tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50155891831033142362024-03-09T19:46:43.773-07:00Adventures in Pencil IntegrationAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-23974469366303684782012-06-07T20:30:00.002-07:002012-06-07T20:30:53.952-07:00Remember Pencil Quests?It was somewhere in my sophomore year and the teacher was bubbling over with excitement. "We're going on a Pencil Quest!" he exlaimed.<br />
<br />
I raise my hand. "So, you will take us to various sites. Is it like a field trip?"<br />
<br />
"Yep," he says. "And each site will have a page that you will read. When you read the page, you'll answer questions."<br />
<br />
"Like a textbook?" I ask.<br />
<br />
"More like a <i>moving</i> textbook," he says, "with tons of pages. Imagine that!"<br />
<br />
"I thought it was a quest," a student says.<br />
<br />
"It is!"<br />
<br />
"And the conflict driving the quest is?" I ask.<br />
<br />
"Um . . . I don't know. Finishing it, I think. But it's an adventure."<br />
<br />
I nod my head, "Got it. Like a Scavenger Hunt. Do we solve riddles to find new places?"<br />
<br />
"Not exactly. You have a map."<br />
<br />
"So, I can choose my own route."<br />
<br />
"No, the route is determined ahead of time."<br />
<br />
The crazy part? We ran from site to site with exuberance. We were happy to be using our pencils, even if the pencil still wasn't all that social. We loved the notion of multiple pages. I look back now at the Pencil Quests and I'm a little embarrassed by it. Yet, those were the pioneers. Those were the ones doing <i>something</i> different.<br />
<br />
And here's the thing: my students are excited about our projects and our problem-based learning. They're excited about plogs and pen pal networks. It has me wondering what they'll look back at and consider to be quaint.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-40927762721196222062012-05-02T14:58:00.001-07:002012-05-02T14:59:46.323-07:00The Con Academy<br />
"Mr. Johnson, we have a guest who we'd like you to meet," my principal informs me. I walk down the hallway and into the conference room.<br />
<br />
"A bagel?" he asks.<br />
<br />
"No thank you," I tell him.<br />
<br />
"It's free. Just like our system," he says. I've heard of Sam and his specialized academy. Just like the bagel, it looks healthy, but it's more dangerous than it appears.<br />
<br />
"I would like you to consider the flipping your classroom," he says.<br />
<br />
"Pardon," my principal interjects, "I am not about to have someone flipping off our students."<br />
<br />
"No, it's not that at all. See, we have a whole system that you can use in a pencil-based classroom. Imagine this: each child learns discreet skills independently. Step-by-step they move through a sequential order designed for the mastery of each math skill. It is powerful. Indeed, it pretty much replaces the role of the teacher. As we think of a modern pedagogy and differentiated instruction, you need resources to reach every child, every time," he explains.<br />
<br />
If only I had my Buzzword Bingo card with me. I probably wouldn’t have a blackout, but definitely a five-in-a-row. Besides, what he's advocating is not even a truly flipped classroom. It's simply a stack of packets.<br />
<br />
"Wouldn't it make sense to have students use paper and pencil to write essays and solve equations instead? What if they did some of it independently and worked cooperatively together instead? What if they developed their own problems?" I argue.<br />
<br />
Missing the sarcasm, the slick suit snake oil salesman answers, “That sounds great. But aren't you tired of kids not working? This allows each child to work at his or her level independently."<br />
<br />
“If I didn't know how to teach I would use this product instead,” I answer.<br />
<br />
Missing the sarcasm, he says, “Exactly. The program is designed to fit the needs of teachers struggling to provide adequate intervention.” Intervention? Are we dealing with drug addicts here or with children who can't comprehend expository text?<br />
<br />
“I just don’t see the appeal of this. It’s a series of worksheets,” I explain.<br />
<br />
“Wrong! It’s an academy. It’s a whole system of learning. Kids get to pick their worksheets and the follow the instructions. Can you help every kid at every moment?”<br />
<br />
“Well, I can’t. But if I have given them the freedom . . .”<br />
<br />
“So, you can’t help each child in the moment? Is that correct?” he asks.<br />
<br />
“That's true, but . . .”<br />
<br />
“There you have it,” he points to the principal. And so, with that, the con artist and his con academy have prevailed over the voice of a teacher. I get it. This con academy is a free gift. However, so was the Trojan Horse.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-18397852806456151242011-12-06T08:02:00.002-07:002011-12-06T08:02:31.011-07:00I'm a Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2cf8zzG314jpc1iiZ-do8MaZiNRrPh87jp_XBcjr1KO71hcUsaD9M64XCLncsTkx9CY8e1b8SSQ3AKbZHXl0NjCCoeTUvQK0lCp64dKStpLn5-1ZsvpVNeqRpdiBMmAGJH2VLnNlMXTz/s1600/pcmacmock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2cf8zzG314jpc1iiZ-do8MaZiNRrPh87jp_XBcjr1KO71hcUsaD9M64XCLncsTkx9CY8e1b8SSQ3AKbZHXl0NjCCoeTUvQK0lCp64dKStpLn5-1ZsvpVNeqRpdiBMmAGJH2VLnNlMXTz/s400/pcmacmock.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-33996435630124016692011-12-04T05:39:00.001-07:002011-12-04T05:42:07.006-07:00Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?"We need to talk," the principal tells me.<br />
<br />
"Mind if I shut the door?" I ask.<br />
<br />
"I do. I have an open door policy to keep up."<br />
<br />
"Oh." We sit down at a table and I pull out a hoarhound from his candy dish.<br />
<br />
"I see you were playing games today instead of teaching."<br />
<br />
"It was an advanced simulation."<br />
<br />
"It was a game."<br />
<br />
"But not like Tic-Tac-Toe or Dots. This one involved a mock factory, where they were making their pictures and . . ."<br />
<br />
"So they were drawing?"<br />
<br />
"They were reading as well. They had to read various scenarios and describe their solutions in a text. It was real interactive and the kids were engaged and . . ."<br />
<br />
"Do you remember what I said after the Hang Man Fiasco of 1895?"<br />
<br />
"No games, period."<br />
<br />
He raises an eyebrow at me. I gulp hard and almost swallow my hoarhound.<br />
<br />
"Yes, but this wasn't violent. How could a parent possibly complain?"<br />
<br />
"It's about learning, Tom. I know you're trying to connect it to learning, but frankly it's a stretch," the principal tells me.<br />
<br />
"Well, soldiers play games. Surgeons do simulations. It's part of their education."<br />
<br />
"Yes, but this isn't war and this isn't a hospital. If we want students to pass the rote memorization test, we need to focus on rote memorization skills. Were you sleeping during our professional development lead by the Drill and Skill Consulting Group?"<br />
<br />
"I was paying attention," I lie. The truth is that I was paying attention, but only to the words. I wasn't about to let Mr. Brown win another week of Buzzword Bingo.<br />
<br />
"If you want to abandon slate-based learning, at least try the Jonestown Intervention worksheets. Or maybe fill out the packets of algorithms."<br />
<br />
My solution: we'll create an algorithm factory and integrate it into our Conflict-Oriented Reading and Writing Project (a.k.a. The Factory Game).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-81677518905203396202011-12-02T08:39:00.001-07:002011-12-02T08:39:58.518-07:0010 Points on PencilsDear Superintendent:<br />
