I feel like I’m letting my students down when I insist that they submit their work digitally, but then I print off the assignment and return it with feedback written with a pen. I don’t why I feel like I’m letting them down and I have not once had a student say, “Gee Mrs. M. I was really hoping that this feedback would be written in digital ink,” so I guess I’m sort of making an assumption about what constitutes “letting my students down.”

I have taken numerous stabs at downloading every students’ writing assignment to Goodnotes and delivering painstaking feedback with my finger, a stylus, or a keyboard, and every single time I try it, I give up and print it out. Usually, by the time I break down and hit command+P, I am so flummoxed that I wait to give feedback until later when I’m in a better mood (and thereby deliver feedback much later than I intended) OR give rushed handwritten feedback that is simply not up to the standard to which I hold myself. I did successfully deliver quiz feedback via Goodnotes and Google Drive this quarter and that felt like a minor victory to me, but again, not one single student said, “Gee Mrs. M. I truly appreciated that you returned this quiz to me digitally and that you used your stylus to write your explanations for why this answer needs work or how wonderful my response was.” (Not that students are known for giving such feedback to teachers anyway. Ha!)

This is me hugging a tree  in The Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, France.

This is me hugging a tree in The Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, France.

So, am I attempting this goal for environmental reasons? (Sort of. Okay: Yes.) And, am I failing the environment if I continue to print student work and write my feedback out long-hand in ink? (Probably not.) It depends on who you ask. I read an article that said that really it’s not the paper-making process that’s environmentally problematic; it’s the fact that we humans don’t recycle enough of it. Now that my school district is recycling again (YAYZ!) I feel a little better about this. It seems that I should spend less time feeling guilty about things and more time reflecting on why I do the things I do. After all, I’m into the third year of a three-year goal and this is just now occurring to me … ??? (Did I just admit that aloud? UGH. True confessions.)

One of the most important things we do at the classroom level is give students feedback, so if my goal to become a paperless teacher is impeding this important thing …

I have decided to rethink my goal.

My new and improved revised goal is to run a mostly paperless classroom in which the teacher delivers high quality feedback in the most timely manner possible, even if that means sometimes printing stuff off and writing the feedback with a pen. My goal will be to use paperless methods where it makes sense and works well for all parties involved and offer alternatives when it doesn’t work well for someone (be it student or teacher). I will use paperless methods when it makes sense to do so and not just for the sake of going paperless.

The other good thing about this revised goal is that I’ve already met it! (Pretty tricky. I know …)  I feel that I’ve succeeded because most of my information level and activity level handouts are digitized and students are successfully navigating Google Drive, Goodnotes, Twitter, and their blogs to give and receive information. And, my lack of success in delivering digital feedback 100% of the time has given me another lesson in empathizing with the frustration students feel when they have to turn in work digitally and struggle with it. And I don’t think there’s such a thing as a teacher having too much empathy for her students.

#NETA14InstaWalk: This Mission IS Possible!

All righty #NETA14 attendees: We have a mission for you–a mission of possibility–if you will. Welcome to the #NETA14InstaWalk. We are your task masters and hosts, Jodie Morgenson (AKA morgetron)

photo 2

AND Eliu Paopao (AKA paopao)

photo 1

and we will be guiding you through this most arduous, but rewarding experience.

We don’t want to flood Instagram with such intrepid volumes of awesome that it implodes or anything, though this will be difficult, because face it, teachers who spend time improving themselves for the sake of their students and attend events like #NETA14 are undeniably radical. That being said, we don’t want to overshadow the existing awesomeness that is already happening in the inner workings and cogs of the #NETA14 machine, but we do want to HIGHLIGHT it! Make it shine! Therefore, we are going to ask you to to do some reconnaissance–for the betterment of #NETA14 networking–and of yourselves.

<DRAMATIC PAUSE>

Your mission, dear #NETA14 attendees, should you choose to accept it, is to use your spyglass, (in the form of a camera, or a phone, or an iPad) to seize the very awesome to which we earlier referred and share it with the world via the Instagram hashtag #NETA14InstaWalk. Capture the awesome on camera and share it with the world (or at least with us). Let’s make a tiny ripple in the social media realm and force the Instaworld and the Tweetosphere and the Faceplace raise their styli in the air, mid-swipe and declare, “Something is going on in La Vista Nebraska, and we want to know what it is.”

For simply participating, you can earn this esteemed badge:

MissionPossible.png

That’s right: You heard me. For simply posting a single piece of insider intelligence–just one little picture on Instagram with this hashtag: #NETA14InstaWalk–you will earn this shiny spyglass inspired badge. We chose this spyglass to represent YOU, giving THE WORLD the insider’s view of the convention from the ultimate infiltration level–that of an attendee.

