Slice of Life Story Challenge #11 - Celebrate Learning Together

 

It's time for the 14th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge!  

My theme for the Challenge is CELEBRATE.

     I wanted to learn about Pear Deck, and I don't have my own classroom anymore. I know Pear Deck has been around for a while, and many teachers have used it.  I could try it out on my own or with teachers, but I really wanted to see how it could engage and empower kids. When I had my own classroom, if I wanted to experiment and learn about a digital tool or try out a new strategy, my students played along with me.  I would tell them, "Look - I like to learn just like you do - can I try this out with you?"  They were always willing to learn alongside me, and I always had kids who would learn it faster than I would and could teach other kids what they learned.

     Today, I was lucky enough to have a class AND a teacher who were willing to try it out.  We made sure there was a pencil and paper backup...just in case, and we were transparent with these 5th graders that we wanted to learn about how this tool worked.  They were like...GAME ON! I'm always amazed at how gracious and enthusiastic kids are when they see that we want to learn with them.  No matter what age.  They are willing to go the distance with us.

     PBS happened to have a Pear Deck template for an Amanda Gorman lesson. I am a HUGE Amanda Gorman fan, so I was intrigued.  I decided to do some revising, though, because I wanted to use "The Miracle of Morning" instead of  "The Hill We Climb" since we are approaching the year mark of the pandemic shut downs. I revised the slides, making it fit our purpose for now, and we were ready!

     The kids got their Chromebooks, and we were ready to experiment!  During one response, there was a prompt about drawing the "vibe or feeling the poem evoked". Whenever kids have a new digital tool (this one include text, a highlighter, a marker, etc), they want to play.  I give them 2-3 minutes to play with all the tools and then focus on the text.  They love the play time - lots of digital scribbling, erasing, and scribbling again - and then they're ready to insert a text box and actually type a response. One student discovered how to overlay the text with a drawing.

I asked, "How did you figure that out?"  

Her teacher said, "That's the thing - they're not afraid to experiment with technology."  

I laughed, and the girl responded, "Well, yeah.  I just played. There's always a trash bin. If you make a mistake, you just dump it."  

I smiled and responded, "Hmmmm.  That's a metaphor for life, don't you think?"

She answered, "Yep. If something doesn't work out, you start over."

The "experiment" worked beautifully, and I'm now a fan of Pear Deck!  But obviously, I celebrate more than Pear Deck. There are always digital tools that work well.  

What I really celebrate today is taking risks, being willing to fail, and learning alongside kids.