TeacherScribe

Well, this is one way to discipline your child . . .

2012-02-10T15:23:00.000-06:00

though I'm not sure this parents is the best role model either.

The 21st Century Research Paper

2012-02-10T07:02:00.001-06:00

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.

A Day in the Life of Social Media

2012-02-05T07:20:00.001-06:00

Amazing

What I'm Reading This Morning

2012-02-04T08:08:00.001-06:00

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!

Google Doc'ed out

2012-02-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

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!

Suck on it, Bauerlein

2012-01-29T14:16:00.002-06:00

A couple of Canadian millennials launched a Lego minifugre into the reaches of outer space. All for the fun of it.

This single event dispells so many myths that Mark Bauerlein spreads about the millennials. The two students were able to get off Facebook and Twitter long enough to devote four and a half months into this project. Not only did they handsew the parachute needed to return their cargo to earth, but they also constructed a styrofoam box to carry the minifigure, three cameras, a cell phone, and a GPS app.

Their ingenuity is wonderfully refreshing in the face of Bauerlein's insistence that millennials are dumb and anti-inellectuals: the boys bought a weather balloon online for $85. They used helium from a party supply store. They also put two mitten warmers inside the styrofoam box to keep everything warm and functioning properly on the way up. In all they spent $400 - just because they wanted to conduct an experiment, one they were inspired to after watching a video (no doubt on-line via that dastardly invention known as YouTube) of MIT students who sent a balloon to near space.

Bauerlein claims that his book, The Dumbest Generation, in part is designed to have millennials prove him wrong. The problem is that he is so biased that he will never admit to being proven wrong. He will no doubt assert that these two students and their uber-cool science experiment (done, by the way, completely out of school) is an incredibly rare example. He would argue that the run-of-the-mill millennial is not doing activities like this.

And he is probably correct. But we could level the same argument at him. The average baby-boomer is not busy needlessly bashing an entire generation when the bulk of his peers acknowledge that no one generation is smarter or dumber than any other. Just equipped with different skills and expectations.

In her element

2012-01-27T06:25:00.001-06:00

In his classic book, The Element, Sir Ken Robinson talks about not only the importance of being able to do what you love and what you are passionate about, but he also stresses the importance of being in an environment that also engages you (Robinson calls this last part "finding your tribe"). When these two factors comes together, your life is changed and work become play.

Fortunately, this is how I spend every working day of my life.

Now, KoKo has found not only her element but also her tribe. And we have a different kid in the house because of it.

This has not always been the case for KoKo, but now that she has more success than she ever had previously, she is absolutely flourishing.

This is evident in so many ways.

Last semester she honestly looked forward to going to school almost as much as I did. That was because Expressive Connections - a Magnet Arts class with Mrs. Stock - started off her day. It tapped in to her creativity and she flourished.

For a good chunk of second quarter, KoKo and I were able to discuss the novel she was reading in her Lit & Lang 11 class, To Kill a Mockingbird. And I didn't even have to bring the topic up. This was topped off by an essay that Mrs. Groven assigned. KoKo actually came down from her loft and talked to me about how she planned it out and went about analyzing her subject in her essay. All I had to do was listen.

That eagerness continued into her Visual Art class where she poured a ton of effort into designing a sculpture for a contest to design a Prowler statue. Despite some trial and error, she finally submitted her design . . . and it won. Then came the hard part . . . building it. Her teacher, Mrs. Adams, really went out on a limb with this project and she put the kids through the ringer, this included teaching them how to weld with Mr. McGlyn. KoKo loved it all. And after a lot of hard work, with every student chipping in their unique talents to bring the sculpture to life, they unveiled at the most recent recognition assembly, and it blew us away. I couldn't have been prouder of KoKo.

Here is a link to the story the local paper did on it.

KoKo's next assignment was creating and painting a window pane sized painting. She labored long and hard on it. To show how much she cared about KoKo getting it done, Mrs. Adams went out of her way to allow KoKo to come in and work on it on a Saturday! Talk about feeling like teachers care about you.

This care and kindness was matched by Mr. Rogalla late in the semester. KoKo was working on her final assignment for his Web Design class when tragedy struck: her computer froze. She lost 45 minutes of work and had a mini-meltdown. When I saw him at lunch, Mr. Rogalla explained to me what happened and that she was close to tears so he told her to take it easy and learn from this. As he said, "Here's a life lesson. Always save and learn to deal with things that come up like this." He calmed her down, comforted her, and told her if she needed some extra time to work on it, she could.

Yesterday at lunch Mrs. Adams said, "I looked out the back of my classroom and I saw KoKo with her boyfriend and some of their friends standing there looking at her painting. She had a smile that stretched from year to year. I was so happy for her."

Even when KoKo doesn't have a teacher for a class, she feels welcomed and respected. This happened on the inservice day prior to the start of third quarter. We saw Mr. Froiland when we came in and he said to KoKo, "I was in the building this weekend and saw you working on your painting. You must have been in heaven to have the art room and all those supplies and the afternoon to yourself to just work."

Again, KoKo smiled ear to ear.

As nice all those comments and actions were, Coach Mumm pulled off the ultimate praise for KoKo. She was quite ecstatic that she earned a 4.0 this semester. But that accomplishment pales in comparison (for KoKo anyway) to these fifteen words Coach Mumm offered up for his teacher comments on KoKo's report card: "You are truly the best of the best. We are lucky to have you here!"

Imagine being in a school where you are so loved and cared for and inspired.

Yes, KoKo is totally in her element. I am so proud to work with this people. I am so inspired by them. Coach Mumm has a mantra about LHS: "We do it better."

There is no question about that. At all.

John Lennon

2012-01-24T06:17:00.000-06:00

Here is KoKo's finished painting of John Lennon. She completed it as part of the Magnet Arts program.

I know I've said this before, but I'm saying it again: because of LHS and the teachers, and especially Mrs. Adams and the Magnet Arts program, we have a different kid in our house now.

KoKo has found her element and is totally absorbed in it. As a result, she is almost glowing with happiness and confidence in her abilities.

Oh the horror!

2012-01-24T06:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I brought Kenz to school with me since we had an inservice day before the start of the second semester.

Since I spent five hours in my room on Sunday, I didn't have to do a whole lot other than read some papers and finish up grades and maybe make a few copies.

With a three and a half year old, that was a lot!

So after being a good girl and sitting through a 90 minute department meeting, then helping me in my room, and a trip to McDonald's playland, she was tired. I couldn't stop though, so I made her make shift little bed on the floor.

I had no idea she'd actually fall asleep though.

Sure enough, after making some copies I came back to my room and didn't hear anything.

"Kenz?" I asked. "Are you in here hon?"

Then I peeked around the corner of my desk and saw this:

Now, I know I've put other people's kids to sleep in class before but never my own!

End of the Season

2012-01-22T19:36:00.002-06:00

Two weeks ago the Bengals season came to an end when the Houston Texans spanked them in the first round of the playoffs.

Still, the fact they were even in the playoffs was a miracle. I mean there was no one in the world giving them a shot at the playoffs in August, especially after their miserable pre-season. Not when they were starting a rookie quarterback (usually the kiss of death for franchises) and a rookie wide receiver and were coming off a four win season the year before with a lot more talent (Terrell Owens was not going to be resigned, Ochocinco was traded to the Pats for a late round draft pick, and Carson Palmer, who would later be dealt in a Herschel Walker type trade in a few months, was threatening to retire rather than play for the Bengals). Oh yeah, they were breaking in a new offensive coordinator who last coached in the arena league.

Yet, the Bengals righted themselves after a 1-2 start and reeled off five straight wins before struggling against a very difficult late schedule. The eventually made the playoffs as the last wild card in the AFC with a 9-7 record.

And that rookie quarterback? He was outstanding. He showed more leadership than Palmer ever did. And that rookie wide receiver? He was even more outstanding. No rookie receiver since Randy Moss had as many big plays as AJ Green did.

Green was so good that he was voted to the Pro Bowl. Now this week we just learned that three more of his teammates would be joining him: Andy Dalton (who was voted a first alternate and will play in place of Tom Brady, who will be practicing for the Pro Bowl), DT Geno Atkins (who was a first alternate behind Vince Wolfork, who will also be in the Super Bowl), and their second year tight end Jermaine Gresham (who was a third alternate behind Rob Gronkowsi, who will be in the SB, and Aaron Henderson (Gronkowski's back up who also will be in the SB) and Owen Daniels, who is hurt). Now, if we can just get our superb LT, Andrew Whitworth, somehow, it would be awesome.

No one would have ever in their wildest dreams have dared guess the Bengals - in one short season - would go from an awful team who seemed destined to draft Andrew Luck with the first pick in the draft, to being on the verge of taking a good run at the AFC North title for years to come.

They are a very young team (Dalton and AJ are the first rookie qb and wr combo ever voted to the Pro Bowl). They don't have much in terms of star power to resign in free agency. Now that new rules force owners to spend up to the salary cap limit, maybe the Bengals will be more aggressive in going after serious free agents (or at least resigning their own, losing Pro Bowl corner Jonathan Joseph really hurt their secondary this year). On top of all of that, the Bengals shipped disgruntled Palmer to the hapless Oakland Raiders for their first round pick this year (#17 overall) and a second rounder next year (which turns to a first rounder if the Raiders play in the AFC Championship game, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen).

A quick look at the talent the Bengals have been able to stockpile in the last few drafts: Andrew Whitworth, Dometa Peko, Leon Hall, Andre Smith, Ray Malualuga, Jermain Gresham, Carlos Dunlap, Jordan Shipley, Geno Atkins, and now Dalton and AJ Green. If the Bengals can land more impact players with those two first round picks (they have four picks in the first three rounds), they should be that much more stout.

Sunday at work

2012-01-22T19:24:00.000-06:00

Since I'm not really ready for the new semester (taking an overload of 31 freshmen will do that to you), I spent four hours in my classroom today.

It was just like the old days. I bet there was not more than a handful of weekends that I wasn't in my classroom at least Saturday or Sunday (and sometimes both days) my first three years teaching.

Now, I rarely stop in on the weekends.

But today it was a must.

So I got down to finally organizing my room. I'm a stacks person. When I'm done with copies of a story, I stack them on a table in my room and just keep adding to the stacks over the course of the semester. That leads to quite a pile up of copies of stories and assignments and articles and samples and books that I need to sort through and organize once again.

Yeah, I tell myself every once in awhile that I'll make a resolution to organize the stacks at the end of every week. Then Friday rolls around and I'm busy correcting, writing a recommendation, talking shop, or updating lessons . . . anything but organizing my stacks.

So I put an hour into that today and got everything finally filed away (or recycled).

I was also able to spend some time making copies of the first few weeks of readings for College Comp II.

I haven't taught Lit and Lang 9 since my first year at LHS, but I've got the teacher's text and love that the first story is "The Most Dangerous Game." I read that too, I think, as a freshman. It should be a lot of fun.

I think I'm going to stick pretty close to the textbook for this class. But, then again, I always say that and then start supplementing the readings in the book quite a bit.

I have two sections of College Comp I and am so well versed in that class that I could walk in right now and be off and running with my young scribes in a matter of minutes.

Now that the house cleaning stuff is all done, I can devote our inservice day tomorrow to finishing correcting (I still have my College Comp II MGRP and Career essays to grade) and a few things to clean up in Lit and Lang 9R and then I'll be set.

Still, as I was heading out the door, I couldn't help but pause to snap a quick picture of the calm before the storm.

But just wait until those 31 freshmen get a hold of this place!

wondersay

2012-01-18T10:55:00.001-06:00

Today for common prep, we have some time to delve in more to the sites we learned about during the technology inservice on Monday.

I have discovered the site, wondersay. It allows you to animate a saying. A quick Google of Steven Jobs' quotes resulted in this:

made on Wondersay - Animate text with style

This is a shocker

2012-01-18T09:32:00.001-06:00

I don't know much about the SOPA bill going through Congress right now. But Wikipedia (a site I use dozens of times a day without even thinking about it) has made one hell of a statement about the dangers of the bill today.

Here it is:

I have to check to see if Youtube has a similar stance going today. Trying to go a day without wikipedia and youtube in my classroom is like going a day without a computer or books.

Youtube is not protesting yet, but Google has an interesting response.

What a Discussion

2012-01-18T09:29:00.000-06:00

In Lit & Lang 9R, we are finishing Mark Mathabane's Kaffir Boy. It is his autobiographical account of growing up in South Africa under the brutal apartheid system and finally escaping to American because of his outstanding grades and tennis ability.

We read chapters 46 and 47 aloud. Since these are freshmen, they are not ones to volunteer questions. So as we read the chapters, I paused and asked them for feedback. As it turned out, we had the best discussion of the year.

Now, my class is quite diverse, well diverse for NW MN. In a class of 15, I have three Hispanic students and two African American students. So reading a book about class warfare and racism is quite interesting.

