Technology Expectations

Before letting anybody get their hands on our Chromebooks or iPads, I want to make sure we are all on the same page about what I expect from them. So, we need to come up with some expectations to add to our list!

Throughout the past month that we've been working together, we've been working on following our nine library expectations that apply every day (quiet voices, hands to yourself, walking feet, listening to the speaker...). Now, though, we need to fill in a new space: Device Expectations! I point to the wall where I put up the words, "Device Expectations," without any rules following.

Then, I had my fourth graders do a visual thinking routine to see where their thoughts were as to how we should be behaving with technology. I gave each student 3 sticky notes and asked them to write one rule they thought should go under "Device Expectations" on each sticky note. For the most part, they were pretty thoughtful and covered most of the rules I was thinking of anyway!

Then I put up three pieces of poster paper around the carpet area: "Protect Our Devices," "Protect Our Privacy," and "Protect Our Class Time." These were the three main categories I wanted to make sure we talked about that I thought most rules would fit into. After everyone had their three rules written down, they stuck them up on the paper they thought fit it best. I reviewed the highlights with the whole class, and made sure we covered all the big ones!

In third grade, I didn't think they were quite ready to come up with their own expectations, so I passed out one laminated rule to each group of 3-4 students where they sat on the carpet. Each group was responsible for presenting to the class what their rule meant and why it was important. Some were tougher than others, but they did a great job! Those rules will be posted up on the wall next week so they can refer back to them.


After a review of expectations, both third and fourth graders got to use the brand-new 2-in-1 Chromebooks! I directed them to our library website, where they could choose any of our Learning Links (ABCYa, Kodable, and a few other learning sites).