A space to (1) reflect on my teaching, (2) share new ideas, sites, and Web 2.0 tools with current staff, and (3) network with other 21st century teachers
Sitting at the blogger café unable to get online. The situation is dripping with irony, but I digress. People I should be connecting with surround me, but I find myself retreating back to where I feel safe. In words.
I have been plagued by a sense of bitterness and apathy since I arrived at NECC, and no matter how I try to shed my prejudices I find myself asking: What is all this hype? Surrounded by snake oil salesmen and product pushers, it all seems like it is too much, too big.
Ironically, I find it easier to make connections swimming the waters online rather than making connections than sitting face to face with someone and discussing yet again how kids learn differently today and need a new set of skills to succeed in the 21st job market. I see my role as an educator as bigger than this. How much longer do we need to discuss these ideas? I am only thinking out loud here, and I hope I do not offend, but I am ready for a new discussion. I am not sure what this conversation will look, but perhaps that is what we should be talking about.
I can quip about how it is not about the technology but the teaching, but then again that platitude is neither original nor progressing the issues. If anything this conference so far has made me less evangelical about educational technology. I don’t need a session sponsor by Cisco telling me how to use technology in my classroom.
Connection may be the name of the game here, but I still find myself the awkward teenager in a room full of cool kids pontificating about ideas that I would rather simply do than talk about.
For me, it all boils to down to a simple axiom, and while I feel like broken record and a bit of a simpleton when I express it, but learning need not be this complicated. Yes, there may be new skills. Yes there are new tools, but ultimately we simply need to be engaging students by creating authentic learning communities built around honest open relationships. These tools, these ideas are mere ways where we can create these communities. Students could careless about any of the ideas at NECC. They just want a teacher who is willing to be honest with them, respect them, and willing practice what they preach and learn along with them. The rest is all hype.
I have only been here for a day, but as a student here at NECC, I have not seen any communities like the ones I have described. I want to collaborate with others. I want to create a product. I want to use the tools, that so many companies seem hell bent on selling my school, to lean something new. Where is this happening at NECC? If these secessions exist, please show me the way.
On June 4th, I gave a talk called Life as an Open Book at Qatar Academy for the first ever Tedx event put together by Julie Lindsay.
I spent quite a bit of time planning the talk, but the execution was not exactly what I had in mind. I was plagued by repetition, false starts, and a general sense of incoherence. I have attempted to piece together as much of the original talk as I could.
The main idea is:
How can we encourage teachers to look beyond their fear, follow their passions and begin to create open honest online identities that reflect their true selves in order to better connect with their students for a more authentic learning environment. Eventually creating a system that not only allows for teacher creativity and expression but actively promotes and encourages it, so teachers are not too busy or scared to express themselves online, and actually given time to reflect, create, and share.
The school where I work is currently only a Primary School this year, but like most schools in Qatar, we are rapidly growing. Next year we will expand to offer lower level Secondary classes as well. Seeing that I will be teaching Year 7, 8, and 9 (read Grade 6,7,8 in the American system) English, I have been given the “opportunity” or is it “task” of creating a curriculum based on the National Strategies from the UK. Perhaps, curriculum is not the exact word, I need help finding content and material to supplement and help teach my curriculum.
While creating an absolute brand new curriculum and finding resources to make it successful from scratch has its appeal, it is a monstrous task for one person. That is why I am recruiting you to help me. I am hoping that the group brain, the network, or communal learning environment I am a part of will help where they can by: suggesting texts, readers, schemes, resources, and any other ideas that may prove to be useful.
I have created this wiki in hopes of making this a very simple process for the people who can help and spare some time. If the wiki proves difficult you can just leave me a comment on this post, email me, or send me a Tweet. I am sure everyone is beyond busy this time of year, despite this time crunch, however, I was hoping that you could take ten minutes to look over my document and fill in what you can.
Here are some sample questions:
Which novels do you teach in 6th grade?
What is the best writing program you have seen?
Do you use an anthology or a grammar book? Why or why not? Which one?
You get the point. Any help will be greatly appreciated. If you are reading this post and you are not an English teacher, I would appreciate it if you could share the link with anyone in the English department of your school.
