think:lab

Before I Go

The Question

Dan Meyer recently asked me the question. 

If anyone else was curious:  yes, I am.  Effective now.

If anyone is curious why, please get in touch.  I'd be happy to chew the fat. 

Shifting Priorities

Otherwise, it was just time.  Life moves on.  Priorities shift. 

And certainly other voices are better suited for this state-of-education conversational game and have more valuable/timely things to contribute than I am able to do at this point in my life/career.

My Kids, My Students

Don't get me wrong.  I still blog like crazy.  It'll just be elsewhere.

But my days as an edu-blogger are now officially in the past tense. 

All that previous "think:lab" blogging energy will now be dedicated 100% to my kiddo (and his bro/sis-to-be) and to my HS English students (each year):

• the "rabbits and cheshire cats" blog (desc:  3 sections of Hon Eng 10 focused primarily on Joseph Campbell's "hero journey" and a wide array of classic 'Brit lit' readings)
• the "pass the conch" blog (desc:  2 sections of 'regular' Eng 10 with the same focus as above, just with a slightly more conservative pace re: readings, the length of student responses, etc)

Come Visit, If You'd Like

Feel free to swing by at any point. 

While I'm not focused on outside voices being 'the point' of the exercise or fostering 'flat classrooms' per se, you are free to add your voice to the comment mix as long as it appears

• technically relevant to the discussion
• appropriate in spirit re: why these blogs exist in the first place
• focused on the students, not me

Notes:

• As of 8/26/08, we are in our 2nd week of school.  This is the first week where they are obligated to respond to multiple posts.  The 2 blogs will remain open/active all school year (with a few weeks as 'extra credit' weeks when the students need a break, semester exams pop up, etc.).
• 6-8 prompts are given each week.  Responses are always due by Mon @ 8:30 (even if we have a long weekend).  Each prompt follows a set formula:  set-up, challenge, length, hint, etc.
• Topics/provocations are meant to supplement class discussion, encourage SAT vocab adoption, and offer my students a way to engage each other 24/7 in ways that the typical 10th grader may not be exposed to yet.  All of this is done with an eye on their being part of a competitive college-prep independent school environment and looking ahead at preparing them to be agile at the university level.  It also allows me to begin to customize resources for all of individual students:  colleges that will fit their personality, books/films they should consider, dealing with the stress of school/life, and challenging them to add a key idea to future class discussions.
• Posts are identified in a W1, #5 fashion ("Week 1, Entry #5) to help the students keep track of how many they've done each week.
• Students are graded based on the # and quality of their comments each week; you can find all related grading info on the blog.  I keep rigorous spreadsheets (etc) to track this since I'll receive up to 150-200 comments per week once the year picks up speed and need to ensure that everyone receives the grade they have earned.
• I try to respond -- inside the original comment -- to all student responses prior to Saturday midnight (since I am flooded on Sunday nights and can't do them all justice at that point).  Students who seek feedback typically submit their replies b/w Mon-Sat; others know ahead of time that it is hit-or-miss past Saturday whether I'll type them a personal response.  Obviously unique/striking student responses will grab my attention even on Sundays, often leading to me breaking this rule.
• Students names are never used, nor do we highlight/name our school.  All student replies are given a first-come-first-serve name (i.e. "Student #7, etc.) that I edit in before they are published.
• All comments are moderated.

Thank You

As I said in my last post, thank you. 

I've been very lucky to have this network offer me a seat at the 'table'.

And my students/child(ren) are the better for it.

P.S.

I have no intentions of continuing to edu-blog here at "think:lab" after today. 

I consider it the equivalent of a remarkable 'graduate' degree that I've been blessed to experience for the 3 years and claim many mentors, friends, & colleagues from this process.

The technical reason I am keeping "think:lab" alive is for archival reasons and that several other blogs I have use "think:lab" as a 'parent' URL, including my kiddos' blog.  Thus, Typepad will continue to receive my yearly payment though all new blogs (including my 2 classroom blogs mentioned above) are now going to be WordPress.com sites.

Finally Shifting the Needle

3 days: my students return from summer break as my 2nd year (back) begins.

7 months: my wife/son/I will welcome yet another member to our family.

Now: it's only appropriate that now is the time to finally re-align the needle.

Thank you: for the connections, the lessons, and the vision along the way. 

Been truly humbling to have a front-row seat in this remarkable edu-convo.

Funny.  Just another 7 days and it would have been three years to the day.

Forget Puppies; He's Getting His Own QR Code!

