Walking the Talk: in the classroom and out

Lately I have forced myself to think through the reasons why I know that blogs and web2.0 tools are only the beginning of breaking down the barriers of classroom walls. At the same time I’ve been puzzling through the best way to talk to others about using twitter to develop a PLN.

It finally occurs to me the two are inter-related; obviously they are if you’re using twitter in the classroom with the students, but it took me a while to see how they are inter-related if twitter is used to develop one’s own PLN and if blogging and a host of web2.0 tools are used in the classroom with the students.

Attribution

Blogging and web2.0 apps work in the classroom because we (teachers) are in the business of guiding our students through a learning journey that will prepare them for their world. For the students of today this world is inextricably interlaced with technology, as I was reminded recently, a world in which they exist digitally even before they are born. Today’s students have never lived in a world without the Internet, mobile phones or TV and video content – except in school.

As I see it, here are some of the benefits to student blogging:

• Sharing thoughts, learning & ideas beyond classroom walls – building a community which celebrates student learning
• Collaborating and Connecting with other like-minded learners – local, regional & global
• Opportunities for feedback between peers, families, teachers – globally
• Bringing learning into conversations outside of school walls
• Dissolving the line between learning in the classroom and life (isn’t this how we become life-long learners?)
• Engaging students by using the tools they have never been without
• Providing opportunities for learners to customise and differentiate their own learning

As I see it, the list looks very similar when thinking of the reasons to promote the use of twitter in developing one’s personal learning network:

• Sharing thoughts, learning & ideas beyond school buildings – building a community which celebrates learning together
• Collaborating and Connecting with other like-minded learners – local, regional & global
• Opportunities for feedback between peers, staff and colleagues – globally past, present and future
• Continue conversations about learning outside of school walls
• Dissolving the line between learning at school and life (isn’t this how we become life-long learners?)
• Engaging colleagues by using the tools students have never been without
• Providing opportunities for learners to customise and differentiate their own learning

If I am to have an impact on how my students’ approach learning, rather than looking at what the technology does to support learning in the classroom, I as a teacher, need to think about the potential these technologies can have in supporting the learners through their own journeys. These journeys will continue when they leave the classroom each day and will continue when they move on from my classroom at the end of the school year.

Engaging in the technology myself is key to having any chance of understanding the potential it offers. Using the technology to develop my own understanding of learning both supports my understanding of the technology and the potential of the technology, all the while engaging me in my own learning journey. I am walking the talk, engaging myself in a similar learning experience I am asking my students to engage in.

How do you walk your learning talk?

In thinking through these thoughts the following sources were invaluable:
http://www.learningwithoutfrontiers.com/
http://www.ibo.org/
http://www.classroom20.com/
http://edupln.ning.com/
and of course my slowly growing Twitter PLN

I found this site last year and was quite excited at the prospect and opportunities it represented for the kids. It was exciting, when I first bought it into the classroom the kids picked it up very quickly, excited to be able to 'chat' to each other in this way and immediatly began comparing it to Facebook.

I hadn't done enough ground work though. No real thinking or planning on how to effectively integrate it into my general practise, naively I expected Edmodo would develop it's own place in our room.  Accordingly I was never able to take the next step and bring it into the learning environment. Further, I had no other audience for my kids to connect with beyond themselves; any of the ideas for use I arrived at seemed contrived if it were only between eachother. These tools can not replace face to face and all of my ideas seemed to be trying to do this. After a while the excitement died off and I became distracted by other things. Hence Edmodo died a slow death last year.

Edmodo was never very far from my thoughts as I began to plan the learning for the new school year. Then, when I found Twitter in October I began to realise that I had a new opportunity to make connections with people outside my classroom - bringing use of the technology into the real world, rather than the contrived uses I plagued myself with last year. Literacy seemed to be the place to start - talking about books, authors, specific genres or titles. With such diversity in reading material I have no way to keep up with everything that is being read - but others are reading, why not try to connect the kids with each other?

This week marked my real foray into the Edmodo world. I have connected with an experienced Edmodo teacher and the kids are writing more than ever. It's still early days, we've given them a chance to meet and greet and they are loving it. Discussions about books and learning have already begun. They've been learning about similarities and differences in school populations across continents (Europe and USA). As the kids left the classroom on Friday, for a long weekend holiday on Monday, they were making plans to connect to each other. Each time they connect they will be writing and publishing their ideas, they will be sharing their thoughts and developing relationships. They have already (after only 5 days) begun to use the group setting to ask for support or ideas. They are sharing their learning, a student on Thursday taking a photo of his planter box and uploading it to ask for adivice and feedback on the next steps - design and colour.

They will do all of this without complaining of the writing they are doing along the way. I can see that their expression, spelling, punctuation and grammar are all improving with each new day. They are writing for a purpose, connecting and extending the ideas which the individual connects with, it's self differentiating.

I'm excited to be a part of this style of learning, as kids take control of their own learning and develop deeper understandings of the the world around them. As they find real-world audiences for their writing. This would not be possible without the support from my PLN, where I was able to send out the request and find likeminded teachers who were willing to give me a chance. Thank you.

Maths, UOI, inquiry that just keeps on giving

You know you've stumbled across a great inquiry when the learning just starts to develop a life of it's own. Our planter boxes just keep getting better. Accuracy of measurement, comparing informal with formal notation, converting between inches and centimetres, length, width, height, volume, capacity and the list continues to grow.

After drafting then building their paper models, determining the volume in cm3 the students were ready to order the wood. All those who were building with wood that is, some have chosen to use clay. My visit to the hardware, in very broken German, managed to have all of the students requests fulfilled - five pieces of wood per box, three different sizes for each box. Quite a language lesson!

All this was planned and anticipated, fantastic discussions, motivation levels extremely high.

What I hadn't planned for were the discussions which have begun today as the students compare weight to dimensions. Each group knows clearly how much soil they want - in cm3 the problem is that soil is sold by the litre. How many litres of soil do you require to fill your 8750cm3 box? This discussion will lead nicely from the clay kids as they need to determine how much clay they need just to make the pot - sold by the kilo.

Collaboration, problem solving, collegiality, inquiring minds ... connecting maths to our unit of inquiry: the form and material of an object affects its use. Connecting oral procedural texts as students now begin to produce shared videos (diary room style) of the learning process ...

Thank you to my colleagues as we talked through bringing measurement into our real world. Thank you to those who shared their thinking with the group and helped transform the beginning of an idea into a rich and rewarding inquiry based learning experience.