tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21982435876244171602024-03-11T20:53:50.184-04:00TeachingHumansA collective of teachers learning.teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-73764215187725497992013-02-19T16:49:00.003-05:002013-02-19T16:49:42.181-05:00We've moved.Please head over to teachinghumans.com<br />
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This blog will remain active for archival purposes, but will not be updated.teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-68666743172461467542013-02-03T15:11:00.000-05:002013-02-03T15:12:14.616-05:00The Wikiseat Project: A Student Considers The Role of Problems<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="ccIcn ccIcnSmall" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: initial;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Attribution" /><img alt="Noncommercial" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_noncomm_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Noncommercial" /></a></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: initial;" title="Attribution-NonCommercial License">Some rights reserved</a><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> by Flickr user </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholasjon/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: initial;">nicholasjon</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Our initial steps in The WikiSeat project have had us considering the role that problems play in both the project and our lives. Here's a very insightful post by one of our students. Steven's class blog is called <a href="http://itsstevensblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Thoughts of a Rugby Player</a> and it is used here with his kind permission. - Sean Wheeler</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://itsstevensblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/just-think-about-it.html" target="_blank">Just Think About It</a></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by Steven H.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nothing in life is perfect, because of this there are these things
called "problems". Problems can be anything from something being built
incorrectly on a bridge or a building to emotional or medical issues
somebody may have. I think the word "problem" should be defined as
something that isn't the way we think it should be and needs fixing.
Some things are more easily fixed than others, issues like autism or
other mental disorders. I have a close friend whose sister has autism
and they are always supporting ways to help her. Problems can go from
this extreme to the mild problem of a flat tire. Both are necessary to
fix, this is why I think they are both problems.<br /><br />All people have
different attitudes towards problems. People who act like Marvin the
manically depressed robot from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" who
are constantly saying everything is destined to fail, no matter what you
do. These people don't really try to solve the problem they just sit
back and say "See I told you so". There are also the people who just
slink away from the problem and say "I'll do it later". Neither of these
people are really helping any of the other people who actually correct
the problem, but hindering them. This brings me to the third type of
person, the proactive problem solver. These people go out in search of a
problem, not wait for a problem to happen or to be given one, but
actually look for them. This is how I was raised to deal with any
problem, the tried and true "It's YOUR problem so YOU fix it".<br /><br />The
only catch is that in order to be a true problem solver, you need to be
able to identify problems. You can't assume the blatant explanation is
the correct one and this requires you to put forth something called
effort. This is a problem that is being exasperated by several things,
but one of the prime reasons is due to our schooling system. I can say
with confidence that we just play a game through high school. It only
dawned on me what we were doing in sixth grade but when it did, even the
minimal effort I was putting forth stopped. Until this year I haven't
put any thought or effort into school, even though I was in the "focus"
program, the supposedly challenging course for middle school students.
For four years I haven't tried to do well in school. This is a huge
problem that needs to be solved and I think that the 2.0 program at
Lakewood High School is on the right track. This is all in the opinion
of a sixteen year old kid. However this kid has played the game known as
school for eight years, which is almost twice the length of the longest
average career of a professional football player. I think I know my
game pretty well if you ask me.</span>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-59908631496563169102013-02-01T11:02:00.000-05:002013-02-01T11:02:55.930-05:00The WikiSeat Project: Our Students Have Problems!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJv6mEAfmi1kvBZza2qJXB7wL62PoXrx-bLwHbgwuiRXSIyQq5CPP0uao1GSNZu3PFS55M0uiTRfnMRS1b92QBsNmycKoP2K8QLbu0Qt2SKopWmCmijBG7hn6r2cq-L6-uPpjRveJYFoti/s1600/IMG_2561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJv6mEAfmi1kvBZza2qJXB7wL62PoXrx-bLwHbgwuiRXSIyQq5CPP0uao1GSNZu3PFS55M0uiTRfnMRS1b92QBsNmycKoP2K8QLbu0Qt2SKopWmCmijBG7hn6r2cq-L6-uPpjRveJYFoti/s320/IMG_2561.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">Our students received their Catalysts yesterday, and The WikiSeat Project 2013 is off and running. Students were asked to identify a problem that they wanted to solve by designing and building a WikiSeat, and post it to a Moodle forum. The responses, most of them listed below, range from the practical concerns of daily life all the way up to the spiritually uplifting and deeply empathetic. When our students learn because they have real problems that they want to solve they approach the whole process with something real at stake and with a determination otherwise not associated with what we usually do in school. We invite you to take some time looking at the problems our students hope to solve through our work on the project, and to read more about <a href="http://teachinghumans.blogspot.com/2012/11/teaching-design-finding-problems.html" target="_blank">our approach to identifying problems</a>. - Sean Wheeler</span></i><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chair I use now is getting old, and I play Minecraft with my brother, and he usually sits on the ground.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every time I go to my friend’s house I have to sit on her bed and it sucks because she is a bed hog. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't have anywhere to hangout alone.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sister broke my vanity chair so now I have nowhere to sit down and do my hair or my makeup.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I straighten or curl my hair, I have to be in front of my mirror, and I get tired of standing.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I moved out of my old house all of the dinning room chairs broke due to how old they were, so my mother took all the spare chairs from the house and used them for the table. This included my creative chair.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm scared of the dark.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My problem is when it comes time to get a haircut I have nowhere to sit, and I don’t want too use my dining room chairs.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroxiK_lzMVdVyx33hQ8eihmkdcRXuST6WIbx6zcF-IPEaVXUohMFOz-gIagH6lp4GxDliYCRlWTSoRwhui5L8nsh0oQ9a6BnxXJLbghgwu66C4NFTnrft_5akbXOyzyezIY7hD8hCYOVc/s1600/IMG_2564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroxiK_lzMVdVyx33hQ8eihmkdcRXuST6WIbx6zcF-IPEaVXUohMFOz-gIagH6lp4GxDliYCRlWTSoRwhui5L8nsh0oQ9a6BnxXJLbghgwu66C4NFTnrft_5akbXOyzyezIY7hD8hCYOVc/s320/IMG_2564.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My brother and I share a room and our beds take up most of the room. When I have friends sleep over they have nowhere to sit. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The WikiSeat solves the problem of not having enough seats at the dinner table. Someone either has to sit in the living room or on the floor. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t have enough places for people to sit and I’m having a birthday party real soon.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I noticed that whenever I'm at my friend’s house, and she's getting ready or something, she doesn't get to sit in front of her mirror to straighten her hair or do her make up. When she sits there, the mirror is too high up for her to see herself in the mirror so she has to do her hair and makeup without looking in the mirror.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My dog is always jumping up on these nice chairs in our house and my mom gets upset because her paws scratch the leather.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My problem is that my mom and I have nowhere to sit in our yard without getting dirty or wet.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we have guests over, and they take all the chairs, I have no place to sit.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My grandma just recently had knee surgery so she needs a chair to sit on when she prays.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I need a seat for my little cousin. While we are having dinner she never wants to stay in her seat.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9X3-Na6MtNnndq-flHEyvI3dNNRUhWVauhbszTV8j-_iU9s9onkSny2ESe0JybLymLmoKowLznV8GYk1WzLH3oiICBnnrIMHPCl4YqPfBsl9gPuCIvpXI3-3SLElkmH8WWIslf_A22Vuh/s1600/IMG_2558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9X3-Na6MtNnndq-flHEyvI3dNNRUhWVauhbszTV8j-_iU9s9onkSny2ESe0JybLymLmoKowLznV8GYk1WzLH3oiICBnnrIMHPCl4YqPfBsl9gPuCIvpXI3-3SLElkmH8WWIslf_A22Vuh/s320/IMG_2558.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem is whenever my friends are over I never have any comfortable or reasonably tall chairs for playing video games in my living room or my room.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chair for the desk in my room broke, so I need a chair for my desk to do my homework on.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When my mom comes home she talks about how her back hurts and I feel bad because the chairs and couches we have are comfortable, but they don’t help my mom and support her back the way they need to.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm always craving food and I really need a comfortable place to eat because I have to eat on my bed and it gets aggravating holding my plate, and I'm always tired for some reason so this would give me another place to sleep when I don't feel like moving to my bed.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve helped my dad on his projects and I’ve seen how the chair that he sits in effects his back. He always complains about his back pain.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My chair isn't comfortable. Every time I try to sit and play video games I get uncomfortable and I can't focus. I need to make a more comfortable chair.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I miss my sister.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I never have a place to sit when I do my make up. I always have to stand. I don't like it because it takes a while to do my make up.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem I have is that I don't have a comfortable place to sit in my house.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNOxSOciXggFKdEOHEB95F8YElAaLxol8g53c4XPhNAT3Q5d0mwtlctdfoBjuKFyvB_KLN-i_0UksodOR-HH6nSL4tEl336xnzx2-wrNbIlQtROvnGGhStyZkLhttANSkWHZNwt1DgHOU/s1600/IMG_2579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNOxSOciXggFKdEOHEB95F8YElAaLxol8g53c4XPhNAT3Q5d0mwtlctdfoBjuKFyvB_KLN-i_0UksodOR-HH6nSL4tEl336xnzx2-wrNbIlQtROvnGGhStyZkLhttANSkWHZNwt1DgHOU/s320/IMG_2579.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mom has always been really stressed out and her confidence has been really low.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When people make YouTube videos, they can’t decide whether to sit or stand. I feel like sitting would be much more comfortable. My brother is on YouTube and makes plenty of videos. How sweet would it be for him to sit in a chair made specifically for him? One that's comfy and reminds him of his little sister that is miles away.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mom can't sit anywhere comfortably because of a hip replacement.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Wiki seat will solve the problem for the guests that comes over to my house because my mom doesn't want people sitting in two specific chairs in our living room so they're forced to sit in the kitchen.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem my WikiSeat will solve is being cold at my brother's soccer games in the fall. I never bring a blanket for when I’m sitting on the chair watching the game because I always forget it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am going to make a WikiSeat chair for my nephew because he doesn't have a chair and he can't sit on the couch because he is too little to be that high off the ground.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is only one chair at my desk and when me and my friends are working, we usually have to try and share one chair. There is a stool, but it really isn't good in terms of height, fit, and comfort.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My friends don’t like to sit next to my family for what ever reasons so therefore the WikiSeat will solve the problem of my friends having to stand when they are over my house.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My problem is that when I want to read my book I don't have a chair to sit in.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgohvyzdWs7BKn5ZdFa9KxsflWnrrHdD8lCwOaWY6HDMQUXT01MQWcC8I-DbididJp3gW_a2Bkzb3BrJriCZBKJ-feO33eXSIgDaRljwbxrWMRCPH37PMdVd5UjiAc7w5PKWpNEGuqBPTu8/s1600/IMG_2578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgohvyzdWs7BKn5ZdFa9KxsflWnrrHdD8lCwOaWY6HDMQUXT01MQWcC8I-DbididJp3gW_a2Bkzb3BrJriCZBKJ-feO33eXSIgDaRljwbxrWMRCPH37PMdVd5UjiAc7w5PKWpNEGuqBPTu8/s320/IMG_2578.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My WikiSeat will solve the problem of me needing more room to store things or just a place for me to sit when I write or read. I realized this was a problem a few months ago when I had no more room to put my journals and also not many clear places for me to sit when I need a quiet place to work.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My problem is my little sister just turned one and she hates being in her high chair and she’s too small to be on the chairs and couches because they’re too high and my mom is scared she will fall.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My dad needs furniture to represent his style. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My niece has brothers who always take up the couch, leaving her complaining because she has no place to sit.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My bed is about 4 feet off the ground and its annoying to jump up there all the time.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At my house we don't have a dinning room table so I use a chair to eat my meals, but my mom hates when I do this.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like to read at night and my mom doesn't like it when I turn on the light so I usually go to another room but I have to sit on the floor, because there's no where to sit.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would like to not have to get up while watching the game.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chair my mother sits in at the dinning room table broke.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My problem is that my dinning room table has a chair broken and only three people can sit at the table. My dad always sits in the living room and eats.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEe8MjrKauwHmOQuw6PIBwDzxOU7TYFDkHqVW6HBjNxw44IM65n-hU6ShflrWNvjKtU_SS7MrTcz0mthlJgc6Yo-wEBChpaz67mk3wu0Y2RUOdvvG2jPfVNe1TNjiAI-rFu6hf-MVepgnZ/s1600/IMG_2569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEe8MjrKauwHmOQuw6PIBwDzxOU7TYFDkHqVW6HBjNxw44IM65n-hU6ShflrWNvjKtU_SS7MrTcz0mthlJgc6Yo-wEBChpaz67mk3wu0Y2RUOdvvG2jPfVNe1TNjiAI-rFu6hf-MVepgnZ/s320/IMG_2569.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My little sister always tries to sit with me, but the chairs are too big for her.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem is when I go to watch trains, I usually have to sit on the ground if there are no chairs, and if I bring a chair, my tripod with my camera is out of reach.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I sit at my dining room table I notice that all of my chairs are boring and not interesting looking at all.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sit on the floor in the living room for dinner, and when I get home from rugby practice late in the evening at 8 pm or 9 pm, I’m too sore to the point where sitting on the floor is a real pain.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem is I have bad vision and I can't see the TV clearly.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The desk chair in my brother's room broke so he has to sit on the floor to play his video games.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My brother is getting knee surgery and he will need a chair to keep his leg level.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My problem is that I like to draw but I need a hard surface to draw on and I like to draw in my room but I only have a couch and a bed so alway have to grab a book to draw on.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem my WikiSeat will solve is that there’s more people in my house than there are chairs in my house.</span></li>