Sunday post:  "Fatherhood P.O.V."

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Making It Easy for Santa This Time

Thanks to a QR Code generator, my kid gets his very own QR code this 12/25. 

Suppose that means he'll be stealing papa's cell phone for legit reasons now that he'll need it to confirm that this actually reads "Beckett Michael Long":

Can't Think of a Time I Haven't

To be honest, every single keynote conference presentation I've given that has centered on re-thinking the future of school design, I flashed a shot (or dozen) of public QR code displays (esp. in Asia)...

Image

...followed by the phrase:

"Learning is Everywhere"

For most of my arch/edu clients/audiences, QR codes were new. 

I had little to zero interest in looking at the actual technology behind these content-embedded phone-scanning 'images'.  That's somebody else's gig.

All I wanted to do was emphasize that information/content  is everywhere -- along with the ability to connect to it, edit it, mash it up -- and that such a realization should have an impact on the way we think of 'boundaries' in campus/school/classroom design.

An Artistic / Slash / Marketing Swing

Take a look at the "Are you QRious?" video:

Legit info value?   Performance art only?  Or just Marketing 2.0 gone awry? 

Even better:  take a look/listen at this Pet Shop Boys vid that goes there, too:

Pet_shop_boys-integral-dvdrip-x264-2007-se
by eusebiu

Looking Everywhere

Not sure if my Beckett will truly face a day when every street corner, deli shelf, billboard, movie ticket, hip-n-trendy clothing item, or museum display will be QR codified and PDA/cell phone readable. Maybe yes.  Maybe no.

But the idea that "Learning is Everywhere" that underlies QR tech?

Well, that I'm pretty sure of.

Accessorizing One's Digital Footprint

Sunday post: "Fatherhood P.O.V."

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Fast and Furious Connections

Over the last 24 hours, I've been blessed with a fast and furious flurry of gracious messages coming in from all corners of my networked globe. 

While I'm not at liberty to explain the backstory until this coming Wednesday morning -- when I'll go all blog-post-ga-ga over it -- suffice it to say that even after 4 years of blogging this loosely coordinated message avalanche struck me as almost stunning.

Looking His Way

Looking at my kiddo's horizon-bent gaze this afternoon at the pool...

...I began to sense that such a flurry of network messages will be the norm for him throughout his future.  Real time feedback from all corners of the globe sparked instantaneously by real-time events/actions within his life. 

Its all digitally connected.  And its all digitally immediate.

For me, still amazing.  For Beckett, just the only thing he'll ever know.

Accessorize or Fade Away

From the trippy-cool gang over at Universitat de Kunste Berlin, down the Gestalten mit digitalen Medien academic corridor, lies a pretty oh-my project that sorta takes the theory of clickability [see below] to a whole new level.

Meet the Googleriffic vanity ring for the dig:nat set:

Update of the ring as a status symbol.

Shows the number of Google hits you get, when you search for the name of the person who wears it.

Vanity Ring from Markus Kison on Vimeo.

Clickable is the New Black

As hinted at above, fellow edu-guy Will Richardson threw a pretty big idea-rock into our collective pond not too long ago. 

He said, in so many words:

If you ain't thinking about what it means for your kids/students to be clickable in this economy, you ain't thinking.

He said it better, of course.  But you get the point.

And I'm only hoping that for Beckett's sake, his future teachers will get it, too.

Sabuda's Minimalist Half-Brother

Sunday post: "Fatherhood P.O.V."

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Putting Some 3D Funk in His A, B, C's

Rummaging around the family couch for enough quarters or a loose double sawbuck to purchase a single copy of this alphabetic-wonder pop-up book:

Popup by Marion Bataillle
by jacques_faciale

You Need a Card Catalog to Find Anything

Can't tell how many books the kid has near to his crib.  Or on his floor.

Silly really. And we haven't even begun to 'read' yet.

Just repeating words, pointing at furry animals he knows the name of, classics like Mike Mulligan's steam shovel and bears named Berenstein, mama books mama reads best, papa books papa reads best, and some funky Japanese ones that are just cool for the sake of cool.

Yet, I'd give them all up -- in a blink of a librarian's eye -- for Marion's design-minimalistic alphabetic wonder book.

Even if paper-cuttin' Sabuda wanted to challenge me to a pop-up duel.

Admission

OK.  I admit it.

You can't take my Sabuda.

Esp. the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland copy that I have on the coffee table next to my couch in my classroom.  That's got a bear trap around it.

 

Its in the Cards

Sunday post: "Parenthood P.O.V."

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But Ain't It Just Marketing?

Call me a design snob-geek.  Or whatever comes to mind.

But if my kiddo (or any future kiddos) went to to a school that had design chops like this little kiddo academic research center -- of all things -- does, I'd be very proud.  Now, if only their web site lived up to this lovely bit, then we'd really have some inspiration to wrap our parental arms around.  [shrug]

And assume my kiddo would be expect to be read to each night in a toddler-sized Eames rocking chair, too.

Just Design.  Right?

Check out this link and behold the power of oh-so-fine business card design.

Now, take out your stop watches and throw down your bet on when Ethan has a commission or two that get added to this list in the next few years now that his college years are about ready to launch.

Love what he says in a recent blog post about his new shiny camera:

When you carry a camera you see the world more.

Also rather appreciate his vision for his later years, post-college/career.

My Personal Fav

And the one I want to rip off straight away? [pun very much intended]

Oh my:

"Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot..."

Sunday post:  "Fatherhood P.O.V."

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Watching Him Closely

Its in his eyes.

Even @ 23 mos, everything the world can offer is found in my kid's eyes.

Absorbed, refracted, re-built, questioned, adored, challenged.

Everything.  Captured in Beckett's eyes.

And I spend every second in his presence trying to figure out what he's just figured out.  Put two and two together. Fallen in love with.  Influenced by. 

And what will stick as he shifts from pre-memory toddler to full-memory kid.

Kid Memory is the Darnedest Thing

A 7th grade science teacher said something to my classmates/me years and years ago that continues to hold fiercely to my gray matter:

The earliest event you can actually recall happening took place somewhere between the ages of 18 mos and 3 years of age. 

[paraphrased just a bit, since I'm digging 25+ years deep on this]

Image: Into the Unknown, by Thomas Hawk

Not sure what causes this, nor do I recall any 'facts' he gave us to support his claim (although every time I ask a new class of students of my own to recall their first memory -- that does not require a parent telling the story over and over to them again -- I find that he was pretty much right). 

My non-scientific guess:

Perhaps it occurs when a toddler/child is finally old enough to 'frame' experiences by real language of their own that allows the mind to finally hold tight to the event's existence in its future memory banks.

You See: The Radio Loves a Good Story

Thought about this again yesterday as I was listening to This American Life's "Fear of Sleep" episode on the radio.  It was the story of the man's memory of his 6yo self watching a particularly classic 70's film that grabbed me. 

Makes me wonder when my own 13 mos old Beckett will begin to collect events in his mind -- fuzzy and accurate alike -- that will end up in his conscious memory filing cabinet long into his adult life.

Probably something that involves oddly constructed boogeyman fear and/or the smell of homemade apple pie.

Nearly Spit My Milk Out

After listening to my 23 mos old kiddo repeat "Wuch moh Chalee, wuch moh Chalee, wuch moh Chalee"

[rough translation:  "Watch more Charlie (Bit My Finger)"]

over and over this morning, I was charmed to have a fellow teacher type point out this lovely kid-centric vid recently, a video that oh-so-cleverly combines brilliant high-level satire with summer camp nostalgia: 

Can't help but love the "All I did was trade Lunchables" kid.  He gives a delightful close at the end of the vid, in particular. 

Also had a hard time not spitting my milk out my nose when the "circle, circle, dot, dot..." moment happened at the 0:53 mark.

Ultimate Assignment Today?

Seems to me that the "PSA" [aka:  public service announcement] -- both in earnest and playful terms -- may be the ultimate school assignment today in terms of combining the following formula:

digital video hunger/possibilities +

content research +

storyboarding +

thoughful editing strategies +

a love your audience mindset =

legitimate demonstration of learning

Keep it to 30 seconds.

Be brutally honest to your students re: storyboard, edit, and audience components.

And tell 'em that for every 30 sec of final content the save, they might need an hour or more of raw footage -- and a lot of time spent rigorously editing -- until the final product really sings.

Come up with a dynamite rubric they understand and you can put your name on.

And then set 'em free.

Limits Academically

Limits in terms of subject/curriculum? 

Nah. 

None really exist, save for engendering academic purpose/results and maintaining a code of respect & common sense at all times. 

Beyond that it doesn't really matter if one choose a political topic, satire, political satire, current events, history, literary characters creatively brought back to life, foreign language study, or life at school.  It only matters that:

a) its relevant to the class

b) the students understand what they created content-wise

c) the superficial cleverness of doing video in class doesn't replace the power of a well-crafted piece put in the hands of a truly engaged audience.

