Some Reflections on Using Tech in a 5th Grade Classroom

Last year, we received a really exciting email.  It contained a Google form that was an application to apply for a 1:1 technology pilot in our classroom.  OMG.  How AWESOME would that be?  Imagine all of the amazing things I could do if each of my students had their own device all day!?!  My daydreams were becoming more and more elaborate, the more I thought about it.  (They started to get a little silly, but I was convinced that with a bunch of laptops, my students and I could take on all of the world's problems, maybe be invited to the White House to be presented with our award, you know, super cool stuff like that).

Well, come to find out that the process to get everything approved was going to take a lot longer than I expected.  Instead of possibly having 1:1 in my classroom this year, the people who get chosen for the pilots will likely (hopefully) see devices in the hands of students next year.

This was an awful setback for me.  Once I get my mind set on something, I have a very difficult time waiting.  Patience is not one of my virtues.  I was the kid that sneaked around looking for Christmas presents every year.  I literally opened them carefully with scissors or a knife and then taped them back up so you couldn't tell I had peeked.  If I'm watching a show on Netflix, I'll usually google what happens at the end of the series, when I'm in episode two or three.  I just don't like to wait.  So, once there was even the smallest possibility planted in my brain that I could have a 1:1 classroom, I wanted it.  Immediately.

I decided this year that even though I don't necessarily have the devices that I want, I would do my best to incorporate as many aspects of a 1:1 environment as I could.  We have a laptop cart available to be shared with four 5th grade classrooms, but fortunately for me, it's not in very high demand.  The laptops are super old, they take about 15 to boot up, and the battery life is terrible (so we definitely can't use them all day), but we are trying to make them work.  Between those and my three student desktops, we've actually been pretty successful in using tech.

I know that many of my students don't have access to the internet or a computer at home, so what I've been doing is trying to offer technology-based options to students, as well as the traditional paper and pencil assignments.  Using a course management system, my students can complete and submit their homework online.  For students that like to do so, and are able to, it's an option.  At this point, I will always make something available to be turned in as a hard copy (unless I give them class time to do technology assignments).

Being as immersed in technology as I'm able to make us given our resources, I'd like to share some of my successes, or celebrations!

• My students are much more engaged - I can see their interest piqued whenever we're using tech.
• My students are collaborating more than ever; they're having discussions with each other on discussion boards about our weekly themes; they're sharing documents with each other; they're making plans to work together electronically on homework outside of school; they are helping each other all of the time in class.
• One student that has very low homework completion rates came up to me to tell me that him and another students had a plan to meet online at 4:00 on a Friday after school to work together on an assignment; they shared it, collaborated, and then emailed me when it was done (it wasn't a partner activity, but hey, I'd rather see him engaged and working with another person than not do it at all!)
• I'm able to keep up to date with what my students are doing - they share their assignments with me so I can see their progress as they work; they email things to check for them so I always know what's going on.
• Students are working on things that aren't due yet all of the time!  Normally, our Daily 5 is worked on during the day from Monday through Friday.  If they don't finish, they can work on it over the weekend and turn it in the following Monday.  I get notifications every day of the week that students are posting things, working on assignments, and communicating with each other all throughout the week.  They're so dedicated and motivated that they don't want to wait for class to work on it and they're doing it early!  Many students are even asking me to stay in during recess to work extra on projects that they're doing online.
• I'm much more organized using a course management system.  Everything is in one place!
• Students are getting immediate feedback on tests and quizzes that I create - no more waiting for me to find time to grade assignments that they don't look at when they're returned days later.  They're analyzing their progress right away and realizing their strengths and weaknesses.
• Parents are involved.  They have access to so much more information about how their students are doing and what's going on in our classroom or school.  It's just more avenues to open communication with families.
• Students are emailing or messaging me frequently to ask for help on homework. I know some teachers might not want to work with students after leaving school.  I love it.  If students are asking me questions, I know that they're thinking and involved with their work.  It hardly takes me any time to respond to their questions, and I think that just the option of being able to message me makes them more willing to ask for help.  When a student forgot something at home, he emailed me to ask if I could send him a copy.  I sent him a PDF copy of it that he printed and completed at home and was able to turn in the next day.  Work completion!
• I find that when I grade things online, I'm giving MUCH more specific and detailed feedback when I can type it than when I have to write things by hand.
• It's so much easier to read students' responses when I don't have to try to read their messy handwriting.
• I'm learning more about my students' personal lives.  They're sharing things with me through our course management system that they might not have had time to share during class.  One of my students just posted a mix that he made to our classroom site.  Apparently, he has a DJ name and does music editing.  It was a really good cumbia mix.  And he's in 5th grade.  I never would have known about this hobby of his otherwise.  And the more teachers know students personally, the more that their motivation and engagement is said to increase.
• It's such a great way to differentiate.  I think that technology pretty much the ultimate differentiation!
• Students are getting better at typing.
• Data collection and analysis is so much easier and effective.  Which makes that data more useful in planning for instruction.

A teacher was in our room earlier during plan time, and my students were all on the computers.  She asked what we were doing, and we showed her.  I asked my students if they liked using this technology and how it helps, and they had all sorts of feedback about how much they love it and how it's helping them to be better learners.

Now, I just need to wait until (sigh) we actually go 1:1, so my students and I can get started saving the world, already.