Leading with Learning

I love NECC. I love it and I hate it. I come home after four intense days of lectures, workshops, debates, and playgrounds, all fired up with the latest and greatest means of teaching better through technology.

Then I return to my school and try to share what I’ve learned. Let’s face it; it’s a foreign language to most teachers. What I struggle with most is guiding teachers to the tools they’ll need to implement a 21^st teaching pedagogy, tools that will help them connect to other teachers and classrooms. Just when I feel that I’ve reached a point where teachers don’t roll their eyes or snicker when I say “wiki” or “blog,” I am confronted with new tools. Do I dare introduce Twitter as a tool for learning? Is now the best time to share Digg, Facebook, VoiceThread, or GoogleDocs with teachers who are busy preparing for a new school year? Our Tablet PC program is starting its fifth year. Is now the ideal moment to tell them we should be exploring the power of Netbooks and handhelds in the classrooms? Does it undermine the legitimacy of these new, powerful tools if I send out a tweet to all my peeps in the Upper School faculty room asking them to join my LinkedIn network?

The reality is that the pace of technology far exceeds the pace of change in most schools. However, the thing that is most constant, our mission and our purpose, is that we seek out every possible way for all our students to learn in a way that is both powerful and meaningful. On that we all agree. So when I speak with teachers, I don’t lead with the latest app or cool new gadget, I lead with learning. What’s the most challenging thing to teach? What’s the most difficult concept for students to grasp? What resource might help turn the corner and make the lesson come alive? That’s when good teachers are ready to ask the question: “what’s new?” When I lead with learning, it is easier to translate “geek speak” into a language we all understand.

-- Renee

Writing Across the Internet

What are the forms, the rhetorical modes, that we use and will use as we write, post, create, and share on the Internet? What forms will our writing take in our personal lives and our professional encounters? Where do our students need the most help in learning how to write meaningfully for the Web?

I'm thinking about interviews, reflection, synthesis, and definition. I'm thinking about writing that packs a punch in 140 characters. I'm thinking about writing with hyperlinks and writing with media.

This is what we do. But do we really think about how to do it?

-- Susan

Thoroughly Modern Media

We are exploring ways to create meaningful content, learn for life and work, and grow as thoughtful users of media. We are teachers by day, Internet trapeze artists by night, and learners always.

-- Susan and Renee