LEARN-Connect

Christiane and I had a wonderful meeting on Live Classroom with several of our LEARN-CEFRIO participants. It was exciting to hear the stories of how people’s projects are developing. The interest in learning new skills was evident. Even the most hesitant was willing to try new things in order to get her students’ voices heard in her community.

Each year there is hype about making resolutions, but we all know that most of those are easily broken because we don’t really buy into them. However I have found that it is easy to keep the ones about learning new things because of the pleasure it brings.

For years I have said that I should write more often – “this is the year I will write a journal” “This is the year I will blog every week” and then found that it never happened. This year I have embarked on a new adventure – 365 stories in 2009. There is a group of educators who have started a Flickr photo pool: 2009/365. The only requirement is that you post a photograph each day, taken that day. I seem, finally to have found the hook that makes me want to write. I have often talked about digital storytelling and about how the picture tells part of the story, while the text adds a different layer. I am using my participation in this adventure to explore this kind of writing and have started another blog to post my photographs and write about them. And I am really enjoying it! Writing is not a chore. This reminds me how, as teachers, we have to find the right hook for each student, to draw them into discovering the joy of learning. Once the excitement is there you don’t need to make resolutions, because the pleasure derived motivates you to do more.

I see for some of the teachers involved in our initiative – that hook is your students. While some of you may have been hesitant about learning about technology, once you see the possibilities for your students, learning new ways of communicating becomes a pleasure.

So for 2009, I wish you each to find the path that leads you on pleasurable learning adventures and that you help spark that sense of adventure in each of your students.

Susan

No one ever said that change is easy. But it can be exciting. After Mary Ellen had participated in a ready-made project (Alphabet Adventure Gallery) in which she learned elements of technology, dealt with technology management in her classroom, and built her confidence, she was ready to strike out on a project of her own. Mary Ellen started with tentative steps when she needed to share her students’ work with the parents via the Internet. She chose to create a blog to do this. This led her to read blogs by other teachers. Soon she found herself learning from the work of others and she joined a social network – Classroom 2.0 where she came across a teacher from Oregon who was studying butterflies, as was her class. They arranged a Skype videoconference between the two classes. Through small steps throughout the year, the dynamic in Mary Ellen’s class has changed. The students are collaborating more within and outside the class and their voices are being heard. Whether she knows it or not, she is now a force for change in her school. Other teachers are seeing what she has done with her students and are interested in learning more. You can learn more about the process Mary Ellen went through by watching a video interview with her and with her Vice Principal. This interview took place just after the students’ Skype videoconference.

We are all different kinds of learners, as are our students. Our journeys may take different paths, but we are all on a learning journey. Where has your journey taken you this year?

My monthly webcast, Teachers are Talking, took place last night We had a guest panel discussing students and networks. In a discussion with our guests after the show, someone spoke about teachers and technology. He said, “Using technology is a mind set not a skill set.” In our project with you I have seen this exemplified in many ways. People who were not heavy technology users opened their minds to the possibilities and saw how it could make a difference to their students. Instead of seeing technology as a barrier, you have taken steps to integrate it in ways that have enriched your classrooms.

The mind set of being lifelong learners is part of what is needed. And so is letting go and letting our students teach us. My webcast partner, Lisa, keeps talking about telling her students, “Let’s learn this together.”

Working with web 2.0 technology lets us empower our students to share their voices with the world and it is up to us to teach them how to do it in safe and constructive ways. One of our teachers has done just that with her cycle one students. Please visit the blog she set up to keep her parents informed. http://teacher102.edublogs.org/ She has set herself challenges to learn to use some new tools because she saw the value of using them with her students and the school community. It has changed the way she does some things in her class.

Have a look at the delightful animal VoiceThreads. Take a moment to comment on her students’ work. It is a powerful way of telling students that their work is valued and important. I know that technology was not a big part of Mary Ellen’s teaching, but she has embraced the possibilities, not because she wanted to learn the skills, but because she has seen the excitement and commitment on the part of her students when they are involved in projects that go beyond the classroom walls. Bravo!

Susan