Places to (re)visit

As a memory exercise and a name game, our 7th grade students created an ever-expanding list of places that began with the first letter of their last name. They surprised themselves by keeping in mind almost two dozen place names, including two of the republics that emerged from the fall of the Soviet Union.

Building upon that exercise, we asked each of the students to prepare a 20-30 second oral presentation on their place. We are firm believers that anything we assign to our students we should be willing to do ourselves. Of course, since we teach three different social studies classes and wouldn't think of repeating the same place in each class, we have given ourselves three times the amount of work we assigned.

Two of my "F" places, Frankfurt and France, are places I've visited once only, for less than 24 hours apiece, on the same 6-countries-in-8-days trip in 1980. I'll pass on delivering to you my 30 second anecdote about each, but will at least allow you to see one image from each, courtesy of flickr.com, that may give you some idea as to why those days remain in memory.

Main River, Frankfurt, Germany




Strasbourg Cathedral

Lyddie, Chapters 1 through 6

You've begun the book! What do you think so far? How has Katherine Paterson captured your attention? What do you like or not like about Lyddie as you first get to know her? Comment on any and all of these questions, or simply let us know what's on your mind as you begin your trip to 19th century New England where the Industrial Revolution begins to affect people's lives and choices.

Lyddie

Welcome to our class blog home base for your thoughts on Lyddie.

As usual, you will visit here when you complete a chapter and say what's on your mind. How did this chapter affect the way you feel about our Industrial Revolution Essential Questions? What do you think of Lyddie, and how did this chapter possibly change your mind about her?

If you want to comment on what a classmate has said about the chapter, you may do so. Otherwise, start a new conversation with your comment!

Whether a new comment or a reaction to a classmate, remember to make it meaty (approximately 200 words) and polite. And, don't forget to sign it!

Chapter 1-6

Living Alone

Social Scientist Robert Putnam is known for his book Bowling Alone, which looks at both research and suggestions about the decline of communal civic behavior. His latest research is on a similar but more incendiary topic, namely the idea that diversity in a community leads to the same sorts of communal disconnectedness.

This research will be a focal point of conversations, because Putnam is a popular author and because he is a liberal thinker who is not in sympathy with what he found in his research.

Visit Harvard's press release and the links within it to Putnam's June 2007 article as well as press reactions.

Well, here's a mosaic of CDs among the top 100 in Norman Lebrecht's new book, The Life and Death of Classical Music that I don't already own but have some interest in. I'm using this post to see how a dozen or so images in the same post look. I'm thinking this won't be very aesthetically pleasing.

4 second frenzy

No, I haven't migrated over to the Dark Side of online addicting games. Instead, I've used this post to demonstrate for my 10-year old son how he too can create either a blog or a wiki devoted to games (he liked the way this appeared on the wiki better). Visit his site in its (very) early stages of development! Over on the wiki, what surprised me, but shouldn't have, is that my son's games site took upon itself Google Ads that we can't turn off as far as I can tell. I guess that's why pbwiki is free! When I set my wiki up, I selected "Education" as the purpose. Maybe that will mean no mysterious ads crop up? We'll see!

Here's how it appears as a hyperlink over to the game:

4 Second Frenzy

Here's how it appears embedded in the blog:


Play Games at AddictingGames

I've Been Reading...

I've been reading a number of books recently about blogs. The most recent is one by Biz Stone, but they all make the point that I should spend more time reading other blogs than I spend composing my own, and that linking to the interesting content I encounter during my reading is how I play my part in the blogosphere.

I'm a teacher (at least in training). It's a minor miracle that I'm finding the time to blog, much less read other's blogs. Most of the blogs I link to on the left were recommended by Will Richardson, who's also listed to the left. But do I read them? Alas, rarely. What that means is that this blog features, in descending order of space, my thoughts about teaching, my recent experience, the (random) wonders I encounter on line.

But, here's a thought. If you're a fellow teacher and find your way here, comment with a link to one web site you love. I'll promise to check it out and pass on the word if I love it too.



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Seeing is Believing

Yesterday, I noted how much easier it was for me to comprehend Backward Design when watching a videotape explaining it. Today, I have another example for your delectation:

My wife and I spent a wonderful day at the Peabody Essex Museum, or PEM in Salem, Massachusetts, a great way to avoid kitchy, commercialized witchdom while visiting that beautiful community. Our primary reason for going was to see an exhibit on Joseph Cornell, an artist worth a looksee, particularly if you're looking for provocative art project ideas for children. He was self-taught and an inveterate collector, creating collages, many of them in glass-fronted boxes, that impressed the Surrealists and other avant-gardists of his day.

