Editing... revisited

I enjoy revisiting topics. Every day I come across an instance where I hear or see someone not using the skills to edit information put out into the public. Next time you watch the news on your local television channel, pay attention to the reports on "health studies" that they report. Usually, they preface the report with a teaser before a commercial so that you continue to watch. This usually sounds something like this... "When we come back, find out why walking down a city street in the middle of the day may lead to an early death". They rely on the shock of the report. When they finally get to the story, they interview someone that was walking down the street and came across a man hole cover that was loose. This person decided to get on the news by calling the news station and reporting their near death story. The next day, everyone that sees this report, immediately fears man hole covers and stays clear of them.

This is a made-up story of course. I was using it as a metaphor for how ridiculous I think some news reports are. A great example of this fear reporting... 3 drinks daily increase risk for breast cancer . I recently saw this report on the news and then looked it up of the Internet. Now, the report says that if a woman is to drink 3 alcohol drinks daily, she increases her risk of breast cancer by 30% or as much as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. First of all, I don't know any women who drink 3 alcohol drinks a day. If they do drink three drinks a day, they probably already smoke a pack of cigarettes.

This is not the point though. The report did its job. Now everyone equates drinking 3 drinks daily with smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. People go to work the next day like they are intelligent and start barking statistics out that they heard on the news. Now everyone thinks that drinking a few drinks every day is as harmful as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. The report told you what they wanted to tell you and didn't mention all of the other harmful effects of smoking. The news focuses on the shock value of the report and wants you to watch their station.

This is where editing needs to come into play. As a society, we need to listen, learn, and then decide what is a true and valid study. These statistics may be true, but we as a society need to learn how to question a study and not give so much credit to the reports.

How creative can you be in 2nd Grade?

This week, I just finished doing a great and simple activity with my 2nd Grade students. We discussed physical properties of objects and how they can be altered/changed. This engagement lesson is the starting point of another lesson in which the students create a paper puppet from an ordinary paper lunch bag.

This is how it goes...

I start by listing physical properties of myself. I ask them to start chiming in. We talk about some physical properties of other items in the room and they begin to catch on. Before you know it, the students can define the term physical properties. They have to be helped a little to get the word "describe" added in there.

Any way, after you talk about physical properties, hand out a quarter sheet of notebook paper. You tell them that they are going to use their creative minds to change the physical properties of this piece of paper. We then discuss the properties as the paper appears now. We purposefully do not discuss the ways in which we can change the physical properties (they would use all of the ideas discussed, that is how they have been trained). I tell them that they can use a pencil, some crayons, and their hands to change the properties of the paper any way they want.

I emphasize that they can CHANGE THE PROPERTIES OF THE PAPER ANY WAY THEY WANT.

When I tell them to begin, almost on cue, I have hands flying up in the air. The students all want to ask me permission to do certain things to their paper. They are deathly afraid to alter the paper any way that would get them in trouble. They need someone to hold their hand through the process. Even though I have told them repeatedly that they could do anything to the paper, they still do not understand that concept. I continue to just say to them "You can change any properties of the paper that you wish". I do not answer their questions.

How I look at this situation...

These students, at the age of 7, have what I like to call learned helplessness. They have been taught and have learned to be completely helpless in this situation. Out of 3 classes of 2nd grade students (95 students), only about 5 or 6 students had the ability to use their complete imaginations and do this assignment with a creative and unique agenda. One student balled up the paper and colored it. When I asked him what properties he changed? he said " I changed the shape, the color, and the texture". Yes, he used these exact words! Only about 4-5 students ripped the paper into pieces. The thought of altering this perfectly good paper seemed almost taboo for these kids.

The final product was eye opening, and I think we actually had some reversal of the learned helplessness. These kids can learn to be self-sufficient learners. This is a concept that needs to be looked at in a beginning of the year professional development course.

The Wiki Project

After much thought and reflection, I have decided to take the wiki to a new level. The project will consist of creating somewhat of a club at my school. Being after school, I will be able to have the time to create a group of interested students that want to use this vehicle for collaboration and learning. The group/club/project will consist of a few students from each 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classroom. These students will be responsible for editing, creating, deleting and maintaining their own grade level wiki page. Each grade level will be organized as a committee not unlike we as teachers are a part of at our schools. These committee's will meet and organize the information that will be created on this site.

