Good morning Pat,
Something you said in your email to me was important so I'm pasting it here and commenting on it: "This years class is busy working on research papers and I have really enjoyed the way these kids have taken charge of their work and learning this semester." This is exactly what I am starting to see as well. I think last year's group was better at using my web page to check calendars, review assignment details, view rubrics, gain access to resources, etc. than this year's group is, but I am starting to see more and more kids becoming independent. This idea that they should take charge of their learning seems really important, especially for my ninth graders.
Now I don't know how your middle school is or how most are, but in our district, ms teachers seem not to expect much student responsibility. It's not just me, but my colleagues also, have seen how our freshmen come in completely unprepared to succeed in high school. They don't bring (yes, some do) basic materials on a daily basis. They don't get work done on time. They don't use class time to work. I've seen several who are in my study hall just sit and stare for the entire period. It's very frustrating. These kids know when they come to me that what I expect is for them to be personally responsible, not that they ask the kid next to them for a pen instead of me, but that they take seriously their need to come prepared, to listen, to follow directions, to work hard, and to learn. It don't know if the cyber approach can be said to be responsible for pushing kids towards this kind of responsibility, but it might be. I am happy to hear you say that you think it does that for you. Perhaps because in a cyber approach, the way Ted did it and you and I are doing it, the focus of "giver of information" moves from the teacher primarily to the website, as extension of teacher, of course, but the website also connects students with Internet resources. Plus, if students can only get details from me during our class period (or other times during the day IF they stop in), they are forced to rely on me. I don't think what I am trying to say is coming through here. Maybe you can help.
What I am also trying to say is that because students can get all kinds of information about the class from the website any time of day, they can rely on themselves more and not have to make that personal connection with me. It's like asking the teacher to spell a word for you versus looking it up in the dictionary. Now I'm not suggesting that we lose all personal contact with students, but if those aggravating little details that "lazy" kids forget on a daily basis stop being what we talk about, maybe our interaction with our students can rise above that. For example, as I made my way around the room this week, my kids and I talked about the "hows" and "whys" of their genre choices. They ask me, "can I" or "what if" questions that show me they are really thinking about the multigenre project. Of my 73 students, only five did not have all genre pages done by this last deadline. I find that amazing. And, for the most part, they are accomplishing their work without major help on my part. They are learning to rely on themselves for what they need. They see that I expect them to make decisions about their writing, not only the topic, but from then on, every little thing connected with it. And for the most part, their decisions have been really good. I do think this makes them feel good about themselves and adds to their sense of responsibility. Of course the multigenre approach facilitates some of this but adding the computers helps a lot, at least I think so.
I am going to stop rambling now. I do want to know what you think.
By the way, congratulations on your integration project. I hope it goes well. I wonder what will become of your program when the school says, "Hey this is great. We want all the kids in this grade level to experience this kind of learning." I hope you have the leadership and the funding to make it stay once you've worked so hard. In my experience, when you try to make it fit for everyone (and that's a logical next step), it kills it because it's too big and there are too many variables that ruin the process. I wish you the best though. Your school sounds more committed than most.