In My Life

"Icy reflection" by dmcordell http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/8197019133/

The house is quiet, on the cusp of a busy Thanksgiving gathering. Time to take a moment for reflection.

How is this retirement gig playing out? Well, I still attend, and give presentations at, professional conferences. I'm active in social networking, and participate in the photo-a-day 365 project (many people I meet f2f for the first time know me through my photos). Occasionally, I visit classrooms via Skype or interact with students as a collaborating teacher at my former school. My online work for CyberSmart Education is interesting and accommodates itself to my travel and family schedule.

What do I value most? Top priority these days is interacting with my granddaughter. Although I was a stay-at-home mom myself, I find that I had forgotten (or maybe I was too busy to fully appreciate) the wonder of discovering the world anew with a young child. I teach her sign language and read stories; she shares her toys and her kisses and her unconditional love. We are a pair.

Another source of satisfaction is functioning as as embedded librarian for my far-flung network of friends and acquaintances. In my definition of the term, that means I find and share resources, connect people, do a bit of research on topics of interest: it's not that I have special talents, it's the fact that I have the unencumbered time that others might lack. I spent years acquiring my teaching and librarian skills, and I'm not about to turn my back on the profession that I love. Besides, I'd be terrible at shuffleboard.

I am thankful for family and friends, reasonable health, travel opportunities, and a comfortable home to anchor my journeys.

I remember the past. I dream of the future. I love the now.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

"Playground fun with Grandma" by Ellen White http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/9608127567/

Summer Reading

"Outside the New York Public Library" by dmcordell

Our local newspaper ran an article today about a nearby public library and its summer reading program.

Evidently one young man has won prizes for the last five years because of the number of books he completed as part of a reading challenge. While the children's room aide applauds this accomplishment and sees no problem in continuing the competition, her director wants to change the procedure to give every child a chance to win by entering participants' name in a random drawing.

Each woman makes some valid points:

"Casey [the library aide] said everyone in the club is on a level playing field because all begin and end the same day and all have the opportunity to read as many books as they wish...My feeling is you work, you get it. That’s just the way it is in anything." 

An opposing viewpoint comes from Gandron, the director, "Tyler 'hogs' the contest every year and he should 'step aside.' Other kids quit because they can’t keep up."

I am a very fast reader. As a child, I could have easily bested my peers in this type of contest - but I read because I loved it, not for praise or prizes. When reading now, I sometimes have to consciously slow myself down, to savor language and grasp nuances.

Some of my school library students devoured books, showing up many times during the week to select new titles. Others were plodders, slowly working through their reading selections. There is room in the world for both approaches to literature, especially when it comes to reading for pleasure rather than solely for information.

Are reading contests beneficial to students? Would a book club be a better choice...or would that seem too "schooly"? I'd be interested in learning how other librarians approach this issue.

Podstock: The Perfect Little Conference

"Podstock Registration" by dmcordell

It's been almost a month since I attended my first Podstock, so I've had time to organize my thoughts and reflect a bit on the experience.

Expectations
I already knew a lot about this conference from interacting on social networking sites, particularly Plurk and Facebook. Podstock is a (deliberately) small conference, averaging about 300 attendees. All of the keynotes and sessions are held at the Hotel at Old Town Conference Center, in Wichita Kansas. Because of the intimate setting, I felt reasonably sure that I'd have the opportunity to interact with a number of my online acquaintances face-to-face. The slideshow I had prepared for my presentation was uploaded and saved to my laptop, SlideShare, and a flash drive, ready to share with friends old and new.

Realities - The Good
Podstock, the conference, was every bit as welcoming and interactive as I had expected. The ESSDACK staff worked tirelessly to make sure that all attendees had a positive experience. Old Town Wichita, with its historic architecture and abundance of restaurants and shops, provided the perfect setting for exploring and connecting, during meals or informal activities, like our early morning PhotoWalk.

Realities - The Bad
Kansas tends to be HOT in July, so our time outdoors was limited. This wasn't unexpected, so appropriate wardrobe choice and intelligent planning resulted in a reasonably comfortable visit. My own personal disaster occurred when I nodded off in bed and spilled a sticky liquid on my laptop. This resulted in an inoperative keyboard (subsequently fixed, thanks to the Apple Genius Bar) and some pre-presentation stress. Fortunately, the ESSDACK crew provided me with a loaner computer and my flashdrive saved the day.

