On Wednesday, Paula, Gayle, Jen, Laurie and I, went to Lilla G. Frederick Middle School in Dorchester to see their 1:1 wireless laptop program. The school, which opened in 2003, is in its second year with 1:1 laptops. Each of the 720 students has a laptop for use during the school day (they don't go home for safety reasons).
It was an incredible, inspiring environment where the passion and dedication to technology is really in the DNA of all who work there. Technology is in the culture top-down, bottom-up and everywhere in between. I think that's one crucial piece of what makes it work.
ADDITIONAL INFO ABOUT THE SCHOOL:
http://www.lgfnet.org - their internal website with student, parent, teacher and community resources. Includes teacher websites, "rules of the road", pd documents, "bagels and laptops" calendar.
http://www.lgfpms.org - the Lilla G. Frederick Middle School homepage
There are at least 1,000 other things to say about all that we saw yesterday. I just want to get this post out there to start the sharing and the dialog.
Deb
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
If you have 1000 I have 2000 ! The visit was empowering, affirming, and thought provoking. It was a Beverly Tatum says, " A deposit."
The school is structured into academies rather than clusters/grade levels. Each academy is composed of 6th,7th, and 8th grades. The students remain in their academy for the three years. Each academy determines how they want their students to access the laptops. Academy One, which we visited used the laptop carts as their distribution point rather than having students pick up their laptops in the morning. EVERY student is assigned to a lap top.
I was impressed with the leadership of the school and the order as evidence in the way the students lined up and went to their next class to how they waited for the directive to " open your lap tops."
It is also clear that a great deal of thought went into the implementation of the one-to-one program. The implementation team composed of members of the staff ( I have this written down on my lap top) who have been empowered to provide support to staff that is necessary. The concrete expectation is that ALL staff will support, participate, and be provided with the support and training necessary.
Communication is essential and I like how all staff and the principal uses Google chat, Google documents, and blogs to stay connected. My sense is that email is used far less than we do. All teachers have Gmail accounts that allow them to accomplish this.
Ok..I'm going to end here and review my notes some more. I'll post again later.
I can only second everything that has been said. Since my area was professional development I found their approach to be very healthy. They had a strong sense of adult learning theories.
The teachers got a laptop first. So necessary for the faculty to buy into the use of laptops in the classroom. It showed so much respect to the faculty.
I loved the use of the implementation team as a means to take over the planning and training with laptops. That this group has so much say and it was entire backed up by the school leadership was remarkable.
They had some really cool ways to expose the faculty to new things. I love the idea of a breakfast/help desk idea. I loved the way the implementation team pushed the envelope of faculty learning. They don't accept no for answer. They support each other...it comes from them.
I would love to go back there again. I feel like we only scratched the surface.
Laurie, you are right. I think I could spend several days there and still need weeks more to look at the layers. I have thought about the take-aways..things we could do now ( pre-laptop). Although we are not working in the 21st century..I think maybe we are the 90's. There were several things we could consider testing out..( see hand raising me me)
Here are the things I'd like to try:
1) How can we integrate Google into our day to day communication loop. I like how the principal was able to stay in-time-in- touch with her staff through the day with Google chat.
2) I'd like to see how we could use Google docs ( I've used it before) to streamline information exchange and reduce the meetings ( not ours) but meetings in general..
3) Be intentional about exposing staff to the technology we CURRENTLY have which will paved the way for new concepts. I'm thinking about how do we do in-service. The time is there. ( I've got ideas)
4) Pilots..how can we pilot one to one (1-cluster per grade)
5) As an admin...how can I be even MORE intentional with my technology and by default reduce paper consumption ( I remember Deb, the principal saying she orders less paper per year).
6) I liked the possibility of the in-house concept..who knows how to do what..creating a database of staff who have expertise in various areas. For instance, as we get more smart boards..teachers sharing the how to and integration with more teachers, or Google docs, or even Word, Powerpoint, Appleworks ( draw) and so on.
Finally, I've come to understand that in order for a one to one program to really work we have to move away from the " check -my-email mindset to a integration mindset.
We can implement programs like this there are enough DNA driven tekkies in the building. :)
Laurie and "Middle School Madness" (MSM), as I read your comments I find myself nodding my head in agreement. Here are some of my thoughts that extend some of what you've each said.
