Skip to main content

Things are going well!

I must apologize for neglecting my blog now for so long, but this year has been one of change, challenge, and struggle for us at NWMS; so many professional and personal struggles have overwhelmed our staff this year.  We continue to hold on and stay strong. 
That's the good news!
Here is what's up with the tablets. 
We are now about 4 months into tablet deployment and I have to say, it has been seamless.  The tablets are working great!  Gone are the days........ right, you remember those. 
Connectivity is a dream as we no longer have to worry about the dreaded grey fans.  The only time we lose it is when the whole system goes down for all computers, but that is super rare.The quality of the device itself is just awesome;  strong glass, innovative protective cases, high quality chargers, keyboards,etc.  No issues there.
It has been extremely beneficial that the concept behind the "personalized learning"  initiative has been redefined to include everything we do to personalize learning; not just a "tablet initiative".  That has taken off the pressure to constantly use the tablets;  which in turn, has sparked MORE creativity in designing ways to integrate it into our curriculum. 
Weird how that works!! 
It is a delicate balance; one in which you need to know the needs of your students; using that to make decisions on how to best use the tablets to enhance instruction. (Blog entry on that.... Coming soon!)











Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ode to Connectivity

Connectivity, Connectivity, Why are you such the irritating mystery? You thrash us to and fro, Knocking us out in vicious throws. By now, I thought you would discover, the needs - already uncovered. But instead we continue to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, distribution seems way too late. We are bound by your limitations, will you be ready by Holiday Vacation? What is standing in your way; the mobiles, the server, the electronic highway. We need several miracles here to get this thing going, get it in gear!! As we wait, and wait, and wait, for Thursday  -  the magical date. Stress Test - Yes, it was! STAY TUNED!!! (Distribution to 6th Grade Thursday, September 12th)

Great Success is always Predicted to Fail

How many times am I going to hear this??? "The kids will break them, lose them, and they will get stolen." "In 2 years the tablets will be irrelevant and useless." "The tablets will not solve our educational problems." By the way, educational problems will never be solved.  (That should be in that quote with death and taxes.) Is is not just human nature to resist change?  Absolutely!  But, hey, is all this negativity really necessary?   History speaks amazing success of many innovations and ideas that were doubted and predicted to fail. What I see is a general lack of knowledge, written by a whole bunch of people that went to school, but yet, have never spent one day teaching school.  FYI:  It's real different now. I would like to hear from an actual student;   talking about how the tablets are not going to help them, or how the tablets are useless, or how the tablets will be irrelevant in their education in 2 years, then, I think I would...

The GCS Personalized Learning Conference 2015

I woke up this morning with the Post - PLC2015 blues.  Have you ever felt that way about a 3-day conference?  I seriously doubt it.  These past three days have been the most purposeful, the most useful, and the most meaningful use of my time as an educator.  And I woke up this morning missing the people, missing the excitement, and missing the joy of discovery surrounding this event. So what made this conference so different? #1 - Energy When you fill a place with leaders who truly believe in what they are doing, you begin to infect all with the same beliefs and excitement; energy spreads.  I will credit this to the awesome PLEFS and their leaders.  The minute I walked in the door, I saw their smiles, their energy, their excitement, and this continued throughout the opening sessions, during and between our breakout sessions, and through to the closing sessions.  They created this environment that motivated and energized the masses.  Great Jo...