Realities - The Awesome (a partial list)

• Unconference: This was my first opportunity to connect more personally with people like John Martin, a member of my Network for years - a "real" friend but not one I had met face-to-face before. Another online friend, Sherry Crofut, shared her Google Glass, giving us a literal and figurative peek into the future, or, at least one possibility for digital evolution. Social aspects aside, it was energizing to propose, vote on, and participate in discussions with fellow learners. I chose one conversation about Maker Spaces and another about Badges. Both were lively and thought-provoking. It was the perfect way to seque into the (slightly) more formal conference experience.
• Opening Keynote: Mark Klassen, a 19-year-old cinematographer, shared the story of how he used his Personal Learning Network and other online resources to learn film-making. Many of the concepts he touched upon, connectedness, passion, life-long learning, were repeated throughout the conference.
• Sessions I attended (all were excellent): Dean Mantz & Wesley Fryer, CSI: Creative Storytelling Investigation; Dan Whisler, Energy 101 - KidWind & the SHS Chevy Volt Project; Butch Wilson, We Are Irons: Why We Asked Google to Lie to Us; Ginger Lewman, PBL Conversations; and a last-minute replacement presentation by Wesley Fryer on Visual Notetaking.
• Vendor Reception and Dance - refreshments, swag, music, dancing...what's not to like!
• Podstock PhotoWalk: John Martin and I led a merry group of photographers on a mini-tour of Old Town. 
• Closing Keynote: Kevin Honeycutt, Starting and Maintaining a Revolution. Kevin challenged us to change the world by changing ourselves, our expectations, our approach to life and learning. It's a message that applies across the education spectrum, to teachers, yes, but also to students, administrators, parents, all stakeholders in the future.

Final Thoughts
Although I got very positive feedback on my presentation, Seeing is Deceiving, I soon realized that Podstock is best suited for a different approach to sharing and learning. Ginger Lewman and Butch Wilson, in particular, modeled the type of loosely structured, participant-driven conversation which I hope to emulate in the future. Will I submit a proposal next year? Already working on it. Will I return to Podstock? Just try to stop me!

"Photowalk" by dmcordell

Additional Resources
Seeing Is Deceiving Wiki
Podstock '13 Facebook Page
Podstock Ning
Podstock Photoset

Making It

“One of the strangest things is the act of creation.

You are faced with a blank slate—a page, a canvas, a block of stone or wood, a silent musical instrument.

You then look inside yourself. You pull and tug and squeeze and fish around for slippery raw shapeless things that swim like fish made of cloud vapor and fill you with living clamor. You latch onto something. And you bring it forth out of your head like Zeus giving birth to Athena.

And as it comes out, it takes shape and tangible form.

It drips on the canvas, and slides through your pen, it springs forth and resonates into the musical strings, and slips along the edge of the sculptor’s tool onto the surface of the wood or marble.

You have given it cohesion. You have brought forth something ordered and beautiful out of nothing.

You have glimpsed the divine.” -Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Put simply, a Makerspace is "a place where you can make your ideas come to life." Although some associate the concept with hackerspaces, creations can range from robotics to fabric stenciling  to math manipulatives - and even a makerspace itself!

These tinkering labs might appear in pop-up spaces, social clubs, museums, or, increasingly, public, university and school libraries.

 My passion for photography led me to start some Pinterest boards:

• My Photography Resources  
• Photography and Creativity Books on my Bookshelf
• Photography Projects

With the third of these Boards, I hope to demonstrate that, beyond the beauty of the images themselves, it is possible to create interesting and useful products that incorporate photographs. I've begun (trying) to duplicate the crafts I've bookmarked for sharing with teachers and students. As the Pinstrosity blog demonstrates, projects are not always as simple as they might seem at first glance, so trial runs are necessary prior to recommending classroom activities.

The Facebook group, MakerSpaces and the Participatory Library, is full of wonderful examples and suggestions, appropriate to all types of libraries, and schools, as well.

