07/19/13

The Final Countdown?

Where do we go from here?

When starting to write this final blog post, my mind was filled with one liners. The best is yet to come. This is the end, my friends. Friday, Friday, gotta get down it’s Friday. Okay, maybe not that last one.

It does feel like a bit of a swirling mass that has no end or beginning, yet has grown in size. Is it a hurricane, growing in strength? Are we now a force with which to be reckoned? So much has been added to my thought processes. Why am I making the choices I am? Why am I doing what I’m doing? Why should I be doing something else? How do I think about my relationship to technology? My students’ relationship to technology? That of my colleagues? So many questions, and not nearly as many answers. However, I do see it as positive that these questions are part of my thought processes.

Thought is life. Without thought, I have difficulty comprehending something as living. It certainly isn’t a life that I would choose to live. Yet again recently research was published showing that the more active we are in thought as we get older, the better health and mental health we enjoy. Perhaps the same should be researched with careers… The more thought we put into our jobs, the better job we do and the more we enjoy it as we move through the decades…? I think it’s an avenue well worth exploring if it hasn’t already been done. The effects of professional development on teacher cognitive ability? Lower burnout rates? Increased physical health? PhD, please!

Where do I go from here? Well, Hamlet at Bard on the Beach tonight. Beyond that, I return to my lovely island home, and settle into some summer activities such as reading, gardening, walking, and even more reading. I plan to tackle some digital organization, such as my bookmarks, the files on my computers, and form some lists on TweetBot. I’d like to get a few more things organized and ready onto my iPad to be ready for potential use with classes, such as pictures and videos. I don’t know what I’ll be doing in the fall, be it back on contract or TOCing, but technology will be a part of it. With a reason why.

07/19/13

Hello Friday

🙂

07/18/13

Trying to move on…

It’s not new to think that education should be relevant to students. The difficulty in doing this can be bringing together vastly varying paradigms. Some may suffer from implicit association bias in that they are inherently biased against various forms of technology. We may feel a level of disconnect from decision making, feel frustrated, want to remove ourselves from being part of the change, part of the process. Even within our class, I have clearly seen signs of blindspots. There’s a certain level of defensiveness, over possibly feeling less valued than technology. I can’t quite put my finger on if it could be separated by generations, or if it simply went to experience. Perhaps it all comes down to experience. We are the sum of our experiences.

It can be difficult to move beyond ourselves and our experiences. We do have the ability to change our minds. Neuroplasticity. Rather an impressive word, I think. There IS the ability to change our minds, to change how we think, to change our functioning.

I think this speaks at the heart of what I’m trying to do with my inquiry project. When looking at social media, it truly is nothing new. A human beings, we’ve communicated for thousands of years. We’ve sought new ways of connecting to each other.

I remember a project I did as a student back in high school. We all wrote letters off to someone famous, and then waited to see if anyone actually got a response. I don’t remember any responses during the school year, although I did eventually get a form letter back. I won’t say who I wrote to, it would be far too revealing of my age and bad taste in music. Through this project, we sought to form a connection, through communication. We can still do this, at a much faster rate. We are able to make connections that would never have been possible. I’ve made someone working at The Globe theatre in London laugh. I’ve inspired a former Dragon for a potential shirt choice. I’ve been moved to tears by the reflections of a Canadian looking down on our country from orbit.

As a child, I never would have had these opportunities. Is it not part of being human, always wishing for more for our children?

Through the process, I’ve found my methods of thinking shifting and changing. I want to actively change my functioning for the benefit of my students. I want others to understand that I’m doing so, and why I’m doing it.

07/17/13

iPads vs. Teachers — Why Technology is Winning

I found myself somewhat startled by the conversation sparked by the article that we read in class today. I’d seen mention of it already on Twitter, and had partially read it then abandoned due to the writing. I was surprised at how quickly some people jumped on the anti-technology bandwagon, or perhaps more specifically, the anti-Apple bandwagon.

A bit of history here… My first computer was a Commodore 64. I had PCs for all of my life. My brother gave our mom his old iPod Touch one year. She couldn’t get it working, so I took it over. I loved that thing, and eventually bought myself a fourth generation iPod Touch. This was the first Apple product I had purchased in my life. When the iPad came out, I thought, nah, it’s just a big Touch, I don’t need that. Nope, I don’t need that… don’t… need… WANT. I eventually purchased a second generation model.

