John Spencer: Musings from a Not-So-Master Teacher

an unexplored area of bias

2009-11-10T09:51:00.001-07:00

Recently I wanted students to examine if they could identify a fictional story on a website. I used one "neutral" website with true information. I then created two articles, one that was true and one that was false. In the first website, I created a very "professional" looking website modeled after government and corporate websites. These included real pictures, a fading, logos, etc. The second one included clip art pictures and simple HTML. I rotated it so that the first class had the "false" information in the professional style and the second class had the "false" information in the unprofessional style.

Next, I asked students to identify the bias in all three websites and then determine which website was false. Despite identifying the bias in the text itself, students were still duped by the persuasion of visuals. The results turned out exactly how I had predicted. In both classes, the 95% of the students identified the "unprofessional" site as the one containing false information.

We had a great dialogue based upon the following questions:

1. What does this say about how images and style manipulate what we think?
2. How does power and money influence the persuasive methods online?
3. How does font style affect how people view information? How do colors manipulate how people view accuracy?
4. Does identifying the bias in a text necessarily mean that we are able to determine accuracy? Or
4. How could we modify this?

Students offered interesting information on modifying the experiment. For example, some said we should compare online information versus text. Others suggested we should change the region. For example, would students believe something in London, England over, say, Jackson, Mississippi? Another student suggested we change the language. Still, another suggested we change the author's last name. Would the author's ethnicity make a difference?

I seriously considered modifying this, doing some research and repeating it and then submitting it to a journal. However, I have a hunch that researchers have probably explored these issues of bias before. Still, it was a really interesting activity for students to realize that they are manipulated by subtle issues of imagery and its connection to status, prestige and wealth.

postmodern McDonald's

2009-11-09T05:44:00.005-07:00

About six months ago, they razed an older McDonald's near our neighborhood. In Phoenix, the term "old" can be applied to any building over twenty years. My guess is they had built the plastic wonderland in the early eighties. A few weeks later, they posted a sign reading "Coming Soon: McDonald's."

The new McDonald's is deliberately urban post-modern in its facade, with the use of chrome and the inclusion of certain natural elements, the balance of simplicity with unusual angles and form for the sake of form. It's essentially a standing paradox and perhaps its even built with a wink, recognizing the pastiche and kitsch nature of creating something postmodern for the sake of selling something so unapolagetically corporate.

Still, it has me thinking about education reform. It seems to me that there is a real movement to raze the current educational system and create something 21st century. At McDonald's, I can access global information via flatscreen t.v. In a twenty-first century school, I can access a flat world through global information. At the postmodern McDonald's, I have a new aesthetic that feels trendy. In a twenty-first century school, I get oodles of iCandy with pretty icons and cute names.

So, the menu isn't much different. The factory food remains. The workers still receive a sub-par wage. The system is still broken and the McWorld continues to dominate. It just looks progressive, because the chrome is still shiny. I fear the same holds true with most of the glimmering promises of twenty-first century educational reform.

If you want a new model for the twenty-first century, there's a hamburger joint around the corner. The ingredients are fresh, the scene is local. It's the only place I know of that has Cholula and Tapatio sauce at each table. The workers earn a decent pay. It doesn't look postmodern, but it embodies the best of true postmodernism - a reconnection with community, a recovery of what we lost, a sense of connection with the local ecology (and I use that term loosely).

photo taken from - http://maricopa360.com/?cat=15 - and, while this is not the one I am referring to, it looks pretty darn close

searching for what was lost

2009-11-08T04:00:00.005-07:00

I'm a history geek. I admit it. Call me a member of AHEM (Arts, History, English, Music).