 "Making Something" by dmcordell
"Personalized water bottle" by dmcordell

Ignite! Six to Succeed

As promised, I've added presenter's note to my Ignite! slides and uploaded them to SlideShare. While this is a reasonable approximation of my remarks, I spoke directly to the audience and may have deviated from the "text." In fact, I know I did: I wanted to! Passion can't be canned or recited, it must be felt and shared in the heat of the moment.

If you are considering doing an Ignite! talk (which is a bit scary but ultimately energizing and very satisfying), here are six tips that might help:

• understand the difference. Your 20 Ignite! slides will be on the screen for exactly 15 seconds each. That can be either an extremely brief or an unexpectedly long period of time, depending on the message you are trying to convey. There is neither time nor space for the "transition" slides that are part of a self-timed presentation.
• don't be afraid to tinker. I kept changing the images I wanted to use, as my concept became clearer and more focused in my mind. I even changed the title (but not the core content, of course).
• be wary of text. If your slides display a lot of words, your audience will be distracted. I did read one quote, but prefaced it with spoken commentary.
• remember that you are telling a story. Be passionate, use personal anecdotes, make what you say interesting and universal. Bring your story alive for the audience.
• practice, practice, practice! While I didn't memorize my talk, I did write out key points that I wanted to make and timed myself via PowerPoint. On the day of the session, I carried a single index card with a few keywords for each slide, in case my mind went blank. Once the Ignite! began, however, I really had no problem "telling" my slides because I was comfortable with what I wanted to share.
• get a friend to film your talk. I didn't think of this beforehand, so I have no live recording of my presentation. Then again, that might not be an entirely bad thing. If I ever do this particular Ignite! again, I won't feel constrained by prior outings.

Ignite -if you give a kid a camera (with notes)

View more presentations from Diane Cordell

On the Home Front

I sometimes get so caught up in my online life, with its multi-national connections and innovative slant, that I tend to overlook what's happening in my own community.

New York State school districts vary widely in demographics, resources, guiding philosophies. While I worked as a K-12 teacher/librarian in a small, rural, public school (graduating classes averaging about 39), my own children attended classes in a larger, suburban district (graduating classes near 200).

Today, my eye was caught by this item in the "Boos and Bravos" section of the daily newspaper:

"Bravos to the Queensbury Board of Education for coming up with an innovative way to solicit public input and include taxpayers in upcoming budget decisions. In February and March, the board will host three community forums in the elementary cafeteria in which citizens themselves will 'constructively and collaboratively' address issues relating to the budget, employee benefits and the educational direction of the district. Citizens will be divided into groups and asked to come up with solutions to several problems on their own. Board members will not participate in the discussions, but instead will observe and learn. This is a new approach that will get the public more involved in the decision-making. The board deserves credit for its openness and creativity." -The Post-Star

I like the participatory nature of this BOE-sponsored workshop, and the fact that citizens are being acknowledged as both stake-holders and partners in setting education policy. In fact, it mirrors what many of us would like to see happening in the classroom: constructive, collaborative, creative problem-solving.

Bravo, indeed, Queensbury Union Free School District. I'll be there.


"Too many decisions about changes are made by people untouched by the change process." -Peter Block


"A shared vision is not an idea...it is rather, a force in people's hearts...at its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question 'What do we want to create?'" -Peter Senge


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead




Image from Queensbury High School Alumni webpage

Unsound

Wordle Meme

TJ Shay just tagged me for a Meme. Participants are required to create a Wordle using their blog and/or Del.icio.us account.

There were some technical issues on my end, so Terry was kind enough to plug my blog address into the proper box on the Wordle site, then email me the result, shown above.

Taken out of context, some of the words might give a slightly skewed impression of the "mission" of my blog: Salvation and Army appeared in my posting on that worthy organization; "Angels" refers to the tragic fire at Our Lady of the Angels School, which I remembered here.

My affiliation with CyberSmart! and preoccupation with "students" "school" "Internet" "sites" are evident.