Chapter 46 starts out with Mathabane meeting Adrew Zietsman, a white South African who has spent time in the United States. He informs Mathabane that in the U.S. there is no segregation (at least compared to the terrible conditions in South Africa).

This resulted in me asking them about why segregation no long exists in America. Soon we were talking about Martin Luther King Jr. and Jim Crowe and bus bombings and how if I showed them the pictures of southerners bombing buses coming down from the north for the freedom rides, they would never think that the picture was taken in America. Maybe in Iraq or Afghanistan but never in America.

This led us to talk about how tolerant our society is today. It is not taboo any longer for races to date and marry. I told them how generations ago, it was taboo for people of different religions or nationalities to marry. I recall how a friend told me how his grandmother, a Catholic, had married someone of a different faith, and his great-grandmother (her mother), never spoke to her husband after he refused to convert to Catholicism. Now that is in no way the standard reaction. Still it shows how far we've come in several generations when it comes tolerance and acceptance.

After a few more pages, Mathabane referenced the South African laws forbidding inter-marriage. This got us talking about genetics and skin color. Somehow we got on the topic of The Cosby Show. I related how big of a controversy it was that the Cosby kids seemed to be whiter than their parents and how many people got worked up over this. I recall reading an article stating that for the first time in TV history there are two very successful black lead characters (Bill was a doctor and Phylicia was a lawyer), yet their kids can't be full black, they have to come from bi-racial families. I loved the first few seasons of the show and didn't really notice anything about the skin color.

Soon students were sharing other stories and most everyone was engaged and taking part. Or at least listening in to the conversation.

Ch. 46 is also where Andre explains to Mathabane that while attending white schools, not only do the whites receive an elite education from the best teachers, but they are also educated (I mean brainwashed) to think that God has chosen them to rule over the blacks, who are a subservient race because of the Biblical figure of Ham.

This was news to me. I did tell them that I've read accounts of racists using Cain as a reason to think blacks were a tainted species. Supposedly, God marked Cain. Some interpret that mark as a darkening of his skin. Thus, that made anyone with dark skin an easy target for white supremacists.

I did tell them, though, that when I read the book Black Like Me, in which the author, a white man, has his skin blackened and then tours the south to see what racism is really like, the one place he consistently finds shelter and meals is from the southern Catholic churches.

Then this led us on a discussion of whether or not the Bible is to be taken literally. I shared my opinion, but let all voice theirs. We never judged or made fun of. We just shared and entertained a wide array of ideas and interpretations.

The chapter also focuses on Mathabane's tennis skills. This led us into talking about why blacks dominate at some sports (basketball being one) and why whites dominate at others (hockey being one). Then a student asked, "Why are African Americans better athletes?"

One of my African American students - to my surprise - totally disagreed. He thought whites and blacks are equal.

I shared with them what little knowledge I have on the topic and then asked my football players if they knew who holds the record for the fastest 40 time ever at the NFL combine, which happens to be just a month or two away. The record, as best as I could recall, was set by Deion Sanders in 1989 with a 4.21 40 yard dash. Then I asked them if they had ever heard of the receiver Don Beebe.

No one had.

I said that he ran the same time at the combine a few years later. And Don Beebe was white.

Again, students shared their views and chimed in when they wanted to get back to the book.

Finally, one of the students, Trevor, smiled and said, "I wish we could keep talking like this every day."

Alas, we have to meet standards and get them ready for the BST in reading.

But it was so much fun while it lasted. I think it's fair to say most of us learned more in that day of sharing and discussion than we have in three weeks of reading the book and focusing on reading and comprehension skills.

Who Knew North Dakota was so full of Puritans

2012-01-17T06:22:00.000-06:00

This ad was pulled for being salacious? Really?

Trust me North Dakota, you don't have a lot going for you. You may very well be poisoning your environment with your new form of oil drilling, they have finally landed their mythical Olive Garden after years of speculation and proposals, the Alerus Center is money sucking pit (the best thing we've ever been to was last week when the YMCA and Altru set up a kids playland in there and Kenz had a blast, compare that with how much money Britney Spears or Bette Midler lost them), one of your leading universities is embroiled in a controversy over its racist logo (it has begun to be known simply as North Dakota, gone are the Fighting Sioux), and if young people do go to GF or Fargo, guess what? This add hits it on the head: dinner and drinks and night life. It's simply an ad aimed at the young.

Go on to any campus in North Dakota on a weekend and you'll find FAR, FAR worse behavior, yet those institutions have young people flock to them.

What Was There

2012-01-16T10:33:00.000-06:00

Remember this place?

Glogster

2012-01-16T10:08:00.002-06:00

This weekend

2012-01-14T08:31:00.001-06:00

Ah, parenthood. Kristie and I often laugh about the early days when we were dating and we'd just be ready to go out for the night around 9 pm.

How things have changed.

I rocked Cash to sleep around 7 pm while Kristie, KoKo, and Kenzie snuggled up on the couch.

Kristie, who had her turn with the flu, went upstairs to lie down (she also twisted her back during the day and was in a lot of pain). KoKo, who had to work in the morning, went up to her room.

That left Kenz and I to snuggle on the couch. Soon I was out and she was waking me up when one TiVo'd Scooby Doo episode was over so I could play another one.

I couldn't take it on the couch anymore, so I hauled Kenz upstairs to our room where she snuggled in with Kristie and me.

Around 11:30 I hauled Kenz to her own bed and crawled back in our bed for a couple hours of sleep.

I always hold out hope that Cash will sleep the whole way through the night (he supposedly does at his grandmother's house, but I think she loses track of time). He made it to 1 am.

Thankfully, after he has 6 ounces of milk, he nods back off and I usually have no trouble laying him back in his crib.

That is until two hours later when he wakes up again. I didn't have any trouble putting him back to bed at 3 either.

But he was up again at 5. Of course, we happened to be out of formula, so I had to make due with some sugar water. That worked for about an hour. Then Kenz was up and headed downstairs. This, of course, woke cash up and at 6:30 my Saturday morning was well underway!

Oh, the days of coming home at 3 and then sleeping in until 1 are long gone.

But every time Cash snuggles into my neck or Kenz smiles so politely as she asks for a Backyardigans video in the morning or I watch as Kristie tickles Cash and he giggles wildly, it's so worth it.

****

Kristie's older brother, Brian, is in the area for some training. This afternoon we will meet him and his daughter, Chelsea, and her boyfriend, Derek, as well as Gail and some others at Paradiso (Brian's favorite restaurant) for lunch.

Kristie saw that there the Altru Family YMCA Grand Forks Kid's Show was also happening. So Kenz should have an absolute blast there. Maybe she and Cash will even be able to burn off enough energy that they actually sleep all the way through the night. Yeah, right. Even if they did, I'm so conditioned now that I'd probably be wide awake by 6 am anyway.

What the Creative Process looks like

2012-01-12T11:11:00.000-06:00

This is awesome.

And it's so true. I have close to 30 College Comp I students going through this process right now as they compose their final research papers.

What does it mean to be "educated"?

2012-01-11T10:57:00.000-06:00

How would you answer this question? How would teachers? Students?

Being Educated Means... from ed sackson on Vimeo.

I've got to make this an assignment and post the results.

Curriculum Advisory Committee

2012-01-09T19:42:00.000-06:00

Had a blast presenting on the technology that I use in my class to the Curriculum Advisory Board. A lot of parents, administrators, and school board members. Really enjoyed it.

Grown up Digital

2012-01-08T20:44:00.000-06:00

Here is one of my favorite excerpts from an iTunes U podcast featuring Don Tapscott, author of the text Grown up Digital.

Thoughts?

Ways to Use Technology

2012-01-08T14:59:00.000-06:00

What is a great about a blog, and why educators should be using them right a long with their students, is that they are a great platform for distributing and sharing content. Here is an example.

Here is a Keynote presentation I developed on using Cell Phones in class.

Sure, I can do the old fashioned approach and go through it in class. I've embedded videos to make it entertaining for students and to drive home my points. But how many of us have been bored to death by a slideshow where the presenter chooses to read every word? Exactly.

Instead of going over it in class, I can embed it in a variety of ways on a blog and offer students a number of ways to view it and to interact.

Here is one way to share it with slideshare:

Cell phones for kb(short)

View more presentations from Kurt Reynolds

Here students can go through the content at their own pace. They also have the option of downloading it onto their computers and watching it whenever they wish.

In addition to those benefits, Slideshare also allows students to like it via Facebook, Tweet it, and email it.

Here is yet another way to share it using youtube:

This allows students to view it as an actual video, from their phones, iPods, or computers.

Distributing content is good. But allowing students to engage and interact with it is vital. This is something my generation never had the opportunity to. We were simply treated as empty vessels and the teacher was the sage on the stage who was expected to fill us all with knowledge.

There was often little interaction. That's now how the millennials learn.

They expect (or crave) to interact.

Here are two ways we do this in class.

wallwisher:

wiffiti:

2012-01-08T13:39:00.001-06:00

The power of parents and the media

2012-01-05T15:40:00.000-06:00

This is a great example of a parent using technology and social media to call out shameful and harmful play in a high school basketball game.

More power to using technology to put the public eye on problems.

Just watch all five fouls and you will see some of the dirtiest play you've ever seen. The body language of these two players (not to mention their lack of hustle) speaks volumes. It also illustrates the horrendous officiating.

Sure, the 'thug' in question might be a teddy bear off the court, but we aren't judging him off the court. We are simply judging him by his thuggery and his pathetic attempt to hide his glee at committing the fouls. Such play should not be tolerated. Watch the five minutes of video and judge for yourself.

This reminds me of this story from earlier in the year, where a bullied student used his phone to expose his teacher for threatening and bullying him.

More power to technology and those who know how to use it.

Geek vs. Nerd

2012-01-05T10:51:00.000-06:00

I'm torn by this. I'm not sure where I fit. Maybe I'm a hybrid, like that new specie of shark that was discovered recently.

From: MastersInIt.org

Talk about being in your element

2012-01-04T10:50:00.000-06:00

Last summer my mother in law took this picture of our kids. For some time we've talked about doing the traditional 'family picture,' but we have not gotten to it.

So I was wowed by this rather spontaneous picture that she took when I finally saw it. I think it's better than any formal picture we could have planned.

This Christmas I thought how original it would be to have one of my former students, the remarkably talented Tracy Mehrkens, do a drawing of the picture and then frame it.

I know Tracey is talented. But the final product was far more amazing than I ever hoped for.

Talk about a student who has found their element.

What Teaching Means table of contents

2012-01-04T09:39:00.000-06:00

Just got an email from the publisher of What Teaching Means to Me. He included the table of contents. It looks like we are still on for a spring release date. Can't wait.

The document is protected, so I can't post it on here. But I was able to take a screen capture of my section in the table.

I am pleased that they put my essay in the section entitled "Realizing Potential."

I am also pleased to learn that one of the professional readers of the manuscript is going to be Penny Kittle, who is on my bookshelf right now with her excellent Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing. I came across her book when it was recommended in the September issue of The English Journal by one of my favorites, Tom Romano.

How Would You Like to Work Here

2011-12-30T14:55:00.000-06:00

Earlier today I was listening to a podcast featuring Howard Gardner. In it he referenced one of today's leading intellectuals, Noam Chomsky. That got me searching around iTunes and the internet for information and podcasts or lecture by Mr. Chomsky.

While searching for information, I learned that Chomsky is a professor at MIT and he works in what is known as the Ray and Maria Stata Building. Otherwsie known as Building 32.

How would you like to show up every day to work in this building?

How couldn't you be inspired to do incredible things working here?

Here is better view of the Stata Center.

Wouldn't it be great if LHS - after its facelift over the next couple of years - turned out like this?

It Pays to Be Nice

2011-12-30T06:24:00.003-06:00

Now, why didn't I discover this last spring for my honor speech? This was a key component of my advice for the seniors.

Source: blog.guykawasaki.com via Darcy on Pinterest

12 Most Useful Ways Kids Can Learn With Cell Phones

2011-12-29T17:42:00.000-06:00

My principal sent me this link today.

I'm actually surprised that I already use several of these in class.

