think:lab

The Global vs. Local Connections 2.0-Step

My teacher gut keeps telling me that my kids matter far more than the network, and keeping them behind the local garden wall ain't such a bad thing.  My consultant brain tells me, get those kids on a global stage as fast as possible. 

My teacher gut is winning.

Will Richardson wrote the following recently (check out the context by reading his entire post):

The culture of sharing and participation that is created within the local community is more important almost that making those connections outside. (I asked one of the students in my session about how connected he felt outside of the school, and his answer was all about his connections inside the school…interesting.) On some level, this is an “a ha” moment for me that I’m going to be writing more about at some point.

Got me thinking.  And blog commenting at Will's joint.  Got Dean Shareski thinking, too.  And responding right back under that same blog umbrella (and promising to buy Will a kale shake for allowing he/I to use so much Weblogg-ed bandwidth during our convo).

What about?

The global vs. local connections discussion.  And perhaps whether there is something to be said for NOT going global just because we can, especially if it serves our kids better in the process.

Maybe we need to talk about concentric circles of local scale first.  And global pitches second.

Ironic.  Perhaps.

Want to add your voice?  Tease the issue?  I'd love some feedback here.  But I'd also love to see Will's original post get the majority of attention.

Thoughts from the Principal's Office

What are you looking at?

Jeremiah Patterson took this shot at SLA.  And wrote a dapper little inquiry piece about it on his blog recently.  A blog entry that has my brain/gut doing all kinds of Cirque du Soleil caliber flips as a result.

If you haven't -- yet -- met Jeremiah Patterson, I'd put him somewhere on your radar.  For many that came to Philly (F2F or virtually) this past weekend, you may have had the pleasure of meeting him then.  If so, you might have checked out his "Little Green Schoolhouse" presentation on Saturday, a little 90-minute number he used to spark new thinking about the 'ecology' of the learning environment. 

He's an assistant principal.  A new daddy blogger (as well as an educational blogger).  A PhD candidate.  A Portland, Oregon guy.  And a passionate researcher about the impact of school design on studnet achievement, especially if one thinks sincerely about the environmental/carbon/green question along the way.

I know I'm going to be following his research and blogging arc.  Why? Well, I'm digging the conversational tone he's taking with regards to one of those "oh, yeah" moments that anyone might have had while standing outside of Chris Lehmann's office -- the Principal's Office at SLA to be exact -- and what it says to all of us.

A snippet from Jeremiah:

This is a principal’s office. 
No, it’s not.
It is.  It says so on the sign just to the side of the door.  Signs, plural.  Principal.  Mr. Lehmann.
But there are three students in there.  And two teachers.
Yes.
Well, the principal is not in there.
Yes.
And one of them is sitting at his desk, on the principal’s computer.
Yes.
So it could be the counselor’s office.  There’s a couch; it could certainly be a counselor’s office. 
Could be, but it’s the principal’s office.
Ok.  Then, where’s the buffer?
The buffer?
The secretary’s desk should be between the students and the principal’s door.
Here it’s not.
Why not?
They do things differently here.
Where?
SLA.

Go check out Jeremiah's blog.  And see what else he has to say about Chris' office.  And all that follows.

Any Future Ted-Heads Out There?

Part 1:  Scene:  Philly, 2:30ish, this past Sunday afternoon.

David Jakes, Ryan Bretag, Jeremiah Patterson, and I cabbin' it to the airport.  SLA's EduCon 2.0 idea-fumes still wrapping themselves around all 4 of us.  Beginning to shift gears a bit for the flight home.  Talking small talk. 

At some point, TED came up.  TED.  Yeah, you know the one. 

I (approximately) said to my cab-mates:

"Yup, had the official invite.  Nope, had to turn it down. 

"Choosing to go back into the classroom this fall meant no longer be able to rationalize the $6,000+ membership price tag now that I'm a non-corporate civilian.  Funny, that.

"Odd.  Had you asked me to name 1 of 2 dreams I had in the 3 years I was away from the classroom, getting a chance to go to TED was in that top 2 list.  Maybe it was THE list.  My official invite came 2 weeks after I officially resigned from my previous company to become a teacher again.  The same company that was going to pay for the TED membership. Timing is funny.

"You know what?  As much as I still wish I could be there in person, I have never regretted the choice to be a teacher again instead of sitting next to Noble laureates and Google-like founders talking about the futur of cool and what-next."

