Joy is not in things, it is in us. Richard Wagner

Today, there was great joy in us as our seventh grade students became our first iPad recipients.  I have to brag about them at least a little bit.  As excited as they were to receive their iPads, they were so attentive and patient as the devices were handed out and so careful as they handled them for the first time.

Once all the devices were safely stowed in their cases, we stepped through accepting a calendar invitation and completing a Google Sync so the school's master calendar would be displayed along with the personal calendar on their iPads.  Again, the kids did a great job following the instructions given even while itching to explore the apps already loaded to the devices.

Over the next several days, the rest of our students will receive their iPads and begin to use them.  It is an exciting time at St. Mary's and those of us that have been involved in the project from the first days are both elated and exhausted!  It has been an amazing journey and we still have so far to go!

"I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong." Benjamin Franklin

I know, gentle readers, I know. It has been a long time since my last post. For good reason, I assure you. Over the last 10 days, SMS has been entrenched in the process of configuring our student iPads for roll out. It has been a hit and miss process. Some things have gone swimmingly well. Some things remain categorized as a "confounded mess". Little by little, we are putting all to rights. One of the smallest things has been one of the most frustrating. One of our goals has been to have the school calendar displayed for students when they click on the calendar icon of the iPad. In theory, this is not a big deal. As the administrator of the school's "Master Calendar", I make it "public" so anyone can view it. The iPads are then setup in their "General Settings" with a Microsoft Exchange that allows them to view the "Master Calendar". Except....it doesn't. When these steps are performed and you click on the calendar icon, it shows that you have access to view these calendars but the events associated with them do not display. Hit or miss, here and there, like tossing darts at a moving target, I tried various options to resolve this problem. In desperation, I spoke with a Lightspeed systems engineer because I was convinced that something in the internet content filter was blocking calendar events from display. All to no avail. I am not a person prone to nibbling my fingernails but having exhausted all of my easily identifiable options, my manicure began to look incredibly appetizing. Finally, just when I thought all was lost - I was rescued by the "Google Search" - a search for "sync multiple Google Calendars" brought me these results:

  Google Sync can sync up to 25 Google Calendars with the Calendar app on your iOS device (your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch). If you use Google Apps, follow these steps: Open the Safari browser on your phone and go to http://m.google.com Click the Sync icon. Click Sign in with your Google account at the bottom of the screen. Sign in. Select your device to configure Calendars. Following these steps, in step 3, sign in with your stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net email address and password. On the settings screen, under shared calendars, make sure the SMS Master Calendar 2012-2013 is checked. Then click “Save” in the bottom left. It is a good idea to bookmark the page so you can get back to it easily if you ever want to sync up another calendar.

I followed these steps and amazingly when I clicked on my iPad's calendar icon, there were both my personal calendars AND the SMS Master Calendar.  Honestly, it might as well be Christmas morning.  It is the best gift I have ever received.

“Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap” George Bernard Shaw

Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words.  Like when all the iPads get delivered.

Federal Express delivery, "I have a large delivery for Donna Hatch.  Do you have a wider door than this one?"

Two of five sync carts.

One of five sync carts freed from packaging.

Third of five - we abandon putting them all in the library and resort to "hallway storage".

Thank goodness Taylor was at school to hold the door open for the delivery!

Some of the most appreciated help I have ever had!

Five of 5, all unpacked and stowed safely in the lab.

And then... once it was all unpacked, there was that "after the presents" Christmas morning sort of feeling in the hallway.

Mrs. Budnick, Mary Elizabeth and Caleb all helped record serial numbers.

Brian from TAB - man of the hour - configuring the ip addresses for our wireless network.

The size and number of boxes only serve as symbols of the magnitude of this project.  1:1 - One step at a time.  Close your eyes, hold your breath, make a wish.... the future is coming.

“If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.” ~ Mark Twain

Ever wonder what the inside of a middle aged woman's brain looks like after two days of "professional development" designed to address "Best use of new technology to engage students and increase achievement Grades K-8"?

