Reflecting On My Assumption

When I first got a set of ipods for my classroom, I thought students would love using them. Well, at first they were interested in the ipods and thought they were "cool". We used the ipods to record stories and record oral reading, as a way to develop fluency and oral language. Students listened to themselves and self assessed their performance based on a criteria list. My assumption was that if students used the ipods they would be engaged in practicing their oral language and use their self assessments to identify areas for growth and actually work towards improving their performance. I found that the novelty of using ipods quickly wore off. Students used their assessment to identify areas for further growth but it didn't seem to make any difference to their effort. I think the underlying assumption I had was that students cared enough to work at improving their oral reading and oral language. Perhaps they are just to young to take that level of responsibility for their learning.