I really didn't mean for this blog to take a summer vacation. It did, however. I guess I can't blame it. It moved from Michigan to Connecticut, unpacked way too many boxes, spent a lot of time sprucing up a new house, attempting to work on a Master's project, and trying to get back into running shape. It's in between jobs, and doesn't know too much about the new job it has, thus it has felt some disconnect to the education world: It's done with the last position, but doesn't know what the new position is.
The blog is back from break though, and hopefully it won't be slacking off during the school year (which officially starts in one week). Look for a real post tomorrow. 🙂
I really enjoy teaching, but there are a few people that'd be able to convince me to take a hiatus from my current career track if they offered me a position. Here are three of them:
Richard Preston
Richard Preston is perhaps best known for writing articles on scientists and science in New Yorker magazine. He's well known for his article on people with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome- a genetic disorder that is perhaps most dramatically characterized by involuntary self-mutilation. In a recent Science Friday interview, he also discusses his brush with danger at a Level 4 biohazard facility, among other things. Dr. Preston, if you ever need a note-taker (or other technical support) during your research trips, I'm available.
Described on his TED Talk page as a "professional jack-of-all-trades," Nathan Myhrvolds has been the CTO of Microsoft, won a world championship for BBQ, discovered Tyrannasaurus Rex skeletons, and taken award winning photographs of wildlife. He's obviously a smart dude with skills, passion, and the money to fund them. Well, Mr. Myhrvolds, I love BBQ, enjoy wildlife, believe in the SETI program, and enjoy all manners of volcanoes. If you need a taste-tester, tripod holder, or alien hunter side-kick, I think I'm a good choice.
Nathan Myhrvolds' TED Talk does contain a couple PG-13 words, but those words do tend to be used quite accurately (Thanks to BoingBoing for the tip).
Robert Ballard
Yes, this is the Robert Ballard who re-discovered the Titanic on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. However, that was hardly the only highlight in his career of exploring the depths of the ocean. In his TED Talk, he passionately petitions for a higher priority in exploring one of the largest unknowns in the universe: the depths of Earth's own oceans. Dr. Ballard, I think I could definitely help you out. First, you're interested in working with educating youth. Me too! Second, I have a degree in geology. Third, I already am a member of the Mystic Aquarium, which is a partner with the Institute for Exploration that you founded. I'll be living 25 minutes or so from Mystic, CT, and about 45 minutes away from the University of Rhode Island. Sounds like a natural fit, no?
Robert Ballard's TED Talk
Now, I don't really expect to hear from any of these guys¹, but I'd love to spend a summer following them around. I'm captivated not only by what they do, but their passion for it as well.
At approximately 8:00 am EDT today I will have officially turned in my Michigan resident permit. At approximately 8:00am EDT, I will cross into Ohio with no foreseeable return to Michigan, the state where I've spent my last 29.2888... years of my life.
While I'm not sharing these with my students anymore (yahoo for summer!), I'm still finding good stuff that I'm tucking away in my personal files. Here's a sampling of sites that made me SSOL (say "sweet!" out loud):
Part of the Boston Globe's online space, The Big Picture posts amazing high quality images of recent events.
Particular posts I found moving/incredible/inspiring:
I just ran across this yesterday thanks to BoingBoing.net. It's a graphical depiction of the United States federal discretionary budget (i.e. where you income taxes go). Incredibly detailed yet incredible to look at, it's quick way to visualize the priorities of the government based upon how they fund the various departments. You can zoom and pan around the image at their site to get a better look. If you really like it, you can buy it as a 24-inch by 36-inch poster (that's roughly 61-cm by 91-cm for those world citizens out there).
For the last several weeks I've been following the story of a student teacher who has been blogging his triumphs, failures, and frustrations of his credential program and of teaching in the classroom.
Recently a teacher from within his department confronted him on it with the ominous: "We, the department, know you're blogging.¹" The blog is anonymous to protect the innocent, though the confronting teacher noted he could recognize people mentioned in the blog.
I won't go through his whole story here (if interested, please readmore at his blog), but needless to say, it could end with his removal from the credential program.
In my recent job hunt, I was asked by some if I was worried potential employers would see my blog. I wasn't. I'd like any place that hires me to know that I am an active participant in my own global learning community. I wanted to get hired by a district and school that is supportive of the use of technology for personal professional development. If a district has a serious problem with a teacher that blogs, then I'd have serious reservations with accepting a job at such an institution.
In an episode of David Warlick's Connect Learning podcast, Chris Lehmann of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia discusses what he looks for when he's interviewing for teaching positions. Instead of trying to determine whether teachers will be toadies of the system who'll turn their monthly lesson plans turned in on time, he specifically looks for teachers who are active learners in their own right², both in their personal and professional lives. What better way to actively participate in your own learning that utilize a blog to share and have conversations about ideas?
There are too many schools (and teachers) out there who seem afraid that someone will find out what we're actually doing in the schools. I understand there are real and important issues in protecting student privacy, but I don't feel the system should be afraid of the general public finding out there is a group of thoughtful, reflecting, constantly improving educators out there.
