The (Virtual) One Room Schoolhouse
Yesterday, I heard what was the last of a series of reports on NPR on one-room schoolhouses. This last report was on a school in Sioux County Nebraska, which is closing with only three students left.
What really struck was something their teacher, Moni Hourt, said about her job:
As the teacher at the Glen School, it’s her job to get the boys ready to move on, whether that means high school, college or something else. Part of her strategy involves exposing them to the world outside Glen on one of her many field trips.
It occurred to me that what she considered essential about her teaching was knowing each and every one of her students and giving them experiences that would prepare them for the world beyond school.
I never would have thought prior to hearing this story that those of us engaged in using collaborative internet technologies in our classrooms and with our students could be using the model of the one-room schoolhouse.
But isn’t that what we are doing? We are trying to teach our students to interact with their world — which is what blogging is all about. We are teaching them to work collaboratively with students and adults at different age and grade levels. And we are teaching them the skills that will surely be a part of their future.
I plan to keep Moni Hourt’s vision of her job as I do mine this fall.
Blogged with Flock
Permalink Comments off
