An Open letter to the parents and students, 2011-12 school year

I've decided this year to "go public" with my ideas and post some philosophical rationales on my class website, a sort of here's-where-this-idea-came-from post. I preach transparency, so I guess it's time to live it.

An open letter to the parents and students, 2011-12 school year:

Basic Philosophy

Mine is two-fold.

• Choice and Consequence
• Transparency

I believe in choice, and I will defend anyone's right to choice. However, I also believe in consequence - there is a result to every choice we make, and it is important to me to be aware of the consequences of the choices I make. Thus, I make this the center of my teaching practice - my students need to realize that they DO have choices, but also that those choices DO have consequences that will be upheld. Life teaches us that some choices have more positive (or more dire) consequences than others, and I believe that should be practiced in my classroom.

Secondly, I believe that rationales for making those choices should be available to all involved in the choice (hence this page of the website). You cannot make a truly informed choice if you are not truly informed. I do not want to hold "secrets" from my students - teaching is a collaborative act, and no real progress can be made if students do not understand the "WHY" of the "WHAT." Giving students a more clearly defined framework for WHY I am presenting these items to them is a professional goal of my own this year. 

Teaching Concepts

I have chosen 3 teaching concepts to focus on this year:

• Student choice and flexibility
• Student accountability
• Teacher responsibility

Student Choice and Flexibility

Growing from my philosophy above, I have attempted to revise my own approach to the classroom; I would like to make it more "realistic" - too often, classrooms operate in a four-walled vacuum and do not take into account "real" life. We all experience good and bad days, and life provides us all with varied hiccups along the way. In an attempt to meet the students where many of them are, I am introducing CHOICE assignments this year (please refer to the syllabus for more information). These assessments will allow students to A) express their understanding of the content in a variety of ways, and B) have some say in how much they do. I believe this very much reflects the idea of choice and consequence, but also gives students some individual control of the work they do. A lot of the ideas from Race to Nowhere and The Case Against Homework were influential to me here.

Student Accountability

I firmly believe that students need a guiding  hand to stay "on track," especially towards the end of their high school careers, when the more "adult" experiences begin to accumulate. However, I also am uncomfortable with students "getting by" without doing a significant portion of the work - my job is to ensure learning takes place in my classroom, and assessment is the main method by which I judge that. So, a new "catch phrase" this year will be: the consequence for missing the work is getting the work done. (See also Dr. Douglas Reeves' ideas on toxic grading practices)

I am inspired by Tom Schimmer's blog post about removing the late work policy in its entirety - although, on reflection, I think that is too much of a jump to make in one year. Thus, I have a revised late work policy that I believe will both give students a little elbow room and still hold them accountable. There is an eventual consequence, but they have a lot of choices to make before that consequence is applied. And, of course, I will do my best to include the parents/guardians in those choices along the way.

Teacher Responsibility

Standing in front of the classroom, I am responsible for (hopefully) reaching and teaching the minds of up to 125 students per day (quick math puts that number at almost 1000 students at the end of this, my 8th year teaching). As such, I believe that it is my responsibility to model that which I teach. I seek to help students develop into creative, flexible, critical and reflective thinkers, and I need to follow suit in both WHAT and HOW I teach. 

Education is at an interesting crossroads these days, and our students are being presented with more and more challenges almost daily. To that end, we must be aware of our immediate neighbors, our global partners, our technological advances, etc. We are constantly looking ahead to the future, but we cannot forget the past, for the past is how we got to where we are today. I am currently reading David Perkins book, Making Learning Whole. He encourages reshaping our curricula to look at a larger, more relevant picture. I am looking to Perkins to figure out a way, for instance, to wake up the sleepy topic of Macbeth for my juniors. It should be an interesting journey...

Another book that has fallen into my lap lately is Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Prof. Cass Sunstein. This book focuses on how particular "choice architects" have great influence over the choices people make, and that sometimes people need a "nudge" in a particular direction. The implications of this idea on the teaching profession, I think, are quite large. The ideas from this book influenced some of the above policy ideas.

Finally, technology is prevalent in our society today, and I do not think it is "going away" any time soon. Thus, we must educate the users of technology in appropriate methods of use. I plan to try to integrate technology into the WHAT and HOW that I teach this year. Students will be utilizing blogs, Google Docs, and other web 2.0 tools throughout the year in an effort to both increase comfort with these powerful tools and, hopefully, inspire students to seek out further methods of use.

