Literacy for the iGeneration

Today I just had the afternoon class. I cancelled the evening class because the dorms closed at 6 and I felt that it would be hard on the undergrads to be in the middle of class and dealing with having to leave the dorms at the same time.

Anyway, I was so proud of the students in the afternoon class. Three delivered an integrated lesson on WWI. They integrated Math, Social Studies and used many literacy strategies. The lesson went smoothly, was well managed, well designed, and coherent. Each element worked toward the overall objective. What thrilled me the most was that the students were able to identify what they could do better the next time. That’s huge. It was so exciting to see them deliver such a well thought out lesson in such a calm and proficient manner.

I asked the evening class to post on the blog forum, and at this moment there are 17 posts. Not as many as there should be, but the posts that are there are good. A lot of excellent points and questions have been raised. It’s good for me to see that the students in the evening section have the same concerns as those in the afternoon session. I’m using what the students told me in the afternoon session, and now on the forum, to drive the curriculum for the rest of the semester. I’m excited about what we have planned and I hope it will be beneficial to the students.

Generative teaching is hard. It would be so much easier for me to have a paint-by-number curriculum and syllabus and move through it without change. I know it would, in many ways, make live less stressful for the students as well because they would know exactly what to expect. But, and this is a big but (no pun intended), I don’t think they would learn as much. Real learning is messy and difficult and often painful. It often sounds gratuitous when teachers say “I learn from my students,” but it’s true. I’m exhausted by teaching, but I every semester, no make that every class, I come away with a new understanding of the nature of teaching and learning and human nature in general.

So, as down as I was last week, I’m up this week. Thanks everyone for stepping up to the challenge.