After presenting the idea to our Principal, she was elated. She doesn't quite understand the power of a wiki quite yet... it will take time. I explained to her the passion I have to change the methods in which we teach. I went on to explain the ways in which this wiki will change the structure of learning information. I have mentioned this idea to a few other teachers, and have received nothing but positive thoughts and ideas.

The wiki will be used for publishing factual information that is curriculum based in our science program. Students can use the wiki for study guides, science project ideas, and unique publishing purposes. Parents can use the wiki for informational purposes along with keeping up with the curriculum that is being taught throughout the year. Teachers can use the wiki for informational purposes in their class and side projects that can be fused with science. Science Project ideas will be posted along with any important rules governing them.

I am maintaining my optimism and am looking forward to getting the project on the road. Stay tuned for any further updates on this project and remember to check it out, as it is a work in progress.

Information in line for EDITING

The ability to edit information is the single most powerful skill one will need now and in the future in order to make sense of the world around us. As of now, I see editing in practice in the blog/web 2.0 world.

Editing does not only encompass looking at text and deciding whether or not it is credible. Editing to me involves the ability to edit all forms of media, entertainment, and any other information presented to us daily. This is not an innate skill. Humans are not born with the ability to consume information, have the skills to check credibility and decide to use the information in a way that makes sense... we need to teach this in our schools.

Our information revolution is not going anywhere. We can't take a break from the information, and come back another day. Information is omnipresent. Taking a break from the information flood would only involve us delaying the information that is presently available to us.

In the coming years, this will be a highly regarded skill that will be needed to sustain every day life. This skill is not only needed by adults... we need to teach children strategies to begin the process at a young age. Children need to be able to hear something in the media and know that it may not be the entire truth. They need to be able to watch the MTV Music Awards Show and know that they do not have to agree with the ideas of an artist presenting. They need to be able to pick up a magazine and read it not as truth, but as a practice session for their editing ability. The skill of questioning and not automatically believing comes into play. Always question, discuss and then decide.

These skills need to be used everyday in order for students to know how to use them. The fragility in our society will begin to show if generations are not using the skills of questioning and editing.

Disturbing trends

The school in which I am employed, as many other schools, rely on fundraisers to gain funding for the many student programs. I agree with this means of obtaining money for programs. However, in the past few years, I have noticed a disturbing trend taking place in our elementary schools. I am not aware if this is taking place everywhere in the country, but in my district it is prevalent.
Waiting for a class to come to science, I was drawn to the gymnasium, where I heard screaming and yelling coming from the mass of students enthralled by a speaker. I knew from a previous announcement that this assembly was for our beginning of the year fundraiser. Standing in the back of the gym, I was shocked.
The man at the helm was about 45 years old and dressed as if he was appearing on MTV. I couldn't help but notice that his rant sounded more like an infomercial about getting rich quick. Every word uttered from his mouth was filled with empty promises of students winning money for selling items to people in their neighborhood. If you sell 10 items, you can pick from envelopes containing amounts of cash. If you sell 20 items, you can get the envelope, and a spin on the cash wheel. If you sell 30 items, you can get the envelope, a spin on the wheel, and a bonus reward. If you are the top 2 sellers in the school, you get all of the previous rewards, and you can stand in a box with cash being floating around you while you grab as much as you can grab.
I had already heard enough. As I watched the teachers in the room roll their eyes in disbelief, and the students yell in excitement, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. If this wasn't enough, it continued with the speaker showing a video. The video contained students and "adults" walking around flashing stacks of money in their hands, students dancing around like adults at a dance club, and stretched limousines parked outside of the school. As the video was playing, the students were so excited about the life they were going to lead after gaining all of this money and fame. It was a surreal moment in a public education facility.
At the end of the assembly, the speaker told the students how they could get free prizes the very next day. He went on to explain that if they took home this form to their parents, filled out 10 addresses of people they know, and returned it to school the next day, they would get 2 free prizes. What a way to generate a mailing list to mail junk to people.
I know that I cannot be the only educator that sees the ill values that we are pouring into the glasses of our students lives. As a parent, I would have issues with this. As an educator, I have issues with this. We are showing the students what we think is important in life. We are showing these students that gaining fame and money and not an education is the goal. There are many other ways to motivate these students. I think we have sunk to a new low level. There will be more to come on this topic...

