Back for now...

This is the point where I would normally rant and rave about how I've been MIA on my personal blog and now it is the time where I will recommit and go forward with it on a consistent basis. Well we will see...

For now, I'm in the middle of the summer again... AI going strong... considering where I am in my research.

In terms of my question and research... I'm just now beginning the data collection phase. I have prepped my kids for how I'd like them to help me with data and I have my basic tools ready, I just need the time to finalize the forms and begin next week with my student hosting of the blog. This is all based on my classroom blog for my TOK class.

I am in a good place and looking forward to taking data but since I am not presenting at the Jan. Conference, I am not feeling the pressure to be in a different place. My data will take the year I can begin compiling in April/May.

As for the inquriy group, I'm not sure I need anything... I'd just like to hear where they are, both successes and failures.

What do we bring to the table?

Steph’s Morning Pages Prompt (tweaked and rebuilt by Renee)

How does your investment in your research question and the students’ background knowledge about your topic affect the research?


As I try to establish a confident, comfortable online community for my students, I need to consider this question…

1. What do I bring?

I know what I “bring to the table” as my TOK students like to point out. I realize that my investment in blogging and how I believe it can contribute to my students experience in TOK is strong. Does this make it easier or more difficult for my kids? I initially say that it is easier. I’m motivated and comfortable in that world and I would like to believe that this would rub off on my kids as I slowly nudge them towards being part of that community. My wonder though is, on some level, does this make it more difficult? Is it intimidating for some of them that I am pushing them in while I may not be aware of their own fears and trepidations of diving in? My hope is that I can just be more aware of this specific issue.

2. What about them?

What may be of greater importance is what they are walking in with. One assumption that I know I get caught with is that I assume that all students of this generation are computer-savvy. I assume they all text, blog, mySpace, eBay, IM, game, and surf the web with regularity. I know that this is a terrible assumption to make, which takes me back to the issue mentioned above about intimidation. What if they aren’t comfortable or confident? Worse… what if they have no interest or even a desire to stay out of that world? Where do I go from here? How do I motivate those students to try something new, build their skills and participate freely in a community that I believe can have a great impact on their overall understanding of the TOK class and curriculum? Or is this just another assumption that I’m missing?

Blogs in my classroom

So as I've ranted before, it is important for me (very important) to utilize technology and blogs in particular to assist my students in refining their critical thinking and TOK skills.

Now that AI has begun, I get to focus on that. As I listened to E. Jason talk about his plan for his AI research, I found my kindred spirit. We are interested in exploring the same issue. What is cool is that we are starting our explorations from completely opposite ends of the spectrum. To see what Jason is looking at in detail, check out the "CSUWP Advanced Institute" link under Other Posts to Check Out.

Both Jason and I are interested in getting kids to utilize blogs to increase their critical thinking but Jason presently approaches blogging from a limited perspective. He has kids only blog during specific units on focused topics. He wants to push them farther. I presently use my TOK blog as a holistic exercise to generate discussion during the year about a variety of topics, very rarely concentrated on specific issues in class. I wish to use it in a more focused manner. Both Jason and I have had success but it sounds like we need to meet in the middle.

So my teacher research just got better. Hopefully, I've found someone who can push me in a direction I need to go and along the way I will do the same for him.

The summer has begun...

I always say that good teachers don't have their summers off... so I'm trying to be a good teacher. As I have for the past 4 years, I'm involved with the CSU Writing Project. We are beginning this week and I'm already inspired to begin teaching again... though my "time off" right now is amazing and needed. The Summer Institute is getting me back to blogging, writing, and researching, all needs and desires I have right now. So the summer has begun... time off (kind of) but time involved in what I need and want.

Advanced Institute begins soon... another challenge on the way.

Wow... I'm still in shock.

I'm actually sitting at my computer at school writing this post.

My district FINALLY decided to unblock Blogger for educational purposes. They used my TOK blog as evidence for its usefulness and they finally agreed... so now you are free as PSD teachers to utilize it in your classroom... and please do. The more of us that stand up and show how we can properly use blogger for students and teachers alike, the more likely that they will see it as a step forward in our use of technology.

