Connecting

In my last post, I spoke about my goal of connecting my students figuratively and literally through their learning. 3 weeks in, I have made some real gains, and surprised even myself with how making connections can enrich our learning experiences.

We have started using Edmodo across our Year 6 classes to the utter delight of our students. This online learning environment has allowed students to engage with each other and the content of our inquiries far more fluidly than before. To see our shy and under-performing students embracing this new way of interacting with their learning was a literal buzz for us, and made it clear to us that we were on to a winner.

In attempting to model the power of YouTube to spread a message, we looked at the plethora of Call Me Maybe parodies and covers that had begun springing up all over the place. Some of my students instigated the creation of our own parody, initially just for fun. What I realised was that this was an ideal opportunity to put my ramblings about connecting over the Internet into action – the finished video was posted on our class blog, and the comments it received were overwhelming for both the students and myself. We had stumbled across a way to spread our message (admittedly, it was us just having some fun) and effectively connect with others around the world. (The post in question can be found here.)

So, in three weeks, we have managed to begin connecting quite effectively – bring on the rest of the year!