Our initial public educational system was an extension of a civic institution where we would develop literate, educated, democratic citizens. True, there were awful aspects (corporal punishment for one) but the ideal involved democracy. The implied metaphor was that learning was a natural process (influenced by Rosseau) or a blank slate (Locke). The major influences were:

The Enlightenment and the clockwork universe (hence the desks in rows, the birth of textbooks, etc.) and the belief in the scientific method of exploration
Democratic movements, especially the local democracy (the town hall) - the need for critical thinkers as citizens
The printing press and the rise of literacy / need for literacy training - the need for a literate population
Classical Humanism - we believed education could help people learn to live well

Around the turn of the last century, we switched models. This time, the metaphor changed from a natural to a mechanical process; from agrarian to industrial. The driving forces were:

The German modernist system forged by a nihilistic, technocratic, militaristic worldview of Bismark. It's the same philosophy that led to fascism. We had to create obedient soldiers.
The social engineering movement in America. With this, there is the main philosophy of nativism and the desire to assimilate immigrants quickly. (Social engineering eventually morphed into behaviorism) We had to create obedient citizens.
The Guilded Age and the factory system. Think child labor and sweat shops in the name of Progress. We had to create ideal workers.
Modernism

We are currently undergoing newer shifts. The driving forces are:

Globalization and the death of the nation-state - we need to create global consumers
Post-industrialization and the New Economy - we need to develop global workers
The Information Age and the rise of newer technology - we need to encourage digital citizenship
Post-modernism (though the better parts of this philosophy rarely make it into the "new pedagogy" conversations since the post-modern critique has too many elements of classical education to it)

I know I am being overly simple here. Bullets are dangerous, in person or on a blog. However, I'm noticing that we've shifted from garden metaphors to machine metaphors to digital metaphors. Wow, no secret there. I won't exactly get an invitation to TED for that one.

Still, I'm watching people get super-excited about the newer model that's replacing the old one. I can see why. Google is so much sexier than Skinner and Apple keeps passing out iCandy, which sure beats to freebies at McGraw Hill. Still, I'm concerned that we're still missing what we lost: our authenticity, our democracy, the local politic. Really, we're still missing our humanity in the current system and I'm not so sure we need to look toward the Flat Earth Society to give it back to us.

(Credit: Both the terms AHEM and Flat Earth Society are shamelessly stolen from Doyle the Science Teacher)

Photo Credit -auburnxc's photostream on flickr creative commons

the power of education

2009-11-07T03:45:00.000-07:00

saving me from trendy hipsterhood

2009-11-06T17:02:00.004-07:00

I recently ran into a trendy hipster the other day when I was at the hospital cafeteria. He asked me about teaching and I shared a few stories. When I mentioned the murals being painted over, we talked about Banksy and the concept of creative destruction and destructive creation. Our conversation shifted to Sufjan Stevens and whether or not the Top 40 pop appeal of Owl City is a good thing and I got real passionate in my anger at Ray LaMontagne for selling his songs to an insurance company. Before he left, he made a comment on the processed cafeteria food and we ended up talking about gardening.

As I left, I had a lingering sense that I could easily become that guy. I mean, I could very easily end up being that trendy hipster prototype and as cool as that might be, it will never be a reality for the following reasons:

My lack of ability to fit into tight pants and my overall lack of style
My brother, who is smart and unpretentious and reminds me that intelligence is not in any way tide to indie music
The fact that I live in a suburb where they rhyme their traffic warnings
The Folgers coffee that I drink with milk and sugar instead of going for a soy latte
The number of times we've eaten a dinner out of a box
My students, who are unimpressed if I know who Banksy is or if I have any album from The Neutral Milk Hotel
I listen to NPR instead of Democracy Now
The fact that I still follow the 49ers. If a trendy hipster is allowed any sport, it's baseball, because that's so vintage and old-school, like vinyl.
The fact that, no matter how much I might like indie music, my favorite band will always be Counting Crows
I haven't been to a concert in ages
I use Linux instead of Mac

the banksy photograph was taken from flickr creative commons

Friday Featured Blogger: Matthew Koslowski (Literature and Legacy)

2009-11-06T06:19:00.001-07:00

Sometimes a blog can look pretentious when in fact a blogger is simply being transparent. In a culture of anti-intellectualism, we sort-of expect smart bloggers to use folksy language and quote pop culture references. Matthew Koslowski probably won't tie in truth to the viewing of an episode of The Office. Instead, he'll use a quasi-bohemian novel as a motif. He rarely uses pictures or videos.

If I were to describe his blog, I would compare it to a literary journal online. It is intelligent, well-written and well-researched. I appreciate the fact that he does not try and tell me how to teach. No formulas. No keys. No steps.

