The One Device Classroom End of Year Survival Guide

Clipart courtesy of pikpng.com

Picture this...
You and your students have fully grown to love and utilize the fantastic 1:1 student device set up in your classroom and you have big plans to continue using these devices up until the very last day of school. Along comes the end of the school year with all of its extra pivot requiring procedures including the news that your classroom 1:1 devices will be removed for summer storage many days before the last day with students is scheduled to arrive. You are left feeling all the feels about this and are definitely ready for summer break!

This scenario is currently playing out in real time for our teachers in GISD and it is sure to cause some panic even for the most experienced of us! I am certain many of you are left questioning why this is happening and what you are supposed to do now that these devices have become as important to your classroom routine as paper and pencil?? It has probably also caused you to feel anxious and overwhelmed during an already stressful time of the year, but FEAR NOT my amazing colleagues because I am here to share some suggestions to help you successfully survive the remaining school days with the one device classroom you are now faced with! 

Many of us old school teachers used to pull out activities like board games, flashlight reading time, extra recess, movies, art projects, and endless paper activities from our bag of tricks to handle this situation back in the day when our textbooks were collected before we were ready. While those things certainly will still get you through this situation now, wouldn't it be fantastic if our students were able to continue the great learning that tech integration brings to the table? You do not have to abandon all things tech once your student devices become unavailable for use because you still have access to at least one classroom device and this survival guide full of examples that will help you fill that void. Teachers in GISD all have a Newline, document camera and a teacher laptop that can still be used for whole or small group activities, and I'm sure teachers reading this from other districts have similar situations so we can all do this. Find yourself a comfy spot and give yourself some time to read over the ideas below that will help you create a final (and hopefully fun & memorable) plan to get over this last bump in the road and close out this school year with a bang!

My Top Five Ideas for Successfully Navigating a One Device Classroom

1. Virtual Field Trips

Over the past few years, virtual field trips have proven themselves to be a game-changer. Not only do they fill in for real field trips when our current reality prevents them; they also open doors to places that would have been inaccessible even in normal times. Many museums offer free virtual field trips that can be explored on just one device and projected in the classroom. 

• Check out these great virtual field trip ideas:
•  Blog post from Matt Miller that contains a list of virtual field trips for your class and activities you can use while you are on them.
• We Are Teachers List of Best Virtual Field Trips

2. Online Art Classes

All kids love to draw and Art for Kids Hub is a YouTube Channel full of video art lessons for kids that can be done as a whole class activity when projected from a teacher's device. All you need is paper and coloring supplies...so easy!

3. STEM Activities

Engaging in STEM activities is a great way to get your students learning, thinking, creating, and problem-solving. Here are some STEM ideas to try as you wrap up the school year:

• No-Prep STEM Activities
• NASA STEM Lessons from Space (For Teacher Lesson Planning)
• Demo some NASA STEM for Student lessons & activities from your Newline or projector with the whole class.
• K-4th Grade
• Grades 5-8
• High School
• NASA eClips

4. Class Scavenger Hunts

Template courtesy of Susan Hardin

Scavenger hunts are an extremely fun way to get your class working on collaboration and a variety of other skills! They not only foster collaboration between students but also push students to share perspectives and develop bonds. They can be done with paper and pencil or with photo proof and the possibilities are endless! 

Here are a few samples to get you started:

We are Teachers Blog Post Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Catlin Tucker's Get Kids Talking Scavenger Hunt **NOTE: This blog post is about the 1st day of school, but can easily be modified for the end of school.

5. Friendly Classroom Competitions

The end of the year is a great time to review all you have learned together while having fun and building memories with your class. What better way to accomplish this than with some friendly classroom competition? Break your class into teams and put their learning to the test with the ideas below.

• End of Year Review Gameshows
• Create Interactive Questions with Screencastify and watch/answer in teams 
• Create questions for students to answer using Plickers
• Tic Tac Booyah 
• Jeopardy
• Who Wants to be a Millionaire
• Display and work through Digital Escape/Breakout Rooms/Lockboxes as a whole class or in small groups
• Digital Escape Room Wakelet
• Catlin Tucker's Lockbox Challenges
• The Suburban Mom's List of Virtual Escape Rooms

I hope you found some easy and helpful ideas that inspire you to better navigate your current student device situation in this post. We are almost to the finish line now and you have GOT THIS!! Wishing you a very restful and fun-filled summer.