Via Kwa, I read what Jennifer had to say about her school experience, some years ago.

The experience Jennifer shares with us takes on several qualities that today we might hold in high regard:

• Project based approaches;
• Inter-disciplinary study;
• Inter-grade level collaboration;
• Time to create, even celebrate the arts.

What was it like? Students learn and create together.

I am sure each of us could go back to our histories as learners and pull out examples that we’d like to return to. While Jennifer’s memory is great, we can’t say for sure, over those 26 years, that it happened just like that. But here’s where things go wrong, today, I feel.

Who’s getting paid to celebrate the arts? Not too many folks. What are public educators getting paid to do? Bring up test scores. What’s the most efficient way to bring up test scores?

It’s not through creating together and mixing up the generations in a comfortable, collaborative environment.

We can blame NCLB. We can blame the tests; we can also blame society and the other ways the world has changed. Yet, it is rare that I hear anyone talk about changing the way we teach if it isn’t geared towards better test scores. Well, of course, there’s those tech folks who think using technology can better instruction.

Despite the testing and the restrictions today, there are public educators who do care more about lifelong experiences than a state- or federally-mandated test. They do care about the quality of the time spent learning through creating. These are folks we almost unanimously would label “masters” in their profession.

What’s easy for us to forget is that the wonderful experience Jennifer recalls may have been insignificant or even painful to some of her classmates. The best educators are those that have so many tricks up their sleeves, figure out what works best for each individual student, and very likely, celebrates creation as a central tenant of the learning experience.

For as much as I love technology, it’s difficult for me to admit, but using a digital tool doesn’t necessarily make the best one for every student, in every lesson. Shocker, eh? What Jennifer wrote that I felt was most important was the experience through which students had choice in their learning experience. So many times, when we choose a digital tool, we limit our students in how they use that tool, negating any semblance of choice.

When I wrote RSS for Educators, I had fun coming up with some lesson ideas for the book. I thought about lessons I’d taught, some I’d heard about, and some that’d never been done. One of my favorites, in the section on wikis, is a school-based version of the “wikipedia.” I wonder if that’d fit in here?

Let’s look at that list again:

• Project based approaches; adding terms would be a continuous, big project, but I could see projects being designed and shared through a wiki, too…
• Inter-disciplinary study; wikis and Web pages are great for lots of linking and combining…
• Inter-grade level collaboration; yeah, the topic you look up may have been written by a 3rd grader…
• Time to create, even celebrate the arts. Creation is there, for sure, but the arts (dance, music, visual art, drama) weren’t specifically targeted. They can, however, be represented in various ways as part of the large collective of knowledge. Imagine a short video clip of kids learning the foxtrot in gym class, added to the Wiki on a page on dance, or specifically, that one dance. The pictures we today see in dictionaries and encyclopedias could really come “alive.”

Anyhow, it’s late, and I’m sleepy. I hope you’re inspired by your own past experiences and begin to think closely about what made them great.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Reflection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.