Tuesday, August 28, 2007

An a-ha moment...

I had an a-ha moment this evening....

Today is our second day of preservice...I was at the Middle School at 7 to set up for the opening day video (which I was up til midnight finishing tomorrow). Had a faculty meeting, grabbed a quick lunch to go, got back just in time to face 3 groups of nervous teacher with new macbooks
trained til 4...Picked up vibes from the group that I would need to revise wikiworkshop for tomorrow....picked up kids, quick dinner (hubby out of town), played outside, 3
kids through tubs and in bed just in time for my 2 hour flashmeeting...I think..
WHAT A GREAT DAY...I LOVE MY JOB...as busy as it is, I get to connect, read, reflect, think, share all of the things I read and learn on a daily basis...can't wait to do it again tomorrow... I will read my mail, catch up on a few posts, perhaps take some reflections down in scribefire...
So I checked my gmail...some of the students who had requested a blogger interview were checking in on my answers. UGH, not on my list for today...yesterday it was on my list, but....

The thing is, I really DO want to answer their questions...they are GREAT questions...things that I and many other folks struggle with...but each question that was posed is a blog post in and of itself. Hmm...answering questions with out feedback, response, others reflecting on the same things isn't how I operate.....

I thought about the assignment... Interview a blogger and write a paper... 1 way conversation...You ask / I delive
r A-HA.... is this what is happening in schools

Then I thought about what we want from our kids in their learning...Isn't that what we want kids who are actively engaged in the learning process. It is the dialogue in blogs, twitter, voicethread, the discussions on wikis etc... that is so engaging. I learn SO MUCH by connecting with information, ideas, and PEOPLE...

I explained to the student that the issues that were raised in their questions, were WAY bigger than I PERSONALLY had time to address briefly....I am a blogger :P
therefore, I just cant quick type up answers especially when multiple folks are looking for answers to different question. I thought about using a conference call to discuss skype, ichat, or
aim or even gchat...PROBLEM SOLVING...another GREAT SKILL for kids. Could Elluminate be set up with different bloggers in breakout rooms...would these be a more effective way of using these 21st C Skills in authentic ways? Is a "traditional paper" the best way to assess what these ladies have learned or would having them comment on this site be enough?

Believe me, this document contains a TON of material that I WILL be writing about, reflecting on, and posing to my network...
I think it is great to have new teachers think about these things...but these ladies have a "paper due"

Sorry I can't do more for these ladies at this time...but maybe you could help....

Here is a link to the google doc http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcf68xfb_18ggdv3k
Am going to try to post right from google docs to my blog (new skill for me, I'll admit)

PLEASE post your comments here or there so we can these ladies can do their paper AND demonstrate the power of networking, blogs, and Web2.0 Skills;-)


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