Hall of Fame...or Shame

The book title is a little hard to read; it says: Lazy Students Guide to Motivation and the kid is asking the mom to hand it to him. This has been the frustration of all teachers, I'm certain, from the beginning of education. However, now that I am working with teachers across oceans, thousands of miles away, even time zones 12 and 16 hours ahead of me, I really feel angst for student apathy.

Students were to fill out basic info about themselves and post their tale, all within 2 1/2 weeks with varying due dates. They also needed to respond to their South Korean students' stories. I have 1/3 of my students that haven't completed this last step, 5 that haven't done anything, and over 1/2 that haven't revised their story. I am amazed. They have consequences in the gradebook, which motivates some students, but for others, what is the motivation? They are excited to chat with students from around the globe, but when it comes to the academic endeavors, they still aren't doing the work. Aaarrrgh and . What do you do? I'm thinking of a competition between my 2 classes where the winning team gets a party...or maybe they both should get a party if they can get everyone to do the work and meet the deadlines. Hmmm...I think this last idea will motivate them. Everyone has friends in the class that can help him/her. We'll see how it works.

In the meantime, my cajoles, my threats, and my disappointment hopefully will motivate...someone? I did have one student say, "Sorry, Mrs. Davis. I'll step it up, tonight." 9th graders are a funny breed.

What was so interesting though, was when I logged onto the 1001 Tales Wiki today and saw the Hall of Fame...and Shame. This is a place for students to name the stars (students who have given strong feedback), too nice (ones that gave feedback that was nice, but not specific or helpful), or even mean. This should be interesting. I hope it doesn't become a retaliation game between countries. This, too will be interesting to track. For now, I'm off to check on the wiki to see if the students who "promised" they'd have something up by today, did what they said they would.

1001 Flat-World Tales Wiki -- An Update

The 1001 Tales Project is up and rollin'; it's been fascinating to Skype with Clay Burell and to collaborate with students on the other side of the globe. What's been interesting for me as a teacher has been the planning portion:

* How do I make connections with a teacher that is 16 hours ahead of me?

Clay and I have Skyped (his time 11:30pm or 4:30am!) We also email, discuss on the wiki, and blog. Even 6 months ago, I couldn't have imagined these opportunities or global involvement. Malaysia, Canada, and Hawaii have just joined, so we have running clocks posted on the wiki, not only for interest, but for our sanity. We now have 4-5 time zones to juggle in the midst of growing stacks of grading.

* How do I incorporate this plan in the midst of my Romeo and Juliet unit?

I have found that connecting this project with storytelling has worked well. I definitely would do this project by itself and then start R/J, but it's worked fairly well. I had to be flexible with my assignments and due dates. I have to change a deadline for Friday because my kids need to revise their story before Saturday, S. Korea time. I learned that my risk-taking equates and easy-going attitude. I have to be organized, but willing to change dates, lessons, and assignments to fit the student and project needs.

* How do share what I'm doing with other teachers and encourage them to join in?

This is a hard question for me to answer. I know that the CIT group has heard of the project and some teachers have asked me about it. I've appreciated the interest, but I also wish more teachers could and would get involved. Maybe next year, some more of our English 9 teachers will take the bait and give the project a whirl. What I realized that this global classroom creates is a sincere interest from the students (using technology creatively); creates an investment from the students because they really want quality work on the web for other students and teachers to read; and it creates such depth to the writing process. Not only are they writing and doing some peer editing, they are revising their own piece once a week, plus revising/responding to 2 other students' writing as well. The added push for students to invest in their writing is the prospect of being published; the students are fascinated with the process and certainly want that recognition. The last thing that my students are gaining is a connection beyond AHS, beyond Colorado, beyond the U.S. They are learning about sports, games, books, music, etc. that is completely new to them, yet they also see that these kids have goals of going to college (many in the U.S.), have boyfriends and girlfriends, want to get good grades, and are typical teenagers.

So, 2 1/2 weeks later, I'm exhausted, but completely invigorated and so completely proud to be a teacher in the 21st Century. I have learned that if I am willing to take a risk, admit that I don't have all the answers (even most), that students will 'step up' and embrace their own learning.