Nothing Better to Do

After three short days I'm already finding that being in a walking boot really stinks. A mysterious stress fracture has me confined to this torture device for at least the next three weeks, and nothing is easy. Everything that I have to do takes longer, and everything that I was excited to start doing once school was out is out of the question.

Since I have "nothing better to do" with my time, why not look at school stuff?

Isn't that how we look at a lot of things? Since I have nothing better to do why not do this task instead of, YES! I finally have the time to sit and think about this! The fact is that I had such a great year, I'm actually energized and excited to keep learning. (Go ahead, insert the nerd emoji here. I wear it proudly!) While I wanted absolutely nothing to do with school last summer and just needed a break from everything remotely related to school, this year is different. So, since my hiking, walking the dog, going to the gym, and kayaking time have all been reduced to zero, it makes sense that I would follow my other passion: learning!

During the year our school's 1:1 implementation team started reading the book Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools by Horn and Staker. We read the first two chapters together as a group and used them as a jumping point for our visitations and 1:1 implementation work. But now that I have so much time on my hands, I figured I'd keep going and see what else I can learn.

I've already settled on the fact that we are not going to be disruptive innovators. We had a great opportunity to do just that at our school in the upcoming year and passed up that opportunity. So that got me thinking, "Why exactly is my school going 1:1 in the next few years?" Besides the fact that it's the latest thing to do. Besides the fact that we all now how Schoology accounts. Besides the fact that it's what everybody is doing. Why are we making this move? I got thinking about this because Chapter 3 in the book talks all about a rallying cry, establishing goals, and looking at the different types of innovation to meet those goals.

As I thought about my own classroom and what my own goal for next year might be, I came up with this first draft:

My goal is to use the hybrid rotational model so that all of my students will show growth during each math unit, on the 4th grade PSSAs, and on their benchmark assessments. The students and I will be responsible for this growth by the end of the year.

I know that's pretty general, but like I said, it's a first draft. And it's what really got me thinking about this whole 1:1 thing because I was able to accomplish this goal this year without 1:1 technology. So obviously there's my first problem: I've already met this goal. Why should it be my goal again this year? Well, the key piece that I added is "the students and I will be responsible." I really want to help my students start becoming the owners of their own learning. I know my kiddos are only 9 or 10, so they aren't going to be able to do everything on their own, and they have a lot to learn. But I want to continue what I achieved this year with growth mindset, making mistakes, and taking charge of their own learning and help my next group of kids become even more successful at following their passions and loving learning.

So now that I have my first draft, I need to start thinking about how I want to up the ante. Is this really the goal I want for my classroom? Will 1:1 technology really help my students become more responsible for their learning? What do I have to do differently to help my kids continue to show growth but also become more responsible for their learning? And what really is our goal for 1:1 technology? 

Hopefully I will be able to figure out the answers to at least some of these questions this summer. And if not, I will at least have fun learning!