Thanks Bud, Krista, and whomever else helped fight the good fight.

The Lost Curiosity

So...

my favorite unit has begun... Evolution.

Not because I have any desire to indoctrinate my kids or because I want to see them change their views. I couldn't care less. What I'm after is the debate, the desire to dig deeper into the depths of knowledge and the language behind it all.

I just finished an activity that has kids rank the following concepts by how important they are to scientists... its amazing what they come up with.

(in no specific order)
1. Facts
2. Laws
3. Theories
4. Hypotheses

The view that kids have is that facts are the most important to scientists because they are "truths" such as "the sun rises in the east; life is carbon-based; we have 8 planets in our solar system (a nice debate in itself)". But the funny thing... who cares? What can scientists do with that information... nothing. They are just "confirmed observations".... no testing to be done, nothing to be explored... so to scientists, they are the least important.

Funny how language so often is misunderstood and misshapen by society and the media. That's why evolution is so fun... the debate, the curiosity...

"Mr. Malone, what is the big deal with Intelligent Design?"

I love that the kids wonder... the curiosity that is lost sometime during Junior High reappears. It was always there, its just often shadowed by hormones and what makes them cool. But bring up what everyone is arguing about and they suddenly pipe up. Not that they aren't interested otherwise... but how can I tap into that innate curiosity all the time?

Blog Survey

So I'm creating a survey for my TOK kids to figure out what works, in terms of our classroom blog, and what doesn't. It's a bad time of year with IB kids, Internal Assessments, External Exams, end of year burn out, so they aren't using the blog nearly as much as I would like to... so here is my question...

Many of my students tell me I should increase the requirements of how often they should be posting/commenting (1 or 2 x per week is the suggestion) and I initially agree. But here is my dilemna...

How do I motivate students to use the blog yet make it meaningful. I'm not interested in forcing students to post/comment but I know that external motivation may be what is needed. There is little doubt that those who used the blog understand the class better -- its all about language and the ability to justify knowledge claims -- so students who write and discuss more really work through the struggles and really get TOK and can utilize the skills. So what do I do...?

I'm in the process of getting their opinions... I guess that is the beginning of teacher research, but I'm assuming that there is an enormous amount of bias in that "qualitative" research. Sorry... its the scientist in me. Get rid of the variables... control... control... take data... analyze data... This is all an adjustment, but a good one. So back to my problem...

What do you think? Do I force students into blogging or do I find some other form of motivation? This class is not grade intensive and is meant to be a compliment to all of their other courses, not a huge burden, so I struggle with upping the requirements because the reality is that it will never be at the top of their priority list in terms of HW, etc. Nor do we want it to be. So how do you push students into being the best thinkers possible by tapping into an intrinsic motivational button that I can't seem to find in seniors at the tail end of high school...?

sorry... a bit frustrated, confused, yet super interested, curious, and motivated to figure it out.

Competition in Education

So I'm wondering...

What is the role of competition in education? I don't mean in the classroom. I feel that there is a time for it and a time when it is best left alone when it comes to my students.

What I'm wondering about is the role of competition between schools for students. Funding, now so tied to the amount of students in a building, is such an issue for all of us. Without the proper funding, we lose programs which leads to loss of opportunities for our students. In a district of choice, such as mine, this is a negative feedback system.

Less students --> less $$ --> less available programming --> less opportunity --> less students
And it continues... So what do we do?

I work in a school that I feel is constantly innovative and willing to bring in new ideas and programs (AIM, IB, Avid, etc) to meet the needs of students and to evolve with the ever-changing landscape of the world and education in particular. Because of this, our numbers remain high while other schools lose out and enter the vicious cycle that I'm talking about. Not that my school has all the answers. We are just one of many such schools in the district with a variety of options and programs making us unique. I'm all for continuing the changes that keep us strong, especially when it is what is best for students. But the effect of what I am seeing is cannabalistic. School pitted against school, pushing the limits of a healthy rivalry. Survival of the Fittest I guess. But how do we fix it?

