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Tablet Mayhem! Boot Camp Planning

The Northwest Middle School staff converged this summer to prepare the tablets for distribution to the students and plan lessons for Student Boot Camp.
(BE SURE TO READ MUSINGS BELOW)

Day 1:  The Unpacking
Each of the near 1,000 tablets had to be unpacked, labeled, registered, updated, and charged.  I lost count of how many boxes actually passed through my hands.  All in all, it was hard work, but a great learning experience; I gained a wealth of information that can be used should certain problems arise.  (Note:  Even though the A/C was not working due to construction, spirits were high and people were excited.  Or maybe that was the Krispy Kreme donuts that made everyone Happy, Happy, Happy!)

This is only a few in a big long line.


Looks crazy, but I promise we were careful!

Day 2:  Charging, Planning, Charging, Planning, Charging
We arrived a bit early to pack up charged tablets, and hook new tablets up for charging.  Once that was done, we began to plan for the student Boot Camp Day.  We broke into 4 content groups to plan lessons and activities for the students attending:

Care, Navigation, and Acceptable Use of the Tablet
Digital Citizenship
Introduction to Core Apps
Student Role in Personalized Learning

Teachers from different grade level converged to create scripts, Powerpoints, and activities to use when presenting the different content to the students.  By noon, it was ready to swap out tablets for charging and head to lunch. 

After lunch, grade levels meet together to create a culminating activity students will complete at the end of their Boot Camp Day.  Our grade level designed a “Scavenger Hunt” where the students will show their mastery by using different functions of the tablet and completing certain tasks.  The logistics of the day were decided; everyone teaching Tablet Care, then having the students rotate through a 3 teacher team for Digital Citizenship, Core Apps, and Personalized Learning, then back to where they started for the culminating activity.

Back we went to box up the charged tablets for the day!  Whew!

Musings:  Attending these two days was optional for staff, but I as well as many others felt it would be beneficial to refresh ourselves with the tablets and learn new things along the way...  And we did.... as we brainstormed and practiced what we will take the students through on the actual Boot Camp Day. The various levels of technology know-how were clear working in these planning groups; from beginning, intermediate, to advanced.  I found myself helping others numerous times; showing them how to do things, and also figuring out how to do things together.  It felt great to work with people from different grade levels I normally don't and at the same time developing those relationships of trust that are long overdo in our school.Collaborating on this new adventure brought out staff closer these 2 days and just to be honest....
CREATIVITY IS FLOWING AGAIN AND IT FEELS GREAT!


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