Learning as a Way of Teaching

It is a common complaint of all teachers.  Not enough time to do the things that need to be done and the things that we want to do.  I would love to blog every day.  There are not enough hours in the day to do all of the things that I have learned in the world of 2.0. 

Since the fall of last year, I have learned the power of student blogging, wikis, and collaborating with educators from all around the world.  Unfortunately, the roles that make up my job description could not care less of my wishes.  Here is what I have to do (which prevents me from doing what I want to do):  I am the district’s inclusion facilitator, I am the special education coordinator for the junior high, I am on the district’s assisstive technology team, and I am the testing coordinator for the junior high.  If I could only have a few more hours in the day I could do things like:

1. Develop the wiki mentoring project that I started last year.  I had students at the high school encourage students from the jr high in their writing skills.  The seventh graders wrote stories that the high schoolers critiqued and gave advice on.
2. I would teach several teachers on each of our campuses how to use blogs in their classrooms.
3. Podcasting has appealed to me for a very long time and I cannot seem to find the time to delve into it.  I tried getting some students involved in an after school podcasting club, but it went over like a pregnant high jumper.
4. Last year, I collaborated with a class in Maylasia.  It was a lot of fun, it did not last as long as I would have wanted it.  I just do not have the time to try that again.
5. I would like to have a really informative website.  One that can be used by students and teachers alike.
6. Every heard of Moodle?  I have and do not know a lot about it.  I would like to teach classes online, but that requires time that I just do not have.

Could it be possible to just blink my eyes and have this list happen?  The amount of time it would take to launch some of these projects is several lifetimes…..

….and I only have one life.

There are times that I thought parents of secondary students didn’t care.  Parental involvement seems to decline as students get older.  Yesterday was not the case.  Hundreds of students and their families came through our doors for “Meet the Teacher.”  We were all amazed at the turnout and I was very pleased to see that parents still care.

I have spent a few days back at the office and I am sad to see summer come to an end.  I got to spend countless hours with my children playing board games, swimming, watching cartoons, playing video games, and visiting family.  Treasured moments that I will cherish forever and one day wish for again.

But it is time to face a new school year.  A new year with bright expectations, new students, and new collegues.  We return to work tomorrow.  Move over summertime, it is time to change the world again.

No one likes to admit that they are lazy.  Maybe because we do not like lazy people.  What ever happened to not doing anything, anyway?  Well, let me explain how blogging contributes to my laziness:

Every time I read through my feed reader, I learn something new.  In fact, I owe it to fellow bloggers for helping me navigate through Web 2.0.  And because they have done all the discovery work for me, I do not have to do anything.  Trial and error is eliminated for me as I try what is suggested by bloggers from all over the world.  I do not have to work real hard discovering what works and what doesn’t.  And that is why I blog, because I am lazy.

I get it.  I understand the importance of schools remaining relevant.  You do not have to spend any more time telling me that schools need to be using the tools that students are already using.

I have totally bought into the idea that a global audience pushes students to take pride in their work.  I envision students blogging, building wikis, creating media rich content, and establishing learning relationships with students from all over the world.

Problem is…I am teaching behind a wall.  Those who are in charge of our technology have a filter that blocks all blogs.  Edublogs and learnerblogs come through, but only because I asked them to look into them.

We have computer labs for students to use.  However, they are so locked down, students cannot even access the hard drive.  All of their content has to be saved on their student folder that resides on the server.  A server, I might add that is getting slammed.  If students want to upload files on their wikispace, the files cannot come from the server (for whatever reason), so that prevents them from putting anything original on the wiki.

I am collaborating with a class, and our students cannot produce the same level of work as their new colleagues in Malaysia.  Our computers are not only locked down, but they run Windows 98.  Even web-based tools are difficult to use since we are using an operating system that is older than most of my students.

I would almost equate it with being like a kid in a candy store….with no money.  Before me is a brand new world of tools that inspire and engage students.  But they are all out of my reach.  I can smell them, see them, and almost taste them; but they are unobtainable.

But all is not lost.  It is possible to teach some of the skills, just without the tools.  But not in a way that engages like Web 2.0.  Sigh….

…but it is slowly sinking in.  I had a moment of dawning comprehension this afternoon that left me feeling a little bit…well, old.  Our tech teacher is using think.com from Oracle to build an online learning community for her students.  She created a teacher account for me so I can learn and participate alongside her students.  And today it hit me.  I have no idea how to use the community.  I thought it would be simple.  Yet, I found myself asking out loud to no one in particular, “What do I do now?”  Students are flying through the interfaces and creating content, and I do not even know where to begin.  With a little more time, perhaps I will catch on.

But it doesn’t stop there.  IM and texting fascinated me.  Why would I use my phone to type a message?  Isn’t that like using my television to listen to the radio?  Wouldn’t it be faster to call my friend than to text him?  What my students are using so fluently, I struggle with.  It takes me forever to text on my phone.  By the time I text a complete message, I could have tracked down a teenager and asked him to do it for me.  The grammarian in me refuses to abbreviate or use the texting language that makes me cringe when I see it. 

