Just because I'm on a self-imposed "Twitter-sabbatical" doesn't mean the world cares. DM's still arrive in all their 140-character glory in my email inbox, making it hard-to-impossible to really get off the micro-bloggin' bandwagon.
To be neighborly, thought I'd hit "reply" in DM land without feeling as if I'm a liar-liar type as far as the sabbatical business goes. Everything was cool until dem crazy Twitter critters bit me on the backside with all their lovely graphic designed lovelyness.
Almost feel guilty being a real live poet:
Go ahead. Admit it. You're achin' for more 5-7-5 syllablic fun, right?
All the comments (for, against, otherwise) written on both posts.
My own on-going/internal concerns about the impact of professional educators using real students (before the age of 18) as examples in their blogging and conference presentation efforts, as well as the muddy waters of treating adults and children as "peers" within the larger edu-blogosphere (and related edu-networks).
For those who do not feel familiar with any of this, I'd recommend reading both links above first -- followed by taking some solo time to think what larger patterns you see (beyond the specific example and personalities) -- before you read what follows.
Or, take it out of context and tell me what you think of it on its own merits. Either way, it's all good.
***
I wrote the following as a comment on both Darren's and Arthus' posts [with the addition of a bit of re-formating for clarity here].
I'm reminded of the Robin Williams character -- the teacher, John Keating -- in "Dead Poets Society" while trying to make sense of this larger scenario and comment thread.
"Keating" was exceptional at inspiration. In other words, his greatness lay in opening the door of curiosity for his otherwise traditional or naive students, giving them the support, confidence & nudge to step forward into potentially 'risky' decisions. I say 'risky' because the decisions required challenging a previous status quo to achieve a new outcome, one that often had social/life implications riding in the balance. They were 'risky' based on the student's previous life experiences or context as much as the soon-to-be future.
Key: This was done regardless of whether the student's parents (etc) would be willing to support the aforementioned decision.
On the other hand, Keating was decidedly lousy at giving those very same students 'cover' when the proverbial dung hit the fan.
In other words, while giving them the spark to tear out the textbook's pages, start an underground literature society, ignore a parent's steadfast rules, etc., he failed to take co-responsibility for what would happen 'the next day' when the truth become public. Just as important, he failed to provide his students with the emotional/strategic wherewithal to handle the real world pressure that would follow the execution of such risky decisions, whether they were inherently in the right or wrong for doing so in the first place.
Slight tangent (with key punchline) coming:
I doubt many would argue that Keating was a bit of an underground revolutionary who conveniently used the 'guise of a classroom teacher to validate his own philosophical journey, perhaps even acting out (vicariously through his students) his own latent needs to rebel in a way that he was not able to do when he was their age in a similar setting.
To that end, his character becomes morally suspect as a model for teachers everywhere, no matter how inspired his individual classroom/teaching lessons may have been (or how Hollywood set him up to be in the closing minutes).
This comes to mind because the collective WE (as formal/paid educators) run the risk of being "Keatings" far more than we may choose to recognize or admit.
I, for one, can't help but hold my hand up in recognition that I've been culpable in the past. Where/how? Well, any time I've chosen to write about, support, challenge, publicize, highlight, showcase at conferences, blog-link to, collaborate with, and/or criticize younger students (very much like Arthus or very different than Arthus) in the public forum of the edu-blogosphere (and beyond) -- students who are not technically/legally adults (i.e. 18 years of age) -- I've run the risk of being a "Keating" by subconsciously validating my own philosophical journey...and potentially at my students' (or 'kid' bloggers') expense.
Yes, me included. Intentions notwithstanding. I'll let others determine if the mirrored reflection(s) feel familiar to them as well.
Back to the original 'situation:
Every response to the aforementioned situation (as hinted at by Darren after it was edited, and further written about by Arthus on his own blog) is exceedingly human in nature. 'Reactions' and 'territory' of privilege or identity/age took over where intellectual content once was the center of things.
