Fishing and forums

I went fishing with my kids on the weekend. We all learnt something new.

Mr 9and Ms 6 learnt that you can’t catch a crab with a fishing rod but it is fun to try, Ms 14 learnt that fishing involves patience – she nearly gave up and then caught two fish after she decided to have another go.

I learn that fisherman use online forums. The fact that that surprises me says more about my prejudice than my ignorance. Of course fisherman use forums – they need local, reliable, up to date information about what fish are biting where. One guy that stopped for a chat was getting an update from everyone on the wall – then he was going home to tell everyone in the forum what was happening at Hillaries.

My brother was telling me about the online forums he belongs to. (Yes I was surprised again – my brother hates writing – he sends 2 word emails!). He belongs to a Chrysler forum where he brags about his Charger that he races and a VW forum where he talks about his very flash VW beach buggy. (Looks too good to take to the dunes but he does!)

I am not teaching in the classroom now days but I found myself wondering if classroom teachers are using forums. Presumably there are plenty of teachers who belong to forums but what about the average teacher. Would they be chatting about their hobbies online? Do they search for professional ideas in a forum? If they are not even into a hobby forum are they behind the times? (Perhaps they are too busy to have a hobby!) Is sharing teaching ideas suitable to a forum? It is pretty easy to post “Herring are biting in the mornings at Hilaries, use squid and burley”. How easy is it to explain your reading program or your best maths lesson for pre-primary?

I'd love to hear from anyone who is in a forum on teaching. How often to you contribute to it? How does it help you in you job?