It’s been a while since I made a contribution to the blogosphere. After taking August off to refresh and spend time connecting in other ways, I returned to the classroom for the first time in three years in September.  Then my dad passed away, so my first couple of weeks were befuddled.  But now we are back in the groove and transitioning from my previous position as a Technology Learning Mentor to a classroom teacher.

Being back to the classroom and working directly with kids has been tremendously exciting. I have landed in a great spot. While it’s officially called “Middle School Technology Education” or MSTE for short, I prefer to call it creativity class.

At Nashwaaksis Middle School, the “computer technology” program is quite a bit less structured than most classroom learning spaces, or even most computer labs. I was lucky to inherit this well developed, student-centered, module based program that promotes learner creativity and content creation. Two colleagues that understood that students really learn through producing authentic content, not by memorizing facts, have developed this program over the course of many years.

Learning to fly

Our MSTE program is part of a larger PRA (Practical Related Arts), with other rotations including woodworking, art, music and guidance. I get each class for 8, 9 or 12 weeks. Students are able to choose one or two modules, walk themselves through the process of using a tool, design their own project and create content. With about a 50/50 mixture of Macs and PCs, they can choose from standards like video production, stop motion animation, digital photography and photoshop to less traditional modules like Lego robotics and flight simulation.

I haven’t done much with the program yet, preferring to sit for a couple of rotations and assess it’s strengths and weaknesses, but I have done one major shift. The modules used to be Intranet-based, available only within the school. They are now web based, accessible to students and the community, with a connection through the school website. It’s still a work in progress – some modules are not up yet – but I am a firm believer that the web offers us many opportunities to extend our classrooms to connect with students in a way they see as valuable.

There are two elements and ideas, however, which I already know I want to develop further. First off, one thing I found as a classroom teacher was that what students did in one room wasn’t transferred or connected to learning in another. I am looking at ways to encourage teachers to use MSTE time for applications to their classroom learning. Secondly, all the modules are currently centered on computer-based tools. I will be looking to develop and implement modules that use web-based tools (kids are already using them in class already).

It really is a great place to be. Many might say that I “teach” very little, and in the traditional sense I guess they are right, but that the kids are learning a lot.

Technorati tags: technology, education, whipple, learning

Image: Learning to Fly, Uploaded by Jeff Bauche._.·´¯)