In my opinion, the now-exaggerated issues of age and responsibility -- heck, for that matter, the value of the original situation that sparked it all -- have far less long-term currency than the underlying issues of:
a) Are WE as professional educators beginning to sincerely evaluate our unspoken intentions when we showcase individual pre-18 y.o. students in the blogosphere (etc) -- regardless of intention or project value -- as well as what unintentional outcomes are waiting for us as this pattern continues?
b) Are we so convinced that our instincts about making the educational world for our students transparent/collaborative based on 1) legitimate and thought-out professional truths for the welfare of the students' academic success or 2) some sort of latent need to prove a philosophical element in our own hearts to the larger world?
c) How are WE as professional educators facing the often conflictive desires 1) to give students in our buildings/classrooms a second chance when it comes to behaviors or reactions we would not necessarily accept from our own adult peers on campus or in the community vs. 2) calling out these same students out (who we frame as supposed 'peers' in the decidedly less F2F, less personal realm of the virtual network/world) for public and link-based criticism at the first (or second) sign of poor behavior?
These are the most vital questions that linger -- for me, at least -- after having read through everything written about and commented on (at this time) re: this specific "conduct of communication/reaction" situation.
I doubt that anyone involved will be the last to 'behave' in a similar manner as the edu-blogosphere continues to mature, regardless of age or topic. Fortunately, decent damage-control and admission have occurred in the last day or so. Arthus has done decent work accepting his own responsibility in his follow-up post. Likewise, Darren has done decent work accepting his own responsibility by editing his original post and through this evolving comment thread. This is, I can't help but think, simply a human situation with lots of 'wishing' that the clock could be turned back a bit on both sides.
My only concern now is that the moral of the story may remain focused on the individual personalities and specific expressions that were at the center of the original "communication" and "backlash"...
...rather than being focused on the larger issue I wrote about above via the Keating example.
After all, the last time I checked, if something goes wrong in my classroom -- or anywhere I am directly involved as the 'lead' teacher/adult -- where my students make poor choices, I am the 1st to be held accountable. Period. End of story. This is true when it comes to displaying evidence of maturity/experience, as well as restraint. And it is further true in terms of being able to see the larger implications when the dust settles and the majority of us have to return to our careers/classrooms to 'lead' those that show up to 'learn'. For what it's worth, I'm putting myself on "Keating watch" in my very own mirror, good intentions or not. I'm hoping that the collective WE -- as trained, professional, paid educators -- do the same over time as frequently as we are capable of doing so.
My second post -- just published today -- explores what life behind the camera (or blog post) means for the parent, as well as what it means for the kiddo.
"Truman Show"?
Or just the new digital frontier, something to be considered as normal as a slice of white bread in the years to come.
If you have time, go check out my post -- "Layers of Observation" -- over at This Mommy Gig. Good for parents; also good for educators wrestling with similar issues with re: to helping their students go "global" in a "transparent" learning sort of way.
And any comments or shared experiences would be most appreciated, too. Thx!
While I wasn't able to make it down to San Antonio for this year's NECC conference, I was pleased to see that ISTE had finally released a wide range of speaker/workshop videos. What a gift, right?
Real content...
...and not a single mile of interstate or airport travel to gain access to it!
Cool, huh?
Figured that I'd check out one of the big-brain keynotes first, especially someone that I was not as familiar with (i.e. to focus on my learning, not my head-nodding with familiar voices alone).
...and 10 minutes later, I was still waiting for the actual content to being. 10 minutes.
Seriously.
Forget the 'controversy' over the speaker/content itself.
Who do I contact at ISTE to beg for those 10 minutes of my life back? Or do I blame the k-zo-innovations team whose company logo is causing my eye to develop a split personality as the 'content' in the video begs to finally come to life? Just curious.
The following is the actual 'chat room' transcript I typed on the fly as I watched (or tried to watch) Idit speak.
Note: I never made it past the 12th minute. As much as I tried. Which means I caught about 1 minute of the actual speaker. For reals!
I'm wondering what the chances are that I'll actually watch any other of the ISTE videos given the content signal to marketing noise that undoubtedly I'd have to wade through if I stumbled down that ill-fated rabbit hole out of naive optimism.
Oy.
Your thoughts -- if you choose to suffer through the loss of 10+ minutes of your viewing time absorbing dancing vendors, shots of laptops opening, and silly Second Life promos -- would be most welcomed.
Or, tell me where I'm wrong. Or lost. Or poorly socialized. Your call, as long as I don't have to sit through this sort of planning team looking glass self-promotion ever again!
I wrote:
I'm 30 seconds (maybe) into watching this video...and I'm already bored, tempted to close the connection. Why is this silly 'marketing' intro even required?
Seriously: I'm 1:15 into it...and I'm still waiting for the actual keynote.
1:31 Dancing vendors?