Yet, since the majority of my postings center on education, I decided to produce an additional, more focused Wordle, shown below. I highlighted two groupings of words which I found significant, the "society/success" grouping and the "students" cluster. Due to firewall issues at school, I was only able to copy and edit a thumbnail version. You can link to the original here.

The postings used to create this second Wordle were:

• Connections
• Beyond the Wall
• Today, My Job Was to Listen
• Applause
• Success
  

Memes are meant to be shared, so I'm inviting any who visit here to try their hand at creating a Wordle. It's a handy tool for both analysis and creative endeavors.


Wordle images created at http://www.wordle.net/. Images of Wordles are licensed .

Beyond the Wall

"The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law enacted by Congress to address concerns about access to offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers." -FCC CIPA Consumer Factsheet


Parents, educators, the government: all wish to ensure that the world is made as safe as possible for our children.

Computers with internet access have become commonplace in schools and homes. With this increase in opportunity for connectivity has come a parallel increase in concern about the perceived dangers of cyberspace for minors. Legislation requiring the blocking of sites deemed inappropriate through the filtering of school district networks was intended to provide protection for students and peace of mind for their parents.

Unfortunately, this approach hasn't worked well for a number of reasons:

• no filter can catch every objectionable site, therefore relying on filters generates a false sense of security
• filters block many valuable resources. For example, a science class researching viruses would find any sites mentioning "sexually transmitted diseases" inaccessible, including sites maintained by the Federal government
• it is possible to get around filters by using proxy sites. Many students have become adept at circumventing the safeguards put in place to protect them
• while teachers may request that certain sites be unblocked for classroom use, the process can be frustrating and discourage technology use

But the biggest argument against depending on filters as the primary means of protection is that many students spend time outside of school on computers, unsupervised or inadequately supervised. Without instruction in safe use and good digital citizenship, children and teens leave themselves open to danger, though perhaps not the dangers that many adults fear.

According to the Crimes Against Children Research Center Fact Sheet

A growing number of people are promoting Internet safety education in an effort to help keep youngsters safe from Internet sex offenders. But some of the information in their lectures, pamphlets, videos, and web sites does not reflect what researchers have learned about the important features of these crimes.

There is a widely quoted statistic (from the 2005 University of New Hampshire Youth Internet Safety study) that 1 in 7 youth are threatened by "online predators." In fact,

• These solicitations did not necessarily come from "online predators". They were all unwanted online requests to youth to talk about sex, answer personal questions about sex or do something sexual. But many could have been from other youth. In most cases, youth did not actually know the ages of solicitors. When they believed they knew, they said about half were other youth.
• These solicitations were not necessarily devious or intended to lure. Most were limited to brief online comments or questions in chatrooms or instant messages. Many were simply rude, vulgar comments...
• Most recipients did not view the solicitations as serious or threatening. Two-thirds were not frightened or upset by what happened.
• Almost all youth handled unwanted solicitations easily and effectively. Most reacted by blocking or ignoring solicitors, leaving sites, or telling solicitors to stop.

A more immediate danger, one which is estimated to affect as many as 43% of our students, is cyber bullying. Unlike face-to-face bullying, the online version can take place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Harassers, emboldened by electronic anonymity, can choose to prolong and extend their activities, drawing in others and leaving the chosen target with no safe haven.

The United States Congress has recently acted to bring CIPA into line with current research regarding student online safety:

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) are extremely pleased that on September 30 [2008] Congress passed, as part of S. 1492, an update to the Children's Internet Protection Act which requires schools participating in the E-Rate program to educate students regarding appropriate behavior on social networking and chat room sites and about cyberbullying. ISTE and CoSN have advocated for this approach for many years and we are pleased that Congress has now ratified our position. Education, not mandatory blocking and filtering, is the best way to protect and prepare America's students.

"Education, not mandatory blocking and filtering, is the best way to protect and prepare America's students."

We need to teach our children how to recognize danger, make good choices, and behave responsibly online. Beyond the wall lies the future.







"Beyond the wall" by Guiseppe Bognanni

Applause

"There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don't care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause." -George M. Adams


Rather than respond to individual comments about Success, I've decided to offer my opinion in a separate posting.

Some of you have defended the National Honor Society and my district's decision to recognize new inductees in a high school assembly. Others question the venue but not the underlying concept of rewarding academic achievement. My students did a fair job of presenting both sides of the argument when expressing their feelings on the matter in our Current Events class.

How do I feel about the NHS?

Pro:

• Nominees are evaluated on character and leadership as well as grades.
• National Honor Society members perform a number of school and community service activities.
• Inductees gain personal satisfaction from public acknowledgement.
• Scholarship is emphasized and praised.

Con:

• Teachers who review the applications for membership may not know enough about students' personal lives to judge them fairly in all categories.
• Grades measure only a particular type of success in school.
• The Society is exclusionary by nature.
• The assembly was more divisive than inspiring.

This last point is the crux of the matter for me. The assembly speakers could have praised new NHS members as academic leaders, then gone on to challenge the rest of the student body to discover their own potential for leadership.

Making good grades the sole criteria for success means that some students feel they have already been labeled as failures. And this might well become a self-fulfilling prophecy.



"Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have." -Zig Ziglar





"DSC_0498.jpeg" by alessandra

Success

"Successful people are not superhuman. Success does not require a super-intellect. Nor is there anything mystical about success. And success isn't based on luck. Successful people are just ordinary folks who have developed belief in themselves and what they do." -David J. Schwartz


Last Friday, our high school held its annual induction ceremony for the National Honor Society. I was unable to attend, due to scheduling conflicts. Immediately after the assembly ended, though, I heard a first-hand account of the event from some very agitated teenagers.

Evidently, an administrator had pointed proudly to the new NHS members on the stage and said to the audience, "They are the future, the future leaders" (numerous sources have confirmed that this is an accurate quote). This left many of the unchosen ones feeling angry and insulted.

Rather than try to gloss over this situation, I asked that my students voice their criticisms, anonymously, in a Word Document, which I promised to share with the principal. Those who were inducted (4 of the 15 class members) added their opinions, once they returned from a celebratory reception.


Pro NHS

• National Honor Society is good because it looks good on a college application and we get recognized for our hard work.
• I think that the assembly was a thanks that we worked hard and wanted a brighter future.
• I feel that the National Honor Society is good because it recognized people for good work and their accomplishments. It is also a great contributor to getting into colleges.
• The positive aspects of National Honor Society are that they are noticing the most accomplished students. It helps people get into colleges and be noticed for their excellence. Other students don't like it because they are not being noticed. It is their fault they did not work hard to accomplish this task. We worked hard to accomplish this and that is why we are being noticed. The National Honor Society is a good thing for our students.

Con

• I think the assembly was ridiculous because...a few people should have not been up there and a few people from the audience should have been chosen. The Assembly made me very mad because it made me feel not welcomed and not appreciated by this school. [the administrator] said these people are the future, well, what am I, nothing in the future because I was not on the National Honor Society?
• I don't believe that the Honor Society is the only future. We are the future too. It makes other people feel bad and stupid. Everybody has the same potential. It makes us feel dumb and it's unfair and people are inconsiderate of us.
• I think it is ******* *** to say that only the people on stage are the future when they're not only the future but it's everybody else too. I think it is just to make those certain people feel good and everybody else like retarded. And it always doesn't depend on your grades and it doesn't depend on your school, it depends on how you are, not just in school. All the students that struggle in classes don't have the same treatment as the people that are good with subjects. Some people just have problems learning. School isn't always the most important thing, you always don't need school. I can get by without school. You give me a hammer and tape measure and I can build about anything and make more money than half the people that went to college and have a great life and get by with no problem. Certain people have certain traits and are good at things.
• I feel that students should have to go to the National Honor Society so we can support our fellow students. I DO NOT think that [the administrators] should be saying "THEY ARE THE FUTURE..." And what are we supposed to be, scum and low lives? It feels like we are NOTHING, and they are everything. Rachel's Challenge says that everyone is worth something!!! They should have recognized us as well!!!! I think the students should also vote on who should be in NHS!!!! It is SOOOOOOO wrong!
• I don't like the fact that we all had to go to that *** assembly for all the stupid preps that already think they're better than everybody...and think that they're the best. I think I'm a good leader and I pretty much just got told that I was nothing and that I should pretty much just die. Most of the people that just got called up on that stage are nothing more than I am. It ****** me off that they just got special recognition for stupid **** like school. Outside of school, I do anything I can to help and I don't get recognized for any of it.
• The assembly: I believe it was sort of unnecessary to have it displayed in front of the entire high school. The leadership and character and all these things...they exclude people and these people in front of us a whole are considered the only ones who possess these characteristics. Why can't we have an assembly with only parents and those who are being honored? The speech said "They are the future leaders." What about the rest of us???? I'm a B student, I work extremely hard for the grades that I do have and I do not get recognized, just because I'm weak in some areas. I work just as hard if not harder than those on that very stage. I just think it makes some kids feel bad about themselves and it's not needed.

