Reflections for #SummerLS

This summer I joined a Summer Learning Series coordinated by Todd Nesloney AKA @TechNinjaTodd on Twitter using the hashtag #SummerLS.  I have followed Todd for a while because he often tweets out advice about a variety of technology-related topics.

For several years, I have been increasingly interested in how a teacher might leverage technology to improve instruction.  I first started using Twitter thanks to Jimmy Fallon and his weekly hashtag questions.  I didn't use or understand Twitter, but was curious about what tweets didn't get shared by Jimmy each week.  I now follow 308 people, mostly educators, and have 240 followers.  I have sent out 1,639 tweets.  I really should be tweeting more, and am looking for ways to better utilize Twitter in my own classroom.

This blog post comes after more than a year away from blogging.  I am posting because of this week's challenge from Pernille Ripp (@pernilleripp), a 7th grade teacher from Wisconsin who I also follow because she coordinates the Global Read Aloud.  Her challenge for the #SummerLS participants is to do some kind of reflection this week.  I am choosing to compose my reflections in my blog because one thing I have been thinking about this summer is that I need to share more of my thoughts with other teachers.  In addition, I think the blog will be a great reference for me to review my thinking and growth as a professional.  I have enjoyed re-reading the few blog posts I have written.

This summer, I have been reading about character and "grit" and its place in education and reflecting on how I want to incorporate technology for the 2014-15 school year in my classroom. I have finished the book How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough.  I am currently reading Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess and Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck.  I have a tendency to read two books at a time and bounce back and forth between them. I plan to read Save our Science by Ainissa Ramirez, Fair Isn't Always Equal by Rick Wormeli, and There Are No Shortcuts by Rafe Esquith.  

The technology ideas have come to me mainly through Twitter and Feedly.  I have found some fabulous educators to follow through those two apps and glean an amazing amount of ideas from their blog posts.  One thing I have done this summer is start to organize those posts using Diigo.  I have several lists started and am taking all the posts I've saved in my Pocket account and am organizing them so I can share the lists with my colleagues.

In addition, I have solicited some advice via Twitter on what application might be most useful for a student e-portfolio.  Right now, I am considering using either a Google Site or an Evernote account. I am leaning toward a Google Site because we are a GAFE school and would like my students to understand how to use all the Google Tools at their disposal.

I have also decided to use the following applications this upcoming school year with my students as they create their e-portfolio:  Educreations, ThingLink, Storify and Twitter.  I plan to do some flipped lessons and am going to use Nearpod for those lessons. Finally, I plan to start using some game-based applications, starting with Kahoot.

I plan to write a blog post about each of these applications and how it is going during the school year using the various applications.

The Joys and Frustrations of Using Technology

This past summer, I decided that I was going to make my classroom a 1-to-1 classroom where each of my students had a laptop to use.  I wanted to do this because I got involved with the Iowa Communities of Practice Initiative where forty teachers in each of four subject areas:  mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts go together to create a new, 21st century kind of curriculum for freshman-level high school courses.  Our goal was to integrate the use of technology appropriately into our classrooms to take advantage of the many web-based tools and resources that are now available on the Internet.  This initiative was started, I think, by schools across the state of Iowa that had 1-to-1 computer to student initiatives started in their districts.  These districts were looking for ways to get beyond the textbook and really take advantage of the primary tool:  the laptop computer that these districts had put into the hands of their teachers and students.

I was nervous about joining this initiative because my school has not yet made the commitment to go 1-to-1 with computers and students.  But, I have this ornery streak in me that drives me to accomplish what I have set out in my mind that I want to do.  To be honest, it can be a curse.  And, in this case, right now, I would say that the technology is beating me.  Here is my story.