I would also describe the blog as humble, but not in the way people tend to think of a humble blog. His language is rich and complicated. He makes no effort to drop down his register and use slang. Yet, in the content, he is willing to be vulnerable. In his post today, admit one of the quintessential issues that his (is it mine too?) generation faces: the overinflated ego and obsession with self-esteem. Rather than offer a long-winded theoretical explanation, he tells a personal story.

video: marathons and sprints

2009-11-05T04:00:00.001-07:00

the dangers of Etch-A-Sketch

2009-11-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

don't look too hard, it's not meant to be the least bit serious

what if we're afraid of the wrong things?

2009-11-04T05:45:00.006-07:00

I take my boys to the socialized park. Everything is free there. Even the kids share with one another and get this, the parents actually chastise children who assert their individual property rights. I live in a diverse neighborhood. People see this and ask if it's "declining." Apparently white flight is still the measure of a quality location.

A woman next to me sees Joel jump off the slide and says, "Should he be doing that? It looks dangerous." It's the equivalent of a jump from the top of a couch, but I respond with, "I think he'll be alright." She calls her son over, cleans his arms with wipes and pulls out the hand sanitizer. "Now, you didn't touch any kids, did you?" He shakes his head.

A few minutes later, a girl wanders over and starts playing with Micah. She introduces herself to me and her mom looks up from her iPhone and chastizes her for talking to strangers. I can't blame her. She doesn't know if I'll take her child away from her. What she also doesn't know is that her cell phone is taking her away from her child.

Her husband asks, "Are you going to let him use that?" when Joel goes to the drinking fountain. Minutes later, his two year old is guzzling a twenty-ounce bottle of Gatorade. It's at this point that I start to feel really self-righteous about adhering to the values of a Culture of Fear. Until I realize that I am, on some level, afraid of these people. I lock my doors. I rarely talk to strangers. I'm shy. True, my fear connects more to be introverted, but it's still a fear.

So, I push Micah on the swing and talk to the Gatorade dad. He says he's scared of raising a girl. He's afraid he won't be gentle and his wife thinks he's a pushover on discipline and he wonders if he'll keep his job in this economy. He asks me what I do for a living and I explain that I watch minds grow. When he asks if I'm worried about online predators in a computer class, I tell him that I'm more concerned with the medium itself. We can get really scared of the boogy man and miss the magical box taking our soul.

He reminds me that Socrates worried about written text and that middle age monks warned against the Guttenberg Press. "Is it possible that you might be a little too worried about the dangers of computers?" he asks. Micah hears us and responds, "It's possible pig."

I leave with the lingering sense that this park is not a particularly neurotic place, but we are all united by the common experience of irrational fear. What if, on some level, we're all afraid of the wrong things?

photo credit - stuant63's photostream on flickr creative commons

milestone: 1,000 posts . . . yeah, I'm really that long-winded

2009-11-03T19:00:00.004-07:00

I recently moved past the 1,000 post mark. There were no balloons or confetti or cyber high fives, which confirms the sense that it's more about the journey than the destination. Still, I see some value in reflecting on the journey when I reach various milestones.

How It Started

I first started blogging out of a desire to meet other teachers and engage in philosophical dialogue. Over time, I grew more personal in my approach. Vulnerability and transparency don't come easy to an introvert. I had too many blogs: myspace blog, teacherlingo blog, multiple musings - all separate, in different compartments. Recently, perhaps a month ago, I combined the blogs into one.

Where I Am

More recently, I've been using other methods in this blog. I have posted more visual musings, more videos and more podcasts. I've had a few discussion questions. This week, I started posting practical ideas and resources and I'll be posting lesson plans soon.

The Future of This Blog

I really hope blogging isn't simply a fad. I want to continue this process as long as I teach. I love to write and I've been really encouraged by my readers and their comments. Thanks for reading my convoluted, rambling musings.

Incidentally, in honor of the National Blog Post Month, I'm dropping down to one post a day. I'm slowly learning to "speak" less often.

democracy inaction

2009-11-03T16:43:00.001-07:00

I get it. The ballot contained only one measure. I understand that people are busy. There's a world series and a reality television show and club soccer games and Happy Hour. People are tired. Companies are squeezing the productivity out of the workforce and voting isn't exactly an escape.

