Wednesday, September 9, 2015

So Now What?

The 2015-16 school year started with a bang. This school year we officially rolled out over 900 devices to students in grades 1-12 for our 1:1 initiative. Now, it may not be as amazing as I am trying to give myself credit for, because students in grades 5-12 had iPads from the previous year. We did get those out (for those grades that do not take home over the summer), prepared new student devices, and teachers were up and running within the first two days of the student school year. I spent the next two weeks for grades 1-4 and the Friday before Labor Day, they were all delivered to the students. I made my first of the year timeline goal! Now, comes the TOUGH part. What do I do to help my teachers integrate these devices into their daily curriculum and routine.

I know how busy teachers are and that the days are not long enough to accomplish all they need to do. I want these devices to be more than an expensive tablet for worksheets or a device to use only for testing. So, now I need to be creative to help our teachers and students.

After attending a session this summer at ISTE on badges, I am considering creating challenges and badges for our staff to help them move up the technology ladder. How do I encourage my staff to participate? How do I get our administrators to model and support this professional learning? Teachers need time and resources. I can give them the resources but time is a conflict.

I am working on my first challenge. We are using the idea of #TYIW (This Year I Will) from +Adam Bellow. Hopefully this first challenge will have teachers set their own personal goals for the school year, share with others, and be held accountable. From their goals, I will hopefully also receive insight as to what I can help them with.

If you have time, please check out our first challenge and I welcome suggestions and thoughts. I also welcome ideas for upcoming challenges, badges, etc.

#TYIW Challenge

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