Laptop cart?! YES, please.

Our tribe was honored with a laptop cart, 10 beautiful, properly working laptops. Just for our room. Not our grade level, but our classroom!! I almost died from joy.

But for 2ish weeks there the laptops sat. In the black cart, untouched. Every day I'd walk by the cart, avoiding eye contact with it. 

I knew there were classrooms in our district who would love a cart. I knew learning would be much more engaging. I knew the importance of giving students the opportunity to acquire digital literacy.

Yet I wondered, how to make time to teach the students how to use these laptops?! What if they dropped them? or accessed inappropriate content? What if the laptops weren't working properly like I was promised?!

I was so focused on getting us to lunch on time, making sure so-in-so got on the bus, reading all those emails, taking those forms to the office, filling out the other forms, still adding details to my classroom, asking the office for staples, prepping to plan with my team, making copies, prepping for the next day, going to the bathroom, eating food etc. etc.

...and so, this little cart that I once loved became a source of dread, anxiety, and stress.

Then one morning, enters one of my unofficial mentors (I'm lucky to have a few). She comes in just as I am about to teach and pretty much says, If you don't do it now, then when? I listened.

Make this your own, except step 1.

1. Stop and make students accessing technology a priority. TODAY.

2.  Model. Every. Step.

• getting up from their desks and walking over to the cart
• choosing a laptop (from the right always)
• forming a line and waiting in case there are two students at the cart
• using two hands when carrying it
• only opening the laptop when it's on a desk
• using one hand to hold down the laptop while they open the lid with the other
• sitting with the laptop on a desk not in their lap
• typing with two hands (right hand for keyboard's right side, left hand for the left side...teaching typing will come later)
• closing the lid when they're done and returning the laptops
• plugging the charger gently into the port
• what the cart should look like (organized, laptops plugged in)

3. Lastly, move to the innovation station with a laptop.

• Project the laptop's log in screen. 
• model where they find the school's log in/password
• model typing login info (gently)
• showing them where the passwords/logins live. You will need several copies of their logins (they will lose them) and these logins need a permanent home (they will still lose them)
• hitting enter gently ( 3rd graders can get crazy with the enter button!)
• double clicking the istation icon or whichever program your school uses
• exiting istation and shutting down the laptop

4. Now it's time to pass the torch. 
Have students try it! In partners, for your own sanity. There will be those 1-2 students who missed a few steps, then there will be those who missed most of what you did.

While you're floating around helping those who really need it, partners support each other with the smaller pieces.

WHEW! So much modeling. I know!

But, we're done! And we're online! And we're ready to integrate technology into our lessons! Operation Get the Laptops Out of the Cart is complete! FEELS. SO. GOOD.

This could be the only time these students have the opportunity to access technology. 

We are the spark that ignites curiosity or better yet, passion. So students grow up and design programs, prevent cyber attacks, become IT managers or Civil engineers or any of the other top tech jobs that are on the rise. Austin is #5 on the list of top cities for tech jobs. 

Therefore, the sooner their little hands are on the laptops in the scary cart, the better!

#preppedforlife #3rdgradetechies  #ohtheplacestheyllgo