Schooooooool's out! for! summer!

On Monday, I had my last session of Teaching With Technology until September. The activity from that day that stuck with me most wasn’t actually technology-based, which isn’t unusual for this class. (More on that later in this post.) Four of us volunteered without knowing what we were doing, and we were sat down at tables facing away from each other. At first, I thought we were going to do something competitive, but I was happy to find that, in fact, we were working as a single unit. I much prefer working as a group than working in competition – competitive games are zero-sum, and I hate the added dimension of the impossibility of everyone coming out happy - if you try your best, you please your teammates, but it means the other teams are more likely to have an unhappy outcome. Furthermore, it means keeping discoveries from people on the other team, which in turn complicates even sharing these discoveries with people on your team since you don't want the "others" to hear. When everyone works together, there's none of that inner-conflict, so it's all about problem-solving, curiosity, teamwork and fun.

Each table was given an envelope with puzzle pieces and we had to piece together the puzzle. The thing is that we each only had half the puzzle, so we had to figure out how to put it together, without seeing the pieces the other pair had. First, we figured out more or less what we had, and put together a decent chunk, and then we started talking with the other pair. I systematically went through the pieces, from bottom left to bottom right, then the next row up, etc, until we had accounted for every piece. It was a fun and satisfying game. But what's it got to do with technology?

One thing I love about this class is that we never start with technology and try to find a lesson to fit it. We start with problems and then we try to figure out how to solve them in our class discipline, and then we see where technology fits into the picture. I like this method a lot, because I'm starting to see how tech really does fit in to a lot of lessons in a logical and useful way. Now that I see how tech can expand my students' options, if it's used correctly, I have a much more positive attitude about it.

 It’s been a really great class, and I’ve learned a lot in this short time. I wouldn’t say that my technological skills have increased drastically, yet I’ve learned to use a number of new programs. To be honest, I don’t think I even used a shared GoogleDoc until starting this program (and I’m trying to accept that having shared spreadsheets means sometimes giving up the idea of alphabetization, since most people just add themselves to the bottom of the document. In case anyone reading this is wondering, I am the one who’s been putting everyone in alphabetical order when we make contact-sheets, dinner plans, etc.) I think the biggest thing for me was just becoming more familiar with different computer programs, and realizing that using new ones isn’t so daunting.

Edited August 6th: Apropos of using "new" programs – I've just made my first PowerPoint Presentation! I am inordinately proud - I think I am now officially as technologically advanced as the average Victorian... maybe even the average Edwardian! Anyhow, glad I got that milestone over with before starting to teach on my own.