Pocket Knives Make Excellent Gifts

Wow. 

Gerver Tulley's program is everything I want to do - only I never realized I wanted to do it.   You all know that I tinker - I just don't share or teach it very well.  That is it - I am going to open up my garage (and my toys) to the neighborhood kids - right RIGHT now.   Um  maybe not - it is 11 PM.  

I bet you that this format would work in my math classes.......... two and two are adding up and I am getting a parabola!!!

He also did a neat Facebook question and answer session.  His answers are worth reading.

All the best, and remember: pocket knives make excellent gifts,

- Gever Tulley

Mine? Mine? Mine?

Who owns what we create?

I mean as teachers - if I create something on school time who does it belong to? Is it mine? I made it. Or does it belong to the division? We did make it while being paid by them. (For that matter when exactly does school time end? I am paid on a salary not by the hour.) If I leave am I obligated to leave a copy of what I created? Do I even have the right to take it with me?

If an architect designs a building - it belongs to the company they work for. An engineer's work belongs to the firm. Who does my work belong to? Do I even have the right to offer it up as Creative Commons work? (Like virtually all of my work is?) What is the story with university research? Does it belong to the researcher - the university - or is it a shared copyright?

I know that there are special exceptions in the Canadian Copyright laws for education but how far does it go?

I don't know. But for the record - (to any of my bosses) - you can use anything I create, just keep me happy enough and we won't have to get into the discussion of whether I can take it with me.

Photo Credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/pugno_muliebriter/1384247192/

Do You Learn? (or do you just Teach?)

Are you a lifelong learner?  What is the last thing that you learned?  Was it an "ouch that hurt - no more touching the pokey thing" kind of learning or was it something that you went out learned on purpose?  What was the last thing that you learned on purpose - not because you had to but because you were curious?

Be careful how you answer that question because you might not like the answer.  I didn't really.  Yes I am a lifelong learner.  Yes I learn on purpose.  (Yes I also learn from the painful, pokey things too.)  But what fires me up and keeps me up at night researching and learning?  My hobbies and my projects.  That would be awesome - if I were retired - but I am not.  Don't get me wrong.  I do a lot of work related research/reading as well.  I love new ideas (well new to me is good enough).  But I can put work research down.  I can put it off until a little later.  When I get off on a new project/hobby tangent - look out.  I pour through everything I can find about it.  Why am I not quite as obsessed about my work?

I just got back from a PD day.  I did not go for myself.  I went as tech support for some of my coworkers.  Boy is it ever fun to watch other people excited about learning something!  In the days leading up to it they were worried about it and not too excited about the ideas (involving computers).  As the day went on they forgot their fears and got really involved in what they were learing.  And then they got overloaded.  Even overloaded they were rushing to see how quickly they could use what they learned in the classroom.  I really enjoyed being there in that environment.

So go out there and learn something.  Do it on purpose.

Photo credit Bill Mosely

Buddhist Fisherman

How does a Buddhist fishermen justify his job? "They are saving the
fish from drowning, unfortunately it happens to die in the process."
Amy Tan.

There has been a lot of buzz going around the blogoshere about about
how our educational system is killing creativity. In the act of giving
the students an education their creativity just happens to die in the
process. (Well not always but way to often.) Damn, we are Buddhist
fishermen.

** Update **

This post was made from my iPod Touch so I was unable to add links. One of the articles I was talking about was this one from Ewan McIntosh.

How to Engineer an Objective Pedagogy

We know that the internet is a great way to enhance classroom-based living documents. It can also be used to leverage top-down interfaces. Good teachers use it to utilize peer-based networks. Others use it to implement holistic higher order thinking. Going online helps us engage compelling learning and deploy mastery focused strategies. We can easily expedite an overarching pedagogy and enhance critical content. I mean it never hurts to strategize performance based systems and extend bottom up pedagogy.



Others (like me) use the internet to randomly generate proffessional sounding jargon. The Educational Jargon Generator is a wonderful tool. Since most of us will need to be getting our second semester year plans in soon I thought I would help you all out. Someplace I read that this website had been successfully used to write grant proposals.



I have to share a story about the benefits of having Google (and this website) in your pocket. In a recent staff meeting a couple of collegues were presenting about a conference they had recently been at about Differentiated Instruction. One activity they had us do was list a bunch of terms that described Differentiated Instruction. I pulled out my IPod Touch and ran the Educational Jargon Generator. "That is exactly what DI is all about" was the response to my randomly generated words. (If you were one of the presenters and are reading this blog I owe you an apology for pulling one over on you. If you don't read this then no apology for you!)


Use this tool wisely and don't tell the administrators in your life.


.............and remember - it's same fertile growing medium, just a different bovine.

No One Cares How Long You Work

I have to thank Morag for finding this wonderful article. If you already read her blog then you can probably ignore this post.

by Morag Riddell
I found this gem on the Leader Talk blog.
I loved this quote:

My observation is that folks who ROUTINELY work more than a standard work
week:

* Have poor time management skills; or
* They don't know how to delegate; or
* They cannot prioritize [HINT: Family comes first!]; or
* They are Wannabe Martyrs.

[OMG!, did he really just say that?]

Listen? I hear eggshells being stepped on.

Look, if you're a school administrator and you consider football games,
plays, concerts, academic and athletic events to be WORK, you're in the wrong
career. I think it is so true and not just about administrators but
teachers in general. On my staff we're always talking about time and the
lack there of but may be we shouldn't be. Everyone needs to decide what is
most important to them. Should teaching be a 24-7 job or is it possible to
make it a 40 hours/week?

Well I want to add - Nobody may care how long you work but there is always somebody who cares how long you don't work.

A Little Too Strong Methinks

I just came across a blog post titled Rite of Refusal written by Scott McLeod.

can anyone else think of an employment sector other than K-12 and postsecondary education where employees have the right to refuse to use technology?

He raises an interesting point but he comes on a little too strong.

a grocery store checker doesn't get to say 'No thanks, I don't think I'll
use a register.' A stockbroker doesn't get to say, 'No thanks, I don't think
I'll use a computer.' An architect doesn't get to say, 'No thanks, I don't
think I'll use AutoCAD.' But in education, we plead and implore and
incentivize but we never seem to require.

Actually, I think that he is wrong here. What did those industries look like when the new technologies first came out? When AutoCAD first came out I bet that not everybody jumped on the bandwagon right away. At first only the progressive architects and engineers used it. Then slowly as it was proven to be useful more groups started drafting with CAD programs. Now, 26 years later everybody uses it. 26 years! How long has the internet been a major presence in our schools? Long enough that some teachers should be using Web 2.0 tools to teach but not everyone has tried it. Give it time and don't force it.

Teaching involves a very wide range of styles, methods, and tools. It also involves a certain amount of autonomy in our classrooms. I like being able to pick and choose what ways I teach and what tools I use to teach with. That way I can fit the curriculum content in best with my strengths and with how I feel my students will learn best. I am quite sure that other teachers do the same. Technology or no technology, student learning comes first. Sometimes a wiki is the best tool sometimes a chalkboard is. Please count on me to choose wisely.

A Vision of Students Today

This is a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.

Umm, how many of us are old school teachers. Come on admit it (as I sheepishly raise my hand). Are we really giving students what they need? Do you hate the question "Why do we need to learn this?" Am I delivering content in the most appropriate way? Is it the right content?

(sarcasm)

Bah, what am I thinking. Since I am always right my methods must always be right. These students just don't know what they need to know. No need to change how things are done.

(/sarcasm)