1. Use Flickr to capture pictures.
2. Use Wetxt for sending group text messages. This looks interesting. I just use a contact folder that I create on my phone to send out group texts, but this has other advantages that look pretty cool.
3. Capture oral assignments with Google Voice. I haven't used this, but it looks promising. I want to have students do a cell phone tour (students could create one narrating Maycomb from To Kill a Mockingbird, or use it to chronicle the efficiency of the slaughter house in The Jungle, for example).
4. ChaCha. It seems that I've heard of this before. But it's a service that offers answers and advice to students. Kind of like their very own life line.
5. Google SMS. This allows students to use SMS to access content via Google. Almost sounds too good to be true. Maybe it is.
6. Twitter. We already use this to communicate and share ideas. Next semester, we will hold Twitter discussions via hashtags. Can't wait.
7. TextNovel. This looks interesting too. It's a way for students to get feedback on their writing.
8. Wiffiti. This site allows students to text a code to a website and their messages will pop up on a screen the teacher creates. I was all over this when I first discovered it, but I now find WallWisher far superior, even though only students with Androids or iPhones can access it via their cell phones.
9. iPadio. Similar to Google Voice. This allows students to call in and record oral reports.
10. Voki. This gives students another way to communicate via their cell phones by creating an avatar that talks with their voice.
11. Poll Everywhere. Another great way to get students to share their ideas. This one works great and it engages students well. You can have them leave responses via multiple choice or short answer.
12. Use other basic features on your phone. I love using Dropbox, Pandora, iheartradio, and my email service on my phone.

Isn't it a great time to be a teacher? And an even better time to be a learner?
12.

What year are you preparing your students for?

2011-12-29T13:34:00.002-06:00

An excellent question. An even better TED Talk on it.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T12:14:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from Christmas 2011, which was the first at our new home in TRF.

Here is the Reynolds/Pesch clan all together.

Kenzie with her new cousin Evan.

The customary 'goofy' pose. Kenzie totally has this one down.

Kenz all ready to go skateboarding.

Another incredibly powerful digital narrative

2011-12-29T07:35:00.001-06:00

Ben Breedlove was an 18 year old who battled a serious heart condition. After his death on Christmas Eve, his digital narrative went viral. There is no way a letter or essay could match the power of seeing his face and reading his words together.

What a Touch Down

2011-12-27T16:37:00.001-06:00

Though Jerome Simpson has been terribly inconsistent this year (there are games he dominates and games he totally disappears) he is terrifically talented.

This touchdown against the Arizona Cards from last Saturday proves it. You won't see a more athletic play than this one.

Luckily, the Bungals hung on and now have a shot at making the playoffs. If they beat the Ravens, which they haven't done in their last two tries.

And Jobs thought of this in 1990!

2011-12-27T16:32:00.000-06:00

Another reason to be amazed by Jobs? Watch this video. Remember, Jobs is still in exile from apple, after being fired. He would return a few years later. But he hits the idea of gaming as a learning tool and how to view ebooks on the head. Over two decades ago.

And he was totally right.

The interviewer asks Jobs about the importance of libraries in the digital age. He states one of the steadfast defenses of libraries. The interviewer reminisces about walking in to a library and being inspired by the books. You know how this goes, you walk into a library and go to your desired section and then just get swallowed up by all of various books on the subject - books and titles and views on that subject that we couldn't have ever imagined.

As one who routinely experienced this in college (I remember walking the stacks at the AC Clark library and finding and then reading books on the historical Jesus Christ, Joan of Ark, the medical effects of Nuclear War, the life and poems of Arthur Rimbaud, and the amazing works of Donald Murray). But, come on, how many members of the general public - regardless of their generation - have ever experienced this?

It's the nostalgia with which we shower libraries (and I'm not anti-library at all), but I just think people toss this memory out in defense of libraries when the person doing the tossing likely never, ever experienced this.

Usually, when the argument is stated, it is to defend libraries against computers or ebooks.

I bet, though, when you compare people who have had their epiphany moments buried in the stacks of a library or experienced them on wikipedia, google, or amazon, the comparison is totally one sided.

And Jobs gets that. I love when he talks about the locomotion of primates. Humans - on their own - are pretty paltry compared to the physical exertion of animals. But the one thing that totally changes that into our favor is our ability to create and use tools. Compare the locomotion and energy a man generates on a bicycle to the locomotion and energy of any animal on earth. The computer is the same type of tool. Only for our brains.

I guess in the best of learning experiences, we walk into a media center (the modern version of a library) with our Iphone in our pocket, our MacBook in our back pack (or satchel if you're cool like me (and Indiana Jones)), and several books - along with our kindle - tucked under our arms.

Christmas Games

2011-12-24T08:02:00.000-06:00

The Bungals have their biggest game of the year today. Historically, they have been horrific on Christmas games. There was the debacle against the Bills in 2005 when the Bengals won their division but lost to the Bills (it was the Bills lone road win for the entire year). As bad as that was, it doesn't compare to the Christmas Eve loss to Denver the following season. The Bungals only needed one win in their final three games to earn a wild card spot. They got blown out by the Colts on Monday Night Football (which was no surprise). Then they traveled to Denver and lost a heart breaker when they lost 23-24 when they missed the extra point.

This year sees the very hot Arizona Cardinals come to town. This looked like an easy victory several weeks ago when the Bengals were 6-2 and the Cards were terrible. But the Cards are 4-1 and the Bungals have slumped to 8-6.

So it doesn't look good for the home team as the Bengals need to win out and have the Jets lose one more game. I'd have more hope if Marvin Lewis had actually ever won a late season game that has mattered (he hasn't).

Maybe the Cards will struggle in the cold and the Bengals can string enough plays together to pull this one out. If they were playing like the were the first half of the season, I'd feel confident. But injuries to our offensive line and secondary have the offense struggling to run the ball and the defense struggling to defend the pass. That's not a good thing.

For now my prediction stands at Arizona 24 - Cincy 14. We'll see though. I just have to remind myself that no one on earth thought the Bengals would win more than six games at the start of the year. Yet, they are a promising young team that is still a year or two away from being a serious threat.

A beautiful, touching digital essay

2011-12-24T07:29:00.000-06:00

And not just because it's about Star Wars either!

I'm doing a digital essay next semester with College Comp 2 for sure now.

Congrats KoKo

2011-12-22T22:29:00.000-06:00

Earlier this year KoKo's design for the Prowler sculpture was selected. The Magnet Arts class spent the rest of the quarter building it. Today it was unveiled at our recognition assembly. It was awesome.

The Flipped Classroom

2011-12-22T21:10:00.001-06:00

I've always been interested in the concept of the 'flipped' classroom. This infograph, though, illustrates what exactly a flipped classroom is. I love it.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

The Greatest Movie Trailer Ever

2011-12-21T14:56:00.003-06:00

There are some that can argue The Dark Knight is the greatest movie ever made (it certainly has one of the greatest villains ever portrayed). But the sequel to that movie, The Dark Knight Rises, is quite possibly the greatest movie trailer ever (I can only think of the trailer for 300 that can even rival it).

You be the judge (the scene with the football player running a kick back for a touchdown is insane).

Jobs that Died in 2011

2011-12-21T14:47:00.000-06:00

As a teacher, I'm always interested in the up and coming jobs for my millennial students. I keep my eye out for those stories that declare what the ten most in-demand jobs are now or the top five jobs today that didn't exist five years ago.

This story, though, caught my eye: jobs that died in 2011.

Here are the doomed species:

1. US Postal Carrier. Their sweet retirement packages are killing them. As is the fact that they haven't been able to adapt very well to the flat world. Don't believe me? Look at how different both UPS and Fed Ex are from what they were 10 years ago. But the US Post Office? How have they really changed in the past 50 years? Bill pay on line and email have killed them. They need to adapt or their pensions will sink them for sure.

2. Real Estate Agents. Is this a surprise to anyone? After the housing disaster who even wants to venture in to this field anymore?

3. Video Store Clerk. Please. We have iTunes, Netflix, and those pop machine size DVD rental machines in the grocery stores.

4. Toll Collectors/Operators. Thanks to technology, a simple scanner in a booth can pick up barcodes on your car and bill you.

5. Stock Brokers. I don't believe it. Like it or not, we will always need them. Until computers become sentient and can invest perfectly.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

2011-12-21T09:45:00.002-06:00

I always regret not going to see this in the movie theater with my buds Simon and Harry. It was a couple years later that I finally caught it on VHS.

But it is easily one of my favorite Christmas movies (with Jingle All the Way, Home Alone, and Love Actually as its only competition).

And this is my favorite scene. I laughed so hard I cried.

"Cash, are you trying to kill me?"

2011-12-21T08:54:00.000-06:00

I asked this question a few nights ago when Cash woke up for the fourth time at around 4 am.

Kristie chuckled as she heard me say this as I got up to check on him, which usually entails taking him downstairs for a bottle and rocking him back to sleep. Of course, that usually entails taking him back upstairs once he falls back asleep and trying to lay him down in his crib. This often leads to him promptly rolling over and sitting up and crying. That leads to repeating the whole process over.

Kristie and I have completely forgotten what six consecutive hours of sleep feel like. This too is one reason I cannot stay awake past ten - or even nine.

Cash's routine is to fall asleep sometime between 7-9. He usually sleeps until midnight. If we are lucky, he stays asleep until five. But he usually wakes up around three. Sometimes he wakes up around four. And then five. Those are the rough nights.

This is compounded by Kenzie who has started to want to sleep with Mom and Dad. She usually falls asleep reading with Kristie. Then I carry her to bed. If we are lucky, she usually sleeps all the way through until six. However, she has started to come into our room and crawl in bed sometime after midnight.

This wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't a complete bed hog. We have no problem letting her snuggle in between us, but inevitably she will shift to sleeping perpendicular between us, which leaves both of us teetering on the edges.

Last night was a great example. Cash fell asleep early, so I put him in his crib. Kenzie has been coughing a lot and she wasn't feeling the best so she had settled down with Kristie in our bed. When I crawled in, she was contently watching a Teenage Mutant Ninja episode. Kristie was reading her Kindle. I tried reading a short story, but fell asleep after about a minute.

I woke up to Kenzie getting restless. I scooped her up and took her downstairs for a little time in the rocking chair.

That lasted for about 20 minutes. Then she decided she was hungry. When I ask her what she wants to eat, her favorite response is "Let's check in the cupboard." Of course, she knows full well that the cupboard is where we keep the chips and snacks. Not exactly what I want her to have at 9:30 at night.

After Kenz said she was hungry, I tried to beat her to the punch so I asked, "What do you want?" Then I quickly added, "And do even ask to check in the cupboard."

Kenz smiled and asked, "Okay, let's look in the cupboard."

She had me there.

So after some juice and a couple Chicken in a Biscuits, she decided she wanted to cuddle up and lie on the floor. This worked great, except we both zonked out and woke up at 11. By this time I was still and ached all over from sleeping on the floor.

I carried Kenz up to bed and actually got to sleep for a couple hours in our bed until I heard Cash crying.

I scooped him up (there is nothing sadder than walking into his room and seeing him standing up in his crib with his hands on the bars crying and crying) and took him downstairs. Six ounces of formula later, he was out.

I set him down in his crib and got back in bed . . . for about an hour before he was back up.

This led to rough stretch from roughly 1-3 where I tried repeatedly to set him down to have him sit back up and cry.

At one point I actually set him down successfully and had him all covered up. I was just pulling his door shut when Kenz started to cough and cry.

Uh-oh. Of course, she cried more and woke up. She coughed louder and cried even louder. This, unfortunately, led to Cash waking up and bawling.

Let me tell you, it was wonderful.

"Why do you guys hate us so?" I asked as I brought Kenz to our bed where Kristie got her calmed down and settled in. Then I grabbed Cash and carried him back downstairs.

Around three Cash was finally out. I finally set him down and picked Kenz up and put her in her bed. I was able to enjoy two hours of sleep. Then the alarm rang and it was time to hit the shower, which I did.

Then I faced a dilemma: crawl back in bed until Kristie had to get up (around 6:20) or go down and look at email, read the news, and get some coffee going.

As I yawned, I thought, I'm crawling back in bed.

I snuggled up next to my wife and had a peaceful two minutes before Cash began coughing. I held my breath hoping he'd fall back asleep. But it wasn't to be. He began crying, and it was time to grab him.

While I do long for a nice full 6 hours of sleep (I've completely given up on ever getting the suggested 8 hours of sleep), I know all to well how quickly Kenz has grown up and how much I miss those nights - though they don't seem so enjoyable at the time - when I used to snuggle with her in the rocking chair. So whenever I get frustrated, I just look at little Cash as he is snuggled in either against my elbow or my neck (depending on how I rock him) and just savor the moment.

The Apple II

2011-12-15T17:26:00.000-06:00

Was 1977 really that long ago?

We had one of these in Mr. Mueller's sixth grade classroom. It was only 1,298 dollars back then. That equates to a whopping 4,894 dollars today. Can anyone imagine buying a five thousand dollar computer today? You could buy SIX iPads for that!

Another interesting infograph

2011-12-14T20:32:00.002-06:00

Created by: Online Graduate Programs

A most interesting infograph

2011-12-14T10:53:00.003-06:00

Infographic by Assisted Living Today

As one who is on social media almost constantly (like now), this worries me. Maybe Mark Bauerlein is right after all.

See, that's the wonderful thing about social media. One minute I find something disturbing like the infograph above. And in the next second, I find this video which is also quite awesome and thought provoking (especially the part about "what happens in Vegas . . ."

Good or bad . . . it's an amazing time to be alive.

