Video reflection

I was struck by many of the themes reflected in the Frontline video. Among others, I took away the importance of play in a student's education, how students learn so much more when we can tap into their passions, how leaning does not need to be tethered to a classroom, and how everyone needs to be seen and heard, because students will work harder and more productively if they know they will have a bigger audience (as opposed to just the teacher). All of these made me think because they are in the main not a large part of the educational experience of students in Maine high schools, and with a few notable exceptions not a part of the experience of students across the country.
Of all these concepts, I think the one that hit home most was that learning needs to be more active, because production and participation are so linked. At Deering we have four 80 minute classes a day, each of which can seem an eternity to many of our students! On the other hand this time span does gives the opportunity to explore content in depth and to approach it in different ways, which ties in to much of what was examined in the video. I would love to use much more of the collective expertise of my students than I already do, because students often learn best when they are both teacher and student. As the video stressed, these kids are coming into the classroom with a new set of digital skills and interests, and we can't ignore their world. They want to be seen and heard and know they have the means for this to happen, and it is up to me as an educator to tap into their skills and make their learning more active.
Of course there are many obstacles to this - standardized testing, technology that doesn't work, a lack of funds to get students outside the classroom, but I do still believe that with thought and imagination I can make the classroom experience of my students richer and more motivating, so that as I heard in the video, they do not even know that they are learning (although hopefully they are learning more than they were before). It's a little intimidating because doing things differently always is, and because technology changes so quickly, but I honestly feel we are doing 21st century kids a disservice if we don't allow kids to take ownership of their own learning through the use of technology.
I do hope to use much of what I've seen just today to develop new methods of feedback and collaborative work in my classroom - I definitely took note of a comment near the end of the video about how the kids who rarely speak in class are the ones who post like crazy when given the opportunity through blogs or similar forums. I don't think I have time to tear everything down and start all over in September, but I do think I can place a different emphasis on the kinds of activities I can plan that will engage my students.