Multi-faceted Refractions

Over the past 36 hours, I have had several profound learning experiences. First, I have been trying to experience as much of the Learning 2.0 conference which was going on in Shanghai on both Friday and Saturday evenings.  Like members of my learning community, Carolyn Foote, Jennifer Wagner, Clarence Fisher, and David Jakes, I have been trying to follow the forums on the Ning which has been set up at the conference, following the messages on twitter, and trying to catch rides in the Elluminate rooms so that I could connect and learn. On Saturday morning, after reading a twitter message from Jeff Utecht, I raced to downloaded the opening session podcast before I jumped in the car, shaking off the sleep on a very cool, autumnal morning to do my Saturday morning errands, going to the bank and grocery shopping. For over an hour and a half, I hung on nearly every word, soaking it in.

On Saturday afternoon, I participated in a FlashMeeting hosted by Paul Harrington from the UK. There were between 8 and 11 participants from the UK, the United States, and Australia talking about best practice. The conversation centered on developing students spoken voice through podcasting. I got a number of great ideas on why this is important for elementary school students and found out about a great new project, Voices of the World, which I am hoping to integrate into somewhere into my school.

So while some may consider me slightly pathetic, since I spend my Friday and Saturday evenings at home, in front of my computer (flipping between the Cubs-Cardinals and Brewers-Reds baseball games and the Diamondbacks-Dodgers on Friday night, not a complete waste of time), I am happy that I invested the time and energy to continue with my learning. I will be better for it in the long run.

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It was last Saturday, that I recieved a message from Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, that a proposal that I created for the K12 Online Conference was accepeted. I am honored that I was selected for this conference. As many of you will soon learn, it was one of the catalysts for my own professional learning. Looking at the lineup of presenters, I have to pinch myself. I look forward to experience.

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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)

As someone whose mission is to empower others so that they feel comfortable integrating technology on their own, it is gratifying when teachers and students begin to think of ways that they can utilize the tools and then do so on their own.

Today, I had one of those experiences. Kevin Randolph (krandolph@nscds.org), one of our history teachers whom I have been collaborating with on a variety of different projects, sent me this email last Friday:

<a student who struggles>……yes <student name>, wondered in class Tuesday if we could create a folder where students (in their class) could share information about homework assignments….how about that.

He is on the way, w/o realizing it, the assignment wiki’s I am going to create.

Nice to see it happen organically isn’t it!

Kevin has since gone on to create the wiki for his project, students reading The Jungle, on his own.

My efforts have begun taking root. A nice thought on this spring day.