Learning Is Messy – Blog

I think I’ve spent just about an hour (maybe more) for every minute of my TEDxNYED talk (I get 15 minutes) … I think that is ridiculous at one level … but REALLY, I’m not complaining on the other. As a preview I will say that I’m trying to spread the word about a different pedagogy .. a new REAL reform model. I am trying NOT to point my message at those that already know the message, but at those that don’t. Just remember that next Saturday … and be kind. : )

Learning is messy!

So in a week I will be jetting across the country, weather permitting, to New York to do my 15 minutes on stage at TEDxNYED. Based on a few Tweets and emails from the last week, I’ve been relieved to learn I’m not the only one in deep, nay, in my case, almost obsessive contemplation about that 15 minutes. I will say that my goal is to share what I and so many of my colleagues have been trying, doing and having success with – with this new (maybe only newish at this point?) pedagogy. In many ways, the pressure is on.

Learning is messy!

NOTE: The pending blizzard hitting the central US and soon the east coast made me think of this post from 2 years ago. It was written in response to the H1N1 flu epidemic that was hitting at the time – and the experience this last week at the EDuCon conference in Philadelphia when students came to school even after it was cancelled due to heavy snow to help run and participate in the conference . Ironically I could not make this claim now … that I could run class from home if school was cancelled… even though more of my students have internet at home now because we have just not learned as much about being connected as my last class (partly my fault for allowing things/policies to take me away from what I feel strongly about). I’m trying hard to change that situation. This really could work well. Here’s the post from May 2009:

Think of all the learning time being lost by those students already on leave because of theH1N1 flu issue. What if this did become more widespread and we did have many students out of school for a week or more? My school district has already informed us that if even 1 student is diagnosed at our school with H1N1 then they would close that school for 5 to 7 days AND those days don’t have to be made up at the end of the school year. That’s a lot of lost learning time AND lots of free time on the hands of kids that may lead to other issues.

My students are at a bit of a disadvantage over others simply because not all of them are connected at home, but if I had time I could probably make this work for 60 to 80% of them if they were sent home due to a flu outbreak or other reason in the future. My wife’s students are 100% online at home, so think of this in terms of whatever your situation might be.

What could I make work? I could make school happen for my students from home. How?

Well first all my students blog, so I could leave them assignments on our class blog for them to research, write about and then submit to me to check and even comment back to them about. In fact just using their blog I could carry on a conversation about their work on almost any topic. I could even post math problems for them to do, science, social studies … really almost any subject. I could post photos on our Flickr account (and elsewhere), videos for them to watch, links to web pages of all kinds on any subject for them to read or interact with and then report to me about their learning in a way where I can interact with them about it. Oh, and they could do the same, posting video or photos they’ve taken (maybe just with their or a parents cell phone), to demonstrate learning or to build content to present online to the rest of us. And “US” doesn’t just have to be our class, others could join in or at least view and comment on our work.

I could even provide a field trip or guest speaker from anywhere in the world via Ustream or Mogulus and they could interact about it in the chat – ask questions, and then write about it afterwards and even have discussions.

Using Google Docs I could even enter a document with a student or even a group of students to work on or ask questions about or get feedback about.

Also we could collaborate on any of the above activities along with other students anywhere in the world.

Using the links we already have on our class wiki page I can have them visit different free online math, language, science, social studies activities and more … and add new ones as needed.

All for free, using tools students already know how to use. And understand, we could do this easily – including collaborating with other students because we already do this, we already have the contacts and network with other students and teachers set-up. We already blog and use Google Docs and Skype and wikis and more with students all over the world. We are ready to go.

Now I have just scratched the surface here, applications like Ning,  Moodle, Elluminate and so many more could further facilitate what I described above.

So time spent at home instead of school could be just about as productive as being in school – I assume I’d still be getting paid even if school has been closed for the flu (or other reason), students have something productive to do, aren’t spreading germs, do you see a downside? – I’m not.

I hope others will further elaborate how they see this working  as comments. I really held back on ALL that is possible here so have at it!

Too bad school couldn’t be more like this all the time!

Learning is messy!

Four years ago, January 24, 2007, was the first day we Skyped into our classroom a classmate that couldn’t attend school because she had leukemia and the side effects from the chemo therapy she was receiving made it impossible for her to attend school. Through the efforts of a community of people my 4th graders embarked on an incredible experience using Skype video-conferencing software to include her in our class.

On cue it seems, as I was on morning crosswalk duty in front of our school Thursday, someone … actually 2 people I recognized were amongst about 15 students waiting to cross the street. Celest and her mom crossed and after several big hugs I had a quick conversation with them about how things were going. She is in 8th grade now, has put back all the weight she lost, and has a thick, full head of hair. She is in full remission and doing really well. She even helps counsel kids that have cancer based on her own experience.

The irony is that the street in front of our school is a nightmare of cars and kids and situations that would make you gasp 5 times every morning (it does me), so I was really pre-occupied with crossing kids and their families while Celest and her mom waited to talk to me (URGH!!!), so I wasn’t able to glean as much info as I wish I could have, or take a picture with my phone (dumb, dumb, dumb!) before they had to leave.

Every year this “anniversary” comes around and I debate whether to mention it. But, every month I hear from at least someone this story touches … someone that this is a new story for. We tend to forget that many of these technology tools have been around for long enough that some of us have been there and done that 50 or more times … but this is still someone’s cutting edge. So for now, for at least one more year I will mention and remember this anniversary that touched and touches so many lives.

And also know this was not just a Skype story. We used blogs, wikis, Flickr and much more to leverage the entire experience.

But the story doesn’t stop with Celest. Her classmates were just as incredible in their own way. In less than 2 weeks they produced a movie that explained and archived the event for all to learn from. Some of the students that narrated the video didn’t even speak English, but learned their lines, spoken clearly (or we can’t use it) so they could be included. This video has been downloaded close to million times now (perhaps more).

The following year Skype sent a camera crew to film how we did it. Celest had improved and was now attending school “live” with everyone else (NOTE: I keep a class for 3 years – roll them from 4th to 5th to 6th, so Celest was in my 5th grade class too). So they filmed from our classroom and then Celest’s house, she stayed home one day and we recreated the previous year. Two videos (Here and here) were produced that day, and my students got to see how a film crew – including a photograper, lighting, sound specialist and producer do their jobs … they even let the students interview them before they went over to Celest’s house for the afternoon.

So many learning experiences and opportunities for all involved!

Learning is messy!