The Machine is Kudzu: 1001 Tales at 18 Days Old

More education. Less schooliness.

The Machine is Kudzu: 1001 Tales at 18 Days Old

Smarter people would have planned behind the scenes for a project like this. But being transparent and not caring about the dirty laundry littering the project floor has its merits too.

I like the way the “hey, anybody want to play?” approach has worked so far. New people and schools pop in all the time now, more and more. New connections, constant surprises, exponential growth. A snapshot in dates and places:

12 Feb 2007: “Open Invitation” to 1001teachers planning wiki posted. Classrooms added the same day:

Me, South Korea (HS)
Chad Ball, New Brunswick, Canada (MS) via Jeff Whipple
Terry Smith, Hannibal, Missouri, USA (ES)

13 Feb:

Michele Davis, Colorada, USA (HS)
Jeff Wasserman, Greenwich, Connecticut, USA (tentative) HS

14 Feb:

Ms. Cofino, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (MS for now, HS later?)

17 Feb:

Karl Fisch, Colorado, USA (IT Coordinator)

20 Feb:

Miss Profe, Connecticut, USA (MS/HS Spanish)

22 Feb:

Chris Watson, Hawaii, USA (HS)
Jeff Dungan, Dominican Republic (ES)

24 Feb:

Ms. Barnsley, New South Wales, Australia (HS)
Mirjana, Serbia (ES, MS, HS)
Seonia Swark, New South Wales, Australia (MS)

28 Feb:

Ed Kidd, Shanghai, China (HS)

This is what transparency has enabled in 16 days:

Eight countries
Four continents
14 teachers
more classrooms
130 HS students currently writing together from Seoul, Colorado, and Hawaii
a second HS workshop starting in March with (tentative) Australia, China, and Serbia

Sure, “learning is messy“–my all-time favorite edublog title–and Chris, Michele, our students, and I have hit bumps that have stretched our frustration tolerance skills at times.

But it’s happening. We’re problem-solving so it will happen more smoothly next month.

And we’re skyping, podcasting, emailing, blogging, and doing everything short of a global hokey-pokey as we go.

It’s been fascinating, playful hard work. It still is. But I like it. I like the people I’m meeting. And so do the students.

Have I mentioned that I’m amazed?

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