Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Assume Positive Intent

Often when people talk about using technology in class, the concern of, “But what if the kids go on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/etc when they are supposed to be doing work for class” comes up. And my response - always - is that when you assume positive intent around student tech use, good things happen. If you assume kids are using tech to do work for your class, they will: treat them like adults and you’ll get the behavior you hope.

And this is what I do in my class. Usually.

Except for today when twice I asked kids to put devices away. And they were doing work for class. Matt was looking up a Russian colonel who attempted a coup before the Russian Revolution in 1917. Sanchit was reading an old paper of his to compare writing styles between Humanities writing and history writing. And I didn’t assume positive with their tech use.

Assume positive intent. 

Better tomorrow.

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