<br />
I want to address a few of your concerns that you had about my classroom and a list seems like an organized way of doing it:<br />
<br />
<ol><li>No, we don't have an Acceptable Use policy for pencils. I refuse to do this, because I don't have a policy for slates, for compasses (for more dangerous, in my opinion) or for chalk. If you want it to be an issue of compliance, I'll comply - but only through paperwork. I don't believe in it.</li>
<li>Pencil predators are real, but most abuse happens in-person via close social relationships. I suggest an open dialogue with parents about monitoring pen pal letters. </li>
<li>Pencils aren't making kids narcissistic. They're in junior high which means they are naturally self-centered. The good news is that pencils provide a platform for self-awareness.</li>
<li>I see your concern about Pencil Citizenship and it's being addressed, but I'd like to push back a little and suggest that ethics and social justice might be a better approach. And not just with pencils, but with life. </li>
<li>Banning pocket paper devices (i.e. tablets) is a really bad idea. Yes, they pass notes, but they're also learning to use these tools well. Let's allow students to learn how to use these tools for learning.</li>
<li>Please quit banning Bullying is a real issue, but the most common method is still verbal and the most common site is still the cafeteria. Are we going to ban food next?</li>
<li>Students aren't addicted to paper. Really, they're not. They're addicted to social interaction in the same way they are addicted to water and to oxygen. </li>
<li>I see your concern with violent games, but I played Hang Man and I'm not violent. It's really not as big a deal as you think.</li>
<li>Teachers are motivated to use pencils. The real issue is self-efficacy. Many of them want to use the tools, but they're scared. Slate-based testing is a major component to this. There is a fear that learning can't transfer from one medium to the next. </li>
<li>The real issue is pedagogy. The power in the pencil is the nuance, the paradox, the gray area. It's in the idea of portability and permanence. It's about empowering each student to learn in a personalized way. It's a chance to erase and thereby move away from summative and toward formative assessment. </li>
</ol><div>Sincerely,</div><div>Tom Johnson</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-90873585815764663742011-07-13T06:13:00.000-07:002011-07-13T06:13:31.948-07:00Are Pencils Making Us Narcissistic?"Tom, I'm not comfortable with students using pen pal networks," my principal warns me.<br />
<br />
"It's not about comfort," Mr. Brown shoots back.<br />
<br />
"Good point. Let me rephrase this. I am concerned about the pen pal networks and the plogs and the class newspaper you have created. I recently read a study about how pencils are making society more narcissistic," he warns.<br />
<br />
"Pencils? Really?" I ask.<br />
<br />
"Yes, see, people are becoming addicted to them and it's turning people self-centered," he warns.<br />
<br />
"Addicts? They're communicating, not drinking Coke. Let's be honest. Kids write short texts to one another, because they like to communicate. It has nothing to do with a fancy yellow Ebherhard," I respond. <br />
<br />
"Perhaps, but you can't deny that the medium is making children self-centered," he adds.<br />
<br />
"I'm pretty sure self-centeredness is a social and psychological rather than a technological issue. Blame humanity on that one," Mr. Brown adds.<br />
<br />
"What about mirrors? Those seem to make people far more self-centered than pencils. Are we going to shatter all school mirrors?" <br />
<br />
"That would mean bad luck," the principal says with an awkward chuckle. He's a dry man trying his best to use humor to deflate the escalating tension.<br />
<br />
"Look, I see your point. Maybe we have that conversation with kids. Maybe we ask them if they feel the pressure to perform when they have a larger audience. And maybe that's the issue. Maybe we keep saying 'audience' rather than 'community,' and so our words are framing our mindset," Mr. Brown adds.<br />
<br />
Narcissists aren't always the loudest ones out there and loud people aren't always narcissists. My father had a strong voice. He spoke up loudly in defense of the one-room schoolhouse when the town considered closing it down and letting students walk a few more mile to go the opposite direction. When we moved to the city, he wrote letters to the editor regarding worker's rights and factory conditions. He wrote letters to friends throughout his informal social network, sharing stories about our family. But his voice was humble. It was earthy. <br />
<br />
The issue isn't the technology we use, but the tone of voice that matters.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-36374053007674541472011-07-11T20:51:00.001-07:002011-07-11T20:53:55.534-07:007 Reasons Why I Quit Reading Your Plog<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Hey readers, I quit writing for awhile, not because I don't like to write, but because I had nothing relevant to say. I decided it would be best to take some time off rather than write a plog for the sake of a plog. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
1. You quit pencil-logging and have replaced it with recommendations for information sites I should visit. If I want a list of where to find information, I'll talk to a librarian (or anyone else well-acquainted with the Dewey Decimal System) or I'll visit a museum.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">2. You sold the plog to the highest bidder. In other words, you've replaced your voice with the voice of a corporate marketer trying to sell something. Look, I'm sure Edison makes some badass film strips, but there's more to the teaching than technology. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">3. You have found one specific trick and play it on repeat. Maybe it's one particular strategy or one specific issue and you keep going back to it on a daily or weekly basis. Look, I know we have a niche. That's fine. I know I probably write about pencils too often. My buddy <a href="http://educationrethink.com/">John</a> writes about his kids too often. However, I can only take so much repetition. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">4. You're using it only to promote an item. Your blog becomes a showcase of what book you're writing and what you're going to say at the PIE (Pencil Integrated Education) Conference. I'll pay for your content if it's good. However, you need to write some original things every once in awhile. Which leads me to . . . </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">5. You got stingy with content and you forgot why your readers began reading your plog in the first place. Maybe you ran out of ideas. Maybe you got too busy. But you forgot that I didn't fall in love with your voice. I fell in love with your ideas, your stories, your sharp prose and your humorous language. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">6. You started getting mean toward students or staff and used your plog as a means of attacking people rather than ideas. I've done this before with a lady named Gertrude. She read my plog and cried. I realized the pain that my venting had caused. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">7. You forgot that plogs were supposed to be interactive. You never commented back. You never asked thought-provoking questions. I read the paper. What I hope for in a plog is a chance for a dialogue. <br />
<br />
Note: I have only abandoned a small handful of plogs that fit this criteria. Truth is that I'll follow you if you're honest, if you're thought-provoking and if you have something to say - which happens to be most teacher plogs I read. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-76671187159205332002011-07-11T06:43:00.001-07:002011-07-11T06:44:26.739-07:00Capturing Reality<div>"Daddy, what are you doing?" my daughter asks me. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"I'm setting up the camera," I tell her. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Why?" </div><div><br />
</div><div>"So I can take a picture of you guys in front of the waterfall," I respond. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Why?" she asks. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"So I can capture this moment and keep it forever," I tell her. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Why do you have to capture it? Can't this moment run free?" she asks. </div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div>Paul the Preindustrial Poet refuses to use cameras at all. "I took one picture of my wife and kids," he explains. "But the picture was of me. It was me, detached, looking through a lens, hiding behind a cloud of smoke." </div><div><br />
</div><div>"So you never take pictures?" I ask. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Never," he says. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"A hard line," I tell him. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"I don't want to miss a minute of life." </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Tell me, do you ever let your mind wander?" </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Yeah," he says. "I see where you're trying to lead me. The issue of detachment isn't about technology. And it's not as if we can carry cameras in our pockets, either. But technology makes it that much easier to capture reality in a way that we miss it. We become recorders rather than participants," he says. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"But we've been recording since the dawn of man. Camp fires and cave walls. It's deeply human to capture it. I'd argue that reality is an act of imagination. What we see as real, how we tell our stories . . . I don't know, those are an act of memory, but more an act of what we imagine to be real. We're constantly filling in the details." </div><div><br />
</div><div>"So, why not reflect later and participate now? Why not allow your memory to be the recorder?" </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Because photos are more accurate." </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Depends on how you define accuracy," Paul explains. "The camera is always black and white and always framing the story. How is that any different from memory?" </div><div><br />
</div><div>"True, but in the moment, you gather evidence. You find tokens. You hold onto letters or images or you remember conversations. We're always reinterpreting our story at every moment. This notion that somehow we 'live now' and 'interpret later' is crazy. We're always doing both. Always." </div><div><br />
</div><div>"But for me, I'd rather be present with my family than allow a medium to get in the way. See, the scary thing for me is that the lens looks transparent, but it makes me opaque. My son and daughter can't see me when they see the camera and it's just not healthy for me." </div><div><br />
</div><div>"Really? There's no nuance there." </div><div><br />
</div><div>"For some, yeah, but for me, none. And that's the thing. There aren't any hard and fast rules for using and rejecting technology. You set a rigid time limit on the pen pal networks and I don't take pictures." </div><div><br />
</div><div>It has me thinking that maybe we're doing a disservice to students when we teach tech criticism as good versus bad rather than asking, "What is best?" And perhaps we're doing a disservice to students when we teach, "What is best?" rather than "What is best for me in this current context?' </div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-28945916180533692502011-04-05T15:31:00.001-07:002011-04-05T15:31:35.844-07:00Pencil Me In Is Here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaol3jBLswZO08evmscSp4SPW6g1Ps-O_54gj8cYlt9crt4JH1oLD8BvKWDiQmRThGn7hQ5e5MD1WjVG9xcwGm-tREGu7q19ZnceOp-Eq5gWMjNI-r58aVfzmqSQIzmBqUmW4zUYa99g/s1600/pencilmein6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaol3jBLswZO08evmscSp4SPW6g1Ps-O_54gj8cYlt9crt4JH1oLD8BvKWDiQmRThGn7hQ5e5MD1WjVG9xcwGm-tREGu7q19ZnceOp-Eq5gWMjNI-r58aVfzmqSQIzmBqUmW4zUYa99g/s640/pencilmein6.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Me-Journey-Fight-Graphite/dp/1461043425/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1301544019&sr=8-1">Soft Cover on Amazon.com: $10.00</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Me-Journey-Graphite-ebook/dp/B004V094U2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1302042466&sr=1-1">Kindle Version: $4.00</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-43792304237727980972011-03-22T14:30:00.000-07:002011-03-22T14:30:07.336-07:00Acceptable Use CommitteeI made the mistake of joining the committee regarding the Acceptable Use policy of the district. <br />
<br />
"We need kids to know about Pencil Predators."<br />
<br />
"Oh, I heard about that. They send notes to kids and then lure them in." <br />
<br />
"Nice, what else?" our leader scribbles away at her tablet. <br />
<br />
"Teach kids not to tear the goddam paper," a man says. <br />
<br />
"Please, these are Victorian times," a woman says.<br />
<br />
"This is a the U.S.A. I'll use whatever goddam language I choose. Just add the part about tearing paper."<br />
<br />
"What if the goal isn't acceptable?" I ask. <br />
<br />
They stare at me blankly. <br />
<br />
"Yeah, what if it's about being ethical instead?"<br />
<br />
"Okay, well anymore ideas?" the woman says. <br />
<br />
"I'm not done. Why are we even here?" I ask.<br />
<br />
"To craft an Acceptable Use policy." <br />
<br />
"Yes, but numbers are used to marginalize people and we don't have an Acceptable Use policy for math. And kids get hurt in P.E. Where's the policy for that? Then, there's language art. If we're really serious about the art of language and the power words possess, why don't we have an Acceptable Use policy for that? Come to think of it, people have been abusing science to justify Social Darwinism and history is often used to justify injustice. So, why don't we create Acceptable Use policies for those subjects?"<br />
<br />
The leader misses my point and says, "I think that's a brilliant idea. I'll bring that back to my supervisor. We should have Acceptable Use policies for all subjects." <br />
<br />
Or we could teach students to be ethical critical thinkers.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-70021997559172546992011-02-17T16:11:00.000-07:002011-02-17T16:11:11.366-07:005 Reasons for Leaving the Pencil ConferenceIn the past, I've learned some neat things in the PIE Conference, including how to fold oragami, the wonders of colored pencils and how to use notebooking (yet another chance to turn a noun into a verb) for student learning. This year, however, I left a day early. I boarded the train and headed back to my wife and daughter and realized that I will grow more as a teacher spending a day with a two year old than with a crowded lecture hall full of experts. <br />
<br />
Here are my reasons:<br />
<br />
1. Many presenters I've met are unapproachable. Yes, they give nice speeches, but I've been disappointed that some of the ones who claim to love all the social media tools are quick to shy away from using those tools for honest discussion and debate. "Hey, you should use a pen pal network. But don't try and send me messages. I'm much too important than that."<br />
<br />
2. Many presenters are arrogant. I can't listen to you if you are automatically the expert. I can't listen to you if you won't ask questions. I can't listen to you if you are unable to share some of your difficulties. If you believe that your job is to change me as a teacher, I'll kindly ask you to eff off and I'll listen to someone else. News flash: just because you got yourself an Edison Projector and fancy new phonograph doesn't mean you are now the Pope of Paper.<br />
<br />
3. Many presenters fail to grasp complexity, paradox and mystery. It has to be about "their" way and in doing so they engage in tribalism and provocation for the purpose of sounding different. It's like hanging out in a stuffy art house. Don't talk about why we need to move past the one-room school house unless you are able to recognize that the one-room school house had a few redeeming qualities (multi-age classrooms, for example)<br />
<br />
4. Many presenters speak like addicts. Yes, paper is flat and smooth and ultra-portable. But save the addictive language for the opium dens. If I want to feel coked-up, I'll stop by the drug store for a soda.<br />
<br />
5. Many of the New School folks won't admit that there are some great ideas from the past - whether the idea is ten or two thousand years old. That bothers me. Innovation for the sake of innovation is novelty and ultimately it will eventually lose their luster. Remember those Chester B. Arthur sideburns? Yep, your phonograph might just be headed that way.<br />
<br />
This by no means makes up all of the Pencil Education community. I've found great people in plogs and on the pen pal networks. However, I've also ran into my fair share of prima donnas that convince me that the conference circuit can all too quickly become a cute, glossy version of show and tell. I don't mind show and tell, either. But I need to to show me reality and tell me more than simply what I need to do to "fix" my teaching career.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-60887314051433330702011-01-04T18:51:00.000-07:002011-01-04T18:51:49.132-07:00Avoid Social NetworkingThe district office HR representative explains to us at the staff meeting, "From now on, teachers must avoid any site that allows for social networking with students." <br />
<br />
"I can't believe this," Ms. Jackson says. "I . . . I've volunteered in my church's youth group for years. It seems that the best way to model appropriate adult behavior is to interact with kids and be a positive role model."<br />
<br />
"No can do, Action Jackson! Churches can have creeps. Do we want you to seem like a creep?"<br />
<br />
"What about the grocery store? I run into students at the grocery store all the time. It can be a real network of social interaction." <br />
<br />
"Nope. You can be on the site, but you can't greet students. Just avoid eye contact and pretend that they don't exist."<br />
<br />
"I coach baseball."<br />
<br />
"Is it the school's team?"<br />
<br />
"No."<br />
<br />
"Then, you'll need to resign immediately."<br />
<br />
"I'm a family friend of one of my students. Her whole family has been over for dinner."<br />
<br />
"That might be misconstrued as a date. Just tell her family that you cannot be friends with them until their daughter is in college." <br />
<br />
"But she's in the fourth grade!"<br />
<br />
"Well, they'll have to take a rain check, then. Any more questions?"<br />
<br />
"Can it be an anti-social networking site? I mean, can I go to a riot where my students might be attending? To me, that's pretty anti-social," I add.<br />
<br />
"Good point. We might need to revisit that. Let's go to the Board with this. Perhaps we'll simply pass a rule that you cannot interact with a student at all outside of school."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-61035436619113851272010-11-30T21:28:00.001-07:002010-11-30T21:31:07.436-07:00Image"Mr. Johnson, are pictures more real than reality if we just forget reality after it happens anyway?"<br />
<br />
"What do you think?"<br />
<br />
"I think a picture is more real, since it doesn't change."<br />
<br />
"What about memory?"<br />
<br />
"Your imagination gets in the way of reality."<br />
<br />
Imagination. Imaginary. Root word: Image.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Imago.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Make believe. Make belief. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">We are living in a world just beginning to shift from a print to an image culture. We create imagery. No, we capture imagery, letting imagination believe it is less important or less real or less true than the snapshot flash of a camera. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">But we also create images; spinning truth and reality to improve the image we try and maintain with the vain hope of masking our mortality. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
Graven images.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I spent an hour retouching a photograph I'll use in my pen pal network. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It might capture reality, but I feel less real than I did an hour before when I broke bread with my wife and daughter. (Okay, I had to break the bread into really tiny pieces for her, but it was still breaking bread) When I share the sense of confusion in sketching out a pencil-based image of myself, my wife reminds me that it is human.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Tom, we hide. We stay out in the open. We hide again. Social context, language, clothing - these are all a part of the natural desire to create that element of self that we experience so deeply."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"It just seems like we lost something human in the process." </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"No, our technology, our tools, our language, culture . . . those are what make us human. The need to develop an image is the root of imagination. It's what makes us who we are. It's pictographs on cave walls and hierogliphics on pyramids and stained glass on cathedral walls. The tools might change, but the sense in which we create an image or capture an image and then call it reality . . . that is a part of what makes us human." </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">My daughter paints a monster. It's real, or at least it is real to her. I retouch a photograph. My wife quilts a blanket. True, we might be moving toward an "image culture." However, let's not kid ourselves. We have always been image-based. It's just that the tools change in how we express imagination. Yet, whether we conjure up a new vision or try and rethink our public memory, it is always an act of imagination. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Imagination. Image. Imago.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Imago Dei," she reminds me as I slowly slide the air shudder and watch the silhouettes fade into darkness. Even now, as I embrace her beneath our comforter, I am experience at once the empirical reality of her warmth and conjuring up images of that moment she walked down the aisle. Even when we are laid bare, in our most vulnerable moments, we are still bound by our images.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-15724665478598277232010-11-30T08:24:00.000-07:002010-11-30T08:24:38.693-07:00Tech Masks"Sorry I'm late. Some idiot in a horseless carriage cut me off and spooked my horse a bit," I tell Paul the Preindustrial Poet when we meet for coffee.<br />
<br />
"I know what you mean. I was cut off by a mustang this morning. You know the type that a guy gets in his mid-life crisis. I was walking down the street and he just cut me off." <br />
<br />
"I guess I'm just in a bad mood. Some anonymous guy wrote told me that I'm going to Hell."<br />
<br />
"On your plog?"<br />
<br />
"Yup."<br />
<br />
"It seems like people use technology to hide. It's like it becomes a mask. Whether it's cutting you off in a horseless carriage or being vindictive in a plog or bumping their phonograph loud enough that the whole neighborhood hears. They wouldn't cut you off in person or shout at you in a room or shout a song so loud that the whole city hears. It's like the technology becomes a way to hide."<br />
<br />
"Is it really masking anything?'<br />
<br />
"What do you mean?"<br />
<br />
"I understand that it's unpleasant. I get that. And I understand that people use technology to hide. Or they forget the human side behind it. But cutting people off, making mean comments and the like - isn't that simply a part of the human condition?"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-69119752466006613312010-11-19T06:17:00.000-07:002010-11-19T06:17:43.567-07:00When a Child Hates PencilsI have a student who walked into class the first day and began biting on the pencil nervously and eventually he simply snapped it in half, leaving shards of our beautiful crisp medium on the floor. <br />
<br />
At this point, I am supposed to send him to the office, send a telegram to his mother and begin the "step process" to eventually isolate him entirely from learning. Except, the school system is precisely the cause of his problem. I know it sounds bizarre, but the boy hates pencils. Not pencils, really, but writing and his hatred of writing has little to do with a hatred of language or expression or anything that naturally flows into writing. <br />
<br />
See, Josiah has spent the last three years giving almost no effort in writing and in response, he has received huge block letters with the words FAIL. It's not that he had the chance to write anything substantial anyway. In an effort to create a 20th Century factory-style education, his teacher used isolated-skill worksheets (the name says it right there - they aren't "think sheets") and he grew weary of being bribed with colorful stamps and peppy praise. <br />
<br />
Pencils were not used for learning, but for working. <br />
<br />
Then, we he began acting up, teachers sent him to another classroom as part of the Shame-based Oppositional Behavior Process (or SOB Process), where he had to copy words out of the dictionary or write "I will not be a class fuck-up" repeatedly. <br />
<br />
Want real education reform? Buy pencils, yes. Purchase some crisp new paper as well. However, nothing will change in student learning until we get over a system of bribes and extortion. <br />
<br />
Our principal encouraged me to keep Josiah away from pencils until he was "mature" (as if a pencil was something one has to mature into) and has "proven that he can earn the privilege of using them again." I ignored his advice and handed Josiah a new pencil the second day of school. I told him he could draw, write poetry, tell a story, whatever. <br />
<br />
"Will I get a stamp?"<br />
<br />
"No. I don't do stamps."<br />
<br />
"A letter?"<br />
<br />
"No letters here either." <br />
<br />
"Then why should I do this?"<br />
<br />
"I write because I have something to say. I draw because I want to create. I can't control it. There's something in me that propels me to draw."<br />
<br />
"Will you read it?"<br />
<br />
"Yep. I'll even write comments and on some parts I'll ask you to do an assignment I choose. I'll make some corrections. I'm still your teacher. But my goal is feedback, not judgement."<br />
<br />
He tears a page out of the journal, writes a poem about wanting to fly and then creates an origami flying dragon with the poetry written on the wings. It's beautiful and quirky and it didn't happen because of letters or stamps or peppy praise.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-38148205669452416442010-11-17T12:14:00.000-07:002010-11-17T12:14:05.609-07:00I Banned Pencils TodayI see the need for all types of media in my classroom. I have fought the battle to expand our band width so that my students can use phonographs without running into the tuba players. I have fought to avoid the term "pencil bullying" and to use tablets and pen pal networks in class. <div><br />
</div><div>Yet, in math today we banned the use of paper and pencil. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I asked students to find the area of a volume of a cylinder that is twenty inches wide and twenty inches tall. I watched students fidget for awhile before realizing that they would have to solve this using a cerebrum rather than a slate or a paper. </div><div><br />
</div><div>No manipulatives. No paper. No slates. No chalk. Just a mind. It took awhile at first, but eventually every child answered it and then shared their process with partners. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Having tools is a part of being human. I never want to deny that. Yet, I also want to recognize that we have the power to abandon our tools and use our highly evolved minds. I ask students to do mental math because I want them to see that their brains are powerful in and of themselves. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-42862823348366500062010-11-16T06:20:00.000-07:002010-11-16T06:20:22.240-07:00Thanks EDM 310I normally post responses to people's comments, but life has gotten crazy-busy lately. So, I want to direct this at Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class in general:<br />
<br />
Thank you for all the positive feedback. It is always encouraging to get compliments, que stions and insightful responses from readers. I know that my blog was a "required reading," but it often felt from the responses that people were reading this not simply out of a desire to get a grade, but in an honest desire to think about education. There were plenty of times when I considered scrapping this bizarre, satirical, often clunky little blog, but your comments helped reshape how I chose to approach writing this. So, again, thanks to all the folks who are reading this blog.<br />
<br />
-John SpencerAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-6066684738472311852010-11-13T06:33:00.002-07:002010-11-13T06:39:05.988-07:00My Eduplog NominationsI am doubtful that anyone will nominate Tom Johnson's Adventures in Pencil Integration, seeing as how there is no 19th Century Satirical Blog category (and it really can't be called "new" if it takes place back in the day). So, with that in mind, I am doing a post about the Eduplog Awards of 1897.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;">Eduplog Award Nominations - 1897</span></div><br />
Best Individual Plog: This was a hard one, but I'm having to go with <i>Waldo's Pond. </i>I love the way he takes up Thoreau's notion of finding a pond and thinking about life. The combination of poetry, sketches and thoughtful reflection make this a truly literary education plog.<br />
<br />
Best Individual Tweaker: With the explosion of opium dens and the use of cocaine in medicine, I'm a bit shocked that anyone would ever glorify the concept of a tweaker. Shame on you, Eduplog!<br />
<br />
Best Group Plog: Caravan to the Valley does a great job creating a satirical plog mocking William McKinley's Caravan to the Top.<br />
<br />
Best New Plog: Theodore Grant's Losing My Sideburns deals not only with what it's like to be a new teacher who must shave his sideburns and dress professionally, but also what it means to completely lose one's former identity in becoming the "man in charge" at this one room schoolhouse. <br />
<br />
Best Class Plog: I'm Down with Brown. It's a brilliant plog dealing with social class issues throughout this current Spanish-American War. Topics such as marginalization and racist language (hence the brown) . . . oh, what's that? Wrong use of the word class? Oh well, I'll keep it up anyway. <br />
<br />
Best Resource Sharing Plog: 20th Century Learning Resources - George has a way of finding all the resources that are necessary for the Industrial Age and locating them in a daily paper. Nice work, George! Where else will I find the 18 Ways to Integrate Origami into Daily Paper-Based Instruction?<br />
<br />
Most influential Plog Post: We Are the Factory. I love the notion that in creating this current modern factory model, those of us who are complicit in it become the factory itself. <br />
<br />
Most influential tweet / series of tweets / tweet based discussion: I almost went with the meadowlark on this one, but I'd have to say the robins at Steele Park. <br />
<br />
Best Teacher Plog: Learn to Serve. I love the way Ruth gets her children to serve without feeling coerced or falling into the overly progressive trap of "let's go fix the world." <br />
<br />
Best Librarian / Library Plog: Mary Emerson's Damn Dewey's Delightful Decimal System is a mildly irreverent description of the life of a lonely librarian with a keen sense of alliteration and irony.<br />
<br />
Best School Administrator Plog: <i>I Assist in Intending, in a Super Kind of Way</i> is an honest, funny and often bizarre portrait of an assistant superintendent of a small rural district.<br />
<br />
Best Educational Tech Support Plog: A Sketchy Solution has saved me on many occasions when I simply couldn't figure out how to fix a pencil. <br />
<br />
Best eLearning / Corporate Education Plog: <i>Thomas Edison's Education Funhouse</i> might be a bit overly corporate, but come on, it's Thomas Effing Edison, guys! The man who invented (or had other people working for him who invented) the light bulb - the very symbol we will forever use when drawing clip art pictures of people with an idea. If we're going to have corporate buyout of education, let's at least keep it entertaining in the process.<br />
<br />
Best Educational Use of a Phonograph: <i>Can You Hear Me Noun?</i> is genius in the way it captures both the limitations and the strengths of the phonograph and the human voice in education and grammar in particular. <br />
<br />
Best Educational Use of Motion Pictures: <i>Check Out Some Skin!</i> I realize the marketing on this one failed, with many patrons assuming it would be a peep show. But regardless of the box office dud, this was a real hit with my classroom. Who knew the epidermis could be so fascinating?<br />
<br />
Best Educational PowerSlide: <i>How PowerSlides Lost Their Power</i> is a self-mocking PowerSlide making use of everything we dread when we hear the first rumbling of that Edison projector: comical typeface, cheap stock photography, entire paragraphs on one slide. You get the idea. <br />
<br />
Best Educational Use of a Social Network: Ray's Cafe. Just go there sometime and try the pie or the pi. Either way, you'll never have enough. People connect in a deep social network on a daily basis.<br />
<br />
Best Educational Use of a Virtual World: Isn't that precisely schooling already is? A dark virtual world with draconian discipline all in the name of the "real world?"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-5960462467865351412010-11-12T15:43:00.007-07:002010-11-13T06:36:04.933-07:00Just Teach Them To Solve for X<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;">A few people have asked me to keep posting to this blog instead of just consolidating. So, I'm keeping this bad boy around, but I'll start posting these to my other blog as well. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;">Incidentally, before writing this post (or looking at any comments on blogs), I created a video yesterday that is on my personal blog today dealing with this </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;"><a href="http://jtspencer.blogspot.com/2010/11/make-believe-metaphor-6th-in-series.html">issue of metaphor</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;">. I want to assure you that none of this is ever meant to demean, disrespect or insult anyone - just provoke thought. </span><br />
<br />
Gertrude the Cognitive Acquisition of Newly Developed Youth Learning Achievement of National Data (CANDY LAND) Specialist approaches me in mid-lesson.<br />
<br />
"Your schedule says 'math block' right now and I see your students sketching pictures." <br />
<br />
"They're creating metaphors for the concept of 'x.' So, they start with the picture and then describe the process using the metaphor." <br />
<br />
"Why not just teach them to solve for x?" <br />
<br />
"I want them to understand how variables work. Most of them have no idea that 'x' isn't simply a magical number, but actually an independent variable. If they can't understand how 'x' is used, how will they understand how it is used in life?" <br />
<br />
"Look, I see kids drawing pictures of tools and bridges and revolutionary figures. Why not just teach them to define and use 'x' instead?"<br />
<br />
"Metaphors are how we as humans make sense out of the abstract. It's the bridge between pure abstraction and the concrete, terrestrial reality we experience. It's used by children and philosophers alike to grapple with a complex universe."<br />
<br />
"I don't mind when you have the students replace the slates with paper, Tom. That's fine with me. I get it. They can go back and look at previous work."<br />
<br />
"Yes, but you miss the full potential of paper when we simply duplicate how we used it with slates. The genius of paper is how we can use it to construct knowledge rather simply copy processes."<br />
<br />
"Your job is to teach them truth. Cold, hard reliable truth. Metaphors are messy and muddled and confusing - like a scavenger hunt through a swamp. It should be like clockwork. Mechanical. Bits and pieces as clear as day." I find it odd that he uses two or three metaphors himself to make sense out of his own theory of knowledge. <br />
<br />
"What if learning is messy? What if confusion is the process that leads to clarity? What if simply memorizing a computational practice does little help students understand how a variable works?"<br />
<br />
"Are you arguing that we should make math more confusing?"<br />
<br />
"The world's greatest teachers were often confusing. They understood that truth involves metaphors."<br />
<br />
"Like who?"<br />
<br />
"Let's start with Locke, Rousseau, Plato, Erasmus, Jesus." <br />
<br />
"You aren't Jesus, Tom."<br />
<br />
"Good point." <br />
<br />
"Look, it's just that metaphors are dangerous. There's too much room for confusion." <br />
<br />