FELICITY2.jpg

Next up? The Felicity Badge. What brings you joy? What inspires you? Who makes education a better place? Capture this in the form of these four TASKS to earn this badge. Make sure to include the word “FELICITY” in your post and hashtag it with #NETA14InstaWalk.

TASKS 1-4–>Post photos portraying …

  • something at #NETA14 that makes you happy

  • a poster sesh that taught you something new

  • a breakout session inspiration

  • someone who makes education a better place

(Why the Starfish? If you’ve never had a chance to read “The Star Thrower” by Loren Eiseley, you should. It is a beautiful story of inspiration, kindness, and felicity. This is why we chose this as our symbol.)

fashionista.jpg

You know you look good. (Just admit it.) And so do your friends. Gone are the days of the stuffy polyester pants-wearing curmudgeonly teacher. Teachers are fashionable. Teachers have got it goin’ on. Make sure to include the word “FASHION” in your post and hashtag it with #NETA14InstaWalk.

TASKS 5-8–> To earn The Fashionista Badge take photos of …

  • hat you wore on Thursday of #NETA14.

  • what you wore on Friday of #NETA14.

  • good lookin’ groups of educators

  • ANY noteworthy #edufashion that you spy  (a la Kristina Peters–@Mrskmpeters)

Foodie3.jpg

Everybody’s gotta eat, so let’s share in the yummy. Make sure to include the word “FOODIE” in your post and hashtag it with #NETA14InstaWalk.

TASKS 9-12–> To earn The Foodie Badge spy on your own plate, and share photos of …

  • beautiful breakfast

  • the savory and the sweet (snack-time)

  • hydration station (leaded or unleaded–your choice)

  • let’s do lunch

FRIENDZY3.jpg

NETA is truly the ultimate networking event for teachers seeking to improve their practice and share in expertise. It’s natural that our friends show up to this event because we like to surround ourselves with people who love to learn. Celebrate these friendships–old and new. Make sure to include the word “FRIENDZY” in your post and hashtag it with #NETA14InstaWalk.

TASKS 13-16–> To earn The Friendzy Badge take photos of …

  • reunions–friends you haven’t seen for a while

  • new friends–people you just met!

  • session selfies–> (Think Craig Badura-@mrbadura-at #edcampomaha)

  • digi-friends (friends you’ve only met digitally prior to today)

CAMtoteED3.jpg

Complete ALL of the aforementioned missions to earn THE HIGHEST AWARD available during the #NETA14InstaWalk–The Camera Totin’ Educator Badge–as inspired by Laura Gilchrist (@LauraGilchrist4).

Mainly we just want you to have fun and enjoy the conference. If you get a chance to snap some photos, don’t forget to include the hashtag. We may regram some of your posts. All of the posts will show up on NETA’s Facebook page and Twitter feed though. The hashtag will be the only way PaoPao and Morgetron will be able to find your pics, so it’s super important!

Above all, keep on being the awesome educator that you are, and if you have a chance to share your insider’s view of NETA, we hope you do it through the #NETA14InstaWalk!

————————————————————-

LOOKING for…?

…INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO INSTAWALK? –> CLICK ON THIS –> How do you InstaWalk?

…BADGES AND TASKS? –> CLICK ON THIS –> Take me to the badges!

… A WAY TO ASK A QUESTION? –> (Remove the asterisks) and EMAIL ME HERE –> *morgetron*@*gmail.com*.

… THE NETA INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT? CLICK ON THIS: @NEBEDTECH

#NETA14InstaWalk … or InstaParty?

If you’re looking for THE #NETA14InstaWalk Tasks & Badges, CLICK HERE–> This Mission Is Possible!
You are cordially invited to our party, our #NETA14InstaWalk party, that is.

MissionPossible

Later this week, educators from all over the region will be flocking to the the La Vista Convention Center for the premier Midwestern educational technology convention–> #NETA14 and this year, Eliu PaoPao and I will be hosting the first ever InstaWalk. We want YOU to join us.

What is an InstaWalk? you might be asking. An Instawalk is a photo scavenger hunt of sorts designed to infuse #NETA14 with an element of fun and whimsy, whilst offering yet another brilliant opportunity for attendees to network. Also, we’ve decided to gamify it by offering badges to those of you who carry out the given tasks.

To participate, follow these steps.

