How do you give up control?

In this new age of 1 to 1 computing the problem isn't the students--it's the teacher! I know I'm a control freak and letting go of control of my classroom is scary! I've been slowly doing it for years as the computer has taken over my business curriculum--however it's hard.

For those of you that are new to this process I can give you these words of advice:

• Learn to use Twitter--I love Tweet Deck to learn new innovative ideas for my classroom--I set aside 10 minutes everyday to Twitter--and I rarely tweet--I just read them.

• Start off small and slowly create projects to engage students in the computer projects for your subject area--there is a WEB 2.0 Tool that will inspire you. Check them out at http://www.go2web20.net/
  

• Know what you want before you assigned a project--having a rubric is very helpful to you and your students--these will constantly change as the projects progress over the years. Sometimes I had too high of expectations and sometimes too low. Live and learn! Great site that helps is http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
  

• If you wait until you have all the programs or Web 2.0 sites mastered they are old--jump in and the kids will learn along with you or you from them.

• Tons of ideas out there--there is a wiki for everything--Google it!

• Let students make suggestions for projects--they have great ideas.

• I truly believe it is no longer about "How much" I cover but "How" I cover it.

• Developing a student social network site is critical to the 21st Century Classroom--it is how today's students communicate. Edmodo--http://www.edmodo.com is free and Ning is cheap!
  

• TEACHER LEARNING--is more important than ever before--it can't only be about our content--it's about our--Pedagogy!

• Student Responsibility is critical and an important piece--it will only hurt them later in life if we don't set deadlines and expect them met! Employers will reap the benefits later!

• TIME is still precious and teacher's will need time and support to make the changes necessary for a Student Centered Classroom. Differentiated Instruction site http://www.sde.com/teacher-resources.asp#DIresources

• Find someone who is doing it and visit them--follow them through a day of teaching. A good mentor is critical.

• Don't give up--it will be worth it in the end!

The author has been a classroom teacher for 30 years and is currently the Iowa Business Education Teacher of the year.

Teaching Capitalization in the 21st Century

Today I spent time teaching basic capitalization rules to 10th graders and was amazed all the questions of "Why".

Capitalizing the first word of sentence was easy but after that they were questioning "why" the rest of the rules were important? It made me think are they important? Has technology changed the rules? Texting, IM, chating and email has changed their world and it is changing mine? I really think students need to understand the difference between formal English and casual English. It's like talking slang--it's not always appropriate. The students seem to understand this example and relate to it. I hope now they will apply what they are taught.

TWBTD!

One to One Computing--Lessons Learned

After teaching in a 1 to 1 school for a semester there is a few very basic things that I have learned that you can learn from.

1. Edmodo is a very efficient and simple way to manage the assignments in a paperless setting. Email just is too overwhelming! The best thing is that Edmodo is free and simple to use. It takes under an hour to set things up and after that is is super simple to maintain. The only problem is transferring grades to my online grade book--however it prints out so it just takes a few minutes a week. The students like it and I wish I knew about it right from the start! Ning has more bells and whistles however is has a small fee attached--you may apply for a free account. My first year I needed simple.
   
2. Microsoft Office 11 for the Mac is great--it finally looks like the window version and can be used with the window books. Remember you still don't have Access.
3. We have a Google domain so it handles all email and we use Google docs which has made collaboration easy for students. You need to get "Googleized" it makes life easy. I even now have a good website for my classroom.
4. Make sure all your old equipment is compatible before school starts. Even if your tech person says it will work--check yourself or you can have a complete unit fall apart around you--especially video equipment.
5. TWITTER is your best resource! Get a program like Tweet Deck or Twitter falls and find experts in your field to follow. You do not have to tweet but following a hashtag like "#1to1" will give you unlimited resources to check out. I'm in Iowa so I follow "#iowa1to1 You can find sources to follow at http://www.hashdictionary.com/ I spend 10 minutes a day catching up on new tweets and getting inspired.
6. Don't try to do everything at once! Pick a few classes or units to start with and then add as you go. It is easy to be overwhelmed at first. You need to push yourself but not bury yourself. The computer is only a tool--not a teacher.
7. I have embedded links to atomic learning and You Tube videos on my site to supplement my lectures and demonstrations. The students who miss my lectures can catch up at home.
8. Be flexible--sometimes things just don't work! I have learned to laugh with the students and my motto is "It won't matter in ten years so don't worry about it."
9. Find a group of teachers that you can meet with and share ideas--we have PLCs and my group is constantly working together to better incorporate new ideas into our curriculum.
10. Don't feel like you have to be a pro to assign a program. The students will figure it out faster than you so learn from them.

Good luck and welcome to the 21st Century!