Culture & Care
creativity + student voice & choice + anytime anywhere learning
Let Students Lead the Way
Have students problem solve with each other when they are stuck. Encourage student advisors or tech gurus to adhere to three general principles when helping a friend:
*Don’t Touch*, *Go Slow*, *Be Kind*
It’s common to want to take over and drive the tool for the person… but that won’t lead to long term success. When in doubt, encourage student advisors to hold their hands behind their back. It will encourage them to rely on their words and go at the pace of the person in need of help.
Treat the Tech Like it Matters
Have students set technology down on the table like a ninja (no noise) and put it away because you treasure it. Keep it clean and feed it power when it’s resting. Keep liquids and food away, encourage water bottles to have lids on and put under a desk when using the iPad.
Think about the students’ iPad devices like clay to an artisan- a necessary resource to create sculptures. If they’re mishandling the clay, you could take it away… but then their access to learning will be severely limited. Instead, find ways to provide supports that encourage the student to respect their device. Ask them to use their iPad for significant thinking journeys and it will give them less opportunity to feel like it’s a toy or something to be misused.
Power the iPad down about once a week. Shutting down on Fridays for the weekend might be a good habit.
Turn Distractions into Supports
Home/Lock screens can be a distraction. Use a potential distraction as an opportunity to support. Consider having students make the lock screen a picture of themselves. This way everyone can quickly identify whose device it is. It can be called their professional picture and restrictions should be implemented to avoid making silly faces, no hats, etc.
Empower Students
At times teachers balk from using tools with students they aren’t personally confident or fluent with yet. Technology’s tools are constantly changing and evolving. Giving students the opportunity to explore, mentor each other, and locate resources online (YouTube is a dream for this) effectively provides a level of problem solving our students need. Wonder aloud together. Nurture the idea that students are experts. Our expertise as Lead Learners - as Instructional Facilitators - as Orchestrators of Learning - is not diminished if students know more than us about a specific app. In fact, sharing that workload shows our strength as leaders. We provide the learning targets and give students opportunities to choose how they’ll demonstrate understanding.
