Multi-faceted Refractions

It has been only three days since I attended a workshop with five of my teachers which was moderated by Will Richardson. Even though it is May and teachers are having to deal with not only their students during these last four weeks, but the weather in Chicago has been unbelievably nice, several of the teachers attending the conference have begun to implement the ideas that they learned in the workshop. It is truly exciting to watch.

You can begin to watch some of the following projects take root:

A short-term result of your workshop can be found at:

http://nscolorsofthemountian.wikispaces.com (8th Grade Humanities Wiki)

http://shouguaungnorthshoreexchange.wikispaces.com (8th Grade Cultural Exchange Wiki - closed to all but participants)

http://finalproject07.wikispaces.com (AP US History Final Project - Digital Storytelling)

http://amykenyon.edublogs.org (A new teacher blogger, who is trying to connect and develop students fiction writing skills)

Yesterday, while sitting on Saturday morning at a workshop being presented by Will Richardson, one of the five other teachers from my school who are also in attendance asked the question, “Why are you here today when you already know the information being shared.”

While I could have decided to blow off the day and sleep in and attend the Cubs game in the afternoon, instead I decided to continue my personal learning journey. I did learned about some interesting new tools, Scribd and 21Classes that I think have potential in the classroom and I need to continue to research this summer and help others bring into the classroom.

But one of the most compelling reasons to attend is to rekindle and create new personal relationships with old friends and new friends, to share ideas, to debate different positions and reinforce my thoughts and ideas.

I will be a better teacher and learner as a result of the time that I have invested. And there will be 115 more Cubs games, more or less, that I will be able to watch.

Today, I got to spend a brilliant day in Chicago (sunny with temperatures in the mid 70’s) working with the students filming in Chinatown. I was assisting a veteran teacher who has come back to cover the maternity leave of the teacher who started the project four years ago. The students did a great job once again and  conducted interesting interviews and took a collection of digital images.

Beginning Monday, the students will be editing their footage and still images to create a documentary about their research topic. This will culminate in the premieres of their films on Wednesday, May 30th. I look forward to watching their stories emerge.