Still, it was depressing to go to my polling place and see only one other car. Skeptics might point out that it's a local issue; a simple budget override. Except that's exactly where democracy matters. The Electoral College and jerrymandered districts help ensure that my vote on Federal elections is a mere formality. However, this issue might go down to a few hundred votes.

Moreover, it's an issue that connects to our lives. The overwhelming majority of our neighborhood sends their children to public schools. Not a week goes by without a kid peddling coupons or candy bars or raffle tickets to support drastically underfunded extracurricular activities. So, I realize that our community cares. I'm baffled, however, that parents will pack a field on a Friday night but fail to stop by a church and fill out a ballot.

photo credit - cspowers photo stream on flickr creative commons

why I like TeacherLingo

2009-11-03T04:21:00.003-07:00

The teacherlingo site is a bit unassuming. It's not that it's bland or anything. It's just that it doesn't have a ton of free resources being offered or discussion boards buzzing with new ideas. There aren't a ton of connections to other social media - with constant "tweet now" messages of anything like that.

Honestly, there are other great sites out there that give free lesson plans and have cool connections to Web 2.0 tools. A teacher looking for resources will find great ideas at So You Want to Teach (I'd recommend this to people thinking of teaching) or at Classroom 2.0 or in some of the advice and discussion occurring at TeachHub (I really like some of their tie-ins to Twitter that they've done lately). All of those sites are excellent, but they have a broad, diverse focus.

So, about two years ago, I was a lonely teacher feeling frustrated by the often political and shallow reality of the profession. Yes, I was too idealistic. True, I had no desire for seven steps or five keys or any other kind of practical advice. So, I looked up "teacher blog community" and saw TeacherLingo. What I found was a relief. Although on some level I said I wanted more ideas and resources, what I really wanted was a voice. Teacherlingo became a place where I could be open about my thoughts on teaching.

It wasn't long before I had people commenting on my blogs and I had an opportunity to comment on theirs. The focus has remained on blogs. Not tweets. Not friends. Not plugins for Facebook. It's been this simplicity and ease of navigating that allowed me to read other edublogs. On some level, I feel like I "know" This Brazen Teacher, Science Teacher, Betty, The Doc, Mrs. Love, Sneaker Teacher and others because they all exist in this intangible, at times almost authentic community of bloggers.

While the process is organic, I learned about many of them through the updates on TeacherLingo. I want to assure you that I don't endorse products often. I don't plug things and advertise for stuff on my blog. I'm not paid by TeacherLingo. I'm not a secret investor or anything. I just feel grateful for the existence of the TeacherLingo site.

in response to a skeptic

2009-11-02T16:18:00.001-07:00

Jesus stands before Pilate and gives a brief explanation of his identity. Blind by hubris, still a bit drunk with power, a hungover Roman governor speaks for humanity. "What is truth?" he says or asks or perhaps even exclaims.

Silence.

There would be a time for preaching and teaching and speaking. A time for listening intently. In this moment, though, the answer is silence.

I would do well to follow that example a little more often.

photo credit - flickr creative commons - luzer's photostream

subversive elevator music

2009-11-02T04:54:00.009-07:00

is it my imagination, or does he always look a little lost?

Arne Duncan sets up an elevator for me. We cram as many students into our mechanical box in a systematic Race to the Top. I'm relegated to a button pusher. At one time an elevator man had a place. He was an expert trained, not just in elevators, but in the art of conversation. Not in the twenty-first century. After all, technology is the teacher. He's simply a facilitator. Let the system do its work. In the background, we might get a bland jazz tune created for the sole purpose of not offending anyone. Each person follows the elevator etiquette of respectful silence and individualism. It's tidy and efficient, a well-oiled machine, totally predictable.

So, I saw this video by The Frames where they sing "Star Star" on an elevator. It's the last thing I would ever call elevator music. The moment is creative, quirky and a bit out of place. So, within this metal box, they are playing an acoustic set and it's beautiful. True, it's a bit contrived, but it makes me think about my place within the system.

