Well, as I have been busy trying to figure out my ability to take on more than I can handle, I had to choose to hold off and making my Masters official, and what I mean by that is, I had to make sure that my school had a BYOD structure before the new school year started. Back to School night is the 3rd night of the new school year, and I needed to make EVERYTHING BYOD official, or seem official. I had to make calls to the district technology department because I needed to know the policy of what happens to a student who needs to borrow a district computer. I also needed to type up a proposal type plan to show parents that my school community of teachers and administrators understand the purpose and benefit of using technology in the classroom. I was glued to my computer the entire summer, and definitely used everything I learned in the Innovative Learning courses from Dr. Redmond and other fabulous professors.
What I always felt was I didn't belong quite right in this. Meaning, I am from such a far and very huge school district that is sort of a mess because it is so big. It was hard to connect with those teachers who were from districts who were very supportive of their time in the Innovative Learning masters. I constantly felt like what I was doing was not helping my community, until summer 2016. I realized that nothing has STILL not been done with the BYOD program at my school. Most parents, and when I say most I really mean MOST parents have questioned why.
"Why are devices helpful?"
"Do you have research that says 4th graders should be apart of BYOD?"
"I have only seen how technology is helpful for special ed, are you saying that our students are in that same category?"
"Can you show us research that is a liable source?"
"I am a lawyer, not a teacher, so I can't differentiate on what type of research is better for educators, but can you show us why devices will be helpful?"
"Are you telling us, that you want our 9 year old to be responsible for a computer, which leads to them carrying it to and from school?"
"My child's screen time is only one hour per week, now you want us to extend it so that little Jimmy can do his homework? "
"Can't you respect our rules in our household about screen time?"
"We grounded Jimmy from his device because he is sneaking around and playing that math game he learned in math. Can you make sure to not assign homework on the device this week?"
See, I really wanted to avoid these types of questions and requests by providing all of the foundations of a well maintained BYOD program at my school.
This then lead to me being the District Technology Leader for my site, which means I get to go to district ran meetings to learn about what needs to be done technology wise. I hear testing time is the most busy time.
What I hope to tell people in cohort 9 is to not give up when things get hard. I get we all have lives and be done with this awesome learning experience.
What I always felt was I didn't belong quite right in this. Meaning, I am from such a far and very huge school district that is sort of a mess because it is so big. It was hard to connect with those teachers who were from districts who were very supportive of their time in the Innovative Learning masters. I constantly felt like what I was doing was not helping my community, until summer 2016. I realized that nothing has STILL not been done with the BYOD program at my school. Most parents, and when I say most I really mean MOST parents have questioned why.
"Why are devices helpful?"
"Do you have research that says 4th graders should be apart of BYOD?"
"I have only seen how technology is helpful for special ed, are you saying that our students are in that same category?"
"Can you show us research that is a liable source?"
"I am a lawyer, not a teacher, so I can't differentiate on what type of research is better for educators, but can you show us why devices will be helpful?"
"Are you telling us, that you want our 9 year old to be responsible for a computer, which leads to them carrying it to and from school?"
"My child's screen time is only one hour per week, now you want us to extend it so that little Jimmy can do his homework? "
"Can't you respect our rules in our household about screen time?"
"We grounded Jimmy from his device because he is sneaking around and playing that math game he learned in math. Can you make sure to not assign homework on the device this week?"
See, I really wanted to avoid these types of questions and requests by providing all of the foundations of a well maintained BYOD program at my school.
This then lead to me being the District Technology Leader for my site, which means I get to go to district ran meetings to learn about what needs to be done technology wise. I hear testing time is the most busy time.
What I hope to tell people in cohort 9 is to not give up when things get hard. I get we all have lives and be done with this awesome learning experience.