Borderland

I’m learning from my students, and I’m learning from other teacher-bloggers. I want to recognize the valuable work that Bud Hunt and Susan Sedro are doing to support the efforts of teachers who are exploring issues that arise as we open our classrooms to socially enabled software. Bud’s idea of creating a repository of our collective thinking is a good one, because I see from both him and Susan that we are asking similar questions. Susan’s reactions to her students’ comments on each others’ blogs, and her search for a feed aggregator mirror my own thoughts in recent days. Bud’s point about sharing teacher knowledge is not new, or limited to IT issues. Teaching is a profession that has traditionally been practiced in isolation. We are constrained by time, institutional structures, and issues of confidentiality that prevent us from sharing valuable lessons with each other.

Bud’s idea of using a wiki for teachers to pool their intellectual and technological resources is right on the money. But how do we begin? A few at a time, to be sure. At my work location I am not making a lot of noise about my student bloggers. My reasons for flying below the radar are mixed. The main thing for me is that I want the freedom and flexibility to make mistakes. I knew going into this that there would be technical snags, and that classroom procedures would need to be streamlined.

The question that Chris Lott, Bud Hunt , Will Richardson, and many others have asked about the nature of blogging itself is altogether fascinating. What should students write about?

The point that Chris makes about the power of blogging as a practice that promotes self discovery is for me the most compelling reason to explore its potential as a classroom resource. If not for that reason, then I must ask myself why we are doing it at all. Certainly there is value in providing windows into our students’ worlds. But is it our job, or our right to do that? We are charged with the task of teaching students to write and read, certainly. And blogging most definitely qualifies as an activity that supports that goal. But do our students need to express themselves publicly to such a broad and random audience to accomplish that? The answers to these questions, it seems to me, are “No.” These are not sufficient reasons for keeping a public weblog. What is making a difference for my students is the comments feature of the blog. This is something that is only now becoming meaningful for them. And they are beginning to check to see if they are getting comments.

Joan Parker-Webster, my good friend and colleague from UAF, is doing a research project in my classroom this week. She was looking at our blogs and writing comments to the kids on one of the computers in the classroom. Darren sat next to her as she wrote him a comment.

We went to Nulato to dance with old people and we got to eat food. We got to go hunting bear to eat, and moose too. We got to go fishing to eat it. It was school tomorrow at 8:00 o’clock. We got to school at 7:45.

Hello Darren, this is Joan. You are lucky to be able to go to Nulato and see elders dancing. Can you dance too?

Darren got up and walked back to his desk. With a big smile he told the kids near him, “I got a comment from Joan.”

Another student, Alex, began writing humorous advice pieces. These are truly original and very apt observations on the world around him. I couldn’t have ever made an assignment for the kids to write anything like this. When I recognized the genius of these posts I asked him where he got the idea, and of course he didn’t know. He has imitators in the class now. But none of them are quite as sharply perceptive as his are. For instance

5 Tips About Getting A Girl Friend
05/03/05 @ 09:02:19 am, 76 words, by Alex

HI, I’m Mr. Sho Sha, and I’ll be giving you 5 tips about getting a girl friend.

1. Never ask their weight.
(They will smack you)

2. If they are drinking a soda do not ask if it is Diet.
( Kay)

3.Prepare a speech before you talk with her.
(Make it good)

4. She likes you. The first date should be simple.
(I’m not sure)

The thing you should always give her.

5. Get her some chocolate.
(She’ll fall for it)

Darren comments

This is darren tell more thing how to get a girlfriend

So Joan was reading Alex’s work when she was there and he told her that he would write her some tips about being a professor.

5 Tips About How To Become a Professor!
05/10/05 @ 02:32:15 pm, 78 words, by Alex

Hi, I’m Mr. Smarty Pants and I’ll be giving you 5 tips about how to be a professor.

1. Get a pair of glasses.
(they make you look smart)

2. Get a nice note book.
(You’ll look smarter)

3. Take notes of just anything. For example: I’m taking notes.
(Yeah)

4. Interview people that don’t want to be interviewed.
(kk)

One of the best tips of all,

5. Chew some bubble gum. Professors like to usually chew on something when they’re working.
(All right)

Joan was charmed. From her office, she wrote back.

Hello Alex, this is Professor Joan. Thanks for the tips. I am going to the store to buy bubble gum today. I already have the glasses and notebook. When do you want to be interviewed?

Alex read her comment and he told me all about it. Then he said, “She wants to interview me.” I said, “You know that’s what professors do. He pumped his arm and said, “Score!”

Can it get any better than this? Maybe. But this is more than I hoped for after only a couple of weeks.

I would just like to conclude by saying that as I think about this experience we are having – my students and I – I have to recognize that I might not properly value the social dimension of blogging if I did not also keep a blog myself. Anyone reading this can see that my participation in this literary form is still somewhat recent. I, too, enjoy the opportunity of having my contributions recognized by people outside my immediate sphere. I believe that teachers who ask their students to blog must also do so themselves. How else will they know what it is about? The tension between private and public information, the joy of discovery, and the risk of embarrassment is all personal knowledge that can not be understood by mere observers.