I write that because our dear little girl is starting to cuss like one.
She is living up to her middle name (Scout) to the fullest. One of my favorite scenes in literature is when Scout and her family are seated at Christmas dinner at her stoic Aunt Alexandra's. Scout's uncle Jack is there as well. Scout doesn't think twice when she turns to Jack and asks, "Can you pass the damn ham?"
Of course, Jack is mortified.
Scout's father, Atticus, just ignores it believing that it is just a phase she is going through (he tells his brother that Scout has been cursing fluently for a week) and if they don't pay it any attention, she'll cease to cuss.
Still, it makes for a hilarious scene.
Last night Kenz, Kristie, and I were watching TV when Kenz boldly stated, "Holy shit balls!"
Initially, Kristie and I were so shocked, we didn't know what to say.
I told her that she shouldn't talk like that while Kristie looked aghast and then also cautioned her against speaking like that.
Just a few minutes later, Kenzie declared, "Holy!"
Kris and I waited for those other two words to follow, but they didn't.
Then Kenz grinned that nefarious grin and states, "I didn't say 'shit balls'!"
Sunday, February 26, 2012
What I'm Reading This Morning
Every Teacher in America Should Try to Explain This
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Via: MAT@USC | Master’s of Arts in Teaching
Personally, I think there are several factors. As John Merrow has stated time and again: US Public Education simply has too many people who profit off it other than the students. Yes, this includes unions to an extent (but that doesn't quite explain how the government spends money on the overall education of our youth). But there are other facts - the special education machine. It is so sophisticated and complex that I truly feel bad for any special education teacher. Not only are they swamped with more students than ever but they also are swamped with more paper work than ever. As Merrow noted in a piece on Washington D.C. schools, some lawyers are making millions off of schools when it comes to special education. Then there are the test companies and rising prices of supplies and test prep programs. Thee are ineffective 'hired guns' who districts squander millions on to come in and inspire teachers at the beginning of the year or to transform their teaching with the newest trends in education. These rarely - if ever - work.
Second, and this doesn't tie in to the spending aspect of it as much as the failure of our students to excel like they should (or like past generations have) - they are simply spoiled by the hard work of the past. I doubt if this country will ever see work ethic or frugality like the greatest generation ever had. As Tom Brokaw points out - prior to WWII America was the 16th military power in the world. Then after Pearl Harbor, we stopped all production of cars and began manufacturing tanks and airplanes. Literally, the engineers would mark up designs on cheap yellow tablet paper the night before and farm boys - who were needed to work in the factories now - would machine the design all night and make the products happen.
Could you imagine that happening today? Our world is far too complex. Just to make an iPhone it takes over 500 people! I wonder how many different people it took to build a B-52 at the height of the war effort? If the world was suddenly drained of most able bodied workers (as it was in the WWII era), could we just take your average citizen and plunk them down in a factory to do the work?
I don't think so. Machines and computers do the work. Who would be left trained to program the machines to do the work?
The fact that all those people came back from WWII and went to college for the first time (thanks to the GI Bill), settled down, started having families in record numbers, and then having successful careers (which most couldn't have imagined prior to the war) helped America become the world power she is. But they also ushered in wealth and prosperity that would help weaken/spoil the baby boomers and then Gen Xers and now the Millennials.
As Brokaw put it: "in the 1950's if you had a good pair of hands and a strong back, you could make a very successful life for yourself." Today, what would those skills earn you?
Today you need a keen mind and the technological skills to make a successful life for yourself. Kids - thanks to their parents - have had it too easy for too long (and in many cases their parents have had it too easy for too long) to recognize the type of work ethic needed to excel in this digital world.
And to be fair - Don Tapscott (author of "The Net Gen") and even stuffy, old Harold Bloom (Yale English prof and literary critic) have acknowledged that the best of the best of this generation are on par or even superior to the best of previous generations. I was listening to an admissions person at Amherst and he said that today's kids have far greater knowledge and experiences than the students who applied there two decades ago. Tapscott notes that the top 1/3 of this generation are some of the brightest minds ever. The middle 1/3 is comparable to the average of past generations, but the real problem is the bottom 1/3 of our students. They are dropping out at a shocking rate (7,000 kids a day), and unlike the 1940's and 1950's, this is not a world where two good hands and a strong back will afford you to have a career. We are failing those kids terribly.
The Feel Good Story of the Week
I loathe country music, but this is awesome, especially in light of reading stories on stars who do so little with their power.
Santorum criticizes public schools
If this is the best the republicans can muster, it sure doesn't look like they have a shot at the presidency. My issue here - other than Santorum wanting to send us back to the Dark Ages - is with him labeling public schools 'anachronistic.' We all know well that the way our current education system is structured is based on the industrial model. But things are changing. Especially at LHS. As congressman George Miller has stated, "Education is rapidly becoming a process, not a place." But when it is revealed that Santorum and his wife home schooled their kids (which is actually a really effective practice, if you can pull it off), I couldn't help but think that home schooling (which was done for centuries prior to the rise of industrialization and a call for equal education among Americans - you simply wouldn't have poor immigrant kids getting a home school education the same way you would have rich kids getting a homeschool education. Thus, when child labor laws came into being, the nation had to do something with all the children. Thus, public education.) how home schooling is even more anachronistic than public education.
