Delayed Launch...Instant Reward!

Where I left off last, I had made my first so-so attempt of a math unit on Blackboard, but I missed one crucial step: enrolling my students in the course.  In my defense, I only took the Blackboard 101 TDP course, and Wendy told me that enrolling students in a class was covered in the 102 class.  Anyways, Wendy helped me enroll my students in the class, and the next day I got the students going in Blackboard!

It was so awesome!  They were watching the videos I found IN SPANISH from Youtube (Dual Language teachers know that that is no small feat), and they were even starting to explore some of the activities.  

Was it perfect?  No, but the kids didn't mind.

Did everything work?  No, the kids couldn't figure out how to get 2 files to open (nor could I) and one activity didn't work because it required Flash.

Was my entire math unit all on Blackboard?  Definitely no, but it was a definitely a good start for using Blackboard as the Can Do part of my math as I am now using Must Do/Can Do.

Were the kids learning?  YES!  They were learning all about telling time and hearing it from a native Spanish speaker, which despite my fluency, is something that is HIGHLY important.

The best part about it?  The kids were all working independently, or in the case of my overly social group, interdependently.  I got to meet with 3 guided groups that day, and I even had time to show an advanced group a hack that involved app smashing to differentiate an activity to challenge themselves more.  (*I received no compensation from the ONE Conference Keynote Speaker for that reference)

It felt so great!  I went right back to work that night to try to fix some of the things that didn't work and tried to figure out more ways to build in more activities on Blackboard.