We constantly fight for equity for all kids, which is why school-of-choice is so important, but does it lead to the very thing that we so badly are trying to battle, the inequality in opportunities for our students? Where do we go?

I have my initial opinions but I'm wondering what others have to say about it.

The Best Use of Classroom Blogs

As I'm sitting in the WP AI, I'm contemplating my own research ideas and its fitting that I'm blogging about it because that is exactly what I want to focus on. The last two years, I've had a classroom blog for my Theory of Knowledge course, an IB diploma programme course, focusing on Epistemology, studying the nature and scope of knowledge in our world (How do we know what we know?). It's been successful so far but I'm really trying to figure out how to get it to be meaningful and consistent. If I can pull it off, how successful could the same idea be for 9th grade Biology students. I'm not sure. I've got ideas all around me but I need to figure out what about the blog works for my kids and what doesn't. It's just a starting point, but I know its where I want to go.

The AI has begun...

Our first round of the Advanced Institute (CSU Writing Project) has begun.

A little idea that Cindy and Bud had on a plane last November has already manifested itself. We are sitting in Mugs downtown, creating new blogs, formulating ideas, and asking questions about what is happening in our classrooms and why. It's cool to get a bunch of past fellows back together to rebuild and renew the community that has inspired us.

We'll keep you posted.

Yes Bud... I'm Back

Because Bud pushes and pressures and makes me feel needed and wanted, I'm back to my blogging practices.... Actually, that's not quite true.

The CSUWP Advanced Institute has begun and since Cindy, Bud and I are running the show, I need to do what I ask our participants to do. The purpose (in short form) is to get teachers to utilize blogs and technology to help them create and pursue teacher research. So I am loving the fact that it will force me to come back online. It's not that I'm not here, it's that I'm still struggling with the "who cares about what I have to say" issue. But no more...

I will do as I ask others to do.
So...

Yes Bud... I'm Back.

The fight continues... but maybe not for long.

Well, I've been officially told that my class TOK Blog is great, and seems very helpful and educational for the kids involved. The district says that I've presented a good case for having Blogger unblocked for the district. They say that they haven't said "NO" yet, but for now... "NO".

Aware of the fact that I have potential partner schools in Israel, New Jersey, Philly, and Colorado, they are suggesting that I move the conversations into "Blackboard", a closed community software program that the district has paid for (surprise, surprise) and if another school, no matter where they are, wants to join, we can add them through our district and the hundreds of kids can just log onto Blackboard through our district's web site. Seems convenient for all. I'm sure the difficulty of getting kids to access a blog, give their free time, post great questions, thoughtfully respond, and remain engaged will in no way be hampered by the hoops that we would then ask them to jump through, rather than it being a web-based, easily-accessible blog that all can join and participate easily in.

I really appreciate the support in trying to build a national (possibly international) conversation.

Huh...?

Sorry... needed to rant.

Justification in Teaching

While watching all of the political ads, commentary, and debates, it disturbs me how little people actually justify the knowledge they share with the public. I recently asked my TOK students to watch one of their teachers and consider how they justify the knowledge they are attempting to impart. The students then wrote thier own intepretations of what they witnessed (w/out using Teacher's names of course).

It was scary to see how many of them had teachers who seemed to only have Authority behind them as the reason for their students to trust and believe what they were "teaching". It either came from a book, college classes, etc.

This made we wonder why we accept this in education. Why do we teach with so little justification other than "well that's what I was taught"? I would love to say I never fall into this but that would be naive. Especially in teaching science, I have to trust the experts for much of what I "know".

I think this is a poor lesson for kids to learn yet we reinforce it everywhere in society. Why do we accept this as reasonable?

Please... Verify Me!!!

I stumbled upon this on a teacher blog I recently have started reading...

TED

"There is a story of the new recruit at an engineering company, fresh out of college, who was given a circuit to analyze on his first day on the job. He worked on it for most of the day and then brought his solution to the manager who had assigned the task that morning. The recruit placed his solution on the desk and waited eagerly for a response. The manager looked at the paper and then filed it. The recruit lingered for awhile and then said, 'Well was I right?'