But what I want to particularly bring to your attention is another exhibit at PEM, one on Origami. I'm half-decent at it, even though I'm always challenged by the written diagrams instructing me as to the sequence of folds ("Now is that a mountain fold, or a valley fold?"). But PEM had a great video step-by-step demonstration, and the water lily I produced is proof that once again today, visual instruction takes the prize. Try it yourself here!

Backward Thinking

This week, my colleagues and I are taking apart Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe's Backward Design methodology. I've read my share about their progression

1. Learning Goals


2. Assessment


3. Teaching Activities

without it necessarily sinking in. But, thanks to a classmate who suggested I view a clip of Wiggins describing the method, I'm starting to get with the program. Go watch and learn!

Assignments in Dreamland

In my pre-service training, I am constantly given two pieces of advice that at some level conflict. The first is:

When designing lessons, make sure you can use them in your future classroom

The second is:

The best instruction is interdisciplinary

Both sage suggestions, right? The problem is, interdisciplinary curriculum, especially when it brings together four core subjects (language arts, social studies, math, science) and multiple electives as well, is not likely to be a part of the classroom in which I find myself. I consider myself blessed when at least the language arts and social studies pieces come together under the overall umbrella of "Humanities".

So, what's a grad student to do? If you're me, and enamored of interdisciplinary curriculum, you take advantage of this time that you're not under the incredible time crunch of the in-service teacher, and you play in the sandbox of interdisciplinary curriculum. Visit my wiki (a topic for another post soon) and tell me this isn't more fun to design than a practical, limited-scope lesson.



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PBwiki and me

Would I want to create my own wiki at a site called PBwiki, where PB stands for "Peanut Butter Sandwich?" Why wouldn't I? You'll see here how easy it is, and how functional. Plus (another guilty pleasure) I love peanut butter (and jelly) sandwiches!

Rules For Rules

Apropos of yesterday's post, here's something from the archives:

During my Middle School Philosophy class this past winter, I commented on a proposed classroom rules list that included typical items such as “speak only after the teacher calls on you.” And yet, typical as the rules were, they seemed so unlike the behavior I expected from adolescents that I thought our instructor was proposing them as a joke, as if to say “You cannot expect middle school students to hold back, so don’t make them raise their hands and await their turn”.

Many middle school observations later, I realize the error of my early thinking. I am now a firm believer in classroom rules. Kids may not like them all, and will break them on too many occasions, but they crave routine and structure. When they are unclear as to the teacher’s expectations, they are uncomfortable, and seek to alleviate this by asking question after question until they understand what they should be doing. Far better it seems to me that the classroom, a “community of learners”, does what all communities should do; establish rules early on, with input from students and steering from the teacher. I even have to admit that I like the word “rules”. Kids understand the concept of following the rules. It’s the best word for conveying the concept that you must behave in a particular way or there will be consequences.

In our Inclusive Schooling class, we shared Ron Clark’s book listing his Essential 55 Rules. Instinctively, I’m thinking 55 are too many; I’d use Clark’s list as food for thought in proposing a dozen essential rules for my classroom. One particular Clark rule raised for me the question of how you manage 55 rules. Clark says that students should always say thank you upon receiving something from the teacher. Does this include all handouts, tests, homework? What are the consequences if a student doesn’t say thank you every time? My goal would be a set of rules where transgressions would merit consequences. Bullying someone merits consequences, failing to say thank you upon receiving back a test does not. A better rule than “always say thank you” might be “always treat each other with respect”. This gives the teacher more latitude in determining which behaviors stray so far from that rules that something needs to be done.

A final thought: This is an area in which anything I might think today will likely change in the crucible of my first classroom. I’ll check in with myself in a year’s time to see what I think about the rules for rules.



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Guilty Pleasures (Part Two)

Blogging daily, which I've set for myself as a challenge this week, means you need an idea worth sharing and the time to polish a prose piece to express it. If your blog focuses primarily on one topic (in my case it's teaching), it's hard to always find the idea; if you're a teacher, it's hard to find the time.

