Stories to Tell
Tuesday, January 31st, 2006I like Bud’s post, It’s Monday.
It echoes some of my sentiments although I haven’t been firmly
entrenched in the edublogssphere. I’ve been totally out of it for over a week dealing
with various personal issues. It’s good to be back though. When you
miss a week, you miss out.
When I read Clarence’s post, Telling New Stories, this statement just jumped off the page.
That’s
depressing but I’m so afraid it’s true. I get down and out about our
slow pace in education but then when I look around I get back up
because I do see so many good stories that I believe will hasten the
pace. We just have to keep sharing the stories, creating good models,
and blogging about needed changes.! Here’s a few of those good
stories……
First off, from Clarence himself….
adults, we feel that blogs are transitory and formative, a space where
we can place our ideas down and ask for critique. But for students,
while they definitely see the formative nature of blogging, compared to
assignments that pass across a teacher’s desk and no one else reads
them, blogging gives their ideas a sense of time and themselves a sense
of progress and change allowing them to refer back to their ideas from
the beginning of the school year. What will this be like for kids when
they begin blogging during their early years of school and carry on
over years?
It
captures how students feel about blogs. I’ve seen that same feeling
with my elementary students. He speaks about bllogging giving their
ideas a sense of
permanence. I think it also is the “immediacy” of blogs. It is
empowering to students that they can voice their thoughts and
immediately see them published on the web. Then the anticipation they
feel when they open their own blogs and knowing that someone cared
enough to comment and care about what they wrote. It really gives them
ownership in a way we could never provide within our classroom walls. Clarence is sure telling a lot of good stories.
Then
from one of Darren’s students. Her name is Kristen. There’s nothing
more powerful than the student voices. She is responding to his Pre-Cal
20S class.
I really believe that we as students, and Mr.K, have learned more than
just formulas and sequences, but we have learned something much more
valuable. We as a class have learned how to communicate, how to ask
questions, and take the most of of the opportunities that are handed to
us. We now can take these things with us to future courses, and
wherever our lives may take us. This has been a really fascinating
experience, and I am really glad I got to experience it with all of my
classmates, and Mr.K.
Mr.K, keep up the good work! (I sound like
a teacher, don’t I?). It’s people like you that show that high school
teachers can really care about their students and their learning. The
way you interact with your students, and how you go out of your way to
help us succeed, well, this just astounds me. Your determination and
willingness to succeed is a refreshing characteristic that not all
teachers have. You inspire me, as a student, and as a person. You make
me strive to be the best I can be, and to always “Go for Gold”.
Thanks for all that you have done, I am so grateful. More than you know.
Darren
said he had been interviewed a few times about how he used blogs as
educational tools in the classroom. He points to Kristen’s post as his
answer. Darren let his student do his talking for him! And doesn’t
she do it well? I took the liberty of making one of Kristen’s
statements bold because
that really says it all. Darren is doing incredible work with students.
More of us need to jump in that arena. Kristen knows that they have
learned more than just formulas and sequences, something much more
valuable.His students have been empowered. Blogs facilitate
connections. The impact of blogs on
education can really be seen through the voices of his students. They
take ownership of their learning.
So, follow Kristen’s advice and “Go
for Gold!”
Then I read Zach’s post where
he shared how he learned from his mistake. Wow! His post is one you
could share with every student and they would all relate to it. Think
of the additional stories that could be told. Then the really
neat story to tell here is what happened on his comments. Bronwyn G
makes a comment. Zachary’s mom makes a comment. Then Bronwyn G comments
back to both mom and Zachary. Then his classroom teacher commenting on how well he uses the traits of writing! Here
you have immediacy, permancy,
and connections. The connections are where the real learning
occurs. His title is discussed and Zachary is led down a path of even
more connections. You see these everywhere with blogs. This is one of
the aspects I love best.
Now there are many more stories. We need to repeat them and share
them outside of our blog world, too. When I was the instructional lead
teacher at my former elementary
schools I was always amazed when I walked through the halls. Whenever
teachers were telling stories in their classrooms, almost always every
child would be giving the teacher their full attention, hanging on to
every word. They were mesmerized. So get your students in the loop and let’s do some more mesmerizing in the blogging world!
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