I listened to a great podcast yesterday, Steve Hargadon’s recent interview with Doc Searls. Doc Searls! I’m impressed, Steve. Searls talked a lot about his own background as a struggling student, and some interesting stories about his children’s experience in schools here in North Carolina and then in California.
But what really knocked me out of my chair was when he described blogging. He said, and I paraphrase, that blogging might seem something like pushing a boulder up a hill. It really isn’t. It’s more like rolling a snowball down a hill. Your idea starts out small, but it grows due to the conversations that it provokes. This is so true! As many edubloggers say so often, it’s not about publishing, it’s about conversation — and out of those conversations come sooooo much learning.
But, my mind being what it is, I jumped the rails and thought about flat classrooms, and learning engines. I thought about that snow ball, rolling along in the snow, getting bigger as more snow sticks to it than falls off. Isn’t this what facilitating learning is about? It’s rolling a snow ball in the snow, not rolling a bolder up the hill.
2¢ Worth!
Image Citation
Wearn, “Sai Kah Rolling His Snow Ball.” Wearn’s Photostream. 21 Dec 2005. 10 Oct 2006 <http://flickr.com/photos/wearn/76100813/>.
technorati tags:warlick, education, technology, flassclass, learningengines
Blogged with Flock
I’d like to add someting to this snowball that is a bit of topic but given the current situation, also something teachers will want to know — especially in light of what’s happened in the past two weeks.
The YWCA is sponsoring a “When I Get Mad I Draw†art contest to give kids an opportunity to show how they express their feelings of anger. Because of the recent tragedies involving school violence, the YWCA USA has expanded the contest to a national competition. Part of the Y’s annual YWCA’s Week Without Violence campaign (October 15-21, 2006,) the contest is sponsored by TiVo KidZone for kids between the 3 and 16.
The idea is to get parents, caregivers, and teachers to engage children in a discussion about ways to deal with anger and how to cope with violence. The kids are invited to draw and use their creativity to express their emotions.
The YWCA will honor twelve of the young artists that participate by selecting three finalists from each of the following age categories: 3-6 years old, 7-10 years, 11-13 years and 14-16 years. TiVo Inc. will provide the winners with prizes including a free TiVo and free service, among others. All entries must be postmarked by October 21, 2006.
Thank you for that great analogy David. I sometimes feel that a lot of the work i do in schools can feel like pushing …. uphill (we use a different word than boulders 😉 But if i turn that round into the snowball thing then you can see we are really getting somewhere – slowly but surely we are gaining some traction. Another analogy that i think of is watching a house being built – it seems for a long time that nothing is happening but what is going into place is all the ground work & preparation then almost overnight the structure goes up, the roof goes on, the walls are there – something real and tangible is there to show for all the effort.
I agree with Cynthia.
Writing is not for everyone.
I am a Arts Education Major, and one of the reasons, besides loving art in all forms, that i am in this program is because everyone learns differently and I believe it is very important to express your feelings. Art is just one way for everyone to express their feelings. The program that Cynthia is talking about sounds amazing. Something for me to remember for future reference, in my future career.