How Cool Is That?!

photo by John Langley

Wow! What an amazing experience!

Towards the end of a meeting packed week that also included finalizing senior grades and assisting seniors with their graduation slideshow as well as a successful Student Summit for the NetGenEd 2011 project and a photography/art show at the PPHS Ice Cream Social (a fine arts festival), I was running out of steam. I was so worn out tonight that I was wishing that I could call in sick tomorrow, knowing that I could not because there is too much to do.

What rejuvenated me was a chance look at Facebook where I noticed a post that two English students were working on their Post-Modernism Final Exam Project and were streaming the session live on Ustream with the assistance of one of their friends. How could I resist? Shortly after I started viewing the live stream, they got excited that they had a viewer, and I commented on Facebook that it was me. I watched and commented for a while. The students even discussed setting up a regularly scheduled live show - how cool is that?!

I am so thankful that I was able to be an observer of learning outside the classroom. It fired me up again. I don't feel the weight of everything on my "to do" list now. I feel refreshed and ready to go! I could see that the students were excited that I was watching them work and that I was interacting with them during their live performance. Their creativity and ability to make "work" into "play" made me forget about the work I have been doing. One of my personal goals as a teacher has always been to make learning fun, and another has been to create a culture of creativity and problem-solving. These students hit the mark, and I was priviledged to be able to participate.

I also began to reflect on the "work" of one of my colleagues, who posted a song on Soundcloud this week. Ms. McGovern posted "Words for the Wise" to her seniors and "Rockin Guitar Class" among others. How cool is that?!

What about that Student Summit? Students presented in a web conference of a global project while Flat Classroom Project co-founder Julie Lindsay attended from the other side of the globe - how cool is that?!

Students and parents viewed the award winning photography that was on display during the Ice Cream Social - students were eager to show off their work to their family and friends. The choir and band sounded amazing! I actually got the tingling chills that you get when music is so good that it becomes an emotional experience instead of just an auditory experience. How cool is that?!

How do I cap off this week? I get to present a PPEA scholarship to an amazing student at graduation this weekend. How cool is that?!

How do you avoid burn-out? What keeps you fired up and motivated? Leave comments.

How students want to be taught

I have often throughout my teaching career striven to teach students the way that they learn. I take pride in providing a fun and engaging education for students. While I often guess or ask a select few students for their opinions on projects (and luckily have been correct in the past), this time, after having students read an excerpt from Don Tapscott's Grown Up Digital for their NetGenEd project, I decided to have students blog about it. Students consistently mentioned in their blogs that teachers who teach the way that they were taught should rethink their methods. Following are some passages from student blogs regarding education:

"This topic is something i feel very strongly about. After reading about Tapscott's 8 norms, i really realized teachers I come in contact with every day need to change the way they teach. We are in the 21st century in the year 2011. This is the future! So i have to wonder, why are they still teaching the way they did 20 years ago? School is about the STUDENTS. If that means changing up the way you teach to actually get the students involved and interested, then do it. There shouldn't be a question about it. We are bored in the classes that are still using worksheets from 15 to 20 years ago. Everything is evolving in the way we live, so why isn't our education, the most important thing, not doing the same? Interaction is key."

"The first things that teachers must realize is that instead of being angry for our push for complete freedom in the classroom, teachers should embrace the fact that we enjoy taking charge of our own situations and put that into their classrooms."

"Lessons should be entertaining, fast, and collaborative."

"For several years teachers have been using the same teaching techniques. They stand in front of a classroom and lecture about the given topic. Students are supposed to write down and take notes of what the teacher is saying. They give you heavy books and handout worksheets for you to read a[nd] fill out. What theses teachers need to understand is that although this an effective method, times have changed and students learn in a different way now. I believe that with the use of technology we can improve education greatly. This a more modern and effective way than just the old lecture and book work. Give the students something they are familiar with, and something that they will want to use. . . . If we can get teachers to upgrade their lesson plans and teaching styles we can prepare our students better for the future."

"Teachers should try to use the internet for some topics when they're teaching. If they find a video on YouTube, let's say, then they can show their students the related video and get them involved more."

"The importance of personalizing a students education could be the difference from someone graduating and dropping out."

Having honest discussions about Education with students is critical. We need to keep in touch with How students learn as well as what peeks their interests. Lessons need to prepare students for the 21st Century Skills so they are prepared for the next stage in life.

Trial Run for Global Project

As the speech class approaches the start of the global collaborative NetGenEd Project, they will be prepared.  The class has discussed the digital age, how today's students learn, communicate, etc.  The class watched and discussed PBS Frontline's Digital Nation.  Students blogged about digital communication and learned how to use Diigo to share research bookmarks.  Students then worked on a project that simulates a portion of the NetGenEd Project - working on a wiki.


Students each researched a digital communication tool and contributed to the class's 21st Century Communication Wiki.  The assignment required students to post collaboratively to the Digital Communication page; use class time wisely; post criticisms on the discussion tabs of their peers' wiki pages; and on their individual wiki pages, post definitions and examples about the digital tool researched, show how that digital tool can be used for social/personal use, show how that digital tool can be used for business, and show how the digital tool can be used for education.  Some of the digital tools that students picked to research seemed a stretch, but even those surprisingly had business and education uses.

Students are currently working on the Video Assignment of the wiki.  Just as the NetGenEd Project will ask of them, they are required to request that someone else does one of their video scenes for them.  After they have all scenes of their videos edited together, the videos will be embedded on their respective digital tool page of the wiki.

While my objective was both to enhance the students' understanding of digital communication and its uses for business and education and to expose the students to the tools that they will be using in the NetGenEd Project, it was also a lesson for me.  I found that the fear to post is not isolated to working with someone across the globe - it can also happen when working with someone sitting right in the next seat.  The class has two weeks to tie up the loose ends before we start moving full force into communication on a Global Level.  I am looking forward to helping students overcome those personal barriers and prepare for global communication.