Yes, the push for using the technology really does come from within. It was interesting that Deb, the principal, said that the implementation team and the teachers push themselves more than she would have.
Deb and Matt, the Project Manager, also noted that at one point they did have laptop carts but that integration didn't happen the way it does now. It was often the same teachers using the carts over and over again and those that were reluctant, could resist. With 1:1, the expectations changed and the cultural shift started to occur. With the 1:1 initiative, there was real pressure from peers, and students to step-up use of laptops. For example, if another teacher was doing something cool with technology, it pushed the envelope for other teachers to do more. Students expected it as did teachers. Deb and Matt indicated that as an excellent reason to move from mobile laptop carts to a 1:1 initiative.
MSM, I like your thinking about ways to include technology within the curriculum. We need to embed it in our culture. One of the things that I'm thinking about is that right now all departments at Pollard are working on their Power Standards. I think that technology should become part of these standards. It's another way to embed technology as well as have clear expectations instead of having it be an "add-on".
It was an exciting visit! One of the impressive things about the school was the powerful ties it has to the community. This even was evident even in their approach to technology. Students were able to use their school laptops to help identify "hotspots" for wireless access being created for the community. There are efforts to make sure students have access to technology at home--especially important because students cannot safely take the laptops from school to home. The school reinforces the principle of respecting technology by holding students accountable for computer misuse perpetrated; it doesn't matter that it happened outside of school on non-school equipment, students are still expected to demonstrate "acceptable use."
Did LGF have smart boards and projectors? Does Wellesley? What do we know about 1:1 AND smart boards/projectors?
Frederick was a great place! I left with several thoughts...
1) When we walked by classrooms, 7th graders were so engaged in what they were doing they didn't notice we were walking by!
2) I use technology on an hourly basis. Students, when not in school, do as well. Why aren't we using technology on an hourly basis IN THE CLASSROOM? What has change in our district/school/culture/DNA so we do?
3) Ownership and responsibility. Students at Frederick were responsible for what they were doing. They were responsible for their own computer, and the consequences would negatively affect them. Culture of the building doesn't leave room for 'she did it' or 'it wasn't me' or 'I didn't hear you'. Expectations were clear and consequences were real. The laptops seem to be a great way to foster those feelings within each student.
4) The documents the school uses to outline their policies and procedures around the laptops are crystal clear and thorough. Staff members are all responsible for maintaining success, with easy access to assistance from colleagues.
Here is a really interesting post that gets at my question from a couple of comments ago about whether or not you need smart boards and computers and projectors, etc
Deb, thanks for mentioning the comments they made about their previous experience using laptop carts versus their current 1:1 access. Higher--and consistent--expectations are reasonable because everyone has access, now. Using laptops becomes just a regular part of the day rather than needing to check the calendar, find out if there are computers available, fill out a form, etc., etc.
We've seen an immediate, dramatic difference in the integration opportunities available to teachers just by having laptop carts available to loan out, but access to carts does not necessarily enable teachers and students access to them for those "teachable moments" that can occur unplanned. Some of the ways laptops are used at Lilla G. Frederick Middle School could not be replicated by just having a few laptop carts for our entire school. For example, through a subscription to Achieve, their students have access to curriculum content written at different reading levels! This is a service that students could benefit from on a daily basis. Using technology tools to take notes during class or for regular use for writing projects is also not possible. 1 to 1 enables students and teachers to make integral use of technology, which could make a real difference in a student's ability to succeed.
I was also impressed by the leadership team that MSM describes and the fact that they implemented 1 to 1 for teachers first, as Laurie mentioned. This approach makes a lot of sense. Since it's easier to simply not use laptops if you don't know what you're missing, it will be a lot easier to get teacher "buy in" when teachers have access to their own laptops and to the time training to support them. Also, having the implementation team available provides the staff with with opportunities for support and accountability. I don't want to be a one-person laptop police department or become a nagging Ms. Manners in attempting to enforce our laptop policies and procedures. Although, I've integrated feedback from teachers when developing policies and procedures, it would be much more effective if we could have a team here at Pollard who is responsible for this.
Post a Comment