Talk education in the new Observation Deck Education section

[Sean Wheeler]

I am really excited to see the new education section on the deck. I would like to use this new section as a means to share information and engage in discussion about all of the new shifts in education. I'm learning a bunch, and look forward to community comments, questions, and ideas about the projects that we are getting underway at LHS.

Please join or start a conversation in the Education section if you feel so inclined. This part of the deck has the potential to be a vibrant and compelling section of the already great stuff to be found on the deck. For my own part, I will continue to occasionally post articles from my blog for discussion here on the deck.

Head over there now to get started!

[Betsy Voinovich]

I am really excited to see the new education section on the deck. I would like to use this new section as a means to share information and engage in discussion about all of the new shifts in education. I'm learning a bunch, and look forward to community comments, questions, and ideas about the projects that we are getting underway at LHS.

Please join or start a conversation in the Education section if you feel so inclined. This part of the deck has the potential to be a vibrant and compelling section of the already great stuff to be found on the deck. For my own part, I will continue to occasionally post articles from my blog for discussion here on the deck.

Head over there now to get started!

Hi Sean,

I was just over on the new Education thread reading your posts. I had to come on here and let people know about this new section. I’m one of the Deck users who usually check into Lakewood General Discussion, and don’t get much further. There’s also a great post over there from Jim O about visiting one of our tremendous middle school classes, complete with commentary from Ed Favre. As a person who has been known to be critical of our school district, I want to make sure everybody gets a chance to read about all the great things that go on in here. I’m critical sometimes because our schools are outstanding--definitely worth discussing, and sometimes arguing about.

I loved your first post, about how you and your class handle questions that come up. If you don’t mind, I’m going to copy it here, so people like me get a chance to see it.
The approach you’re using sounds so effective, and innovative, but simple, that it might inspire people reading it in parts of their lives that have nothing to do with “Education” per se.

Thank you for being such a great teacher, and such a great communicator. I can’t wait till my kids reach your class.

Betsy Voinovich


Sean Wheeler's post, from the new Deck Education thread

Give a man a fish, etc. - 5 days into a 1:1

When I was student teaching, Dan Leary, a great Cleveland public school teacher, said to me, "When you teach something, you learn it twice." Since then, I've continued to find his statement to be true. I love the learning experience that I have when I teach. I find out so much from the questions of my students, and I am forced to confront new perspectives on the texts that we study.

In the last few days, I've stumbled on what I think is a pretty good new learning practice for my classroom. I shouldn't say that this is a new idea. I'm surrounded by teachers that have found this out a long time before I came along. Now, though, the questions come at a furious pace. With 25 students, each with the ability to access and create anything that is imaginable, the classroom atmosphere is one of equal parts discovery and frustration. The students are learning how to set up their Google Reader accounts, they are learning how to create and maintain a blog that displays their learning, and they are running into all kinds of obstacles on their paths to achieving our class goals. So I thought up this "new" thing...

When any student in my class has encountered some kind of barrier to their access or creative capabilities, they are not allowed to raise their hand. Instead, the student with the question has to ask everyone at their table for help. If the team cannot come up with a solution to the student's problem, the whole table has to raise their hands in unison. At this point, the class has to give the group its' attention, during which the questioning group solicits help from anyone in the room (including me, though as simply another member of the class). If nobody can solve the issue, I learn how to overcome the problem in front of the whole class, with their input along the way. I tried an early version of this today, and it was great to see a community develop around issues of learning. I didn't have to answer a single whole class question, therefore providing me with more time to circulate around the room and devote myself to individual guidance, support, and feedback. All the while, the room was buzzing with the sounds of students helping each other learn.