Focusing on Common Sense?

Recently, in a staff meeting at school, the idea was brought up that we need to be careful when we punish an entire class for the actions of a few. I do agree with this idea, but the entirety of the conversation is what I do not agree with. Me being outspoken, I asked, "What event occurred to invite this comment to the party"?
It turns out that an irate parent had come to school yelling about how their kid had to write an apology letter to a teacher, when their kid would never do anything wrong.
The poor student had to take a few minutes out of their leisure filled day to do some writing. We actually spent about 10 - 15 minutes at our staff meeting discussing this "problem" and some solutions to the "problem". We spent more time talking about the situation than it probably took the student to do the assignment.

Schools are putting their tails between their legs a little too often now. Why do we fear a parent? What will a parent do to us that is so terrible? Is it our litigious society that has brought us to fear what might happen?
I think we need to put these instances in perspective. Common sense needs to move back into our lives as a staple of making better decisions. This student didn't miss recess, didn't get publicly reprimanded, and wasn't treated any different than any other student in the class.
Parents need to stop crying and schools need to stop putting their tails between their legs when a parent yells.

Week of change!

Reading through my feeds, I can definitely tell most of the bloggers are teaching now. New posts are hard to come by. Some days, I can't find the time to eat lunch. I have 15 different classes, 400 different students, and about 60 different teachers to keep in order. Teaching science in an elementary school sure is different.

I have, however, found the time to create a wiki for my 3-5 graders. This will be interesting. Many students are asking... how it works, who can edit information, and what happens if someone deletes everything on the wiki. It's very basic at the moment. Eventually, I want the wiki to become a collaborative source used by students globally for learning purposes. I am trying to find a way to hold students accountable for misuse and sabotage. It sounds as though it will happen... (comments and questions asked by students). If there are any ideas, please feel free to comment. As of right now there is only one user name and password. I think this will need to change.

Hacking into the iphone

I woke up this morning to the news of an iPhone hacker on the local news. Supposedly, he spent over 500 hours working on this project in which he had to use a soldering iron to disassemble the iPhone. His point was to make the iPhone available to other cell service providers. His question...Why should AT&T get sole use of this technology?

This era of techno-relevance is mind boggling to say the least. To think...there are teenagers out there that are self-taught prodigies when it comes to the intricacies of these tech tools. This mere 17 year old decided to use his skills to hack into the newest gadget on the market. These types of ideas happen every day I am sure, but this is national news now. It took him the same amount of time that it took 5 trained hacks to do the same thing to the iphone.

Does this 17 year old need college?

Addicted to Blog

70%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Dating Site

Yes, I had to see how addicted I actually was. I don't think 70% makes me too addicted. I havn't had much time to put new entries on my blog recently. I have been bombarded by new information and getting my mind ready to teach. Hopefully, once I get a few weeks under my belt, I will come back to blogging regularly.

What needs to be asked

I just went to my yearly County In-Service at another school. This consists of about 30 elementary science teachers sitting around listening to the "Science Person" from the County Board of Education. In our county, science is one of the few subjects that has its indicators/curriculum written by the teachers themselves. This has already been done.

Today we spent about 4 hours discussing the order (pacing) in which these indicators will be taught this year.

My point:
What did we do?
The wrong questions were being asked at this meeting. We spent the valuable time arguing/explaining the reasons why certain teachers wanted certain indicators to be taught at certain times. Most of the time was spent with teachers complaining about their situations, complaining about students and how they forget everything that is taught to them, and complaining about other teachers. At the end of this meeting, we figured out the first quarters pacing and have an idea of what the remainder of the year is going to look like regarding curriculum.

What should we have done?
We should have discussed how(the processes involved) to teach these children. This is a realm that is not addressed anymore, it seems.

We are going to continue to have students that can't remember taught curriculum, struggle to learn, and fall short on processing skills if we don't address HOW to teach. This involves the activities and the processes that we require our students to take part in.

My District? RSS?