In closing, I encourage you to follow some of these links and read some of these books. And please, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns about anything - I'd be more than happen to continue this conversation.

Shame on you, Sony, shame on you. (#ps3)

Do we all remember when Sony got hacked a few months back? It was one of those shady moments for a global(?) corporation - since I couldn't access my account (i.e. no BlackOps online) for a few days, I asked a student who knows about games and he informed me of the hack. I find it odd that I find out from a 15-year old that all my user data may have been hacked. Whatevs.

Flash forward: today I get an email about new terms of service, etc. I don't know about you, but I rarely read those things - I assume the service I choose to use will work and I assume the "risks" are "typical." Today, though, I figured I'd read through. Here's an interesting snippet, near the end:

No warranty is given about the quality, functionality, availability or performance of Sony Online Services, or any content or service offered on or through Sony Online Services. All services and content are provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" with all faults. SNEA does not warrant that the service and content will be uninterrupted, error-free or without delays. In addition to the limitations of liability in Sections 1, 2, 12 and 14 of this Agreement, SNEA expressly disclaims any implied warranty of merchantability, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and warranty of non-infringement. SNEA assumes no liability for any inability to purchase, access, download or use any content, data or service. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE RECOURSE IN THE EVENT OF ANY DISSATISFACTION WITH OR DAMAGE ARISING FROM SONY ONLINE SERVICES OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT AND SNEA'S MAXIMUM LIABILITY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT OR WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF OR ACCESS TO SONY ONLINE SERVICES SHALL BE LIMITED TO YOUR DIRECT DAMAGES, NOT TO EXCEED THE UNUSED FUNDS IN YOUR WALLET AS OF THE DATE OF TERMINATION. EXCEPT AS STATED IN THE FOREGOING SENTENCE, SNEA EXCLUDES ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, DAMAGE CAUSED TO YOUR SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE, AND ANY OTHER LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL AND HOWEVER ARISING, AS A RESULT OF ACCESSING OR DOWNLOADING ANY CONTENT TO YOUR PLAYSTATION®3 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM, THE PSP® (PLAYSTATION®PORTABLE) SYSTEM, BRAVIA® TELEVISION, SONY BLU-RAY® DISC PLAYER OR ANY HARDWARE DEVICE, OR USING OR ACCESSING SONY ONLINE SERVICES. UNLESS THIS PROVISION IS UNENFORCEABLE IN YOUR JURISDICTION, THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS, EXCLUSIONS AND DISCLAIMERS SHALL APPLY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.

The first and last lines give me pause: "No warranty is given about the quality, functionality, availability or performance of Sony Online Services." Wait, what?

In a system BUILT on online platforms, you deny all responsibility for the quality of your online service? Where is the sense in this? Rather than be proactive (and logical) and take steps (publicly) to ENSURE the stability of your platform, you shirk that obligation and hide behind legal walls? WTF?

Why are we so afraid of responsibility for our actions (past, present, AND future)? What happened to ownership of a mistake? Simple as it is, the phrase "my bad" captures it perfectly - you screwed up, and it it your bad...YOU fix it. Don't run away and let the problem happen again and claim freedom from responsibility - that is a definition of cowardice.

Let's extend the concept further: here is a role-model for a generation (I use the term loosely). Playstation and XBox are probably more important to my students than email, and I wonder how much these attitudes filter down. Maybe it happens subconsciously, maybe it occurs with slight attitude shifts here and there. But, in my mind, this is the same problem as catching a student cheating and hearing him/her say "It wasn't me." Bullshit. Stand and face your consequence.

Bigfoot: I Not Dead (@MyEN)

3 more graphic novels read today (man, I love summer vacation):

• Bigfoot, I not dead, by Graham Roumieu
• The adventures of Johnny Bunko, by Daniel Pink
• Batman cacophony, by Kevin Smith

From the bottom up: 

• The artwork looked great, and I love Kevin Smith. I recently read a Neil Gaiman penned Batman story, and enjoyed that too.
• While at Harvard, I bought Daniel Pink's book Drive. It seems "serious," and I thought that a manga-inspired career-guide. Entertaining.

And for the crown jewel of the day, I Not Dead. This is the book bigfoot wrote upon returning from exile. You must read this book. It made my literary day.

Here's a snippet, where Bigfoot writes notes to himself on how to improve his lot in life. The spread is titled, "Self-Improve."