For What It's Worth:

Because this falls into the "no specific blog post category" category -- and I simply ache to make sure everybody falls in love with it as I have -- I'm going to use the thinest of connective tissue to rationalize my placement of it here. 

Answer:  go back and listen to the entire This American Life radio episode and see if you can find the connection. 

Hint:  Colorado snow, 6yo hero, classic fright, 'nuff said.

Maybe you'll find an academic purpose for the vid.  Or maybe you'll just grin nostalgically if you were watching film in the 70's.

In the meantime, see how many seconds it takes you to guess the literary/cinematic reference the vid comes to an end. Enjoy:

Training Ground For the Next Generation

Saturday Post: "Inspired School Design"

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Visuals with a New Intent

I was delighted to have recently discovered photographer Monica Nouwens who is giving the visual study of 'school design' in Los Angeles a shot in the arm via her "monicanovolumethree" blog these days.

From California architect Stephen Phillips, AIA, the following comment of his is worth passing along:

Nouwen’s photographic research in Los Angeles, challenges the effects that recent school revitalization projects have had on the everyday lives of its city residents. Nouwen’s images reveal schools that create a training ground for the next generation through big, vast, powerful and contemporary building structures.

Pssst:  Did you catch that line of his about the "training ground for the next generation" business?  Mmm. (wink)

Another Side of Campus

For the purposes of my new commitment to re-frame my Mon-Sun posting habits through specific category themes from this point out -- i.e.  Saturdays are now "Inspired School Design"  days -- these photos came into my life at a really advantageous time, too:

Beautiful | Decay Indeed

Funny where inspiration lies. 

Sometimes the best school design lies down the urban 'art' rabbit hole.  Such was the case tonight as I followed a trust us wink and a no kiddin' nudge from the good folks keeping things visually real over at the Wooster Collective. 

That's how I found Beautiful | Decay and their highlight of school design that led me to Monica's work.  Go figure!

One Last Thing

Check out Monica's work on a couple of other fronts if you're digging her work:

• "Volume 1" blog
• "Volume 2" blog

Innovative Trails of Facts and Possibilities

Friday Post:  "Big Picture" Inspiration"

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Follow the Old Skool Cheetohs Trail

Much like the police who recently followed the Cheetohs trail of empty snack packs to find the trio of teens who broke into a vending machine at a local community center (and later were caught at one of their family homes where the evidence trail came to an end), much of learning are fact trails laid out by teachers taking advantage of time-tested protocols for helping students move from point A to point Z in a given knowledge-based curriculum.

Image

As tempted as I am to wave the future shift flag high above my head on occasion, I really do enjoy a student who has a solid base of knowledge under their feet before they begin to debate with me the semantics of a better way to learn in my classroom. 

And I find that very same student even more compelling when their knowledge base can show me something new, too, especially if it can have a legit impact on our shared classroom and my own professional development in the process.

Big City Police Dept. Showing a Better Way

But we all know that traditional education only gets you so far up today's learning curve.

Let's say you're a big city police officer who has a hard-to-solve set of surveillance footage of a series of recent crimes.  Let's say that even with the footage, you and your team are having a difficult time finding legit suspects. 

What do you do, besides pulling out the "Cold Case" filing cabinet drawer?

Well, perhaps -- like the Dallas (TX) Police Department has been doing recently -- you begin to post surveillance footage of various crimes on YouTube in an effort to engage the community to share tips/leads.

Crazy, you say? 

That's precisely what many of the department's own officers said at first.  Until they began to get some crazy view counts on what would otherwise be random/useless footage. 

And now suddenly those same officers who faced internal criticism suddenly look like new media Lone Rangers in the process.  Especially when one such video post has already led to an arrest.

Have You Made Your List, Yet?

Heck, if big city police departments are turning to YouTube to help their cause, how am I supposed to shake dy/dan's new media curriculum list prompt from not so long ago? 

Seriously. How? 

Maybe it was this subtle bit of challenge that stirred the idea-pot for me:

So love what you teach and sharpen your eyes to find what you love embroidered within the fabric of popular culture. Don't present these videos to your students as gimmicks or, worse, as winking concessions to their allegedly lowbrow tastes. These videos are important to them, which makes them important to you.

As he said, it's about what's important to our key audience (students).  And thus what's important to us (teacher types).  This is what the police dept figure out.   To their benefit. Seems that maybe a single teacher like me shouldn't stand in the way of new media networking inevitability. 