It's too bad McCain couldn't muster a run this time. He's head and shoulders above any of these candidates. Plus, he might just be what America needs right now.
A class called "Murder."
The wonderful thing about the internet is that there is no such thing as out of date. This story comes from 1995 via the New York Times. It features one of my favorite professors, Austin Sarat of Amherst.
It has become my custom when rocking Cash to sleep, to peruse wikipedia. After searching on Harold Bloom, whom I have been listening to more and more often on my iPod while I work out, on wikipedia, I typed in the name of another favorite professor, Sarat.
This story came up. Sarat is famous for his stance against capital punishment, so I wonder if the class doesn't revolve around that. Still, quite interesting.
Reading a book the second time is really better
Any English teacher will tell you this. Why?
Here you go:
The first time people read - or watch - through, they are focused on events and stories.
The second time through, the repeated experience reignites the emotions caused by the book or film, and allows people to savour those emotions at leisure.
Now as English teachers, we have to be careful. Too often our study guides come ready to assess our students as if they have read the text multiple times (as their teachers have), but that isn't true. So how can we get frustrated with them when they didn't discover a symbol or the story's theme on their initial reading (and, honestly, thanks to the numerous standards we have in language arts, how often do we ever have our students re-read something?). The first time through they are just struggling to get down the events and stories.
I often think of this when I teach To Kill a Mockingbird or "Young Goodman Brown." I've read both works dozens of times. Each reading gives me a richer experience and a more personal connection to the characters and themes. But I can't expect my students - struggling with the texts for the first time - to have the same rich experience. In fact, I never did the first time I read either of those. The first time through Mockingbird, I didn't even realize Mrs. Dubose was addicted to morphine! And Hawthorne's classic story bored me to tears.
The Five Tools for the "Wall-less" classroom
With the 1:! proposal (that is the "One to None" proposal) in the works (for those who don't know, that is our push to have 1:1 technology in our district). It breaks down like this: K-3 would have 10 iPads in each classroom. 4-8 would have every student with an iPad. 9-12 would have every student with an iMac Air.
Regardless of whether or not this proposal goes through, we are entering a time in education where the walls are coming down. Again, as Congressman George Miller said, "School is rapidly becoming a process not a place." And I like that.
Here are one bloggers Top Five Tools for teaching in a classroom without walls. Four of them are in use every day in my classes.
1. Webinars
2. Blogs (my College Comp II has a class blog. Plus, students just created blogs for their definition essays. Now my freshmen are creating blogs to publish their book reports).
3. Twitter (I use this every day for professional development and to stay connected to students)
4. Youtube (just sit in on one of my keynote presentations to find out how essential this is for me. Plus, now thanks to the rise of Prezi I have more and more students uploading ).
5. Slideshare (I don't use this in class, but I love the ability to find tons of slideshows that I can then download and use in my classes. This is rich with potential)
Via: MAT@USC | Master’s of Arts in Teaching
Personally, I think there are several factors. As John Merrow has stated time and again: US Public Education simply has too many people who profit off it other than the students. Yes, this includes unions to an extent (but that doesn't quite explain how the government spends money on the overall education of our youth). But there are other facts - the special education machine. It is so sophisticated and complex that I truly feel bad for any special education teacher. Not only are they swamped with more students than ever but they also are swamped with more paper work than ever. As Merrow noted in a piece on Washington D.C. schools, some lawyers are making millions off of schools when it comes to special education. Then there are the test companies and rising prices of supplies and test prep programs. Thee are ineffective 'hired guns' who districts squander millions on to come in and inspire teachers at the beginning of the year or to transform their teaching with the newest trends in education. These rarely - if ever - work.
Second, and this doesn't tie in to the spending aspect of it as much as the failure of our students to excel like they should (or like past generations have) - they are simply spoiled by the hard work of the past. I doubt if this country will ever see work ethic or frugality like the greatest generation ever had. As Tom Brokaw points out - prior to WWII America was the 16th military power in the world. Then after Pearl Harbor, we stopped all production of cars and began manufacturing tanks and airplanes. Literally, the engineers would mark up designs on cheap yellow tablet paper the night before and farm boys - who were needed to work in the factories now - would machine the design all night and make the products happen.
Could you imagine that happening today? Our world is far too complex. Just to make an iPhone it takes over 500 people! I wonder how many different people it took to build a B-52 at the height of the war effort? If the world was suddenly drained of most able bodied workers (as it was in the WWII era), could we just take your average citizen and plunk them down in a factory to do the work?
I don't think so. Machines and computers do the work. Who would be left trained to program the machines to do the work?
The fact that all those people came back from WWII and went to college for the first time (thanks to the GI Bill), settled down, started having families in record numbers, and then having successful careers (which most couldn't have imagined prior to the war) helped America become the world power she is. But they also ushered in wealth and prosperity that would help weaken/spoil the baby boomers and then Gen Xers and now the Millennials.
