As with any new project/idea, it’s getting started that’s the issue. And keeping going. Having the idea is fabulous – and I have many of them, so I’m obviously pretty damn fabulous.

Technology, of course, is always the problem. It’s both a curse and a wonder. And I curse at its wonder. I always have a clear idea of what I want to achieve but have terrible trouble realising it. I suppose that’s true of most people and it’s certainly a skill I’m trying to impart upon my students. Hence the whole point of introducing genius hour in the first place.

The ideal of resilience becomes less and less of a possibility the more I try to make things work. There are reasons (aka excuses).

1. I live in China. That’s a good excuse for most things but particularly true of anything which relies on the internet. Whilst I have no trouble accessing sites any more (shh…) there are still issues of speed. The VPN (I said Shh!) that’s been installed school-wide is fabulous for getting onto Twitter and anything Google-based, (and, let’s be honest, Facebook) but as the day progresses, the speed slows down. Kind of like me, really.
2. I’m old. Yes, old dogs and new tricks is a cliché but as with most clichés, there’s an element of truth. Whilst I’m not a complete luddite and have some technical ability, it’s become plainly obvious that another cliché also has some truth: a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I just cannot keep up with it all and technology changes daily. I’m finding I’m having to learn a whole new vocabulary and it is certainly making me feel more empathetic towards my non-English-speaking students. You really feel like you’re wading through mist: you have an idea of where you’re trying to get it but are unsure of the way through.
3. Time. Lack of. I’m a teacher. We never have enough time.
4. Procrastination. Yes. Enough said. Mind you, playing with my blog and exploring genius hour / passion project / 20% time (I haven’t decided what I’m going to call it in my classes yet) is a procrastination tool too. Unfortunately I still have some conventional marking to do. And marks to enter. And lessons to plan. And meetings to go to (see point 3 above).

Still, there are some signs of progress. I have solved one problem I was facing – the fact that my students could not create new blogs with Edublogs because they live in China and, apparently, most of the world’s spam comes from here. And not the edible kind. By upgrading my other blog – Mrs T’s Tattle – to a Pro blog and making it into a class blog, I can attach student blogs to it. Tick. The next stage is to introduce it to my students. This is where some of the mist may clear as they are far more tech savvy than me (in some cases and in some directions) so we will be able to continue the journey together. Then I can start getting them excited about their projects. I also want them to use their blogs as an e-portfolio which can form the basis of their student-led conferences at the end of the year.

So, first baby steps taken. I’m sure I’ll fall on my bum many, many times before long. But that’s the point, isn’t it? Learn by doing and making mistakes.