1. If you don’t have the Instagram app on your mobile device, download it from the app store and establish an account.

2. We will post the scavenger tasks in a couple of places: here on my blog, on Paopao’s blog and on NETA’s Instagram. Either check back here, or follow the NETA Instagram to see the prompts.

3. Fulfill the scavenger tasks throughout your NETA14 experience. Snap; share; search; interact.

4. Make sure to add #NETA14InstaWalk to all of your photo captions. This will send your photo to an Instagram backchannel that will allow everyone to see our photos in one place. Some of these photos will be regrammed on the NETA Instagram account. (Please note that if you have a PRIVATE Instagram account, you photos will not show up in the backchannel for everyone to see. They will only appear to those users who follow you. There are pros and cons to private accounts.)

5. This is for fun, so don’t let it stress you out! If you can’t fulfill one of the prompts, NBD. It’s not a contest; it’s strictly to make our conference experience more fun, so we hope you enjoy it! Everyone who plays is a winner, and even those who don’t play can enjoy the fruits of our labor.

6. If you’re more of a lurker, you can also watch the fun unfold by searching for the #NETA14 hashtag on Instagram (via the EXPLORE function) or clicking on the tag when it appears in the caption of a photo. However, I want to encourage you to pop your comfy lurking bubble and at least try one of the tasks. This will be a very supportive environment to test the waters of social media, if you haven’t done so before.

In addition to posting your photos, we also encourage you to comment on and “LIKE” others’ photos as well. Interaction is the goal here! You can also share your photos via Twitter or Facebook. Josh Allen has set up an IFTTT recipe to share these photos via the NETA Facebook page and Twitter and Elui and I will share some of them via our personal Twitter feeds also (@epaopao & @morgetron).

Paopao and I will be keeping our eyes on the #NETA14InstaWalk backchannel, and we will be delivering badges to everyone who earns them via shared Google Drive Folder! If you earn a badge, we will tag you on the badge post on Instagram and then, eventually contact you to download your very own copy of the badge to display wherever you want to display it. Remember EVERYONE who plays, wins.

iTweet. #allthetime

The Twitterverse or the Twittersphere, as many clever Tweeps (an astute rendering of “Twitter” and methinks “creep” as the definition is a Twitter follower who follows a Tweeter to other social networks. Correct me if I’m wrong, interwebs.) have cleverly coined the vast digital stomping grounds of Twitter, can be–like many things described as “vast” or “stomping grounds” or “digital”–a little overwhelming, a little scary, maybe even a little outlawish**. However, it can also be an environment rich in learning, information exchange, and relationship-building.

Sadly, sometimes bad thing can happen on Twitter. People get addicted to social media. Just like in real life (IRL) people can be mean to one another within this digital realm. They can spread lies. They can circulate insults. It can even reach the level of cruel harassment. The difference here is that when something is said aloud IRL, although it is still painful, there is (in most cases) no permanent visual reminder of it. On Twitter, a vicious statement can remain indefinitely, especially if someone retweets said comment or captures a screenshot of an unsavory post and then broadcasts that image via some other digital medium, which is why we must all be cautious when posting ANYTHING online, in ANY digital space. Think news travels fast in your school? The Twitter grapevine is electrified and widespread. This can be good if you WANT to get your message out there, but if you’d rather keep it private, the internerts* is not the place to post it. What is really important to acknowledge is that it does not appear that social media is going away, so I think it is a NECESSITY that instead of forbidding our students from using it freely, that we teach them HOW to use it responsibly, and give them a process to handle things properly, if they encounter the bad stuff (which realistically, we know they will at some point, whether they are looking for it or not).

However nefarious some Tweets, some exchanges, some Twitter accounts or some backchannels can be, the Twitterverse is also a place where powerful, gritty, learning and idea exchanging takes place. My number one use for Twitter is professional development. The use of hashtags (A.K.A backchannels A.K.A. #’s)  in the Twittersphere is a way to bring people with common interests and passions together as well as providing a means of networking and building a Personal Learning Network (PLN).  (Note that there are other outlets for backchannel creation, but in this post, anywhere you see me reference one, I’m referring to Twitter backchannels.) I follow a few backchannels in particular including #nebedu (tweets from and for Nebraska educators), #edchat (tweets from and for educators from around the world), #engchat (tweets from and for English teachers), and #edtech (tweets from and for anyone interested in educational technology). When I have a spare minute, I take a peek at the tweets the people I follow on Twitter have posted, or I go to the one of the aforementioned backchannels. Conversely, if I find an article that I feel is useful or shareworthy, I tag it with one or more of the backchannels so that other people who are interested in similar topics might benefit from the article as well. Sometimes I just share funny or silly things too. I also like to tweet quotes from people whom I admire or people whom make me think. Not everything I post is tagged for a backchannel, but everything I post is broadcast to my followers, which at this point includes students, parents, colleagues, and strangers. I know some of my followers personally and some I’ve never met (and probably never will). I’ve also met people on Twitter whom I have later met in person. Weird. I know. But it makes sense since I’m involved in backchannels that focus on things in which I am interested, and I attend events about which I am interested. It is not unusual to bump into someone you “met” on Twitter at a NETA convention or an NCTE event. (Just to be clear, I’m not arranging rendezvous with strangers I’ve met via the Internet. If I meet someone IRL that I’ve first met on Twitter or some other social media outlet, it has thus far been by chance.) Many times at events such as NETA, the organizers and the participants create backchannels for people to live tweet, thus broadening the professional development experience by offering glimpses into sessions that one is unable to attend.