As Brokaw put it: "in the 1950's if you had a good pair of hands and a strong back, you could make a very successful life for yourself." Today, what would those skills earn you?
Today you need a keen mind and the technological skills to make a successful life for yourself. Kids - thanks to their parents - have had it too easy for too long (and in many cases their parents have had it too easy for too long) to recognize the type of work ethic needed to excel in this digital world.
And to be fair - Don Tapscott (author of "The Net Gen") and even stuffy, old Harold Bloom (Yale English prof and literary critic) have acknowledged that the best of the best of this generation are on par or even superior to the best of previous generations. I was listening to an admissions person at Amherst and he said that today's kids have far greater knowledge and experiences than the students who applied there two decades ago. Tapscott notes that the top 1/3 of this generation are some of the brightest minds ever. The middle 1/3 is comparable to the average of past generations, but the real problem is the bottom 1/3 of our students. They are dropping out at a shocking rate (7,000 kids a day), and unlike the 1940's and 1950's, this is not a world where two good hands and a strong back will afford you to have a career. We are failing those kids terribly.
The Feel Good Story of the Week
I loathe country music, but this is awesome, especially in light of reading stories on stars who do so little with their power.
Santorum criticizes public schools
If this is the best the republicans can muster, it sure doesn't look like they have a shot at the presidency. My issue here - other than Santorum wanting to send us back to the Dark Ages - is with him labeling public schools 'anachronistic.' We all know well that the way our current education system is structured is based on the industrial model. But things are changing. Especially at LHS. As congressman George Miller has stated, "Education is rapidly becoming a process, not a place." But when it is revealed that Santorum and his wife home schooled their kids (which is actually a really effective practice, if you can pull it off), I couldn't help but think that home schooling (which was done for centuries prior to the rise of industrialization and a call for equal education among Americans - you simply wouldn't have poor immigrant kids getting a home school education the same way you would have rich kids getting a homeschool education. Thus, when child labor laws came into being, the nation had to do something with all the children. Thus, public education.) how home schooling is even more anachronistic than public education.
It's too bad McCain couldn't muster a run this time. He's head and shoulders above any of these candidates. Plus, he might just be what America needs right now.
A class called "Murder."
The wonderful thing about the internet is that there is no such thing as out of date. This story comes from 1995 via the New York Times. It features one of my favorite professors, Austin Sarat of Amherst.
It has become my custom when rocking Cash to sleep, to peruse wikipedia. After searching on Harold Bloom, whom I have been listening to more and more often on my iPod while I work out, on wikipedia, I typed in the name of another favorite professor, Sarat.
This story came up. Sarat is famous for his stance against capital punishment, so I wonder if the class doesn't revolve around that. Still, quite interesting.
Reading a book the second time is really better
Any English teacher will tell you this. Why?
Here you go:
The first time people read - or watch - through, they are focused on events and stories.
The second time through, the repeated experience reignites the emotions caused by the book or film, and allows people to savour those emotions at leisure.
Now as English teachers, we have to be careful. Too often our study guides come ready to assess our students as if they have read the text multiple times (as their teachers have), but that isn't true. So how can we get frustrated with them when they didn't discover a symbol or the story's theme on their initial reading (and, honestly, thanks to the numerous standards we have in language arts, how often do we ever have our students re-read something?). The first time through they are just struggling to get down the events and stories.
I often think of this when I teach To Kill a Mockingbird or "Young Goodman Brown." I've read both works dozens of times. Each reading gives me a richer experience and a more personal connection to the characters and themes. But I can't expect my students - struggling with the texts for the first time - to have the same rich experience. In fact, I never did the first time I read either of those. The first time through Mockingbird, I didn't even realize Mrs. Dubose was addicted to morphine! And Hawthorne's classic story bored me to tears.
The Five Tools for the "Wall-less" classroom
With the 1:! proposal (that is the "One to None" proposal) in the works (for those who don't know, that is our push to have 1:1 technology in our district). It breaks down like this: K-3 would have 10 iPads in each classroom. 4-8 would have every student with an iPad. 9-12 would have every student with an iMac Air.
Regardless of whether or not this proposal goes through, we are entering a time in education where the walls are coming down. Again, as Congressman George Miller said, "School is rapidly becoming a process not a place." And I like that.
Here are one bloggers Top Five Tools for teaching in a classroom without walls. Four of them are in use every day in my classes.
1. Webinars
2. Blogs (my College Comp II has a class blog. Plus, students just created blogs for their definition essays. Now my freshmen are creating blogs to publish their book reports).
3. Twitter (I use this every day for professional development and to stay connected to students)
4. Youtube (just sit in on one of my keynote presentations to find out how essential this is for me. Plus, now thanks to the rise of Prezi I have more and more students uploading ).
