A Crying Shame

It's a crying shame that Maine's Laptop Initiative didn't start at the primary level because much of what Will Richardson speaks to in his article, "World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others," is already happening in grades K through 2.

Primary classrooms are driven by a student-centered approach. On the first day of school, many of our children identify individual hopes for the school year. In my first grade class, we share these hopes and always end up realizing that just about everyone hopes to learn to read and to play outside. From this common view, we begin to collaborate on classroom rules. Our classes are guided by adults adept in connecting students to appropriate text and scheduling outdoor playtime. We listen and are guided by six-year-old versions of Laura Stockman. We join hands and ensure that our buildings are safe, effective communities.

Our teaching is transparent as evidenced by our read alouds and write alouds. We teach children to THINK aloud by modeling just that. We guide them in learning ways to ask questions when experience doesn't line up with their schema (knowledge of the world).

Last week a student asked why I had removed a slideshow titled "Recess" from our classroom blog. I mentioned that I had noticed a name tag on a classmate's shirt and felt it would be safer to pull the slideshow off the internet until I had time to rework it. This six-year-old nodded knowingly. Others asked what we were talking about and his simple question turned into the beginning of what could become a year-long class discussion about digital citizenship.

Little by little, digital skills and conversations are creeping into our primary classrooms. The next hurdle will be acquiring an inventory of working computers so that children at all levels of our K-12 continuum will be able to express themselves while networking with peers, families, and teachers from around the world.