Day 20: Curating Student Work @teachthought #reflectiveteacher
Day 20
How do you curate student work–or help them do it themselves?
Hmmmm… I am not sure what this question is asking. How do I “curate” student work? I have to look up that word.
noun1. Chiefly British. a member of the clergy employed to assist a rector orvicar.
2. any ecclesiastic entrusted with the cure of souls, as a parish priest.
verb (used with object), curated, curating.
3.to take charge of (a museum) or organize (an art exhibit): to curate a photography show.
4. to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation, as music or website content:
I guess it must be definition 3… to take charge of. How do I take charge of student work? I call myself a classroom facilitator. I try to make it clear to students that they can only learn and work when they choose to, and I cannot “make” them do anything. I want them to be responsible for their learning and put the onus on them.
I think we coddle students way too much. I really want to work in a system that allows them to fail when they are not responsible for their work. I was just interrupted by a sophomore who lost her schedule, so she was asking me to find it for her. A perfect illustration of students who can no longer solve their own problems.
I teach mostly seniors and I am overwhelmingly concerned at their lack of initiative. We give them all these tools of technology and all the support they need, but the still lack the ability to connect the dots and learn on their own.
I realize that I’m making a grand stereotype here. Not ALL students do this, but too many do. Too many rely on the system’s safety nets to catch them. They will never know what the ground feels like until they fall one time. It’s harsh reality check, but it is important.
So I facilitate by giving them opportunities and tools and allowing them to connect the scaffolding and to climb as high as they want to while learning. I hope that they learn to think more than I hope they learn the material that I teach.
I just realized that I should probably be looking at Definition #4. How do I curate student work. Right now, I have a table full of classical projects and a wiki with digital versions on their. I have a blog for my creative writers. I have an online forum for my American Lit discussions.
I need to do a better job making these curations public, but I keep trying to get student work out there. There just isn’t enough time in the day! And who is the audience? Who actually takes time to look at these curations?
duh. I feel like I failed this blog.