5. Slideshare (I don't use this in class, but I love the ability to find tons of slideshows that I can then download and use in my classes. This is rich with potential)
Friday, February 24, 2012
A Day at Home
Since we logged 12 hours of conferences yesterday, we have today off. That means we're able to keep Kenz and Cash at home.
Kenz was pretty excited. She enjoys daycare, but when she gets to stay at home with Mom, Dad, or Grandma, well, it's pretty special.
So a few hours ago we bundled up and went to one of Kenzie's favorite places . . . Playland.
Cash chilled in his height chair and munched on chicken nuggets while Kenz ran wild - sporadically stopping by the table to take a few bites of her cheeseburger and gobbling a few fries.
Just wait until Cash is a little bit bigger and can accompany her in there.
Besides our little trip to McDonald's, we've laid pretty low today. That means watching a few Scooby Doo movies (The Witch's Ghost is one of her favorites) and playing. Kenz is fond of building forts and Cash has discovered the wonder of drawers and pulling out EVERYTHING he can get his little mitts on. Right now he has discovered a box of Kleenex tissue and is pulling them out one at a time. If he could get into the kitchen he'd have every Tupperware container strewn across the floor.
If I could just get Kenz to clean up after him . . .
Kenz was pretty excited. She enjoys daycare, but when she gets to stay at home with Mom, Dad, or Grandma, well, it's pretty special.
So a few hours ago we bundled up and went to one of Kenzie's favorite places . . . Playland.
Cash chilled in his height chair and munched on chicken nuggets while Kenz ran wild - sporadically stopping by the table to take a few bites of her cheeseburger and gobbling a few fries.
Just wait until Cash is a little bit bigger and can accompany her in there.
Besides our little trip to McDonald's, we've laid pretty low today. That means watching a few Scooby Doo movies (The Witch's Ghost is one of her favorites) and playing. Kenz is fond of building forts and Cash has discovered the wonder of drawers and pulling out EVERYTHING he can get his little mitts on. Right now he has discovered a box of Kleenex tissue and is pulling them out one at a time. If he could get into the kitchen he'd have every Tupperware container strewn across the floor.
If I could just get Kenz to clean up after him . . .
Sunday, February 19, 2012
And this is why I hate the five paragraph theme
. . . because after reading 30 pretty solid narrative essays, I come across this thesis at the end of an introduction: "I this story I will tell you why I did it and how I got away with not paying for a new window."
Oh, the horror! The horror!
Oh, the horror! The horror!
Friday, February 17, 2012
How would Schlafly spin this one?
On her radio show "Eagle Forum," conserative Phyllis Schlafly is quick to denounce anything that tries to posit that global warming could be man-made (thank you fossil fuels). I wonder how she would react to this story. The excerpt I included below is quite interesting.
The most sensational parts of the documents — and much of what has been confirmed independently — had to do with global warming and efforts to spread doubt into what mainstream scientists are saying. Experts long have thought Heartland and other groups were working to muddy the waters about global warming, said Harry Lambright, a Syracuse University public policy professor who specializes in environment, science and technology issues.
"Scientifically there is no controversy. Politically, there is a controversy because there are political interest groups making it a controversy," Lambright said. "It's not about science. It's about politics. To some extent they are winning the battle."
A 2010 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences surveyed more than 1,300 most cited and published climate scientists and found that 97 percent of them said climate change was a man-made problem. Yet, public opinion polls show far more doubt in the American public.
So 97% of experts agree that global warming is man-made, yet the crazies with ties to big corporations still want to deny it. Where else do we refuse to accept such knowledge? Our experts prove that smoking causes cancer, yet time and again big tobacco companies wanted to cover that up. Still, is anyone in their right mind standing up and actually arguing that smoking is good for you or, at least, doesn't cause lung cancer? Nonsense.
The most sensational parts of the documents — and much of what has been confirmed independently — had to do with global warming and efforts to spread doubt into what mainstream scientists are saying. Experts long have thought Heartland and other groups were working to muddy the waters about global warming, said Harry Lambright, a Syracuse University public policy professor who specializes in environment, science and technology issues.
"Scientifically there is no controversy. Politically, there is a controversy because there are political interest groups making it a controversy," Lambright said. "It's not about science. It's about politics. To some extent they are winning the battle."
A 2010 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences surveyed more than 1,300 most cited and published climate scientists and found that 97 percent of them said climate change was a man-made problem. Yet, public opinion polls show far more doubt in the American public.
So 97% of experts agree that global warming is man-made, yet the crazies with ties to big corporations still want to deny it. Where else do we refuse to accept such knowledge? Our experts prove that smoking causes cancer, yet time and again big tobacco companies wanted to cover that up. Still, is anyone in their right mind standing up and actually arguing that smoking is good for you or, at least, doesn't cause lung cancer? Nonsense.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Neglecting
I have been neglecting my blog for quite some time. The main reason is that I chose to accept the offer of an overload for this semester. That means my beloved second block 85 minute prep is gone. I had it made. The night before every school day, I could get enough organized or planned to manage first block. Then I relied heavily on my second block prep to get planned for my other two classes (and to get anything graded from block one). That is how I have survived for the past five or six years.