• Bigfoot got get more perfect.
• Refine bigfootocity. Pull together.
• Think outside box. Lose ten pound.
• Learn speak the French. Ballroom dance.
• Demonstrate superior knowledge of fine wine at dinner party in charming, non-pretentious manner. 
• Be Oscar Wilde of woods.
• It so hard.
• Brain size of apricot. So, so hard think good.
• Maybe if eat Kelsey Grammer of Frasier fame, will absorb him soul and all attribute like McDonald's combo meal.

Or this lovely piece, titled "Plans":

• Is beautiful day. Maybe bigfoot go for walk. Maybe go eat the chickens. Go lay by stream and practice yelling. Be nice. No, wait, can't. What if girl call that Bigfoot meet at bar last night. She hot. Pretty sure she say she vegan. I say I vegan too to make her like. No chickens for Bigfoot. Bigfoot have no cell phone so no go anywhere. Fuck me hate today.

It's amazing how such a small book can refresh an entire day. Go out and find it. And, by putting the links in above, I found there are other bigfoot books. I already requested one from my library. 

Read it. Love it.

Gobalization through graphic novels?

So, one of my action items upon returning from this year's Harvard FOL was to become a more globally-aware citizen. And yesterday, just home and readjusting to normal life, I find myself at the library. My brain starts rambling onto books to read, etc., but I was tired. So tired. And I needed a day's break from thought.

And then I saw the graphic novels. The scope on the shelves always amazes me, as it isn't really comic books. These are novels dealing with serious themes (e.g. the history of the wobblies, and an Adaption of Zinn, History of the American Empire). And then I found an interesting looking gem: Dead Memory, by Marc-Antoine Mathieu. Hey, it's a start...

It is told in black and white, and deals with a somewhat dystopic digital age, where all the citizens of the city have committed their memories to the central cube, ROM (note the pun on read only memory). As is the case with most similar stories, ROM evolves from data processor to data controller, thus becoming a god among citizens.

The basic problem: the residents wake up one day and find a wall constructed in the middle of a block. No explanation, no witnesses - it just appeared. This, of coures, literally and symbolically divides the residents of the block. Each day, more and more walls appear. The city residents literally begin to lose their memories, their ability to communicate, and to speak. In one series of frames, the protagonist goes to the central library to prove a fear wrong - but all the books are blank. The citizenry are literally becoming blank slates.

One of the most damning sentiments appears on pg. 27, in the bottom three frames.

"We observers are completely blind when it comes to seeing the present. We are condemned to observing the past, and limited to doing nothing more than developing hypotheses about the the present...to say nothing of the future."

This gave me pause, and I wondered how much of this sentiment applies to the current state of education. Are we condemned (and content?) to only hypothesize about what is in front of us, what we see as a nation, as parents, as classroom teachers? Or do we take action and do something?

Of course, one would hope the action taken is "right" and "logical," even though recent actions prove otherwise. How do we combat this apathy? How do we renegotiate bad policies? How do we progress as a citizenry and avoid the blank slate future?

Oh, I also borrowed 300, by Frank Miller. Guess I'm in a fighting mood and needed some inspiration.

An archive of #HGSEPZFOL 2011 Tweets! Thanks to @KeepStream for the tech!

Fellow FOL participants: I have compiled a collection of all the tweets from this year's Future of Learning summer institute (well, almost). These tweets date back to somewhere in the Tuesday morning plenary with Mary Helen Immordino Yang and David Rose. Unfortunately, I could not retrieve tweets any further back.

Although the process was tedious (I had to manually click on each tweet, for around 5 hours), I felt so refreshed to look back over a compendium of thought from most of the process. And, while one part of my brain fell into a sort of comatose state-of-clicking, the rest of my brain re-fired all the thoughts and emotions and conversations from the past week. I was able to relive the week now, and all of us can return to this conversation for ever (I hope).

Again, it was great to meet and learn with and from all of you. I hope this provides you with a valuable resource as we shape the future of learning together!

Where Tweets go to die @Twitter (#edtech #HGSEPZFOL)

Following up my previous post on helping to facilitate a group synthesis at Harvard, I will now express my frustrations with Twitter. As beautiful and valuable as I have found the tool to be, today it disappointed me.

Simply put - it sucked.

Here's why: you can't archive your tweets in Twitter. You can't even search back far enough (a few days, depending on the volume of tweeting you do) to manually get them all and copy/paste them out. I've spent at least 4 or 5 hours in the past 24 attempting to find a workaround for this, with little success. Evidently, Twitter modified their API recently to disallow this type of feature.

