If you Build It...They Will Come! - Prepping for 1:1 Computing

We are still a couple of weeks away from receiving our computers for our 1:1 classroom, but the preparations are well underway!! Preparations for the students and for the parents.....

For the Parents:

We had our evening Parent Information Meeting and it went very well. There were representatives from Microsoft, Dell and the LCPS Administration present and all shared information with the parents about hopes, expectations and our plans for the pilot program. It was a great night with meaningful discussion and valuable questions. I think everyone came out of the meeting looking forward to this great learning adventure.

The "team" behind this Student 360 Initiative with LCPS and Microsoft!

a handout that the parents received with information about what the students will be using...

We had abaout 35-40 of our 50 families involved with this pilot, present at the parent evening. The parents are very excited to see what this journey holds for their children and we can't wait to begin!


Prepping for 1:1 computing with the students:

Initially, I was disappointed that the computers would not be on the desks for the first day of school. Now, I am grateful that they weren't.

  Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration are all skills that we will be working with this year, but they aren't necessarily skills that the students are coming to fourth grade ready to use. We are taught in teacher prep classes that K-3 are "Learning to Read" years, and then in fourth grade the students move into the "Reading to Learn" years. It is a developmental process and students move at different rates, speeds, levels.....

I can see comfort levels with technology being the same - some students are ready to move out of their comfort zone and create, others are waiting for the directions from the teacher and want the exact steps that they need to follow in front of them. It's a developmental process and all the students are going to move at different rates. Our job as 21st century teachers is to provide them opportunities to move forward and develop those higher level skills.

What I witnessed today with my fourth graders filled me with joy, and reassured me that they are ready for 1:1 computing and will do great things this year!!

Today was only day 2 of fourth grade, but the students are totally aware that "the computers" are coming in the near future. We had some small discussions yesterday, but today I decided to take them to the computer lab for an extended time period with a job to do, and set them free.

The short version of our discussion went as follows:
"You will not get a piece of paper telling you what to do, we will DISCUSS it together before you start, but you will need to THINK about the steps and LISTEN to our discussion."

"You will each CREATE your own project. Everyone's project will look different because we are all not the same, so our projects shouldn't be exactly the same."

"I am not the only teacher there, you may ask your friends for help. If you finish early, I may ask you to be another teacher and help others who aren't done yet."

The task was fairly simple to most adults, but very "multi-step" to these 9 year olds, with  a lot of techno-babble and applications...

• open Microsoft Word - type a list of 20-30 words representing yourself (the list was written in class earlier)
• save the Word Document
• Open Tagxedo.com (a word cloud program)
• copy the words
• Paste them into Tagxedo
• Create their word cloud - changing font/color/theme/shape
• Save it as a JPG
• Open Powerpoint
• Insert the saved JPG into the slide
• Manipulate it/crop/resize
• Save the Powerpoint slide

Wow!...Off they went, and never looked back. I looked at this project as a form of Diagnostic Assessment for 1:1 computing. Are they capable of  following all of these steps? Are they able to think about what to do next? They didn't have any kind of written directions to look at. Are they getting frustrated? I fully expected tears or fits. Are they comfortable to ask friends for help? I fully expected, "Mrs. Rahn, Mrs. Rahn, Mrs. Rahn."

My class is very diverse in academic levels and I wasn't sure how all of my students would respond to this task. After all, it was day 2 of school and many were still in summer mode.

All I can say is, "If you build it, they will come!" As educators, we aim to set the bar high. To raise expectations, in hopes that all of our students will strive to achieve those high expectations. Many achieve, and those that don't still end up at a higher level than if the bar had been set at their academic level.

This is what happened in my classroom today - my students were shining stars! They LISTENED, they COLLABORATED, they were THINKERS, and they WANTED to be successful. This project was meaningful to them and they were excited about it.

No one was yelling for Mrs. Rahn or Mrs. King from across the room, they were discussing with their friends, they were helping each other and they were thinking. They were allowed to get out of their seats and ask someone a question. They didn't have to "be quiet."  Every one of the 25 students of my very diverse classroom finished this project in about an hour. One student finished first, and spent the next 40 minutes wandering around the room being an "assistant teacher." The students responded to him, and welcomed his help as much as my own.

I now feel more confident that this group of students is ready for 1:1 computing. They are already demonstrating creativity, classroom collaboration and thinking through multi-step problems.  These kids are prepared to tackle any challenge that we put in front of them.

Are they 21st century learners? I think so!

If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It! - My classroom this year!!

“If You Can Dream it, You Can Do It!”

– 1:1 Computing with Loudoun County, Microsoft, Dell and 30 4^th Graders

     In a few weeks another teaching dream will come true.  Every fourth grade student in my classroom will be in possession of their own laptop, and I will enter into the world of 1:1 computing.   Six months ago I had a question and an opportunity.  Now I will have 30 computers and enter into a partnership with organizations that have shown how important they think education and teachers are.

     Walt Disney once said, “If you can dream it, you can do it!”  Here’s the story of a teacher who dreams and how her dreams continue to come true.

     About a year ago, I had the incredible experience of participating in the 2011 Microsoft Partners in Learning Forum in Redmond, WA. I was surrounded by 102 passionate educators and a team from the Microsoft Education Sector that made me feel important.I came back refreshed and wanting to do more. I had more questions; I had more thoughts and ideas and I wanted to try it all out. The Microsoft Education team continued to stay in contact and offered support through Twitter, face to face meetings, and just a general sense of “being there.” 

