Journal #5 Let the Kids Do the Work

Lawlor, J. (2010). Let the kids do the work. Learning and Leading with Technology, 6(37), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume3720092010/MarchAprilNo6/Let_the_Kids_Do_the_Work.htm

"Let the Kids Do the Work" is an inspiring article. Lawlor uses technology for the first time in his classroom and gets a tremendous response. He uses a program called Wiki to have students post their work and have the opportunity to reply to their peers work. His students actually ended up teaching him how to better navigate through Wiki, which is awesome since this shows they spent their spare time learning how to do this. This is what he refers to when he says, let the kids do the work. Also, it is great when students are able to give immediate feedback to their peers; since there are around 30 students and 1 teacher. This speeds up the revision step of papers. Students can really learn and benefit from each others feedback and it is great when they are mature enough to realize this. Lawlor talks about meeting kids where they live, when he says this he is referring to the internet. Children and especially teens are INFATUATED with the internet, so why not bring homework to their area of comfort? He also brings up a good point, he says that students who would normally be shy in a classroom setting are more open on the internet; "In cyberspace, everyone's voice carries equal weight." Lawlor makes some very good points in this article, I especially appreciate his sense of honesty.

What are other ways you can let the kids do the work using technology?

Well, you could assign a group of students to find out how to accomplish a certain task on wiki or another site, and teach this to a different group of students. You could also give points/a prize to students who make the most revisions on student blogs.


Would you encourage this in your classroom?

I definitely would. I think that it is important that students learn how to communicate through the internet and speak in front of groups. All methods of communication are important for students to be comfortable with; by having students teach teachers and other students they are building patience and leadership. As Lawlor said, "So I say, let the kids do the work. We may find that they learn more as a result."