Week 5 Post 2 Yes, Change the Horses Midstream

All teacher have been there. It used to be the killer conference. You would make your subplans and all the correct forms and head off to a big hotel in Manchester or Nashua. If you are lucky, the presenter lights up the conference center. You leave enthused and full of great ideas. Sometimes they work out - sometimes they don't. Most of it had to do with how adaptable the new ideas were. Just because it works somewhere else and is presented well, doesn't mean it is right for your classroom.

Now we have an amazing new tool from technology every week combined with (finally) nationalizing standards.

But that same impulse is there this new thing is so cool - my classes will love it - I'll start using it tomorrow.
That is almost exactly the script I followed when trying wikispaces with my classes.

A First Try at Using Wikis in our Classes

This method works for me - when something new and shiny comes along try it - make it fit with what you are doing - try it - abandon it if it is not going well - reflect and learn from mistakes - and very importantly - ask the kids. They are with you there in the trenches of learning. They are working. They can judge the value of tools in a classroom. I learn so much from open dialog with students.

You don't buy a car based on watching someone else driving it. But you value their opinion.

After reviewing notes and personal recollections, I decide what to keep, what to throw away, and what to add on to. How does an artist know what works without trying some new tools.