I've tried to have discussions with my Grade8 Science classes this year and always felt that it was me who did all the talking, which is not a discussion. I'm not sure if if they are afraid to put themselves out there in front of their peers or if they have just been trained to be quiet and listen, or at least pretend to listen. Usually my questions elicit blank stares, but it turns out these students do have something to say but just not in front of their classmates.
Since Earth Day was last week, I took a break from our diffusion and osmosis lesson and had the students view a couple of videos that I had thought would enlighten, anger and possibly inspire. I put the links up on their blog, which I just started using again (next year it will be introduced in the first class). Class Blog I am quite pleased with the reactions they have submitted so far. I was actually shocked by some. It's amazing that these students feel more comfortable publishing to a global audience than to speaking pubicly in class. Another teacher at the school said they were used to using MSN to communicate now rather than picking up the phone and talking to a friend. Maybe it's just more natural for them.
I sent a tweet on twitter asking for some comments if anyone had time and some educators also responded with thoughtful questions. Their willingness to join their discussion will make it richer for my students. It would great to find another class who were willing to share and discuss.
It's great to see they have a digital voice and I hope their thinking and writing on environmental issues will continue.
Here's one video that they viewed on the Smartboard with audio sytem near full blast. It really caught their attention.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Blogging, Videos and a Digital Voice
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2 comments:
That's a real attention getting video. I can't believe that 98% will be gone by the time the little girl has grown up. It's unimaginable.
I missed your call for comments on the blog. We'll have to look into opportunities for our students to work together more next year. I can always have them work on writing and commenting on blogs during computer class.
Twitter is like a river that I seine everyday, but sometimes I miss a few really good fish.
I did see this url though. Thanks!
It is amazing to me that there is greatly renewed interest in this topic.
School is almost out here, but there is always next year to develop collaborations with other classes.
BTW, my teen asked me a month or so ago, "What ever happened to the 3Rs?" She was really missing conversations about Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Great ideas!
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