Great Expectations
Yesterday I had coffee with Heidi Hass Gable, our new District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) President, and blogger at “I was thinking…“. I suggested to her that she watch Lost Generation while we were discussing some well thought out ideas she shared with me about nothing less than the purpose of education. Here is the video:
This morning I thought about a post that I wrote, which keeps coming back to mind.
School 2.0 Participant’s Manifesto
This post looks at the responsibility of the learner to be an active and engaged participant in the class and in the learning process.
What excites me about web2.0 tools is not the tools themselves, but the ability of these tools to actively engage students in their learning. Students are often far more capable of leading their own learning than we give them credit for. Should students come up with their own manifesto? Or a class manifesto?
Also, it is important to remember that the adults in the building are participants too! What are we going to do this year to model and share our learning journey with our students?
The answers will vary from staff member to staff member… there is no cookie-cutter answer. However, regardless of the path we choose, we owe it to our students to have high expectations.
With the start of the school year coming next Tuesday, I am excited about the possibilities before me. Many wonderful opportunities await myself, my staff, and our students. I believe that if we enter our schools as active, engaged learners, then we can have great expectations, and we can create an environment where we meet those expectations too!
Tags: blog, datruss, David Truss, Heidi Hass Gable, I was thinking, learning, Lost Generation, manifesto, pairadimes, participants, reflection, school, students, web2.0
Background
August 30th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Thanks for the hopeful message, Dave. I like the idea of a statement of intent, a commitment and vision from and for all learners. I think we are moving into a time of more reflective practice in education, beyond the “get it done” mindset, so it’s a time of risk-taking and mistake-making.
I will be spending much of my year examining student engagement and my own motivation and expectations, too. I have lots of questions and am raring to get started next week.
Best wishes to you and your colleagues for a great start to a new year.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the link love!
I wrote a post (http://www.iwasthinking.ca/2007/08/29/about-great-expectations/ ) a while back with the same title – talking about my experience of being the student whose teacher had great expectations & taught me how to believe in myself.
Thank you for believing in our children – and for advocating on their behalf! Teachers are amazing, passionate people!
I look forward to more conversations over coffee!