Neutral

• I really don't care. It will get me out of class.
• It doesn't really matter to me, but I don't think it should be up to the teachers to pick who has good character because they don't know what those kids do on the weekend...Going to school is not for me. I'd rather work any day of the week and earn an honest living.
• I don't really care.

The passion and maturity of these responses impressed me. My students appreciated having the chance to make their voices heard, and I appreciated their candor and eloquence.

What are your thoughts on the National Honor Society and awards assemblies? These young adults would like to know.


"Success is not a doorway, it's a staircase." -Dottie Walters

"Success in life comes not from holding a good hand, but in playing a poor hand well.” -Denis Waitley



"Staircase" by 96dpi

Ants and Bees

I had intended to blog about The Ant and the Grasshopper, one of Aesop's fables. People in my area of upstate New York are busy getting ready for winter's challenges, and I could draw a number of educational parallels regarding preparation, collaboration, and gathering resources.



But a search for suitable quotes resulted in a slight change of focus.

Philosopher Francis Bacon explained different scientific approaches by comparing the ant, the spider, and the bee:

“Those who have handled sciences have either been men of experiment or men of dogmas. The men of experiment are like the ant; they only collect and use; the reasoners resemble spiders, who make cobwebs out of their own substance. But the bee takes the middle course; it gathers its material from the flowers of the garden and of the field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own. Not unlike this is the true business of philosophy.”

Aesop's imprudent grasshopper idled away his summer and learned from the industrious ant that "It is best to prepare for the days of necessity."

Bacon, however, found the ants, who "collect and use" less admirable than a bee, which "gathers its material...but transforms and digests it by a power of its own."

The transformative power of the web depends on more than just the tools it provides. It requires planning, creativity, flexibility, and a willingness to continuously monitor and adjust expectations.

The 21st century requires bees, not ants.



"It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?" -Henry David Thoreau




"Ant on Birch" by E.B. White
All other photos by dmcordell

Politics in the Classroom

"Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge." -Horace Mann

The upcoming U.S. presidential election presents a quandary for teachers: how can we interest our students in the democratic process without abusing our position of authority? When does influence mutate into indoctrination?

As a K-12 teacher/librarian, I've been fielding questions from students of all ages who are naturally curious about the November election. During library classes, I share both non-fiction and fiction books about voting, elections, and the presidency. The younger grades enjoy stories like Doreen Cronin's Duck for President , Marc Brown's Arthur Meets the President, and Kay Winters' My Teacher for President.

With older elementary students, I've been using Grace for President, by Kelly Dipucchio, to spark discussions about the right to vote, women & minorities as candidates, and the electoral college.

When students ask for whom I'm voting, I talk about the responsibility of good citizens to study key issues before making such an important choice. If they push for an answer, I respond that I'm leaning towards Senator Obama but that the adults in their household might have reached a different decision. Informal polls show that the families in our district seem to be evenly divided between the main parties.

In my high school Current Events class, we've been examining candidates' position statements and viewing video clips of the presidential and vice-presidential debates. None of these students are old enough to vote this year, but I remind them that the policies of our next president will affect their lives for years to come. I want them to care about the democratic process, perhaps engage in conversations with their parents about the economy, the environment, social security, health care, and the war in Iraq.

It's a delicate balancing act, educating, without unduly influencing, young minds. I am personally horrified by the Palin candidacy, insulted that Senator McCain apparently thought that I would vote for a woman, any woman, without regard to her suitability for office, but I don't feel that it would be appropriate for me to make a strong statement to that effect in my professional role as a teacher.

