My favorite quotes from visiting Waverly-Shell Rock’s 1:1 iPad Deployment

Today I visited the new Waverly Shell Rock Middle School, in Waverly, Iowa. Their school was devastated by flooding back in 2008. With the help from FEMA, state, and local resources, the school reopened in the fall of 2011 as a 5th grade thru 8th grade middle school featuring a 1:1 ipad rollout to all 600 students. The building was not designed specifically for one to one, but instead for classroom computers instead. The change to 1:1 iPads came about when they determined that they were about to deploy a comparable amount of desktops and laptops. District-wide, each teacher has an ipad and each student grades 5 thru 8 has a 16Gb iPad. Next year, iPads will be deployed to all 9th thru 12th graders (approx 750 more).

My full notes from the visit are available at: My notes from the Waverly-Shell Rock 1:1 iPad Open House

My favorite quotes from the day…

#4) “Our goal is that everyone has technology so we can take the focus off technology”

#3) “We don’t have a technology initiative, we have a learning initiative”
All too often, it’s seen as a tech initiative. In our own district, the 1:1 question is always directed to technology instead of the curriculum directors… which is a sign that we still view it as technology, not a learning initiative. We have some work to do.

#2) A quote from a visitor… “Our school needs a flood”
My take on this quote.. some of this is about wanting new furnishing and new technology, but perhaps some of it is about the change that was produced due to the flooding. Sometimes we need to create our flood or storm in order to produce the change that we need.

#1) Teacher quote: “the iPad won’t transform education, I have to, it’s still up to the teacher”
Wonderful insight from a teacher who has a new school and the latest technology – but still understands that the teachers impact is and will continue to be the driving force for students.

Pictures from today………………….