Part 2:  Scene:  Ft. Worth, 2:30ish, this afternoon, still wearing my lime green soccer socks after spending 90 minutes with my 8th grade soccer lads on the back-of-campus pitch.

If I could live 2 lives simultaneously -- complete with living full 24 hours days/nights in 2 different parts of the world without screwing up the time/space continuum and my own ability to juggle identities-- I'd be begging, borrowing, stealing, and learning a few other handy-dandy tricks, too, to respond in good form to the recent TED request for new teammates.

Yup.  Become part of the inside TED.  Fuel the dream.  Be the ball, Danny.

Wanna apply to become part of the TED team, or suggest someone else if you -- like me -- have a wonderful life already?  Well, here's the basic gig:

Positions:

• Web Producer (think: one of the coolest sites in the universe)
• Community Catalyst for the TED Prize (think: Bono and those laureates and the projects they want to fuel around the globe)
• Tech-spotter/Researcher (think: scanning the globe for cool stuff that will wow'em)
• Director, TED Fellowship program (think: building curriculum and selecting candidates)
• Scribe (think: keeping it historically straight and keeping it historically real)
• and several more)

Wanna apply?

[email protected]

"Life is Good" (Part Deux): 4 Walls No More

What?

Really?

Already

As in...now?

You're telling me that I have full-on access to a dedicated laptop cart, WiFi, a separate printer, etc, etc, etc, for my students...starting...NOW? 

As in 'first thing Monday morning' we can put our digitally intellectual game face on and sneak a peek beyond the 4 cinderblock walls around us?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, heck, yeah!

"Life is Good": the Big & Small Moments

"Life is good" these days.

Kiddo's solo eating big-boy apples like gang-busters as of late.  No need for the quaint days of easy-to-handle applesauce no more!

My 8th grade boys soccer team is on a 5-0 streak going into the final 2 games of the season.  Even better, they took me seriously yesterday when I told them that any ball that they kick "off the carpet" (i.e. in the air) -- pass or shot -- would cause them to immediatly be put on the bench.  Focus was on crisp, intentional passing.  Even if they were up 8-0 (as they were).  NO exceptions.  At one point, I had 9 of the starters sitting on the bench because of that rule.  All being said, they played brilliant ball day, making coach very proud of 'em.

Geting to live-blog with Karl Fisch's students/colleagues today via his striking collaboration with Dan Pink (yup, he's gonna be working with Karl's kids directly) to explore the 6 senses from A Whole New Mind.  We'll be tackling "story" today.  Been looking forward to this for a month now. 

Oh, and after the afternoon faculty meeting, I'm jumping a plane to Philadelphia to take part in Chris Lehmann's/SLA's first-ever "EduCon 2.0" weekend-long shindig.  Remembering to a cold afternoon in Philly last winter when Will Richardson, Chris and I walked the streets to head to a Radio Shack for some geeky tools to make something geeky-cool, and we talked about the "wouldn't it be cool if there was a 'TED for ED' conference" somewhere, at some point in time.  Well, Chris and his SLA community took that idea really seriously.  And all of us that are flying in or just walking down the street to join the event this weekend are really blessed by that.  On a personal note, I'm looking forward to staying over at Chris' house and seeing his kids and lovely better-half...since at the end of the day, the human factor always trumps the technology factor for me.

And man, oh man, oh man, oh man, I'm just giddy that my 10th grade students have already jumped so gracefully into the blogging waters this week as I finally get a chance to beta-test the 4 class blog projects I just unwrapped this week.  Truth be told, I have little to no gumption to force this into the default "global, flat, transparent" classroom game.  Nope.  Maybe one day we'll open up for outsiders in Bangor, Maine or Bangladesh to add their voices.  For now, however, this is just about their own collaboration.  We're using a blog platform simply as an expedient way to help us develop a 24/7 writing workshop mindset.  Each student is being graded on the quality and quantity of their 'responses' (i.e. comments) based on a collection of weekly prompts.  Assuming all goes well at semester's end, we'll do a deepthink as to what it opens the door to in terms of expanding the classroom walls a bit in the year(s) to come.  For now, however, this is about writing 24/7.  And my kids are already submitting some bang-up submissions...and we haven't even really gotten serious yet (he smiles).

Sort of a Pre-Scholarship, Right?

Can this actually desperate measure actually be for real?