Recently I posted a portion of some student work. I didn't mention who the student was or really any details about the student whatsoever. Yet, if that student saw it posted he/she would obviously know it's their work. His/her parents and some of his/her friends would probably also recognize it. Was that "unprofessional?" Did it break an "unstated, implicit confidentiality" between teacher and student? I argue it didn't. Or was I wrong?³
¹ Everytime I've read that I think of the movie Congo: "We. are. watching. you." It's probably an inappropriate association.
² Among many other things.
³ This may be the clearest instance of preaching to the choir. Evar. If you're reading this blog (especially commenting on it), you're probably not blog-o-phobic. Oh well. Your thoughts on the matter are still appreciated.
After doing a quick post on Saturday utilizing a new-found tool (Wordle) to make my Master's Project Proposal into a word cloud, upon checking my RSS aggregator today it seems that Wordle has taken over the universe.
While I tend not to necessarily be a big fan of the latest fad tools (I can be a bit oppositional at times), the pure ease of operation and the beauty/meaning inherent in the created word/tag clouds is quite enrapturing. Although it is extremely interesting and perhaps a big enlightening to see people's del.icio.us tags in a beautiful cloud, perhaps the true power of this tool is to turn any text into a word cloud. The question that is most important (to me) is whether or not this is just a fun tool to perform a quick trick, or if it can be used to change the way text is interpreted. Any insights?
I did a quick perusal of backlinks and trackbacks from Wordle related posts in my reader just now. Here's what I found:
Alan Levine is the most well rounded of the bunch, but seems to like hz's followed by numbers.
And I leave you with my own del.icio.us tag cloud, which I don't feel gives you a full picture of my interests, but if you knew very little about me, it would certainly give you a little insight:
UPDATE- To emphasize the craze that Wordle has been in the last week, see the image below:
I have just finished writing my Master's project proposal. It's been an experience. Since I've known I'll be moving out of state (circa November), I've been trying to finish all the classes I can to avoid the horrors of transferring graduate-level credits. Since January I've taken 10 credits, including my weenie 1 credit I get for the completion of my project proposal. Needless to say, I haven't had to worry about how to spend all my free time the last few months.
Below is a word cloud for my Master's project via Wordle. Care to guess the topic?
I've just wrapped up a class in which I was required to participate in online threaded discussions. I was hoping for some good discourse on curriculum theory and development. Instead it turned into a lot of, "Why, yes, I agree with you completely," and "I couldn't have said it better myself." I found myself becoming purposely oppositional in my responses. How can any really good thinking and learning happen if there isn't a healthy dose of differing viewpoints? And, pray tell, was the response to my opposing viewpoints? Silence. Last time I recall so many people with similar thoughts was 1984¹.
My classmates were just trying to be nice, which is understandable. It can be awkward and uncomfortable to deal with conflict. However, it's that dissonance in opinion where real meaning is made; that hacking it out between differing opinions, that purposeful attempt to sway people with differing views while they try to sway you.
Recently, in response to a new "top edublogs" list posted on a well-read blog, Dan Meyer and Darren Draper have expressed differing opinions on (perceived) motivations for blogging, what constitutes quality in a blog, and even "proper" Twitter use. I've found this disagreement extremely interesting to follow. I subscribe to both their blogs and find them both to be excellent at starting good conversations through their posts. They both create dissonance and then ask for their audience to weigh in with their opinions. While Dan tends to stir the pot² and Darren tends to ask quite nicely, they're both doing essentially the same thing.
It's been enjoyable to see these two heavyweights (they're 23 & 35 on the best edublogs list of all time, after all) discuss whose method is superior. While I don't think they're going to change each other's mind, they're laying some excellent framework for the edubloggers of the future. These types of public disagreements are important- perhaps necessary³- for hashing out what exactly it is to blog about educational matters. Think of it as a modern, blogging version of the Continental Congress.
I'm a pretty laid back dude. I don't get too worked up about major life changes. It's not that I don't appreciate the hugeness of the changes, it's just that I'm okay with change, and look forward to the new opportunities that result. I'm currently in the middle of some pretty huge life changes (i.e. moving from Michigan to Connecticut). However, I haven't had much time to reflect on their hugeness due to my crazy grad classes and end of the year school craziness among other things.
Today I received my first batch of exam projects from my 1st hour, and set right to grading them during my 2nd hour prep period. The first exam I opened looked like this:
Needless to say, this looked like a pretty good exam. I was excited to go through it. Then I got to the first page (as seen below):
The hugeness of the changes going on in my life became a little more real to me after reading that.
At this point I launched into a sentimental moment of which I'll save you the details. I really will miss this job. I'll miss this school. I'll miss the staff. I'll miss the community. I'll miss the students. I wouldn't be the teacher I am without the opportunities and challenges this position has given me. I will always look back at this position fondly. It served as a personal proving ground, a testing ground for new ideas, and a sounding board for concerns. I've made some excellent friends that I'll miss horribly and it's helped me successfully transition from newbie to knowledgeable.