Perspective

2011-12-14T06:23:00.000-06:00

This morning I saw this story about a witch being beheaded in Saudi Arabia. That comes after watching this story yesterday about 50 million missing girls in India.

Suddenly, it puts into perspective how much I love living in American. And how often I take it for granted. Here I don't have to deal with such issues like that. Instead I can grumble about the Bengals stumbling to 7-6 or laugh at the outrage over banning old world light bulbs in favor of florescent ones. Indeed, it puts thins in their proper place.

No Mistakes

2011-12-10T15:26:00.001-06:00

Now this take on how to make the most out of mistakes is quite interesting.

Rothko

2011-12-08T13:07:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite artists is Mark Rothko. I saw a link to the Museum of Modern Art. It took just a search and a couple clicks to find these multi-media links.

I love Rothko because when you look at one of these paintings, it is like the visual equivalent of reader response literary theory. For as you look at it, you become a companion to the picture and help it perform and function.

Here is a clip with commentary for Rothko's son discussing how his father worked to create these amazing paintings. From looking at them on line, on TV, and in books, one doesn't realize how massive these really are. But as his son reveals, Rothko used to stand on latters to paint these.

Amazing.

Here is what might be my all-time favorite Rothko work.

If you ask me . . .

2011-12-05T15:21:00.002-06:00

This is what education should be all about

'Tis the Season

2011-12-05T15:10:00.001-06:00

This is AWESOME

7-4

2011-11-30T21:05:00.000-06:00

Who would ever have thought that the Bengals would actually have a shot at a winning record, let alone a playoff spot this season.

Most everyone - certainly me - thought they'd be competing for the number one pick in the 2012 NFL draft rather than competing for a division title.

Maybe this sorry, sorry franchise has finally turned it around.

What a difference a year, a draft, and some trades can make.

First, the year. In 2010 the Bengals signed T.O. to help spruce up their passing game. They added Jermane Gresham in the first round at tight end. They added Jordan Shipley in the third round to play the slot WR. All of this was to already go with Ochocinco and Cedric Benson and Carson Palmer, who helped the team go 10-6 and win the division in 2009.

Well, things didn't really turn out that way. T.O and Ochocinco were toxic for team chemistry. The Bengals stumbled out of the gate, getting blown out by New England in the first game of the year, and limping to a woeful 4-12 record.

They reached their fourth win two months ago this year. How nice it is.

Second, the 2011 draft. The first round brought arguably the Bengals best first round pick ever (besides Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz) A.J. Green. He has dominated from day one. Certainly Randy Moss had a more dominating rookie year, but other than that, AJ Green is the most dominant rookie receiver since. Every game he plays, he makes a big play (just youtube his 51 yard catch and run from last week's win over the Browns to see what I mean). On top of that, the Bengals were lucky enough to have the "Red Rifle," Andy Dalton, slip to them in the second round. The quarterback out of TCU has simply been phenomenal. His 16 touch down passes are a franchise record. And we still have five games left. Dalton has thrown some picks (three against Baltimore and two against San Fran and Pittsburgh, but he rallied the team in all three of those games, losing to SF by five and then losing to Baltimore and Pitt by a touchdown each).

Finally, the trades. Who would have ever thought that jettisoning Ocho would make a world of difference for Cincy. And how much fun it is to watch him toil in obscurity in NE. Who knows how miserable Dalton would be dealing with Ocho's undisciplined play and his massive ego in the lockerroom. I doubt that the sixth or seventh round pick we got for him will amount to anything, but trading Palmer to Oakland is grand theft. Sure, Palmer is doing well for the Raiders (and I hope he gets the to the AFC Championship in the next two years, then the second pick they gave us for him will turn to a first rounder), but the extra picks we got for him (especially the number one this year) will really strengthen the roster.

Now if we can just steal a win at Pittsburgh this weekend . . .

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T06:51:00.005-06:00

It's really amazing to think of all the changes that have occurred in only a few years. I remember the 'first' Thanksgiving Kristie and I had. She actually had to work so I went to my sister's house to have dinner. Mom and Dad were both alive then. Mom made sure that I took a plate of food for Kristie.

Now as we gather at Barb and Arnie's today, it will be a small affair. I was telling Kristie that it is shocking when I think of all the people that were regulars for Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers who are no longer with us: Mom and Dad; Jake (Arnie's brother); Bernard (Arnie's father); Eunice (Arnie's grandmother). In additon, we have also lost Kristie's uncle Allen and now her aunt Cheryl.

While there have been incredible losses, there have been incredible additions too: Kenzie and Cash. Also, Evan (Sean and Amanda's son). They are spending Thanksgiving at Sean's parents' house - and that is one reason this Thanksgiving will be smaller than usual. We hope to bring Kristie's mother, Gail, to Barb and Arnie's today too.

So I am thankful that despite the losses, there are additions that enrich our lives more than ever.

What am I thankful for?

Above all, my family -

Kristie - who is beautiful, intelligent, and caring. She is my best friend, and she inspires me every day. It's a cliche, I know, but she makes this house a home and my existence a life. I couldn't make it a moment without her. Nor would I ever want to.

Casey - who is home from the cities for a stint. His humor and good nature have added much to our home as of late.

KoKo - who is more like my real daughter than Kenzie may ever be. For her free spirit and her very innocent nature. She lights up this house.

Kenzie - who is every bit her mother's daughter. Her big heart and her pizzazz never fail to amaze.

Cash - who, with his two bottom teeth, thinks he is just too cute. And he is. When he snuggles into my shoulder, it is one of the best feelings in the world.

Gail - who gives and gives and gives. She is selfless and only thinks of others, especially her grand kids. May we all be as thoughtful as she is.

Ed and Lori - who will be up and who will see Cash for the first time. For their support and love. The kids treasure Lori's crafts, and we all treasure Ed's smart remarks and humor. If they only lived closer!

And I am thankful for all the past Thanksgivings I had with Mom and Dad. And for finding this photo. Every time I look at it, I see a hint of my mother in Kenzie. I can't tell you how thankful I am for that.

PicLit

2011-11-22T15:17:00.002-06:00

Here is my initial attempt at a piclit. I found a great article on how to use technology to reinvent old, boring homework assignments.

One link led me to Piclit, which offers an assortment of photos and then allows you to either drag and drop words (provided at the bottom of the screen) on to the photo of your choice to create a poem or you can choose the freestyle option, which is what I did.

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

Click on the pic above and you'll be redirected to the complete "poem."

I'd love to do this for a poetry unit.

Popplet

2011-11-22T11:01:00.003-06:00

Here is my sample popplet. I was looking for an alternative to wallwisher and came across this site. While I don't think it lets you interact and leave feedback like wallwisher, it is superior in that it allows you to set up a nice variety of content for others to view. I could see us using this in class quite a bit.

That's a Flat World for you

2011-11-18T15:12:00.000-06:00

Right before the bell sounded, I saw an interesting story on yahoo news about a guy who traded his engagement ring for a video game.

I couldn't help but think of a student of mine. So I quickly Tweeted this -

I figured Blake would see it at work and Tweet or text me back.

But no. Two seconds after the bell sounded, in walked Blake with his phone in hand asking, "do what?"

Talk about real time!

Here's the actual story.

Gamification

2011-11-18T10:23:00.000-06:00

Is this the future of education in the flat world?

No doubt Alfie Kohn would drop dead with all these students competing against each other, but how engaging and how effective.

Appalling

2011-11-17T08:47:00.000-06:00

Don't mess with the millennials. I suppose 40 years ago when teachers used to grab kids by the hair and toss them into the hallway, this teacher would have been admired for his actions.

Hopefully, today the son of a bitch is being fired.

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

This student might have been troubled and disrespectful and maybe even a jerk in the past in the class - the embedded video only shows a few minutes from this teacher's class - but I don't care. No one deserved to be treated this way by a teacher.

"What are you going to do about it?" The teacher taunts the student.

Well, dumbass, all the kid did was secretly tape you being a total jerk to him and then showed it to his parents and I imagine an attorney (he should have posted it on youtube and then sent links to the principal, super, and school board too).

Way to use the power of the flat world to stick up for yourself kid.

The Cell Phone Hiatus

2011-11-09T12:06:00.001-06:00

The first two readings in my College Comp II class are Mark Bauerlein's The Dumbest Generation and Steven Johnson's Everything Bad is Good for You. The final product for Bauerlein's book is a multi-media project that strives to take some of the things that he derides are making these millennials the dumbest generation (Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, social media, e-books, video games, popular culture . . .) and prove him wrong. That is where I got this wonderful product --

The final product for Johnson's book (which argues that all of the social media the millennials are ensconced in as well as the pop culture they are saturated in are making them more intelligent) is actually an option: surrender their cell phones to me for 48 hours and keep a journal of what their life is like without their phones OR write a tradition 6-8 page research paper on one of Johnson's theories.

Needless to say, everyone in the class opted for the former option.

I was interested to see if they might realize that without their phones, maybe Bauerlein has some points. Maybe they can't function in a world where they are unplugged.

Today I finally got around to grading their journals. Here are some of the things that struck me as I read through them.

Safety - these millennials seem to think that we live in inner-city Los Angeles or in a war-torn third world country. I can't tell you how many times students wrote about not having their security blanket of a cell phone or that they were worried that their car would break down and they'd be stranded. Now how often do any of those things really happen? Especially when students drive far nicer vehicles than ever before. Cell phones, though, make us think that we have to have this illusion of safety when really we don't. I mean our car could break down and we could be in an area with no reception or the batter could be dead or our parents could be gone. Then what would we do?

Are cell phones taking away our power to adapt and deal with real life?

Multi-Task - Every student wrote about this in some form. I think what this really means is multi-entertain. Students rely on their phones to stay entertained to game and text and surf the net. Are those tasks really vital? What will they do in class when they're bored? It used to be called daydreaming or doodling. Now it's called AngryBirds or surfing Wikipedia.

How much parents really rely on them - We like being able to contact our kids at any moment. I'm amazed at how often I hear adults complain about kids today and their damn cell phones, yet time and again students wrote about how their parents grew angry when they couldn't get ahold of them via their cell phones (even though the students had to inform their parents that they would be surrendering their phones for two days).

This reminds me of another of my pet peeves - adults and their phones! It's so hypocritical when baby boomers criticize the young for their dependence upon technology. Yet, I've been to two funerals and witnessed adults who had their cell phones go off. In one case, the embarrassed adult quickly put it on mute. The other case, the phone actually went off twice, with the adult unaware.

That never happens with millennials. They will actually ask me if they may go outside because they are expecting a call from their parents. Imagine that Gen Xers! Manners from the young. Who would have thought it?

Alarm clocks - apparently watch makers aren't the only companies to be reeling from the millennials disuse of their products, for every single journal noted how they were afraid they'd be late for school because they didn't own an alarm clock.

And, best of all, one student had a wonderful epiphany - they wrote about telling a story to a friend at lunch. Just when the student was getting to the good part in the story, their friend whipped out their cell phone and commenced texting right in the middle of the story. They didn't even hear a word the person said! How rude. Yet, the student had to wonder, how many times had they been guilty of the same thing?

That lone epiphany might have been worth all the misery I bestowed upon my class for 48 hours.

5-2

2011-11-06T10:41:00.000-06:00

Who would have ver thought or believed that at the mid point of the season, the Bengals would have five wins (and four of those have come in a row)?

Most people, me included, were putting them in the Andrew Luck race with sound odds of going 0-16.

What accounts for the amazing turn around?

Well, it starts with their top two drafts picks: WR AJ Green and QB Andy Dalton. While Dalton has had some bad moments (the two key picks in the loss to the 49ers comes to mind), he has had more great moments (his third down scramble to get a key first down in their last second victory over the unbeaten Bills and his gutsy fourth down passes in Jacksonville). AJ Green has proven to be worth the fourth pick in the draft. He catches nearly everything thrown his way and has more than replaced both TO and Ocho.

Besides the play of our rookies, credit has to go to the defense, which is currently ranked #4 overall. They have one or two 'big' names on defense (Mauluga and Domonato Peko - both of which are probably misspelled). Besides that, there are really no stars. Thanks to their phenomenal defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, they are always in the right spot at the right time.

And credit also has to go to two guys who are usually vilified: Marvin Lewis and Mike Brown. Lewis was finally able to jettison Ocho Cinco and not having his cancerous "me, me, me" attitude in the locker room has made a profound impact. This is a group of guys who don't care about reality TV shows, Twitter, or any other self congratulatory behaviors. They just want to play football and win games. How refreshing (especially after last year when TO was brought it and everything absolutely fell apart)!

Brown deserves credit for trading Carson Palmer for what amounts to a king's ransom. At the start of the season everyone thought if the Bengals could get a second or third round pick for Palmer, they should jump at it. Yet, Brown held out and landed a first round pick and either a first or second round pick in the 2013 draft. Brilliant.

Of course, the Bengals haven't really beaten anybody (other than the Bills), but the barely lost to the 49ers and have been in every game this year. Time will tell though, for they face off against the favorites in the division, the Steelers and Ravens, after this week. If they could manage to split the series against those teams and win a couple more against a very favorable schedule (Arizona at home in late December, the struggling Rams on the road, and the Browns at home), the Bengals could nab a wild card spot. I'm not nuts enough to predict that they'll take the AFC North as they did in 2009, though. Maybe next year when Dalton has another season under his belt and they can capitalize on their two first round picks next spring. Maybe then.

And maybe, just maybe, things are looking up for the Bengals - who seem to be doing things very unlike the usual Bengals.

Toulmin Method for Commercials

2011-11-03T11:02:00.001-05:00

Here is today's assignment:

App Assignment

2011-11-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was looking at on-line articles to share with my College Comp II class. I found the one I was searching for and wanted to share it with them. I usually will link it to our class blog, Tweet it, and, once in awhile, I'll Facebook it too.

Then I noticed a huge variety of ways to share the story. I have often seen these before located in a sidebar to the story or at the bottom of the article, but I had no clue what most of those tiny little symbols meant. However, I wanted to know.

So I decided to print them out, divvy them up among my College Comp II students and have have them figure it out for me. Many of them had no idea what these odd little symbols meant either, but that was part of the fun.

I said it was just like working at job. Your boss walks in and hands you an assignment and gives you a dead line and you figure it out.

They wanted to know what the final form for presenting their findings would be.

I said, "Well, I'll ask the CEO." Then I sent Mr. Zutz a text asking him what he thought the final format should be.

As we discussed this, I kept checking my phone for a message. Every time I got a text the kids were on the edge of their seats. After a few minutes I got a text from Mr. Zutz with the final format: a speech.

I gave my class four questions to answer in their search:

1. What is it?

2. What function does it serve?

3. How can it be used in class?

4. What is one interesting thing about it?

What I found remarkable about what the students discovered was that all of these apps, whether they be Digg, Reddit, Slashdot, Edmodo, Newsvine, Stumble Upon . . ., was that I kept hearing these same terms in each presentation: "sharing," "instant feedback," "rating," "social," "ask questions,""contribute,"and "distributing."

As I listened to the presentations, I couldn't help but envy the digital world these kids are growing up in.

I know they are lambasted all the time by my generation that laments all the things we miss about the past . . . libraries, books, family dinners, long drives in the country, watching a TV show as a family . . . and then we realize, hey, we didn't really do those things either! Even if they did happen, they are never really the way we remembered them.

It's simply easier to pick on the up and coming generation for how they are different from us than to admire the new world they are growing up in (and we are growing old in).

I'm all for this new digital world. I don't miss the days of three TV channels (I like being able to record and pause live digital cable), being limited in my reading to what our rural library could import via the inter-library loan system (I thought amazon.com was the greatest thing until now that I have a kindle app on my iPad), having my news limited to the monthly heavy metal magazines I bought or the weekly subscription to Sporting News (I'd much rather surf their websites now and get my news updated minute by minute or - better yet - I can follow many of them on Twitter and get the news before the websites even get their information).

As I kept hearing those same words, "sharing," "instant feedback," "rating," "social," "ask questions,""contribute,"and "distributing,"it hit me just how much this generation needs to be connected to everything all at once, which is basically what these apps allow them to do.

I truly envy that.

App Prezis

My Favorite Scene from "The Village"

2011-10-31T09:56:00.000-05:00

This is one of the best scenes from "The Village."

The world indeed moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.

I knew I heard that line somewhere before. It lodged in my mind when my wife and I saw this film. Several years later it would pop back into my mind and trigger one of my favorite poems about my wife.

And every once in awhile . . .

2011-10-31T09:11:00.000-05:00

a teacher gets feedback like this that reminds them of the power they wield.

How is everything going back in Thief River?? I just wanted to write you an email to say THANK YOU!! I found out a few days ago that I have been accepted into the UND nursing program and I will start in January! You are probably wondering what on earth this has to do with you, but as it turned out we had to write a paper as a part of the admission process. This was probably the hardest paper that I have ever written, and not because of the criteria, it's just so dang hard to write a paper about yourself! I sat and stared at my computer for hours and hours at Starbucks (yes I am now addicted to coffee because of college). I started to think about comp and everything that I had learned from you and I even looked at some of my old papers. The one that stuck out to me was my paper that I wrote about talking and how I was sooo very good at it :) After a few laughs I got the confidence I needed to write the single most important paper of my life, so far. This paper had to be a complete reflection of who I am and I had to basically sell myself in 2 pages! I brought my paper to the UND writing center and to my surprise it was virtually error free and it all made sense! I attribute a lot of my writing ability to you! Between both comp 1 and comp 2, I learned how to write a paper that reflected my personality all while staying on a professional level. This whole experience can kind of go along with the phase "So when am I ever going to us this??" So you can let all of your students know that yes, they will use every bit of information that you are teaching them! They may use the information to get an A on a paper for biology or they might even use the information to write an awesome paper that opens the door to their new career (like myself)!! Thank you so much for putting your whole heart into teaching us all how to be great writers and for actually caring about us! Now that I am in college, my name is 0805609 not Carli Sandahl; that is the biggest adjustment that I have had to get used to. I wish I had more teachers like you who actually care about their students and want them to succeed. I feel very blessed to have had a teacher like you who valued our education more than their paycheck, because now my professors could not care less if I got an A or an F, as long as I pay my tuition. At the time, comp was just a class that I enjoyed going to but now I realize how much we all actually learned from you and you really can't put a price on that! Thank you for writing corrections all over my papers and for ripping them apart if they were bad, because you know what, it prepared me for what was in store for me at college. So I feel that I can speak for my whole class when I say that I appreciate absolutely everything you did for us and how you valued each and every one of us, and i'm not being facetious! :)

-Carli

P.S. I know that this email has a billion grammatical errors... Don't hold it against me! I like to use commas! haha

Interesting

2011-10-27T10:25:00.003-05:00

Caution the expletives, but if you've ever been in an English class (high school or college) - and especially a literary criticism class - you'll sympathize with this.

And the Largest Pumpkin Carving Ever . . .

2011-10-27T10:22:00.001-05:00

Though if I had this sucker in our front yard for the holiday, my wife wouldn't sleep at all. She hates zombies.

Literary Pumpkins

2011-10-27T10:19:00.000-05:00

This is almost too cool to put into words. Literature inspired Jack-O-Lanterns. That's about as cool as it can get.

Here are a few of my favorites

Little Red Riding Hood.

The Raven

And "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Now, if there were just a "Young Goodman Brown" Jack-o-Lantern!

I guess we can live in fear of drowning

2011-10-24T09:37:00.001-05:00

At least we're not Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi or Utah!

Age of the Geek

2011-10-23T10:39:00.000-05:00

Not that I'm a geek - or ever have been - my best friend, Lon, though is one, and this is hilarious.

20 Things Kids Want the Nation to Know About Their Education

2011-10-23T08:58:00.005-05:00

I have to critically think in college, but your tests don't teach me that.
We learn in different ways at different rates.
I can't learn from you if you are not willing to connect with me.
Teaching by the book is not teaching. It's just talking.
Caring about each student is more important than teaching the class.
Every young person has a dream. Your job is to help bring us closer to our dreams.
We need more than teachers. We need life coaches.
The community should become more involved in schools.
Even if you don't want to be a teacher, you can offer a student an apprenticeship.
Us youth love all the new technologies that come out. When you acknowledge this and use technology in your teaching it makes learning much more interesting.
You should be trained not just in teaching but also in counseling.
Tell me something good that I'm doing so that I can keep growing in that.
When you can feel like a family member it helps so much.
We appreciate when you connect with us in our worlds such as the teacher who provided us with extra help using Xbox and Skype
Our teachers have too many students to enable them to connect with us in they way we need them to.
Bring the electives that we are actually interested in back to school. Things like drama, art, cooking, music.
Education leaders, teachers, funders, and policy makers need to start listening to student voice in all areas including teacher evaluations.
You need to use tools in the classroom that we use in the real world like Facebook, email, and other tools we use to connect and communicate.
You need to love a student before you can teach a student.
We do tests to make teachers look good and the school look good, but we know they don't help us to learn what's important to us.

The entire article can be found here.

To coincide with this, one of my favorite bloggers (Cool Cat Teacher Blog) had this to say about 10 ways to be a terrible teacher. How many have you seen?

10- The teacher is always on their cell phone.
I have a new iPhone - today I'm locking it in my desk during class. Sure, I'm usually checking off my list or responding to a question for IT support at my school but my students don't know that. A cell phone in my hand, whatever I'm doing, says that someone out of the room is more important than the people who are in my room. That is a lie. When I'm teaching, they are the most important thing in the room. Nothing should be between me and them.

9 - The teacher is always on the computer or not paying attention.
Multitasking is a lie. You shouldn't be Facebooking, Tweeting, emailing, surfing, reading your PLN or anything during class - even during a test. You should be up and around in your classroom helping and TEACHING. They are paying you to teach, not hang out in a virtual teacher's lounge. Teaching is work. You need to be part of your class. When you sit down at your desk and disengage with your students, you suck the energy out of your classroom.

I knew a student who used to sew on her sewing machine during class. As soon as she started sewing, the class knew they were "free." You are shocked at sewing but I see teachers doing this now with electronic devices. You are paid to be WITH and engaged with your students not doing something else.

8- The teacher is always losing his/her temper or is predictably dramatic.
I lose my temper 2-3 times a year - last year it was twice. Everyone knows it because it is rare. If you're losing your temper a lot you need to figure out why and get help. You might be tired or under a lot of stress, but you are the adult. There is no reason for you to have to raise your voice or constantly lose your temper. It isn't good for you and it isn't good for the students. Teachers who are bullies should be ashamed of themselves.

The predictably dramatic could be when you get soooooooo mad you jump on your desk. The kids are shocked the first time and get quiet. But then, they start plotting. You have sealed your doom.

7- The Teacher shares private student information publicly
NEVER call grades out loud - even for the top students. It is embarrassing. Don't do it. It is a horrible thing when teachers do this. It is also horrible when you berate them in front of the class for ANYTHING. If you want to lose the respect of your class let them see you treat a classmate - even one they don't like- with disrespect. This isn't a contest and it isn't a reality show. Handle private things privately. Period.

6 - The teacher talks without stopping for more than 10 minutes (especially if monotone.)
Do you realize that after 20 minutes they are asleep? Imagine the principal from Ferris Bueller's day off. This sort of thing will kill the love of learning. Learn to listen for cues and watch for them. When quite a few kids start going to sleep DO SOMETHING. Vary your voice. Have them read. Ask a question. Extended lecture should be viewed as going through the motions of teaching for most students. Sleeping is not an option. I have made an exception when a child is getting over a loss or has something going on in their family but typically this is a no no for me.

5 - The Teacher only teaches with one method
Worksheets are so hard for many children. I have one child who really doesn't learn a thing from them. When a teacher sticks to only one modality he/she will teach the children who learn through that modality and everyone else will be "bad students." We can differentiate and we can use multiple modalities. Wanda the One Note Worksheet Wonder will kill the love of learning in a class of students who are auditory learners. Likewise if you only assess learning with tests, you're missing the point and you're probably also missing the learning that could happen.

4 - The teacher who only teaches "good" students and lets the "bad" students do their own thing.

Let me tell you something. A "good" student can learn alone in a room with a book and doesn't need a teacher. A good teacher can make a good student into a great one. But a good teacher also works to reach every child.

I know of a child with a significant LD who is now one of the most successful thoracic surgeons I know. I now an incredibly gifted graphic designers who has some of the leading Fortune 100 companies knocking on her door but was made to feel like an idiot because she couldn't diagram sentences in middle school. Good teachers work to reach and teach all children. If you only want to work with "good" students then I'm happy that you have such a great teaching environment but the reality of most of our classrooms is that we have some kids who could go either way. I teach only good students because I believe all of my students are great. I get what I believe and expect.

3 - The teacher who teaches the same every year without changing.
I know a math teacher who fought getting a new book because it would mean making out new tests and this person had been using the same tests for over 15 years. Some students don't get a subject and need some extra help and assessment and others don't. When I teach binary numbers, some years I can cover it in 2 days and others it takes 7. It depends on the students.

2- The Teacher whose words mean nothing.
Imagine the traffic policeman who just stood by the road, wagging his finger, and yelling at cars for speeding.

"Slow down .... now... now.."
"I said slow down."

This officer would become a joke because there is no teeth in his actions. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Be consistent. But don't lie to them. Don't threaten with no follow through but if you're threatening a lot, then why? Why should you count? Your word should be enough.

1- Hate your students
Why are you teaching if this is you? When you talk poorly about a student it does get back to your student eventually. I don't respect teachers who I think have a vendetta against a particular student. I admit I've had 3 in my teaching career who were especially hard for me to love. But I had to adjust my own attitude and know that even if that child's goal was to get me, that I was above it. I am an adult doing an important job and I will behave nobly. No one can take away my nobility but me.

****

When you mess up, fess up.

I had a student earlier in the year that I felt I embarrassed. I was very upset about it. I didn't mean to, I saw her blush and realized it after the fact. I found her later and apologized. She tried to let me out of it but I said,

"You are important to me and I think I embarrassed you. You need to know you can trust me and I will do everything in my power to never do it again. I am so sorry, it wasn't intentional. Will you forgive me?"

I already had a good relationship with that student but now it is a great one. I treasure her and she knows she can trust me. I think that because I admitted this to her and was human about it, she was willing to forgive me. I'm so glad I did. Do you have a student you need to apologize to? Do it.

You can find the entire blog entry here.

A REAL stimulus plan

2011-10-20T11:22:00.000-05:00

Forgive Student Loans. That is a brilliant idea. Even though I'm close to being done with mine, I think it's insane to saddle a young kid just out of college with what amounts to a mortgage. What hope does a kid right out of college - with such debt - stand of landing a job that will help him pay that college debt off, not to mention get a house, own a vehicle, raise a family and spend cash (which, last I checked, was vital to stimulating our economy). Even I can remember to the economics lesson I learned in college: threat #1 to our economy, personal savings!

This seems to me quite a bit different than the bankruptcy forgiveness that often happens. Sure, maybe student debt contributed to some of that, but so did over consumption. It's not like a kid over consumes when it comes to their college choice.

Why reward someone who racks up debt on six different credit cards and from buying a new home, a new vehicle, taking two vacations and so on under bankruptcy?

But allowing a kid with a college degree to start fresh, well that's a just reward?

I know there is a strong push out there arguing against students going on to college. I know the reasons, a degree doesn't equate to a job, students party at college and drop out or never take their studies seriously, the degree doesn't teach them anything any way, there just aren't enough jobs out their for the number of college graduates. All are legit points.

But if you're a parent, this is the key question: do you want your child to earn a college degree and have a chance at a descent job? Or do you want them to work construction, at Wal-mart, or a series of part time jobs?

Death by Worksheet

2011-10-20T10:02:00.000-05:00

This blog post makes a great deal of sense.

I used to watch my step-daughter come home with a ton of worksheets: crossword puzzles, fill in the blank, word finds, and so on as 'homework.' But the problem was this: she didn't see it as homework. By 'homework' I mean valuable work that is an extension of the class that actually enhances the key ideas that she is supposed to master. I have my doubts if any worksheets really help to accomplish that. And let me say this - I am as guilty of handing out worksheets as anyone. Or at least I was until we had a speaker about four years ago who talked about how - for the most part - they were simply busy work and then when I read this article by Alfie Kohn called "It's Not What We Teach; It's What They Learn."

Still, when I saw KoKo with those stacks of worksheets, I knew she didn't see them as an extension of the valuable classroom lessons. She saw them as I think most students see them: busy work. They became so many sheets she had to 'get done with' before going on Facebook or watching Degrassi.

When we send work like that home, what is our real goal? Is it to extend an important lesson into the home so students can better understand what we want them to learn? Or is it just what we do in order to follow our 'curriculum'? Is it just so we keep the students busy (as opposed to engaged)? Or maybe we don't even think about it because it's all that we've ever known.

As students we completed the same type of worksheets, with the same type of apathy that our students complete the worksheets. Yet, we often dole out the same irrelevant work to ur students.

Why?

Well, I don't think there is one right answer.

I think, though, that the mother in the blog post makes an excellent point when she observes -

I write this as a frustrated parent watching her child shift between two entirely different worlds as if one bares no resemblance to the other. Those two worlds are home and school.

At home my son will build and play with lego, play make believe games with his sister, draw, ride his bike, play his PS3, play games on the internet and play intuitively with a plethora of different apps on mobile devices. When he doesn’t know a word he is reading or when he wants new words to use in his writing, he heads to the iPad dictionary and thesaurus apps without a second thought.

When he enters the school gates each day however, access to such interactive tools and activities, to which he is so familiar, are limited. In most cases they are replaced with worksheets and huge, heavy text books. Information is static and they are passive recipients.

This is not a personal gripe about the school he presently attends; great inroads are being made into using more technology in the classroom to enhance the great teaching and learning they already do. I am thankful for all their hard work but as an advocate for a 21st Century Education for today’s children, and of course an advocate for my own children and how they learn best, I cannot help but notice the discrepancy between his two worlds and wish that it wasn’t so. Understanding why it is so and arguments for change are a much bigger conversation for another time.

Last night as I was doing yard work, I was listening to a podcast featuring Ed Hirsch Jr. He was denouncing the ineffectiveness of teaching reading.

Now, this is a shock to me. Our district, especially our elementary school, pours tons of time into reading. But is it working? At the high school we have more remedial reading classes than ever. Nation wide our reading scores have stagnated. The whole Read First (if I recall the name of the initiative correctly) program failed miserably despite millions of dollars pumped into it.

As I now teach a remedial reading class, I'm very conscious of the worksheets I give. Are they busy work? Or do students find relevance in them? (This is what Kohn gets at in the article I mentioned previously).

He focuses on a couple issues that I think lead in to the worksheet debacle.

First, reading is an activity. Not a subject (other than an early elementary subject when the skill of word acquisition is gained). When you isolate it as a subject, you do it a great disservice. I dare ANY teacher, parent, or administrator to sit through the curriculum of any reading class full of worksheets, KLW guides, fix up strategies, fact vs. fiction guides, vocab work and not be so bored that they consider peeling the flesh from their eyes the same way one peels an onion.

That was exactly how I felt when I bombarded my summer school kids with MCA strategy worksheets. Yet, I was 'teaching' reading. Not.

Second, simply teaching the skill of decoding words does nothing for students. Readers don't think about decoding. They read. Moreover, any true reader devours what they read . . . given that they can find an area they are interested in.

Now, here it seems to me is the painful part of our problem. If students aren't taught to read correctly early on - or more aptly, if they don't learn (after all, I don't believe the entire blame can be placed solely on the teacher) how to read early on in elementary school, it might be too damned late. Regardless of the interventions that occur later.

To compound things, our current culture doesn't exactly encourage deep reading skills. TV, the internet, social media . . . they all encourage viewing over reading. That's not going to change. Can teachers in early elementary school combat that?

Third, we do students a grave disservice by teaching vocab in isolation. Hirsch shares some examples of the effects of this - "I meticulously fell off the cliff." "My parents radiated the menu." and so on. That's not how real people learn real words. Yet, we teach them in such an awkward way that the definition of the word is ingrained in their minds yet the context and true meaning never is.

Finally, Hirsch argues that children learn to read by reading a lot of real books. I think of the crap I had my summer school kids read. Passages taken out of context (one painful example was trying to make sense of a passage from The Red Badge of Courage that was damn near indecipherable taken out of context). Another example was a story about a diver diving to the bottom of the ocean. The only catch was it was taken out of order and students had to number the out of order sentences in the right sequence of events! No one in the class - including me - could make any damn sense out of it. Now, where in the real world do real readers do anything like this? Where in the workforce will this ever happen? Can you imagine a supervisor at Digi Key giving an employ a list of parts - out of order - and then telling them to number them in the correct sequential order? Or a manager at a farm implement dealership giving the new manual to a salesman out of order and having him put it back in the proper order? Where is the real reading of real books?

Now this ties in to the follow of worksheets because they tend to remove students from real learning. Think of our lives. When do you fill out a worksheet when you are going to insulate your house for the winter (as I attempted to do yesterday)? I never got a nice little worksheet on how to change a diaper when I brought Kenzie home. I didn't get a nice KWL sheet when I had to rake the billions of leaves in my yard up and get them to the berm in order for the city workers to suck them up. Had to figure that one out on my own.

Yet, why do we subject kids to this?

I think one solution to the worksheet insanity is having students produce products or presentations (now you tell me how often will students have to do that in the real world?).

But designing an effective assignment that allows for students to develop and then produce something is not easy. Certainly not as easy as simply photocopying the numerous worksheets provided with our curriculum.

What Teaching Means

2011-10-19T21:27:00.000-05:00

The anthology that is publishing my essay, "The Myth of the Teacher" has a blog site. It will be great to watch the progress toward publication. This book is slated for this spring, which is a far quicker publishing schedule than my previous (and first) publication Getting it in Writing took.

Vote Yes

2011-10-18T10:07:00.002-05:00

Here is the breakdown for how funds will be spent if the referendum passes next month.

Vote YES!

13 Stories for Halloween

2011-10-17T14:30:00.000-05:00

In honor of Disney's 13 Days of Halloween, here is my annual run down of the best horror stories.

13. "The Gentleman's Hotel" by Joe R. Lansdale. Two summers ago, I bought the anthology, Curse of the Full Moon at the Georgia Tech bookstore in Atlanta. However, it wasn't until this fall that I finally read this story from the collection. I have not read anything by Lansdale since his phenomenal The Nightrunners when I was 16. That novel has stood out as one of the most violent and brilliant horror books of my youth (right up there with the work of Thomas Harris (The Silence of the Lambs) and Clive Barker (The Books of Blood). This is actually one of the better werewolf stories I've come across. And the main character, Reverend Jebediah Mercer, who is one of the most interesting protagonists I've come across in some time. This both made me think twice about going down stairs in the middle of the night and made me laugh out loud.

12. "Hunting Meth Zombies in the Great Nebraskan Wasteland" - John Farris. Okay, so this one made the list back in 2009. But I re-read it recently and had to put it back on the list. I've read a couple of Farris' novels when I was much younger (the classic All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By being the only one I really remember). This was up for a Bram Stoker award for best short story. And so I hunted it down and found it in a collection of other great horror and sci-fi stories. This story alone should make it just for its title - not to mention that the story itself is a term paper written by a high school student for an English class. Plus, how can a list of top horror stories not include at least one zombie story, right?

11. "Safety Clowns." Glen Hirshberg. A young man looking for a job finds one. Working as a drug dealer for a group that dispenses their drugs via a fleet of ice cream vans with large clowns on top. After one day, though, the young man decides he can't live do such a thing and quits. Lucky for him. It seems the vans and the clowns themselves were created for an entirely different purpose . . .

10. "Young Goodman Brown." Nathaniel Hawthorne. How can I not include the greatest American short story ever written? Brilliant. Haunting. Chilling. And as relevant today as when it was first written back in 1835. Once you read it, you, like Brown himself, will never be the same. Besides, it's so much fun. I found this essay on line and just couldn't help but read it. Now, you tell me. How many horror stories on this list will still have essays being written about them 176 years after they have been published?

9. "Cell" - David Case. From the quite excellent (and likely now out of print) The Mammoth Book of Werewolves. I'm realizing as I comprise this list that each of these stories has a moment or two where we just glimpse the true terror or horror of the characters and their situations. I think that is ten times more powerful than if you just throw open the door and try to show us the true monster lurking there. And just hinting always works better - because that technique is like steroids for our imagination. And what we can imagine is always worse than what someone else can devise. Well, except for my top two choices. In those cases, the authors throw open the door and invite us right into the room where we not only see the monster and try to flee but end losing traction on something slippery on the floor . . . and then we look at what is splattered on the walls around us . . . then the stench hits us . . . then we hear the monster start after us. That's how good those top two choices are.

8. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Charlotte Perkins Gillman. You'll never look at wallpaper the same. Guaranteed. In fact, my College Comp I students are currently reading this. I can't wait to see their reactions. Truth be told, I had tried several times to read this in the past, but I could never get into it. Then one day some English colleagues and I were standing around and I raised this question: "What is the greatest short story ever written?" Loiell Dyrud, of course, countered with Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." I chimed in with "Young Goodman Brown." Larry Barton added "The Yellow Wallpaper." It was at that moment that I vowed to read it, and I did. And it scared the hell out of me. In College Comp I we always listen to it a second time and the story gets creepier for the students. Then I have a student creep around the room as the narrator is doing at the climax of the story to illustrate the horrific imagery in the story. It's unforgettable.

7. "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." How could we not have some Lovecraft on the list? I usually include "Herbert West: Re-animator," but I've read that with my sci fi class so many times that it's losing its impact on me. Then I thought about "The Rats in the Walls," but the climax has always mystified me. Then there is "The Colour out of Space," and while it's excellent, it is too predictable for me. That leaves his "Innsmouth" tale. While it's a clunker at times, when he finally gets rolling in this tale, it's horrific. The escape scene from the hotel is great fun. As is the scene where our narrator peaks down an alley and sees the Innsmouth residents coming up from the sea. And the resolution? It's pure Lovecraft.

Speaking of old H.P. here is one of the best documentaries on Lovecraft (or any horror writer for that matter), that I've ever seen. You certainly can see his impact on authors and film makers of today.