1:40 Finally someone speaking. Yikes. How many folks will actually watch more than one?
2:08 Now we're getting a 'proof' that people travel to conferences? is that really indicative of an 'innovative' conference?
2:37 When is the actual keynote going to begin? Again, who edited this...and did they think of the UI (user interface) or audience interest question, or just the vendor/conference sales side of it?
3:15 When is the keynote speaker going to start? Why is there not a timeline offered so folks can figure out how to fast-forward to the actual content they link-clcked to?
4:01 More dancing vendors? Yikes! And now countless people with thumbs up signs? No wonder so many industries do NOT take education seriously if this is indicative of what is possible at the leading ed-tech conference.
4:40 Still seeing nonsense. Guys flexing muscles? Our kids/schools are in deep trouble!
5:02: Shouting, laptop photos, and still no closing keynote speaker???
5:30 And now a gun slinger? Oy! Wehre is the keynote speaker???
5:54 Forzen logo of the conference planning team? Really? I've waited more than 5 minutes to see a frozen conference planning team logo? And still no closing keynote speaker? Are the schools that fund the teachers that fly to conferences like these aware taht this is how the 'story' is being told about emerging technology? Should they 'buy' this message?
7:03 Oh, my, the ISTE island in Second Life...really? This is the future of learning??? Are real human beings taking this seriously? Real educators?
7:50 "Are you really there in San Antonio?" I feel like this is a bad sitcom...yet so many sincere professionals stand behind NECC and this team...but the video intro waters it down.
8:34: What percentage of real teachers will suddenly transform their classrooms and students' lives thanks to this Second Life performance art piece?
9:04 The closing...ah...keynote? Coming soon??? Looking at the clock...realizing that there is nearly 1:20:00 left...and I'm seconds away from clicking this video closed...and realizing I won't have actually seen the real content that the title of this video suggests. Is this Candid Camera? Will a laugh track begin soon? Sincerely, this is proof positive hat the 'boat show' has jumped the shark. All that is left? Write a blog post about this...and let the comments/Google Juice take it from there.
10:41: Saddened that this is the best we can offer. Signing off. Shrug.
Seriously. If I am wrong -- or emotionally misguided due to a poor sense of context -- please let me know.
Better yet, please promise me that vendors and conference planners and educational publication giants will never, ever, ever, ever again foist this sort of signal to noise programming on us again.
Our kids'/schools' futures hang in the balance. As well as those of us who actually want the 'content' to make a difference on behalf of both!
NOTE: go to Penn's SMR page to see how the video 'interacts' with his sidebar, otherwise it might feel a bit out-of-context.
I suspect Will may offer a post of his own on the SMR concept sooner than later (which I'll definitely read with interest). In the meantime, here's my early-on papa-spective on it given something I've already put in motion, not to mention my regular convos with school colleagues about whether we're helping our HS students really be taken seriously in an increasingly competitive college admissions process beyond the standards 'application' white noise.
Dang sure we oughta be teaching this sort of thing.
Me, I'm gonna start with my own 22 mos old kiddo right away...and then move onto my HS kids this fall.
***
A few folks know that I have a blog in my kiddo's name: the "Beckett-to-Be" blog, to be precise.
Originally put together to allow his distant g'parents (in Chicago and Charleston, SC respectively) to virtually 'hug' him when we can't be in the same city together between the holidays, I've always admitted that it really exists for the eventual father-to-son blog hand-off in the coming years.
What do I mean by the blog hand-off?
Well, as the blog's title implies, it's a blog based on Beckett's 'becoming' (rather than a static snapshot of him, so to speak).
Today I am his blog's main author (for obvious reasons).
In the next year or so as he begins to move beyond the 2-to-3 word sentence paradigm, I'll be uploading vids of him telling stories, pointing out bugs on rocks, and commenting on the world around him. Soon those videos -- etc -- will morph into a co-learning journey between papa and son, a 'study' of the world where we proactively explore 'learning' topics he's passionate about: today that would be "twucks" and "dogg-doggs"; tomorrow that might be King Arthur, rocket ships, and miniature golf and swimming with dolphins in azure seas.
And that means that sooner or later that blog will be his entirely -- voice, uploads and all -- with my role being a distant 'mentoring' position for safety and curiosity's sake. I'm not kidding myself. He may find the entire premise goofy or beneath his dig:nat-esque self. He may dump it for a more punk ethic. Or he may develop something far more superior as well once he can ditch dear ol' pa in bloggy-blog-land.