The skinny:

Learning is supposed to be its own reward, but when that doesn't work, should students get paid to do it?

That's the question two Georgia schools are asking in a 15-week pilot program that is paying high-schoolers struggling in math and science $8 an hour to attend study hall for four hours a week.

The privately funded "Learn & Earn" initiative, an idea from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is touted as the first of its kind in the state and one of a few similar programs nationwide.

Well, at least we're zeroing in on the truth of it all:

The hope is that the bribes will boost students' motivation to learn, attend class and get better grades.

A Question of Snowday Civility

Teaser:  Snow day sparks frigid phone volley between student and administrator's wife.  News at 11.  Or down the page a bit.

Three early truths, for what it's worth:

• Truth #1:  I was not involved, nor have inside information, about the following news story.  All I have access to are the same newspaper/web articles that everyone else has.
• Truth #2:  Jumping to conclusions is hard to avoid on this one. Heck, hard on any news story that grabs your attention.  Hence, the very definition of journalism (even if objectivity is often touted as the goal).
• Truth #3:  The big story itself holds about 5 seconds of real interest for me. Truth be told.  The story within the story, however, holds infinite interest for me.  This post only hints at that.  I'll leave you to consider your own opinions.

Did you hear the one about the kid who left a phone message on the answer machine of a district administrator to 'inquire' and 'complain' about the lack of a snow day in his Virginia school district after 3-ish inches of snow fell? 

Better yet, did you listen to (or read the transcripts of) the wife of the same administrator who left a message of her own on the student's voice mail that could be described as 'not too happy' at best?

Better yet, did you read what the district spokesman said about the student's decision to call:

"It's really an issue of kids learning what is acceptable and not acceptable. Any call to a public servant's house is harassment," Regnier said.

Harassment?  "Any call"?  By calling a "public servant"at home?  Really?  Really?  Bueller?

Funny. 

Maybe I live in a peculiar world as a private/independent school educator, but calls at night to the homes of school administrators -- and all teachers -- are just part of our reality.   Even when teaching in the past in public or charter schools, I never would have found it odd to have a student call me at home. 

"Any call" by a student to a "public servant" (aka "district administrator") = "harassment"? 

Really?

What do you think?

Note:  I am NOT speaking to the 'type' of message the student left.  I am only speaking to the 'fact' that the call itself was questioned.  Perhaps if the district spokesman had said, "Any harassing call to a public servant is harassment", I'd see a bit of logic in his statement. 

You?

One Down (Maybe). One to Go (Maybe?)

Perhaps in a nod to win over the hearts and minds of teachers (especially those -- hard to imagine, I know -- on 'tight' budgets) around the US, Starbucks is test-marketing a $1 cup-o-joe (and free -- gulp -- refills of brewed coffee; sorry, mocha-mocha-mocha-latte fans).

Mmm. 

Now if only they'll consider free WiFi as well.

Then we teacher types could join the swelling ranks of happy-go-caffeine-heavy 'consultants' who have long ago called Starbucks their office-away-from-office in an emerging digital work world. 

P.S.  Of course, if all of our schools were willing to trade in their less-than-stellar 'coffee' perks in the fac-room for outstanding and ever-ready WiFi throughout our campuses, well, I'd be happy to hand over my java-stained mug for what matters most in a place that oughta be a truly transformative learning environment (rather than just the punch-line to the 'available everwhere-else' wink, wink, nudge, nudge send-up).

Easy to Forget Why

Easy to just enjoy the 'day off'.  Easy to forget why.

This, however, is the real reason many of us had the opportunity to stay home from school today.  And opportunities far, far beyond:

Reality Check: What Would You Ask Sir Ken?

Remember the TED talk -- "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" -- that grabbed so many educators' attention last year? 

Curious. 

If you could grab Sir Ken Robinson for a few minutes, what would you ask him?

Been thinking about that a lot the last 24 hours ever since a friend asked me what I'd ask him. 

We've both seen Sir Ken speak.  Both had a chance to talk with him one-on-one, too.  And both been inspired by his larger thinking about creativity, schools, and learning.  Especially with an eye on where all this edu-talk is headed.

So.  If you could ask Sir Ken one question to bridge the gap between big ideas and legit action, what would it be?

Me?

Well, I'd ask Ken to point to a few schools, a few projects, a few teachers that ARE inspiring creativity (esp. given that it's so gosh-darn easy to swing conversation the other way).