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!"
That quote sums up how teaching used to be - I hope teaching and learning moves more towards the window aspect soon. I think the transparency that you discuss will come but we need to set up the stage for our students to continue the learning. It would be wonderful if our students when home, went online, and started to blog or communicate to other students about the class and content without our instruction but I do not think that is happening, just yet. We need to move past the prompting to do school work online and help students become life long learners. Once that has been established, our students will be transparent without our the doors getting in the way or showing them the way. They will do it all on their own.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog!
I loved the Richardson interview also. I just want to say I think your writing is superb. The story at the beginning was nice to read and make sense for your post.
ReplyDeleteHey Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that the available technology makes our instruction transparent. I think a lot of teachers initially fear this. I know I did. When we first talked about making our instruction public in Dean Delisi's class, I remember thinking that I would be opening up myself to so much criticism because no matter how well you teach or how much you do there are people you just can't please. But, I understood it wrong. I was looking at it like big brother was spying on me, waiting for me to trip up. I have realized that through the blog and the website that I have created for my classes and even the wiki pages for class projects, that I am making my practice public.
By the way I never heard the phrase, "You make a better door than a window." We always said, "You're a pane, but I can't see through ya." :)
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteTwo things: students step up their work when they know that others have access, and these days learning continues outside the classroom; with both of these at the hands of technology and the thoughtful planning of teachers.
Ten years ago those two things would not have been something teachers would have recognized. Yet, I have used both in my fourth grade classroom, you in your undergrad class as well as professional development opportunities. How cool is that!
Just want to throw one final point in....I always thought the phrase was, "Are you pretending to be a window?