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teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-3959715656002577452013-01-31T18:20:00.002-05:002013-01-31T18:24:59.070-05:00Are You Ready For This?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2RlN_nR_z9iCF-MdzQpw-usKUD1f3-hj4isWg04Z-BBs4jpNZnkOp1Sgz8lv7zvOi7AAoO1x4V-vm0DYw95k2kBBEsy0lTGp-9m9Tv-oq_uhN6eUNRa7lMibWcrDbXgez6sNxR6GDFuX5/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-01-31+at+6.23.13+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2RlN_nR_z9iCF-MdzQpw-usKUD1f3-hj4isWg04Z-BBs4jpNZnkOp1Sgz8lv7zvOi7AAoO1x4V-vm0DYw95k2kBBEsy0lTGp-9m9Tv-oq_uhN6eUNRa7lMibWcrDbXgez6sNxR6GDFuX5/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-01-31+at+6.23.13+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Reading Shawn Cornally's post<i><a href="http://shawncornally.com/wordpress/?p=3319" target="_blank"> Just Throwing This Out There: ThThTh's School for the Boredom-Averse</a> </i>I was reminded of an Educon 2.5 session with <a href="http://www.willrichardson.com/" target="_blank">Will Richardson</a> earlier in the week. In the session titled "Why School?", Will asked us to come up with "95 Theses" reflecting the world of contemporary learning and schooling. We, along with Andrew Coy from <a href="http://www.digitalharborfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Digital Harbor Foundation</a>, came up with the following list:<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li>Learn how to learn. Learn to love learning</li>
<ul>
<li>No more lesser motivations</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Learning should happen all the time</li>
<ul>
<li>No more division between school and life</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>School work should be real work</li>
<ul>
<li>No more solving problems that have been solved already</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Anyone can be a content expert</li>
<ul>
<li>No more single point of knowledge and structural hierarchy</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Information is everywhere and infinitely abundant</li>
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<li>Curation is something you do, not something done to you</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Your audience is as big as your network</li>
<ul>
<li>No more handing work in to a teacher only</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Evaluation is a conversation and should be based on worth to others</li>
<ul>
<li>No more grades</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Bring the common back to the classroom</li>
<ul>
<li>No more absolute teacher control</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Learning is no longer location-based</li>
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<li>No more wall, excuses, or smells</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Learning is exhausting</li>
<ul>
<li>No more complaining</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Time in non-linear and accessible</li>
<ul>
<li>Nothing worth doing stops because the clock moves</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Engagement is control</li>
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<li>No more behavior management tricks</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Learning is on-demand and anyone can demand it anytime</li>
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<li>No more waiting to learn</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Age is irrelevant</li>
<ul>
<li>No more predicting graduation year based on your date of birth</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Teachers: If you are not curious, find something else to do</li>
<ul>
<li>No more coasting on when you used to learn</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Teachers: You teach students, not subjects</li>
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<li>No more subjects</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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Is this really too good to be true?<br />
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We're in. Are you?<br />
<br />
-Ken Kozar</div>
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teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-32966751692929146572013-01-30T22:35:00.002-05:002013-02-03T10:12:36.455-05:00Shouldn't This Count As Data?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-K88MDHitJc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You don't need a grade book to prove that these kids are learning. There isn't a short-cycle assessment that captures what is captured in these photos. However, this <i>is </i>a short-cycle assessment, </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vDIhLhBPYEV-gx8Ac-v7alt12m_fYTfEPVeKKlDML0sQ1JKcAkiGmegjXR9xv9mUu20H6ttuolFkRhHhZ_dWRL9rskiGsoSzpJZN4ZWm9RnEZL5euoYrQ5nf9eDheAASOCI2FNEco04e/s1600/IMG_0600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vDIhLhBPYEV-gx8Ac-v7alt12m_fYTfEPVeKKlDML0sQ1JKcAkiGmegjXR9xv9mUu20H6ttuolFkRhHhZ_dWRL9rskiGsoSzpJZN4ZWm9RnEZL5euoYrQ5nf9eDheAASOCI2FNEco04e/s320/IMG_0600.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The mistake we make is that we try to translate what we observe about student learning into numbers and letters. Ralph Waldo Emerson identified this in 1837 when he wrote, "Yes hence arises a grave mischief. The sacredness which attaches to the act of creation, - the act of though, - is transferred to the record. ...as love of the hero corrupts into worship of his statue."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhufO-bMdyicGBafQRdqazGEAITCcqbNAFJEsg5zymHZlaeMpFcD3MkudbSXskhHfPEY3yejsGIneYnMfvUhXuvJiClvOHJJ2ev21oFyAOUPYSo7yfOStkKPSn3I1nCf0Swri1TfnnMi7Lq/s1600/IMG_0517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhufO-bMdyicGBafQRdqazGEAITCcqbNAFJEsg5zymHZlaeMpFcD3MkudbSXskhHfPEY3yejsGIneYnMfvUhXuvJiClvOHJJ2ev21oFyAOUPYSo7yfOStkKPSn3I1nCf0Swri1TfnnMi7Lq/s320/IMG_0517.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This push for data, this collective craze for measurement, this constant short-cycle testing, it all falls short of what can be learned by looking at these students consider a <i>real </i>problem, with <i>real </i>stakes, and with <i>real </i>curiosity. Are we even talking about curiosity anymore? </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynFbt0-QhLWZ_PC4qxJ6AN5ASpCpUt8JDAtyZ8NoBK3LAdwAQNlqJlc8xU7VTeOWWVJ_NqAHiCLYO92YsdgXtrmu0MUENtydvEt96Bfs005rk8vssFgNfIfT-1T8olXH_G5Vo4RGjkfmt/s1600/IMG_0616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynFbt0-QhLWZ_PC4qxJ6AN5ASpCpUt8JDAtyZ8NoBK3LAdwAQNlqJlc8xU7VTeOWWVJ_NqAHiCLYO92YsdgXtrmu0MUENtydvEt96Bfs005rk8vssFgNfIfT-1T8olXH_G5Vo4RGjkfmt/s320/IMG_0616.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe we've been relying on quantitative measurement of learning because we didn't have easy access to the tools that capture qualitative assessment. In an age in which photos are free and video is easy, why <i>aren't</i> we turning to them as evidence of learning instead of our latest scores spit out by the Scantron machine?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlgecEFU67SYKMqv9r6KycHvMm8vutx0MtMw2utORjXitBvjOsHDfv9-FXg6RUFdFEDILccw70kWoaykfAGekzerXtrJz54fMOSW3TyuUWbCIi8rNWbJOi63yHyL48UNRBQFYDWKJwz7Y/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlgecEFU67SYKMqv9r6KycHvMm8vutx0MtMw2utORjXitBvjOsHDfv9-FXg6RUFdFEDILccw70kWoaykfAGekzerXtrJz54fMOSW3TyuUWbCIi8rNWbJOi63yHyL48UNRBQFYDWKJwz7Y/s320/IMG_0588.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Formative assessment is designed for both the learner and the teacher, and therefore, in a way, formative assessment is a conversation. The digital record we are compiling of our learning as we engage in The WikiSeat project is a valid type of formative assessment, and we're increasingly sure of our students' ability to develop the kind of mindset that will serve them well on the more formal tests that purport to measure our students' capacity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Sean Wheeler</span></div>
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teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-27759706501806569582013-01-28T23:36:00.000-05:002013-02-03T10:11:12.605-05:00The WikiSeat Project: Oranges and Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bn0VsYKbTxg-FnV9gSsVgOn76cEtWZUkVBJHMnAEPa08g5IiK2h1xDi-NauDFRMgW6EF8GPPXCSL6_xrdT4PUNF3tsBPKn1qHqeKvWzSFN-o7COgNJU6Q5Af_ce3v-cMUC504QmVNq83/s1600/IMG_2337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bn0VsYKbTxg-FnV9gSsVgOn76cEtWZUkVBJHMnAEPa08g5IiK2h1xDi-NauDFRMgW6EF8GPPXCSL6_xrdT4PUNF3tsBPKn1qHqeKvWzSFN-o7COgNJU6Q5Af_ce3v-cMUC504QmVNq83/s320/IMG_2337.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the past two days, to begin work on this year's iteration of The WikiSeat Project, our 10th Grade American Literature class ate and examined an orange slowly over the course of 25 minutes and closely read through Ralph Waldo Emerson's <a href="http://www.emersoncentral.com/amscholar.htm" target="_blank">The American Scholar</a> (1837). Here's a look at what students are saying about it in their blog posts, I think it speaks for itself. I also have some notes, more from a teacher's perspective on the project, <a href="http://bit.ly/XH6yP8" target="_blank">here</a>. - Sean Wheeler</span></i><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> * To read complete posts, click on the student's name.</span></b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">"Have you ever eaten an orange for a half an hour? No? Well I did." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">- <a href="http://mythoughtprocessontheworld.blogspot.com/2013/01/taste-rainbow.html" target="_blank">Sierra H</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"This experience was pretty interesting to me because I never thought about looking at anything and examining it or really thinking about it. Like, where it came from, how it was made or how it smelled. It was an interesting day in class." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">- <a href="http://lakewoodsgreatestkid.blogspot.com/2013/01/orange.html" target="_blank">Kaitlin K.</a></span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"Books should not be there to read because we have to, but to be there to read because we want to."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> - <a href="http://myworldmylife33.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-american-scholar.html" target="_blank">Faith C.</a></span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"I discovered that under the white skin of the slice there are many small individual thin pieces filled with juice, probably about twenty or thirty of them. I never knew that, or bothered to see them before, and thought it was pretty cool."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">- <a href="http://oneworldofthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/01/orange.html" target="_blank">Alex M.</a></span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"It sounds really weird but, actually, it did make me think about taking my time with other things to appreciate their value more. Also, it was probably the juiciest, best tasting orange I've ever had." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">- Mercedes L.</span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"...and that books destroy the true beauty of people's thoughts and that you should go out and have adventures instead of reading, unless you have nothing else to do." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">- <a href="http://insidemybrain22.blogspot.com/2013/01/emmersons-american-scholar.html" target="_blank">Mike J.</a></span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"I now try to take more time to eat things or do things so I can appreciate it more." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">- <a href="http://augiesviewsontheworld.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-best-orange.html" target="_blank">Augie S.</a></span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"Honestly, this was the best orange I've ever eaten. I've never taken twenty-five minutes to eat an orange. Maybe five minutes. But in that five minutes, I never appreciated it, thought about where it came from, or looked at the cells. Now, I've tasted the juice, smelled it well, and will probably not look at an orange the same again. I liked this activity because it showed me how to look at things in a different perspective." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">- <a href="http://interestinglearninggirl.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-orange.html" target="_blank">Sara T.</a></span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"So how does an orange relate to English? Well, it doesn't, to me anyway. Mr. Wheeler has this idea, not his original idea, about how if we take time to experience things, they become better; more living. Experiencing life in a slower manner helps you appreciate the little things, like oranges." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">- <a href="http://insightontheworld.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-orange-project.html" target="_blank">Gabi F.</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"So many of us are afraid to speak our mind and "possess" more of our minds. It's a real shame."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<a href="http://thoughtsoffthemind.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-bash-of-legend.html" target="_blank"> Cynthia F.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The American Scholar and eating the apple are very much related, if you
don't go out of your way to experience life, you simply won't. You will
not get all that you can get out of life if you shut yourself in behind
books or the walls of your house." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- <a href="http://itsstevensblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-american-dilemma.html" target="_blank">Steven H.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This got me thinking. What if I took<i> music</i> to this level of thinking?" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Nathan M.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"After everyone was done I
thought about the connection with not only appreciation, but also with
thinking about and analyzing things." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- <a href="http://thatsmonicasblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-slow-orange.html" target="_blank">Monica T.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"In class one day my teacher was telling us how much better things are
when you do something instead of just watching or reading it. When I first heard this
I could right away relate to it. I just thought it was cool because I
could actually relate to something in school."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I know what you're thinking. "Who takes twenty-five minutes to eat a small orange
that you can eat in five?" Well, we do. That helped me realize that, if you
slow down and don't rush, you can see things in a completely different
perspective. Now, when I see an orange, I think of that activity. It now
reminds me to slow down. It may sound weird, and it may not sound like
your average 10th grade English class, but that's what makes it fun.