6. "N." Stephen King. This story in King's After Sunset collection, is great. It's a retelling of Machen's "The Great God Pan" (you'll see that one later on in the list) with a healthy dose (okay, that's a poor play on words) of OCD thrown in. But it's scary as hell. Plus, there is a serialized adaptation of the story available on iTunes. Here are the first five episodes merged.

5. "The Lottery." Shirley Jackson. If it's not "Young Goodman Brown," then it's got to be "The Lottery" for the greatest American short story. On first reading, 99% of it is plain and kind of boring. But that 1% packs such a wallop that once you read it, you'll never forget it nor will you ever be the same.

4. "Crouch End." Stephen King. This one is written as a tribute to HP Lovecraft (whose eternal - no pun intended - "Herbert West: Re-Animator" is usually included on this list but got bumped off this year). King's prose is so effective whenever I read it, the room I'm in just fades away and I'm right next to Mr. and Mrs. Freeman try to find their way out of Crouch End. Sadly, only one makes it. Well, one makes it out alive . . . though they never really are able to make it back completely. But I've already said too much about this one!

3. The Great God Pan. Arthur Machen. Okay. I cheated a little here. This is not a story but more of a novella. The opening scene, with the quintessential mad scientist, is horrific. And the story never lets up from there. The story is so far ahead of its time in term of its postmodern approach. I think now that it's just getting the recognition it deserves. And best of all, you can find it on line.

2. "The Pattern." Ramsey Cambell. He is the master of the snap ending. Sometimes I just love to read the final line or paragraph of all the stories in one of his anthologies for their effect. You never see them coming, and they always hit you upside the head. This story builds slowly, but the last five pages rush at you and before you know, they've got you.

1. "Pig Blood Blues." Clive Barker. It's like a fable from hell. Barker's strength - at least in his infamous Books of Blood - is to take us on a journey that begins firmly in reality but ends in total terror . . . and we don't even realize that we've left reality far, far behind. He's very much like Ray Bradbury when it comes to that. And that makes this story all the more horrifying because you don't know that something really terrible is happening . . . until it's happened and, by then, it's far too late. Read this one on Halloween. I dare you.

The Millennial Song

2011-10-17T11:12:00.002-05:00

This was one video produced to refute Bauerlein's claims in his book The Dumbest Generation. I enjoyed every second of this.

New Essay Topic

2011-10-14T11:08:00.000-05:00

Well, it's an old one that actually fell out of use for several years. Just this year I decided to give it a try. The premise for the essay is simple: Write a rough draft of 1,000 word personal narrative on an intense situation.

My College Comp students worked hard to craft their essays to 1,000 words. I answered repeated questions about how to flesh things out to that length. So it was with a great deal of pride that students turned in their multi-page essays.

Then I dropped the bombshell on them (conveniently, it was at the very start of class when I was about to leave for a football game) - "Okay, take your 1,000 word draft and develop it into a second draft focusing on the most intense moment of your personal essay. The second draft must be exactly 50 words. Have a good day." And with that I walked out and let my sub handle it.

To say that my phone lit up with angry texts and texts asking if I was serious is an understatement.

I wanted my writers to work on first developing a personal narrative and fleshing it out in details and imagery and dialogue and all that good stuff. But ultimately I wanted them to whittle their first draft down to focus on the key moment of the entire narrative.

Here is one of my favorite final pieces --

Shot of a Lifetime

The buck stopped broadside down the trail. I swiftly pointed my rifle through the

cracked window. Cheek on the stock, I focused on the cross hairs. Making one last

adjustment, I feathered the trigger with confidence. The .308 round cuts the silence and

meets its target.

Great Steve Jobs Tribute

2011-10-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics from the Apple store in Palo Alto.

Now, what would our schools be like if we were to have students decorate our rooms with Sticky-Notes telling us how they feel about us, or our classes, or what they have learned from us? And what if their teachers could leave the same feedback on their lockers?

Could we handle that feedback? Would anyone leave a Stick-Note?

Favorite TED Podcasts

2011-10-14T08:42:00.002-05:00

A colleague of mine recently said how much she enjoyed a TED podcast feature Sir Ken Robinson that I had talked about last year. That got me thinking about my top ten favorite TED podcasts. Scanning my iTunes library, I quickly narrowed it down to these:

10. Cameran Herold - "Let's Raise Kids to be Entreprenuers."

I enjoy this because Herold has some excellent ideas about teaching and getting kids engaged and to think critically. What kind of learner would we produce if we focused on some of these skills rather than taking high stakes tests and simply memorizing facts?

9. Dan Meyer - "Math Class Needs a Makeover."

I like this one because so much of what he says about math class can be related to the English class too. Let's engage students in active reading and writing. What I mean by that is actual work that is connected to the real world, and not some remote grammar exercises in their textbooks.

8. Michael Specter - "The Danger of Science Denial"

Specter makes a great point about our burgeoning culture of fear. Listening to many politicians, I get the sense they'd love to rewind time and have the 1950's all over again. I would not. And Specter explains why.

7. Bruce McCall - "Nostalgia for a Future that Never Happened"

One of my all time favorites. The art is great, but so is the presenter's wry humor and style. I am fascinated by how as we age, we tend to long for a past that never really existed. Or at least never really existed in the way we think it did. Nostalgia taints it and makes it seem greater than it really was.

6. Chris Anderson - "on Technology’s long Tail"

Though this one is a bit dated, it is, as the Brits say, 'spot on.' The phenomenal learning potential of the internet and podcasts and videos. It is truly a flat world. Just look at what he has to say about a mostly unknown technology start up called "skype." Look at how that's taken off! There is hope in technology, and, thus, the future.

5. Clifford Stoll - "18 Minutes with an Agile Mind"

Stoll is like Mr. Froiland. Only on speed. How entertaining, dizzying, engaging, and at the very end, touching. Everything that great education should be.

4. Barry Schwarz - "the paradox of Choice"

Happiness is not necessarily linked to freedom. At least freedom of choice. Schwarz makes an excellent case that too much choice leads to constriction and . . . unhappiness. The part about finding the perfect pair of blue jeans is so true.

3. Sir Ken Robinson - "Bring on the Education Revolution"

Robinson's newest TED Talk. And it lives up the his legendary first TED Talk. We need to have him speak at our beginning of the year inservice. We should all be like Ken.

2. Steven Johnson - "Where Good Ideas Come From"

I cannibalized this and turned it into last year's honor's speech. Johnson is one of my favorite thinkers and writers. His ideas on what we call "the slow hunch" is fascinating. Good ideas come from collaboration, not isolation. Yet, how often do we let our students collaborate? How often do we as teachers even collaborate?

1. Sir Ken Robinson - "Do Schools Kill Creativity?"

The legendary TED Talk. It's been downloaded millions of times. And he asks the vital question, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?"

And we answer - of course they do! Creative kids aren't always quiet. They don't always sit in neat rows. They aren't always punctual. They can see right through the worthlessness of rote memorization. And they often don't 'do school' because it doesn't engage them the way their creative venture do. And it's a damn shame.

Twitter Book Club

2011-10-14T05:24:00.001-05:00

I love this idea -

a Twitter book club.

What a great way to interactively read a book with a class in or out of school.

Girls and Boys

2011-10-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

Kenzie has it all figured out. She was in bed with Kristie, Cash, and me last night.

"Mom," she said, "we're girls, right?"

"Yes, dear," Kristie said.

"Dad and Cash are boys, right?" Kenzie asked.

"Yes, dear," Kristie replied. "Mom, KoKo, you, and Grandma. We're all girls."

To which Kenzie replied, "and Uncle Barb! She's a girl too!"

Ha. Good old Uncle Barb! Can't leave her out.

What would your video look like?

2011-10-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

We watched this video in class the other day. I like what this teacher does. Too often teachers are too concerned with projecting our view of the world on our students. Too often we dismiss how our students view the world. Perhaps, that's why so many dislike school. What happens if we were to find a happy medium. We present the content, skills, and knowledge that the standards demand and the students bring in their interests and passions and together we connect them.

More Jobs

2011-10-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

Check out Steve Jobs' commencement speech from Stanford to get a taste of what his pioneering vision was like.

Jobs on why - like me - you have to love what you do.

First, how can we run schools like this? Then, how can I run my classes like this?

Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T07:24:00.000-05:00

Visionary, rebel, drop out, charismatic CEO, maverick, brilliant, world changer . . . these are but a few of the words that come to mind about Steve Jobs, who recently died from pancreatic cancer.

Of course, I type this entry on my MacBook. Later today, I'll listen to my iPod. Kenzie will watch a movie on the iPad. If I were at work, I'd be using the Apple desktop computer. But that's just the hardware. I showed two presentations via Keynote the past couple days (Apple's answer to PowerPoint). I showed a documentary that I purchased from iTunes. I posted pictures that I downloaded in iPhoto.

And to think all that revolution began innocently enough with the apple IIe and then Mac personal computer in 1984. Of course, we still had those Macs in use in our English lab as late as 1999. What other computer could remain viable for 15 years?

His impact goes on and on. Even if we don't realize it (or like to admit it).

Apple will have quite the void to fill. But they still have the brilliant Jonathan Ive.

RiP Mr. Jobs

Good News

2011-10-05T10:06:00.001-05:00

I just got word from the editors for the anthology What Teaching Means: Stories from America's Classrooms. One of my essays I submitted, "The Myth Teacher" has been selected. I just need to tweak the title to "The Myth of Teaching" and I'm set.

It's funny. I thought the other piece I submitted, entitled "One of Those Teachers" was the far stronger piece. Shows you how much I know!

Look for the book in the Spring of 2012.

Great Video

2011-10-05T10:03:00.000-05:00

My College Comp 2 class is reading the intro and first chapter of Steven Johnson's Everything Bad is Good for You.

Johnson's intro establishes his thesis: that our modern culture (and its growing sophistication and connectivity) are making us smart, whether we want to admit that or not.

His first chapter analyzes how gaming makes us smart. Now, I'm not a huge gamer, but I know from my ten year addiction to SEGA Genesis and football games (Madden, NES, Tecmo, and College Football). I recall playing College Football (actually, it was the old, classic "Bill Walsh's College Football" from 1994) with my good friends Harry and Curt. I so loved and was engaged in playing the game, that I literally poured dozens of hours into simply analyzing the plays and different formations. Because of this, I knew how to line up in one formation (say, shotgun with four wide receivers) and then audible to another formation (say, a wishbone with two tight ends and three running backs). This allowed me to run the option out of the wishbone with the shotgun personnel. This meant I could have a backfield of my beloved Colorado Buffaloes consisting of Kordel Stewart at qb (the best player in that version of the video game) with Rashaan Salaam at one running back, Rae Caruth at one running back, and Herschell Troutman at another running back. I had a decided advantage. I could pitch to one of my fastest players. When a running back was losing power, I'd switch to this formation and pitch to a wide receiver with full power. Also, I could throw out of the formation too.

Now, how is that learning?

Well, look at all the education concepts I had to master and apply in order to pull that off - memorization, analysis, evaluation, comparison, cause and effect, synthesis, and creation. And I did it gladly.

Yet, how gladly do students do those things in school?

That's the power of gaming.

Also, you get instant feedback. Whenever Curt and Harry would let me play with Colorado (and they often wouldn't because I knew their plays so well . . . and to be truthful Colorado was the most talented team in the game . . . and to be honest I usually lost when I had to play with another team), I would line up in a formation, survey their defense formation, audible to a different offensive formation, see that they were now audibling to a different defensive formation, and audible yet again. One of my decisions immediately resulted in a counter decision on their part. That's feedback. But it didn't end there. I'd run a play and get instant feedback: if the play worked, I gained yards and rubbed it in to Curt or Harry that I could not be stopped. I was given immediate feedback. How often is feedback given immediately in schools?

But to explain it far better than I did in that example, here is a video that one of my students submitted as part of an assignment. It perfectly illustrates how gaming leads to engagement, which leads to learning.

Enjoy. I sure did.

LHS Rocks

2011-10-03T19:40:00.000-05:00

Here is the dance routine (most of) our faculty surprised the student body with last Friday.

The kids absolutely went nuts and loved it. It was a great way to cap the Homecoming week.

What does a great class session look like?

2011-10-03T19:35:00.000-05:00

I wanted to discuss how to improve Lincoln for our upcoming essay in College Comp. Part of that includes reading the Time essay, "How to Get our Schools out of the 20th Century." One issue at the core of this argument is the knowledge vs. skills debate. The article argues that our schools are outdated because they still function mostly as they did a century ago when they were designed to produce skills workers for an agrarian and industrial society. But that society has long since evaporated. Today, the article states, student need to be global learners who can compete in the new global economy. How do we do this? That tends to revolve around the debate of teaching students vital skills that can adapt and grow as they do, instead of teaching them 'outdated' knowledge delivered (usually) via rote memorization.