First, I started out by tweeting to see if anyone knew where a person might get laptops for free.  No one responded to my tweet, so I went online and did some searching through Google for "free computers."  What I found was a program through the government called "Computers for Learning" where governmental offices are bound by law to donate used equipment they are replacing to schools or other non-profit groups.  The only thing the group needs to do is pick up or pay for the shipping of the equipment.  I went to our superintendent and convinced him to sign us up for the program.  I said I would take care of processing all the necessary paper work; all he would really have to do is sign the consent forms when we were awarded the technology.

Once we were registered with CFL, I started to request computers.  At first, we received a lot of denials.  I was a little depressed.  One day, though, we received a notice that we had been awarded a couple computers from a governmental agency in Arizona.  I went through the process of agreeing to the transfer of property and then arranged to have the computers shipped via UPS.

In the meantime, I had also enlisted the services of Sean Williams, a father of students in the district and also a network administrator for an area company.  I knew he was pretty tech-savvy and would have good ideas on how we might refurbish the donated computers.  The first laptops, to be honest, were quite old and really not the kind that we could use.  At the time of the request, however, I didn't realize that.  In subsequent requests, I have focused on acquiring Dell laptops.  Sean found that those computers were usable.  Our project got a big shot in the arm with two donations from HUD in Chicago, which donated 20 Dell 610's to us, and from Hickam AFB in Hawaii, which donated 40 Dell's, which range from 600's to 620's, to us.   

One day, Sean and I discussed what our budget was for new operating systems and for any software we might put on the computers.  I told him we had no budget, so he said we would look at open-source solutions for our operating system and web browser.  He did some research and found a Linux-based operating system from Edbuntu.  What is nice about this operating system, is that it is designed for educational use so it has a free version of a word processing program, spreadsheet program, and presentation program.  It is the Edbuntu version of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.  Sean also chose to use Firefox as the web browser, which is a nice program and is also open-source.  Finally, I realized that we would need to have Flash and Adobe Reader and possible Real Player on the computers to use videos and read PDF's kids might have for various projects.

Sean also had to do some work to find a program that would allow the computers to interface with an external wireless card.  We needed to order the wireless cards for each usable laptop.  He also suggested we upgrade the RAM to 1GB, which I got approval to do from the technology committee.  Sean made an image of the files and programs he thought we should load onto the computers and saved that image to several DVD's.  By this time, school had started and I was quite tense because the computers were still not in my classroom being used. 

Finally, on Wednesday, August 31, Sean, his daughter Carly, and I met in the HS library and replaced the RAM and plugged in the wireless cards.  Then, Sean ran the DVD's to load the programs on all the computers.  We stored the computers in the new laptop cart the technology committee and our superintendent said I could purchase.  I was so excited because I thought things were finally done and progressing forward.

On Thursday, September 2, my 2nd and 3rd hour English 10 classes tried the laptops.  The issue now is connectivity.  We were able to get a few students onto the system, but kids kept getting dropped by the system.  I thought perhaps it was our distance from the air ports, so on Friday, September 3 (today), I had my English 10 classes work in the library.  Still, we have connectivity issues.  Only half the kids were able to successfully stay connected to the wireless network.  The kids with Macs, which have internal wireless cards, were able to stay connected.  Now, I think the issue might be our external air cards.

Right now, the technology is winning.  I am back in my corner, licking my wounds.  I was so depressed during English class today because I was so frustrated that kids couldn't get to the work they needed to do.  The thought that working from a textbook and doing worksheets is so much easier.  I wouldn't be battling computers every day.  Kids would have something to do each period.  We would have the look of school and productivity.  And, isn't that a good thing?  My gut, though, tells me that if I can stick with this and persevere, that good, deep learning can happen as well with my students and technology.  Today, though, the thought creeped into my head to just give up and go back to the traditional way.  Now I know why a lot of teachers don't try innovative things.  I know why teachers don't use technology.  It is just easier to use textbooks and worksheets and not try something new and different.  Believe me, I am tired and exhausted by the battle.  However, I refuse to lose.  I will not let the machines win!