Because it's different"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - <a href="http://alexishubany.blogspot.com/2013/01/learning-from-orange.html" target="_blank">Alexis H.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<span style="line-height: 115%;">Looking around at the kids in this class, I no longer see kids, I see futures." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">- <a href="http://lhsashley.blogspot.com/2013/01/for-future-generations_28.html" target="_blank">Ashley P.</a></span></span></div>
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teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-35781583837652232272012-11-13T09:21:00.001-05:002013-01-11T22:49:39.865-05:005,000 Students Can't Be Wrong: 6 Reasons Why You Should Support the Wikiseat Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The idea is simple. <a href="http://teachinghumans.blogspot.com/2011/09/wikiseat-project-so-youre-going-to.html" target="_blank">We want students to build chairs.</a> Lots of them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why chairs? Because chairs solve problems.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Solving problems is useful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So is learning <i>how </i>to solve them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://teachinghumans.blogspot.com/2011/09/wikiseat-project-so-youre-going-to.html" target="_blank">The Wikiseat Project started with 85 kids.</a> Now we have over 5,300 students on three continents signed up and waiting to build chairs, share the journey, and create a vast community of people doing what we think people do best. <a href="http://www.iftf.org/future-now/article-detail/maker-education-and-the-wikiseat-project/" target="_blank"> People make stuff</a>. From little kids with blocks to the adults who produce all the things we come in contact with a million times a day, the process of design is constant and has been from our early beginnings. We identify problems, create solutions, and share our work when we're done. This is the very definition of progress, and we've built a 100% grass-roots effort to bring the experience of design to over 100 classrooms around the world in 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So what do we need from you? Honestly? We need $85,000 dollars to fund 5,300+ catalysts, pieces of angle-iron that serve as the basis for these three-legged seats, as well as well as the catalysts that will be given away as part of our reward system on <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/wikiseat" target="_blank">the Indiegogo campaign we have set up</a>. Why should you do this? Here are six reasons why you should <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/wikiseat" target="_blank">support</a> these students:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Real learning doesn't fit into nifty categories. It's messy, problematic, and has an unpredictable outcome. While I <i>was </i>able to align the project with my 10th grade English Language Arts content standards, and I <i>do </i>feel like this can also be done in other content areas pretty easily, this is a project that is about learning writ large, not confined by "subjects" and "classes". The design process, in which one mentally moves from identifying a problem, analyzing that problem, creating possible solutions, drafting, and finally production, is a process that is clearly necessary for today's world. A close look at the <a href="http://wikiseat.org/educators" target="_blank">100+ innovative educators </a>who have signed on to lead students through the Wikiseat process clearly shows that building chairs in school applies in a wide variety of curricular areas. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like all good design, the Wikiseat Project always has you, the audience, in mind. Not only will students identify a place in their life where they could use a new seat and actually bring it to fruition, they will also be engaging with a whole wider community of peers, participants, and supporters. The first group of 85 students were able to <a href="http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/2012/02/21/lhss-wikiseat-project-handson-learning-with-a-twist" target="_blank">get their work displayed in a great local art gallery</a>, complete with an opening night meet and greet session. As an educator, I can't stress enough how proud I was as my students engaged a live audience gathered solely to hear kids share what they were learning in school. What will the other 5200 students come up with this year? Where will they share their work? What size audience could that many kids reach? <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/wikiseat" target="_blank"> Help us</a> find out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seriously. Think about over 5,000 kids sharing the entire Wikiseat process together online. Kindergarten classes in Newfoundland skyping with Master's Degree candidates in Australia. Massive galleries of still photos, updated constantly, and providing a sense of community to both student participants and online supporters. It's time we start to unleash our student's natural capacity to work and share collaboratively. <a href="http://teachinghumans.blogspot.com/2012/03/dont-you-want-that-information.html" target="_blank">The days of having all school work handed to an audience of one are over.</a> Sharing is what happens when scarcity ends, and now that every kid has access to everything that everyone has ever learned via the internet, the kind of scarcity that has been the model in education for 100 years is done. We don't have jetpacks like we though we would, but the future we wound up with is totally new and it's a super-exciting time to be in education. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All classes should be soulcraft, not just shop class. And it's too bad about shop classes here in the US, they've been eliminated at the time when we could really use them the most. <a href="http://willrichardson.com/post/33425855101/ive-always-done-worksheets" target="_blank">This project is about a return to making things.</a> It's a reaction against throw-away culture. It's about craft, and learning from mistakes, and physicality. While the experience will be shared in a very modern way online, the actual construction process is entirely lo-tech. As much as we want to turn everything into a shared experience, we should pause and make sure that we also see value in the simple conflict between a human idea and a physical object. Handing a kid a hunk of welded angle-iron is a very visceral thing. It has weight, it's a bit greasy, and it makes an awesome thud as it plops down on a desk in front of a befuddled kid wondering how they are going to turn <i>that </i>into a chair. Kids love the challenge of making things, and they also love to use the things they make. I started this whole project because I realized that somewhere along the line I had given up on that love of making things I had as a kid. I encourage you adults to <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/wikiseat" target="_blank">contribute</a> enough to get a catalyst for a Wikiseat shipped your way because I think there are plenty of people like me out there who'd love to feel that challenge of making something again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Kids Who Understand Questions Find Answers Better.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My kids have to take the same standardized tests that your kids do. I don't really think about those tests much, though. I'm making a calculated move towards the fundamental premise that engagement is the most necessary element of any learning experience, and a calculated move away from this notion that content acquisition is the most significant goal of education. By teaching my students how to think using a design framework, I am teaching them to not only find answers, but <a href="http://teachinghumans.blogspot.com/2012/11/teaching-design-finding-problems.html" target="_blank">to appreciate questions</a> as an opportunity to learn and grow. My students approach those standardized tests with a desire to be measured, a desire to be put to the limit regardless how low or high the bar, and a desire to be done and get back to real learning as soon as that horrendous week is over. They don't work for grades, they don't work for points. They learn because they appreciate the beauty of moving from not-knowing to knowing, and they carry an appreciation of that beauty for the rest of their lives. Oh, and they score quite well to boot. </span></div>
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6. It's Just Cool.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This thing is as grass-roots as it gets. Nic, Alaric and I had no idea that we'd<a href="http://boingboing.net/2012/10/10/maker-education-project-let.html" target="_blank"> put out a call </a>to see if anyone was interested in building seats in school and get the response we got from students and educators all over the world wanting to come on board this crazy pirate ship we've got going. This is something that wasn't possible a few short years ago, and now that we have the chance, we simply just have to follow through and get these hunks of metal in these kids' hands. It's going to be incredible, and loud, and beautiful, and awesome. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever the reason, and I'd love to hear yours, <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/wikiseat" target="_blank">please support kids</a> who want to make things in school. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Sean Wheeler</span></div>
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teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-24128476590438259032012-11-12T16:24:00.000-05:002012-11-13T08:01:44.593-05:00I'd Advocate for More Soul.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My son doesn't like school anymore and it kills me. Here's a kid alive with wonder, building entire worlds in his play time, always questioning the why's and what's of our daily lives, and he comes home every day with a different story that centers around "the loud kids" or "talking out of turn" or simply how boring it is to answer questions all day long in preparation for "the big test". The disconnect between who my child is as a learner in the real-world, and who he is as a typical 5th grade student in America, is so vast that I wonder if school is doing him more harm than good. When learning is a quantifiable end, and not a means to engage more deeply in one's curiosity or frustration, I worry that we're turning out a generation ill-equipped to solve real problems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have good reason to worry. By the time kids like my son make it to high school they've learned the game, the rules, and how to best play at being a student. This largely consists of not speaking in class, seeking minimum requirements, and avoiding any kind of frustration or annoyance. Kids like my son work for points and grades. Kids like my son turn into little test-takers and extra-point junkies. They procrastinate, put their heads down in class, and get caught on their cell phones. They hate school, and as well they should.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I became a teacher because I hated school. It wasn't that my experience was particularly bad, it was just so boring. After a few years of soul-searching in my twenties, I decided to re-enter the classroom and see if maybe I could go back and design the kind of learning space that I so sorely wish I would have had coming up. It's been ten years, and I'm now more convinced than ever, we need to stop aiming at the test answers stored temporarily in our students' brains, and instead we should ignite the spark of curiosity and engagement that is innate in their souls. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Souls aren't things you hear much about in the education debate, have you noticed that? It's because the "stuff" of the soul is too difficult to quantify on paper and doesn't fit into the curricular categories we came up with 100 years ago. My son surely has a soul, and whatever it contains within in it, whatever passion, curiosity and engagement he was given at birth, it is systematically being stamped out of him every weekday from 8-3. The authors of my son's sad education narrative aren't primarily his teachers or his school, but the people at the top of the decision tree (politicians, billionaires, and profiteers) who favor the science of easy data over the art of stirring souls.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This wasn't meant to be a lament. It was supposed to be about why you should donate to <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/wikiseat" target="_blank">our Indiegogo campaign</a> for the Wikiseat Project. But I feel a need to share what is at stake here. My children are at stake, your children are at stake, and I have decided to be unafraid when it comes to advocating for an education that is engaging, inspiring, and that taps into the potential that our current model of education seems all-to-willing to ignore.</span><br />
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- Sean Wheeler<br />
<br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poster Design by <a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671050/meet-ben-barry-facebooks-minister-of-propaganda" target="_blank">Ben Barry</a>.</span></div>
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teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-45527554371930139062012-11-10T20:59:00.001-05:002012-11-10T20:59:16.977-05:00Talking Through Tin Cans: A Podcast Program Focussing on The Wikiseat Project<a href="http://soundcloud.com/teachinghumans/talking-through-tin-cans?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=blogger&utm_content=http://soundcloud.com/teachinghumans/talking-through-tin-cans">Talking Through Tin Cans</a> by Cory Sluzeswki.<br />
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teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-7930854280331165532012-11-04T20:43:00.003-05:002013-01-28T20:35:18.157-05:00Teaching Design: Finding Problems<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="ccIcn ccIcnSmall" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Attribution" /><img alt="Share Alike" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_sharealike_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Share Alike" /></a></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Attribution-ShareAlike License">Some rights reserved</a><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/56798189@N03/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">zachtrek</a></td></tr>
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by Sean Wheeler<br />
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Problems are great. They put us in uncomfortable places in our heads and hearts. They frustrate us and gnaw away at us. And it's because of <i>this</i> quality of problems, that they put us in what feels like a negative space, that problems get a bad rap. But if we want our students to be ingenius, to be engaged, to be creative, we need to embrace the idea that the tension created by a problem fosters the kinds of growth we really need our kids to experience in our classrooms.<br />
