LightintheWoods

Some twitter folks may of followed bits of this scenario if they had been on twitter at all yesterday. If not, try to follow along. Here is how it started…

In that third tweet, I shouldn’t have used the typical teacher talk to refer to the classroom conversation as a ‘lesson’. For this post I will save you the details about the ‘conversation’/'learning experience’/'time together’, but I suspect bits and pieces will come out as I share my perspective.

Anyway, this tweet triggered a few replies. Through the early evening, we threw a few tweets back and forth. Eventually, I picked up a short conversation with @mindelei (that is the only name I know know her by.) As a brand new teacher, I like following and tweeting with Mindelei, because she is a pre-service teacher and writes well. We shared meaningful discussion and questioning on teaching about the ‘idea of cool’.

I claimed that it is important to discuss ‘cool’ with students. That everyone has their own unique sense of ‘cool’. Referring to the students, I tweeted about coolness as part of one’s ’self’. Everyone is cool in some way. I tweeted about modeling ‘cool’ and that students are shown many examples when we teach about hero’s, share best practices and point out ‘cool’ acts.

I wrote that, too often ‘cool’ equates with ‘popular’ and that is false. Coolness is not about social hierarchy at all. It is about strong values/morals/ethics, neat interests, talents, being real. To me it is about being calm, collected and with ‘it’. Again, this is my perception of the concept, if you don’t agree please share. I know this is not the general perception of cool.

Mindelei and I ended up seeing eye-to-eye, I think, and we concluded that the debate we were having was moot as it was hinging on semantics. I have invited her to follow this blog post to discuss further, if she wants.

Whoohoo, success. Learning is awesome! Thanks for making the connection between us Twitter! That is what these social tools are about.

But wait… it is not over.

I came across another recent follower that had a perspective to share. Unfortunately, he was critical of our discussion and tweeted without the @thekyleguy pre-fix to notify me of his issue with the discussion. I was taken back by these public tweets as they insulted my character and incited some further reflection. After a hike to clear my mind, I decided that blogging this to wider forum would create a learning experience. Bringing this issue to light here, ignites the topic of practicing digital citizenship and courtesy. I will share this followers’ perspective and subsequent questions that I am left with.

(Update: Chad admitted he may of mis-understood the discussion tweets and apologized through direct message this morning. I have accepted his apology but feel as though this scenario raises too many valuable topics that do not get discussed enough.)

I have copied & pasted a screenshot of Chad’s tweets from last night. Start with the tweet at the bottom.

Please, keep in mind these tweets on their own are out of context. We don’t know which which part of the discussion @cbrannon started reading my tweets. I want to learn more from this. We need to discuss further. As a sub, I want to learn about being a ‘real’ teacher. Assist me with these issues so I can carry myself better when I enter the classroom and the staffroom.

Often twitter is described as a large virtual staffroom where teachers from all over the world gather to share resources and talk. The problem here is that these patronizing tweets were shouted without direction to the whole staffroom, rather than being whispered about privately as they would likely be in a real staffroom. I come to the virtual staffroom to reflect upon and to question teaching practice and pedagogy, both my own and that of others whom I learn from.

I welcome criticism and questioning of my idea’s and thoughts, in fact I am always calling for honesty and feedback. Usually, I defend my stance or learn from the questioning perspective. In this instance, I don’t feel as though I need to defend myself against Chad’s tweets because we have determined that he mis-understood the discussion. I am, however, interested in the definition of ‘real’ teacher, the manner with which this issue has been raised, and thoughts on discussing the idea of ‘cool’ with students.

<INSERT THEME MUSIC>

Readers, I now pose the hard questions to you.

Is being ‘cool’ important to students?

Should ‘real’ teachers and students talk about the ‘idea of cool’?

Why hasn’t @cbrannon heard ‘real’ teachers talking about it?

Do you talk to kids about being cool, about bringing out their passions?

Isn’t this opportunity for authentic learning experiences?

Are substitutes, ‘real teachers’?

What is your idea of ‘cool’?

and on a personal note, do I come off as an “expert without experience”?

*You can follow all of my twitter conversations in my archive.

Last week I was helping Moose Jaw teacher, Sandi Kerney, set up Skype. She was preparing for her class call to Sgt. Paul Park in Afghanistan. Unfortunately on that Thursday morning of the call, Paul had difficulty with his connection and Skype. The students were so disappointed and I hope they get another chance to chat with Paul. Visiting a soldier on a foreign assignment is an unbelievable opportunity.

As this was all happening, Sandi contacted me for a Skype call. Not knowing what to talk with the students about I decided on an impromptu virtual tour of the University of Regina campus. (Being a university student is one area in which I excel.) Thanks to the wireless network on campus, I carried my Macbook through the halls showing this group of students a few classrooms. We only lost the signal as I descended from the 6th floor in the elevator. From there, I lead them down hallways and explored the new gymnasium.

Connecting with these students for 10 minutes was the highlight of my day. They were interested in the University and I hope this experience will provoke future questions and investigation of higher education.

This is just a another brief success story of using Skype to connect to people outside the walls of the classroom.

For now I think I should be hired on at the University as a recruiter. Anybody else want a tour?

During my first degree, I was fortunate to participate in a co-operative work experience program.  I had the opportunity to learn the introductory ropes of the administration profession by building relationships in the organizations I worked with.  Then, just this fall I completed my teaching internship in a Moose Jaw school, where I was able to observe the professionals around me.  These types of hands on, in person learning experiences have guided much of my development and I think apprenticeship is an important stage of development in each of our chosen fields. We ask experts to lead us.  The faculties that I have studied under have done a fantastic job of creating these face to face mentorships.

Future students are going to have many opportunities to meet mentors in virtual spaces, by using virtual tools.  The  potential for this online mentorship is too large to disregard. In the future, training teachers will be introduced to experienced teachers from around the globe.  Apprentice engineers will correspond with industry leaders.  More and more people will learn from qualified people that span geographic boundaries.  This is the way it is for me, and the way it will be for our future colleagues.  We develop a inner circle of contacts, folks we connect with frequently that contribute to our professional growth.  In return, students participate in pushing discussion, by questioning practice and eventually entering their workforce with an experienced viewpoint.  A viewpoint that has heard and reflected on the various pieces of the profession.  By reading and chatting about best practices and observing exemplary models online, students develop a matured perspective of their chosen field.

I think it is important for teachers and faculties develop a strategy for connecting their students to experienced experts.  We now have tools that allow for communication, for collaboration.  New learning possibilities abound.

I am blessed to be participatory in a diverse network of thinkers and learners whom mentor me on a daily basis. I am beginning a series Mentorship Recognition Pieces. I think mentorship needs to be celebrated and appreciated more and I hope to do that with through these brief Biographies.

This is a shout out for Kelly Christopherson. Kelly works tirelessly connecting online and ensuring he runs the best school possible. In his writing, Kelly devours the idea of online learning networks in real ways. The perspectives he shares at Educational Discourse are rich with reflection and advice for balancing an online learning community with the daily demands that teachers face. When he is not drafting a new post, @kwhobbes shares insight with his twitter colleagues, builds Ning communities for fellow Administrators to connect and attends a wide array of online professional development opportunities. I share Kelly’s blog because he is representative of an administrator that has shifted his thinking about learning.

Photo Credit @kwhobbes Twitter Profile