Monday, September 10, 2012

Sounds Easier than It Looks

Last spring, there was a rumor running around school that wifi would be available in the building next year for use in our classrooms.  A month ago, I found out that this would be a reality on a limited, pilot basis, and that I would be able to be one of the classrooms to be a part of the pilot.  I started planning for what I thought would be a relatively easy transition into a BYOD world.  After all, how hard could it be to include technology, which I was already having my students use outside the classroom, into what I was trying to do with them during class.

Well, let's just say that reality has set in to the world that I was planning for.  And, the reality is that incorporating BYOD into my every day routine has not been as easy or as seamless as I thought it would be.

My biggest problem at the moment is that I just haven't figured out how to use BYOD in my room.  The hardest part has been taking the lessons that I thought have gone fairly well in the past and add the technology piece to them.  There just does not seem to be as much time to do that as I thought there would be.  I have been expecting to have my students create things at the end of each class, but there just hasn't been that time.

Maybe part of the problem is that I thought more of my students would have their own devices and would want to bring them to class.  I knew that not of all of them would have a device for whatever reason, but I thought the percentage of those having them would be higher.  I have to get them used to taking out their phones as they enter the room, give them an activity to work on as they get themselves settled, and come up with some closing activity as they leave.

This should be easier as they have fewer questions about assignments that are outside the classroom, and as we get into a rhythm.  But, I need to do a better job of getting them in that rhythm more quickly so that we can use the gift that we have been given.

No comments: