Month: November 2008

They are thinking, and so am I

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Today, when I got home, tired and cold from a long day, I tried to reflect back on what my ninth-grade students took away from our discussions in class. (We are in the middle of a unit on indifference, a unit designed to make them think about what matters in their life and how they can, in fact, MAKE a difference.We started the unit with Elie Wiesel's Night, and since then, I have had them reading articles about poverty, the environment, and even learning–anything that might spark their curiosity or interest in taking a stand.) Today we discussed Will Richardson's article about Footprints in the Digital Age. His example of Laura Stockman, a ten-year-old who changed her world and the world of many of her readers with her blog, was one that I used to show how students could empower themselves to do something.

I am trying to make my class more student-centered, force them to make choices about their learning and be thoughtful in their discussions about what we read. But I second-guess myself about how effective this technique is, wondering if students are feeling frustrated by this approach. We are using much more technology than they are used to, and for some, it's a constant stress: what's my password? where did I save that? your blog or the history blog? where is my homework online? why can't you just tell us what you want us to know?

My last class of the day started, and I asked what they had taken away from the article. One young woman raised her hand to say that she was struck by Richardson's comment about "being Googled and not finding anything at all about you."

Ahhhh, she got it. The first student all day to consider his point.

So we talked…about that and about their own topics. About how they didn't have to wait to write about what mattered to them. About how they didn't have to wait to try to convince others to act. And about how what they put online should reflect themselves and paint the picture they want others to see.
Good stuff. I came home feeling somewhat ambivalent about the day but more uplifted than not.

A few minutes ago, I pulled out my laptop to begin working on tomorrow's discussion, and found this email from the same young woman:

Hello Mrs. Morgan. When talking in class, I mentioned that I
was really surprised by the fact that not having anything about yourself was
just as bad as having something bad. I was really affected by that.  It
got me thinking, and I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas of
how to put a good impression on the Web. I have a Face book, but I feel like
that isn’t enough, because I make it so that no one can see it other than
people I invite to see it. If you could just give me some ideas, that would be
really great! If not, that’s ok.

Funny isn't it? One minute I want to quit, and the next minute, I think I could teach forever. Oh,yes, I'll help you….let's see….where shall we begin?

image: Uploaded on April 11, 2008
by Mexicanwave

Working Through the Kinks

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Our study of the Holocaust is nearly complete. Students read Night by Elie Wiesel, heard a survivor's story during a personal visit, and researched topics of choice on wikispaces. The study is part of a larger unit on Battling Indifference, in which students must try to define, discuss the effects of, and stake a stand on some form of indifference.
Overall, I was pleased as we were able to use Diigo to collect bookmarks, Google Docs to collaborate on research, and Yammer to provide prompts for class discussions. The kids aren't getting Diigo yet, but it's still early in the year. I don't think I've spent enough time showing them how I use diigo and delicious with my network, which is half the benefit. And Yammer will only  effective if they use it–so far it works well when we are in class together, but I don't see much use happening outside class.
We had some interesting discussions about what videos and images would be appropriate for their sites, as the reality of the Holocaust is almost unbearable for most of us to fathom. They also realized giving appropriate credit for research is something they struggle with, and we definitely need to spend more time on this. They seemed to enjoy working collaboratively, and I could see the work as it progressed. Truthfully, we had to spend more time getting the technology mastered than I wanted, and I ended up not spending the time reviewing and editing the actual writing with them. Plus the process of researching took a back seat while I helped them figure out how to embed videos and link to other sources. I am hopeful that now that we've introduced and used these tools, the research/reading/writing component of future work will take center stage and the creating/publishing aspect will work seamlessly.
Unfortunately, because I had them all create their own wikis, they will need to invite all their classmates to join in order to be able to leave comments on the discussion tab, something that has worked so well on my colleague's site.
Sigh, it's a process for me, too.

We’ve got a Tribe

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"People form tribes with or without us. The challenge is to work for the tribe and make it something even better." Seth Godin

I've been following Seth for a while now, often finding inspiration in his words. I love his video about curiosity and learning.
This weekend, I downloaded his newest book, Tribes, onto my iPod to listen to on a trip to Rhode Island and back. His words are still ringing in my head.

Though his focus is marketing, his words make sense to schools and teachers, too:
Presentation Zen_ Seth Godin_s Tribes
And I love the idea of having a tribe.
This year a group of us have been trying to define what 21st century learning looks like at FA. In our teaching, in our division and department meetings, and in readings we share, the focus is on the students and what we need to do to prepare them for this uncertain future we all face.
We know this–connecting and creating meaning matters. Students learn best when they see real-world application to what they do. And it's possible.
I am watching our tribe do it through oral projects to practice students' target language skills with a real audience, blogs about political opinions, reflections about teaching and learning, and more. Our students spent this fall studying the election process by hearing a representative talk to them in person, practicing debates and then polling fellow students, and creating videos about their beliefs. Our science students headed out to the woods to take pictures of water samples, which they used in their lab.
Not a day passes without a colleague stopping me in the hall to ask, "Is this possible?" And my answer is usually, yes (even though it may take some time and effort to figure it out!) Godin says, “A group only needs two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.”
A tribe. We're there.