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The problems we need, need to be different from the problems we're used to. I think we've gotten used to pseudo-problems, problems that lack a real-context, and most especially, come ready-served without any of the aforementioned frustration.When my students used to write essays on Campbell's "The Hero's Journey" as applied to early Native-American oral tales, they weren't solving any mysteries, they were tellling me back everything I'd already taught them, but in a nifty MLA format. However, when I asked a group of students a few years ago to go out and identify an environmental problem in our city and give a presentation to our class that persuaded me to care about the problem, they were using all kinds of observation and analysis skills that are sorely lacking from the pseudo-problem posed by my old Campbell/Native-American essay. After teaching my students persuassive rhetoric, they were able to use it to persuade not only me, but members of our local community, that these issues are important to my students. The whole key to our success on that project was that I didn't walk into class on the first day and lay out "the problem" for them. Instead, I asked them to find those places in their walks around town that frustrated them, that bothered them, and then I asked them to share these frustrations and work on alleviating them through invention, creativity, collaboration, and tenacity. <br />
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Last year, at the start of the Wikiseat project, I asked my 85 students to think about where they needed a seat in their life. It sounds like an odd request for a homework assignment, but I asked students to think about moments of frustration in their daily routine that might be eased by having a chair to sit in. One student told me that her little sister liked to hang out on her bed during homework. The little sister was pretty squirmy, and it might be useful for the little sister to have a chair of her own. That way she could still hang out, but wasn't squirming too much on the bed. Another student told me that his mom worked two jobs, and in between jobs she'd sit on the back steps to put on her 2nd shift shoes. He thought it would be nice for her to have a stool to sit on, so she wouldn't have to sit on the dirty steps and ruin her work uniform. Other kids wanted a suped-up video game chair. Another only cared that her chair matched her walls, because her current chair certainly didn't, and the clashing of colors was too much to bear. The significant part of this whole process was that the students were able to identify a problem, and with that problem in their craw, they were able to start envisioning solutions. I suddenly had students who were driven in ways that I'd never seen before. By giving them the opportunity to work on the problems they saw around them, even something as trivial as building a seat for someone to sit on at home, they became engaged in finding solutions because the results <i>actually mattered</i>. <br />
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I'm really hoping to shape students who welcome problems with enthusiasm. That's got to be as good as any content we'd serve up otherwise, right? Teaching them<i> how </i>to think, using real problems as the means, seems significantly more important than teaching them<i> what</i> to think. And when it comes to the answer-based tests that dominate our current education landscape, I want kids who love questions because<i> they </i>are the ones that want to give the answers.<br />
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<br />teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-21662417449677265382012-10-24T10:33:00.000-04:002012-10-24T10:33:36.952-04:00Teaching Design: What Makes a Cup a Cup?<h3 style="text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2513; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>For your answer, please take some time to carefully consider the question and to compose a thoughtful response. Each response will also need to include a legal picture of a cup (If you don't know what I mean by a "legal" picture, please see me. You can also look up Creative Commons licensing.)</b></span></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Your answer will need to be spelled correctly and it needs to be an example of your very best writing." </span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">- </span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;">First online forum assignment of the Wikiseat project. August, 2011.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In thinking about how to approach the Wikiseat project with a networked group of over 4000 students, I think it might be useful for me to go into greater detail about exactly what this whole thing looked like in my 10 grade US Literature class last year. This way, as we begin to develop a network of teachers thinking about how to tailor the Wikiseat project for the learning needs of their students, we can discuss how to adapt, modify, and supplement what was done last year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "What Makes a Cup a Cup?" assignment was developed to get students thinking deeply about the notion that design solves problems, as well as introduce them to concepts of form and function. On the day before we start this lesson, I ask students to bring a cup to our next class so that they'll have it in front of them as the lesson begins. "What makes a cup a cup?" is actually a very difficult question to answer. As you can see from the exchange below, students not only posted responses, but also engaged in a bit of argument, which, as a Language Arts teacher, allowed me to begin working on our evidence and support standards:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(And I guess I should start looking into this "onternet." Oops.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2513;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">But eventually, students came to give responses like this:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After we began to classify aspects of student responses into descriptions of either form and function, students began to come to an understanding of how form and function work in other objects. We looked at shoes, thermostats, audio speakers, and students desks, among other things, and students were quick to display a pretty firm understanding of the basic principles of design. However, I was pushing for them to learn something more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The follow up question in class for the day after the students posted their "What Makes a Cup a Cup? responses aimed to have the students begin thinking about what problem a cup actually solves. Sure it has a form and a function, but why would anyone make it in the first place? We had a bit of fun in class thinking about the person who invented the first cup. I asked students to think about how that person must have felt about having to walk to a river, stream, or lake everyday to drink. The students easily understood that the cup was invented out of frustration. And then they came to understand that this frustration led that first cup inventor to find a solution to the problem. I asked students to consider the ways in which the form and function of a cup serve as a clearly tangible solution to the "I-don't-want-to-have-to-walk-to-the-water-source-to-drink" problem. Towards the end of class, we played a game in which I pointed to any man-made object in the classroom and they shouted out what problem the object solved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think a discussion about form and function as related to problem-solving is applicable in a wide-variety of learning situations. A biology teacher could discuss the ways in which evolutionary traits are responses to environmental problems. Maybe a history teacher could discuss how government systems are formed and function to solve issues of a civic nature. I look forward to how the growing network of teachers working on the Wikiseat project will adapt, modify, and add to what was an exciting first step in what my students accomplished last year. I'd appreciate any comments or questions that help us to think about how this would look in classrooms around the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Next Post: So what problem will your Wikiseat solve?</b></span></div>
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teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-25749638015198815042012-10-08T19:05:00.002-04:002013-11-22T13:05:02.838-05:00Catalysts for a Change.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Sean Wheeler</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21px;">"Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books. Hence, Instead of Man Thinking, we have the book-worm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">In perhaps the most provocative line in his "American Scholar" speech, given in Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 31, 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson makes a distinction between two conceptions of education. On one side, that of the "book-worm", students are to go about the work of studying greatness. ON the other side, and the one engaged by the WikiSeat project, is a conception of education that promotes thinking and the actual potential for greatness of the students.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The Wikiseat project begins with what Nic Weidinger has called a Catalyst. A Catalyst is a welded support structure that forms the beginning of what will eventually be made into a functional Wikiseat. It's been one year since I first placed a set of Catalysts in front of the eighty-five students in our 10th Grade American Literature classes, and as I approach a second go at this project with a new batch of students, I find myself drawn to this distinction made by Emerson in 1837.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">I want my students to become thinkers, not book-worms. I want students who not only study the views of those who have gone before them, but also students who put forth views of their own. In this digital age, with all of these outlets for speech and expression, I want students who can think critically about information, issues, and problems. I then I want them to communicate, collaborate, and create. And I want them to learn all of this by making a Wikiseat. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">At the core of this project, is a lesson in the design thinking process. Students learn to identify a problem or need (Where could I use a chair?), and then move into considerations of form (What should my chair look like?), and function (What should my chair do?). They then sketch, prototype, build, test, and finally, produce their Wikiseat. Students are encouraged to freely collaborate regarding materials, access to tools, and ideas concerning each other's work and progress. Whether this be for a first grade classroom or a high school one, teaching students the iterative process is fundamental in helping students learn how to be thinkers and makers. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">As a Language Arts teacher, I found ways to both work in some great literature, as well as use that literature to inspire and spur on students as they began actually constructing their Wikiseats. We sat with our catalysts in front of us and read Whitman, Thoreau, and mainly, Emerson. I was able to gauge student reading comprehension, and they had a purpose for reading in that the actual content served the overall purpose of their work on the Wikiseats. It isn't difficult to imagine tie-ins to other curricular areas. A math teacher could use the triangle inherent in a three-legged Wikiseat as an opportunity to talk about angles and measurement. A biology teacher could link the design thinking process to the scientific one. And a history teacher could find a way to take form and function into thinking about government systems and historical innovation. And maybe a few groups of teachers could try all of the above with an elementary school classroom. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">And as students begin to share their work with other classrooms, the Wikiseats will begin to tell a new story about what our students are capable of, of what we should actually be measuring, and what could change when given the right catalyst.</span></span></div>
teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-59400864188146999172012-04-04T15:36:00.001-04:002012-04-04T15:36:27.145-04:00Making a Case for Interactive Fiction - Part II<div class="MsoNormal">
After a decade long push for “proficiency” in
education, the transition to college and career ready standards is
quickly working through school districts across the country. In my
district, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and
communication has become the central focus in every classroom; it is
these skills that students need most to compete in the academic and
business worlds they will encounter when they graduate from high
school. And in my opinion, there is no better time to turn our
attention to interactive fiction. </div>
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<b>Collaboration/Communication</b></div>
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The
majority of today’s top selling video games have some sort of
multi-player component. And in many cases, the multi-player component
is the primary reason players buy the game. Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 3, for example, made a billion dollars after only 16 days when
it was released in late 2011. </div>
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So what’s the draw? Communication and collaboration! </div>
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Games like Modern Warefare 3 or World of
Warcraft provide players with opportunities to communicate and
collaborate in an environment that is unlike the one they live in every
day. Players can communicate and collaborate with other players from
around the world to carry out objectives and reach goals. The players
are forced to use clear communication skills in order to sustain team
objectives and initiatives. (In my world this sounds like a
professional learning community!)</div>
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In the end, it is these types of
communication and collaboration skills that colleges and businesses are
expecting our students to know...and video games are teaching them! </div>
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<b>Creativity</b></div>
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While
one argument against interactive fiction is that it limits the creative
capacity of the players because the world is already created for
him/her, games like <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/092/092086.html" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">Minecraft</a> give players an unlimited amount of resources to create a brand new world. </div>
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Minecraft allows players to create items
and objects to use in the game world with only the resources that they
can harvest in the game. As many RPG games allow players to craft
items, Minecraft provides players with an opportunity to truly stretch
the limits or their creativity to populate a new world.<br />
</div>
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Similar arguments can be made for the
multi-player components of games like Halo: Reach. In many of these
types of games, players can create maps for use in multi-player games.
