I really have used the Ask a Question in Google Classroom before. I assumed it would be easy to adapt it to remote learning. Things didn’t go as smoothly as planned.
I know the importance of the relationships I have built in my classroom. We joke. We kid. We know not to cross the line. I care more about losing that connection than I do about losing the instructional impact I make. I decided I would post a daily meme contest to keep that relationship going. The first topic I posted was “Ms. Szerencse’s Reaction to School Closing”
It failed.
It wasn’t because the students were inappropriate. I realized after posting how easily it could have gone that way even with my school-appropriate caveat. It actually wasn’t anything the students did.
It was me.
I didn’t realize that students couldn’t post an image in Ask a Question in Google Classroom. I didn’t realize I never showed them how to respond to others. I received more questions about how to complete this optional assignment than I had all year about any other assignment.
It failed, but my students succeeded.
When they couldn’t figure out how to complete the assignment, they asked. When they realized that their peers couldn’t see their submissions, they also posted their answers in the comments for the assignment. When they realized they couldn’t post an image, they described the image in words and then provided the caption. Some even figured out how to save their image and then post a link.
Failure leads to Success.
Here is today’s meme winner; I deserve it.
A Curated Classroom 
Ami,
I don’t see this as a failure. Look how your students handled it. And that meme is hilarious. I’m impressed you posted it. It belongs in FB, don’t you think! 😉
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Huge learning curve! I hope that every teacher spends time reflecting on the process from a learner’s perspective.
I like the back and forth of your writing here. It reflects the reciprocal relationship in the classroom community.
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This is brilliant on so many levels and I can relate to the technological illiteracy many times; but, as you point out, it works because the students become the problem solvers. This meme only works at this moment and that is the ephemeral nature of them, and why they love them – fleeting, but necessary joys! Lovely slice!
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I don’t see this as a failure either! I think it shows success in that students contacted you! Nice slice and WELCOME to #SOL20
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This is actually kind of wonderful – I’m so glad that you shared the whole story. I love the way the students responded to the “problem” and worked through ways to solve it. And that meme – that is amazing! Love it.
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