Archiving the Journey: Part 1

Well, the official half-way point has been reached in my summer vacation (I love being a teacher!) and I find that I am battling a slight case of rising panic about getting ready for September; already the anxiety is rising in my throat as I write these words. There is so much I want to get done by the time school starts! Yet, I know that my strength as a teacher is vision, and my greatest weakness as a teacher is the ability to follow through on this vision!

I have not posted for some time, but I am still well on my journey of integrating technology into my practice. I mean really and truly integrate it into my practice. I do not want to continue treating it as an add-on to my teaching. I have realized that I have been reacting towards the computer in my classroom with trepidation because I couldn’t see how to authentically use it - not as a centre, or a patronizing 40 minute time playing on KidPix with not authentic purpose. I also know that my students are miles ahead of where I am in terms of using a computer. I have been trained, I believe, that the internet is a beast that is untamable, and to let kids loose at it is asking for trouble (as stalkers are lurking around every URL, waiting to snatch my students! This fear of what is out there has closed me off to everything good that is out there! I admit that I am not on Facebook, don’t know how to text message, am slightly afraid of my cell phone but I have become addicted to YouTube and am getting to know Google a little better (but look! I can hyperlink! Aren't I snappy???).

I have also hooked into a few educational PodCasts - as I find that in engaging in the conversation surrounding technology has been the best in getting to understand how to broaden my teaching, and engage my students! One particularly fascinating one is the November Learning series led by Alan November. His conversations have been particularly inspiring. I have also been listening to Driving Questions with some interest. It was in one of the latter’s podcast that he spoke about how to get others involved in becoming 2.0 classrooms, meaning that they are truly using technology to deliver their programs, not just assisting.

By no means am I looking to co-op the spaces lived by my students, but I am looking to hitch a ride of this revolution. I looking at starting a class blog (not the anonymous one I have sought refuge in here), and getting my students to have their own blog as well. I want to post our learning and get them to respond to it, to keep the conversations going well past home time. I want them to publish their writing/thinking in an authentic manner, and have the other students engage in this process, whether to comment on issues raised by their peers, to assist in revising their work, or even to support the reflection that is crucial in becoming a better writer.

I want blogging to expand simply a writing application. I want to integrate our numeracy program into our blogs - and to start I think I want to our blogs to support of math journals, for now - the limitation I seem to have now is only my failure of my imagination.

I think to date, my biggest limitation has been the belief that I have to know it all before letting my kids loose on it. However, if this is be a journey (which more authentic learning happens, then through simply a guided tour by a dis-enchanted tour guide) then we need to be able to move together. I do need to lay the ground rules, though. I need (before beginning) to think about our collective rules surrounding blogging (last names?), how we are supporting each other (how do we respond constructively?), and our protocol for dealing with others not in our class - because I hope to reach out to others in this great space, whether they are other grade 6 student from around the world, or even learned experts in fields.

I hope to add the internet to our literacy program, as children are reading books they also need to be taught how to deeply read the texts that are just a click away. How do I handle that? My main goal is to engage them within the overarching question: How is this helping you become a better reader? I still want to put our reading strategy instruction at the fore-front of my literacy teaching, and adding the internet as another source of text.

Oh, so much to be done!

I also want to get my students to create wikis surrounding research that they are doing - this gets us to produce texts in an authentic manner. I have also thought about recording our book talks (which are the crucial components of my literacy instruction) and posting them as a podcast, to coop the i-pod craze that seems to be gripping the kids at my school. How cool would that be to actually require the use of these things that we seem to always be fighting! What a great way to share the learning that we are doing with others as well! Oh, the applications!

So this is the journey to date. I ramble on quickly as I want to get it all down. I also want a written account for myself, and others, to let me know how this process is going. I feel that if I write it all down then it makes it all real, and then forces me to continue. I’ve already stated how far I’ve come - I need to continue! Only four more weeks of vacation left to go - yet I already know that the greatest learning will happen when I actually get my kids involved.

So my journey has progressed - more than a few steps have been taken, but lots more are going to happen! I can’t wait until September!