The future is in the hands of our students. Their choices will determine whether and how our nation will survive and prosper.

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." -George Jean Nathan

"Fourth of July parade" by cyanocorax

Bricolage

Bricolage: "make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are to hand (regardless of their original purpose)." -Wikipedia


There was an article in our morning newspaper about a local man who recycles seemingly useless and unrelated bits of "junk" into eclectic dioramas that "pay homage to the craft form popularized in elementary school social studies projects and book reports." Artist Charles Steckler considers these pieces "kind of like poetry in a sense. Poetry has an open form. It has potential for many interpretations," he said. "It's the visual equivalent to poetry. People can find many meanings in them."

When I did a bit of research on the title of his exhibition, "Bricoleur/Bricolage," I found a fascinating collection of variations on the theme.

In music, bricolage refers to the use of found objects as instruments, including Irish spoons & bones, Trinidadian steel drums, comb & paper kazoos, and the incredible vegetable orchestra featured on YouTube. The emphasis is on imaginative use of unlikely items to create tunes - many of the musicians are self-taught and experimentation is the norm.

Steckler's dioramas, and the colorful taxi dashboard pictured above, are examples of bricolage in the visual arts. Improvisation personifies bricolage in the performing arts.

Science and technology frequently borrow words, like dryad, Beowulf, and Goldilocks, from art and literature.

In biology, François Jacob used the term bricolage to "contrast real biology with the false impression of nature as an engineer," emphasizing the impromptu "tinkering" that he felt really took place in evolution by trial and error as opposed to intelligent design.

Information technology stresses the need for bricolage-like freedom to develop in a non-linear, innovative manner. The Bricolage Content Management System is "an open-source enterprise-class content management system, [that] greatly simplifies the complex tasks of creating, managing, and publishing the vast libraries of content essential to any organization."

Can education benefit from the bricolage approach?

Constructivism is a philosophy of learning advocating the building of understanding as an active process initiated and directed by the learner. Some educators question the value of discovery-based instruction for "novices" who might lack the background knowledge or motivation necessary to acquire understanding.

When standardized testing and state-mandated curricula guide the educational system, is there room for exploration and innovation? Is there a place for bricolage in the classroom beyond the dioramas of our elementary days?






"Awesome taxi dashboard, Singapore" by gruntzooki

What our eyes behold

"What our eyes behold may well be the text of life but one’s meditations on the text and the disclosures of these meditations are no less a part of the structure of reality." -Wallace Stevens

Tracings on a rock wall: ammonites,
swimmers in a lost ocean.
Unexpected beauty
bursting from a stony canvas.
Art for those with eyes to see.

"I have eyes to see now what I have never seen before." -Written in the late 1870s by a correspondence student of Ellen H. Richards. The student was learning through the Society to Encourage Studies at Home, which had been founded in 1873.


See other ammonites on my Flickr set, Fossils

Classroom Rules

Item: Like many educators/business people I'm bored and turned off by "traditional" PowerPoint.

Item: My students love making PowerPoint presentations and feel comfortable with this tool.

Item: Staff members are expected to discuss classroom rules at the beginning of the new school year.

Solution: I'll try to show students a different way of conveying information by creating a virtually text-free (except for the first and last slide) SlideShare show.

Classroom Rules

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

*I'll give you a few days to mull this over, then share my interpretation and that of my students.

Kaleidoscope

"I feel a need to pull back from the tools, and gravitate more toward meaning when I write." -Clay Burell, Web Legacies Wrap-Up, 9 Aug 2008


I began my blog in June, 2007, intending it to serve primarily as an online professional journal. Since that tentative and hopeful beginning, I've evolved, and so has Journeys.

While educational issues, like filtering, student blogging, and cyber safety still occupy my thoughts, my writing now is more likely to reflect the life I've lived and the person I'm becoming.

Technology is no longer an add-on. Social networking and other connective tools have helped to forge ties that defy categories: in many cases, my virtual colleagues have become true friends. Tools are...tools. Not the focus but the facilitators.