This is what it looks like:

Like a sea of post-it notes, like an ocean of ideas, like a flood tide of inspiration, like a river of opportunities, like a lake of possibilities....well, you get the idea.  In case you are wondering, the post-it notes were creating using an App and a cloud based website called Linoit.  You can find it on the web at www.linoit.com.   It's a very cool product that let's you create a "board" of sticky notes.  Best of all, the board can be worked on collaboratively by multiple users at the same time.  Just think about that for a minute.  Picture this tool being used by a group of students brainstorming a project like the Connecticut report.  One color post it could be for historical data, one color for state symbols, one color for important locations, one color for products and industries, one for geographical information, etc...  Each group can be contributing to the board and the teacher can see who is contributing by the number of colored post its for each group.  Easy to see who is working hard and who needs to be encouraged to work a little bit harder.  Imagine how helpful it would be for these students to refer to this board at home when writing their report.

"Lino" is a great tool for collaborative brainstorming and for creative presentation of notes and organizing thoughts.   Like my notes above.  The section of my board above is just a visual snippet of the whole board I'll be sharing with the rest of our faculty and letting them use to explore all the websites and apps I learned about at my two day conference in Cromwell.  If you position your cursor inside the board, you should be able to scroll around and see more of my notes.  I hope you will give it a try. It was a fabulous opportunity and I learned so much.  Just wait until you see ---- "stained glass" photo collages,  sock puppets that talk, back channels, shared screens...... Honestly, even holding a cat by its tail would pale by comparison to the wonders I have seen.

"Annie, use your telescope...." Jack's Mannequin

I love that song....

"Annie, use your telescope"....  It has become a sort of mantra for me.  Employed at those moments when I look wistfully at something I wish to happen.  Something that certainly could happen, given the proper circumstances, given a little push, given the kiss of kismet - it could happen.

I had an "Annie, use your telescope" moment last weekend at Syracuse University at their "iSchool" - on the ground floor, they house their "collaboratories".  Rooms full of workstations where, apparently, young men and women, intent on embarking on entrepreneurial paths begin the journey by mastering technology skills in a collaborative fashion.

The halls of the "Collaboratory" space were covered in creative manifestos like the ones to the left and below.  As we embark on our iPad initiative, I was absolutely smitten with the notion that this could be our future.  An educational setting that would embrace failure as an opportunity to succeed.  Think about how incredibly freeing it would be if you were not afraid to fail.  Think about the risks you might  be willing to take if you could "fail" and not be viewed a failure.  Today's learning environments generally revolve around "success" - successfully demonstrating mastery of a skill.  Most children adapt quite well to this environment and become "successful" at school. They are smart enough to decode the formula they need to follow to succeed.  Day in and day out, the employ the formula, rack up the "successful" grade and move on.  Often, these same "successful" students will tell you that they are bored, that school is boring and that they dislike most of their classes. This should not come as a great surprise- after all, most of us don't really enjoy mundane, repetitive activities.  Most of us prefer those opportunities that allow us to follow our bliss.  It is heartbreaking though, to think that these bright and creative minds have lost that zest for learning, that desire to step out bravely and go the extra mile to truly learn something new.  That they are content to meet the expectations of the rubric, attain the grade and call it a day.

How fabulous would it be if part of the outcome of our iPad initiative was a fresh look at how students learn.  I hope that as we go forward, we can begin to embrace some of the ideas captured on the "manifestos" of the Innovation Studios.  Let's try.  Let's take small steps and try.   I think if we do, the risks are minimal and the rewards may be great.  If we can embrace an environment that views stumbling as "important", we can begin to free our students of the fear of failure.  And if they are not afraid to fail, imagine what they may succeed in accomplishing.

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. - Napoleon Hill

Today, as the mercury climbed close to 100 degrees, I had the perspiration part of the above equation more than adequately covered.  Those of you that know me, know that patience is a commodity I am often running short on - but I brought what I had on hand and bravely, persistently, accepted the conference call that heralded day 2 of the Lightspeed training.

I know that many of you were probably sleepless with worry about my missing dashboard.  Be of stout heart, friends, and celebrate - my dashboard is found.  Not only found, I can now find it on my own.  I know this because after receiving instructions, I tried it - over and over - and over and over again - just to prove that while the project might be going forward, that dashboard wasn't going anywhere.

All of this is a lesson in more than persistence.  All of this is a lesson about education and expectations. Over and over, as this project develops, I have found myself in learning situations that are, well, okay - exciting and challenging, but also, to be honest, occasionally overwhelming, confusing and frankly, humbling.  On at least a couple of occasions, I have had moments where I felt like I was overwhelmed by this new information and uncertain as to whether I would be able to process it and use it.  It is an unsettling feeling and yet, it is a feeling our students encounter all the time as they live out their school days.

