I love working with middle school students. They’ve nearly finished their American History wikis, and the engagement and excitement in the library is obvious.
Today, as I prepared to re-enter the world of strategic planning, one of the students walked up to me to talk about what he had done on his project.
He talked about how he had enjoyed working on it.
"Now all we have to do is answer the questions on the wiki," he said.
"Have you thought about narrating your comments in the Voice Thread instead of writing them in your notebook?" I asked.
"We can do that?" he asked, eyes wide. "Wow."
"Sure. You can all comment on each other’s now. Learn from each other…"
He walked away, smiling.
The moment wasn’t an epiphany. It wasn’t a tremendous "shift." But it was a moment that reminds me to keep the focus on the potential of change in how we teach. Does it matter that they answer questions on the VT instead of in their notebooks? Perhaps. I don’t have time to develop the argument now, but as I continue thinking about our vision, our hopes, our future, I will keep him in mind.
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