I have never been a futurist or much of a visionary. I have always considered myself an ordinary junior/senior high English teacher who loves literature and building relationships with students-and one who consistently relies on tried and tested lesson plans from over ten years' experience. I have delighted in teaching novels such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies; required curriculum demands it! I love the kids and the books, but this year has been different. I am teaching English 8, 9 and 10 in a new school and in a new situation: I teach students who use laptop computers. My tried and tested lesson plans are now in need of expansion and I have been forced to reassess as an educator. I find myself becoming less of a teacher and more of a co-conspirator in teaching and learning. I partner with my students and share responsibility for developing lesson plans and assignments. We teach and learn together.
My new school is completely wired. With agreement from parents, coupled with strong resolve from administration, the school started a pilot project three years ago: sixth grade students would be required to have laptops. These students are now in ninth grade and absolute technological whizzes. This is, unfortunately, in diametric opposition to the technological skills of their new English teacher. (Okay, I will not tell a lie...I am pretty handy at Word, but I had never used laptops and the Internet on a regular basis in the classroom.) And thus, in September, on the first day of classes, I was out of my element and fearful.
On that first day, I felt anxious, confused, overwhelmed, disturbed--and cautious. I had little clue as to what the dynamics of the classroom should or would be. I was fearful of looking and sounding like an imbecile with respect to my technological prowess. I'm sure I did. In fact I know I did. To start, I wanted students to do some writing. As they sat, somewhat attentive, waiting for me to begin the lesson, I fumbled for the right words to get them going. I began, "Open a fresh page of paper in your laptop." "Huh?" was the collective response. Most snickered and with a roll of the eyes, a boy in the front row drawled, "You mean, open a new word document?" "Yes!" I exclaimed, "That's it!" I was off and running, while the class shook their heads and wondered if they would die of boredom before hour's end.
Teaching to students with laptops has made me alter and question my method and approach on a variety of levels. Veteran teachers were quick to advise that one of the first adjustments I should make should be physical. My desk is now at the back of the room. It makes little sense to have students sitting in rows face forward as there are obvious physical barriers between them and me. In fact, rows make little sense anymore. Group discussions with laptop screens up tend to become less engaging, concentration on goings-on in the class less acute. Screens are far more interesting than me! More importantly, focus on other students sharing ideas can be less involved. I find myself asking frequently for laptops to be closed and eyes forward. [NKK1]
The desk at the back of the class is also Classroom Management 101. I need to keep an eye on their screens and monitor what they are doing. Since the students are on line continuously, the desire to email friends or check favourite websites is often too strong to resist. Watching them watch their screens has become something of a sport. You can tell what they are doing by their expressions-it's not hard. A telltale little smile magically appearing is surely an email. Intense scrutiny, coupled with "Wow" usually means a cool web site. It amazes the students I am able to pick up these cues. "How do you know!?" they implore. In my best Big Brother I respond, "I just know." The poor things. I suppose I was just as obvious in my school days. [NKK2]
Another change I notice is in my own behaviour: many students are on email non-stop. It can be addicting for them; I find it addicting as well. Part of teaching with computers means most office memos and correspondence with colleagues is done electronically, which equates to forty emails per day. I know this is par for the course in many private sector professions, and I don't complain; however, I find myself eager to keep on top of my messages as much as the students do. It becomes increasingly more difficult for me not to be sending and reading messages throughout class time.
Despite these adjustments to my classroom organization and to my own habits, there are too many advantages of teaching with wired laptops to mention here. The educational opportunities are countless. One particular benefit to English teachers is the opportunity to make language arts lessons interesting and dynamic. The number of lesson plans available on the Internet is astounding. Many are wonderful sites with links that branch to all sorts of subject areas or units in English, including museums, photo galleries and creative resources. Teachers are sharing interesting and innovative ideas continuously. Why reinvent the wheel? ?
A teacher's time is a valuable commodity and researching lesson plans on the Internet can be a consuming affair. Sifting through material before finding something interesting and useful can take endless hours. I've learned how to cut that time in half. I now get my students to find and evaluate English web sites for me: they know the web better and can sift faster. But it's not all about saving time. Researching and evaluating web sites helps them develop computer literacy skills, moreover, it helps students learn the grammar of the Internet. They learn how to properly read web site addresses, search for forward and reverse links and become critical about information they find. For an excellent resource, try Alan November's book, Empowering Students with the Internet (Skylight, Illinois, 2002). Students can and should be the best critics of the Internet. If we are going to use a site in class, they want it to be fun and meaningful, and they also want to have the best information possible at their fingertips, with the most interesting links that can help them with projects and papers.
Researching and evaluating web pages also helps them develop critical thinking skills; it makes them establish criteria they feel are important and it gives them a sense of ownership and collaboration as to establishing material and direction for the class.
I begin by telling the students that we, as a class, are going to find the best web site for whichever novel or unit we are about to begin. Most novels in our English curriculum have been taught for years and countless websites and lesson plans are out there. I put students into groups of three. Each group is in charge of locating and evaluating five sites. They must agree upon and create their criteria (I have samples of generic evaluation rubrics as guides), search, evaluate and present their findings to the class. I usually have them showcase the top two or three and email web addresses to the rest of the class.
Through these means, we have toured Macbeth's castle, visited the Guggenheim, written letters to Harper Lee, studied vocabulary and idioms in Of Mice and Men, read countless interpretations of novels, worked on interactive grammar lessons and played word games. We have had the opportunity to see projects from other classrooms and students around the world. This is one of the more important tenets in this exercise. Students get to see what other students are doing, and whether it be writing, virtual tours, or student web sites, responses from my students are usually the same: "Can we do that?" "Can we do that and try and make it better?" Students love the idea of working on projects or writing for an authentic audience. The more I empower my students, the more responsibility they accept for the quality of their work. And while it may sound counterintuitive, many students tell me they enjoy the harder work with more responsibility.
This new relationship, in which my students are co-developers of curriculum-co-conspirators-is the biggest shift in my teaching since laptops I am trying to let go of feelings of insecurity about not monitoring student learning closely enough, or about having lost control of the class. I am rethinking and relearning, while concentrating on positives: the students are becoming more responsible for their learning; they are being exposed to better resources and meaningful analyses; they are able to see work from all parts of the world, and participate with others in a global community. My goal is for them to be lifelong, continuous learners. And in doing so, I must do the same-continuously learn. I have fumbled on many occasions and tried new things that have flopped. But isn't that how teaching has always been?
In the interim, my filing cabinet of lesson plans gathers dust. My old lesson plans are steeped in methodologies embracing Bloom's Taxonomy, ministerial objectives, and effective classroom management. I suppose those concepts are intrinsic in every lesson I teach. But now, my methodology has changed and this is one small example of how. Technology is an amazing and powerful tool that is changing the face of education. It will never replace the importance of relationships between teacher and student, but in a short while, it certainly has made my job more interesting and dynamic.