"An Idea Whose Time Has Come"

This past month has been crazy.

Between collecting 120 essays and attempting to grade them in a timely manner (how long is "timely" anyway?) and trying to buy a house (eeeeee!), I have unintentionally shirked my blogging responsibilities.  For shame.

However, just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean I haven't been reflective.  Oh, I have!

1.  I forgot that I used to do audio comments while grading papers.  The kids loved this!  Why did I ever stop?  I only did one class at a time.  Could I do 120?  Hmm.  I need a microphone...
2.  A co-worker grades papers using her "pen" and her computer as a tablet, then she saves them to Moodle.  I have no idea how she does this, but I want to learn.  This allows her to keep a copy of the paper she graded.  Brilliant.  All my graded and returned essays are floating in an abyss of binders/lockers/recycle bins.
3.  I used stations/centers once in the last month.  It was a beautiful mess.  By that I mean, the kids were all engaged but it was a bit of a chaotic scene.  I want to do this again, but better.

And so, on to my official reflection on "An Idea Whose Time Has Come":

The article opens with an illustration about how much access kids have to technology and how they utilize it.  I couldn't help but think about some friends of mine who recently had a baby; he's now 4 months old.  The mom mentioned that she is getting the new iPhone and they're going to keep her old one and give it to Fletcher to play with.  At 4 months old, this kid is getting an iPhone.  I don't even have an iPhone!  So, for him, he could begin the BYOT initiative as early as daycare.  But seriously, how many other kids are in this same position?  I bet more than I realize...

I appreciate the positive, can-do attitude of this article on students "Bringing Your Own Technology."  It is so easy to get hung up in the nitty gritty details of programs like this because we are scared.  Yes, scared.  I am well aware that my students, at least the ones with regular tech access, probably know more about their devices (and technology in general) than I do.  It's not because I don't try; it's because it's second nature to them and they spend way more time acclimating themselves to it.  But it's scary to relinquish control and not be exactly sure how a lesson will go.  I like that Sheninger says that his school, "did not let excuses, such as equity, stop us from moving forward with an initiative that is turning out to have real value to our students and teachers."  While I think the word "excuses" should be changed to "realities," I get his point.  Move forward.  At the very least, TRY.