I’m A Teacher, and I Want To Learn

If someone has already started a conversation on a teacher group of collaborators similar to the following suggestion, I missed it, and I apologize for the repetition. I’d like to join your group if it exists. If such a group does not exist, here are some observations and an idea.

Strangely, I’ve had some familiar experiences here on Classroom 2.0 as a new online social network member. These online experiences are a lot like the experiences I’ve had while attending other large gatherings with people I don’t know. Since joining Classroom 2.0 I’ve been:

1. Looking for someone I know to talk to. Finding someone I know at any social gathering is a sure fire way to not meet anyone new. I’ve found no familiar faces here; I’ve not met anyone new to really talk to either, go figure. So I’ve been…

2. Listening for conversations to join. I read someone else’s conversation and try to join that one. I usually feel like the square peg trying to fit into the round hole in these situations. On other blogs dedicated to education which I read, and in Classroom 2.0 to a certain extent, there is a fair amount of, “What do you think of the new_version3_of_whatever_it_is.com?” Usually I’ve neither used nor heard of the old_version2_of _whatever_it_is.com, so I’m not fitting in to these conversations. In fact, I may have felt more comfortable in seventh grade trying to start a conversation with a member of the opposite sex. I’m figuring that small talk about American Idol’s Sanjaya probably won’t work here either. Consequently, I am now…

3. Seeking to learn from other teachers. I’m a teacher, and I want to learn about increasing and changing my students’ learning through technology. In order to do this classroom teachers really need to engage in some meaningful conversations that include the successes, trials, concerns, realities, problems, and time constraints of teachers using Web 2.0 tools. Honestly, my head is about to explode with more “new stuff” that I feel I should try to use as an instructional tool; I can hardly think of trying one more new thing. I would like to participate in an active network dedicated to best practices in instruction and student learning through the use of technology. I’m hoping Classroom 2.0 becomes that network; I hope some other members feel the same way.

So far in Classroom 2.0 I’ve done steps 1 and 2 without much success. So that means it is time to venture into number 3.

So here we go.

I am a high school social studies teacher; I have been teaching for 35 years, and I’m not retiring this year. With all the new web tools changing teaching and learning, this job is way too interesting. I’m not a technology expert, but I’ve been using it in my classes for quite a while. Sometimes I’m pretty successful, and sometimes I’m not quite satisfied, and sometimes I fail to accomplish what I set out to do. I’d love to exchange ideas with others who teach and are using the new tools of the trade. I enjoy reading about the new “next thing,” but I really want to talk about the tools that I use, and I want to hear about what other teachers are doing with them. I can’t experiment with all the new stuff, but I want to engage students with the collaborative, web 2.0 tools, and I want to hear about the new ones that other teachers are using. I’ve been using Google docs, wikis, message boards, and I’m starting to use blogs. I have a lot of questions and some concerns.

I’ll share with you a successful message board project I’ve done in my Current Events and Issues class. I used the message board to have my students communicate with a former student of mine who was stationed in Baqubah, Iraq for a year. The class also participated in a video conference with the soldier for an hour from my classroom. It was an amazing experience for the students and for me on many levels. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a very powerful learning experience. I’ll go into more detail if anyone is interested. I’d love to hear what others are doing.

As classroom teachers we are our own best resources, let’s use one another. If we’re really lucky some of the tech people in Classroom 2.0 will share how we can do these things even better than we have been. So if anyone wants to engage in this conversation, let’s start a meaningful one about classroom practices, tools, learning, problems, successes and failures. Can we create a group in Classroom 2.0 to do this? I’m willing to give it a try.

And…

If you don’t want to join that conversation, then how about this one: What do you think Anna Nicole’s daughter’s DNA test will reveal about her biological father? Just kidding; that’s a bad conversation starter I’ve been working on. I’ll keep working on it.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Sorry this was so long.