Making the Shift

I keep pulling memories from my first few years of teaching. Perhaps my my difficult years of teaching produced the experiences and opportunities for me to grow the most as a teacher. Maybe that is how life works in general.

In my 2nd year of teaching I was working with my 6th graders on a poetry unit. When it came time for students to write their own poem (one stanza/a few lines) one of my boys said he has never wrote poetry before and does not care to write poetry. He was a strong in math and science and love computers, so I asked him if he would write (or type) his poem in Google Docs. He didn't say no, he just stopped and thought about the offer waiting for more information. I continued and said that I would give him some ideas and thoughts in the comments/chat section on the side of the document to keep him moving forward with the poem.

Source: Creative Commons

That got him and he got a laptop from the cart and logged in. I only had to give him a few probing questions and ideas to get him started and he was off typing his poem with his own thoughts and creativity. I am not saying computers should replace writing and work in the classroom all the time everywhere, but for some (if not most) students it can really get them over the idea of writing since their world and comfort zone is digital. Will I do this every time with this student or other students? No. However, I began using these features more frequently and student engagement did increase, not just by this student, but other reluctant writers, as well. By no means is this concrete research, but in this case, for this student, technology was the catalyst to get him moving forward.