Daily Update - 26/5

Thursdays are a killer for me. I have a whole lot happening. I'm either in meetings or classes all day. This means everything gets put to the side and I need to stay on my feet. Today I dipped into the coffee fund and spoiled myself at lunch to push me through the last two periods.

WHAT WENT WELL:
I am loving the projects that I have going on in my Geography classes. It is GREAT to just let go of the class and see the students be productive. As well, I like digging into the digital tools of Google Maps and Google Docs (and so do the students). It really takes this project to another level in that the students are mining the web for good resources (another great lesson they are learning is deciding what info is of quality and what is not) and then taking that data and interpreting it on to a Google Map or creating a Chart in Spreadsheets that they load on their Google Site.

There is really something for everyone in the project. For the tech-minded boys they get to have fun playing around with customizing a map or their own website. For the boys who like to find the best sites, they get to dig deeper and deeper for that info. I love it when I hear a kid shout out, 'I just found the best website' and all the kids scurry over to his laptop to check it out.

These kids are also getting a TON of IT skills that will pay massive dividends for the future. I can only imagine how much they will be doing online when their time comes to join the work force. Now they'll be able to create a 'wiki' and 'embed' photos and info to create multimedia documents.

I also love the freedom I have to get to know my students. When I don't have to be the 'sage on the stage' holding court in front of my subjects, I can bounce around and give direct feedback to students and really get an understanding of how boys work and who they are. Also, I can give that real time feedback (which seems to always be positive).

I am continually amazed at how much the students enjoy the freedom of a project. There is a respect that you are giving your class by saying - 'Go for it.' Especially at my school, where we have many independent boys and amazing technology resources, it just seems so logical to be doing digital projects.

That being said, I just haven't put together how to do digital projects in English. In Geography, a subject I have no training in, I find it easier to do projects because it is so clear how they work. The boys are finding raw data and working to interpret that data into usable pieces (maps, graphs, ect) and then drawing conclusions based on their work. The better they work to interpret the data, the better their conclusions.

With English we are lacking this objecting 'data' to work from. The interpretation from the start is very subjective. Still, even as I write this, I am starting to get my head around how to do digital projects in English.

This is the way I work. I think about something. Go away from it. Think about it some more. Go away. Eventually it comes to me how it works. Then I get into the project and it starts to come together.

I love finally starting to feel like I have schemas to work from when planning lessons. It has taken me a while but I am starting to feel like a competent teacher. This is strongly related to Duckworth's notion of 'Grit'. The more I do the tasks which I'm not that great at, the better I get as teaching. For instance, keeping better records of what I'm doing in class. When I take the time to make a detailed plan, I can go back to it the next class or next year and make it better. This is exactly what has happened in my Y10 Geo class where their project is going off!!

CAV