Ready or not, here I come! (The onset of 1-2-1 technology)

I am feeling a little overwhelmed. This coming fall we make the change. That's right, the high schools in our district will be one-to-one for the first time this fall. To help me prepare, I've enrolled in 4 grad classes this summer, and am working on a blended learning initiative within the district. Talk about busy!

Although I am busy now, and nervous about the school year, I think it is a very good thing. When we reached the point that all of my students had phones, it really impacted the way I taught. However, even then I was limited because not all the phones had the same features, tools, or apps. With all our students having Chromebooks this year, I will really be able to extend lessons because I will know in advance exactly what tools every one of my students can access. The way I see it, my “bag of tricks” as a teacher just got significantly larger. The real challenge will be for me to learn what tools are available, find ways to bring them to bare on the things I’ve done in the past, and then be creative to find new lessons, activities, and assessment methods that really take advantage of these tools and do a better job of reaching and engaging students where they are.