Just When I Was Getting Comfortable....

One would presume (if one were I) that after six months of paperless nirvana, getting back into school and acclimating students (especially the new 7th graders I teach) to life in a paperless classroom would be a breeze at this point.

Well, think again...

Just when I was getting comfortable, GoogleDocs - my paperless lifeline to students - up and stopped working at school. I found myself waking up in the middle of the night with cold sweats obsessing about how I would be able to continue sharing documents with my kids. They (and I) had gotten so used to the procedure of sharing-copying-renaming and resharing that I just KNEW that we all could just jump right in with both feet and spare ourselves the get-to-know-you period that comes along with a paperless classroom and all of its technological puzzles. Murphy and his stupid law came and bit me in the butt the first day of school. How's that for a welcome into the new school year?

Given that I'm married to the most awesome tech-savvy genius at the school, I immediately asked him (with doe eyes) to look into the problem. He did, but so far it's still a mystery, so I had no choice but to figure out another way to run my paperless classroom. All of the sudden I was just as unsure as the newest 7th grade student that walks into my classroom on the first day of school (and that's a humbling perspective for those of you who still remember the first day of 7th grade).

Luckily, I love trying new things. Luckily, so do my students.

Enter....ZOHO.

Happy New School Year, everyone. Try something new today.

TAIS Presentation

Well, I hope all of this goes well! Below you can find links to my prezi that I will be giving at tais today. You can also find a link to a google doc that has a quick and dirty "How Do I...?" list.

Post-Day 31 - Realizations and Reasons

So, my students and I were completely paperless (and still are) for 31+ days. That's a really long time to not have handouts or homework come in on paper, so I most definitely applaud my students (and myself) for trying something new, being pioneers, and really thinking about how to avoid using and wasting paper. That said, I've spent the last week or so ruminating over what I really want out of this project. I wanted to try something new; I wanted to avoid the copy machine, and I wanted to give my kids some problem-solving skills that they will most certainly come across in the years to come.

So now what?

I touted the fact that I shouldn't force students into learning my way, so with that said, I plan to let them choose the way they want their homework and notes. Paperless is now an option, not a requirement. I won't run things off, but I will provide every student with electronic copies. If he or she wants to make paper copies and turn them in, the option is there. It's always been there, really.

Now it will be fun to see who remains paperless... I've shown them how to do it; I wonder who will keep flying the flag.

Day 31 - Bleh.

For the first time in 31 days, i've questioned my project. I need to think a little before I write more.

Talk About Paperless... - Days 23-25

Every winter our students choose a place in town at which to intern in order to learn about LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD. Needless to say, they are often blinded by the fact that they can sleep until 9am, which translates into their staying up all night long. Generous businesses around the city host them and work very hard to teach them about life in the working world. They learn about running a small business, selling and buying, prosecuting, restaurant-running, publishing, promoting musicians, making jewelry, dentistry, veterinary medicine and many other awesome things. Obviously, this is about as paper-free as it gets. Real life learning = the ultimate paperfree experience.

Business To Tend To - Day 22

I was not at school today, but I was able to monitor work done by my students via google docs. I had them add some stuff to a document that had already been shared with me, and since Google can track all changes and additions to the document, I was able to see who did their work and when/if they finished by the end of their respective class. It sure does feel good to hold them accountable even when I'm sitting in the DMV. That's a great feeling.

So Normal It Was Boring - Day 21

So yeah, totally normal:

Routine in place? (check)
8th grade student sass (check and check to the "n"th power)
Students troubleshooting themselves (check)
Students attempting to surreptitiously search the web for glitter lip gloss (check)
Student caught and banned from computers for the remainder of class? (check)


Oh, but one cool, new little paperless thing today. The 7th graders and I did some multiple choice exam prep by writing on our desks. Everyone got an Expo marker and answered my class starters on their desks. That's right; I let them write on their desks. They seemed to love it. Low tech and satisfying.