Considering New Perspectives

On Thursday, I'll board an Amtrak train in Fort Edward, NY, with a final destination of Atlanta, GA, where I'll participate in Reimagine: ED.

Our purpose will be "exploring the future of learning in K-12 education by identifying ideas, places, and professional roles that would benefit from new perspectives...[to] bring together diverse voices and use the design process to develop shared understandings and action steps for change."

With this goal in mind, I've been considering some recent personal experiences which have contributed to my life as a learner.

Open Studios Tour: Enchanting Art
This self-guided tour offered an opportunity to interact with artists in their working spaces, permitting a glimpse of some of the underlying structure that is necessary to a productive creative life. Photos.

Raptors in the Park
Community members dropped by to learn about native birds of prey. The audience was diverse and multi-generational, and information was delivered in an entertaining manner - a perfect blend of facts and fun. Photos.

Yaddo Mansion Tour
The public was allowed a rare glimpse of this private retreat, which has hosted artists from around the world since its founding, nearly 120 years ago. The guest rooms are spare but functional, each with a well-lighted desk (and dictionary); studio space offers a "blank canvas" for artists to utilize as they choose. Yaddo provides two meals a day, during which artists-in-residence can choose to interact with fellow guests or eat in a quiet area, where they can continue their thinking, undisturbed. Extensive grounds and beautiful gardens present other opportunities for reflection and conversation. If I could select the perfect venue for creativity and collaboration, Yaddo would be my choice. Photos.

Passions:
Paintings
Locating sites for en plein air painting is just a first step for my husband: both he and I track down sources that gives his artwork context and adds other levels of meaning. We became "citizen journalists" of a sort, when a local landmark burned down. Tim's painting, and my photos, were the most recent record of the building. And the facts he had gathered, from a railroad expert in his network, key facts about the purpose of the structure, gave some news reporters important background information. Photos.

Photography
My love for photography has resulted in some very interesting connections. When I recently posted photos of my mother's family on the Troy, NY Memories group in FaceBook, I was immediately contacted by relatives (of whose existence I was unaware) who provided genealogical information about the family dating back to 17th century France. With their help, I identified our mutual great-great-grandparents in a scanned image. This not only inspired me to learn more about a previously-unknown group of ancestors, it also triggered a rich storytelling and resource sharing burst that still continues. What better way to learn history than through exploring your roots? (I've blogged about my Italian heritage: In My Grandfather's Voice and Inquiry, Search, Results, Applications. Now I need to learn more about the Irish branch of the family tree). Photos.

But to get back to my original point: I've found that, for my learning experiences, I like a variety of spaces (intimate and expansive, interior and out-of-doors); opportunities for interaction but with an option for quiet self-reflection; informal exchanges of information; multiple modes of input and output; access to tools (typewriters, notebooks, laptops, etc.). I'm comfortable online but equally value face-to-face communication. I need motion as well as rest. I want to learn about topics that are of personal interest.

I look forward to participating in Reimagine:ED and will certainly share my experiences in future postings. If we truly desire a better educational system, we need to consider, collaborate, create, communicate.



"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." -John Dewey

"The eternal conflict of good and the best with bad and the worst is on." -Melvil Dewey

Cat Among the Pigeons

put/set the cat among the pigeons (British & Australian) to do or say something that causes trouble and makes a lot of people angry or worried -TheFreeDictionary

It's been a lively Monday morning on Twitter, due in large part to the discussion of Seth Godin's posting, The future of the library.

Although Godin specifically mentions public libraries, this conversation is much larger, encompassing the entire profession of librarianship.

Without rehashing the entire piece - which should be read and savored in the original - I might summarize the message as "evolution or extinction." Perhaps Mr. Godin wouldn't state it quite as starkly, but this is the choice which I strongly believe librarians must make: change to fit the needs of the populations we serve, or find ourselves made irrelevant or redundant.

There has always been a slight but discernible rift between "book" people and "information/research" people. Most librarians fill both roles, but those who see themselves as more literature-oriented can become quite heated when they feel their role as guide, consultant, expert is threatened. And yet...a good English teacher can perform the same service for students, and online sources which recommend titles by genre, author, etc. are available for readers of all ages.

Some argue that community members come to the library to use topic-specific databases. In my experience, even students only resort to databases in a school setting. Most of the public find their needs served as well by a Google search. For those who do require more scholarly resources, in most areas, anyone with a library card can access their public library's databases online. Need to ask a reference question? Many libraries already offer online options for that, as well.

In September, there will be an exciting conference, Reimagine Ed, which seeks to address the design of K-12 libraries. The larger issue will be, of course, the function of these libraries. I've been thinking a lot about this, trying to envision a school that IS a library, a library that visually and philosophically encompasses an entire school. In this facility, all teachers and administrators would be librarians, and librarians would expand their roles as teachers and leaders. Such a future would necessarily require real changes in both teacher and librarian training programs.

Godin ends by saying,

"We need librarians more than we ever did. What we don't need are mere clerks who guard dead paper. Librarians are too important to be a dwindling voice in our culture. For the right librarian, this is the chance of a lifetime."

Change is not only an option, change is an imperative. Don't just get your feathers ruffled: inquire, assess, learn, adapt. Evolve.




"DSCN1971" by ruurdz

The Roar and the Splash

Reflections by the sea:

The sound of the ocean is twofold, the splash of waves on the shore, with a powerful, constant background roar.

Is there a parallel in education? Does reform more closely resemble the steady energy of the roar, or the flow and ebb of the splashing tide? Is the normal wearing action of the waves enough or is a tsunami necessary, to sweep away old systems so that we can begin again?




I gather shells and contemplate the future.



"Reflections by the Sea" by dmcordell
"Tsunami warning sign" by dmcordell
"Conch curl" by dmcordell

Making It Real

Knowing that I'm "retired" and more apt to have free time than most members of our PLN, my friend Buffy Hamilton asked if I could do a live demo of document sharing in Google Docs this morning.

Buffy's lead off question was, "What are our favorite social media and web 2.0 tools?" I contributed a few favorites, while she showed her students some of the editing options.

Since I had mentioned Google Reader, I opened a tab and checked my subscriptions. One item that caught my attention was Stephanie Sandifer's Education Reform Brainstorming posting. Like many educators, Stephanie has been concerned that "current dialogue around education reform" does not adequately represent all stakeholders. Rather than merely rant or walk away, Stephanie has created a both a survey and a spreadsheet for brainstorming, hoping to built "a space that can become a repository of ideas for everyone involved and invested in improving the schools across our nation."

"EVERYONE is invited to help brainstorm ideas! Teachers, administrators, parents, students, community members, education researchers, anyone and everyone who is interested and who has an idea."

Stephanie mentioned students, those whose lives will be most directly affected by educational reform...or the lack thereof.

So I shared the links with Buffy and her class, a serendipitous opportunity to turn a demonstration into an exercise in authentic learning.




If your students are blocked from accessing these tools from school, please do as I once did with my Current Events classes: have them express their opinions verbally or in writing, then add the student comments yourself to Stephanie's document.

This is an important conversation. ALL voices need to be heard and valued.



"Put Learning in the Hands of Students" by katerha