Here’s another thing that struck me about Will Richardson’s post the other day. I guess it was Will’s last question that led me again down a road I’ve been traveling for a few weeks. Will was talking about the emotional side of online learning and he says,
And why we need to teach our kids how to build networks of trusted sources they can turn to themselves for intellectual and emotional support in the process. But how can we do that if we ourselves don’t?
I’m more convinced than ever that it’s a mistake when we ask teachers to blog with students when they haven’t blogged professionally themselves. Therein lies the answer–if teachers see how much they gain through the on-line learning available in this community, they’ll want their students to experience the same thing. However, when our teachers employ blogging as another strategy without “owning it”, they end up using it much as pen and paper activities, just on the blog. And who has it figured out that we’re missing the boat?–our high school students. Teachers who jump into using the blog as a place for students to respond only to them miss the depth and social connections available, BEYOND the teacher. Our kids end up seeing blogging as another teacher thing, not even equating it with what they’re currently doing on their own. Teachers need to blog for their own learning first, then they will fully understand the opportunities available to their students. And they won’t miss a great opportunity.
Will–Maybe we need a “Facebook” (call it “Gradebook”) for teachers and administrators. An on-line community that you enter by means of our profession and you build your space there however works for you, blogging or video or graphics or whatever, but we form connections. You know “9th grade English teacher seeking other English teachers to discuss novels”. Our new teachers could easily adapt, coming from social networking as they know it, to us on “Gradebook”. Make blogging look more like what they know? Kim
But so here’s the push, Kim. Do they need to blog, or do they need to engage in larger, online conversations and communities in whatever that form that takes? For us, blogging is a natch. Words come pretty easily. Not so for others. But that shouldn’t stop them from participating in this, in learning from it so they can understand the pedagogies of it for their kids. But what does it as well or better than a blog???