I love my iPad. I love what it lets me do. I love checking my email in seconds, checking Twitter, playing Kingdom Rush, and quickly typing up a handout for class and then sending it to wirelessly print. I love the app store, and all of its bounty. There’s a whole lotta love there.

Understand this, however. I do not love it because I am a fangirl, or an Apple fanatic. I love the piece of technology that allows me to do so many of the things that I want to do. I love the technology that allows me to quickly check something for my students, to show them a video that I have on hand ready to go, to play the song of the day, to hand over to use for translating work for French, to type a handout that will make things easier, to play a game with my class. I love what it allows me to do.

Now, back to the article.

Gasp, there are people launching schools where kids will study all day on iPads! Egad! There are people launching schools where kids will never touch an iPad, there are schools where kids learn through tinkering and building, schools with no discipline or grades, schools that use religious education, that teach mainly practical skills such as gardening and sewing, and many more. What we think as school in the example of the public system we have here in BC is not the universal format. People have experimented with education for thousands of years, and will continue to do so.

Education SHOULD shift, evolve, and change. We’ve all seen things come and go through the classroom. Well, hopefully some of the things go yet some still hold on. I taught the first half of the year for a teacher who was still very attached to his overhead projector. Cassette decks can still be found in classrooms, along with VCRs. Our teacher-librarian asked me what I thought she should do with the videotapes… I won’t repeat my answer, but save for a few that see actual use, our library no longer has VHS tapes.

The article… is filled with half truths, ignores research, and seems aimed to rile and upset people. It is not a clear and concise informational piece, but is very provocative. I laughed out loud when I went to one of the links recommended in the article, written by a “respected education consultant.” This person turns out to work for PEARSON, among others. And yet he’s being used to argue why iPads cost more than books. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Never mind that his numbers are not accurate, and don’t reflect the assorted costs that go with textbook use (circulation programs, barcodes, tape, stamping, time for processing, time for checking out books to students and back in, to name just a few…).

Please, please, please… do some research and thinking before jumping to conclusions. Consider arguments from all sides, verify information, and THINK. It’s easy to jump into a standpoint that teachers are more important than iPads, but that’s not the reality of the decision that most school districts are making. They cannot choose to buy 160 iPads instead of hiring a teacher. Getting sucked into arguments over which is better distracts us from what we need to do… that is, argue for inclusion of technology in our schools, technology that will allow our students to be 21st century learners and give them all the opportunities in the world.

07/16/13

Ecological Psychology

The ecology of the field of education is changing and must change. It must change, or it will become irrelevant. I actually typed I must change at first, perhaps that is very relevant as I must also change or become obsolete.

There is active work by others outside of the system to change the system, reward talents and skills in varying areas, such as chess. This is done through the use of the badge system, a system for which I have a personal fondness as a former Brownie with an impressive selection of badges. However, it does seem like we already do this in some ways. Yes, there are core subjects that must be completed. Outside of that, students choose what they want to do, be it metalwork, ceramics, learn German, play soccer, learn to play piano, ballet, and much more. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as big of a step as we think to move into some form of a badge system.

Education has long history of individualism. Who are the participants, who are the learners? What are their developmental needs? I want to get those who don’t understand why one would use social media, to get an emotional connection, to feel and understand why the connections it corrects are important.

I’m left with a personal drive for connectivity… How can we do it more easily, more efficiently? Social media? That’s what I’m trying to argue. But in this situation, argue isn’t quite the word I want to use. Provoke? Still seems too hostile.

In working on my project today I struggled a bit with the form I chose, while conversely also felt quite comfortable and attached to it. I’m using Haiku Deck for the iPad, which is a simple slide type presentation, yet is very restrictive in the amount of text one can use. I love text. I love to write. I love to write really long things that perhaps people don’t read (ha, leave a comment if you made it this far!). Using Haiku Deck is forcing brevity upon me, forcing me to rely more on visuals. Considering that I’m talking about social media, Twitter in particular, it’s somewhat fitting that I’m forced to be brief.

I want to provoke, and I think I can best do this through limited text. I’ll be posting the first attempt tomorrow, wanting more time on it tonight. I really want to shape it into something that I can set free onto the world.

