Take time to read & write!

We live in an overcrowded age of quick sound bites and 140 character posts.  It is easy to get lost, overwhelmed, or just fed up with the narcissistic world of social media.  Even in the educational world where we pride ourselves in our PLNs and the people we follow it seems like our twitter feed gets clogged by useless tweets and retweets. Sometimes it is nice to slow down, take some time, and read something of substance and depth.    

What do you like about her blog?

I recently had the opportunity to be introduced to Amy Heavin’s blog.   While reading through Amy’s blog, one thing I appreciate is her use of imagery and connecting everyday activities and events into her main point.  She draws you in with her stories.  As an educator if find them poignant and inspiring.

I currently have a blog, which you are reading, that doesn’t really have a specific audience, or much of one at all :)  That is one thing I need to improve on.  But, thinking about a specific blog for school, it would be really cool to start one with students being the target audience.  Something that would speak to them and encourage them to be learners and readers.  

I follow several blogs that follow different patterns of posting.  Some post daily, these are the guys who do this for some form of income either as their job or as a supplemental income.  Others post a few times a week, or at least weekly.  And their are a couple others who post less often than that, but usually once or twice a month.  My current trend is to average about 4 posts a year...not a great way to gain and keep a following.  

A wise man (my wife’s grandfather) once told me, “you don’t write just to write, but you write because you have something to say.”  This is how, in the past, I have chosen what to blog about.  I wait until I have an idea, then post.  Sometimes it is a reflection on a lesson or event, other times it just comes to me.

Sometimes it is a little nerve racking to post something on a blog then share it to the world.  There is always that fear that someone is going to say something negative about it.  Though, even worse than that is the fear that no one will even click the link to read what you have written.  I have had to get over that.  I am learning to write for the enjoyment of it and to say something.  To be heard, even if it is only heard by a few.

Lost Connections to the Past

As a librarian one of the hardest parts of my job is weeding books.  I alone am responsible for looking at lists of old books that haven’t been checked out for years and deciding whether or not this book deserves another year on the shelf.  On some occasions, books may narrowly miss the executioner’s axe based on their merit as an award winning book or the fact that it is on a popular topic.  But, sadly, more often than not even these books can suffer the fatal blow due simply to their age or appearance.  The old adage, “you can’t judge a book by its cover” really doesn't apply here.  Books that are yellowed, damaged, or have dated artwork are not appealing to young readers and must be sacrificed to make room for those books that will draw students in and transport them to another world.

Recently I was in the middle of this painful process when I came across something very interesting and exciting.  I pulled a book of Poetry by Longfellow that had no computer record of being checked out.  I opened the front cover to discover a long forgotten piece of library “technology,” the book card.  If you are older than 30 you may remember these.  Before computers were used in the library, the book card used to sit in the front of the book until it was checked out.  Then, when the lucky book was chosen, the card would be removed, the patron would write their name on the line and the librarian would stamp the due date on the card and the other card inside the book.

As a child, I was always fascinated by this card.  I would study the names and dates on the card being amazed that the book had been checked out by such and such a kid 5 years before...5 years!  That was such a long time ago I thought.  So, it was no surprise that I did it again, I read through the names, a short history of the life of this book.  Tammy had checked the book out on May 30th.  Heidi must have loved this book of poems because she checked it out on October 24 and then again on Feb 3.  Then, the surprise.  The last entry on the card was a handwritten date and name 1-15-88 SPENCER 55...wait, could this have been checked out by my wife’s grandfather?  January, 1988 was the first year the school was open and Grandpa Spencer was teaching seventh grade social studies in room number 55.  This book hadn't been opened for 27 years and the last person to open it was my wife’s grandfather.  For a moment there was this amazing connection between the two of us.  I felt as though I had picked up right where he had left off.  27 years later, the same book in the same school, in the same library.  

As I stood next to the beautiful all-wood checkerboard that grandpa had built for me to keep in the library to encourage students to learn how to play checkers and chess, I began to flip through the book and found the reason the he had probably checked out this particular book: Paul Revere's Ride.  I started to imagine Grandpa starting his class taking attendance and then saying, as to get their attention, “Listen! My children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere…” Then going through the rest of the poem, mesmerizing the children with the tale of Revere alerting the colonists of the impending arrival of the dreaded British.  Then, after finishing it, passing out copies and having a class discussion about how the poem conformed with and varied from the actual historical accounts of Paul Revere.

Wow, this one little card acted as my TARDIS, transporting me 27 years into the past into the social studies classroom of wife’s grandfather, watching the reactions of 13 year olds as they were hurled back 163 years to a dark New England evening and join in with a lone rider racing from town to town as

The people will waken and listen to hear

The hurrying hoof-beats of that stead

And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

With all that the advancements technology has brought to the library, more sophisticated search options, home access to the catalog, ebooks, and electronic reports and statistics, something has been lost.  No longer are we able to feel that simple amazement of seeing the names of the the travelers who have gone before us.  Those who have already been down the road that the lay ahead of us, the journey that the pages will take us on.  That connection between us and the past is no longer there.  We now must travel the path alone, not knowing who has already trod down it.

A water stain in the gutter of the book violently jerked me from my 190 year journey back to the here and now.  I thought to myself, “Grandpa was the last one to check this out, and there are water stains, I think he owes the school $6.98 to replace this book!”

OER-CIES TLC class blog post

I was looking for a more interesting way to teach students about copyright and the use of media.  During the webinar about OERs I was introduced to the PBS Media website and thought I would give it a shot.  I found a lesson called "Who Owns a Sound?"

I used this lesson in conjunction with the Common Sense Media "a creator's rights".  I chose this particular lesson because of the video resources that it offers.  It also puts the issue in a context that students understand...music, specifically hip hop music.  The lesson goes into not only the why of copyright, but also the how.  It also gives students the opportunity to look at both sides of the argument and formulate their own opinions.  

This lesson, though fits into augmentation level of SAMR, fits more into the TPACK model.  It uses technology to better cover the content.  Since the issues covered in the content focus on music, the use of the videos and sound bites reinforce the concepts.  This resource allows students to work at their own pace and covers content in several different ways.  Finally, after the lesson was over, we were able to go into the Common Sense Media lesson with confidence, an opinion, and familiarity on the subject.  

I found that, in the end, this was an interesting resource to use.  I feel that the advantage of this was that students were able to go at their own pace and really spend the time they needed on each slide. I also heard students asking questions that I had not heard other groups ask before do to the higher engagement on the topic.   

A down side is definitely the use of video on the school network.  With limited bandwidth, this could cause problems. Another issue is the need for students to create an account.  The need for accounts students to create accounts for every resource used becomes confusing to students.  I have seen, in middle school, many students forget computer logins, passwords, even locker combinations on a regular basis.  Adding one more account could become an added source of confusion and frustration to some.  A final issue I see, which we, as teachers, face with self-paced assignments is that some may need more or less time to complete the assignment.  The problem with this is that students are required to have internet access at home to complete the assignment.  

Educational Paradigms?-CIES TLC class blog post

Sir Ken Robinson’s Changing Educational Paradigms video gives insight into the current state of education and gives the historical perspective on how education, as we know it, was developed.  One of the issues that he points to is the fact that our system of education was built around the ideals and needs of the industrial revolution and enlightenment.  He sees our schools as factories pushing out a product that is developed not based on what will best shape the product, but with more concern with the ways of separating the product into similar categories such as sex or age.  

Robinson also deals with some more specifics such as the perceived differences between academic thinkers and non academic thinkers, the rise of ADHD, and how academic learning stifles divergent thinking and creativity.

With the interesting discussion he puts forth, he gives no specific answers for how to correct the wrongs he discusses.  He may be assuming that the answers are implied or maybe he just means to discuss the issues and not give a solution.  

It can be argued that the overhaul of the education system that he implies is not practical or cost effective, at least on a macro level.  The dividing of students by ability and interest can be done on a small level in the classroom, but until standardized testing is taken out of the equation allowing for ability groups, this will even be difficult on a micro scale.  

The most reasonable start that can be made, based on Robinson’s talk, is moving from the view that there is only one answer and one way to see the question to a model of collaboration.  These collaborative groups are ones in which students can work with others to find multiple routes to multiple answers to questions that they view in several different ways.  Students need to be encouraged to use their resources, and to come up with numerous ways to reach the same, or different conclusions.

There is no doubt that there needs to be reforms in education.  These reforms need to come at all levels, from the federal government, to the local schoolhouse, to the home, and everywhere in between.  It is possible that simply identifying where the issues are is the place to start.  It must be recognized that there will not be one cookiecutter solution for the whole country.  We live in a diverse country with multiple ideas, cultures, and economic situations and each area will have to address their own issues and come up with solutions that work for them.