I love my 1:1 classroom. G Suite has opened up so many possibilities for learning in my 7th grade science classes. But, honestly, I have struggled to give timely feedback using 1:1 instruction. I love 1:1 and so do my students, but I find myself peering over their shoulders trying to see their small chrome-book screens with my 40-something eyes, or going home with hundreds of digital documents to give feedback on, almost daily. I have tried carrying my MacBook around to see student work as it is being created and give feedback in a more timely manner, but this is awkward and creates a kind of physical barrier between me and my students. I often made it to 2 or 3 kids before setting down my laptop and forgetting it while helping students face-to-face with questions or concerns.
So, this month, I tried something new, I brought in my old iPad and it was fabulous! I bookmarked all my Google Classroom pages and more importantly, the Google Drive Classroom folder for each class. I walked easily around the room with my iPad open to my Google Drive and displaying thumbnails of my students' work in progress.
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| Use thumbnails to look at Classroom folder in Google Drive |
I could help a student face-to-face with my iPad tucked under my arm. Then I'd stand behind another student, but pop open the document of a student across the room to see their work. Instead of using the COMMENT button, I gave students positive and constructive verbal feedback from across the room. "Good job, Jason, you used the word "molecules" - nice use of scientific vocab! "Meredith, you used the word "burn" - can you explain your thinking about that? What happens when something burns?" I could see the gears turning in my students brains. Six or seven other people looked up after each comment and then went back to revise their work... I could almost see them thinking "Science vocab - did I do that?" or "I used that word, I better explain." My student's work was so much more detailed and thoughtful than in previous iterations.
It doesn't seem like carrying an iPad instead of a MacBook would make that much of a difference, but to an active teacher, trying to manage behavior and give timely feedback to 30 different 13 year-olds every hour, it made a huge difference, and even better, it's increased my understanding of my students' progress while cutting down on the amount of digital homework I give myself! #LoveMyIpad
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