Day 1! The Pieces of the Puzzle

1st days always wear me out - and the students too!

Great 1st day though.  I used my Glogster Introduction, which implemented Google Docs, my website, Animoto, Tagxedo, and Voki.  After I passed out the 1:1 Device Pilot form and the Laptop Rules for the Classroom for parent/student signature. I talked a bit about what we're getting this year.  As part of the explanation I told my students that we going to use the laptops to learn - just like I used it to introduce the beginning of the year policies and procedures - as a tool, not a toy.

As an icebreaker, I bought a 30 piece puzzle and had the students come up and build the puzzle demonstrating the "each student is a piece". The puzzle was the picture of a  "Community" (clever, don't you think). After I got them to identify the community theme, we talked about our classroom being a community of learners and how we needed everyone in order to complete the puzzle; that without all the pieces, the picture wasn't done.  We also had extra pieces, so I asked who also might help our community of learners; Administration, Media Coordinator, parents, other teachers were suggestions offered.  We talked in one class how it took longer to complete as a group than doing it on your own, because everyone had opinions and ideas about where things should go, but that ultimately it all came together because we cooperated, took turns and were patient.

I ran out of time in most classes. I feel I barely scratched the surface. Once I began to go over things, I'd remember something else I wanted to cover. I need to take a lesson away myself from today's classes - I've got to remember to pace myself and lay my own puzzle pieces of how things are done in our classroom completely and carefully so that a successful community of learners emerges.