Edmodo is a social networking tool for schools. It is especially designed to be a safe, Facebook-style community where students can communicate and share. Unlike Facebook, Edmodo is highly secure. A teacher can set up a class and obtain a group code for students to use to join the private class group. I’ve been using Edmodo with my students for almost a year now and it has had a big impact on learning and collaboration.
To me, authentic literacy learning has two goals: to help students develop a passion for reading and writing, and to help them learn to implement the strategies that adult readers and writers utilize for genuine purposes. I’ve been searching for ways to do this, in a climate of high stakes testing and a commanding curriculum. Involving my kids in virtual book clubs with students in other schools is my latest discovery.
Anytime I can find something that grabs kids’ attention by the collar and pulls them in, I’m ready to learn all about it. A Google a Day is one of those things. It’s a sweet puzzle site that improves searching (and discernment) skills by asking all sorts of questions and encouraging users to get better and better at finding answers.
I talked with my students about the KONY campaign. We looked at the way the story was evolving minute-by-minute and read three newspaper articles together. What I did not do was show my students the original video. Most of my students accepted this, but a few Grade 7 boys really took me on. They felt that if their classmates lost a little sleep, it was nothing compared to what those children were experiencing.
I’m thinking more than ever about my kids, who they are as whole children, and what the real worth of the schooling they receive might be. I’m wondering why we educators, both administration and faculty, don’t send these same kind of notes home all year long. Why aren’t sleep and nutrition and stress reduction equally important the other 171 days of the school year?
I’ve been thinking about conferences recently. And unconferences. And a new kind of get-together that I don’t quite have a name for. It kiind of began when Hadley said she said that she didn’t need more ideas so much as time to implement the ones she already has. Isn’t that the truth! Maybe it’s time to take a step back, temporarily, to reflect and put some ideas into action?
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