Over at my other site, I started to put together some podcasts, a feature that I call "Two Teachers On Teaching" (TTOT for short). Before I went full throttle into my home improvement project, I sat down with Rushton (the one TTOT podcast that's online) and Laurie (still sitting on my computer, waiting to be edited). Through talking with Michele today, I see another application of this idea.
Michele came up with the idea that we should get together by grade level and discuss the novels we teach, a kind of book talk. Jane, Michele, and I sat down for a while and talked about The Scarlet Letter; we had scheduled a book talk for Hamlet, but it never happened. Now that Michele is back, so is the idea for book talks. What if a few things changed for this version of the book talks?
What if I set a digital voice recorder up in the room to record the whole thing? Without getting too Big Brother on people, we'd be in a position to listen to that book talk just before we are about to teach the novel we discussed. We'd be in a position to carry on the conversation we started at the book talk. An idea mentioned during the talk might have sounded like a good one at the time but, now that we're actually teaching the novel, the idea doesn't pan out so well. Since the talk is recorded and available, we could redirect questions at colleagues through email or side conversations at the lunch table. If the talk is good enough (or just edited well enough), we could make it available to other teachers or even other students.
So many good thoughts get lost in the shuffle of the day. I talked with Michele, Vanessa, Laurie, Julie, and Bjorn for a total of about 2 hours. I will probably forget much of what was said. I don't suggest that every conversation be recorded (*that* would be getting too Big Brother), but even just a blog entry like this after the conversation would help keep the ideas alive.
That's really what I'm concerned about: keeping ideas alive.
We all have friends across campus that inspire us, motivate us to do better, and help us transform emerging ideas into fully-developed lesson plans. I had an idea about another way to collaberate with other teachers, rather than just taking the across campus stroll after hours. Oddly enough, this idea occured to me while watching Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, a mildly entertaining movie that should move no one to intellectual pursuits. I'm actually a bit worried about myself.
While reading other education blogs out there on the internet, I've "met" some interesting people, some educators that I'd like to philosophize with, some educators that I'd like to share ideas with. These tech-savvy educators remind me of colleagues with whom I share lots of time and energy discussing teaching approaches, frustrations, and general pedagogy. These blogging teachers remind me of friends I have down the hall, around the corner, or just across campus from my classroom. I'd like to talk with them but cannot afford the telephone bill, so I suggest this electronic alternative.
Why not just use email, you ask? Because blogs are so much more fun! And, quite frankly, I would like the dialogue I keep with these educators to be public. Anything that mirrors a struggling teacher's experience is reassuring since they know their experience is not in isolation. We all struggle; let's keep that struggling out in the open where it can breathe.
More immediate friends of mine may find this interesting and may even find their way onto this site as contributors. Virtual friends may do the same. Either way, this will be a spot to bang educational heads together and see what happens.
Did something happen to you today that you want to share? A funny story, a stressful encounter, or maybe a touching anecdote? Is there a succesful lesson plan you want to share? Do you have an idea for something that you want to develop a bit more? Battling with an issue that you just can't seem to resolve? Dealing with bureaucracy and you need some advice? Just come out of a trying situation and you have words of wisdom to share with the rest of us in case we are in a similar circumstance? These are all terrific topics for a post here.
Consider this blog an extention of your friends across campus. Visit as often as you like; the door is always open and you don't have to be home for another hour.