To bring in some outside ideas, I emailed several staff members to get some of their ideas. I simply asked my peers to respond to this statement: what skills or knowledge do you consider the most vital?

As you might expect, their responses were excellent.

To begin the class we reviewed the article and then I asked my class to answer the same question I had my colleagues answer. Then I handed markers to several students and asked them to write their responses on the board. The students then handed the markers to other students until everyone had a chance to put theirs on the board (or put a check mark by theirs if it was already up there).

Then I had students reads the teachers' responses. Then we compared them to our list and discussed them.

In all, it was a great class. As I grabbed my bag to head out for football practice, I snapped this shot because that moment in time is gone forever. I can try the same thing with another college comp class next semester, and it might bomb. You can't bottle a great lesson. So I took a picture for a reminder instead.

Busy Time

2011-10-02T10:50:00.000-05:00

The next two weeks will be a blur before conferences start and our students get a week off from school.

Today I will help a colleague wrap up editing his thesis. Monday will be my last day of 8th grade football practice. Tuesday is a game in Roseau. Wednesday I will present two sessions on technology in Grygla for our Kramer-Brown Fall Drive-In. Thursday is our last home game vs. Crookston. Friday is an inservice day that I'll miss to accompany Kristie to the hospital for some minor surgery. Next Monday I will give a presentation on using technology in the classroom to our Curriculum Advisory Committee. Tuesday is our final football game in EGF.

That is a jam packed ten days.

FB Trouble

2011-09-28T10:39:00.001-05:00

It's not just the millennials that get in trouble with Facebook. This mother, a Gen Xer, ran into trouble when she posted - inadvertantly - information that revealed her two sons, starters on the football team, don't actually live in the county in which they attend school.

Here is the story.

I love it.

First, whenever a member of an older generation (who usually looks down upon members of the younger generation) screws up with technology, it's always interesting. I have peers tell me all the time about the trouble they have with "those damn kids and their cell phones." Yet, how many times have I ever had a student's cell phone go off in class? Never. How many meetings have I been to where one of my peers has their phone go off? Everytime. And worse yet, the older generation can't seem to find their phone to shut it off or squeeze it out of their tight pockets or - worst of all - they actually answer it!

Second, sending kids to another school for athletics alone (as opposed to, you know, getting an education) is stupid.

Third, the article feels sympathy for the program -

Still, those personal records will be little solace for a team that likely would have been 5-0 and well on its way to one of the top postseason seeds in Tennessee's smallest division, Class 1A if not for one judgmental mother who resorted to social networking to scold her sloppy teenage sons.

I don't. Do your job (and this might well be the counseling department's job actually) and find out where your students actually live and are actually eligible to play FIRST.

Pumpkin Carving Time

2011-09-24T21:07:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite fall traditions has always been pumpkin carving. This goes back to when Mom and I would carve out pumpkins. Mom would scoop the seeds out, put them on a cookie sheet, and slide them into the oven while I carved the traditional pumpkin (I usually went with triangle eyes, a square nose, and a toothy grin).

Recently, though I've done some more radical things. Mostly thanks to this book I found some time ago.

Now that the kids have gotten into it, we carve more pumpkins than ever. Today Kenz is having her best bud Rhylee over. After mini golf, we'll carve pumpkins this afternoon.

I was able to find Kenz one of her favorites on line -

Scooby Doo -

An intricate design of a cat and tree.

Frankenstein.

A spooky house.

The Headless Horsemen. Perfect for Halloween.

Jaws. A classic.

And the best for last: The Death Star!

Interesting

2011-09-23T07:06:00.001-05:00

Thanks to one of my colleagues, I have a new favorite video. Here is Cornel West sharing his ideas on philosophy from the film, The Examine Life.

Enjoy. I sure did.

Talk about the range of topics and connected learning. From blues to Melville to Beethoven to Plato to The Beatles to Dunn to Yeats to Camus to Sartre. Amazing. And beautiful.

The Start of the School Year

2011-09-22T20:17:00.000-05:00

My posts have been few lately. I'm simply swamped with teaching and coaching. In two classes (College Comp II, 21 students, and College Comp I, 30 students) I have more students than I do in all of my classes next semester! I just returned my College Comp's descriptive class. But that one essay was the result of a much longer writing process. First, they described their favorite time of the year. Then they described their most prized possession. Third, they could choose to describe whatever they wanted. That means there were 90 drafts that I read and commented on. Then students chose which ever essay they thought was the strongest and revised it into a second draft. Then they peer edited and submitted a final draft, which was another 30 essays to read. In all, that was 120 essays and responded to.

In College Comp II, we have been reading Mark Bauerlein's infamous The Dumbest Generation and discussing it. They are about to begin working on a multi-media project that seeks to prove Bauerlein completely wrong.

My smallest class, Lit and Lang 9R, is actually one of the most difficult. Not only have I never taught reading before, but I'm also working hard to differentiate instruction to each. That means a ton of extra work. And for the most part, I have not been able to devote enough time to this class. But football is ending soon.

And speaking of football, that consumes nearly every afternoon from 3 until 6.

There just isn't enough time in a day. But by early October football will be over and I'll be able to focus more on my classes. I just don't know how head coaches can handle the work load.

Kenzie's big gift

2011-09-22T20:07:00.000-05:00

Kenz had her big third birthday bash last weekend. We had friends and family over, and Kenz loved it.

Then she got her big gift from uncle Arnie: Kenz's first shotgun.

This, of course, has a story to it. It was one of the first times Barb and Arnie had Cash and Kenzie over, and when Kristie showed up to pick them up, Arnie asked Kenz if she wanted to go shoot clay pigeons with him out at the range. Kenz said sure and was all set to go before Kristie had to remind her that she needed to go home.

I thought we had her cured of this when we took her to Cabelas this summer. She wanted to play a hunting game, but once she actually had to shoot the cute little animals, she wanted nothing to do with the game.

However, when Kenz opened her gift from Arnie, she saw that it was an extremely cool toy shotgun, replete with shells that were actually ejected from the gun once you pulled the double triggers!

Well, Kenzie hardly got to see it before one of her buds, Jake, eyed the gun and was pretty sure it was the coolest gift ever.

Here mom is showing it to Kenzie. Jake is peeking in on it too.

While Kenz was distrated by the other gifts - namely two separate sets of doctor's equipment - Jake swooped in to play with the gun.

Here Arnie helps Jake with his form. It won't be long before Jake was a real gun! Jake had the best line of the day. After seeing the gifts - especially the really, really cool shotgun - Jake confessed to his mother - and loud enough for all of us to hear - "Mom," he said, "it's just like heaven!"

Cash even had his eye on it!

Of course, I'm not exactly the great white hunter. In fact, my passion for it ended years ago when I took my bb gun out and ended up actually hitting a sparrow (I had tried to shoot countless birds, a few dogs, and numerous cars - but I had never actually hit anything). But I pegged this little sparrow right of a high line wire at the old depot across the street from my house in Red Lake Falls. The bird just stared up at me with those beedie little eyes. I was pretty much done with it right there.

But as long as Kenz wants to shoot clay pigeons, I'm more than happy to encourage her. I just have to find a revenge gift to give Arnie's new grandson, Evan. Maybe an Easy Bake oven!

Cream, sugar, or shark attack?

2011-09-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

Cream, sugar, or shark attack?

Quint would be proud!

So True

2011-09-16T09:56:00.000-05:00

My new SSR book arrived via Amazon today, The Energy to Teach by Donald Graves. Though it was published over a decade ago, the last paragraph in the first section is just as true today. Graves is illustrating the joys and pains of teaching when he concludes:

At times you will be second-guessed by parents, administrators, and pundits who have never taught. Laws will be passed that try to govern the teaching transactions you make with children. You will observe that the volume of rhetoric by the experts is directly related to the distance the speaker is from the classroom.

In that passage you can picture Michelle Rhee, Arne Duncan, Race to the Top, the Missouri law forbidding student and teacher discussion via Facebook, Paul Vallas' "Teacher-proof" curriculum in New Orleans . . .

The more things change, well you know . . .

2011-09-15T07:55:00.002-05:00

NWEA testing, how I loathe you. Give me our damn computer labs back so real learning (as opposed to regurgitation) can take place.

The Life Cycle of a Coach

2011-09-15T06:23:00.000-05:00

My colleague Mike always talks about the life cycle of a hunter. When you're young, you want to kill everything that moves. Then when you get a little older, you realize hunting is being with family and friends and carrying out traditions. As you grow older still, you realize hunting is also about being in tune with nature. Many of my bow hunter friends say they rarely shoot a deer when they go to the woods; they just enjoy being outdoors and being with nature. Finally, a hunter doesn't really care if he shoots anything. He just enjoys going out with his kids and grandkids and seeing them take part in the tradition.

Interestingly, I think this can be applied to coaching.

When I first started coaching 9th grade football at LHS 10 years ago, I was all about winning. Play your best athletes as much as possible and try to win every game. As a result, we didn't win a whole lot. I recall even when we did have superb teams that only lost one game per season, I still thought I could yell my head off or give a rousing speech and that would motivate them to win. But that was never true no matter how hard I wanted to believe it.

After a few years - and varied success - I started to just enjoy being out with the kids and getting to know them and teaching them the finer parts of football. I started to loathe all the meetings and the conditioning. Usually during this time, I'd be cracking jokes with them or just getting to see what their favorite classes are and who their brothers and sisters are. I really lived for the times we'd break into offense and defense and teach the plays. I enjoyed this so much that I didn't really care if we ever even played a game.

Now that I'm at the 8th grade level, winning and losing doesn't enter my mind at all. I just enjoy being with the kids and having fun. If we win, great. If we lose, no big deal. And at times, I kind of wish I could just visit with them all practice long. Even when we do have games, I enjoy seeing the kids' parents and talking with them more than the game.

Yes, I enjoy seeing players learn the schemes and grow and develop, but that intensity I used to have as a young coach is long gone. I hope I never get it back because it was no fun screaming my head thinking I could motivate my team to win that way. It never worked back then, and I'm glad I gave it up a long time ago.

What accounts for this transition? Two things: First, for the first five or six years, all I did was coach the same year over and over. Nothing I did changed to fit the players as they changed. I tried to yell to motivate them. I tried to play the top athletes (what the hell is a top 9th grade athlete anyway? What are the odds they'll work hard enough to remain at that top level all the way through high school? What are the odds the other kids I didn't play suddenly don't lose the baby fat or start to bulk up and then catch up?) and let the others find their way. Bad ideas. Second, I realized that for all my screaming and offensive play calling and playing the top athletes that gave us the best chance to win, no one at that game (other than Mom and Dad when they were alive and my wife and kids now) ever game to see me. They came to see their kids. Even the ones who I just gave garbage time to because I thought they couldn't help us win. That was maybe the biggest mistake of all.

Year #14

2011-09-07T06:12:00.000-05:00

I have yet to have a bad first day in 14 years of teaching. They've all been great. It's just the following days that you have to worry about when the honeymoon from summer wears off. That's when many students are now used to seeing their friends again, the romance of back to school shopping and the new clothes and supplies wears off, and they realize they are trapped back in the dull routine of school.

But I try my best to combat that routine and always keep them on their toes.

That is especially true for my first class: Lit & Lang 9R. This class is for students who have struggled with reading and need some differentiated strategies to boost their skills. It's been a long time since I've taught freshmen. They are totally different from the top ranked juniors and seniors that I've been accustom to having in my college in the high school classes. Those kids walk in and expect to learn and work. But my freshmen! They are eager, not necessarily to work, but to get to know me, ask questions, joke around, and try to get out of as much work as possible. This should not surprise me at all. They are freshmen after all.

In talking with another teacher who was very successful with her Lit & Lang 9R class, I think the best approach for freshmen is to hit them with a variety of assignments and activities to take full advantage of their short attention spans. My other approach is to always make everything we do or study relevant to the real world and to what interests them. I hope that serves me well for the next 18 weeks.

My second class is a large College Comp II class. This is comprised of seniors who - all but one - took my College Comp I class last year. Since I had their contact numbers in my phone, I let them know at the end of the year - and again over the summer - that their first essay, which had to be what they considered an A level college paper - was due on the first day of class. (You see what I mean about my upper classmen being ready to learn and work? Where else could I possibly get away with having a 4-6 page paper due on the first day of class?)

They are bright and all talented writers. I can't wait to see what they come up with this semester.

My third and final class is a monstrous College Comp class. Thirty one students. I'm going to go blind reading drafts. For our first theme, a simple description essay, students will do three rough drafts (describe their favorite season, a prized possession, and then whatever they wish). So right there I will read 93 drafts. From those three rough drafts, students will select one to then revise thoroughly and submit for a final draft. That will be another 31 papers to read bringing the total from the first week of school to 124 drafts read. I'll earn my pay with that class.