I have been very busy giving and preparing to give workshops. It is a time when I read blogs, go off on tangents that the bloggers send me to and find myself thinking a lot about what I want to transmit to the participants in the workshops. Terry Freedman warns about being an evangelist. I want to plant seeds. In some people the seeds will germinate quickly. In others, it will be more like those seeds which need a fire to help them germinate. The seeds may lie dormant for a long time, but later a fire will be lit that will let them flourish.
I get very excited by the possibilities of web 2.0 and wish that others shared my enthusiasm. I worked recently with some teachers who are trying out podcasting. The seeds are flourishing. I helped them set up blogs where they will be putting up the show notes and linking to the podcasts. We have also set up a joint blog where they can document their process, share documents such as rubrics and help each other along. I am excited about this. I hope it is well used. But the seeds are there.
Next week I am giving a workshop with my colleague on 21st century literacy and web 2.0 tools. How do you gently introduce without being an evangelist? I have set up a workshop wiki. I wonder if the participants will go there. I say to myself that the participants have chosen to come to the workshop so I hope they will be open to what we are saying. Perhaps the seeds planted in the workshop will entice them to the wiki to learn more.
Gardening is always full of surprises.