       I ventured out of my comfort zone and brought my classroom into the 21^st century with technology. Some things worked, and I was proud. Some things didn’t, but through the virtual professional learning community I had created, I was able to find alternatives and solutions.  I knew there were people that would offer suggestions and that were there to support me with ideas and new strategies to implement.  I had a great year! My fourth graders excelled and the response from parents about what was happening only gave me more joy and encouraged me to do more. When I shared my successes with the Microsoft Education team, I truly felt that they were proud and wanted to celebrate with me.

     The one frustration through the year was a recurring theme. There was not enough time to do what I wanted. Time management is a common stressor for many educators. My recurring time stressor was that our 13 laptops available to classes on a rolling cart were not enough to satisfy the growing technology needs of my students.  They were blossoming and creating, collaborating and innovating in ways that I truly didn’t think possible. The students wanted more time with the computers, and I couldn’t give it to them. Upon voicing my frustrations to my Technology Resource Teacher, she agreed and said to share my concerns with the Microsoft Education team and they may have some ideas about different avenues I could go down to “get more computers.” 

   

     Our district had a great technology plan in place, but the funding wasn’t available to begin to implement it, so I knew that I would have to go elsewhere.  I had been invited to a School-Business Partnership Breakfast by Andrew Ko, the General Manager of Partners In Learning for Microsoft Education.  I was one of many Loudoun County Teachers that Andrew invited to this breakfast. Again, Microsoft was showing that they value education and support their teachers. I went to that breakfast with an idea and a question. I left that breakfast feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve. Might I just get the biggest present that a teacher could ever dream of?

     I asked Andrew about different possibilities for entering into 1:1 computing in my classroom.  He didn’t blink an eye and looked straight at me and said that Microsoft can probably help with that.  Teachers don’t get what we ask for. We have dreams for our classroom, and spend our own money to make them happen or just continue to dream.  That first conversation in February of 2012 reiterated the fact that the Microsoft Corporation fully supports education and is looking for ways to show that support.  

     The next 6 months became a whirlwind of continuing to hope, dream, work hard and still not totally believe that I would have a class set of computers for my students at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.  I returned to my school and shared the news with my TRT and my husband, who also teaches fourth grade in the same school. My husband had implemented a 1:1 classroom 5 years earlier with handheld computing devices.  The three of us researched/developed/wrote and revised a 3 page proposal  to submit to Microsoft, which eventually turned into 5 pages. We were requesting to enter into a partnership with Microsoft to develop 2 1:1 computing classrooms.  Microsoft would arrange for the devices to be given to us, and we would then enhance our teaching methods by integrating more 21^st century skills and utilizing the computers in a 24/7 learning environment.  

     I still didn’t believe that it was actually going to happen. We had some face to face meetings with the Microsoft Education team and also began the discussion with our school district.  Our two classrooms (my husband’s and mine) would become pilot classrooms in our county demonstrating 1:1 learning.  We would also be pilot classrooms for the Microsoft Corporation demonstrating different ways to use 1:1 computing in the elementary classroom. We would become model classrooms for the nation to look at. 

     It began to sound extremely exciting and awesome – in the truest sense of the word. It was still hard to believe that this all started with a simple question, and it was evolving into an incredible learning journey. I spent every extra hour researching successes and pitfalls of 1:1 classrooms, the newest technology innovations for elementary school students and just basic management ideas.  We continued to talk with Microsoft and our District Asst. Superintendent of Instruction.  Microsoft was entering into discussions with the Dell Corporation for the donation of 60 computing devices for this Student 360 Initiative that would be happening in Loudoun County, Virginia. …and the 2011-2012 school year came to a close.  We had no definitive answers, but a lot of ideas and everything seemed to be going forward. 

     I had just finished my 22nd year of teaching and couldn’t wait for the next year to start. I had tried new things, learned a lot and couldn’t wait to continue the following year. Summer came and the emails continued from Microsoft and the LCPS Administration. A meeting was planned at the Microsoft Building in Northern Virginia and the attendee list and agenda was sent out.  There would be 15 people around the table – including 6 Microsoft Executives, 2 Dell Executives, 4 Loudoun County Public School Administrators and 2 teachers.  Also included were 2-3 executives on Conference Call.  

     This meeting was happening because I asked Andrew Ko a question, and he proved once again that if Microsoft believes in you, they will support you.  At the end of the three hours, decisions were made and many discussions were had, but it was finally announced that Microsoft and Dell would be partnering with LCPS and Laura and Don Rahn to implement 2 model 1:1 computing classrooms for the 2012-2013 school year.  

     As I look forward to that first day of school and the expressions on my student’s 9 year old faces, when I tell them that this computer is theirs for the whole school year, I think about how I am no different than any other teacher. I want what is best for my students. I want to help them learn in a way that will help them to be as successful as possible and I want to help them become global citizens. I want them to learn how to solve problems, think critically and creatively and to learn how to collaborate with their peers and other adults.  I had a question, and luckily, I asked the right person!

     Thank you Microsoft and Dell for supporting education and making a teacher’s dream come true! Those two organizations have proven that support for education initiatives is alive and well, and have reaffirmed my belief that …”If you can dream it, you can do it!”

     *** This blog will be the place where I will share the journey that I am about to take. I will talk about the successes and struggles of 1:1 computing with fourth graders.  I will describe the excitement and anxiety through photos and discussion. I will share the ideas and strategies that I come across as I help my students become innovators and critical thinkers.  And most of all, I will continue to learn and grow as I move ahead in “Making it Real” for my students and myself with technology in the 21st  century!