Right?

That's precisely why I'm already in talks with Dina about co-developing an English-centric reservoir of unexpected video gems that support a host of classroom specific ideas along the lines of what Todd has been doing with "literary terms" (personification, simile, irony, you name it). 

Throwing the Kids into the Game, Too

Dina's suggestion to me grew out of a comment I left over at the dy/dan joint:

In the meantime, I’m going to get back on my comfy “let the children lead the way” pied piper bandwagon chair and challenge my students to populate an English-centric list (say, literary terms, which Todd already began to develop quite well) with a delicious snack-fest of multi-media goodies of their own.

And in a blink of an eye -- thanks to Todd's list -- this very project concept has taken a front-n-center seat in my planning book for this fall's classroom program.

For me/my kids, it'll be a gathering of film and TV episode clips that highlight the various stages of Joseph Campbell's hero journey which will be central to everything we analyze/write this year.   I'm already burning the midnight oil over in YouTube land finding more 2 minute film trailer gems than I can possibly cash in.

You See: YouTube Loves Joseph Campbell

Such as?

• Think Fozzie Bear and Kermit the Frog singing "Moving Right Along" ("in search of good times and good friends...") as they hit the road early on in "The Muppet Movie" helping to illuminate the "Crossing the First Threshold" concept. 
• Think Neo being offered the blue pill by Morpheus to shed light on the "Supernatural Aid" (i.e. meeting the mentor) chapter. 
• Or think "The Princess Bride" as a whole giving every archetypal term a run for its money.

Even better, think, "Hey, students, how about you begin brainstorming a master list that we fill with YouTube clips during this first week of the school year?  Maybe we can put together something that students/teachers from around the world studying Joseph Campbell and literary heroes can use to grasp what you guys will be experts on?"

Following a Tangentially Similar Spirit

Hardly the first to link here, but I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of MadVs "The Message" hand vid (along with the rest of what he's putting on the screen).  Something tells me that it'll be an interesting conversation prompt -- void of any real set-up by me -- early this school year:

Maybe I'll ask, "What do we do with this bad-boy here in our very own classroom?", after the vid comes to an end. 

Or maybe I'll just let it hang in the air, zero words added to the mix.

Wanted:  Eng. Teacher Types, Good Radar

Any English teacher types with decent radar for locating new media clips that cleverly illuminate various concepts for MS/HS English students interested in teaming up on the creation of a master site of resources that follow through on dy/dan's/todd's challenge?

If so, fire me off an email or comment.  Dina and I would love the company.

In the meantime, I'm gonna add to my English teacher grab bag this lovely little clip from "Pineapple Express" which I just saw at the theater today:

A surprisingly good film (once you get past the obvious stoner white noise that almost seems straight-to-cult-video for the first 20 minutes) that follows in the clever footsteps of "Hot Fuzz" and "Shaun of the Dead".

File it under "epiphany" | "transformation" on the lit term shelf for your young story writers.  Something tells me they'll nail the vocab quiz that follows.

Unexpected Trip Down Memory Lane

Wednesday post: "The Student|Teacher Dynamic"

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Circling Back

Every teacher who has been at it for a few years has at least one story of a student that circles back over time to say hello.  Perhaps that now-adult student shares a few stories about how a particular class project or blackboard talk made an impact on their life.  And on occasion, such a student even shifts from calling you "Mr..." or "Mrs..." to that of "friend".

Such is the case with Blake who has shifted from 9th grade English student and soccer player the first year I was given a full-time classroom of my own while teaching/coaching in Dayton, OH in the mid-90's...

...to becoming a regular member of my life friend list now that he's holding down a professional career of his own, has mentored more recent students of mine, and continues to send word from various travel adventures he takes when his client list can wait.

Be Careful What You Ask For

I just received the following email from Blake, along with the following shot of him sitting next to the Bronco mascot of my central Maine high school that I graduated from 20 years ago:

To quote your email from January 30, 2008:
 
'If you really want to impress me and go way, way, way out of your way, drive to Bangor, Maine, but stop in the town just shy of it.  Called Hampden.  Stop at Hampden Academy, the joint that I called home from 9th to 12th grade. Take a shot of you in front of the old building and/or sign.  I'll give you extra credit on your next 9th grade paper you turn in.'
 
Well....

P.S.

Well, indeed.

And I'm willing to offer him that extra credit just as soon as he turns in that Lord of the Flies essay he owes me.

(wink)