A School Where Everyone Can Be A Teacher

This morning I started off the day in a Twitter mood. I visited several classes and found something worth twittering about. I even tried to make some tweets in French, but I needed some help from a teacher to make sure I was using the correct spelling for a number.

I was in Mme. Power’s class, listening to students discussing their novel (Le Visiteur du Soir by Robert Soulieres) and I decided to tweet about their work. I asked how to say something in French, and they told me. As I was tweeting, I heard from one of the students that she could teach me how to put French accents on words when I twitter them. Cool.

My first impulse was to have her show me right away, but I resisted and said I could wait. The principal shouldn’t be interrupting the learning that goes on when children do literature circles. I did ask that she help me out later, and that the group get back on with their discussions about the novel. I didn’t want to get in trouble with Mme Power either, as I was supposed to be talking in French at the time.

At lunch time, Cameron met me outside and showed me how to use the iPhone for accents and to set up a French keyboard. Thanks.

I thought that this was a cool thing to learn, so after lunch I shared it with Mme. Cork. Nicole (grade 5) joined our discussion and shared that she knew how to do that as well. Awesome. I have found another teacher.

It is a pleasure to teach children, and a joy to learn from them. I now have at least two students (a ten-year old and a twelve-year old) who can help me when I am having trouble with my phone. No user guide for me. I have Cameron and Nicole (and probably about 190 other 10 – 12 year olds) who can teach me about technology.

When adults and children are helping one another learn, then I think it is safe to call this a learning community.

Take care.