With trial and error, players create maps that are both challenging and
enjoyable and stretch the limits of their creativity. </div>
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<b>Critical Thinking</b></div>
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There
are many times that I sit down to play a game to simply allow myself to
be immersed in a new world. However, there are other times when I sit
down to play a game and want to think critically. With games like <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/142/14237322.html" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">Portal 2</a><span style="color: blue;">, </span><a href="http://wireless.ign.com/articles/981/981645p1.html" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">Myst</a>, or <a href="http://wireless.ign.com/articles/114/1140704p1.html" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">World of Goo</a>, I get the opportunity to think deeply about how to solve difficult puzzles and problems. </div>
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These games give players a chance to solve
difficult puzzles and problems within the confines of the game world.
While there may be more than one way to solve the problem, players use
trial and error to find a solution that works to advance to the next
level. This type of critical thinking, along with immersive
interaction, is what keeps players engrossed in these types of games. </div>
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With all this said, it's time that we meet
our students where they are. We know they go home at night and play
video games. Let's begin to use their knowledge of interactive fiction
to teach collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical
thinking. It's time to start making the case for interactive fiction! </div>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-18438751262580047522012-04-04T10:00:00.000-04:002012-04-04T10:01:33.634-04:00Questions Matter More<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfm-rkIOyNK5aFViDgmQQO9jerxccUM8pLP9-9E87AQi45vIMNju5kVG82XAWpMdbN6yUcy5BPaq9qYf22WUeOiTE1n844l7myZi9Rq3GNvYdaZtmKyuJBHtJw9bD8AXgR6istXHx-XBx/s1600/adventure+kid+questions+how+did+school+do.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfm-rkIOyNK5aFViDgmQQO9jerxccUM8pLP9-9E87AQi45vIMNju5kVG82XAWpMdbN6yUcy5BPaq9qYf22WUeOiTE1n844l7myZi9Rq3GNvYdaZtmKyuJBHtJw9bD8AXgR6istXHx-XBx/s320/adventure+kid+questions+how+did+school+do.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="ccIcn ccIcnSmall" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Attribution" /></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Attribution License">Some rights reserved</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevon/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Stephen Brace</a>
</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">by Sean Wheeler</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3573110157158226"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Currently, education is an answer-based culture. We do all kinds of things with student answers. We measure them, we grade them, we cross them out, we comment on them, we graph them, chart them, mine them, sort them, and report them. We also use these answers to measure our effectiveness, our failures, and our growth as teachers. Districts use the answers to allocate funds, make curricular decisions, and build a successful staff. Politicians use them to set policy, budget, and law. Parents use the answers everywhere from deciding where to live to whether or not their son or daughter is grounded on the weekend. And probably most importantly, students use them as a measurement of their potential and worth. An answer-based culture makes a whole lot out of what it sees under a very small microscope. There are questions involved, of course, but they are questions we ask of the </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">data </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not the </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">people </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">who gave the answers in the first place.</span></b>
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<b><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.6888061554636806"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, the internet is<i> </i>made</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> </i></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">for questions. The whole reason that Google exists is because people open their browser with a question in mind. While Yahoo! Answers might do what the name implies, it's the questions that are asked in the first place that matter most. Wikipedia has revolutionized our ability to easily access answers (much to the chagrin of answer-based teachers), but it wouldn't exist if weren't fueled by questions. And feedback, which is a conversation based on the question, "How are we doing at what we say we're doing", is quickly becoming the most valuable asset for businesses and organizations that seek to improve their customer satisfaction by carefully listening to the answers and suggestions their customers provide them. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We want to tap into that question mindset, replicate it within our students, and then hold conversations about the answers we find. The value of asking great questions is on the rise and if we aren't teaching our students this skill, even though it's hard to measure, we are surely doing them a great disservice. Asking a question comes from within, while too many of our students are led into answers due to some extrinsic motivator (points, tests, etc.). Exploration starts with a question every time. "<a href="http://howdidschooldo.com/" target="_blank">How Did School Do?</a>" is as much an exploration as it is a destination. We honestly don't know what people are going to say in their feedback videos, and it is precisely this reason that makes this a valuable learning opportunity for our students.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-888410798693277762012-04-03T08:49:00.000-04:002012-04-03T08:50:08.284-04:00"How Did School Do?" - Here We Go!<span style="font-size: x-small;">by Sean Wheeler</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>“How Did School Do?” : A Social-Media Qualitative Research Project Designed to Acquire Feedback on the Relevance of Our Education Systems </b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Currently, we judge the effectiveness of our education system by endlessly measuring the progress of our current pool of students. But as suggested in Shelley Blake-Plock’s article, <i><a href="http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2011/12/if-school-is-not-relevant.html" target="_blank">If School is Not Relevant</a></i></span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this need not be the only way we can measure the relevance of the education that we provide.</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “</span><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Imagine if schools were judged not by how well students achieved while they were in school, but in how well they achieved once they left. If schools saw their worth not in how many kids got accepted to college, but in how many kids went on to live meaningful and engaged lives and who would point back to their school years as the point of relevancy that was the foundation of it all.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://howdidschooldo.com/" target="_blank">The “How Did School Do?” Project </a> seeks to solicit and gather feedback from post-k12 adults via a social media call for video responses. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto; white-space: pre-wrap;">The respondents are invited to participate by uploading a 3-5 minute video to their own Youtube channel that answers the question, “How well did your K-12 education prepare you for your life?”. </span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This project is being launched via a wide-variety of social and traditional media formats, with the aim of collecting the largest pool of feedback on education’s relevance ever. The pool of videos will be openly available for viewing, independent research, and analysis by communities and schools. The project will also serve as a significant contribution to ongoing discussions about school relevance and effectiveness.</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span><b><span style="text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Research will be conducted from a <a href="http://eprints.nuim.ie/874/1/post-positivist_approaches_to_research.pdf" target="_blank">post-positivistic</a> </span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">stance, as will be appropriate due to the nature of video collections and the subjects themselves. Dr. Sharon Kruse, of The University of Akron, has agreed to partner with us in coding the research and developing methods to sift through the data. Another key aspect of creating this pool of videos will be the ability of independent researchers and commentators to use the information contained in the videos for their own research purposes. This is a significant step towards social-media driven research, and the possibilities of such a pool of data seem numerous. Lakewood High School students will use this data to develop research questions of their own, and to analyze various aspects of the research.</span></span></span>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">While much of our work will be shared on<a href="http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> TeachPaperless</a>, this blog will focus more directly on our students and how they navigate the project and begin conducting their research. We'd love to hear from all of you both in your video and in comments and conversations via our numerous social media venues. Please follow @teachinghumans on Twitter, and feel free to email us at teachinghumans@gmail.com. We welcome your input, partnership, and help in spreading the word about the project. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Please visit<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_630159704"> </a><i><a href="http://howdidschooldo.com/">howdidschooldo.com</a> </i>and lend your voice to this important opportunity to be heard.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-11831971077939698292012-03-28T11:54:00.003-04:002012-10-16T18:16:30.514-04:00Stop the Baloney! - A PD Revolution in 25 Keystrokes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgpiJkimys1JMS6QMP8BpTg9PA81WblG-Y-7oaq5ugLM4qN9PuQm1jt7M8okHjpVQzWgerZnQ9degYAYVuQ7gaHxqFjqzz5EzpjMSn9bXvsdW4y2EzeRONRzaViJkHul3w2M6WCbm0lOZ/s1600/baloney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgpiJkimys1JMS6QMP8BpTg9PA81WblG-Y-7oaq5ugLM4qN9PuQm1jt7M8okHjpVQzWgerZnQ9degYAYVuQ7gaHxqFjqzz5EzpjMSn9bXvsdW4y2EzeRONRzaViJkHul3w2M6WCbm0lOZ/s320/baloney.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="ccIcn ccIcnSmall" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/" style="background-color: #0063dc; color: white; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Attribution" /><img alt="Noncommercial" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_noncomm_small.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Noncommercial" /><img alt="Share Alike" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_sharealike_small.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Share Alike" /></a></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License">Some rights reserved</a><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/programwitch/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">programwitch</a></td></tr>
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by Sean Wheeler<br />
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Here's a familiar scenario. I'm at a school meeting. Perhaps it's a department meeting, maybe a district leadership meeting, even a staff meeting. You've been there. You know how these things go. A familiar refrain is heard. "We need a transition plan to provide more effective professional development, and we need to carefully develop a roll-out of the plan once it's created. Are there any volunteers to do a pilot so that we can study our revised professional development plan? We'll meet again in a month to see how our pilot program went, and then we'll create scaffolding so that we can increase buy-in from the district, staff, or department as a whole." I raise my hand and suggest that we begin to explore Twitter, particularly #edchat, as a resource for individualized professional development. This is met with some lip-service as a good idea, and then the suggestion is ignored or turned down because "we don't have time" or because "some teachers need to be trained on how to use technology and we need to be sensitive to those needs." </div>
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Baloney. We need to stop thinking like this. </div>
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I firmly believe that every education staff in the world could be taught how to begin getting valuable professional development and classroom resources in less than ten minutes and with twenty-five keystrokes. To put twenty-five keystrokes in perspective, I have to type twenty-six keystrokes just to check my district email.</div>
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Here's my roll-out plan:</div>
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1. Type "Twitter.com/search" into your web browser. (18 keystrokes)</div>
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2. Go to the search bar, even without signing up or logging in, and type "#edchat" (7 keystrokes)</div>
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3. Scroll, click, peruse, learn.</div>
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If a district employee can use a keyboard, they are only 25 keystrokes away from an unlimited and valuable pool of constantly streaming resources and conversation. To make things even more specifically tailored to the audience, substituting "#edchat" with any of the relevant hashtag searches found<a href="http://newtrierlibrary.blogspot.com/2012/03/cybrary-mans-update-education-twitter.html" target="_blank"> here</a>, would help to more carefully match content area or interest.</div>
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No following, no tweeting, no registering. </div>
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20 keystrokes, 10 minutes. That's all.</div>
teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-72776186624509992482012-03-22T20:37:00.001-04:002012-03-22T20:37:28.073-04:00My Case for Interactive Fiction - Part 1<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’ll
wholeheartedly admit it, Atticus Finch is my hero! <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i> is one of the novels I look forward to
reading each year with my freshman students. Integrity, character, and
standing up for what’s right are concepts that students seem to understand
through Atticus’s struggles while defending Tom Robinson in a community that is
seemingly against him. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a
Mockingbird</i> is undoubtedly a wonderful novel. But I have another admission:
Sometimes I need more! </span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And I’m not
alone. Over the last five years, I’ve heard excellent discussion amongst
my students about character and story development from reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, but the “real”
conversations about these topics takes place after class is over—when students
crowd around my desk to talk about video games. It is in these
conversations that my students skillfully analyze character and story through
interactive fiction. It is from these conversations that I slowly
realized that my students demand more interaction with characters and story
than a novel can provide. </span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As the
increase in technology pushes our capabilities of teaching in the classroom, it
also increases the level of collaboration and interaction students have with
each other and the world. Growing up with Twitter and Facebook, today’s
students need interaction in order to understand and make sense of the world
around them. The same is true in the classroom. Reading a book “the
old fashioned way” doesn’t offer the same level of interaction that our
students have grown up enjoying; it just doesn't seem as relevant. </span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Over the
course of the last twenty years, video game technology has also improved from
the pixilated characters and settings of the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment
System to lush, vibrant vistas of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. These
artfully rendered games immerse players into a world that a written novel could
not begin to describe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at the
Playstation 3 downloadable title <a href="http://ps3.ign.com/articles/952/952529p1.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flower</i></a>
for example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this game you play the
role of a flower petal seeking to repopulate a world devoid of color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the intuitive controls, players are
able to engage in a truly unique, "Zen-like" experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the end,
as a teacher seeking a relevant entry point for students to engage in
literature, I can't deny the power and influence of video games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While there are many games on the market that
I would not use in my classroom, there are twice as many that I would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same could be said for books, of
course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless, I know the majority
of my students are playing video games at home with greater regularity than
they read books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And with that said,
it's time to start making the case for interactive fiction!</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Shane A. Sullivan </span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">@SSullivanLHS</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">teachingtolead@blogspot.com </span></div>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-34988055343687443252012-03-21T17:35:00.002-04:002012-03-21T21:12:07.925-04:00Networks are Power - Part 2: The Teachers<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg617JXaO0hNlf4r8rvG8RNwsIIyyl8ayiUZ6tX08q3-rlc5o_FZefA38vFEUmwL4yWBW9l5tSi9cQZOb0uV_WaF7rlKyoNhAOQh2Ysu7UNJj7njU0cQjlZltjyXJjJpbXZ6MqPhUe5y34n/s1600/power+teachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg617JXaO0hNlf4r8rvG8RNwsIIyyl8ayiUZ6tX08q3-rlc5o_FZefA38vFEUmwL4yWBW9l5tSi9cQZOb0uV_WaF7rlKyoNhAOQh2Ysu7UNJj7njU0cQjlZltjyXJjJpbXZ6MqPhUe5y34n/s320/power+teachers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="ccIcn ccIcnSmall"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/" style="background-color: #0063dc; color: white; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Attribution" /><img alt="Noncommercial" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_noncomm_small.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Noncommercial" /><img alt="Share Alike" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_sharealike_small.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Share Alike" /></a></span> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: none;" title="Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License">Some rights reserved</a> by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluerobot/" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: none;">BlueRobot</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">by Sean Wheeler</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>Part 2: The Teachers</u></div>
<div>
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It's not an easy time to be a teacher, but it <i>is </i>an exciting one. It's not that often that an entire profession has the ability to redefine it's purpose and explore entire new vistas in the field. Unfortunately, most of us work under an oppressive weight of local, state, and federal mandates that seem to continually ignore the voice of teachers in the decision making process of what matters in our classroom, what we should be measuring in regards to student learning, and how we should go about preparing our students for a world that seems to be shifting at an amazingly fast pace. As a teacher in Ohio, and like the teachers in Wisconsin, New Jersey and many other states, I especially feel like teachers are becoming the victims of an education agenda that would rather scapegoat teachers than work towards making significant changes toward the advancement of all students. We feel like we don't have a voice. We wait for the next hammer to drop. We shuffle to meetings about initiatives that feel very far removed from what we know to be the most effective elements of the work of our classrooms. And most importantly, we leave our schools everyday feeling like no help is on the way. This isn't how it should be, and my suggestion is that we begin to use our ability to network to take the power back and shift the conversation about education in a whole new direction.</div>
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It starts with professional development. It is truly a sad state of affairs that most of us associate the phrase "professional development" with irrelevance, top-down management, and having to muster up a sense of "buy-in" to things that we really don't see much value in. If I have to go to another Common Core PowerPoint presentation about rigor, I might actually claw my eyes out. However, if teachers began to reconsider what professional development might look like if we could design it ourselves, things might start to turn a corner. </div>
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Teachers need to start participating in networked sharing of resources, strategies, and ideas. While there are increasingly more teachers jumping into Nings, Twitter, and various other arenas of idea sharing, too many teachers have yet to test these waters. If we could get more teachers involved, we could start to shift the conversation about education by our sheer numbers alone. If our labor organizations returned to the original concept of organizing large bodies of employees that can't be ignored by creating vast networks of empowered voices all moving in the same direction, they might actually be able to redeem their less-than-positive public image. It seems that the membership of our unions takes a rather dim view of social media, often resorting to a level of fear mongering that runs along the "be careful, you might get fired for saying something stupid" variety. But if they could get past their fear, they just might find that the old folk song is true, "There is Power in a Union". </div>
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I am of the belief that when teachers stop learning, they cease to be good teachers. A personal learning network (#pln) is a great entry point into teacher learning. If we could all begin to see the value of a pln, we could start to design a system in our districts and states that recognizes the value of that learning and would count towards our required professional development. We claim to want our students to be independent and intrinsic learners, but many of us are missing out on modeling that behavior in the digital space. Any teacher that says they can't learn online needs to be taught how, and any teachers that refuse needs to consider how relevant they are to their students' future.</div>
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It's about adopting a pro-active and empowered stance towards growing as professionals in times that simply demand that we do so. We can wait around for someone in administration to order us to enter the digitally networked environment, or we can start to do so on our own, with a full realization that by combining our voices and helping each other we can begin to change the balance of power in a conversation that we all know has made us more weak and fractured than we should be. We have the opportunity to use our networks to abolish the whole notion that our classrooms are "islands". I love teaching, and so do most of our teachers, but if we continue to be reactive and resistant to change we will be bowled over by people with more power, and less knowledge about what works for kids. And for those of us who are already building this community of educators online, we need to work even harder to patiently help others to see the value. </div>
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Start now. register for Twitter, type #pln into the search bar, and join in. Search for anyone that your district talks a lot about (ex. Robert Marzano) and follow them. Hit the "retweet" button on anything you like, reply to any post with a question or comment, and eventually start to lend your insights in a tweet. You don't need to wait around for someone to offer a class or hold a pd session. Change your stance, be a bit more proactive, and become the kind of learner we want all of our kids to be.<br />
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</div>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-31977606821951958272012-03-20T16:51:00.001-04:002012-03-20T16:51:42.675-04:00Networks are Power - Part 1: The Kids<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bgAeyWxQpgf559B_zMRLGTTHKcMniF7dwRFb45UUNGQZrgPB8CINrsPiKVaoIRYGjm3QjPeNe3h_FCQGJYg20MmYNinvaO9FDG0oln1c8GDKGGOEFhxzjeGybPAj4b3iqK948gkKcU3f/s1600/power.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bgAeyWxQpgf559B_zMRLGTTHKcMniF7dwRFb45UUNGQZrgPB8CINrsPiKVaoIRYGjm3QjPeNe3h_FCQGJYg20MmYNinvaO9FDG0oln1c8GDKGGOEFhxzjeGybPAj4b3iqK948gkKcU3f/s320/power.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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by Sean Wheeler<br />
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All across the country our education systems are being forced to consider the significance of social-media as it relates to how, when, and if our students engage in a more networked learning community. Questions of access to equipment, the use of firewall software, and the safety or danger of the digital environments now available are being considered in school board meetings, professional development programs, Acceptable Use Policy debates, and here in the digital environment itself. Labor Unions are wrestling with issues as far ranging as teacher online conduct, definitions of class time and size, as well as when the work day begins and ends within an online structure that doesn't recognize the difference between 9 a.m. on Thursday and 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Parents rightly worry about bullying, their child's digital footprint, and the whole notion of what happens when young people gather together online largely out of the view of any adult guidance. The emergence of networked social-media and digital learning is a disruptive force in the way we in education have always gone about our business. Unfortunately, during all of this discussion and concern, a significant component of the rise of social-networks is being largely ignored. The networks, themselves, are power. And it is the power of these networks that will most likely settle most of the debate in the years to come. Over the next few days I'm going to be posting about leveraging the power of social networks to help kids, teachers, and administrators.<br />
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<u>Part 1: The Kids</u><br />
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What if each of my students could leave my classroom at the end of the year with a Twitter following that included thought-leaders in the students' chosen field of endeavor? What if the 15 year old aspiring doctor in my classroom here in Cleveland could be networked with the amazing doctors and thinkers right down the road at the Cleveland Clinic? What if my aspiring chef could trade recipe suggestions with Michael Symon via a direct message? Why isn't the young man who spends hours writing songs in his basement connected with the CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? It is beginning to become clear to me that all of these connections are a click away and do not require a field-trip form, any kind of academic pedigree, or even an expensive computer. Part of the mission of our schools should be to help students begin to build a network of responsible and interested professionals that could assist these young people on their path towards meaningful work and lives. What is the true cost of the connections that our firewalls prohibit? How will we look years from now when we recognize that we failed to make very easy connections between those who want to learn and those that could teach them?<br />
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I had a young poet, Chania, read me something between classes today that brought home how little we sometimes do to help bring her talent and aspiration into contact with those who could help develop and support her as a poet. Chania is working at her craft in the cracks of our education system, and though I can help her learn a bit more about delivery and word choice, I honestly don't know the many poets that are out there and willing to listen and nurture a young and eager voice emerging on the poetry scene. So today I've decided that my first goal is to help Chania build a social-network of poets that will connect her with live readings, poetry blogs, and the publishing scene. And after I help Chania, I'm going to start to explore ways in which <i>all </i>of my students can begin to build powerful networks that engage my students in the conversations relevant to their career interests. It's becoming increasingly clear that this is a way that I can work as a teacher to help my kids achieve the dreams that have gone unheard for too long in my classroom.<br />
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<br />teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-53880018932805314172012-03-05T21:50:00.002-05:002012-03-13T09:30:10.773-04:00Don't you want that information?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are really three main ways that information gets transmitted in a traditional classroom.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#1 - Raising Hands</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most often used method is through a teacher-led discourse in which students raise their hands to be called on. The teacher uses various methods to choose who gets to speak, but rarely does <i>everyone</i> get called on, and there's always a social urge to not go back and call on the same student more than once. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem with this is that there are kids who don't raise their hands, or choose not to participate in some manner. That, or time simply doesn't allow for all of our students to contribute to the conversation. A good deal of untapped thinking walks out our doors when that 40 minute bell rings. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#2 - Group Work</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When students work in groups, really good things can happen. Students have an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning. The teaching and learning naturally become more problem or discussion based. And students gain a sense of how to work with one another collaboratively. The teacher moves about the room, participating and prompting where needed, catching bits and pieces of entire conversations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But what if one group is firing all cylinders while another group struggles because of the social dynamics or preparedness, or a host of other possibilities? Why should some students, by sheer luck of the draw, get stuck in groups that they can't get out of? To look at it another way, why should my child not learn as much today as someone in a different group? What did my child do to get cheated like that? The other issue is that the teacher can't be everywhere, so again, information goes unnoticed all over the place. Maybe someone contributed something in one of the groups that was brilliant, but the teacher missed the chance to work with that idea because they were busy coaxing a classmate to get off the cell phone. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#3 - Write It Down, Turn It In.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes teachers <i>do </i>need to hear from every student to assess individual learning. This is traditionally done in the format of homework, exit tickets, quizzes, tests, etc. The whole group receives some prompt or task and they write their response on paper and turn it in. The teacher grades it or provides feedback. Students get their papers back, put them in the backpack, lost forever to time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only one person winds up benefitting from what everyone knows in the classroom, and <i>that </i>person is the one in the room who probably needs to learn from that information the least. The teacher gets to know what everyone else knows but the students get no benefit from the responses of their peers. Perhaps having that information would help kids who were still formulating their ideas or learning the concepts being taught.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None of the above is anybody's fault really. We've been doing the best with what we have, and I believe strongly that our teachers have been doing great work. This isn't about who is to blame, it's about whether or not we want all of the information we're losing by doing what we've done for so long. The three systems we have are the three systems that have had to exist because it's been impossible to do otherwise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When my students interact in our online space, I get all of the information. And so does everybody else. Every group that works together online, is visible and open to input from each other group. If a student is stuck in a bad group, they don't have to be. If a student wants to join the conversations of the other groups at some other time, they still can. No information is lost to that student. The teacher can see the work of the whole group, each one of them, and can also assess each contribution by each student. If a student revises their thinking, they are not bound eternally to it because they spoke it out loud in class and never got called on to voice their change of thinking or deeper reflection. My students aren't limited to formulating complex thought right away either. They can really take the time to formulate their thoughts before they type, and kids who need a bit more process have the time because there are no bells in our online classroom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the kids that don't get called on or never participate in class get a voice. The student too embarrassed to talk in class can directly instant message me with thoughts, the kid that needs more help or clarification can ask for that help without the stigma of "slowing the class down". Every one of my students can work with me individually as needed all the time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to admit that dealing with all of that information can be overwhelming. Providing feedback at that level takes time. Getting the whole online thing up and running takes patience and persistence. But if we can capture the learning of every one of our students, don't we want that information?</span></div>
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</div>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-21749547832716595512012-03-05T19:12:00.002-05:002012-03-05T19:12:36.935-05:00#edcampcolumbus Reflection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">by Sean Wheeler</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As part of what will now have to be considered the "lost" Smackdown, Toby asked us all to take the time to reflect on the experience and share what we took away from our time together. It's now two day later, and I am just now fully appreciating what edcamp Columbus did for my growth as a teacher.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was a bartender at a brewery before I started teaching. And in the last couple of years doing it, I would particularly dread "Staff Meeting Saturdays". Usually we'd learn about the new spring menu, or our newest recycling efforts, maybe even work in some training on "The Sullivan Nod". I would sit in those meetings and wonder what would happened if the meeting got called, the bosses didn't show up, and we could talk about how to <i>really </i>fix up the place. That never happened and hadn't really happened in any real sense once I became a teacher, either, until this past Saturday. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I drove down to Columbus from Cleveland because I wanted to see an edcamp in action. I wanted to see how it worked and meet the kind of people who would put something like that together. For some reason I had the sense from the start that meeting "this kind of people" was going to be a significant part of what I would eventually take away. From the time I walked in to the time I left with an over-stuffed brain hours later, I was reveling in the feeling that everyone who was there actually wanted to be there. Many had driven as far as I had. Husbands came with wives. Friends and co-workers travelled as a group. The Upper Arlington HS crew were all on hand to welcome us, show us around, and talk to us about the teaching and learning they were doing at the school. The first session I went to consisted entirely of people who had never attended an unconference before. We instinctively kept looking at the door for someone to come in and tell us how to proceed. Of course, that didn't happen. We jumped in and quickly found that we were surrounded by people who understood, cared, and were genuinely interested in the kind of stuff most of us bore our friends with when we talk about work. It was just like those daydreams on "Staff Meeting Saturday". No bosses, no directives or initiatives, no rollouts. It was brilliant.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Design interests me a great deal, and it was great to see a session offered on Human Centered Design. It was a powerful session and I think the conversation will have an impact on my work for awhile. I'm in the planning stages of doing some really cool research with my students, and it helped to be refocussed on the vital concept that students need to be central while designing the work for the upcoming project. Sometimes I get lost in how I would teach something instead of how students might want to learn it.<i> </i>It was cool to walk out of that session and into a discussion on Moodle in which an Upper Arlington teacher, who happened to be in the school for something else entirely unrelated to the conference<i>, </i>heard us talking about Moodle and joined the conversation. He got so excited he logged into his page and showed us all a few things he was doing that were really amazing. We talked for a few minutes about the way that our online spaces are designed to make them intuitively accessible for the kids. That kind of interaction really typified the day. Things just went where they went, and everyone was very open to seeing where our conversations and viewpoints would take us. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm going to take away how many times I heard someone note that we were all there on a Saturday, for no pay, and were walking away feeling a sense of community that most of us out on the fringes rarely get to feel. We proved that a revolution from the bottom up isn't all that difficult. We discovered how different it is to go to a conference in which you can be a participant instead of an attendee or presenter. It was like everyone else had wondered the same thing I did on those Saturday morning meetings at the brewery, and then we really <i>did</i> get together and start to fix things on our own. </span></div>
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<br /></div>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-68135578539017332812012-02-20T10:25:00.002-05:002012-03-22T22:34:01.606-04:00Low Hanging Fruit: Why Technology in Our Schools is a Matter of Equity<div style="text-align: center;">
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by Sean Wheeler</div>
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There are things that we could be doing for kids that we are not. And more importantly, there are things we <i>should </i>be doing for our students that we are not. I'd like to look at two relatively easy uses of technology that would go a long way towards helping two distinct subgroups of students in my district, and at the same time, would push our staff deeper into adoption of technology as a way to provide equity in our classrooms.</div>
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<b>English Language Learners</b></div>
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I work in a district that serves a variety of English language learners. There are close to twenty-five languages spoken in our district, and many of our students have been in the country for fewer than two years. Needless to say, they aren't faring very well on our annual state assessment, the Ohio Graduation Test. This year, our district has identified improving the education of these students as a major goal. However, after six months of this intense focus, little has changed in our district that would point to any sort of real improvement in how we are working with our English language learners. Our main ELL teacher, a colleague of mine that I really admire, recently spoke up with a tone of frustration at a staff meeting and asked for any kind of help that we could offer her students. I started poking around online, and found something that I think could help, but it's going to have to be adopted school-wide, maybe district-wide, and the only way we're going to get <i>that</i> done is to tell the right story to our staff.</div>
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One of the problems confronting our ELL students is that they have trouble translating assignments in their core classes (LA, Math, SS, Sci) and conversing with their teacher. Even if a student manages to translate the assignments and complete the work they miss out on getting good feedback from their teacher due to the language barrier. We can't have every teacher learn every language spoken in our school and we can't expect students who have been in the country for a very short time to be able to have these detailed learning conversations with their limited English. But what if we could find a way to take a teacher's worksheet and make it readable by the student in their native language? What if every student had a translator with them throughout the school day who could help the students get the feedback that they need, as well as allow the students to ask questions and participate in class conversations? Would it help and could we get our district to do it? Before I get to the answers, I want to examine a different issue with a different subgroup of our students.</div>
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<b>Special Education Learners</b></div>
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My district has also identified our special-education learners as a main focus for this year. Again, this focus is prompted by a perceived need to raise test scores. I have found that our special educators are a dedicated group that really fights to help their students, but they face a good deal of frustration in enlisting the full support of the rest of our staff in inclusion settings. As a result of their disability, many of the special-education learners in my classes struggle with organization, long-term memory, and follow-through. These issues lead towards a learning minefield, a seemingly endless cycle of lost papers, forgotten due dates, and incomplete learning tasks. Our response to these problems has mainly involved having students organize their backpacks and carry around a planner that gets signed by the teachers. Of course the planner always winds up lost, but at least we gave it a shot. </div>
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<b>The Low-Hanging Fruit</b></div>
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If we digitized our classrooms, we could go a long way towards helping each of these two groups of students, and help the rest of our student population as well. In this instance, I'm not saying that teachers need to adopt digital learning and jump to blended-instruction, mastery learning, or problem-based projects. Though I think all of these would also help, I'm thinking on a much smaller scale and much more about equitable access to teachers and instructional material. </div>
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To go back to our English Language learners, what if we <i>did </i>provide each student with a translator? I recently checked into the <a href="http://translate.google.com/">Google Translate</a> and this seems like something that could easily be used to aid in the communication between teacher and student, student and assignment, and involve ELL parents in the process as well. While several of our students speak languages not currently used in Google Translate, it could really help to serve the majority of our students who do speak languages recognized by the software. I envision a situation in which students could copy-and-paste assignments into Translate and get them translated into the students' native languages. Students could compose their responses either in English or their native language, and then copy-and-paste them into Translate for proofreading and/or translation into English. Teacher comments and student questions could be conducted via email or instant messages with Translatete working on either end to facilitate the conversation. This is something that can't be done with hand-written or photocopied paper assignments. Those assignments would need to be scanned into a digital version that could be text-edited, and all assignments would need to be hosted online where students could easily locate them. Students would also need regular access to the internet in school, and would most benefit from a handheld device (phone, iPod, tablet, netbook, laptop, etc.) with online connectivity. These are both hurdles, no doubt, but they are not walls. If we want our ELL students to thrive, and we feel that they deserve access to course materials, the ability to engage in classroom conversations, and to receive meaningful feedback from their teachers, than we can take the step of learning how to work with these digital tools.</div>
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Posting all student work and feedback digitally would also work towards helping our special-education students overcome several of the key barriers mentioned earlier. An assignment isn't lost if it's also located online. A due date is rarely missed when it is programmed into their digital calendar, complete with weekly, daily, and hourly reminders. Students rarely forget class content when it is always accessible via a link, a video, or a set of class notes posted online. If digitizing class content affords equitable access to tools that help our students overcome some of the affects of their disabilities, isn't that what we <i>should</i> be doing?</div>
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Every student in my district would benefit from having these tools available as well. My fourth grader regularly loses the hand-out that holds his daily-journal assignments for the week. When this happens, my wife and I are at a loss to help, and my son frequently has to stay after school for not doing his journal writing because we couldn't find the assignment. It sure would help us if we could go online and look up the assignments, just like we do everyday when we go online and decide if our child will pack or buy his lunch by consulting the online lunch menu. It would be fantastic if our students were not limited to learning from materials printed only in English. Google Translate has helped me to read Brazilian literary reviews, Arabic-language tweets, and Norwegian song lyrics. My students can now communicate via blogs and messages that are written in a wide variety of languages and with people who would be otherwise unreachable due to language barriers. And all we'd have to do is teach teachers to take what they're doing and post it online. It would open the door to our teaching and learning in a way that would be truly transformative. I'm pretty sure that even the most technology-challenged of us could take this step in much less time than it's taken the district to do anything else that we've tried.</div>
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Eric Sheninger recently spoke at the eTech Ohio conference, and he said something that really hit home with me. He said, "I'm not looking for buy-in, because I'm not selling anything. It's an expectation that we should have, that we will do what we can do because it's the right thing to do for students." I think this is one of those things; easy to do and for the right reasons.</div>
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<br /></div>teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-42158323136933427352012-01-19T20:25:00.000-05:002012-03-13T09:26:48.603-04:00To Anyone Looking to Get Into Teaching: Stay Right Where You Are, and Keep Going.by Sean Wheeler<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cuppini/4385213924/lightbox/">photo</a> by flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cuppini/">Rickydavid</a></td></tr>
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I'm fortunate to know and work with a growing list of pre-service teachers. Whether they are just getting into their first education classes, or about to enter their first day on the job, they all have an expectation that their life is about to change. They occupy a unique mid-position between being a student and being a teacher. They're a bit of both and not wholly either. This post is addressed to them.<br />
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First of all, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to really think about teaching and learning. Hopefully your classes are great, your professors are amazing, and your classmates are as excited about all of this as you are. I hope you have had the opportunity to be engaged by different teaching philosophies, to sort through your own educational experiences and beliefs, and have begun to develop your own approach. It's going to be great. <br />