"That's exactly why we need them. Life is dangerous. Learning is dangerous. A bad metaphor can launch a war. I want my students to know this. I want them to see that language shapes our perceptions of reality."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-51583474150184276652010-11-12T11:33:00.000-07:002010-11-12T11:33:31.846-07:00New Book CoverHere's an initial idea for the book cover.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qk4FIDJcKOgqTfxU33hyphenhyphengFahgs3ZCRlCgvR2Kx7JYA4-bjJQTAusWI0Wmqa98EpXwRSOjt37Fg7-n9vW_Vk5OKjv2OVRbI-NESh37XMu1UniMmK1vjTGIYIY8Jm0_sxoVoCY3O3OnN6Q/s1600/pencilmein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qk4FIDJcKOgqTfxU33hyphenhyphengFahgs3ZCRlCgvR2Kx7JYA4-bjJQTAusWI0Wmqa98EpXwRSOjt37Fg7-n9vW_Vk5OKjv2OVRbI-NESh37XMu1UniMmK1vjTGIYIY8Jm0_sxoVoCY3O3OnN6Q/s640/pencilmein.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-84827206794711181732010-11-07T16:13:00.001-07:002010-11-07T16:14:01.627-07:00This Blog Is MovingIn an effort to consolidate blogs, I have decided to move this blog to my <a href="http://jtspencer.blogspot.com/">Spencer's Scratch Pad</a> blog. I will keep this blog open, but all new posts will be available on my other blog. If you are a blog follower, I encourage you to follow my other blog. If you are a subscriber, I encourage you to subscribe to my other blog.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-86202671873753492352010-11-03T06:01:00.001-07:002010-11-07T16:09:27.858-07:00Sketchy Portraits: 8th Grade Identity and PencilsDespite its versatility, few people respect the pencil. While we talk admire the permanence of ink, we use "pencil me in" with a certain sense of derision. It's temporary. It's gray. For all its graphite glory, it seems immanently practical and yet always tentative, always questioning, always mysterious, always meandering through shades of gray. <br />
<br />
My students are at that age where the pencil becomes their own metaphor. Few of them can articulate it, but they relate to the medium itself. I watch students sketching pictures and delicately smudging the graphite in order to create value and texture and shading. A simple circle turns spherical. An abstract face turns fleshy. Perhaps I'm overstating the case, but my eighth graders embrace the power of to create and to destroy and to wander in this mystery while they still can. <br />
<br />
A fourteen year old yearns for freedom and yet still clings to the safety of childhood. At one moment, she might be lashing out at the world and demanding autonomy and yet in the next, she is wounded by its darkness and crying in pain. This ebb and flow, this graphite confusion, is true of even the "best behaved" of the bunch. <br />
<br />
It's sketchy. <br />
<br />
It's permanent and temporary. <br />
<br />
It's change, constant change, sometimes in smooth lines and sometimes in wild, dark jagged edges.<br />
<br />
A first grade teacher pulls me aside and complains, "William was mouthy." <br />
<br />
"What happened?"<br />
<br />
"I asked him why he was here and he said, 'We're all trying to find that out. Isn't that the point of life?' and so I asked him again and he gave me attitude again." <br />
<br />
"So what did you do?" <br />
<br />
"I told him that he couldn't have his pencil out during school."<br />
<br />
"And?"<br />
<br />
"And he said that school was out and so I told him that he was still on school property and he said that school wasn't a place, it was the people and the ideas. Otherwise you wouldn't have to do homework, since the physical space doesn't hold any magical powers."<br />
<br />
I laugh at this response. She shows me her Teacher Death Stare.<br />
<br />
"What did you do next?"<br />
<br />
"I told him that this was no way to talk to a teacher and that he can be paddled for it if we need to go there." <br />
<br />
"I don't blame you for being angry. Eighth graders can be disrespectful. What she doesn't undrerstand is that their misbehavior often confuses themselves. They are moody, emotional and experimental. They are testing the boundaries of humor and social interaction. Everything in their world has gone from black and white to gray. They feel penciled in and a part of them embraces this change and yet each child is scared and lonely as well."<br />
<br />
"I just don't get them. They can be so rude," she adds.<br />
<br />
"The thing is that little kids are just as rude. They give unexpected hugs, ignoring the rules of space. They interrupt you when they are excited. Some of them still lack the ability to fart silently. And they yell in those squeaky little voices of theirs."<br />
<br />
"But they can't help it. That's their age." <br />
<br />
"Same with fourteen year olds. In a fourteen year old's mind, just about everything is temporary and everything is changing and honestly that's a major part of the disrespect. They want to be treated like kids and adults."<br />
<br />
"I don't get it. It has to be one or the other." <br />
<br />
"Or both."<br />
<br />
It strikes me that I have been shaped by the students I teach. I embrace the mystery. I accept the duality. Somewhere deep within, I get the yearning for freedom. I've learned to navigate the comments and use them as a chance for student self-reflection. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, she accepts the rules and embraces the structure and understands that the literal and the permanent are so necessary for life. In this moment, we fail to see one another. She's writing the world in ink and I'm sketching it out in pencil.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-434805930619723492010-11-02T05:59:00.000-07:002010-11-07T16:09:27.859-07:00He Just Likes the Class for the PencilsI'm not the Nice Guy Teacher who hands out candy and offers free time (Isn't all education supposed to be an act of liberation?) and plays the pal at recess and lunch time. I am strict. I allow a large amount of freedom (we have tables instead of desks, where the students are allowed to eat and they may choose where to sit), but I will correct a child every time I see disrespect or laziness.<br />
<br />
Somehow I get the reputation as the Nice Guy Teacher, though. Thus teachers who have never visited my room often seem surprised by the lack of chaos and the serious demeanor that I have. I want my students to enjoy learning, but I also want them to grasp the fact that it is a serious endeavor. So, I use some humor and try and develop a good relationship with them. However, I expect full mental engagement.<br />
<br />
I'm in a "behavior meeting," with a parent, a child and three other teachers. Under the guise of "finding solutions," each teacher blames and shames until the boy cries. (Occasionally teachers will actually delight in this, believing that shame leads to a change in direction, when, in fact, it leads to perfectionism, rebellion and ultimately hedging your bets and wearing masks so that no one ever knows you)<br />
<br />
"He's doing well for me. I teach all the subjects except for the electives," I explain.<br />
<br />
"That's only because of the pencils," another teacher says.<br />
<br />
"I really think it's because he and I have found a way to get along," I add. <br />
<br />
Another teacher says, "I wish I had a set of pencils. Maybe he would behave for me. I know he loves pencils. I guess we can't all have it our way."<br />
<br />
"I'm not sure the pencils are the thing that makes it meanin. . ."<br />
<br />
"Don't get defensive, Tom. He loves your class for the pencils. At least he doesn't interrupt you with stupid questions. In gym class . . ."<br />
<br />