My wife's grandpa asked me why I still stay in education. "We had silly politics back then, but when I taught, it was clear that it was my classroom. They weren't trying to make things teacher-proof. They trusted us. I don't think I'd last very long in the current system." Maybe not. He's a bit loud and provocative and he might piss off a few people, but I'm guessing he could make it just fine.

I have a hunch that he would do exactly what most subversive sages do. Outside the elevator, he would hold the instruction booklet about pushing buttons and he would talk about the best methods for elevator mechanics and he would listen quietly at the experts who have spent a lifetime on the top floor and know nothing about what it means to be grounded.

Then, when the door is shut and the elevator is working, he would move the kids from silence to dialogue and from isolation to cooperation. He would abandon the elevator etiquette. He'd sing a tune with them. Or maybe not. Maybe he would get them to take the stairs and, though it is slower, it would be healthier and more sustainable in the long run. And when the fire hits and the unpredictable occurs, his students would make it. Either way, to the executives at the top, it wouldn't look very different. The results would be similar, but the process would be entirely different.

photo credit - flickr creative commons

reluctantly posting resources

2009-11-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

At one time, I had an entire "resource blog" and then I deleted it. Recently, someone asked if I would post my resources and maybe start posting some lesson plans. I'm all about collaboration, but there is a part of me that chooses this reluctantly.

Here are my hesitations:

My mentor Brad the Philosopher once mentioned that he burned all the lessons he wrote. When pressed on this, he said, "Okay, I'm using hyperbole. I recycle them. I just don't want to be reliant on the same strategies and perspectives each time I teach."
I want to have a stronger division between my personal views and my classroom. A wise man gave me some suggestions today about keeping my professional career safe from misinterpretation. For those reasons, I am a little reluctant about posting lessons. Still, I don't see the lessons as being critical of the school district or open to misinterpretation, so they might be okay.
My resources are "not-so-master" in nature. Therefore, I'm reluctant to let people see them, since I'm not always sure they will be helpful but also because I don't want to be "found out." On some level, I want to look like a big shot and sharing my resources proves that I'm good but not great.
What works well in one context might not work in another context.
I am a big fan of teachers developing things on their own. A glut of tools actually inhibits the creative impulse, while poverty, pain, confusion and necessity drive creativity. I know that might sound too Zen, but it's a thought.

So, despite these misgivings, I'm posting stuff anyway. I believe in the public commons. I believe in the need to share resources as teachers. I'm a fan of democracy. So, take them or use them. They'll be on the side of my blog all linked up. (I'm already starting the process)

Greed

2009-11-01T05:49:00.006-07:00

photo credit
flickr creative commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/publicdomainphotos/3126618425/

holidays

2009-10-31T04:16:00.000-07:00

I used to hate Halloween. For me, it was a day that embodied the worst American virtues: commercialism, putting on masks, celebration without a purpose, gluttony and fear. I actually wrote a post mocking what pagans might say about the commercialization of Halloween. All of that cyncism melted the first time I saw my son in a Tigger costume.

Here are some holidays I don't like:

Columbus Day - a day to celebrate genocide, with no real
Valentine's Day - a day of unreasonable expectations and inflated prices
Boss' Day - seriously, the one guy with privilege, power and extra income gets a holiday?
President's Day - I just don't know what to do with it. What food should I eat? What music works with it? It's so bland and school-marmy.

Here some holidays I like:

The Fourth of July - jingoism, barbecue and a chance to blow stuff up - the one day in a year that an Ed Hardy shirt wouldn't feel too out of place
Halloween - who can be against a holiday with chocolate?
Labor Day - a day where the only thing required is laziness
Easter -eggs, chocolate and Jesus on the same day - very cool
Christmas - it took awhile for me to get into it (too campy, too kitsch, too disconnected to the gritty narrative of Christ's birth) but now I really like the season

So, here's a thought. We should invent a new holiday to replace one of the lame ones. I'm thinking it should combine an appreciation for all things local, the playing of seventies soft rock on vinyl, the eating of caramels and the throwing of water balloons. I just haven't figured out a concept to unite all of those things. Any ideas?

