Information Literacy . . . What I Hope to Gain

The past few years have seen an explosion of digital tools and technologies that our students are growing up with and view as part of their reality, that many of our (younger) colleagues are intimately connected to, and that, love them or hate them, they will increasingly become integral to our effective work in education.

The past few years have also seen my professional role at ISB shift from being an educator based in a classroom, focusing on learning and assessment issues, to being an administrator of activities and athletics, focusing on the details of events, rosters, and to-do lists.

Perhaps ironically, my engagement and focus in working with and supporting (athletic and performing arts) teams has helped removed me from feeling or being part of a greater professional learning community. While my work involves so many young people and is school-wide, it is in many was a very singular endeavor. I was a department of one.

I need to re-connect. This year, I am back in the classroom (for one class), making the re-connection more important.

I deeply believe that activities and athletics in schools are “as curricular” as any written curriculum. While I have done some (original) work in assessing and articulating student learnings gained from participation in activities (tied to ISB’s Mission Statement), the attention required to deal with the daily alligators that snap at my back-side have made it difficult for me to pay attention to my dream of draining the swamp.

Being part of this course (and program) will give me the impetus/excuse to get back into the (new) game so I can . . .

• make (more) effective use of digital tools to locate and use information resources that support research about co-curricular activities and the important learning that occurs there,
• become connected to and participate in learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve the assessment and articulation of student learning in co-curricular activities,
• evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a (more) regular basis so that I can efficiently make effective use of digital tools and resources in support of student learning in co-curricular activities,
• contribute meaningfully to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the education profession and of my school.

Working with children in helping them grow, discover and learn is a sacred endeavor. Over the years, I have been afforded a number of very special partnerships with colleagues as together we explored providing “the best deal” we could for our students.

As the learning-scape for our students has changed, so, too, have the opportunities for us to become part of learning communities.

These expanded learning communities could be viewed as an expanded tribe of elders setting the stone circles for your young people.

Why We Are Stone Setters

Just about a generation ago, literally, I was wandering around the text driven rooms of the ACSU BBS. It felt so out there . . . and I felt so . . . on the edge of the bubble. Like today, the wandering and exploring was with the high ground of learning as the peak in the clouds.

The journey continues . . . the landscape changes, some partners have fallen off, some stayed, and others have joined . . . and the high ground remains the high ground.

The journey also has become tied to a lovely story about the walkabout in Australia. The story of the Stone Circle. When the adolescent aboriginal boy heads out on his walkabout - his vision quest - he is followed (unknowingly) by elders of his clan. At night, the youth sets a stone circle around himself, meant to metaphorically be protection from "what is out in the darkness". Out in the darkness, the elders have formed a true protective circle around the youth. They also make a sound that the boy has been taught means "death is near".

The elders know that the young man needs to complete his vision quest on his own, and are creating the safe (metaphysical) space in which he can endure his struggle.

The Stone Circle.

All we do . . . is to create the Stone Circle . . . for our students and colleagues. And perhaps they can help create the Stone Circle for us.