Here's what I want to do: create an archive of the #HGSEPZFOL tag. This is the Harvard FOL tag we used during this past week's ed conference, and a number of us want to be able to return to the stream and parse it for ideas, links, and conversations. After all, as educators, we like to reflect. And, in this age of super-fast info, we sometimes need to go back to something repeatedly before it sinks in. Call it a human thing.

I have been tweeting out various 3rd party programs as I have come across them, but nothing seems to work yet. Two programs, KeepStream and TwapperKeeper, seem to have potential, but do not quite do what I need. I was able to capture about three days' worth of tweets and clip them to Evernote (careful: it's a 5mb file), but that is still not all of them.

Frustrating at the minimum, damaging at the worst. From what I've read, the old tweets phase out of the servers after a few weeks. That's just stupid. In a day and age of being connected, why can't we access old streams? Why is this so damn complicated?

If ANYONE has ANY ideas, I'll take them. Please.

If not, Twitter, wake the hell up and see how your product is being used. We need more functionality and flexibility, not less.

Co-creating group synthesis with Twitter! (#edtech #HGSEPZFOL)

This has been quite an amazing week. I just returned from a four-day conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) titled the Future of Learning (FOL), and my mind seems to have spun out of control. All of the speakers were so amazing to listen to, and each one awoke a part of me that I think was sleeping. The institute was inspiring.

On the family front: Amy and Sam took the trip with me, and talk about success. I am so proud of both of them for battling the (big?) city and taking it all in stride - those "crosswalks" at Solider's Field Road were terrifying to navigate.

And, on the tech front, a small group of us took Harvard by Twitter Storm.

The latter item is my focus now, as I need much more time to digest everything from the institute, and the family stuff is much better said in person (open invite to hang out, anyone?).

First, the narrative:

There were 200 participants in the audience from a variety of professional capacities, countries, ages, and technological expertise. I'd say everyone had pen and paper (no batteries to recharge!). Most had a laptops and cell phones. A lot had tablets (iPads everywhere). Few had Twitter accounts.

At the opening plenary on Monday, Veronica Boix Mansilla informed the audience that FOL created a hashtag for anyone who was Twitter-inclined (twit-clined?) - #HGSEPZFOL. So, armed with my trusty iPad, I rushed off to cyberspace and found a few loyal Twitterers (i.e. @PrincipalThinks, @Lorfehr, @wedaman, @TripleFSharp) putting the feelers out. I joined right in.

Much to my surprise (and to Harvard's), there was quite a lot of Twitter traffic generated that afternoon. Veronica displayed some of those tweets on Tuesday morning (and following mornings). The stream continued. @PrincipalThinks suggested a Tuesday PM beverage, and about 7 of use awning-hopped to a cozy little pub and introduced ourselves. In person. Can you imagine that.

Wednesday comes, and the Tweeps (titled by @bjfr) represented, our numbers growing. By the end of the day, @bjfr organized a larger group of us together for a very important, and damn cool, mission:  we would co-create the final plenary on Thursday, using Twitter as a group synthesis of all that we had experienced. Our job was to get the tweets out there. Non-Tweeps would write their ideas on paper (no batteries!) and hand them to the Tweeps, designated by colored flags taped to the back of our chairs.

Thursday afternoon arrives, and the Twitterverse shook with the full force of FOL synthesis.

Using TwitterFountain, tweet after tweet appeared on the screen. The minutes and ideas flew by, and more and more participants signed on. It was a glorious moment.

All drama aside, the experiment was quite amazing to watch. Given that one of the throughlines of the institute was the Digital Revolution, a small core of us made it happen, real-time. @PrincipalThinks read some stats after we ended the TwitterFall, and the small number of us tweeting (200 at most, most likely a lot less) were able to reach over 7,000 individuals on Twitter.

I think the room felt the power of the moment and the power of the tool used appropriately. I hope they continue to investigate it and create their own PLN (personal learning network). I hope they open their eyes to the possibilites opening before us each day.

I gotta say, I gave myself a little pat on the shoulder. Think about it...lil' ole' me going up to the big Ivy League, unprepared and feeling small in the shadows of the giants. Then, on leaving, just four days later, feeling that I was able to truly make a difference. That was a great moment for me, knowing that I was part of something that WILL spread, that I was able to help facilitate such a great sharing of minds and ideas.

I won't forget FOL 2011, and I hope FOL won't forget what we discovered and created together.