I have also created backchannels for all of the classes I teach. For anyone unfamiliar with the ways of the Twittersphere, this makes it sound like I have some special authority or power there. I don’t. Anyone who places the hashtag symbol (#) in front of any combination of letters–sensical or not–within a tweet for the first time, creates a backchannel. The downside to this is that once a backchannel is created, anyone with a Twitter account (including spammers–someone who sends out links that open malware or viruses on one’s computer–and trolls–people who intentionally incite the anger of others by making strategically provocative or even hateful comments) can participate in a backchannel. So, if you create a backchannel and it gains significant popularity, it is sometimes targeted by not-so-nice people. However, our hashtags are obscure enough so far that this has not been an issue. Backchannels do expire after a while too, if posts are not made on a regular basis. Also, the Twitter community is pretty good at taking care of their own in that, if a responsible user sees someone who is misusing his or her account, that person’s account will most likely not exist for much longer as he or she will be reported for spam or abuse.  My advice to you regarding trolls and spammers is to ignore them. Showering someone like that with attention of any sort is like throwing corncobs into a bonfire. It feeds them and they grow stronger. Take away your attention (the fuel) and they’ll eventually burn out OR report them and allow them to be extinguished by force.

I use my classroom backchannels as a way to not only interact with my students digitally, but also to deliver information to them. Not every student has a Twitter account, so I cannot use it as my exclusive method of communication (face-to-face communication is still number 1 in my archaic little English teachery** book.) but it can be part of my repertoire. I see it as a way to speak one of my students’ (many) languages. I don’t want to speak TEXT with them because it’s a private communication tool that cannot be readily monitored. (Would you believe that I still don’t have texting capabilities on my phone?) I don’t want to be Facebook friends with them because I use that to socialize with my own friends. An unlocked Twitter account, on the other hand, is a transparent way to communicate with my students in matters of business (school) and manners of rapport-building (meaningful but fun, light, silly or interest-driven  interactions). After this first quarter of the current school year, I have come to think of Twitter as a relationship-building machine. During our Fall play this year, I used a backchannel as a way to share updates about our production process. The students liked it because they like reading about and seeing pictures of themselves and parents liked it because they like reading about and seeing pictures of their children. For classes, I use it as a means of sharing links to articles or even embedding images of pdfs I’ve converted to jpgs–among other things.

One concern I do have about a tool like Twitter is that not every student has it. This is why I must strive to use ALL avenues–traditional and “new”–to do all of the things that I just said Twitter can do. Twitter or any digital communication tool should never replace human interaction–good ol’ face to face communication. I think this goes without saying, but I don’t want to leave it out–just in case anyone forgets.

*Internerts is my pet name for the Internet. I don’t know from where it came, but know it came from somewhere random.

**I make up adjectives sometimes.

BONUS: If you think the Twitter Terms I used in this post are ridiculous(ly wonderful), check these out: TweetTerms from GeekTerms.

Sustained Silent Angry Birds

On Fridays in my English classes, (and in the English classes of all of my PHS Language Arts colleagues), we partake in sustained silent reading (SSR).  The students are required to walk through the door with a book in hand and to read that book for the duration of our time together. It’s a simple way to give students a consistent opportunity to read and it demonstrates how much our department values reading. Every year, since I’ve been at PHS, we have had talks about removing SSR in favor of other things, but we always come to the same conclusion: We value reading SO MUCH that SSR MUST stay.

So, my question this year is not, “Should we continue our SSR tradition on Fridays?” but rather, “Where do the iPads fit into all of this … or do they?” My answer thus far is, “We’re going to try to work it in where it makes sense for students.” There are plenty of e-reading options for the iPad and I’d like to give my students the choice to use them in lieu of the traditional book.

