On memories of Grade 6, and learning a new language

I moved from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia when I was beginning Grade 6. In Newfoundland, I had received a smattering of French language instruction. When I arrived in Nova Scotia, my classmates had already received years of Core French. On that first day of Grade 6, I remember the feeling when the itinerant French teacher breezed into the room and began conversing with the students in French. I stared at them all, my eyes filling with tears and a lump of dread growing in my stomach. I had found school quite easy up until that time, but on that day I felt lost, incapable and uncertain. It took weeks of extra help, lunchtime and afterschool support, and a very patient French teacher to get me to where the rest of the class was.

I begin with that story because the language of technology is, for me, like learning a new language. On the first night of Ed 569, when we were asked to take screen shots and save them as jpegs, start a blog, and share URLs, I felt something akin to my early days in Grade 6 French... a little bit lost, incapable, and uncertain. Tech language is not something I feel well-versed in, and I found myself taking each phrase and translating it in my head, much like I did in the early days of learning French. I think it is important to get in touch with these feelings as a teacher, because I am sure there are children in our classes who sometimes feel that way. Instructions, directions or expectations that seem clear and straightforward to me may be confusing or inaccessible to my students. It could happen during reading, writing, or math, class discussions or oral presentations. When a child does not feel capable, or confident, or supported, how do they navigate all we ask of them?

I am a late-comer to technology. I have often described myself as a Luddite, but I realize this is a misnomer. On rereading the description of Luddites, they were those who resisted the advances of technology by breaking the new machines of the Industrial Revolution. I do not resist the use of technology, I am just having trouble keeping up. My use of an iPad is limited, and I do not feel I am maximizing its benefit. This was eminently clear in the keynote presentation, where the use of assistive technology was demonstrated in a myriad of ways. I have started exploring some of the apps from the UDL placemat, and shared the link with my principal. My hope, throughout this course, is to become more fluent in this new language I am learning, in order to be able to better support learners in my classroom.

My "Aha!" moment was as I thought about the term "Assistive Technology." I was getting bogged down on how little I feel I know about "technology", losing sight of the word "assistive". In this helping profession, where I work daily with children with learning disabilities and behaviour issues, I am always wondering, "What else can I do? How can I help them?" Those questions - and the faces of the students in my classroom - become the impetus for me to venture forward in this new learning environment. They - and I - will be learners together.