Not Your Mama's Computer Class

Technology class is not about the technology.

Shocking that a technology teacher is saying this? Maybe, but stop for a moment and think how technology is used in the world around us. How many people stop to learn the tech before they use it? Instead they use the tech in a specific context, thus learning how to use the tech as they use it in a meaningful, purposeful way.

This week I joined the #connectedTL, connected teacher leaders, Voxer chat as they discussed "To Lab or Not to Lab" in terms of the relevancy of the traditional computer lab classroom in schools. I currently teach in a traditional computer lab classroom, the one with rows and rows of computers on tables, but what happens in my classroom is no where near what happens in a traditional computer lab.

I view my roll as the technology teacher like an octopus, reaching my arms into every content, finding ways to incorporate all subject areas into my classroom, so we have meaningful and purposeful ways to use our technology. I very rarely teach the tech tool, but I do have my students play and explore with it when we get started with a project, so they have a sense of how to use the tech. Then, it becomes all about the content and how we can use the tech to create something about or with our content. This leads to cross-curricular projects and stand alone technology class projects.

Students working on creating a better backpack during a design thinking unit.

             

Students filming a dark voyeur shot for one of their filming projects.

   

Working with my colleagues this year has helped me sure up my vision that my technology classroom is a place for making, designing, and problem solving as we become tech savvy. As my colleagues use more and more tech in their content area classrooms, the more my class can become the space where we take creating with tech to new levels and perhaps get into truly innovating. This will also lead to more complex and exciting cross-curricular projects as long as I continue to view myself as the octopus, reaching my arms into every content. That is the way the "computer lab" should be, certainly not your mama's computer class.

Talk, Don't Block

"How do you make sure that all of your students are using your class set of computers appropriately? I don't know that I could trust my students to do that!" 

The short answer?  We constantly have conversations about appropriate use.

This was not always the case. In my former position, I was in a district that made it difficult to have these important conversations in a real context. I taught digital citizenship lessons, discussing appropriate use of technology, but it didn't have as much meaning as it could have. 

Technologies like the chat feature in Google Apps, Thinglink, YouTube, they were all blocked. I get it. It's easy. If students are blocked from using technology that they can potentially use inappropriately, then there will be no instances of students using the technology inappropriately. AT SCHOOL.

The reality is that students are using these same technologies at home, outside of the school environment. When will students learn how to appropriately use these tools? From parents, is the hope. But when we, educators, are charged with teaching children the skills needed to live in our ever changing society, we can't hope someone else is doing the teaching.

When technologies are opened for students, within the parameters of laws, students and teachers can learn appropriate use through the actual use of the technologies. In my first 10 weeks of school in my new position, where the very same technologies are open, my students and I have had such rich conversation about appropriate use.

When students downloaded current Top 40 music from YouTube for a class project, it gave me the perfect opportunity to discuss copyright and ethical use of media. We discussed how we could purchase the same music in iTunes, but if we wanted to use it in published projects we would have to get permission. We also talked about why a song you would have to purchase, is on YouTube for free. And, just because there is a website that helps you convert YouTube URLs into downloadable files, doesn't necessarily mean it is legal.  Do you realize the learning that happened for my students because it was within a real context?

Currently, I have students who are using the chat feature in Google Apps to chat with students in other classes. This can be considered off task behavior of both students. Some may say to turn that feature off, but I love using that feature when working with students in their Google Apps. The answer? Talk about how when they are chatting with students from other classes, it is an inappropriate use of the tool. Explain why they should use it appropriately. This sets the expectation and solidifies the learning, which is how I have handled this situation.

We need to talk, not block. Give students real contexts for learning appropriate use of technology.

Increase Reading. Plain. Simple.

Sound familiar?

This year I vowed to never hear this again. Wanna know what I did? I first reminded myself that, as a teacher of English, my bottom line for learning was that, by the end of the year, my students would actually like to read, write, communicate their ideas, and be inspired to do all of it.

The major change I made was this:

Use engaging mentor texts as the starting point for everything I taught.

Plain.

Simple.

I didn't use fancy curriculum; I didn't spend hours designing elaborate learning activities (ok, sometimes I did). If we worked on reading skills, then I used mentors (from novels to blog posts) that I knew my students would be interested in. If we worked on writing skills, then I used excerpts from interesting texts that would model strategies for our writing. When choosing what I would use to kick off a lesson, I made sure to use a variety of text types, choose texts that would appeal to both genders, and that they were accessible to all reading levels. I also focused on allowing students to read whatever they wanted, de-emphasizing Accelerated Reader (that's for another post), and only doing one whole class novel. One mentor that really generated interest was one used before we started writing our own book reviews. I used a book review published on the Nerdy Book Club website for A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. We were looking at how to write a book review, but the review was so good my students wanted to read the book.

          "Bbrrinnggg," my classroom phone rings. "Hey Sue (the librarian), what can I do for ya?" I ask.
          "What are you doing in your room?" Sue remarks with a giggle.
          "Um, learning. Why? Is there a problem?"I say sarcastically.
          "Whatever you're doing is costing the library a ton of money?" Sue responds with a great laugh.
          "Oh......AWESOME!" I shout out, disrupting my class.

Can you imagine getting a call like that from your librarian? This is when I first realized that my use of mentor texts was affecting my students desire to read.

What I quickly saw was JOY, CURIOSITY, RISK-TAKING, and COLLABORATION happening all the time. Even though we were not reading the whole selection often, I peeked the curiosity of so many students that they wanted to read the whole selection. Students who had never wanted to read started reading. My students started requesting, well actually demanding, that books (where the excerpts came from) be purchased for our school library. We started having great conversations about reading, and students began to see the connection to their own writing. The best evidence showcasing the power of my one change was when several students, on several different occasions, told me that they had never liked to read or write before my class. Before their confessions I really didn't think I had done that much for my students, but their honesty got me reflecting on what was different for them. 

I made their learning authentic. I showed them what real writers do. I gave them choices of great literature to read. I made class interesting, with one change. 

I love when my thinking and the ideas from several different professional reads come together to inform my decisions in my classroom. Reading Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller last summer coupled with reading 1o Things Writers Need to Know by Jeff Anderson the summer before helped me make this one change.

Think about one change you can make for your students this coming year that could make learning meaningful. It can be plain and simple.

5 Ways You Know You've Experienced #CUEROCKSTAR

Learning Defined in 100 Words

Learning is essential. Learning is a right. Learning makes you who you are.

We all learn whether we know it or not, whether right or wrong, whether it's liked or not.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines learning as the acquisition of knowledge through experience, study, or being taught.

Experience is listed first. Perhaps school should provide more learning through experience.

If learning is essential and a right. If it makes you who you are. And, we want everyone to learn in the right ways and like it, perhaps learning should be collaborative, set in real-world contexts, and available to all.

This is part of the #youredustory blog challenge. It's not too late to join.