Why Nong Went Wrong

The parent from the Temperance Society walks up to me and explains, "We're not keeping this under wraps.  I called a socially conservative newspaper and they're running a story on this.  It should hit the evening papers in a few hours."

"Okay, well I'm really sorry.  I knew there were ads, but I had no idea one would involve alcohol."

"I need school to be a safe place for my child.  I expect that."  On some level, I get it.  I would be angry about my daughter seeing ads for peep shows (which, fortunately Nong blocked) or even for burlesque dancers.  Yet, learning is dangerous and the world is not all velvet and lace.

The principal explains, "We understand your concern.  We'll re-examine our policy about allowing ad-generated content."

"I'm worried about this pencil stuff.  I got a set of colored pencils and some paper for my son.  I thought he'd use it to learn.  He joined this pen pal network and apparently he's writing letters to members of the Mafia."

"It's a game. Just like the farm and sorority game." I explain.

"So, he's not thinking of joining a sorority either?"

"No."

"Glad we got the gender confusion out of the way.  Still, I'm worried about exposing my son to the world so quickly and so young."

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a newspaper with you right now?" I ask her. She hands me one.

"Let's see, the lifestyle section. Look, an ad about meeting local singles.  I'll check the sports section.  Hey there's an ad for beer.  Oh, and one for gin.  And, if I'm not mistaken the Knickerbockers are playing in a stadium with beer advertisements. This is a real problem, considering your son idolizes athletes.  What do you do to keep your child away from the paper."

"Oh, I don't censor it.  I mean, I want him to read.  Sometimes we even read the paper as a family." The reality hits her and she moves from anger to embarrassment and she buries her face in her hands.

I've won, or so it seems. Until she cries.  Not simple tears, but huge sobs.  She tells the story of her father being abusive when he was drunk and her former husband who would throw bottles at the kids when he had a few too many.  Apparently, she left her entire life behind and moved to the city where she often sees drunk factory workers exposing her daughter to a grown-up world and she wonders if the biggest danger isn't alcohol, but the fact that one of her children has to work 50 hours a week for them to survive.

Sometimes I get so focussed on pencil integration that I miss the deeper social reality that exists on a daily basis.  Sure, they can block field trips and even try and keep us in a Pencil Island, but every child brings in a story and as a teacher, I have to make snap judgements based upon a sense of ethics that we may not all share.  We bring in our own stories and often those stories clash and we fight to retain our voice and our character and a common setting.

The story never hits the evening papers.  Either it had been a lie or something had changed.  The problem with stories is that they're incomplete.

The Nong Network

Nong essentially networks together various social tools all within the confines of my classroom.  I saw it at last years PIE Conference and decided to order it for the Pencil Lab.  Our Pencil Teacher was angry at first, worried that I would load Nong onto all of the desk tops.  I explained to him that Nong was designed to be portable and kids would bring their supplies into the lab instead. Incidentally, I find it strange that we use the term lab, which has a connotation of exploration and critical thinking, to describe a place where desks are in rows.

When I explained the concept to the class, a student said, "I'm Nong Wong, guys."  They all did this squinty eye motion with their hands.  Nice to know xenophobia and racism are the default humor for sixth graders in the Guilded Age.  So much for progress.

The activity began well.  It was essentially like the Pen Pal networks with a few extra features.  At first I had to redirect students who felt the need to decorate their space with all the colored pencils.  Paul the Pre-Industrial Poet asked me if that was actually a valuable learning experience.

"Perhaps in a world as black and white as slate and chalk, this is precisely what students need. Employers need creative thinkers."

Maybe Paul is right, but I doubt that employers are looking for workers who use Seymour Butts or wear name tags with bright pink letters and daisies.  I reminded them that they were not writing pen pals, but learning about the Civil War.

After awhile, they caught on.  A group in one corner joined a discussion zone, where they wrote their debate answers on threaded sentence strips.  Note to self: remind students in the future that a discussion thread is not the place to use short-hand language. Another area involved a group writing plogs (I developed the name.  It's short for pencil logs.  Very clever I am) and then writing their comments in the margin.  Who knew that something like a journal could become so social?

Students even began searching the free encyclopedias to defend their answers. Admittedly, I had to tell a few students that it was illegal to simply bust out scissors and cut and paste parts of the encyclopedia into their plog posts.  Still, they figured it out quickly.

Teachers warned me that students might pass notes.  While this was the case, I was surprised that most notes pertained to the assignment.  Besides, it's not like the students stay one-hundred percent on task when doing group slate board excercises.

On some level, I felt a sense of loss, wondering if a pencil integrated format would mean I lose my role and my power and my status in the class.  However, I quickly realized that I now had time to interact one on one with students, join group discussions and write my own comments on the margins of their plogs.

The next day was a nightmare.  Apparently the Nong Network uses advertisements.  The anti-industrial Populist in me cringes that a child's mind is being sold to marketing firms.  Yet, I also see the value in learning tools.  It's tricky.  I tell myself it's okay to have a few ads, because there are advertisements all over the city.  Yet, I would be angry at product placement in the curriculum.  Could you imagine an ad with Chester Arthur selling hair care products for those massive mutton chops?

Apparently, the real issue was the content of the ads.  A parent from the Temperance Movement believed her child would now become a full-scale alcoholic because of a beer ad. I'm meeting with her after school today.