About

I teach 7th and 8th grade Language Arts at Cresthill Middle School and I love it. I am passionate about writing, reading, technology, and thought. I find myself at the crossroads of these four disciplines nearly every day, and I try to go in all directions at once. When I meet others on these roads, I like to talk about what I have seen, but more than that, I like to listen to what they have seen.

Have you seen anything good lately?

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2 Comments

  • Would love to talk to you about School 2.0, maybe even interview you as part of my series (see http://edtechlive.wiksipaces.com/recordings+list). Anyway, just wanted to make contact.

    Steve

  • The classroom is all about interpersonal dynamics. Learning can, and often does, take place in the isolation of one’s study or library carrel or over ones laptop, but there is something about being engaged in discussion, collaboration, and personal interaction that engages not just the brain but the spirit. When I show up to class each day, I’m not really so much interested in gettting my course content across as in spending time with these students, these human beings, posing and answering questions together, getting to know one another, arguing some, laughing some, creating a kind of community which honors quality and makes an attempt to create value. It’s not that I don’t value content area skills, I do. But I think you’ve said it very concisely: “A social network does create a sense of community amongst many people, but it the bonds forged are not immediate. They take time and tending. In face-to-face communication, it is easy to see the worthwhile. It is easy to recognize excellence.”

    I suppose I could offer my course online and forgo the interactions with kids, but why in the world would I want to do that? Some quotient of online interaction is fine, and I can it’s obvious that technology _can_ enhance learning. (I am one of a group of teachers at my school planning next year to explore the use of Moodle to assist in “blended learning.”) But the heart of what matters to me as an educator is not in the information, but in the air between us.

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