Impression of the Russell Street School

I had a rush of reactions while exploring the various blogs at the Russell Street School. I was extremely impressed and couldn't help but self-reflect on my own situation and the plans I have for the upcoming year.

My first thoughts were about the importance of communication with the public. I am personally creating a blog with that goal in mind. It is extremely importance to showcase the amazing things that happen in our classrooms, especially when it comes to garnering support from our communities. Many of the posts from my classmates expressed very positive feedback after viewing the blogs and that is regardless of test scores and academic achievements. We can all tell that something wonderful is going on there because it is quite evident through the blogging. I would guess that many of have similar scenarios in our schools that go unseen by the public so they only focus on what they CAN see. We have the power to present ourselves in a positive light and blogging provides an excellent vehicle for that.

I also was struck by the importance of school-wide participation and how that is clearly a large part of what makes this project so successful. It's almost like a check for the teachers who can ask themselves "what am I doing today that is blog-worthy?". I have a feeling that many teachers have stepped up their game and been inspired by the work of their colleagues. How many of us can say we know much about what happens in all the other classrooms in our building? Something like this could lead to wonderful opportunities for teachers to work together and have students work together across multiple content areas.

In that same vein, I bet this has a similar effect on students and their attitudes toward doing quality work. It must be very empowering to be able to blog and share the fruits of their labor with those outside the classroom. I know for my EdTech courses there is a level of seriousness and quality that I am driven to achieve knowing that my work is often made public through my learning log.

Lastly, I am starting to see the power of blogging from an archival perspective as well. Think of being able to look back over years of work and see how teaching and products have progressed. I look forward to being able to do this myself and I think it's another excellent motivator to keep pushing the envelope by evolving projects and trying new things. I wouldn't want to look back and see that I've been using the same old materials and assignments and getting the same results!