An “Awesome” classroom is hard to define--but I know it when I see it!

I understand AWESOME by how it feels: standing in the center of my classroom with a mixture of incredulity, satisfaction, and shout-it-from-the-rooftops joy, observing students taking charge of their learning--arguing, defending, questioning; reflecting honestly and insightfully; coming to consensus. To borrow from Potter Stewart, I can’t define AWESOME, but I know it when I see it. I wish my classroom were always AWESOME, but sadly, it is not. I can only keep pursuing that ideal, and build on the successes.

One project that at least approached that sweet spot of intersection of  technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge was a short story PBL. We had read two stories with a common theme--”The Scarlet Ibis” and “Raymond’s Run”--and the premise of the PBL was that the Curriculum Committee was only allowing us to keep one of the stories in the curriculum. 

Each team had to create a presentation that explained the criteria for a good story, and then make a recommendation of which story to choose by explaining how that story better fulfills the criteria. They were required to include the elements of literature in their criteria--and to explain those elements to the “committee”--along with their team’s additional evaluation criteria. During the process, they learned far more content than I could have taught--and remembered it better. And they were practicing all sorts of 21st century skills at the same time.

However, I was reminded during the project that part of my job is to expand their digital literacy. Sometimes I assume, since they are 21st century kids, that they are much more expert that they actually are. As part of that short story PBL, they had to consider at least 3 different presentation methods, and then defend to me why they finally chose the method they did. The groups had a hard time coming up with three choices, and almost all of them made Google Presentations--because they are familiar with them and therefore they are easy. I like Google Presentations, but I was hoping for more variety and creativity.

Another successful change was using Scoop.It and Blogger for our research project. A couple of years ago, I wanted to update and energize our research. With the help of our AWESOME Mrs. Olson, the sophomores started gathering their resources using Scoop.It, an online curation tool. Mrs. Olson had already introduced Easybib years ago, so the students were comfortable making Works Cited lists on Easybib. Notetaking changed, however: They took notes right on their scooped articles--using the “insights” box for text codes and annotations. Another improvement was the use of Google Blogger for their output (the research “paper”). The research part was preceded by regular blogs--I have found the blogs useful for promoting the writing of persuasive arguments--where students became familiar with Blogger features.

AWESOME definitely feels good--but I’ve also felt the flip side, when nothing seems to be working, when students are bored and lethargic, when I wonder if I am making any positive difference in my students’ lives. I have to remember to consider the importance of the process and the progress when I evaluate my success--every time students (or I) engage in wondering, investigating, synthesizing, expressing, and reflecting, we are growing as learners!