Thus, I take a guilty pleasure in the fact that I've got any number of reflections stored safely on my hard drive, many of which with a little dusting off can provide a daily comment. Newspaper columnists should have it so lucky. Because I'm still in my pre-service, "get that master's degree" phase of my career arc, I'm especially blessed with a solid backlog of observations. I know some of you reading this post are contemplating blogging yourself, but may have heard that you should post with regularity, and are concerned about the pace. First of all, blog whenever you want. This is for you, not for humankind (although if a slice of humankind checks in, so much the better). Second of all, don't forget that backlog. Chances are you've got your own storehouse of written reflections that can fill the gap when the urge to blog is there but the time/topic isn't. I plan to be otherwise busy tomorrow, so I'm ready to raid that storehouse!



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Some things merit passing on!

If you're stuck for new ways to present visual information to students, get a load of this! When you click on the link, mouse over any element to see the associated presentation. Would we could see these as 8.5 x 11 documents!

Thanks Doug Johnson for bringing this bit of psychedelics to my attention!

Guilty Pleasures (Part One)

My local newspaper, The Boston Globe has been running a regular Saturday feature on "Guilty Pleasures". Each week, Luke O'Neil manages to come up with something to be guilty but pleasured about. Last week it was spoiling his nieces and nephews; other examples are particularly yucky junk foods, TV shows, lottery scratch tickets, the list goes on and on.

My guilty pleasure today is the "...For Dummies" series. Yes, those ubiquitous yellow-and-black tomes on every topic under the sun. Particularly when I'm in the "Computer" section of my bookstore, I look all around me to make sure there's no tech savant within site to belittle my lack of sophistication.

The problem is, the books are helpful! They hold your hand through a process without assuming that you know anything about it in advance, a perfectly delightful thing when you truly don't know anything about it in advance. They're also written with a sense of humor, a trait sorely missing in any other book in "Computers". I know we should all be able to operate with on-line help in this era of no manuals. But, I consider it amazing enough at my age that I'm willing to try the technology; just consider it some sort of scaffolding for me that I use the "...Dummmies" book to take my first steps.

For any of you visiting, and still a touch concerned about whether you too can blog, just get "...Dummies" then get smart:

* Used at Amazon.com

* At eBay

* Or at your local library. You'll thank me!



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53 and counting

A fellow student and teacher recently commended my energy level, hoping it was catching. As a 53-year old who finds himself ready to nod off nightly around 10, I don't take that energy for granted. In contemplating where it came from, I can only blame my decision almost one year ago to change my life, leaving the corporate rat race behind and throwing myself into first learning, then practicing the art and craft of teaching. I wake up most mornings raring to go, ready to continue my apprenticeship in the art and hone my craft.

At this blog, I generally have teachers as visitors. Maybe you're about my age, and wondering where to derive your own energy from. Please don't follow my path and change careers; if you're interested enough in teaching to find yourself here, the profession needs you. But try to find something radically new within the profession and begin your journey from apprenticeship to mastery. It may be technology, like blogging. It may be new takes on pedagogy (I'm seeking to learn more about combining Carol Ann Tomlinson's Differentiated Instruction and Jay McTighe's Understanding By Design). Find a new enthusiasm and let it work its magic.



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Blog tools...

Welcome visiting Week 6 students and others.

I'm going to spend some time here this week taking tentative baby steps toward adding interesting content to my blog. The first two examples are now present in the left-hand margin. The first is a link back to our class blog that will update when there are any future postings (I'm trying to get it to update any time there's a new comment). The second is Web content that feeds directly into the blog from dictionary.com, a Word of the Day. I'll amend this post from time to time during Week 6 and try some different things. You blogging veterans may be familiar with all of this, or these may be new ideas to you. Here's hoping you learn something new.



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Teachers-as-Bloggers

The best teachers are reflective practitioners. Every day, inside and outside the classroom, on the Internet, at professional development seminars, with our colleagues, we find grist for the mill. We ponder what worked, what we need to revise, how we can deepen our understanding and experience of curriculum and pedagogy.

What better exercise for teachers than to write it. Maybe you keep a journal or diary of your reflections. Maybe you wish you had the time, always a precious commodity for teachers. Let me suggest that our research into educational standards last week highlighted how important writing is for our students, no matter what the classroom subject. And, for us to assess and guide our students as they write, we need to increase our mastery of the art of writing.

Let me suggest that rather than just write it, blog it. Even if you’re not ready to turn your students on to the Wild West Show that is Internet blogging, as adults we should be ready to join in the conversation. We can write for publication every day, a condition that engages our students and should engage us. We will get feedback from other thoughtful practitioners. We can maintain contact with each other once the virtual doors of our Lesley Discussion Board have closed.

