Both of my world history students began their first unit of study this week, with traditional and digital elements included. It is always hard to get the school year started. Students have to learn the new teacher's expecations, and the teacher has to reestablish her classroom procedures. But to make it even more complicated, we also started explore the role of technology in our daily learning.
My ancient history students studied the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras this past week. I asked my students to answer the question "How and why did humans populate the earth?" by creating an Educreation video to explain the concepts. I'll be honest; the activity got off to a rocky start. Some of the technology had been uncooperative at the beginning of class, and we were starting this big activity with some frustration. More than that, this was a pretty big assignment to start the year, and we were all a bit anxious about what needed to be done. By the end of class, I was worried that we weren't ready to integrete this kind of technology in class. Maybe I had asked too much, too soon.
But then it was a new day! The students came back to class with their video scripts written and their information ready to record. Each group spent a few minutes in the hallway finding a quiet space to record their videos. When they came back to class, we uploaded their newly created tutorial videos to a class Padlet. The results were PHENOMENAL! I was absolutely blown away by the final products!
I think we all learned a really important lesson for our digital classroom. As a class, we had become frustrated with the new apps, the new expectations, and the changing role of technology. We all felt some anxiety as we changed the focus from teacher-centered to students-centered learning. But after we had a chance to cool down and try again, the results far outweighed the growing pains. I cannot adequately express my pride in their hard work! (Take a look here)
My modern world history students took another approach to digital learning this week. After a full traditional class (I lectured about the Abrahamic Religions, and they took notes), my students returned to class to do their own research about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I created four activities on Padlet, in which the students could guide themselves through these activities. I instructed my students to lean on each other for assistance and to work collaboratively to solve their problems. I watched the students learn to trust themselves and each other to complete a task, and they did a GREAT job! (Take a look here)
What is my "take away" from this past week? Let's learn to fail forward and with grace. Obviously, there will be a significant learning curve with our new digital classroom. All of our expectations will be challenged and modified as the year progresses, but it is important to treat each other and the assignments with respect as we learn. We all practiced this ideal last week. I felt discourged last Monday, but by Friday, I felt more inspired than I have felt in a LONG time. The digital components are going to be a GREAT addition to our class, and I am excited to try new things with my amazing and creative students!