Now my beloved second block prep has been replace with 31 freshman. I'm compensated very well for my time, and the class is quite excellent. I wouldn't be surprised to see 15 of these students in my College Comp I class when they are juniors.
But it makes for a very busy day. Really, lunch is my only break time - other than dashing to make copies during passing time. And sometimes I just pack a sandwich and work in my room.
It also helps that my last two classes are the same: College Comp. So I only really have three preps, which is far better than four.
The overload has actually helped me become more organized and efficient. I simply have no other choice.
Kenz and I have a new Sunday afternoon routine. She accompanies me to my classroom (spending any time at all in my classroom on the weekend is something I haven't done in years). She will cuddle up with her blanks on the floor, use my coat as a pillow, and watch a Scooby Doo movie on my MacBook while I spend a couple hours organizing (I'm amazed at how the stacks pile up) and copying.
The truth about being a teacher is that it's a bit like being a farmer: there is ALWAYS something to do. I never seem to have enough copies ahead of time, so I could spend days just copying stories and assignments. I can always correct something (though I've tried hard to cut down on the fruitless busy work I've been guilty of in the past. No more crossword puzzles and word jumbles. They might help pass the time or keep a kid busy while reading a chapter, but they really learn zero from them). I can always concoct a new quiz or story guide. There never seems to be enough time to read (I'm still trying to finish Stephen Johnson's most excellent Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Invention, but now I have two new books: The Flat Classroom and The Digital Divide waiting in the winds. Then there is the constant tweaking and revising of my curriculum. Speaking of that, there is never ever enough time to align standards and complete our curriculum maps. Then there are the constant student emails and texts to respond to. There are the teachers I follow on Twitter tweeting new ideas and links to awesome articles . . .
There just isn't enough time in a day or weeks in a school year.
So a couple hours on Sunday get my room clean and organized for the week. And, for the most part, I get my copies made.
Another saving grace has been my aide this quarter: KoKo. Every second block she shows up to help me out whether it's making copies or organizing my assignments or correcting quizzes and story guides. She has been a life saver.
So in a round about way, that's why my true posts (other than some interesting videos I find or infographs) I have not posted as much as I would like on this blog.
Oh yeah, it could also be that I'm now running two other blogs: Everything Bad is Good for You and TKM. The former is for my College Comp II class, and the latter I just whipped together to model for my freshmen as they begin reading novels.
So I guess I've just been neglecting this blog, but check the others out if you can.
The day is coming - and I truly believe it's on the horizon - where, especially if we actually become a 1:1 school, where my students will do a majority of their classwork on blogs that I monitor. I truly believe at Lincoln we are living by Congressman George Miller's statement to the National Press club several years ago when speaking about the government report called "A Democracy at Risk": "Education is rapidly becoming a process, not a place." How much fun would that be?
Now my beloved second block prep has been replace with 31 freshman. I'm compensated very well for my time, and the class is quite excellent. I wouldn't be surprised to see 15 of these students in my College Comp I class when they are juniors.
But it makes for a very busy day. Really, lunch is my only break time - other than dashing to make copies during passing time. And sometimes I just pack a sandwich and work in my room.
It also helps that my last two classes are the same: College Comp. So I only really have three preps, which is far better than four.
The overload has actually helped me become more organized and efficient. I simply have no other choice.
Kenz and I have a new Sunday afternoon routine. She accompanies me to my classroom (spending any time at all in my classroom on the weekend is something I haven't done in years). She will cuddle up with her blanks on the floor, use my coat as a pillow, and watch a Scooby Doo movie on my MacBook while I spend a couple hours organizing (I'm amazed at how the stacks pile up) and copying.
The truth about being a teacher is that it's a bit like being a farmer: there is ALWAYS something to do. I never seem to have enough copies ahead of time, so I could spend days just copying stories and assignments. I can always correct something (though I've tried hard to cut down on the fruitless busy work I've been guilty of in the past. No more crossword puzzles and word jumbles. They might help pass the time or keep a kid busy while reading a chapter, but they really learn zero from them). I can always concoct a new quiz or story guide. There never seems to be enough time to read (I'm still trying to finish Stephen Johnson's most excellent Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Invention, but now I have two new books: The Flat Classroom and The Digital Divide waiting in the winds. Then there is the constant tweaking and revising of my curriculum. Speaking of that, there is never ever enough time to align standards and complete our curriculum maps. Then there are the constant student emails and texts to respond to. There are the teachers I follow on Twitter tweeting new ideas and links to awesome articles . . .
There just isn't enough time in a day or weeks in a school year.
So a couple hours on Sunday get my room clean and organized for the week. And, for the most part, I get my copies made.
Another saving grace has been my aide this quarter: KoKo. Every second block she shows up to help me out whether it's making copies or organizing my assignments or correcting quizzes and story guides. She has been a life saver.
So in a round about way, that's why my true posts (other than some interesting videos I find or infographs) I have not posted as much as I would like on this blog.
