Crying in the vendor hall
When the florescent lights of the vendor hall were, ever so briefly, "on fire with the same force that lit the stars."
She waited until no one else was there before walking up to our booth.
“I’m going to try to tell this without crying…”
We suddenly had welled-up eyes, too.
“I teach at a very small school here in Texas. We’ve had several students join our school recently who can’t speak any English. Not a word. And so it’s been very challenging. But we used your tool, and I had these students write their responses in Spanish. And we did it in Chrome, so when they read each other’s writing, their Spanish was translated to English and the English responses were translated to Spanish for them.
I’m glad I didn’t look before starting the feedback part because I’m not sure I would have had the courage to include hers.
One of my new students wrote about how, back in Mexico, she was one of the smartest kids in school. And how she loved school…
…and how, since coming here and not being able to speak the language, people look at her like she’s stupid. And she’s never been treated like that before…
…and her writing was selected by her classmates as the top response…
I think it was the first time she ever really communicated with her classmates. And it started such a meaningful conversation as a class. And ever since that moment, we’ve noticed such a change in her and how she interacts with our school.
I just wanted you to know that story. Because this truly made a difference for that child.”
We got out from behind our table and hugged.
The edtech vendor hall is not typically a place for these moments. It’s too often a place for the opposite: Transactional sales gimmicks and bad fluorescent lighting. Forced conversation. Avoiding eye contact.
It’s funny, then, that maybe one of the most meaningful moments of my career happened in a vendor hall. I’ll never forget that story. Both because of the impact on that child and teacher, and because of the impact it’s already had on my wife, myself, and our work moving forward.
A great educator recently suggested that, in edtech, you either bet on teachers or you bet on software. When you bet on teachers, and design things primarily interested in empowering human-to-human connection in the classroom, special things can happen.
It can be easy to forget that when you spend too much time in the vendor hall.
Beyond the commerce, real human stories are unfolding. Stories of marginalized students rediscovering their identity and teachers bridging impossible social divides. Small moments, “on fire with the same force that lit the stars.”
Her story was a reminder that technology is most powerful when it gets out of the way and makes human connection possible where it wasn’t before. More human-to-human connection is critical for our educators and students. I leave Texas with that on my mind and in my heart.
The Chromebook reseller next to us probably summarized it best.
He leaned over the black metal booth divider after she walked away and whispered, “that was powerful.”
Absolutely beautiful.
Wonderful!!