connections

On this episode of TTT six teachers get together to consider how they might get students more deeply connected on Youth Voices http://youthvoices.net.

Paul Allison http://youthvoices.net/ndss#courses and Chris Sloan http://youthvoices.net/Judge#sloan host:

• Shantanu Saha http://youthvoices.net/bsge#literacy
• Karen Fasimpaur http://youthvoices.net/users/kfasimpaur
• Johanna Paraiso http://youthvoices.net/Fremont#paraiso
• Jake Jacobs https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/112591330525635053958

for this conversation

Here are some of the questions we've been asking recently:

What if students were encouraged to create projects for each other? What's the difference between writing a "Discussion Post" and creating a "Wiki" page on a social network like Youth Voices? How might we consider connecting students more often in spaces like Skype or Hangouts? What would it take to build a "Youth Voices Live" space for young people? How can we engage students in deeper, meaning making in their conversations with each other?

On this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers, seven of us--Chris Sloan, Gail Desler, Fred Mindlin, Monika Hardy, Valerie Burton, Scott Shelhardt and Paul Allison--share our ideas, concerns, hopes, dreams, plans and strategies for moving our teaching away from prescribed learning toward a social change that puts students and their passions at the center of work together.

We find ourselves pondering larger pedagogical questions, discussing issues involved in working together, and brainstorming on nitty-gritty issues about how we might take advantage of the resources we have. Many of these questions will inform our conversations in future shows:

• How do we use the connections young people already have--through tools like cell phones and social networks--to extend their learning?
• How do we get to the brilliance within each young person by moving beyond external incentives like grades and badges?
• What's the difference between teaching with/through games and "gamifying" the curriculum?
• How can we build online cultures using sites like Youth Voices where young children, middle school students, older adolescents, and even young adults can work together in an online one-room school house?
• How can we find the hardware and software we need to enable our students to work together?

And finally, we'd love to know what guests you would like us to invite and what topics you would like us to discuss on future shows of Teachers Teaching Teachers as Monika Hardy, Paul Allison and Chris Sloan have evolved into regular hosts on the show.