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As I said, you occupy a great place in your life right now. But most importantly, you are at a moment in which you occupy two distinct positions within a framework that will come to dominate the rest of your career. The difference between being a teacher and being a student will hover over everything that your class will accomplish or fail to accomplish every day that you walk in the door. The tendency, I think, after awhile, is to walk in that door more as a teacher than as a student each time you do it. The gulf between student and teacher, which in the case of the pre-service teacher doesn't exist, tilts increasingly towards the latter as we get more comfortable with "the way things are" and "what we do". It happens.<br />
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But I'm challenging you to go a different route. When you end your time as a student-teacher, try to forge an identity as a student/teacher. This is less about seeing the world through the eyes of your students, and more about seeing the profession of teaching from the perspective of a student studying teaching.<br />
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Right now you are wondering whether or not it's going to work like you hope it will. You are open to suggestions, willing to learn, keenly observant, and eager to work with your students. Stay that way. Don't lose that critical eye, those thoughtful ambitions. Be a bit bold and ready to take on the challenges and rewards that this amazing field is going to bring your way.<br />
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It really is more hard than easy. There's something alluring to being up front and in charge. There's a great comfort in teaching what we know in the way that we know it. After the first few years things start to become more automatic. You get used to being referred to by your last name. You begin to rely less on what you've recently learned and more on what your experience shows. Change, of all things, starts to slow down to an easy series of minor adjustments and begrudgingly approached initiatives. It's been the typical trajectory of every generation of teachers that have come before you. We start eager, we find our niche, and we settle in to a series of oscillations that move between the beauty of learning and the frustrations that stem from seemingly everywhere.<br />
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I'm hoping you begin to swim the other way on this trend. You are living in the midst of one of the greatest revolutions in human capacity for learning and thought that has ever existed before. You know this. You've been told it all of your lives. The only thing that we now know for sure is that we're in for some big changes in the way the world operates. And education, now more than ever, is in dire need of some serious reflection, criticism, and enthusiasm for the unknown challenges that lie ahead. Anyone going into education right now is going to have a career that will necessitate an expectation that change is going to be a constant. The new information and communication landscape is wide-open, and if we're going to succeed as a profession, we're going to need you. We're going to need you to keep being a student as much as you are a teacher. Keep the distance between learning and teaching at a minimum, and move forward through your career ready to learn, grow, and embrace new ideas and ways to do things. Let people see you learn. Let them teach you as well. Keep working on your voice. Just like now.<br />
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Stay right where you are, and keep going.<br />
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<br />teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-45221651150002687102011-12-11T00:49:00.001-05:002011-12-11T01:25:57.517-05:00Trusting the Process, and the Processors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<o:p> by Julie Rea</o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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Teaching the humans we have in our 9<sup>th</sup> grade
classrooms this year has been challenging.<span>
</span>They are masters at disengaging, “forgetting” assignments, logging time
at school until their real lives start.<span>
</span>Failing a class is a non-event for them, to be met with a shrug of the
shoulders.<span> </span>A majority of our students
are satisfied with doing just enough work to pass and keep their parents and
teachers off their backs.<span> </span>It has been
<i>very</i> challenging.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have been introducing project-based learning, and
struggling to teach the students how to participate in and contribute
effectively to groups.<span> </span>In geophysical
science, my co-teacher just introduced a unit on Newton’s Laws with a project
on forces in sports.<span> </span>Students are to
answer the question:<span> </span>How can we use
forces to improve an athlete’s performance in hockey, baseball, rugby (the
sport of their choice)?<span> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Friday, I went to the science room to help the groups as
they worked.<span> </span>The situation looked
promising as I walked in the room.<span>
</span>Students were in their groups, and there seemed to be lots of
discussion.<span> </span>Full disclosure here:<span> </span>I am an external processor.<span> </span>I do not know what I think until I have said
it.<span> </span>To me, discussion is a good sign.<span> </span>One group of students caught my eye:<span> </span>two boys were standing, and two girls were
sitting, everyone looked glum, and no one was saying a word.<span> </span>To me, this is not a good sign.<span> </span>Deep breath and approach:<span> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
How’s it going?<span> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Ok.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
What sport did you choose?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Basketball.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
What is your question?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
We can’t think of one. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Hmm.<span> </span>Do any of you play basketball?<span> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(one student raises her hand.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Great!<span> </span>So what area of your game would you like to
improve? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
I don’t know.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Let’s think about all the parts of
basketball—what do you have to do to play basketball?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Dribble.<span> </span>Shoot.<span>
</span>Be fast.<span> </span>Be agile.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Good!<span> </span>So dribble, shoot, run—which would you like
to study?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
There are different kinds of shots
in basketball.<span> </span>Which is the most
interesting to you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Well, I’ve always wondered why so
many pros are bad at foul shots.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Ok, so are you thinking in
there?<span> </span>Are you all internal
processors?<span> </span>Am I bothering you with my
questions?<span> </span>(I am related to some
internal processors, and they have shared that, at times, talking is an
annoyance.<span> </span>I sympathize, but cannot
empathize.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Well, I’ll let you process those
thoughts, and I’ll be back.<span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5 minutes later. . .No one has moved, everyone looks glum,
no one is talking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span>How’s it
going?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span>(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Got a question?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
No.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Hmm.<span> </span>You could always think about equipment in
basketball.<span> </span>Hey, I know.<span> </span>I always see players rubbing their shoes
before they go on the court.<span> </span>Wonder why?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
To get the dirt off (this is
followed by a look which says, Do you have a brain?)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Well, maybe forces play a part in
that.<span> </span>Can you think which ones? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
You might want to look at your
notes, or on-line to see what forces might be involved.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Well, I’ll let you process those
thoughts, and I’ll be back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br />5 minutes later. . .No one has moved, everyone looks glum, no one is talking. <br /> How’s it going?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
(Silence.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Got a question? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
No.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span>Hmm.<span> </span>Well, I was thinking about that shoe
thing.<span> </span>(I am getting desperate now.<span> </span>The project guidelines say that they must
have a question by the end of the period.)<span>
</span>My son played basketball in high school and college.<span> </span>You know, in college the team buys your shoes
for you, and one year my son was really disgusted with the shoes the coach had
picked out.<span> </span>No one on the team would
wear them.<span> </span>Can you imagine why?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span>(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span>They said they
were too heavy!<span> </span>Do you think shoes could
really make a difference, like in jumping?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span>(Silence.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span>Ok, well,
you process some more, and I’ll be back.<span>
</span>(Exchange worried looks with co-teacher.<span>
</span>We have been having similar discussions with other groups, and those
groups have been making progress.<span> </span>We got
nothing here.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5 minutes later. . .three of the students haven’t moved, but
they are looking at me expectantly, and the group leader is approaching me
where I am working with another group.<span>
</span>She is holding a notebook, and has a look of quiet confidence. <span> </span>She holds the notebook up, and I read a
perfectly wonderful question about forces and the lay-up shot in
basketball.<span> </span>We do a high five, and I say
“well done” to the group.<span> </span>They smile,
and the boys finally sit down.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span>Here are my
take-aways.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Wait Time works.<span> </span>All those silences up there?<span> </span>They were big, long, empty silences.<span> </span><span> </span><a href="http://uncommonschools.org/bio/1019/doug-lemov">Doug Lemov</a> (<a href="http://teachlikeachampion.wiley.com/"><i>Teach Like a Champion</i>)</a>
includes wait time as one of the championship techniques.<span> </span>It can be painful, but it works. <span> </span>Kids need time to process—my co-teacher and I
had already been thinking about and discussing this project for some time.<span> </span>We were familiar with it; the students needed
time to catch up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->No Opt Out, another of Lemov’s techniques,
works.<span> </span>I kept circling back to be sure
that something was going to come out of this group.<span> </span>If necessary, we would have been there for
some time after class, or after school.<span>
</span>It wasn’t an immediate No Opt Out, but it was in play.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Trust the process.<span> </span>Project-based learning works. <span> </span>Struggling is part of the process and is good
for students—I almost blew it by inserting myself too much in
the process.<span> </span>I needed to let the students
struggle, and be patient with the struggle.<span>
</span>Self-esteem comes from struggling and overcoming, not from writing down
what the teacher said, however brilliant and insightful that may have been (I
thought my shoe question was both!)<span> </span>The
pride on the faces of this group at the end of the process was palpable.<span>
</span>It wouldn’t have been there if we had given them the question—either as
part of the assignment, or as they struggled to come up with their own. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->A group of internal processors can work!<span> </span>Quite possibly NASA already knew this, but I
would never have thought it.<span> </span>If these
internal processors had been in groups with external processors, would they have gotten the chance to cogitate, ponder, wrestle, and finally succeed?<span> Is this another grouping criteria to consider? If internal processors benefit from the space to process internally, would external processors benefit from learning how to work in a group in which everyone has to talk to think? </span>I want to investigate more about how internal
processors work, so I can be more helpful to them.<span> </span>If you have suggestions about resources, or
are a self-aware internal processor willing to share, please let me know.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2198243587624417160.post-7447633385147770372011-11-25T17:59:00.001-05:002011-11-25T18:32:31.972-05:00Creativity, Cycles, and CowboysBy Sean Wheeler<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5D2hF9SRzrAJvoU-STn1vh8ErvlJ1vQaU9dqHkJQFa0XiEnS79CFEDkfg6vyEv3BVQuMqfvOMHPxLhiOhP5dR5MvN7M14YknE8GSu6Dig-5EWEsWmgg4xN3_kouMsqy2VpRdPszFgPaTj/s1600/danelectro" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5D2hF9SRzrAJvoU-STn1vh8ErvlJ1vQaU9dqHkJQFa0XiEnS79CFEDkfg6vyEv3BVQuMqfvOMHPxLhiOhP5dR5MvN7M14YknE8GSu6Dig-5EWEsWmgg4xN3_kouMsqy2VpRdPszFgPaTj/s320/danelectro" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danelctro Guitar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I did theater in high school and my first go at college. Doing a show was a huge creative process that involved tons of creative choices, tremendous team work, and a constant adrenaline kick that started at auditions and peaked on closing night. For anyone that's done it, being in or working on a play is a life defining experience. In theater, we call the last week of rehearsals "Hell Week" though it's really anything <i>but </i>hellish. In reality, it's an extended creative flow that is both exhausting and massively exhilarating. The days immediately after feel almost lifeless and all-to-mundane.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The same goes for playing music. I've was in bands off-and-on throughout my teens and twenties. I was never really any good, but I did some good stuff. And, again, there's nothing like playing in a band when the music hits a point that transcends anything going on in real life and the instruments almost play themselves. It's also the whole reason anyone who plays music does it in the first place. Time slows down, individuality merges into community, and the last note is always met with a laughing "wow" and then an exhausted silence.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Athletes, painters, gardeners, craftspeople, all of them and many others go through a similar experience. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi" target="_blank"> Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi'</a>s work on "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29" target="_blank">flow</a>" has been tremendously influential in my thinking concerning teaching and my work with The American Youth Foundation at Camp Miniwanca. As a person who has experienced this sensation through several experiences of my own, I fully believe that the creative act is my most immediate access point to flow. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Which brings me to the fact that I haven't posted anything for over a month. Though the school year keeps moving on, and the first big phase of the Wikiseat project is behind us, I've found myself recently in the place that happens just after one of these flow experiences. A silence, an exhaustion, a letting-out of breath. Rather than beat myself up over a too-long absence from posting anything here, I've come to recognize that sometimes the silence is needed. Less needed, than simply real. It's just the result of doing some great creative work with an incredible group of students. Everything has it's let-down. It's a part of the bargain. </div>
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<br />teachinghumanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15625969736090120465noreply@blogger.com1