The manager was shocked. He asked, 'Why would I pay you to find answers that I already know?'”

The question is... Why?

I so often pose questions to my students that either I don't know the answer to or choose not to share. An example of this is "The Mystery Cube", a well-known Nature of Science activity that I've put my own spin on to help teach Atomic Theory. It involves a cube with language and symbols on each side. Their role is to then figure out, based on logic and data collection, what the bottom of the cube says. I never actually tell them if they are correct. Funny thing is... I have kids that will approach me THREE years later and ask me to tell them what was on the bottom of the cube. After a lesson that is based in thinking critically, sharing data, and scientific community, why is that students can not let go of the verfication they so desperately need from their teachers. Frustration is a beautiful tool, especially in a science classroom, primarily because it is so real. But THREE years later??? You'd think they would get over it. They say they believe in their answers, that they even have "faith" in them, an interesting word choice in science (and one I often agree with), yet they still just want to know if they are right, long after my class ends.

Interesting... I guess it is obvious that there are still few of us out there teaching kids in this manner... sad but true. I just hope that kids one day can begin to have the same faith in thier work and themselves that I have in them. And they don't need others to approve of thier work or verify them as people to give their work and life meaning. I realize that this is a much bigger issue than what I it began as but I see it as a much larger problem.

We'll see... I've posted a shorter version of this question to my TOK class on our blog. We'll see what they say...

Bad Day

Teachers are constantly saying how they had a horrible day at school. Angry kids, helicopter parents, unsupportive administration. I've heard it all. But here is something to help you all realize that you've never really had a bad day.

A friend of mine, in her first year of teaching in an average Chicago suburban high school, had the worst day I can imagine. A student, in the middle of her Physical Science class, hopped up on the desk, dropped his pants, and took a s**t on the lab table.

No contest.
I've never had a bad day.



Any other stories worth sharing to make us all feel better?

Censorship and Education

I found this article on Bud's page (linked from another blog I'm sure) about censorship in cyberspace. I think many of us believe that the internet is one of the last true ways to have your voice heard, truly, but now I'm not so sure. Scary.

Anyways, it reminds of me of my own struggle in the classroom (though on a much lower level). I've created a blog for my Theory of Knowledge course that has really taken off and provided a way for kids in different classrooms to continue critical conversations. I even have classrooms in Philly, New Jersey, Colorado, and even Israel potentially interested in joining the conversation about Knowledge, justification, and truth, all in a variety of contexts that the students are creating. It's been empowering for me and (seemingly) the kids.

One problem...

My district will NOT unblock Blogger.com so that I can access it from school. We, of course are the only district in my area that has made this decision. They've looked at the blog, are impressed by what is going on, and of course are supportive of what I'm doing, but not that supportive. I come to find out that a teacher's failure to monitor a blog on Blogger years ago has led to the district policy. Of course, the appeasement statement is that this is just "for now" but nothing seems to change. My students and I are paying for the mistakes of one person that screwed up and the parents that made it a big deal.

Why is it that, as teachers, we are asked to do the incredible, the sometimes impossible but are often not given the tools we need. Of course, this isn't always true. I happen to work in an incredible building that supports me in a way that I could never imagine before I began working there. But at the district level, I see a difference. I see fear and bureaucracy. I've been given completely unhelpful and unrealistic suggestions as to how to approach my class goals without Blogger. Surprisingly, the suggestions have more to do with $$$ than it does with what is best for the class and students.

Now, I know that this is nothing new. This isn't an issue that is revolutionary nor will it be solved anytime soon. Yet, I can be idealistic. I'll just believe that what is best for kids will prevail. I may have to wait awhile but I believe that at some point, it will just click and make sense to those above me. It'll happen... probably around the same time Standardized Tests take a backseat to teaching the whole child.

Where do we go from here?

Finally Talked Into It...

I know I have ideas, probably too many for me to deal with but my friend Bud finally convinced me to take the dive in... to the blogging world.

Actually that isn't quite true. I've been blogging with my class for awhile now. But now I'll try it from a different perspective, that of a teacher who has something to say. Because I definitely do. I just usually do it quickly.