Friday Featured Blogger: Betty's Blog

2009-10-30T07:22:00.002-07:00

It's a common trend in blogs to either share in venting sessions or try and give formulaic expert advice. I understand the need to vent, though I prefer criticism of systems over criticisms of people. It's also reasonable to provide advice about what works.

However, I find it refreshing when I read a blog that blends the personal and educational side of life. I also respect a blogger who writes about both out of a sense of experience. For that reason, I enjoy reading Betty's Blog: Timely Teacher Talk. Sometimes she tells stories. Other times, she gives a few practical ideas. Sometimes it's commentary on something she has linked. Yet, it's almost always relevant.

I was first drawn to her blog when she commented on my earliest posts on Teacherlingo. Plus, her blog titled contained alliteration. How tearcherly is that? She is one of the most active bloggers in terms of comments and feedback. One would think that her experience as a veteran teacher might make her jaded or arrogant. Instead, her advice (when she chooses to dish it out) is wise and earthy and humble.

She doesn't have a ton of gimmicks. No narcisstic drive to get people to read her. No name-calling rants about colleagues. Instead, just a wise perspective on life and teaching.

can't live without art

2009-10-29T11:00:00.003-07:00

You can download it at Internet Archive or listen below

photo credit - flickr creative commons -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatkidwho/3237708673/in/photostream/

my friend Daren

2009-10-29T06:44:00.003-07:00

It's way too easy for me to make certain topics "personal" and therefore hardly accessible to people. I'm reluctant to explain my political beliefs. Sure, on a blog I'll lay out some ideas, but in conversation, I usually try to find common ground rather than engage in a critical dialogue. I do the same with spiritual conversations. It's why I was so reluctant initially in bringing up God on this blog.

It's not that I don't like talking about God, but that I am slow and meandering in my conversations. I don't lay out "the gospel" in four steps or three principals or any of that. When we lived in the apartments, I would talk existential philosophy with a literature major and we would venture into the topic of God. But I'd go there carefully, because I didn't want to seem like one of those guys with a bullhorn yelling by the side of the street, preaching more about hell than about hope in Christ.

So, I have this friend Daren. He's naturally shy and gentle. The guy is really intelligent, but not the least bit pretentious. What I really admire about him is that he genuinely believes in Heaven and Hell in an age when both beliefs are held as arrogant and he believes this enough that he talks with strangers about salvation, using metaphors ranging from business to farming to camping and he's so focused on the person he's talking to that he doesn't care if what he says is sounding smart.

You would think a guy like that would sound arrogant. You would think he was always preaching and never listening. Yet, when I was a freshman in college, I spent entire days with him and he'd have these conversations with people at the grocery store or at Kinko's or in his neighborhood. I kept thinking, "He's going to offend these people," but his approach was so honest and straightforward and yet so gentle that people just responded well to him.

I mention all of this, because I hear a lot of people making comments about evangelicals. It's easy to mock the Christian bookstore (I do it) and it's easy to mock the man with the bullhorn or the talk radio show host using Jesus as an excuse to sell GOP ideals. But if I'm going to be honest, my beliefs about God most closely align with the evangelicals. And if I really believe such offensive ideas, I need to be a little more honest and straightforward with people about Jesus and salvation and grace.

what schools could learn from hospitals

2009-10-28T22:53:00.002-07:00

in recent years, the hospital has moved away from this image of a dull, sterile place to die

The hospital is a factory where we've outsourced the beginning and end of life. It's a narrative made up entirely of exposition and climax and lacking resolution. And the conflict? It's relegated to the cafeteria, where chain-smoking doctors and grieving widows and brand new parents try and make sense of the process in isolation.

It's antiseptic and cagey and I want to snap at the pleasant nurse in the Scooby Doo scrubs who takes away my daughter to check if she can hear. I, for my part, want to test if people can listen. One can go a whole life confusing the two and miss out on the dialogue. I devise imaginary tests people could give to me, not for comprehension alone, but for listening; small measures to see if I'm really present and not off in an imaginary place of abstraction.

Still, I'm struck by a trend. This factory is growing human. The computer is more of an android. Meanwhile, schools are becoming more like what hospitals used to be. We're becoming cyborgs. Our hospital wall has framed art. Real art. For aesthetic rather than functional purposes. I might mock the Scooby Doo scrubs, but each nurse seems more like an individual.

