Last year when I started as a K-5 tech teacher I had no idea what tech instruction would look like in Kindergarten. I had some pretty good ideas about 4th and 5th grade, a few bold ideas about 2nd and 3rd grade, but as I focused on younger grades I had no idea what I was doing. (that has to be one of my least favorite sentences to write, and to some degree I feel it still holds true.) When I was planning my Kindergarten class, a fellow teacher I trust told me to relax. "Look," she said, "don't bring any tech, just bring your puppets."
I puppet in my classes, and I started with my high school students. When students are building and acting with puppets amazing things happen. When I signed on for an elementary tech position I knew it would change what I am doing with puppets, and it started with day one. Following my friend's advice I walked in without the Ipad cart, without even a single iPad. I brought 2 puppets, introduced them and then invited the students to ask them questions.
In our 30 minute conversation the puppets also asked them questions. I found out how may of the students had used iPads before (almost all), how many liked watching videos on YouTube (all of them) and how many of them knew the passcode on their parent's phone.
Coming in the door with no tech saved me from my own assumptions. My audience had a great deal more experience than I assumed, and what I learned about their experience shaped our next lesson. Instead of a low speed tour of the ipad, we went straight into how to take care of an iPad.
The assumptions I was saved from were not just about tech. By talking with the students through the puppets I got a pretty good sense for who they were as people and as a class. By focusing the first class on them and getting them talking to me, I built a foundation of our work together. As I came into the first grade class this year, all of the returning students greeted me by name and I was able to do the same. If you read much of my writing you will see me say that education is about relationships, and you will also read that it is not about the tech. Here was more evidence for me.
Of course not every drop-in tech teacher will want to get to know their students through puppets, but we all have some way we can put students more at ease and break down the artificial barriers that sometimes pop up between big people and little people. Putting a little bit of time into connecting with students at the beginning of the year can pay big dividends in learning for the rest of the year.
My advice, take the time to talk and find a way to get kids talking. Maybe you play a game, or create a skit. If all else fails, try using puppets. They are magic.
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