Oh yeah, it could also be that I'm now running two other blogs: Everything Bad is Good for You and TKM. The former is for my College Comp II class, and the latter I just whipped together to model for my freshmen as they begin reading novels.
So I guess I've just been neglecting this blog, but check the others out if you can.
The day is coming - and I truly believe it's on the horizon - where, especially if we actually become a 1:1 school, where my students will do a majority of their classwork on blogs that I monitor. I truly believe at Lincoln we are living by Congressman George Miller's statement to the National Press club several years ago when speaking about the government report called "A Democracy at Risk": "Education is rapidly becoming a process, not a place." How much fun would that be?
Friday, February 10, 2012
Well, this is one way to discipline your child . . .
though I'm not sure this parents is the best role model either.
The 21st Century Research Paper
Infographs. I've put dozens on this blog. They're interesting and engaging. They easily communicate complex information in a manner that is easy to digest. I think you'd be hardpressed to find an English teacher (me included) that would apply the former two sentences to any research paper they've ever written, assigned, or had to read. Okay, I'll argue that the multi-genre research paper is the exception.
But there's a reason most English teachers I know (me included) aren't exactly chomping at the bit to grade the research papers they assign.
But the infograph? What would happen if we assigned infographs as supplements to the research paper?
For whatever reason, the size of the infograph is crummy. Here is a link to a much larger picture of the above infograph.
But there's a reason most English teachers I know (me included) aren't exactly chomping at the bit to grade the research papers they assign.
But the infograph? What would happen if we assigned infographs as supplements to the research paper?
For whatever reason, the size of the infograph is crummy. Here is a link to a much larger picture of the above infograph.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Saturday, February 04, 2012
What I'm Reading This Morning
Thanks to Twitter, I totally encounter the news and my professional reading in an entirely new way.
No longer do I go straight to yahoo news nor do I have to wait for my English Journal to come in the mail or for our media center to get in their excellent array of professional journals and then put the tables of contents in my mailbox.
Now, I just go to Twitter - almost exclusively on my BlackBerry - and then see what others post. Since I follow many other educators and ed reformers, they often post links to interesting articles or sites. With just a click, I can send these article or sites to my email. Then, like I am now, I open up my email and start getting the news.
Here's a look at some of the interesting things I'm reading this morning.
From Education Week - States Mulling Creativity Indexes for Schools.
There's no question I'm all for teaching creativity and innovation in school. But that's all public education needs is another way to measure (or attempt to measure) the productivity (or creativity) of a school and its teachers and students. I'm all for going by this creativity index, if we can chuck the other measures.
From Mashable - How Higher Ed Uses Social Media (infograph).
If there were more hours in a day (or when I get my prep block back next year), I'd set blogs up for all of my classes. But right now I'm just using one for my College Comp II course, and it's making the course better than ever. Couldn't imagine teaching without social media.
From Alltop - Sweatpants go business casual.
It's the end of society as we know it. It's bad enough staff don't always dress up (in my opinion), but what example are we setting for the students? You've seen how great the athletes look for home games, but compare that with how they dress for away games? And it looks like half the school is in their pajamas. Stop the insanity.
Fromm Alltop via YouTube - Insane Russian Urban Free Climber.
Just watch the video. It defies logic.
From John Merrow's most excellent site Learning Matters - The American Teacher Quiz.
See how well you do. It blows my mind that nearly half of the teachers in America already have part time jobs (and I don't believe this accounts for summer jobs).
Finally, for fun, utter brilliance. This man built a Super Bowl replica of Lucas Oil stadium. Out of Legos. And he only needed to order 30,000 pieces. A true hero!
No longer do I go straight to yahoo news nor do I have to wait for my English Journal to come in the mail or for our media center to get in their excellent array of professional journals and then put the tables of contents in my mailbox.
Now, I just go to Twitter - almost exclusively on my BlackBerry - and then see what others post. Since I follow many other educators and ed reformers, they often post links to interesting articles or sites. With just a click, I can send these article or sites to my email. Then, like I am now, I open up my email and start getting the news.
Here's a look at some of the interesting things I'm reading this morning.
From Education Week - States Mulling Creativity Indexes for Schools.
There's no question I'm all for teaching creativity and innovation in school. But that's all public education needs is another way to measure (or attempt to measure) the productivity (or creativity) of a school and its teachers and students. I'm all for going by this creativity index, if we can chuck the other measures.
From Mashable - How Higher Ed Uses Social Media (infograph).
If there were more hours in a day (or when I get my prep block back next year), I'd set blogs up for all of my classes. But right now I'm just using one for my College Comp II course, and it's making the course better than ever. Couldn't imagine teaching without social media.
From Alltop - Sweatpants go business casual.
It's the end of society as we know it. It's bad enough staff don't always dress up (in my opinion), but what example are we setting for the students? You've seen how great the athletes look for home games, but compare that with how they dress for away games? And it looks like half the school is in their pajamas. Stop the insanity.
Fromm Alltop via YouTube - Insane Russian Urban Free Climber.
Just watch the video. It defies logic.
