Do U C What I C

I love learning!  It energizes me, it makes me happy, it puts me in the shoes of my students, it keeps me humble.  I like knowing that there is always something bigger and better out there to be looking for as far as my teaching is concerned.  I think that if I ever felt like not learning, it would be time for me to hang up my recess whistle and step out of the game.  So this week, I was in HEAVEN!!

Those of you who follow me on twitter have probably heard that I have been at a week long Kagan conference.  One thing that makes it great is that I am attending with two of my best teacher buddies, who are also geeks.  We spend our days soaking up all the great Kagan structures, and our nights soaking up the free wi-fi at the hotel!  Doesn’t get much better…(especially when you have some perfect margarita’s within walking distance..yummy.)  But I digress….

If you are like me, you hear Kagan, and you think “oh yeah, that cooperative learning stuff, from the 70’s, I do that”  .  So my friends and I came into it expecting to gain more tools for our already fairly well stocked bag of tricks.  We are all eMINTS teachers, we all stray from direct instruction, and we all work to make our classroom a collaborative learning adventure for our kids.  We were ready to improve on a good thing.  Here is what we learned in a nutshell:

Day 1- if you do cooperative learning without structure, research says that your students will perform lower than a teacher who does direct instruction all day long.  WHAT!!!??  Yes, it’s true!  If we put kids in groups, give them a task, then don’t ensure that they all equally participate in the learning during that task, we are doing harm.  We left day one with a big AHA moment, that was more of a DUH..we should have realized that!

Day 2-  Now we know that our kind of classroom needs some specific tweaking to get the most out of the cooperative learning we are doing.  We realize that we are so engaged in learning that none of us has even thought about checking to see if the building has free wifi.  We haven’t even texted each other!  Wow! 

Day 3- Thinking that today will be the day we top out, overload, and start checking email.  Didn’t happen.  We are too busy taking every structure he dishes out, and plugging it into our own classroom situation.  We are staring to realize that we do have a bit of an advantage over others in the room, because we are used to having students in small groups, managing a classroom where kids are talking and moving.  We start thinking about how cool it would be if our whole district knew Kagan structures! 

Day 4- Still the amazing workshop leader manages to keep our attention, and the day flies by!  We start looking at how the lessons we already do can be tweaked to ensure that students are active participants in learning.  It’s not rocket science for sure.  In fact, it’s common sense. 

Example:  Many times to check for understanding during a mini-lesson or mentor text reading, I tell the students to pair and share the answer to question, or an idea that we have discussed.  Good idea, bad structure, because it does not ensure that every kid participates.  All I have to do is set a timer, tell each kid they have 30 seconds to share, then switch- suddenly it’s equal.  Well, DUH!! why didn’t I think of that myself???

Day 5- yet to come…

I guess my point in all this rambling is that as I start my 17th year of teaching, I am having an AHA moment…again!  You could say I am having a DUH moment I suppose.  I mean, wouldn’t you think that by now I would know what I am doing??  Lord, I sure didn’t think when I started this career that I would be re-inventing myself and my classroom on such a regular basis!! So I can look at it two ways- and I am choosing the AHA path.  AHA!! This is going to benefit my kids so much!  AHA! I don’t have to stop doing what I am already doing well!  AHA!  This is what my kids feel like when I ask them to remember things the first time I teach it!  AHA! My students will love this almost as much as they love blogging!  AHA!  This is why I became a teacher!  I love learning!

I spent some time this morning running errands, and had time to reflect on a skype conversation I had last night with a few online friends.  We talked about several things, but one thing stuck in my head.  I must tell you that in this company of people, I always feel welcome, but can’t believe how much they know about tech compared to me! I always leave the conversation with a new idea, or a new understanding of something.  So it shocked me last night when someone said ” I don’t have anything to teach, but I have a lot to learn.”  Now, I am not going to mention names, but let me tell you, this person has already taught me so much!  How can she think she has nothing to teach?  Is she being humble, or does she truly not see how much we all learn from her?!  

Do you think that most of us feel we know less than the others?   I still mentally say to myself before every conference deadline,  ” I am sure everyone knows this already, so I don’t know why I think I have any business presenting it.”  Then I go to the conference, and most times there are some people who want to learn about what I am doing.  I just find it funny that people who I learn from all the time have that same thought of not having anything new to teach.  In a way, I like it, because when you enter into a converation online, you may not have a clue who it is you are really talking to, but you are sharing ideas, learning from each other.  It could be someone who has been doing ed tech for years, or it could be someone who is just beginning.  Either way, I learn.  If you have been in this for a long time, chances are I would be too chicken to walk up and have a conversation with you face to face, but I will sure chat with your avatar in SL!  Even if you have just begun to explore the world of ed tech, I can learn from you!  You see things with fresh eyes, ask questions that make me re-think how I do things.  Maybe you know what you know, or maybe you don’t.  I just think that the next time you hesitate to comment on a blog, or chat on a ustream, you should remember that no matter where you are in your ed tech journey, someone can learn from you!  Step up!  Speak! Be heard!