Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Community, Collaboration, & Communication

The 3C's as we are calling them, I believe, are essential for us to learn about ourselves and build upon our vision of empower students and teachers to think critically with digital tools, the Internet, and Web 2.0 (or maybe Web 4.0).

I'm looking at Appendix A at the "Essential Learning Functions" and am thinking about a fabulous group of people who came to an optional in-service today to learn how to make their lines of communication better which will ultimately improve their immediate community, but also the Grace community. This could not have happened without collaboration. We are "doing" the "list" in Appendix A without even realizing it. We are creating opportunities for students in alignment with the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) and teachers don't even realize it. Life is just that great for our students right now, and I am proud to be a part of what we have and what Grace will become.

It's amazing to me that everything stems from an idea which insists that we can always improve. We are all learners, students and teachers together, and I find myself wondering, "Is this real?" I ask myself this question because we are learning so much so fast, it is very difficult to keep up, but it does come back to the 3C's. It's a book, a PLC, an idea, a website, an app, a podcast, a wiki, a conversation, an email, or a smile that brings us all together in a place where we are learning to lead and living to serve.

2 comments:

  1. Whoever actually reads an Appendix first in a book study? It just seemed to me that the NETS.S and the Essential Learnings With Digital Tools worked well for us in much the same way as a builder and architect might do a site survey of a property before designing the facility. We have such a fabulous journey before us that we surely need to understand the tools and materials before we buld the ship. As the authors said - we are about to embark on a journey to an unknown land - we need some idea of what we are looking for and where we are headed but the outcome is indeed unknown.
    As a well know head of school recently said "This is our time, we must succeed, take down the barriers and persevere."

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  2. As I reviewed the NETS.S last night and thought about some of the activities I have already seen this year I couldn't believe it. We both had a good feeling about those pink cameras but the list just continues to grow. Science procedures, self interviews, new student interviews, classroom technology updates and the latest brilliant idea developed through our Leadership in Action program - teachers and students taping each other during their service projects, passing the raw footage off to the TechCASE class so a 3-4 minute video can be created for each organization we assist. The mini documentary will be given to each sponsoring organization with their logo and introduction and Grace credits at the end. Imagine nine months from now having a collection of 7 student produced videos sumarizing student lead service projects. Kind of chokes you up just thinking about it.

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