Visit the Interviews, Blog Entries of Note, and/or Will Richardson’s blog to the left, each of which has something to say about the idea of teacher-as-blogger. Then, reflect and comment on the following:

Could you see yourself as a regular blogger? Would you want to blog on a variety of topics, or would you want to focus on a particular topic? What would prevent you from blogging: time? training? comfort with putting your viewpoint out there?



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Blogging about Blogs...

Previously, I’ve taken two stabs at joining the blogerati. For me, what breaks the ice is an authentic assignment, and this week, such an assignment has dropped into my lap. I am commissioned along with two classmates in Lesley University’s online course “Technology and Social Studies” to moderate a conversation among my peers on the use of blogs and wikis in education. What better way to get teachers pondering the strengths and challenges of a blog than via a blog?

Welcome, anyone whose search for intelligent chatter concerning blogs and wikis in education may have taken them here. You are free to join my Lesley friends in pondering this question:

Bernie Dodge's WebQuest site, in talking about blogs and wikis says, "{Blogs and wikis] have a lot of potential, but to make sense as teaching tools we need to embed them in some kind of larger pedagogical structure." As a teacher, can you propose an example of such a structure with blogs and/or wikis embedded? Have you taught or could you project teaching a specific lesson or unit with a blog or wiki as a component? Please provide a brief summary of such a lesson. You can refer to the WebQuest Design Pattern hyperlink for ideas, but be original with your suggested lesson. On the other hand, if after learning about blogs and wikis you would choose not to include them in your pedagogy, please indicate why.

For you Lesleyites who are compelled to be here, please take the opportunity to comment on this question, as well as any other blog/wiki related riff that strikes your fancy. Your comments are anticipated on Tuesday/Wednesday, July 10-11.

Before you answer, you may want to check the following. Due to the viral nature of the Internet, you may very well have experienced this already. If not, enjoy “Shift Happens” and continue downplaying the Internet at your peril.

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Family and Heritage

Stanford Wong learns the most about his family's Chinese cultural heritage from his grandmother Yin-Yin. Today, we discover where Stanford's jade good-luck charm comes from, an area of China around Mt. Hengshan, one of China's Five Famous Mountains:



Reflection: What member of your family shares the most with you about your heritage? Is there any object you have from your family's past that is special to you? Why?

The Children Are Watching

As a class assignment for Issues in American Schooling at Lesley University, a quartet of us have read The Chldren are Watching: How the Media Teach About Diversity by Carlos E. Cortes.

I have attached to this post an outline of Part 4 of Cortes' text. This section focuses upon the role that teachers and schools can play in engaging mass media, whether entertainment or news. I will further the discussion with a series of images of Arabs/Arab-Americans in recent American entertainment media.

Mass Media Multicultural Textbooks are a Given!

Schools Must Decide:
…if they will participate consciously
…how they will respond

Educational Media and Mass Media either:
Challenge Each Other
Reinforce Each Other
One Addresses Topic, One Ignores Topic

Proposed Educator Paradigm:

Premises
Children are Exposed to Media
Media “Teaches” Children
Media Learning Affects School Learning

Educator Responses
Recognition
Attention (but responses will be diverse)
Exploration
...Ask students questions
...Discuss in class
...Give Assignments
Investigate (analyze in greater depth)

Areas of School Engagement

Educator Self Assessment

Incorporate Student Media Learning
...Before a unit, ask students what they know and where they learned it from

Media as Curricular Resource
...External: Children consider outside media along with curriculum
...Internal: Use media examples in class
...Incorporated: For example, discuss role of media in historic event

Student Analytical Thinking – especially about outside media

Professional Development
...Media Literacy
...Media Multicultural Education

Working with Parents
...Advise how they can discuss outside media with kids

Working with Media
...Write media makers about their content
...Invite media makers to classroom

Combating Stereotypes
Teach Distinction Between Generalizations and Stereotypes
Students to Apply and Test Distinctions
--Selectivity
--Frequency
--Variety
--Placement on Timeline
.......Reality
.......Seminal Treatment
.......Widespread Imitation –Audience expectations considered
.......Humor, Caricature - Stereotype Manipulation
-------Mindless, Careless, Exploitative Repetition





Links:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.tv/browse_thread/thread/8c682326f7d72e9c/951c130aafe34f3d#951c130aafe34f3d34f3d