From John Merrow's most excellent site Learning Matters - The American Teacher Quiz.
See how well you do. It blows my mind that nearly half of the teachers in America already have part time jobs (and I don't believe this accounts for summer jobs).
Finally, for fun, utter brilliance. This man built a Super Bowl replica of Lucas Oil stadium. Out of Legos. And he only needed to order 30,000 pieces. A true hero!
Google Doc'ed out
I'm sure one day I'll be fully converted to Google Docs, but after my current frustrations, that doesn't appear to be any time soon.
I can see why our school is moving toward being a Google Docs school. Every student can have the same type of email address, sharing documents is possible, and the calendar tool is quite useful. And I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface.
But so far for me it's been a nightmare.
First, students do not use their Google Docs email addresses often enough. Like anyone, they resist change and are loyal to their nefarious hotmail accounts or prefer their already established gmail accounts.
Second, sharing documents has turned into a colossal pain for me. Now, I'll admit this is my fault. I have my beloved First Class email account. So I use that one predominantly. Then I had to create a gmail account about six years ago when I began blogging. Now I have my new gmail account for school. On top of that, I have a stupid AT&T email account I had to set up with my stupid BlackBerry.
Here is where it used to get painful: students will usually email their work to me at my First Class address. This usually works fine. However, there will be an issue every once in awhile with them using a program my Mac doesn't recognize (wps is often the one students use), but a quick and free conversion with zamzar fixes that.
Now that students have been strongly urged to go to gmail accounts, and students are like me, not that well versed in Google Docs, so those who have their school accounts will also try to share their work with me. And here is were the trauma begins. They will mess up the sharing process (not even sure how they mess this up), but I do know that instead of sharing it with my school gmail address (kurt.reynolds@myprowler.org) they will mix the two addresses up (kurt.reynolds@trf.k12.mn.us). Thus, I get an email at my school address telling me that a student has shared a work with me. Then I'll click on the link to their work only to have Google tell me that I don't have access privileges to it. This is usually because I'm already logged in under my other gmail account. So when I log back in with my school account, I expect to have permission, but no. I'm denied again because the students shared it with an imaginary email account!
Here is another source of frustration (again, this is mostly self inflicted) is just trying to track down student work that has been submitted via email. I've already stated the four separate email addresses I use (1. My favorite: &trf.k12.mn.us / 2. my initial gmail account that I have to be logged in to (like now) when I blog / 3. my stupid AT&T email which is used on my phone / 4. my new @myprowler.org account). All of these emails come to one email folder on my phone (where I answer and read 99.9% of my emails), but since it's in one generic folder, I never can keep track of where the messages are sent when I have to go to my computer and print them out.
So let's say Nick emails me his latest essay on Monday evening to my @myprowler account. I get a notification on my BlackBerry. But I don't actually get around to tracking it down so I can print it out until Thursday (see what I mean about these issues being self inflicted?). By this time, I scan my @trf.k12.mn.us account. Not there. Then I go to Google Docs. Sometimes the papers show up shared in there. Not there. I realize I'm logged in with my blogger gmail. Log back out and then log in with my @myprowler account. Then I check Google Docs. Not there (I'm not sure why or how some students share things via Google Docs and others via email from their gmail accounts). I then go to my mail. It's there. I open it and about three different screens come up. Do I want to just print it? Yes. But then it prints out of format and Nick's works cited is in the middle of his last page (not how he set it up though). So I click download, which bring up another screen. I have to actually download it to my desktop and then open it up in .docx to get the true format. After all of that, I have to find it on my desktop and print it. Whoa!
On top of all of that, I may end up deleting the message on Tuesday or Wednesday because I get so many emails! Let me tell you, I've become efficient at undelete on the First Class account. Furthermore, maybe Nick asked me a question on the paper via email. But I read it on my phone and responded by my phone. This of course doesn't go to any of my email accounts. Just my phone. So when he sends his paper as a reply to my email, it now just exists on my phone and none of my other accounts. Now I have to forward that email to my other accounts and then repeat the download process.
Again, imagine going through this at 3:30 on a Friday when grades are due Monday.
It is enough to make me go back to just turning in paper copies.
I have found, though, that scribd.com is far easier that google docs. The biggest hurdle is getting students to actually sign up for a scribd account, but once it's up on scribd
Since I have an account, students can upload their paper to scribd and then follow me (and then I follow them - kind of like Facebook or Twitter). This means that I get an email notification when they have shared an essay with me. Since we follow each other, anything they share automatically is shown on my account in a simple user-friendly way (similar to Google Docs). But what I really love about scribd is that it also has the ability to send the document to Facebook (if a student wants to share a personal essay on their grandfather, they can post it to FB and Grandpa can read it), Twitter (I often will upload assignments to scribd and then send them out via Twitter), email (so old fashioned), and, best of all, scribd allows you to embed the text in a blog. So if I have my students uploading their exploratory essays to scribd, I can easily embed all of them on our class blog.
