Shifting Focus

This is a very recent and "in-progress" topic for me.  How to help students see their devices as learning tools is something I am still working on.  I am currently teaching 6th grade and this is my first year and the students' first year in using netbooks.  We started off just using email and using office to turn in work.  Most students were very capable of using the netbook in those 2 capacities.  I did however, have several students who did not know how to bookmark sites, download, upload, compose emails, or even to find programs.  It took a lot of patience and some peer help for those students.  We are still working on a few students whose only exposure to technology is at school.

I try to give students many resources to help them research, show their learning, and practice skills.  I will confess that I am still learning.  I tell the students everyday that we are learning together.  I find programs and they help me try them out and show me things.  I let them know that it is okay to try and fail because we learn through those failures...which makes them a success instead.

I do have students who will still turn on their netbooks and go straight to games or social networking.  They have to be redirected and we now turn so that I can see all netbooks at all times.  I must walk around the room and closely monitor the students.  I also found I had to push some of them into it.  I signed them up for My Big Campus and just started putting assignments on there and not passing assignments out.  It worked with a few and they even keep me trying new things.  I wish I had started things differently, but hind sight......

I tried giving explicit instructions for my first project and I discovered that it didn't work for everyone.  I am always looking for ways to engage students and help them discover their own ways to present their learning.  I find that they love helping each other and can learn a lot from each other.  I think that I will probably change the way I use technology 100 more times before the school year is over.  I also feel that using technology in any way is better than no way.  I am teaching students that we are all always learning and growing and letting them help me!

Classroom Management Challenges

This year I am experiencing my first with 1 to 1 computing.  It is sixth grade and they are a wonderful group of students.  I did not think that I would have as many small frequent issues as I do.  The small issues aside, I have experienced some problems with students off-task and simply frustrated with their technology.

My students have varied levels of technology familiarity.  I have students that are wonderful and can help others.  I have other students who do not even know how to turn the computer on.  They get frustrated and easily give up when they cannot log in or figure out how to work something.  Right now I am back-tracking to try to help those students.  Some days it is difficult to get through the assignment.  I would love to offer a class to help with some of the basic skills of those who need it.
 


A big frustration right now is helping organize students.  Students cannot keep track of all of their passwords.  I am currently trying to use My Big Campus to keep the students in one place and their work organized.  I wish I had started the year with this program and started it off better.  In all honesty, I didn't even know what I was doing when we started!  I am hoping that by January I have it all worked out and the students on board too.   I would love to have advice from others who have gone through this. 

With the lack of organization and the differentiated levels of technology, an average day is difficult.  We cannot just do the lesson, we have to deal with all of the other aspects.  Classroom management is difficult, when I am running around the room trying to help students log in, remember passwords, get a netbook to turn on, find their files or assignments, or upload documents.  This is a constant struggle that I am working on overcoming!