![]() And it's all due to the use of 21st century tools. In all, we are a slice of the teacher profession in a snapshot.īut while twelve teachers will be speaking, it is almost 2,000 educators whose voices will be heard. Some are award-winning teachers and some represent everything from rural to urban, from high performing to "failing" schools. We come from different educational backgrounds and paths, from all regions and economic brackets. The group doesn't represent a particular political group, union stance, philosophy, or agenda. What began as a discussion page for teachers to write their experiences, concerns, and suggestions, soon found their way to a congressman and bada-bing, bada-bang, a door opened and a conference call was scheduled between Duncan, Cody, and company - a small panel of teachers representing all walks of education life from all over the country. For from the time you added your thoughts to the discussion post, your drop in the puddle joined with others to create a pool of possibilities. If you have, you should know that you've become a part of a chain that has led to Arne Duncan's office itself. ![]() Perhaps you've heard of the Teachers' Letters to Obama campaign. And as a result of that movement, twelve of us have been granted a conference call with Arne Duncan himself to discuss concerns and suggestions for Obama's blueprint for revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Example Two: Teachers' Letters to ObamaĪnd then there are those who are using Facebook to be advocates for their larger educational community.Īnthony Cody began his Teachers' Letters to Obama Facebook campaign as a personal outlet, a diary entry that soon grew into a movement. Using 21st century tools, they have become advocates for their own local community. ![]() Using the social networking tools of our age, this one Tucson teacher and his small group of students began to educate politicians, farmers, and Facebook fans like me. In so doing, he created a learning community, and nurtured what many teachers scratch their heads to achieve: students who love the learning process. They soon posted a a rap song on YouTube and using Facebook, the small group of grime fighters update on their progress in educating the nation about this ground cover of evil.īrian Kievit's project was all about student choice, the scientific method, and getting the word out to different states - courtesy of a little 21st century know-how. One student declared that they "needed to get the word out." After all, "knowledge is power." Which was when they decided to create a Facebook page devoted to the threat. ![]() In other words, after we're dead and gone, it will be Twinkies, cockroaches, and Buffelgrass left behind.īut once the students had discovered the plague-like weed, they weren't sure how to spread the word of its horrors. But, like something out of a B-horror film, it devours the natural habitat, stealing water and sucking the nutrients from the ecosystem, and has a shelf life seemingly longer than a Twinkie. They picked Buffelgrass, that fast-growing, flame resistant menace which is cheaply imported by some states (listen up Texas!) as inexpensive erosion control and cattle feed. ![]() It was, he admits with a smile via Skype, "one-hundred percent student created." In true problem-based learning format, the science teacher asked a group of eighth graders at his school to pick a problem in their local community and solve it. To say the Buffelgrass Shall Perish fan page is the mastermind of Tucson teacher, Brian Kievit would be inaccurate according to the enthusiastic middle school science teacher. A couple recent models of this education advocacy on Facebook that come to mind may be different in intent, but they both have something in common: the use of 21st century tools to move mountains. ![]()
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