Both my husband and I are moving towards retirement. All the polished pieces and jagged shards of our experiences are shifting into new patterns, presenting us with choices that we never could have anticipated even a few years ago.

The world is changing, we are changing. The past will continue to influence but not dictate our futures. Hippies and cowboys, poetry and paintings, family and friends will all contribute to our kaleidoscope's colorful compositions.

Hard Questions for Tough Times

On March 12, 2008, Eliot Laurence Spitzer resigned his position as governor of the State of New York and was replaced by Lieutenant Governor David Paterson.

Paterson inherited a state economy that has been characterized by budget director Laura L. Anglin as "officially in recession." The governor is seeking a hiring freeze and hopes to reduce state agency spending by an additional 7%. State legislators will be asked to return to the Capitol from their summer recess to consider what and how much to cut from budget allocations. Governor Paterson said school aid and other funding areas "highly protected" by the Legislature will be considered.

Politicians and advocacy groups are already girding for battle. And the public is starting to weigh in.

Today's Albany Times-Union invited readers to "share your thoughts about Paterson’s address" in an online forum. The first response defended state workers and asked,

"Why not publish the teachers salaries and benefit packages, like they do for each union. Do the School employees (janitors, clerks, secretaries) pay for health insurance, dental, vision. If not, why."

Another asserted that

"State agencies have already had their budgets cut 3.35%. Can the rest of the massive spending programs such as education, housing, medicaid, etc.. been cut as well? The answer is NO! 90% of the massive state budget goes towards entitlement programs. It is time to tighten the belt in all areas of the state budget. NY State is in this mess because of the generous increases in these programs over the past five years."

How many citizens secretly - or overtly - agree with this viewpoint?

"It doesn’t matter what this guy says or does, the scumbag school teachers will still get there fat raises and free medical across the board while the rest of the free world has to work for a living and watch their taxes go up and up and up and up. Oh, it’s for the 'chilren'."

Much is made of the fact that the [New York] city and state teacher unions spend large sums of money lobbying for education legislation. Is this type of vying for political favors moral? expedient? a necessary evil?

What would you say to the taxpayer who seems to feel that teachers are being taken care of at the expense of those who have to "work for a living"? How would you convince them that it is, indeed, for the "chilren"?





"Education costs money, but then so does ignorance." -Sir Claus Moser


"Governor Paterson" by jcommaroto

Last Day

Today was the last day of classes for our students, last day to report for staff members, last day in the district for our superintendent's very capable and well-loved secretary.

Since Mrs. N., a lifelong learner of the best sort, is leaving to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse, our high school art teacher created a "Wild Thing" to which we all attached charms, symbols, and joke gifts.


One of the students in my current events class decided to recycle some old book socks and library cards. His colorful creation will grace one of our library walls next fall.



And a quiet little first grade girl celebrated a successful year by presenting each of her teachers with a rose.


Everyone is ready for a break, adults, children and teens. But we will miss each other and chatter excitedly when we meet in the mall or at the market. Because our connections are real and important.

How will you keep the learning alive over summer vacation?

Possibilities

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences. We must widen the range of topics and goals, the types of situations we offer and their degree of structure, the kinds and combinations of resources and materials, and the possible interactions with things, peers, and adults.” -Loris Malaguzzi


Children start their lives as beings of enormous potential and unlimited possibilities. By the time they begin their formal education, they have already begun to develop many of the skills that will be necessary for their continued success and well-being in life.

Curious and full of wonder, these little ones enter school and encounter...what? Kindergarten was once a time of extended play and guided exploration. Emphasis was placed on socialization, developing fine motor skills, and increasing attention span. A typical full-day program included imaginative play, group interaction, some sort of vigorous exercise, and a nap.

Today's kindergarten student has no time for naps. In New York State, grade-specific Performance Indicators spell out standards and competencies for even the youngest learners. With high stakes testing taking place at every grade level, school districts can't afford to wait until first grade to introduce literacy skills: most students leave Kindergarten with some reading and writing facility. In this highly structured continuum, there is little time for spontaneity or silliness.

Where is the space for exploring ? When is there time for possibilities?






"What this Picture is" by 顔なし