What I do assume, however, is that it'll be a first step in terms of his future 'resume'.
And after reading Will's tweet and viewing Chris Penn's SMR video intro, I can't help but think that the new BeckettLong.com (and .net / .org) domains I just secured for the next decade-plus will be a fine place to anchor such a comprehensive and ever-evolving 'resume' of his ever-evolving learning self.
Oh, and it might do wonders when he finally begs papa to set up a make-shift lemonade stand out on the front stoop...and he wants to go trolling for virtual customers to off-set his Country Time powder investment.
***
OK, and now I'm anxious to hear what Will's gonna do with the SMR concept.
Perhaps that Dan Meyer fella will even add his vid-production voice to this Q-of-mine as well. (nudge. nudge.)
Early this morning (before 7am, while his mama slept soundly since she had early morning duty yesterday), Beckett and I hung out on the front steps of my in-law's home in the western suburbs of Chicago.
Papa had his much-needed coffee. Beckett had his sippy cup and stringed cheese. Life was calmly coming into focus, the sun beginning to peek out over the elm trees surrounding the house, and papa promises of taking the kid to a nearby playground near the local rails-to-trails running path had been uttered.
Oh, yeah...and there was that other thing, too.
You see, Beckett also had just met David Jakes and Ryan Bretag -- two guys in the center of my evolving and ever-dispersed professional network -- seconds before after the fellas (on their commute to work now that they serve the same district as parallel IT Dir's) dropped off my messenger bag I left behind after the Chicago Edu-Blogger meet-up last night.
Looking at the photo of the wee fella standing between 2 members of my network'd edu-gang, I'm find myself gazing forward towards Beckett's future as a student once again.
I'm probably unique in the fact that I no longer worry about what 'school(s)'' Beckett goes to in the years to come. Needless to say, this is a hard thing to do these days as public schools take PR hit after PR hit and the college admissions frenzy comes off like the Cabbage Patch craze of the mid-80's as parents routinely fret over school options.
Part of that is professionally strategic, I must admit.
Both my wife and I work at very strong college-prep independent day schools; we'll probably continue to do so until Beckett (and any other future kiddos) go to college, too. While we don't always get significant tuition remission and our salaries are fractions of our public school counterparts, our kiddo(s) will have fairly easy admissions access when we decide to write the (gulp) tuition checks.
Beyond the private school connection(s), however, is a growing realization on my part that it really won't matter what school(s) he(they) go. Neither will it matter about the academic programs, promises of rigor, statistical teacher-kiddo ratios, snazzy extracurricular offerings, school design principles, or the college matriculation rates/lists proudly boasted by the admin team...even though will are really fine things to have in the back pocket along the way.
Again, I'm probably unique in this, private school or not.
The 'why' I'm able to say that comes down to a rapidly evolving realization that for Beckett (and any future sibs he'll rough-house with) and 'school', he'll be guaranteed a world-class network of dynamic:
mentors
research buddies
teachers of every ilk/curiosity/expertise
virtual learning adventure cohorts, and
surrogae 'uncles'/'aunts'
in every corner of the globe as his passions shift from throwing small pebbles in the driveway to dragons to Star Wars light sabor fights to whatever HarryPotter-esque series rises up next decade to learning how to build a sailing boat that can handle big waves to hiking the Appalachian Trail top to bottom to his desire to spend a year in the Outback in the spirit of a college 'sabbatical' before he takes graduation seriously to his (papa can wish) efforts to secure a cooler-than-cool job at Fenway for our beloved Red Sox.
Some of these 'teacher' folks will be members of my own network (today and in the tomorrow category). Others will be those he/I will find together in the coming years. And even more will be those that his own blogging (or whatever bloggy-blog-like feature the futurists have in store for us in the years to come) and virtual networking efforts will foster on his own (both in and out of 'school').
And the subjects they'll cover and co-discover with Beckett will be only limited to his/their imagination, ability to 'search', and the virtual connections that we embrace.
Academic counselor & scheduling gods get whatever is left over.
(wink)
***
P.S.
I wonder how many other parents are in the process of building and co-building similar networks for and with their own kiddos, both to support the very school investments they are making and to guarantee that 'school' won't have to be the only game in town.
Ma & Pa 'computer' storefronts always catch my attention. Rare finds, but somehow every community has one in spite of the way the emerging tech consumer world seems to work these days.
