I am learning so much about the work being done at St Elizabeth’s from reading the blog posts. I just wish that I could read everyone’s posts. I have learned a great way to scaffold student’s blogging posts from Tania and Delphine has been thoughtful in reflecting on children’s ability to give feedback about writing. Louisa will collect baseline data that will be very valuable not just for Jess and Louisa’s PART project but for all of us who work in communication with parents. We have been very quick in moving from paper based newsletters to online newsletters and then to electronically stored personal information. I wonder if that was done too quickly? Louisa’s survey may show us how parents are adjusting to this new way of communicating.
I wonder how you are feeling about blogging and using Google Docs? I know how I feel. I feel overwhelmed at times. I feel like an idiot when I can’t remember how to do something that I was shown yesterday. Technology is not the way my mind works BUT I love what it can do for me. I will take the pain as long as I know that I am creeping forward to a gain. What I value is the patience and encouragement of those who help me when I am in a mess. I am an adult so I understand that the mess is what happens when you are learning something very new. How must children feel when they are in the same mess and they do not have the benefit of hindsight to know that what they are involved in will be worthwhile if they persist? They cannot understand that the mess is creative in itself if we have enthusiastic caring teachers around us. Mess is manageable if we are scaffolded. No wonder some of them get discouraged. Its possible to learn by yourself but its not nearly as effective and as positive as when you are learning collaboratively. I really understand far more about learning from being a learner that I did from just being a teacher.
Halfway Through PARTS
Time goes so fast and so much gets done at our school that it is hard to keep up with all the ideas we have so reading everyone’s posts, although time consuming, makes fascinating reading. What I notice most is that everyone is questioning their practice always with the end point – how can we make this more effective for our students learning? It is really hard to keep our minds focused on the big picture as we deal in the daily details.
The question that we need to keep in front of us all the time is what kind of people do we want our students to be? Not because we want to mold them into a particular shape or form but because we want to give them the where-with-all to become the very best person that they have the potential to be. Not all of our students are strong in academic learning or athletics or able to empathise with friends quickly. We are all different so education is about creating the possibilities for every child that is within their capacity. We also know that they need to develop skills to be long term learners as no-one reaches their capacity at the end of formal education. Children need to be given the opportunity to become independent , responsible learners with an interest in life and its possibilities.
I rejoice that at this school there is evidence of this commitment to giving student’s choices, to encouraging them to see beyond the walls of the school, to speak out about their hopes and dreams. We see faces not just data, we see hope that together we can make this world a better place.