Thanks in advance Learning Network; let’s see what you got! If Web 2.0 is truly what we hype it up to be, let’s see how she runs when put to the test!
After reading many of the comments on this post, I have realized that I was only looking for content and not really thinking about curriculum, so I have begun thinking about essential questions and narrowing things down a bit on this page. Feel free to contribute in either space.
I was going to start this post with the line, “I hate to toot my own horn but…” instead I decided to start it with, “To toot my own horn…” Sometimes, the affects of our work comes back in ways we could never imagine, and it is in these waves that we can feel reassured and confident that we are on the right track!
I received the following emails from a woman I used to wrok with at my former school. The same school from which I was forced to resign:
Hey Jabiz!
I am teaching a new elective this year, called “Be the Change.” I recently asked students to respond to the Wiki prompt: Who inspires you, and why? This was the response from (insert name of student), currently in 8th grade:
I am going to have to go with my 3rd quarter 7th grade social studies/ language arts teacher, Mr. Raisdana. Mr. Raisdana was an amazing teacher. He really made us think about how we were learning. He taught us not the skills to join the workforce of today, but the skills needed to be a learner so we can learn to be the workforce of tomorrow however different they may be. He helped us create networks of learners through blogging. He was an activist, a supporter of global peace. Sadly, he was fired. I do not want to bring into this place any discussion of whether or not he was fired justly but I will say that I miss him. We lost a creative teacher who helped make learning fun. (After all, how many teachers do you know who keep a bowl of dried fruit on their desk for everyone to enjoy?) He encouraged us to use our brains to a fuller extent, for a project on ancient Rome, a parody of the song Beautiful Girl is acceptable. And he keeps working, even with a new full time teaching position, on is own learners network. I hope I can learn from him and am able to adopt some of his qualities in my self.
This is why I teach. Period. To get through to kids. To get them to think for themselves and question the world around them. I am sharing this because I am proud of the work I do and felt the need to spread the joy!
Every few weeks, Julie Lindsay gathers a few teachers at Qatar Academy to discuss learning and technology. Most people who read this blog, all two of you, probably already know Julie, but if you don’t she is an excellent member of any learning network, and I suggest you read her blog and follow her on Twitter.
Unfortunately, I don’t have much to say about these meetings at this time, but please check out the wiki for more information on what we have discussed and a list of the guest speakers, which have included Gary Stager, Kim Cofino, and recently David Warlick. Not a bad list, thanks Julie!
It has been a pleasure to attend these meetings and learn from, not only the “experts,” but the members of the group who attend the meetings as well.
I am writing this post to firstly thank Julie and secondly to share this video:
As I mentioned earlier, I don’t have much to say about it as this time, you can read Julie’s post for a more comprehensive overview, but I have had one thought that lingers in my head since we spoke:
Back in December I wrote a post about a caterpillar my daughter and I found our roof top:
I live in Doha, Qatar, and I recently planted a few trees on my roof top garden. My daughter and I were on the roof tending to our young tress when she noticed several caterpillars. She was fascinated with our hairy little friends.
I remember being enthralled with the whole process of metamorphosis as a child and wanted to introduce this transformation to my daughter. Sure she is only two-and-a-half, but such a magical event can be appreciated at any age. Right? We took one of the caterpillars, some leaves, a branch and put it all in a jar, hoping that we could watch the entire metamorphosis over a span of a few weeks.
The little guy is doing okay. He is eating the leaves, growing, and dropping a massive amount of poops, which are coming in handy for our other project- potty training. “See the caterpillar goes poo-poo too.”
Well that was away back in December and at the time we felt that we had identified our little friend as a Gastropacha (Stenophylloides) populifolia.
It had been nearly three months, and I had begun to give up on the moth. I was sure it was dead. Just yesterday, my wife said I think the moth is out, and my daughter was so excited to see the moth too. I am sure the concept of metamorphosis is way above her comprehension at the age of two-and-a-half, but you should have seen her face as she spoke to the moth, go on fly now. Can you fly moth?
I am not sharing this story because I think it is cute. There are many lessons here on what learning looks like. The lessons that could be learned if this process were given to older students are immeasurable.
We are always deriding young people of needing instant gratification and having short attention spans, but how often do we give them the chance to slow down to the speed of nature when they are studying it? Forced to cram our time with curricula expectations, we are shortchanging our students by rushing throiugh worksheets to be ready for exams.