Each and every day, in every classroom, new material is presented.  New concepts are explained and homework is assigned.  As a mother of 4, I have certainly issued my fair share of pep talks to children who were feeling overwhelmed by something new and unfamiliar.  It has been my natural role to be the  "cheer squad" for the discouraged child -- glibly chanting "you can do it", "say, I'll try, not I can't", "if you have a question, so do 10 others, be brave and ask the teacher", "see the teacher after class".  This is all good advice.  I know, I have given it a million times.  Like so much advice, so easy to give, so difficult to take.  So difficult to admit that you really don't know everything after all. But, I have been taking my own advice.  I have had no choice - it's do it, try it, ask about it or----well, I am not even able to verbalize the "or" - it's just not even an option.  Our initiative is too important to even consider an "or".

When our children have to learn new things that are hard, we encourage and support, we cajole and we assist, we explain and we demonstrate.  No matter how hard the new thing is, we know that they are capable and that given "patience, persistence and perspiration", they will master the concept or skill.  We really shouldn't accept anything less than that of ourselves.  And when we don't, when we hold our own feet to the fire and struggle our way through - we are doing more than learning - we are also teaching.  Teaching by example - that the prize, the acquisition of that knowledge or that skill, is more than worth the struggle.

This is one of the "hidden benefits" of this initiative.  Our students have been given the golden opportunity to watch adults they love, respect and admire learn something new.  They will have the opportunity to watch us grow in proficiency and to occasionally fail when trying something new.  It is possible that the greatest lessons the iPads will teach will be life lessons.  Lessons about patience and persistence.

P.S. I am fairly confident, that if we manage to take all the confidence of Buzz Lightyear and embrace the philosophy of Calvin Coolidge, we're going to be just fine.

"One of the reasons mature people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure." John Gardner

I'd just like to go on record today saying that I am a mature person.  Or certainly give a passable imitation of a mature person, and I now have ample evidence that I have not stopped learning.  The iPad initiative offers me opportunities every single day to fail.

Monday was the setup day for this week's opportunity to experience failure.  I could see it as it was unfolding.  It is a particularly unsettling sensation to watch the opportunity for failure develop.  At first, there is just a gentle sense of unease, an awareness that not all the information you are hearing is really being understood.  Next, there are moments that are true tests of your "maturity" - opportunities to bravely speak up and admit that you do not understand what is being explained or asked of you.  Then, eventually, there is the climactic moment when you realize you have attained failure.

Allow me to introduce you to this week's agent of failure and, hence, my learning experience:

Looks  benign enough, eh?  Don't let its sleek design deceive you.  This "appliance" is designed to confound.  What is it, you ask?  And why do we have one?  Lightspeed offers us internet content filtering for our iPads.  It is an absolutely critical component to our initiative because its presence and operation assure our students a safe internet experience when they use their iPads on or off campus.  

Like all network related "appliances", it requires configuration and setup and that's what began at school on Monday.  As a "mature" individual, I am generally able to assess when I am going to need some help and it was clear to me from initial research about this device that I was going to need help negotiating my way through this process.  I invited two technicians from TAB Inc. to join me for the conference call with the Lightspeed Engineer.  Thank goodness I did.  After getting off to a good start, we had our appliance connected to our firewall and our new wireless network switch when we noticed that we lost all connectivity.  Our "installation" call rapidly transformed itself into a trouble shooting technical tango that involved lengthy discussion of things like ip addresses, pings, dns, etc....  It was like visiting a foreign country.  Have I mentioned that the technicians from TAB are just invaluable to us?

Eventually, all was resolved and we proceeded along and I was able to create and assign some rule sets and block some objectionable sites and add some words to a blocked keyword search list and all in all, really, I was feeling pretty good about some of this.  Remember that adage - "Pride goeth..."?

Today, armed with a sheaf of notes I had scribbled by hand, I began creating an Evernote note about the whole process and thought I'd just access the Lightspeed "dashboard" to take a look at some of what I had done.  Imagine the grand moment of failure ----I am unable to figure out how to sign into our dashboard.  No amount of cruising around the Lightspeed website shows me a login screen, I have only a vague recollection of how we "shared" our session yesterday and since that required a code, I don't think it's an option today.  After fiddle-faddling away too much precious time, I threw in the towel. 

Tomorrow is another day and another training conference call.  I will bravely admit I cannot find my dashboard and then, I'll drive on.  Confident of one thing, at least - I am still learning.

If you'd like to learn a little more about Lightspeed, though not about how to find the dashboard, click here.