Had to laugh at the ironic homemade sign on the door.
Sure it is simply a request to hire 'tech' help, but sometimes the phrasing we choose makes all the difference out of context:
Can't help but think it's a great launch to a playful extra credit year-long "Flickr Hunt" like grammar-spotting project I'll give my students this fall. Falls in line with something I wrote recently.
Oh yeah, and a teaser for the 'will our schools ever catch up?' Q that never seems to go away, I suppose.
Been hanging out in a lovely corner of Small-town, USA (Sheboygan, WI, to be exact) lately for the 4th of July festivities. Just about as far away from my Twitter-thinkin'-about-education life as one could imagine shy of being on a multi-day Appalachian Trail solo. Or so I thought.
In addition to Friday night fish fries and tasting first-hand why this town is called the "Bratwurst Capital of the World", the Kohler kitchen/bath ceramics empire is based there. Sure, that means some of the finest sinks (etc) on the planet, but it also means having free/donation-based access to one of the most wonderful contemporary (and folk) art museums anywhere you could travel: the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
Seriously: check out the Flickr set to see what I mean. Middle of 'nowhere' as far as the art world is concerned, but a rockin' impressive visual treat for those in the know (who happen to be in fried cheese curd country). Take the museum's restrooms, for example:
Backstory details:
All of the museum's public bathrooms were designed by ceramic artists supported by the Kohler company at one point or another. It is literally part of the collection, although in a very utilitarian sort of way.
Couldn't help but notice one of the men's room sinks this time around. Seen it several times before, but somehow it landed differently thanks to a) my previous professional role and b) my dallying in the emerging technology swimming pool.
Now, if only we could get some decent visual artists to gussy up School 2.0.
Every once in awhile, life will hand you a delightful life/learning surprise out of the thinest of the bluest of air.
Such was the case recently when a mentor of mine (who sponsored me for the Ft. Worth Rotary and was a regular companion of mine at Ft. Worth Harvard Business Club meetings) said he'd like to introduce me to a friend of his when we were out in the Santa Fe area vacationing.
My mentor never steers me wrong, so I knew I needed to trust his invitation. Even if it meant asking a bit of back-tracking to a private ranch on our family vacation. [Thanks for trusting me, honey!]
Next thing I knew, my little Beckett was running around barefoot in a private dome co-designed by Buckminster Fuller and John Polk Allen (additional bio of his worth reading) on John's private ranch south of Santa Fe:
Buckminster (i.e. "Bucky" to those who revere the engineering god) is a pretty well-known name in the fields of architecture, design, and futurism fields, but for those who don't know...he sorta invented the geodesic dome. Sketched out the concept as a kid (as in younger than 10 years old), and went on to create a wide range of innovative/provocative concepts under the Spaceship Earth model. Strange as it is, Bucky is rarely talked about in schools. But that's for another post.
But what about John?
Well, to those of you science/engineering fans out there, you may have heard a bit about the Biosphere II project:
a 3.14-acre (1.27 ha)[1] structure originally built to be an artificial closed ecological systemOracle, Arizona (USA) by Space Biosphere Ventures, a company whose principal officers were John Polk Allen
and Margret Augustine. Constructed between 1987 and 1991, it was used
to explore the complex web of interactions within life systems. It also
explored the possible use of closed biospheres in space colonization, and allowed the study and manipulation of a biosphere without harming Earth's.
The name comes from the idea that it is modeled on the first biosphere,
which is the life system on Earth. The funding for the project came
primarily from Edward Bass's company, Decisions Investment, and cost $200 million from 1985 to 2007.
Well, our host John was the founder and served as the Director of Biospheric Development for the project. Oh, he was also a friend of Buckminster Fuller (who helped him design his own dome for his Santa Fe ranch), the same dome my kiddo was roaming co-barefoot in with John not too long ago.
In an event, John -- long since past the Biosphere II project -- is heavily involved in a variety of stunning international projects under the "global ecotechnics" semantic umbrella as the co-founder and Chairman of the Global Ecotechnics Corp which focuses on:
the development and application of innovative ecotechnic projects and biospheric design and engineering with an education and information division to further the first two objectives.