If we want them to take the time to really connect with a topic and learn, we have to give the time. After all it takes three months for a caterpillar to transform into a moth.
What are your ideas? Can you see the benefit of expecting students to maintain focus and patience on an idea like this?
I had a hard time wiping the smile off my face as I watched the video below. The smile remained there even after the fifth viewing. I hate to sound repetitive, but I am so amazed and proud of all the work that has gone into the Daraja Academy. While this video may be emotional for anyone who has been following this story from the beginning, I hope that newcomers will also connect with the project.
It feels so strange to see the school alive and active. I felt the power of the campus last December, but I can already feel the difference now that there are students there. As always, if the story of Daraja resonates with you, please learn more about the school and share these videos, pictures, and stories with as many people as you can.
Great things are starting to happen all over the world, and more is possible if you choose to share this story with the people in your community.
The Daraja Academy of Kenya opened its doors on February 26, 2009. This brief video highlights some of the energy at the beginning of this life-changing school.
The more we begin to use tools like Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites as part of our regular means of conversation, communication, and connection the more creative uses for these tools each of us will find for reaching out and connecting to more and more people. Below is a brief example of something I discovered lately. (I am sure this is nothing new, but it was an “Ahh Hah!” moment for me)
My experience involves Twitter, Twitter Search and RSS! I have been actively involved in promoting and supporting my best friend’s project in Kenya, called The Daraja Academy. I have written about my connection with the school extensively here and here. Twitter has helped me meet and befriend board member Mark Lukach who Tweets @marklukach, as well spread Daraja’s story to Jenny Luca in Australia who Tweets @jennyluca. You can read Mark’s account of our connections here.
With Twitter Search gaining more and more press, I started to think about using it as a tool to connect with anyone who is tweeting abour @daraja. Right now it is mostly, Mark, Jenny, and me, but there will be more right? I noticed that there is an RSS feed on the Twitter Search page, once subscribed I would know immediately any one who mentions @daraja in real time.
I could tweet them a thank you note, or more information about the school, or just follow them and begin building a more substantial relationship. In short, an RSS feed to a Twitter search allows one to sift through countless Tweets and connect with people who are tweeting about the same things in which you are onterested, in my case The Daraja Acacdemy.
My findings showed me that there are a few people who have mentioned @daraja, so I am now following them and have sent them a quick thank you tweet. I hope that after reading this post you will also follow the links, tweet about @daraja, so I can find you in my RSS feed search and begin building our relationship with a common goal of suporting and promoting the Daraja Academy.
This is why I blog and twitter and facebook and flickr and youtube and all that jazz. I have a deep faith in the power of human beings to get togther and solve the world’s problems through a shared understanding that if we just sit and understand each other, the world is not as complicated as we assume:
There is not much I need and/or want to write here about my latest video, that I haven’t said before. I hope that it inspires people to take action and join the Daraja cause. I hope you share it, embed it, and bring more and more people to this amazing school.
I hope that this video expresses the essence of the Daraja Academy. This is what I saw and felt after visiting the campus:
Even without the classrooms, teachers, books or curriculum this campus is a place to reconnect with the urge to explore. A place to self-reflect and place oneself in the symphony of the Earth. A bare boned canvas with ancient stories waiting to be investigated, rethought, and expanded. These grounds carved from the soil of the Kenyan savannah are the perfect place to begin the journey that will never end.
Daraja is the opposite of the slums and poverty from which her students will come. It is beyond politics and good intentions. Daraja is the realization of a dream. Hope actualized and made real. Hands in soil, trees planted. Seeds sown. It is beyond donations and charity. Daraja is a place where regular people like you selflessly give their time, money, and energy in the hope that change begins within each of us.
Every voice that joins the chorus of Daraja adds something to its growth. For everyone who heeds her call, Daraja is an act of faith. Faith in a world built on love and peace. Daraja is the timeless dream placed in every human heart. A place built for idealists and dreamers. A fertile bed of what ifs come true.
Every voice is heard and appreciated, she begs for you to sing along, tap your foot, or just bask in her song. Please get involved. Be a part of this amazing place:
