If You Want To Really Learn, Teach!

   Our annual educator's conference is months away, coming in September, 2013. It's only March, but I just learned that my proposal to make a presentation at the upcoming conference was accepted. Our principal encouraged us to put in a proposal, since most of us have been learners at this conference for years. I've been going annually since 1984! I guess that makes me a veteran. So, it's about time I put something together to share with my colleagues.

1:1 is a Hit!

   I decided on the topic A One-to-One Laptop Model Using BYOD. I think this Spring makes 3 years since I piloted the use of student-purchased netbooks in my fifth grade classroom. Now, our 5-8 graders all use them as part of their regular school day, plus at-home for assignments and projects requiring homework. During the 2012-2013 school year I piloted a "flipped model" of instruction in my two science classes which relied heavily on these netbooks for at-home instruction via prepared video presentations. I hope my preparations for this workshop will serve as a reflection of the best practices I've learned over these past 3+ years. As with so many things one may call a success—and that's what I call our 1:1 BYOD program—our road to this point has not been a bed of roses. Instead, we've learned many things the hard way.

   By the time I'm finished I hope to have a series of articles, all indexed below, that I can use as a post-workshop resource for my workshop attendees and colleagues at my school. The theme of our conference encourages this kind of post-workshop learning and collaboration. Connection Power 2.0 is a continuation of our 2012 conference with a similar theme. Both conferences were designed to give participants hands-on professional growth experiences we can continue to enjoy while we're all apart from one another in-between conferences. 

   Here's hoping that by the time you are reading this there are several additional articles linked below which you can follow at your leisure!

1:1, BYOD Index of Articles:

• Our History With 1:1 and BYOD
• Why 1:1 (Digital vs Analog Learning Tools)?
• Using Digital Tools To Their Maximum Benefit
• Our Wireless Infrastructure
• Tools We Use, and Why We Use Them
• Tools I Use As A Netbook Teacher
• When Digital Natives Act Like Foreigners
• When the Natives Get Restless: Monitoring Student Internet Usage
• Carrot vs Stick For Classroom Management
• Keeping Parents In the Loop In 4 Easy Steps
• Why Did We Pick the Netbook As Our Hardware Platform?