As my kiddo/wife were exploring parts of the ranch with John's better half, Tango (aka Elizabeth), I had a chance to drink tea and talk life, philosophy, science, famous friends (his, not mine) beatnik poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, jazz legend Ornette Coleman, and so many more. Best part of all, however, was touring John's private study/studio and hearing him tell of spending time with world leaders, indigenous shamans along the Amazon, and the members of his sailing research team, the Research Vessel Hercalitus (great name, literary fans!):
an 82-foot (25 metre),
three-masted, ferro-cement oceanographic research vessel based on the
traditional sea-going Chinese junk. Designed and built by the Institute
of Ecotechnics in 1974-75, the Heraclitus has sailed
over 250,000 miles, in every ocean except the Arctic, and
circumnavigated the globe. In 2006, it completed over ten years of
coral reef ecological and paleo-core studies.
Previous expeditions
include: ethnobotanical collections in Peruvian Amazonia, voyages
around South America, an expedition to Antarctica to collect humpback
whale genetic material, the first successful release of previously
captive dolphins and a round-the-world expedition, from 1983-1986, that
studied sustainable tropical agricultural systems and the cultures that
developed them.
The Heraclitus engages in Planet Water Expeditions,
exploring the world's river-based and oceanic cultures, as well as the
winds and currents of Planet Water.
No doubt if I were just fresh out of college, sans career or family, I'd have snuck aboard this vessel. And maneuvered my way onto the crew through whatever razzle-dazzle I could make up along the way.
In any event, I definitely count this afternoon with John as one of the real 'learning' highlights of my life. Utterly fascinating guy who has experienced more in one lifetime than most of us would need in a dozen, maybe. Better yet, seeing him take my kiddo under his wing, barefoot and all, was even more priceless.
One quirky and utterly cool tidbit was sitting at John's 'business' desk.
It was designed by John as true scale replica of the path of Haley's Comet, and also offers a lot in terms of different face-to-face dynamics depending on whether you want to be within inches of each other while leaning forward or keep things very much at a distance.
Definitely a shapshot of how John's fascinating mind works!
Now, if only I can figure out a way to grab some of John's time to Skype vid chat with my students this fall. Undoubtedly, the science side of things will be part of his intro, but the real conversation will focus on writing, poetry, philosophy, and art.
To that end, check out his amazing cutting-edge contemporary art gallery in London -- The October Gallery.
Maybe it is just me, but the its v. its debate always bugs me. Even today, long after I took my last grammar quiz. Even as a grown man. Even as a professional English teacher supposedly spot-on about that sort of gig.
One of my many professionally ironic Achilles heels, I suppose. Arrrrrrrrgh.
Mmmm, might make for a dynamite lil' English project for this coming fall.
***
So many what-about-that's, so little time.
Last time I checked, the school year gives me approximately 9.5 months to cover everything my students/school need me to cover, a circus tent of ideas I'm gathering in my backyard for release class-by-class staring this fall, and the myriad of what-about-that's I'll undoubtedly find along the way that have no specific place in the curriculum...yet seem so delicious that one would be hard-pressed to ignore their neon possibilities in the academic year's fast lane.
Take the ain't-it-funky category of old skool grammar, for instance.
I continue to still recall great pride in having memorized all the prepositional phrases our textbook gave us way back in the 7th grade. Not sure I'd make my own students do that in this day-n-age (or much of what my diagramming sentences past also pulled off), but I am still a bit of a rock-star at the "______ the cloud" game when it comes to the mighty preposition. Really!
Playful and practical, this is the style book you can't wait to use, a
guide that addresses classic questions of English usage with wit and
the blackest of humor.
Always said to myself,
Self, why don't you consider having your kids write a mini grammar usage book of their own under a thematic umbrella of their own choice.
Could be an interesting tonic during the awkward days of grammar study.
But never got around to it. Still want to, but not sure how it'll fit into an already jam-packed academic year ahead.
Perhaps -- instead -- I'll have them explore a few of the lovely language / grammar scavenger hunt blogs that are popping up as of late on my radar screen, blogs that give digital camera totin' language lovers a lovely name:
Perhaps -- even better -- I'll suggest that my students consider creating a blog (or at least scrap book) of their own, capturing language construction oddities they run into.
Might even convince the extra credit fairy to fly on by!
***
Heck. If I were really brave and innovative, I'd give the kiddos EC for creating a blog of my very own grammatical / spelling mistakes throughout the year. Hand-outs. White board scribblings. Blog entries. Tests & quizzes.
Could be a field day for them.
And a humbling kids-as-copy-editor reality check for yours truly, too!
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