So, I was teaching in my undergraduate class this past Wednesday. The students had an assignment on the board that they needed to see in order to complete. I was standing to the side, but blocking one young lady who asked me to move(politely, of course) . My immediate response was, "I guess I make a better door than a window." We giggled and class went on and I forgot about the comment.... until I watched Will Richardson's video. Of special interest to me, was the point Mr. Richardson makes about the challenge, we as educators, have in moving towards making our work and our students' work transparent. Technology is an effective vehicle in enhancing this very important notion. When we are required to make our lives and work public, we grow more accountable. Mr. Richardson was talking about how we need to help teachers become more transparent, how transparency will engage more and move the learning process along a successful continuum.
I try and do this in two ways. One being in my undergrad course. As a requirement, the students are responsible for writing response papers to our readings over the course of the semester. I have also required them to react to each others papers online (similar to this course). I have grouped them in discussion groups based on what they are interested in teaching (grade levels, content area, special education). Through the online discussions, their work becomes transparent. They have rich dialogue with others who share the same career goals and I can read their increased knowledge and exposure to their classmates' knowledge and prior experiences.
The second way is with the Center for Literacy Development. I often times throw out a question in a chat room after we have all been together for a meeting. For example, if we all took part in a writing workshop with Carl Anderson, I may throw out the following in the center's online chat room: What types of writing conferencing are you doing with your students? In what ways are similar and/or differ from what we heard from Carl Anderson? After hearing Carl, what one change are you going to make in your classroom?
This allows the session to continue, even though, we are no longer in the same physical space. We often complain, as educators, that we have too much to cover and not enough time. We always wish we could have more time to "get deeper into this" or "hear more from the students about that." Online tools such as blogs, wikis, discussion tools, allow us to continue the learning while inviting the students to share (make visible and be accountable) what they have learned.
p.s. favorite quote of Mr. Richardson.... " Blogs are not just a publishing tool, they are a CONNECTION tool!"
