Getting The Word Out

After attending our first local community "coffee talk" on what we're doing in regards to learning in our district, I had plenty to think about.  The initial meeting had four of us, and the talk was great.  On my end, I am starting to think that a public conversation about learning has tons of potential as a way to show people what is actually happening in the classroom.  Much of the work that I do in my teaching occurs on a closed network, inaccessible by the general public.  As I engage in conversation with the community, I need to spend a lot of time listening and the rest just showing what's going on in our classrooms.  There are many teachers in our district that are doing great work in anonymity, and the best service we can give to the parents and members of our community, is to show and explain not only the what of our classroom, but the why.

I just read a great post that shows teachers having a debate about how better to engage the local community in discussions about learning.  Will Richardson's "Weblogg-ed"site is a great learning source for me, and his post entitled, "The 10,000 Parent Challenge: An Update ", especially the "Ideas" section of the teacher debate, really shows the varying viewpoints of educators on the subject of public discussion surrounding new issues in education.