His voice trails off and I check out. Turns out this meeting was meant to shame and blame me. What he doesn't realize is that pencils will be exciting for a day. Any new technology is like that. We have a phonograph that the students fell in love with for a week. We have access to a telegraph that we use on occasion.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, though, it is about trust and purpose. This child trusts me, because I don't shame him. In fact, the one time I yelled at him, I apologized and he responded with humility and strength. He trusts me, because I know him and I know him, because I take the time to listen. This child sees meaning and purpose in what we do in class. I try not to waste his time with meaningless work and in return he doesn't waste my time with meaningless chatter. <br />
<br />
None of that requires a pencil.<br />
<br />
When the meeting is over, the teachers walk out first. The child is sitting with his face buried in his hands, tears streaming down. An angry mother sits beside him.<br />
<br />
As he gets up to leave, he says, "I don't just like your class for the pencils. I like pencils. But I like your class because it's fun. No, sometimes it's really boring and, I don't know. I don't know why I like your class, but it isn't just the pencils."<br />
<br />
"I know," I tell him.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-34442882142922594632010-10-25T20:38:00.000-07:002010-11-07T16:09:27.860-07:00The Medium Shapes the LearningMy students toured one of Edison's film studios. They saw firsthand how something so lifelike is actually a production. <div><br />
</div><div>Production. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The filmmakers chop up bits and pieces of captured, vital life and reproduce it into something new. </div><div><br />
</div><div>It's magic to us. We're mesmerized by the dancing light and the larger-than-life figures haunting us in their "not-really-here but not-really-gone" since of permanence. Everything is smoother, grander and more seductive than the terrestrial reality of a school yard.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Yes, I know it is about light hitting a photograph and moving. "Motion picture" sounds tame. But given the nature of light, the paradox of ray and particle, I can't help but see the magic of the motion picture. When they perfect the art of phonography, we'll have talking motion pictures. Perhaps a century from now we'll have it all at the palm of our hands - the ability to pick apart and edit life and present it as something new and magical. </div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><div><br />
</div><div>"Why can't we get a film studio on campus?" a student asks me. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"I'm not sure about the medium," I tell him. </div><div><br />
</div><div>"So, just teach like you normally would and add some motion picture parts. I bet it would be fun. Imagine what we would produce." </div><div><br />
</div><div>Fun. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Produce. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm thinking of the Roman notion of bread and circus. I always assumed bread was the more powerful element. I'm now understanding the pull of circus. It's not that I am opposed to fun, per se. It's just that often "fun" is the cheap replacement of "intriguing" or "meaningful" or "beautiful" or "life-changing." Edison's studio is, in fact, a fun factory. I cannot and should not reproduce it. </div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><div><br />
</div><div>Educators often believe that they have the power to wield each tool to fit their own purpose. They assume that a lesson can remain virtually unchanged when a new medium is added. Often, the metaphor is one of a tool - though, they would never use a tool in this way. Who would ever say, "We need to screw this in with a hammer?" </div><div><br />
</div><div>There is something inherently dangerous about taking every technological device and applying it to learning without ever asking the intended meaning of a medium. A pencil, for example, is inherently individual, deliberately vague (shades of gray, ability to erase), intellectual, portable and text-based. A film is, by contrast, visual, collective, emotional, geography-bound, visual and non-linear. </div><div><br />
</div><div>If I begin with a lesson plan and simply pick a tool based upon "fun" or "productivity" or "student engagement," I am running the risk of teaching something entirely unintended. If I introduce a telegraph as a source of knowledge, we send an implied message that knowledge should be portable, consumable and in small increments. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I am not opposed to adding new tools to learning. I simply want us to recognize that whatever tools we choose will reshape learning in ways that we often fail to recognize.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015589183103314236.post-69917756632098618122010-10-19T15:12:00.001-07:002010-11-07T16:09:27.860-07:00How I Got Roped Into a Satirical Workshop PresentationWe all had to fill out a sheet of paper (you should have seen the complaints teachers made about having to use pencils in professional development) describing what type of workshop presentation we want to deliver in our monthly district professional development. <br />
<br />
I don't mind the notion of a monthly professional development, despite the reality that the best skills I have learned occurred in a relational context, within the process of teaching and only among a small number of people. That and it usually involved a pint or two. <br />
<br />
I simply don't have anything to teach, which makes it a dangerous venue for me. I play Icarus with the group and take the wings they offer me and then sail beyond my area of expertise. I get arrogant. I put on an act. It's not that people dislike it. In fact, they are often enjoying the show. It's just that it's dangerous for me when I fall into the sea and I'm left in isolation to tread water with my arrogant self. <br />
<br />
So, when I filled out my application, I wrote the following answers as a joke:<br />
<br />
1. What is the most important element in a thriving economy?<br />
The human element.<br />
<br />
2. What do business leaders use to create economic growth?<br />
They use humanity. All of us. Those who figure out how to manipulate people learn how to manipulate systems and create revenue for personal gain.<br />
<br />
3. What is the most necessary skill needed in an industrial economy?<br />
For those at the bottom, it is obedience and conformity. To those at the top, it is figuring out how to get people who are naturally inclined to freedom and individuality to sacrifice these ideals to serve the needs of the company. <br />
<br />
Yeah, I realize it had an anti-capital streak to it. I'm a bit of a civil libertarian myself. More of a Thoreau than an Emerson than a Marx or a Tolstoy. (Though I was involved in the Haymarket Square protests back in the day)<br />
<br />
Then again, it was a joke. So, I was a bit surprised when I received the telegraph explaining that they would love me to give "The Human Element" as a PD explaining the dangers in being obsessed with education-for-job-growth and missing out on the notion of education-for-life. Perhaps I could even go in character as a representative of a robber baron and force the audience into deconstructing the satire. <br />
<br />
It will be interesting.<br />
<br />
I'm thinking "The Human Element: Ten Ways to Teach Students to Use People for Personal Gain." I heard people love lists and numbers at PD.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com4