We Two:

he purpose of this hypertext essay is to outline and explain our theory and to share our practice. We want to show that theory and practice, or practical theory, is the cadence to which teachers march: theory/practice, theory/practice, theory/ practice...

Both Lori and Ted are practical theorists. They are English teachers in two New York City public high schools. Lori teaches at Jamaica High School and Ted at Murry Bergtraum High School. Both teach in computer rooms and have their students work on the Internet to harvest and plant. Both are passionate about their work, their pedagogy, and learning. Both share an understanding that "..passionate teachers create the environments that make passionate teaching pay off." (Fried, p.31) Both want their learning enviroment to be alive. In this hypertext essay we will illustrate how we work toward accomplishing these goals.

Lori's Cyber Room

Lori has hung pictures of former students, the work of her students, and inspiration from all sources as she moves into her new environment. Creating the environment in which learners can best learn is crucial, even when we share or move around. We know this is difficult, which is why the wired classroom or idea, "have computer will travel" is not so farfetched anymore, since we have now realized that we, as cyber teachers, need the physical space as much as our online space.

	Ted's Cyber Room

Ted has used his carpentry skills to make the desks and set the room up so he could better teach in it. The walls are covered with years of reminders to his students "That they will graduate from high school and college," reminders of former students, and wise saws hanging everywhere.

The development of our online classrooms needs as much care and attention as the physical space into which our scholars pour every day. The technology is only as good as the teachers who plan to use it. The cyber classroom is a good mix of humanity and technology. It is not about either or, it is about their combining, their morphing. The cyber room is not a panacea; it is, though, a good tool to help the teacher practice the pedagogical theory. In fact, we think it is a better environment than the non-cyber classroom. Cyber English is a course that was created to satisfy the needs of the students in a computer environment. It incorporates any curriculum, invites the learner to choose, and is not necessarily directed by the teacher. It is a partnership in learning. We think it is a good combination of both cyber and non cyber teaching worlds. Ted developed this idea in 1993. Lori has developed her version in 2000. These are the cyber environments in which we teach.

photo by Peter Feely
We Two: Lori Mayo & TedNellen

The focus of our piece then will be on practical theory. We don't believe it is simply theory driving practice or practice seeking to be defined by theory as Munby & Russell explore in their Theory Follows Practice paper. The question they raise is should pre-service teachers learn theory in their education classes before stepping into the classroom as teachers, or should they do some classroom teaching before stepping into the education classes to study theory. Sounds like a "chicken and egg argument." They further point out this dilemma of theory before practice by calling attention to the inherent contradiction of lecturing about learning by discovery. Munby & Russell suggest a combination of the two, some theory and some practice simultaneously, as do we in what we call practical theory. Practical theory puts the teacher into the mix, sink or swim, while also providing support from the educational community in the form of mentoring and collaboration. Practical theory helps in the morphing from the once isolated teacher to the connected cyber teacher. We believe learning is a community responsibility and the technology will help us make this happen especially as we are better able to practice our theory in a collaborative environment.