Creating a Community of Learners

It’s been over a week since Lounsberry’s Second Annual Literacy Night, and it’s about time I did a bit of reflection about the event. Putting it all together was a lot of work, really a lot of work, and since the attendance wasn’t quite what we expected this year, you’d think I’d be asking if we should do it again next year. However, if you were there, and I hope you were, you wouldn’t be asking that question. There’s just something magical about the feeling generated when parents and students are learning together that makes it all worth while.

During our last Monday meeting, we presented Literacy Night to the staff at Lounsberry who weren’t involved. We left the gallery in tact, and participating teachers, without being asked, discussed their student lead workshops. I was blown away in learning how meaningful they found the experience. We discussed  inspired parents and the awesome possibilities for transferring learning. Since I had downloaded student video reflections to QR codes attached to projects, the conversation turned to reflection as a means for learning, and teachers even requested information about the kinds of questions I was asking students. Woot!

Some things to remember for next year:

  • Get invitation out to the newspaper early.
  • Attend Rolling Hills & Cedar Mountain (4th grade schools) SCA Meetings before event.
  • Advertise, advertise, advertise! (Send video invite to classrooms earlier).
  • Have teachers upload digital projects to wiki throughout the school year.
  • Start gallery at 6:30.
  • Create survey/wallwisher for participant reflection

Also, I still think people are confused about the term Literacy in relation to the event. Although Transliteracy, would be a more accurate term, I think that might confuse people even more!  Any ideas for a better name are up for consideration!