So, it gets me thinking about what schools could recover from hositals. I take out a pencil and sketch out a rough draft. Christy and Brenna are sleeping. I write. It's what I do when I'm nervous. I've been writing a lot lately. I guess it's better than smoking.

Here's my list:

Every patient is different - nurses seem to get this idea. They realize that some patients handle pain differently and respond to words differently.
The job is thankless and hard and sometimes messy.
You may not be able to get rid of the sterile environment, but you can humanize it with painted hallways and art and a movement toward authentic communication.
Emotions play a role in recovery. Hospitals seem to be waking up to this reality. If that's true of the body, isn't it possible that it might apply to the cognitive domain as well?
We're wounded. Hospitals understand the reality of life and death, of injury and conflict, of hard conversations. True, they sometimes operate like an island, but they constantly beckon people back to the reality outside the walls. Visitors come (sometimes awkwardly). Doctors mention life outside. Schools could use a little more of that.
There is a strong focus on actions connecting to life. Although I do not always agree that avoiding pain should be a chief goal, the nurses seem to understand that their actions are all about helping people live well. True, there is science and data, but it's connected to the well-being of a patient.

I realize that this is overly idealistic. I have not been exposed to the ugly underbelly of the money-making, market-driven health industry. Still, on a basic, experiential, human level, it wouldn't hurt for edu-gurus to spend a little more time in the hospital and a little less time in hotel conference rooms. They might come up with similar lists.

Photo Credit
Flickr Creative Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joyoflife/428401602/

tiny blunder

2009-10-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have official instructions on using emoticons in parenthesis? I needed to use one in an e-mail this morning and it made the smiley face look like a double chin - a sort of Rush Limbaugh happy face.

I feel like I've spent a good portion of my teaching career trying to tackle an ugly battle of "proper" English (while using very unofficial pedagogy) in writing. The LOLs and OMGs and cuz's wore me down and then I was stuck in a social situation where an emoticon was absolutely necessary and I couldn't figure it out.

welcome to the world, Brenna

2009-10-27T19:58:00.002-07:00

Hey Brenna Cathryn,

Welcome to our world. It's beautiful and it's dark and it's amazing and it's terrifying. I pray that you'll face life with courage and wisdom and boldness and humility. I cried when I heard you cry and I saw you in person. I wept like I did when your brothers were born. You are hours old and you've already rocked my world. I love you more than you can imagine. I can't wait to begin this journey together.

If there's any message that I want you to know it's that nothing you can do will ever make me love you more and nothing you will do will ever make me love you less. My love for you might look different over the years, but it will never diminish. I can't promise life will be easy, but I can promise that I'll be there as best as I can through it all.

Love,

Dad

the demise of public space

2009-10-27T15:45:00.006-07:00

new urbanites have been advocating for more public gardens, but the reality is that the concept of "public commons" continues to disappear from public consciousness

I haven't watched the Ken Burns special about public parks. I heard him talk about the parks and he grew passionate and animated. It was a far cry from the subtle nature of his documentaries. At times he grew almost religious in his description of public lands.

It got me thinking about the concept of a public commons. I used to listen to radio. I still listen to public radio, but I don't listen to any music stations. I wonder if we'll regret how splintered our musical tastes have become. Call it pop and mock it if it's Top 40, but there is something to be said about a shared cannon. Everyone my parent's age can tell you the words to "Bridge Over Troubled Water." I can't tell you a single pop song released in the last five years.

This isn't meant to be an anti-capitalist rant. American society has always held two opposing ideals in tension within a sometimes off-kilter, often harmonious paradox: the rights of the individual and the collective will of the public. Out of fear of communism and the emergence of a "flat world" the public commons began to feel quaint and cute at its best or dangerous and socialist at its worst. Technology and globalization accelerated the individualization of markets and the loss of the local politic.