See what I mean by being Google Doc'ed out? Much of this frustration, though, will likely be alleviated in the inevitable future when we phase out or First Class accounts and I (hopefully) upgrade to an iPhone (goodbye stupid BlackBerry/AT&T email account). Also, another year of training with Google Docs might just get me to see the light. But it ain't happening yet!
I can see why our school is moving toward being a Google Docs school. Every student can have the same type of email address, sharing documents is possible, and the calendar tool is quite useful. And I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface.
But so far for me it's been a nightmare.
First, students do not use their Google Docs email addresses often enough. Like anyone, they resist change and are loyal to their nefarious hotmail accounts or prefer their already established gmail accounts.
Second, sharing documents has turned into a colossal pain for me. Now, I'll admit this is my fault. I have my beloved First Class email account. So I use that one predominantly. Then I had to create a gmail account about six years ago when I began blogging. Now I have my new gmail account for school. On top of that, I have a stupid AT&T email account I had to set up with my stupid BlackBerry.
Here is where it used to get painful: students will usually email their work to me at my First Class address. This usually works fine. However, there will be an issue every once in awhile with them using a program my Mac doesn't recognize (wps is often the one students use), but a quick and free conversion with zamzar fixes that.
Now that students have been strongly urged to go to gmail accounts, and students are like me, not that well versed in Google Docs, so those who have their school accounts will also try to share their work with me. And here is were the trauma begins. They will mess up the sharing process (not even sure how they mess this up), but I do know that instead of sharing it with my school gmail address (kurt.reynolds@myprowler.org) they will mix the two addresses up (kurt.reynolds@trf.k12.mn.us). Thus, I get an email at my school address telling me that a student has shared a work with me. Then I'll click on the link to their work only to have Google tell me that I don't have access privileges to it. This is usually because I'm already logged in under my other gmail account. So when I log back in with my school account, I expect to have permission, but no. I'm denied again because the students shared it with an imaginary email account!
Here is another source of frustration (again, this is mostly self inflicted) is just trying to track down student work that has been submitted via email. I've already stated the four separate email addresses I use (1. My favorite: &trf.k12.mn.us / 2. my initial gmail account that I have to be logged in to (like now) when I blog / 3. my stupid AT&T email which is used on my phone / 4. my new @myprowler.org account). All of these emails come to one email folder on my phone (where I answer and read 99.9% of my emails), but since it's in one generic folder, I never can keep track of where the messages are sent when I have to go to my computer and print them out.
So let's say Nick emails me his latest essay on Monday evening to my @myprowler account. I get a notification on my BlackBerry. But I don't actually get around to tracking it down so I can print it out until Thursday (see what I mean about these issues being self inflicted?). By this time, I scan my @trf.k12.mn.us account. Not there. Then I go to Google Docs. Sometimes the papers show up shared in there. Not there. I realize I'm logged in with my blogger gmail. Log back out and then log in with my @myprowler account. Then I check Google Docs. Not there (I'm not sure why or how some students share things via Google Docs and others via email from their gmail accounts). I then go to my mail. It's there. I open it and about three different screens come up. Do I want to just print it? Yes. But then it prints out of format and Nick's works cited is in the middle of his last page (not how he set it up though). So I click download, which bring up another screen. I have to actually download it to my desktop and then open it up in .docx to get the true format. After all of that, I have to find it on my desktop and print it. Whoa!
On top of all of that, I may end up deleting the message on Tuesday or Wednesday because I get so many emails! Let me tell you, I've become efficient at undelete on the First Class account. Furthermore, maybe Nick asked me a question on the paper via email. But I read it on my phone and responded by my phone. This of course doesn't go to any of my email accounts. Just my phone. So when he sends his paper as a reply to my email, it now just exists on my phone and none of my other accounts. Now I have to forward that email to my other accounts and then repeat the download process.
Again, imagine going through this at 3:30 on a Friday when grades are due Monday.
It is enough to make me go back to just turning in paper copies.
I have found, though, that scribd.com is far easier that google docs. The biggest hurdle is getting students to actually sign up for a scribd account, but once it's up on scribd
Since I have an account, students can upload their paper to scribd and then follow me (and then I follow them - kind of like Facebook or Twitter). This means that I get an email notification when they have shared an essay with me. Since we follow each other, anything they share automatically is shown on my account in a simple user-friendly way (similar to Google Docs). But what I really love about scribd is that it also has the ability to send the document to Facebook (if a student wants to share a personal essay on their grandfather, they can post it to FB and Grandpa can read it), Twitter (I often will upload assignments to scribd and then send them out via Twitter), email (so old fashioned), and, best of all, scribd allows you to embed the text in a blog. So if I have my students uploading their exploratory essays to scribd, I can easily embed all of them on our class blog.
See what I mean by being Google Doc'ed out? Much of this frustration, though, will likely be alleviated in the inevitable future when we phase out or First Class accounts and I (hopefully) upgrade to an iPhone (goodbye stupid BlackBerry/AT&T email account). Also, another year of training with Google Docs might just get me to see the light. But it ain't happening yet!
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