07/15/13

Just the facts, ma’am.

Today in class a discussion led to yet another shift in thought that made things harder, not easier, but for the better. As mentioned previously, I’ve been grappling mentally with the closure of all middle schools in our district. The funny part is that when I was first sent to do my practicum in a middle school, I was upset. I was secondary educated, and didn’t understand why I was being sent to a middle school. Middle might have been replaced with a few strategic symbols at that point.

I survived my practicum and went on to have three contracts in a row at that same middle school. Much of that school shaped who I am as a teacher today, some for the better, some for the worse. I left the school for a year to return to the high school that we fed, the high school from which I’d graduated. Heading back to the middle school this year felt different after having been in high school, but it felt good to be back in with that age group.

Throughout the year, the district held consultations regarding the upcoming budget and potential changes. We lacked a school board, having been fired by the provincial government upon refusal to submit a balanced budget. Recent years have been rough in our district, faced with declining numbers and a huge physical area to cover. Some areas of the district lack courses needed for graduation and entry into university, leading to students spending long periods of time on buses.

I made a sarcastic crack one day that the secret plan was to turn our school into a French immersion elementary. Little did I know that I was correct. Public outcry forced the withdrawal of the French immersion plan, but in the end my middle school became an elementary school. While we still taught our kids, dump trucks tore up our field, workmen measured to put in new bathrooms, remove lockers, and change the doorknobs. I helped our librarian sort and pack the library to be shipped off to different locations in order to make room for less shelves, and younger books.

I loved that library. I once had it for a few months while our teacher-librarian was on leave. We remained close, and I would almost daily visit on my prep and talk books and resources. I harboured a not so secret dream of having the library again. That was not meant to be.

Where did all of this get me today? When starting to create my presentation, it was entirely lacking in emotion or connection. It’s rather funny to think about. I’m trying to write about why students should be connected, in an entirely disconnected manner.

I learned that my school was gone through Twitter. I’d like to weave this into my narrative, bring the personal and emotional side into my advocacy. Hopefully it will make it stronger.

07/14/13

All A-Twitter

Being that I’m no longer presenting on Twitter, I wanted to share some of the resources/ideas that I’d organized. Nothing major, just some brief thoughts.

When you wonder what a student can do, please take a look at this student from Kitsilano. He’s 11 years old, and uses Twitter to post and connect with chefs. He’s cooked on television with chef Vikram Vij, and has connected deeply into the local food scene. Liam goes by the handle of @LittleLocovore on Twitter and is well worth the follow.

I love Chris Hadfield. Even upon his return to Earth I find myself enjoying his exploits. He has a book coming out in a few months, and I’m looking forward to reading it. If you don’t follow him, you should. You won’t regret it. This picture is what I try to be as a teacher – that focused on giving a child my attention. Love.

This will be mentioned in my presentation, but it’s worth repeating. If you’re going to use Twitter, buy a client of some kind to manage it. I love Tweetbot – I use it on my iPad to organize and keep me sorted. I’ve created lists for education, food trucks, and more. You can create lists for your classes, and have the students do the curation. I find the timeline overwhelming, and the lists sort it for me. As well, it does previews of all pictures and videos so that you can see them before you open them. The regular Twitter program for the iPad had issues with instagram and other picture storage locations. Yay for Tweetbot!

Twitter can be used to make connections that you may never have thought possible. During the London Olympics, I had several conversations with a BBC sports reporter on topics ranging from Justin Bieber to Olympic torches blowing out during relays (my mom’s went out!). I recently inspired entrepreneur and former Dragon W. Brett Wilson with an idea to make pants into a shirt (don’t ask!). A comment of mine on a picture made someone working at The Globe (yes, THE Globe in London!!) chortle “with such alarming heartiness the office startled in fright.” When attending a concert and wondering why opera singer Measha Bruggergosman wasn’t in attendance (had been scheduled to do so), I posted that question on Twitter. She replied. Talk about access to a primary source!

You can also gain access to an audience far greater than you can within the classroom. During the London Olympics, the main British tourism organization sent a picture of mine out to all of their followers. All 125,000+ of them. That was a bit more than my usual audience of around 15.

I held off on Twitter, assuming it was another fad, but am now very glad I joined the conversation.

@BrianneMelnyk