The more I talk and write, the more I realize that I am truly a digital immigrant. I have always loved computers.  I have owned one my entire life.  However, it is a cultural thing for teens to IM the way that they do.  A culture that I did not grow up in and am having a hard time connecting with.

I am trying to connect with teachers.  I am trying to assimilate all that they are saying to me in Classroom 2.0 (which of course is blocked at my campus).  I read Will, Graham, Kim, and others to gain wisdom and insights on living in a 2.0 world.  And I have to say, it does not come easily.

I am frustrated by the outdated technologies and filters in my classrooms.  The rate at which students are creating content and the quality of content does not make me think I am doing something correctly.  And it become even more aware that I am a stranger in a strange land.  I am trying and I do not know if what is happening is good.

I keep telling myself that it just takes time.  However, I am a very impatient person and do not want to wait for administrators to get on board.  I do not want to wait for the new budget to roll in so we can be decent tools.  I do not want to wait.

Now that the venting has passed, I feel better. 

Graham helped put things into perspective for me.  What this post revealed to me was why I should be exercising my 2.0 muscles.  At first, blogs and wikis were cool.  They looked slick and I liked the way wikis made it easy to share content.  But I lose focus when the newness wears off and I realize that blogging for blogging’s sake leaves me feeling empty.  I want to see what others are doing in the classroom.  In fact, I do it without 2.0 tools.  I visit other schools and other classrooms to see what they are doing.  I want to get feedback on my ideas.  I do that without 2.0 tools.  I send e-mails, write paper, set up conference times, visit over the lunch table in the teacher’s lounge.  I have teachers in my building who share my interests and can give me advice.

But I can only imagine what level all of the aforementioned collaboration is multiplied when I enter the 2.0 classroom.  And then the power of blogs, wikis, and podcasts hits me all over again.  It is a subtle paradigm shift, but it works for me.

I want to build a learning community for myself.  I want to engage my thinking and educational experiences with the world….it will just take me a minute.

In a recent post, I mentioned how I would like to read some blogs of teachers who are not technology teachers.  And to my pleasant surprise, I got a comment.  A real, honest to goodness comment.  All of the comments I have received so far are from students that I have forced and friends who have felt sorry for my comment-less blogging so far.

Graham came to my rescue by offering some places to start looking.  One blog led to another and the next thing you know, I have more feeds in my aggregator than I could possible shake a stick at.  If information overload never knocked on my door, today was the day I met it.

And then it struck me.  Who says that the only people I teach walk the halls of my school building?  Is it possible now for me to say that I teach the world?  I think I can.  Through Teen Talk, I can teach 8th graders in Malaysia.  Through the Wiki Mentoring Project, I can teach 4th graders and high school students here in my hometown.

And what about professional development?  Why do I have to wait for workshops to come to a big city near me?  Why do I have to pour over book titles at a mega bookstore?  Do I really have to go further into debt so I can take college classes?  Who has the time for that?

I learn from the best 2.0 has to offer without having to leave my house.  My news aggregator brings in more information I can handle.  My ideas can be shared with the world, and even commented by teachers in and out of my field.  I grow as I learn from others and them from me.  That is what 2.0 does for me, and I am swimming in the flood with a big smile on my face.

Ms. C and a group of her students has been kind enough to show us how to participate in a collaborative project.  Teen Talk is a wiki that we are building together to get to know each other.

This is the first international project I have participated in since 1998.  Back then, I was a “one-computer-in-my-room-teacher” experimenting with ePals, trying to get my high school students using e-mail to correspond with other students their age.  The attempt was a complete flop due to inaction on the other group of students we were working with.  On top of that, it just was not what I hoped that it would be.

Now I am working with a one to one classroom, and we are devoting all of our energy on this one project.  The kids are learning how to use wikis, blogs, and Yackpack to collaborate with our new friends.

Ms. C has a great deal of experience with these kind of projects.  She has set up the entire framework of our wiki and our students are enjoying the ride.  My plan is to carry through on this project and then work some more with Ms. C starting next school year.

My explorations in Classroom 2.0 has found several blogs worth reading.  However, all of them deal with technologies.  I am still searching for a blogger who is discussing education and not necessarily technology in the classroom.

Where are the special education teachers?  Are there any teachers in my field of education that are blogging?

I have learned so much over the past few months reading the blogs that I have subscribed to.  What I am hoping for is to develop a global community of teachers who do not teach technology.  I want to find those who are using 2.0 technologies to share their thoughts and ideas on classroom practices, pedagogies, tips and tricks, lesson plans etc.

Are they out there?  Can anyone point me to them?

Word of mouth is spreading and we have had several districts inquire about our inclusion program.  Some of what we do is original, and some of it is stolen.  But is that not the truth most of all good ideas?  We take something that works, and them make it our own.

That is what is so great about Classroom 2.0.  We can exchange ideas and learn from each other on a global level.

Anyway, the boys and girls at Box.net have made it easy to share the docs that we use.  Take a look at just three of the forms that we use.  Feel free to take them and make them your own.

Tell me what you are using for your inclusion program.