Southern Maine Writing Project

is a documentary oral history project that records stories and memories told about specific geographic locations

In each of these locations we install a [murmur] sign with a telephone number on it that anyone can call with a mobile phone to listen to that story while standing in that exact spot

The stories we record range from personal recollections to more "historic" stories, or sometimes both

The problem, I began to realize, was my own understanding of how the iPads should be utilized in the classroom. I had seen them as a supplement to my pre-existing curriculum, trying to fit them into the structure of what I’d always do

ne. This was the wrong approach: To truly change how my classroom worked, I needed a technology-based redefinition of my practice.

Here are five lessons I’ve learned about redefining classroom instruction with technology—whether iPads or other tools.

Every day at BCLUW is Digital Learning Day. Technology is not viewed as a separate entity needing a specific time to be etched into the classroom for use, in fact it reminds me a lot of the dichotomy between reading and writing; technology infused curriculum is the norm here, a natural part of pedagogy and student learning.