Tech Buddies

During the 2011-2012 school year I left the classroom and became our elementary school's tech integrationist.  One of the things I discovered even before I left the classroom is that kids love technology and love showing what they know to other kids.  Kids don't need manuals or permission to explore. They don't need someone to give them screen shots so they know what to do when they come across technology that they've not seen before. Most kids jump in and get their hands dirty. Some people, primarily teachers, freak out and are sure that the kids are going to fall into something ugly.  Usually they don't.  Usually they discover things that would have taken me until 8:00 on a Friday night to discover.  I am thankful for their spirit and their careless abandon for following a prescribed and logical sequence to learn about something new. 

I was working in a fourth grade classroom when the classroom teacher and I were noting the "expert" attitude some kids seemed to take on when working on our Photo Story project.  These kids were self-acclaimed experts and had been somewhat reinforced by the teacher who was open to learning from her students.  After watching the self-confidence grow in one particular student, it came to me that I should provide a vehicle for this amazing and positive phenomenon that was happening.  I couldn't shake the feeling that if this student had a title of some sort that recognized his abilities, he could grow even more.  Giving students honest and thoughtful compliments on a regular basis was one thing, but I was looking for a way to harness this "expert" attitude and cultivate it in more than one or two students. 

After thinking for a while and spending a couple of afternoons creating a brochure, I took my work and idea to our building principal.  After some discussion about managing the program and fine tuning the brochure, I was ready to roll out my Tiger Tech program to the 4th and 5th grade teachers. 

I met with the fourth grade teachers first explaining that I wanted to meet with each class and give them my spiel.  I was looking for a group of kids who would be willing to give up lunch and recess twice a month to meet with me during their 5th grade year. During this "lunch and learn" I would be showing them whatever upcoming project or tool we would be working on in the coming weeks. It would be their responsibility to take home their NOBI (personal computer) and practice the program or get familiar with the tool so that they would be helpful to the teacher and to fellow classmates.   I also envisioned these kids meeting with the incoming 4th graders who would be given a NOBI (1-1 initiative)  and after the teacher's initial lesson on set up , allow the Tiger Techs some kid time explaining things.  The teachers thought it was a good idea and gave me permission to meet with each of the classes.

Next I met with the 5th grade teachers because they would be the ones most impacted by the new program.  They were delighted to hear that they would be getting some tech savvy helpers out of the deal.  It was decided that, depending on how may kids applied, we would assign them to different classes (we have 5 sections of 5th grade) so that the tech kids would be equally distributed if possible.  It is important to know that in my mind these Tiger Techs would not have to be straight A students.  However, they did have to be good students (see below for requirements), and most of all, committed to the idea of sharing what they knew with others.  I explained to the 5th grade teachers that now and then Tiger Techs may be called on to help lead school tours, explain our tech program to visitors or work with new students get up to speed on using a NOBI throughout the school year.  I could also see the art teachers calling on the Tiger Techs for reinforcements when they teach a particular unit in the computer lab and never have enough hands.  Obviously, Tiger Tech responsibilities would be shared among all in the group and the classroom would always be the first priority for each individual. 

I met with each of the 4th grade classes. I had about 10 brochures with me per class.  I emphasized the requirement that potential Tiger Techs give up lunch/recess twice a month in order to eat and meet with me and the group.  Other requirements were:

• Must use PAWS (our behavior system) meaning basically the kids don't have tons of referrals and are relatively well behaved.
• Must do homework on a regular basis.
• Must have a teacher recommendation and 3 student references
• Must make an application using technology and turn it in error free (I can always hope!) on time.

I was hoping that 5 or 6 kids would apply.  Two weeks later I was looking at a pile of 29 applications. The kids had used Photo Story, Glogster, KidBlog, Prezi, PowerPoint, and Word.  They had linked, used audio, video and drawing tools to impress me.  They had many good reasons and some not so good reasons why they wanted to be chosen as Tiger Techs.  I was blown away that so many students wanted to be a part of this program.  After really studying the applications and reading all of the information I used a rubric to score their work.  I didn't feel I could begin a program with 29 kids so I narrowed it down to 15 official Tiger Techs and then offered the other 14 students positions on an Advisory Board called PAW Power.  This group will meet quarterly to give me ideas of projects that they would like to see teachers do and perhaps help create a list of Christmas gifts tech savvy kids would like to see under the tree! 

I am excited to see how the program will benefit our school, our students, our teachers and most of all our Tiger Tech participants.  I am hopeful that by recognizing their aptitude for technology and giving them an opportunity to teach others, they will learn more than they ever imagined possible.   I'll keep you posted!