Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Sharing? Or Bragging?

Like many teachers who share what they do with the world, I've been accused of bragging...

When I started blogging a couple years ago, I searched for good blogs by teachers that I could follow (via feedly, my favorite feed reader). One of the blogs I stumbled upon was Silvia Tolisano's Langwitches blog. Tolisano is really, really dedicated to the idea that teachers should document what they're doing, and then share it with the world, even if they get accused of bragging for doing so. She even argues that teachers have an obligation to share, and that there's more to gain than lose by doing so. 

Of course, it's hard and it takes time, and somehow, while getting teachers to share what they do with each other ought to be one of the main points (if not THE point) of professional development, it never happens often enough. 

When teachers are able to share ideas on their own, outside the framework of PD, it's probably most effective.  --Or is it? You bump into so-and-so in the copy room who has a great idea you want to try, and you agree to talk more later, but it almost never happens... You forget, or you're too busy, and a whole year goes by without the two of you getting together to share that great idea.

And then there's that whole Midwestern inferiority complex to deal with: if you share what you're doing, either in person, or by giving a presentation, or by constantly emailing your colleagues with links to articles, videos of your students, blog posts (including ones you've written yourself), etc, then you're going to seem like you're bragging. --And we Midwesterners don't do that, except when we do, because we feel so inferior to the rest of the world.... (Insecurity is the flip-side of bravado, as I will be the first to admit.)

Another great blogger I follow (Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers) passes on the message of Derek Sivers to remind us that "what's obvious to you, is amazing to someone else." We all should be sharing our ideas and lessons with each other a lot more than we do, even when we feel we have nothing to offer, even if we fear we might be bragging by doing so. What we share with each other might have a significant impact on others that we can't even imagine.

Last year, when I offered to film a few classes so that other folks could see what I was doing with student-led discussions, I didn't know then that I'd be giving a presentation at MAIS on the topic several months later. I also didn't know I'd be giving that presentation again in-house, or that I'd be asked to give it yet again next fall at the ISACS Conference. [As it turns out, my proposal wasn't accepted!] There's a ripple effect to sharing, as Tolisano points out. Maybe those student-led discussions are good; maybe they're just hot air, but if my sharing gets even one teacher to think twice and try something--anything--new, then it's worth it.

If nothing else, I've been having good--if far too brief--conversations with some of my colleagues as a result of this work. I look forward, for instance, to talking more with Johnathan Woodward about how he's organzing his student-led discussions (and how he gets the Spanish club to do such amazing things), with Lori Durant and Nate Mattson about their experiences with minecraft and gamification. I wish I knew how Anita Larson and Brianne Vigen set up their Salon days. I wish I had time to go through my entire curriculum with Matt Whittaker--and maybe that can be arranged, actually...

But in the meantime, I'm going to keep on bragging, I mean, sharing. --And you should, too! If nothing else, please contribute something to Whittaker's "Great Lessons" Archive. If it helps, pretend that it's called the "Probably Mediocre Lessons" Archive. 

Don't let me win his "Best Lesson" contest by default! (If I do, I'm going to use that $100 prize to make some of you share what you do.)

4 comments:

  1. Indeed!!! I plan on submitting a lesson (or two) and agree with you wholeheartedly about blogging. It is getting to the tipping point for me in that I'm almost sick and tired enough of getting to the end of another year without making blogging a habit/priority. Here's to another great thing about teaching - starting a new year with new goals, experiments and practices!! Thanks for setting such a great example and for being so generous in sharing.

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    1. Lori, you and Nate really need to head into next year with a plan to document and share even more of what you do related to Genius Hour and Minecraft. Plan to film some classes, to take photos, or have Kim or Matt do that for you. Plan to write up something about what it is you do and why, and get the kids to reflect on it during and after the process.

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    2. I agree. I do most of that already. It's the blogging and bragging...er sharing I need to do! :)

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