As the school year ends, I think about what I did well and, more importantly, what I did poorly. I don’t “focus” on the negative; rather, I try to look at it as a learning tool. One of the things I did poorly was monitoring the computer and cell phone usage of my students.
First off, I want to say that I am very blessed to have 1:1 laptops, Wi-Fi, and a very open school atmosphere when it comes to tech. We are encouraged to use tech in our lessons, projects, and day-to-day assignments. Unfortunately, many of our students abuse tech by streaming videos, wasting time watching backyard fights on YouTube, and trolling Pinterest. I am guilty of allowing it even during instructional time. My reasoning was that I didn’t want to fight that battle. It was too hard. I can’t monitor all of them and still be an effective teacher. Basically, I lied to myself out of the real reason – I’ve grown lazy. By this, I mean that I chose to ignore poor behavior. I wasn’t teaching the whole student. I had strayed from the real reason I got into education in the first place. And for this, I am truly embarrassed.
So, self, what are you going to do differently to correct this poor behavior? Well, the first thing I’m going to do is to correct my misbehavior. I am going to have a procedure for the class that will walk the fine line between facilitator and dictator. There will be some time where students will actually be required to look up things on Pinterest. There will be times when using the smartphones we’ve been blessed (cursed?) with for projects and assignments will be put down and given a rest. There will be times when watching something on YouTube will be encouraged. Snapchat as a collaborative study tool? Why not? But all of this is going to be educational. I am going back to my first love, so to speak. It’s all about educating the students.
I’m going to help my students realize that life is not just those little hand-held devices. It’s part of a global awareness that we have been thrust into. These digital tools are just that – tools – to enhance our lives. We will become digitally responsible in our use of tech. We will not be so engrossed in it that we have to text, chat, pic, and post all of our waking hours. We will have days when no tech is needed or used. We will become appreciative of tech and treat it like we should. We will treat it as an important PART of our lives rather than the reason we live.
Soooooo, how are we going to do that??? I’m going to develop classroom procedures regarding instruction. For instance, when a person is addressing you, give that person your full attention – no multi-tasking allowed. This will be linked to courtesy and respect. When instructions are being given to the class, there is an expectation that all eyes and ears are focusing on the person giving those instructions. On the days we are taking notes, students will be required to have their laptops closed. Yes, that means that they are writing down the notes. My reason will be that they cannot be betrayed by tech if they already have a hard copy of what they need to know. It also means I can better monitor the use of tech and help them become better listeners and help them focus on a speaker. This will in turn create better and more engaging presenters. I will teach them to reward themselves with some downtime after completion of a task. No more immediate gratification (read: distractions and procrastination). We work first, then play.
I’m going to be more creative and have some students teach ME how they use social media so I can integrate it into my classroom. Whether it be for study guides, collaborative learning, projects, whatever. I want them to see how they can use tech to further their education instead of retard it. To do this, I have to become, for lack of a better way of putting it, a teenager in a digital world.
I’m going to be more aware of the social needs of my students and let them interact more with others. That means streamlining the direct instruction and expanding the time given for research. I am going to have to teach my students that not everything is on Wikipedia. Not everything can be “googled”. Some things have to be created based on knowledge gleaned from books, people, and experiences in the real world.
This is going to be a daunting task. I know. But I’m convinced that it is necessary. How do I know? Easy. I am a teacher. I am THE teacher. And I am willing to pass on the information I’ve learned over my life to my students to help them become the best person s/he can be.
First off, I want to say that I am very blessed to have 1:1 laptops, Wi-Fi, and a very open school atmosphere when it comes to tech. We are encouraged to use tech in our lessons, projects, and day-to-day assignments. Unfortunately, many of our students abuse tech by streaming videos, wasting time watching backyard fights on YouTube, and trolling Pinterest. I am guilty of allowing it even during instructional time. My reasoning was that I didn’t want to fight that battle. It was too hard. I can’t monitor all of them and still be an effective teacher. Basically, I lied to myself out of the real reason – I’ve grown lazy. By this, I mean that I chose to ignore poor behavior. I wasn’t teaching the whole student. I had strayed from the real reason I got into education in the first place. And for this, I am truly embarrassed.
So, self, what are you going to do differently to correct this poor behavior? Well, the first thing I’m going to do is to correct my misbehavior. I am going to have a procedure for the class that will walk the fine line between facilitator and dictator. There will be some time where students will actually be required to look up things on Pinterest. There will be times when using the smartphones we’ve been blessed (cursed?) with for projects and assignments will be put down and given a rest. There will be times when watching something on YouTube will be encouraged. Snapchat as a collaborative study tool? Why not? But all of this is going to be educational. I am going back to my first love, so to speak. It’s all about educating the students.
I’m going to help my students realize that life is not just those little hand-held devices. It’s part of a global awareness that we have been thrust into. These digital tools are just that – tools – to enhance our lives. We will become digitally responsible in our use of tech. We will not be so engrossed in it that we have to text, chat, pic, and post all of our waking hours. We will have days when no tech is needed or used. We will become appreciative of tech and treat it like we should. We will treat it as an important PART of our lives rather than the reason we live.
Soooooo, how are we going to do that??? I’m going to develop classroom procedures regarding instruction. For instance, when a person is addressing you, give that person your full attention – no multi-tasking allowed. This will be linked to courtesy and respect. When instructions are being given to the class, there is an expectation that all eyes and ears are focusing on the person giving those instructions. On the days we are taking notes, students will be required to have their laptops closed. Yes, that means that they are writing down the notes. My reason will be that they cannot be betrayed by tech if they already have a hard copy of what they need to know. It also means I can better monitor the use of tech and help them become better listeners and help them focus on a speaker. This will in turn create better and more engaging presenters. I will teach them to reward themselves with some downtime after completion of a task. No more immediate gratification (read: distractions and procrastination). We work first, then play.
I’m going to be more creative and have some students teach ME how they use social media so I can integrate it into my classroom. Whether it be for study guides, collaborative learning, projects, whatever. I want them to see how they can use tech to further their education instead of retard it. To do this, I have to become, for lack of a better way of putting it, a teenager in a digital world.
I’m going to be more aware of the social needs of my students and let them interact more with others. That means streamlining the direct instruction and expanding the time given for research. I am going to have to teach my students that not everything is on Wikipedia. Not everything can be “googled”. Some things have to be created based on knowledge gleaned from books, people, and experiences in the real world.
This is going to be a daunting task. I know. But I’m convinced that it is necessary. How do I know? Easy. I am a teacher. I am THE teacher. And I am willing to pass on the information I’ve learned over my life to my students to help them become the best person s/he can be.