1:1 Program Enhances Teaching and Learning

Since August, our eighth grade students have been immersed in a 1:1 laptop initiative in all of their classes. The students and teachers, and I personally, have been nothing less than astounded by the transformation in the teaching and learning process at our school since beginning this program.

The program has equipped and motivated students to be more collaborative and creative in their learning and has allowed teachers to create lessons that are dynamic, highly interactive, and effective in developing the critical thinking skills that are so important for school and life success.

In addition, both students and teachers have noted better student organization skills and growth in individual accountability and responsibility due to the program. I wanted to share with my fellow educators some feedback and successes that have been reported due to this program.

Below is a sampling of the feedback from a survey that was given to students on the impact of the 1:1 initiative on teaching and learning:

“The one to one program has helped me be a better student.”

“This program has helped me become a better student because it has taught me better organization skills.”

“This program has helped me master things so that I am prepared.”

“It is improving our learning experience.”

“The 1:1 program made learning fun.”

“This 1:1 program has increased my ability to learn.”

“I can manage things better.”

“The program has increased my learning. It has introduced me to faster and more efficient ways of learning that will prepare me for high school and even college.”

“I honestly think it has made a big difference because it has helped me prepare for high school.”

“My favorite thing about the 1:1 program is having Google Classroom for all of my assignments.”  

“It is that it has given me independence. I feel trusted by the teachers and confident in myself.”

“Experiencing new ways to learn”

“It is a spectacular experience.”

                     

“It has opened up a new way of learning for me.”

“It taught me many valuable lessons.”

“The 1:1 program is a lot better than a pen and pencil. Studying is a lot easier and also makes things a lot faster.”

“It has taught me how to interact and learn in different ways.”

Below is a sampling of the feedback we received from the classroom teachers on the impact of the 1:1 program on teaching and learning:

“Not only do I notice increased learning, but I see the students learning more responsibility and to be an advocate for themselves.” 

“It has helped me create a more interactive classroom.”  

“It has challenged me to create assignments and lessons that not only keep my students engaged, but help make learning fun.”

“Opens up a world of creative, high level thinking teaching options”

“They get to learn in multiple and different ways.”

“We now can more thoroughly teach skills such as creative problem solving, logic, and multi-step processing.”

“The students love using the laptops because they feel that it helps them to better organize their assignments.”

“It opens the door for creativity.”

“The 1:1 program has allowed me to expand my teaching into more critical thinking projects as well as streamline assessments.”

“Google Classroom and Google Add-ons have really been a great tool to help me give the students better and quicker feedback on all work!”

“They also are able to communicate with the teachers in a greater capacity.”

“The 1:1 program has made me become a better teacher.”

“My class can be more interactive with 1:1.”

“It really does open up a world of possibilities as far as how a student learns.”

“Education is a discipline that requires perseverance – with the encouragement and expectation for students to finish well and do their best work.”  - South City Community School

I loved this quote so much, I thought I would share with everyone. As an educator, I often find it challenging to manage the often conflicting goals of teaching perseverance versus creating a caring and safe environment for students to learn in. Woodland’s teachers do a good job of creating classroom environments where students feel they can take academic risks and are not afraid to struggle. Problem solving and critical thinking skills are strengthened the most when there are high expectations and students are encouraged to finish well, do their best work and learn from mistakes, struggles, and sometimes even failure.  

I truly believe that one of the most valuable lessons any school can teach its students is the ability to encounter challenges, struggles, and difficulties and then to persevere and problem-solve their way to a solution. As all adults know, that is life. It may be a difficult situation at work or it may be a relationship challenge. Life can often be a series of setbacks, losses, and trials. It is in those moments that we “grow” the most.

For students, those trials come in the form of academic challenges and relationship difficulties. As a parent and educator it is very difficult to see a child struggle, cry, or even fail but I would submit that those are the opportunities when we can help our children the most. The questions of “what did you learn from?”… or “what will you do differently next time?” can change a student’s perspective on learning, school, and life. 

Many schools across the country have moved away from traditional grading practices for this very reason. It is not the grade at the end of day that really matters and demonstrates a child’s growth. It is the process and learning that takes place along the way. A child’s success is in the process, not the product, with the end goal of developing a hard-working, persevering, and confident adult.