Have you ever seen the Far Side comic strip where the student in class is saying "Mr. Osborne - may I be excused? My brain is full." Well, that's how I'm feeling right about now. My brain is overloaded, and I am feeling overwhelmed. I knew it would happen - it always does in these classes. There are so many amazing tools out there to use with my students, and I can't wrap my brain around where to start. Each one seems to require so much upfront work that I can't even begin to imagine finding the time to get it all figured out. But I am doing my students a major injustice if I don't get them using these tools. I am in such a unique position of having computers for my students to use every day ... I know a lot of teachers who would love that opportunity. In addition, my integration with Social Studies and Language Arts provides a natural tie-in with the use of blogs, wikis, online photosharing, and everything else we've been exploring. So, why don't I just get off my bottom and get started??
If I am to be completely honest, the hold up is that I am freaked out by the whole idea of turning my students loose to publish on the Internet. I think that I could wrap my brain around everything and fight to make it happen if I felt that my students would rise to the occasion. But the bottom line is that I don't think they will ... how sad is it that I don't have faith in them? When I look at the things they write and the amount of effort that they put into their work, I am dismayed and embarrassed. As an example, we have the students do final projects instead of taking a final exam. They typically have two weeks to create these projects. This year, in our group of 45 sophomores, we only had 27 actually turn in a project. The rest just didn't do it for one reason or another. This is the equivalent of not showing up to take your final exam! The juniors were slightly better, with about 70% turning in a final (even if it wasn't finished) and the seniors had about 80%. After 8 years of teaching the level of apathy in our students continues to shock me.
Of the final projects that were turned in, there were not too many that I would want to publish for the world to see. My students are masters of "copy and paste", even though I have told them over and over again that it is illegal and I don't give them credit when they do it. No matter what I say or do, I still get web pages that they have created with the content taken straight from Wikipedia, or some other site. Why? I have done lesson after lesson about how to read information, pull out the important pieces, and then write it in your own words. They do a great job on that lesson, and then seem to forget about it the next time they have an assignment.
So, as excited as I am by the ideas of these new Web 2.0 tools, I am extremely hesitant to use them with my students. When it comes down to it, I don't have faith that the majority of them will care enough to do a decent job and use the tools in a productive manner. When I read the chapter on wikis and the suggestion that students could monitor the class wiki for inappropriateness, I thought of my sophomores and how many of them would find it hilarious to post profanity. It makes me sad to think that I can't trust them with this great stuff! Maybe I could start with my seniors ... they are more mature (usually) and have been with us for three years. For the most part they want to make me proud and they try harder than anyone else.
Now, where to start? I really like some of the ideas for using Flickr, especially to annotate an image or to create a digital image version of a story or poem. One assignment that many of the English classes do at the beginning of the year is to have the students write an "I am From" Poem. This would be a good poem for them to use, in conjuction with Flickr, to create a digital version.
I think at this point I am overloaded, overwhelmed, and extremely discouraged about the apathy of my students. When I read all these blogs and articles about how fabulous these tools are, nobody ever seems to mention struggling with apathy of students. I can't imagine that it's because Web 2.0 tools are the panacea for student apathy. The cynical side of me thinks that the people who write about their students being energized and engaged by the tools are teaching in districts where the kids are just all-around better students. In reality, I know that is not always the case. So what is it then? What makes some students care and some not? How's that for a loaded question??
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6 comments:
Julie- Great post. I think all teachers attempting to learn any new teachnology stuggle with you questions, and more importantly, I think all teachers since the start of time struggle with student apathy. When I started teaching there were no computer sin the classes and the most technical I got was a VCR tape. Kids still copied out of World Book, wrote on the desks, and copies tape cassettes. Today it is cut and paste from wikipedia, post on MySpace, and download illegal music from Limewire.
I think the eternal job of the teacher is to keep going despite the apathy, because you will reach one (or more) kids. That is why you and other continue to be teachers.
Julie, I wonder if throwing the ball into the students' court would work. Ask them which tech tool they would like to develop (e.g., podcast, wiki, etc.) and ask them to organize and develop the user rules, template, etc. Then tell them to assign who would monitor posts. If they felt ownership, maybe they would be more enthusiastic.
Julie,
Great job on expressing your frustration. I feel the same way sometimes. We have obtained so many tools to use in the classroom over the past couple of years in these classes. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience some things that I would have been hesitant to pursue on my own. I think that once we have some time to really think about the best way to use these tools then we can really effectively implement them.
Our seniors create projects as their culminating experience in Senior English. I have recommended the use of blogs for the projects to keep up to date with student progress throughout the school year. I don't know if this is a thought for your students.
I am encouraged but often feel overwhelmed like you do about the magnitude of the information and technologies that we have experienced. I am optimistic as I think about implementing them but I need some focused thought to do it on a regular basis.
Thanks for your honesty.
Julie- This sounds a lot like my math students who actually prefer drill and practice and worksheets to experiential learning because it takes less effort and they're used to it. But, if no one starts to change the way they work then they will never change. My suggestion for being overwhelmed would be to try and choose one of the technologies we studied and really focus on it and committ to getting your students to use it.
-David
I really enjoy how candid your writing is. That is unfortunate to hear about the percentages of final projects completed. When I worked in child welfare, I often struggled with the feeling that I was doing nothing to alter the sources of the problems that my clients dealth with--the structural, societal problems. Sometimes I even felt like my job supported the existence of the problems. I'm guessing that teachers deal with similar concerns when they encounter apathy and other problems that are widespread in a student community. Where does the role of the teacher stop when there is so much to be done? What do the other teachers at your school have to say about the apathy?
I am sad to say I see this apathy even in my young 3rd graders. I have often had to say "I work with the willing...Are you willing to work?" It is so hard to motivate kids that are lazy and just don't care. It is helpful to know that it is not just kids in my classroom. Thanks for sharing.
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