iDo Connects

We spent some time early in the school year discussing the topic of Language Arts versus "English class" and the relevancy of our class when it comes to not only communicating clearly, but also connecting.

When I was in school we had "English Class". I always thought, "I already know English." The name itself implied a sort of boring, mechanical, "Science-Esque" content area that was filled with the memorization of boring, non-exact rules moreso than a skill class (which actually is). What we really had was "English Art Class". What we were truly learning was not just English, but the tools and techniques of the language and how to use them effectively, at times, efficitently, but always...to their fullest potential (as well as we could). If Art Class teaches the use of brushes, canvases, and oils to visually communicate...we use words, sentences, and compositions to reach people in much the same way.

But regardless of that discussion, the focus turned to connection. If we merely communicate we are never truly achieving the maximum potential of our skills nor of the language. WE NEED TO CONNECT.

The crazy lady talking to the mall wall is not connecting no matter what she says. The mother nagging her child to take out the trash is not communicating regardless of how many times she repeats herself or how loudly she repeats herself. And in the same way, we can practice our language art tools and techniques until we the Van Goghs of room 36, but if we don't connect with others as we communicate....we've worked in vain (or at least until we are discovered post-mortemly like Dickinson- but then again she did end of connecting).

Last night my students connected with me and each other......outside of class. I made an announcement to 3 of my four sections regarding a study session I would be hosting a study session online from 20:00 - 21:00h. I asked them to simply stop by our online classroom and login to the chat room we use called "iDo Talk" for a Study Chat. To my amazement, when I logged in at 20 sharp, about 13 students had already been in chatting and reviewing for over 30 minutes! As I came in they greeted me and we began to study, review, and discuss exam topics for the next 60 minutes. During that time a total of 21 students logged in, engaged with me and each other and connected on the topic of basic sentence structures and sentence inversions. For 60 minutes, they communicated clearly...reviewed...connnected and it was a blast. Good job on grasping the basics of Language Arts iDo!