Unbelievable!! I was searching through my school based e-mail last night. I usually get a few useless e-mails everyday, so I just go through and delete them. Last night I was noticing an e-mail that was titled "CCPS Press Releases". I never heard them use this language before in an e-mail. I opened the e-mail and to my surprise it was a group of articles that are in the form of a blog. I scrolled down through the list of article and I saw the familiar RSS/XML button. I thought I was seeing things. I couldn't believe my eyes. Someone is beginning to get with he program. I immediately subscribed to the press releases. Now, when I open up the education section of my feeds, I get my districts press releases automatically.

My goal is to now discuss with someone the importance of making the site a little more interactive. I think it is only fair to have a comment section to the articles. I know this will open up a can of worms that the district probably doesn't want to hear, but they need to hear it!

I am going to stay on top of this. I don't want this to end here. I would like to see more effort put into creating on-line tools that are teacher, student, and parent friendly. What about a school based curriculum wiki. What about creating a weekly podcast per grade level that is linked to this site for student and parent use. The possibilities are endless.

Starting Again

It is like I am starting over as a new teacher this year. On Monday the 2oth, I am back in the classroom. This time I am the Science Resource Teacher at a Title I School. This will be a new set of interesting and tall hurdles to jump over. I now will have the privilege to teach all the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes in the school. I will be responsible for many live animals, yearly Science Projects, the 5th grade end of the year over-night trips, and many other interesting events this year. Finding time to integrate my classroom 2.0 initiatives will be the real challenge. I will only be meeting with the students twice a week. This doesn't allow me nearly enough time to integrate RSS Aggregators, wiki's and blogs into the curriculum. I will have to play this one by ear to see how much we can accomplish. I will start off using my own blog as a communication between school and home. We will see how this takes off. I will continue to use Classblogmeister.com as by blog of choice for student use. This format lends itself nicely to teachers because of the edit features. Thanks to David Warlick and his Landmark Project, we have this avenue to drive down.

Back on Track

I found myself getting off topic with the subject matter in this blog. Even though government and business have a lot to do with education, I felt as though I needed to start another blog to focus my concentration in the two areas. In Regulation Machine , I would like to focus more on issues surrounding our government and large business.
This is probably not the best time to start a new blog. I begin a new teaching position on Monday of next week. Oh well. This should be fun. It might take me a while to set the blog up the way I want it, but it's there.

Sponsored/Censored by AT&T

Recently one of the most musically talented and outspoken bands of my generation, Pearl Jam, was censored by AT&T at Lallopalooza. During one of their songs, "Daughter", Eddie Vedder went on to say, " George Bush Leave this World Alone", and then, " George Bush Find Yourself Another Home". The crowd loved it, but you couldn't hear them. The webcast sponsored by AT&T was censored so that Eddie was cut off immediately after he said his first statement.
This is not the same as government censorship. This is sponsor censorship. AT&T decided that they would not let Eddie have his constitutional right as a citizen of the United States. They decided that rather than risk their important reputation as a company, they would completely mute the words of an individual that is trying to make sense of a confusing, egotistical government.

AT&T claim that it was all a mistake. They blame it on some mix-up in the soundboard room. I don't buy the excuse. The placement of the muting was all too convenient.
I know that this happens all the time with large companies censoring their sponsored individuals. They just happened to mess with one of my favorite bands. I think that Eddie will continue to press this issue. Pearl Jam has a great influence throughout the world. Many people that are in my generation follow the band.

Everyone should be upset at AT&T's actions. AT&T decided that YOU as an individual citizen are not intelligent enough to know that Eddie Vedder's words are his own views. They decided that since you are not intelligent enough to know this, they will completely mute his voice so that you will not be exposed to it. This is a common theme in our nation. Not only with big business, but also with our government. It all comes from FEAR. Fear of the unknown. Fear of being figured out. Fear of revolution. Fear of the mass.

Eddie is one of the most charismatic and perceptive individuals I have ever seen speak. His ideologies and views of our nation come from many years of contemplation and investigation. If anyone has the ability to put fear in the eyes of the government and the corporations, Eddie does. I can't wait to see what comes out of this scenario.

Advice worth listening to!

I recently read a blog post by Will Richardson discussing the education reform front. He mentioned the name Doug Noon. I have been reading posts by Doug ever since. Doug has a great way of creating discussions on topics that are not usually discussion filled topics... Clearing a Space to Think had 15 comments posted in just a day or two. Simple topics, creative delivery, the education reform front is alive!