summer break is almost over. i have precious few days of freedom remaining. i will be truly sad in some ways.
don't get me wrong. i know i'm going to feel the excitement of getting to know a new group of kids. i get to teach 7th grade this year, which is always my favorite. it is for the love of my kids that i started down this path i'm on.
i just know that once school starts, there won't be enough time to communicate with the people i'm learning so much from on youtube. there won't be time to watch the twitter updates and track the resulting rise in video views (a project that i really want to do). one of my subscribers, izhape, is a cultural anthropologist who has given me a fascinating line of inquiry to follow in the field of semiotics. i had never even heard of it before, and yet it seems to be based on something i've been talking about my whole adult life- that everything is a metaphor. i don't know how i'll find enough time to write and produce music and videos.
part of the issue is that there will be SO MANY kids in class this year. we are projected to have as many as 850 students. that's about 70 more than last year. we were 3 teachers short last year and i haven't heard about anyone finding funds to hire any new ones. so, i am anticipating classes even larger than last year. i will not be at all surprised if i average 34 kids per class. it will take all of my energy and focus to run a decent child-centered, inquiry based science class for 170 12 year-olds.
and i still haven't figured out how to use what i've been learning on-line about info/techno kid culture in my class. last year's CORE class was such a bust. i really thought that the kids would love to make their own videos, but in fact the vast majority were uninterested or outright disdainful. the most common reason given- it's too much work. that blows my mind. to be honest, it didn't seem like work to me at all.
it just now occurred to me that i have to figure out how to reach those who are passively watching youtube, because that is who the majority of my students are. passive observers. they will share sites with their friends. they will watch the same video over and over, but they are not interested in the concept of an on-line community. they are not ready, willing, or able to see or communicate with a bigger world than the tiny one they live in.
this is one of those times when i sort of agree with dan brown and say,"yeah, school is interfering with my education."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That is a lot of kids to be in a classroom.
ReplyDeleteThough I have started posting regular comments on videos, and my own videos, I really only tried to be a part of the youtube community in very very recent months. And, still, for the most part, I actually consider myself a passive observer.
You're really the only person I'd consider a friend that I've made from youtube. And, maybe Roxanne (RoxinPunch), but I'm not sure we're quite friends yet.
Anyway, that gives you an idea about my passive-observerness slowly being turned into an active community member. So feel free to shoot me a message about this topic and I can try to help. Or at least we can talk about this.
<3 Abbey Marie