So, here's a list of areas of public space that I see less often than I did as a kid (I'm 29 by the way):

Public Shared Knowledge on Music: People listening to the same stations as opposed to Pandora or iPods
Pay Phones - They've all been replaced with cell phones and other digital leashes
Public Art / Free Museums - I get it, there aren't enough donations. But something is seriously sad when kids who live in downtown can't visit the museums there
Public Pop Culture - The slow demise of public airways in replace of cable and the splintering off of pop culture (which isn't always a bad thing)
Truly Free Public Parks - the fees seem to increase, helping to guarantee that only the middle class can participate in community activities - thus, we have community recreational centers that charge kids to play basketball
Public Drinking Fountains - Most people don't seem to care, because they're too scared of public water already (which is another concern - a lack of public trust in public resources)
Public Democracy - today I heard a nurse say "I don't follow politics" when she and her co-worker couldn't figure out the name of the vice president. Politics is now something to follow, a hobby of sort (like Fantasy Football)
Public Shores / Public Beaches - I once visited a beautiful lakeside area of Alabama where no one could enter. It had all been sectioned out within the last decade for custom homes. Technically, the lake was still public, but there was hardly any shore left.
Public Neighborhoods - Kids sharing the neighborhood front yards as long congruent commons (I could also add the death of the front porch, the increase of cynderblock fences) and the slow emergence of gated communities as a result
Public Roads - The hijacking of local roads by private industry forcing the public to pay tolls when their tax money paid for the initial building of the roads (or for that matter, the spending of public money on things like ballparks that force the public to subsidize men in tights playing for millions)
Public Safety - We get tons upon tons of cheap plastic crap from underdeveloped countries and then act shocked when unregulated toys contain lead paint
Public Education - Education being replaced by the local politic in favor of large multinational companies that determine the textbooks, curriculum, lobby for laws and "help" create the standards
Public Defense - The outsourcing of a public defense system in favor of military contractors that do not have to follow the same ethical standards as the U.S. military.
Public Officers - Replacing DPS and traffic cops with private machines that click snapshots of speeders
Public Information - The lack of access to public information, the lack of transparency in financial institutions
Public Domain - Copyright laws continue to get stricter and new media continues to be restricted in ways that hurt public commons

Photo Credit - Mr. Ducke's Photostream on Flickr Creative Commons

why I no longer complain about parents

2009-10-26T20:55:00.005-07:00

It's a common trend among edubloggers to vent about parents. On some level, I get it. Parents can seem apathetic to grades (Here's a shocker, I'm apathetic to grades, too. I don't even believe in them.) Few of them sign up immediately for field trips or coffee with the principal or PTA meetings. Some of them hover too closely. Some of them don't actively monitor their children well enough.

I don't deny the reality of all of that. In fact, if you search the blog archives well enough, you might find a few posts lobbing insults at apathetic parents. I can remember moments in the staff lounge when I used the "these parents" phrases or mocked the helicopter approach. Something changed, though, when I became a parent.

However, I mess up often in parenting. I correct when I shouldn't. I let things slide that become a bigger problem. I give in at the wrong moment because they have worn me down in a war of attrition and for what it's worth, candy corn really is one of the best things on the planet and sometimes it's a great addition to breakfast. Don't get me wrong, I have "well behaved" kids. But they punch each other and call names and lie to me and I'm so worn out that I can't imagine sitting through a PTA meeting on my free time.

Tonight Micah had a fever of 103.6. We soaked him in a cool bath and let him eat Otter Pops. I'm not a pediatrician and for what it's worth, when I'm at the doctor, I'm hoping that he knows more than I do about the human body. The temperature decreased, but I'm still scared and anxious and second-guessing whether he should be cuddled in a blanket tonight.

Is it possible that the confusion and terror I feel about things like sickness are what many parents feel about things like homework and grades and independent projects? Is it unreasonable for a parent to assume that the teacher should be more knowledgeable than the parents on issues of classroom management, assessment, instruction and motivation? Yet, I've seen many teachers who not only request, but demand that parents serve them and fix any potential problems. I'd be offended if the doctor called me in and said, "Your child is sick. I want you to come up with some solutions at home and bring me back when he's well."

I know it's an unpopular view, but I don't think a teacher should complain about parents unless that teacher has experienced the confusion, exhaustion and despair of parenting. And then, if still launching into a vent, the teachers should consider the worst moments of their parenting experience and maybe their words might sound a little softer.