I LOVE books …the way they look … the book smell (you know what I’m talkin’ ’bout) … the feel of the pages against my fingertips … the sound of the spine cracking … that old familiar book taste (kidding).  If I own the book I’m reading, you better believe I’m going to be dog-earing that sucker, and chances are high that my writing will be scrawled in the margins OR especially lovely passages, sentences, or single words will be underlined.  But, I’m also in love with experimentation — my own and the fostering of it in others. I’m also in love with the idea of engaging students in reading. If that means handing over the traditional book in favor of a book served up digitally, so be it.

My top concern is that I will allow my students this option and they will make a show of opening their e-reader app at the beginning of class, but the minute I’m not looking, SSR will turn into SSAB (sustained silent Angry Birds). I don’t know how I will monitor this. (Please, if you have suggestions, give them to me.) I like to read or play catch up during SSR myself, but it would be negligent of me to believe that every student will have such a brilliant desire to read that they will be able to withstand the many temptations that iPads present. For Pete’s sake, while composing this post, I’ve checked my Twitter feed and email two or three times each, so I know how distracting (and wonderful) technology can be. For now, I think I will offer the students a TWO STRIKE and you’re out system. The first strike will require that you sit at your table with the iPad flat an in plain sight.  The second strike will mean that you have to go back to the old-fashioned means of reading — with a book.

Everyone will start with the option of downloading an e-reader app, and they will keep that privilege and my trust as long as they stay on task.  I will be duly diligent in monitoring them during SSR, which, I acknowledge, will be a challenge! I am only one woman with limited super powers. (All teachers have super powers, but I cannot reveal mine at this time.)

I’m hoping that at least a few students will take me up on this offer of reading mode variety and that different students will try out different e-reader apps, so I can report back on which ones work best for us. Of course, students will have the choice to just read a regular lovely old book. In fact, we’re going to the library TODAY for those who are traditional book-lickers like myself (Again … the book tasting is just a joke; but seriously … I ♥ books.)

If you have experience with e-reader apps and wouldn’t mind sharing, please do so in the comments OR tweet me: @morgetron. 

First Friday!

I will be brief because one of my colleagues has taken it upon himself to have an informal tech meeting at his house after school today. In all of my years of teaching, I have not ever, before today, been invited over to another teacher’s house on a Friday night for the express purpose of decompressing and discussing my week of teaching. That alone makes this year exciting.

 

Day 1 in a 1:1 iPad School

In a way, yesterday was day 1 of our school’s 1:1 iPad initiative because, last night, most of our students came to the school to pick up their shiny new iPads.  In a way, day 1 was a day in late May when we, the teachers received our iPads and began learning all about them (playing with them — best way for me to learn)!  In a way, day 1 was the day our school board approved the 1:1 initiative in our school and excitement began to seep into the hallways and classrooms and students and faculty in our district. In a way, day 1 was the day our current superintendent sat and watched Travis Allen’s keynote at NETA12 and it all clicked into place. But TODAY is the day that all of our students walked into class with iPads in hand.

In addition to today being our first day of school and my first opportunity to make contact with this year’s students, it was also a day of training. Arvin Ross from iSchool Initiative (@iSchoolAdvocate) was here to help with a “boot camp” of sorts.  The students though, are fearless when it comes to this tool. Unsurprisingly so, they dove in, downloading apps, using the camera (of course), and navigating the web. There was a boot camp going on, but it was a meta-boot camp and the presenter was only a small part of it. The students are going to train themselves. The students are going to train us!

Have there been kinks? Yes. Were we expecting them? Yes. Were they a big hairy deal? Nope. So far every rough spot we’ve encountered has been easily fixable and addressed with efficiency. Do we expect a little bit of chaos? Yes. Am I excited about said chaos? You better believe it. It’ll be a good kind of chaos–the kind where mistakes are made, academic risks are taken, and learning flourishes.

Let’s be realistic though.  Here is what I am not expecting iPads to do for us: perform magic. We still have to use best practice and continually learn and stretch and grow. iPads are not a cure for anything in particular that ails any of us. It is a tool that, if used well, will have a positive impact on us. Education is hard work and will continue to be so; it’ll just be more fun this year!

Here is what I do expect iPads to do for us: increase engagement, make projects more efficient, expand learning outside the classroom and outside the school, and increase communication.

Today was technically day 1, but I have feeling we have a whole year of day 1’s ahead of us.

Thoughts?  Tweet me: @morgetron.