Bud the Teacher

Chris’ (or is it Chris’s?) posting of Taylor Mali’s poetry reminded me of this poem, one I think I like better, although Mali’s performance of "What Teachers Make" is far more dynamic:

Undivided attention
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

A grand piano wrapped in quilted pads by movers,
tied up with canvas straps - like classical music’s
birthday gift to the insane -
is gently nudged without its legs
out an eighth-floor window on 62nd street.

It dangles in April air from the neck of the movers’ crane,
Chopin-shiny black lacquer squares
and dirty white crisscross patterns hanging like the second-to-last
note of a concerto played on the edge of the seat,
the edge of tears, the edge of eight stories up going over, and
I’m trying to teach math in the building across the street.

Who can teach when there are such lessons to be learned?
All the greatest common factors are delivered by
long-necked cranes and flatbed trucks
or come through everything, even air.
Like snow.

See, snow falls for the first time every year, and every year
my students rush to the window
as if snow were more interesting than math,
which, of course, it is.

So please.

Let me teach like a Steinway,
spinning slowly in April air,
so almost-falling, so hinderingly
dangling from the neck of the movers’ crane.
So on the edge of losing everything.

Let me teach like the first snow, falling.

Remember, y’all, that  National Poetry Month is only a few short days away.  I hope you’re all preparing your poetic contributions. For those of you more interested in reading good poems instead of writing them, you can always subscribe to the Poem a Day e-mail service of the Academy of American Poets.

    If anybody ever tells you that it’s impossible to leave the Earth while inside a classroom, you show them this:

On March 21, 2006 students at Coloma Junior High School in Coloma,
MI had the privilege of talking to astronaut Bill McArthur aboard the
International Space Station during an unscheduled school contact as the
ISS flew over Michigan.

From 16:50 UTC to 16:54 UTC (11:50 to 11:54 am local time), 24 students in Matt Severin’s 4^th
hour Earth Science class listened in on a short conversation between
Bill McArthur and Mr. Severin (KG4EDK).  When astronaut McArthur asked
if any of Mr. Severin’s students were with him, 24 faces lit up with
broad smiles as students realized that this was real:  an astronaut 220
miles overhead was asking about them!  McArthur stated “We sure think
Earth Science is important…we live it everyday as we observe the Earth
and it’s truly spectacular.”  The conversation ended with a
motivational greeting from the International Space Station with Bill
McArthur encouraging Coloma students to “…get the best education [they]
can…”

Later that afternoon 13 more students had the opportunity to not
only listen in on a conversation, but also participate in the contact!
About 15 minutes before the scheduled pass, Mr. Severin greeted his
students with a note card and a task:  write down a question that you
would ask an astronaut if given the opportunity.  Mr. Severin
established contact with the ISS at 19:58 UTC (2:58 pm local time), and
passed the microphone to the first student, Monica, who asked: “What is
the food like?”  No one could keep a straight face when the microphone
was passed to him or her.  Even Mr. Severin had achy cheeks after the
contact because he was smiling so much.  In the end, each student that
wanted, asked his or her question, and astronaut McArthur answered with
great detail.  McArthur described some of his daily activities, his
favorite food (lamb with vegetables), and the level of education
required to become an astronaut.  The contact ended at 20:08 UTC (3:08
pm local time) as Bill McArthur’s final transmission to Coloma Junior
High school faded into the static.      

Listen to the conversations here.  Very cool.

    Will wrote a post recently that is
helping me to connect with a problem that might be beginning to stir in my
blog, as well as others.  He writes/asks:

I read lots of stories about kids who are getting it, even in Doug’s post,
where they are reading and writing and commenting and learning. You read Bud or
Clarence or
Vicki or any
number of others and there are stories that border on transformation. (In fact,
Vicki’s latest post is titled "My students inspire me as they
"get" Web 2.0.") But I don’t read much about the kids that
aren’t engaged. And I’m wondering to what extent that happens as well. And
further, I’m wondering to what extent they compare to the adult educators we’re
trying to teach about these tools who choose not to engage. The simple view is
that this is generational, that kids are more available to the tools because
they live in a connected world or because, well, they’re kids and more open to
new stuff than adults…but is it?

  I don’t think that it’s as simple as a generational thing.  I don’t
think Will thinks that, either, but I do understand where he’s coming
from.  Generation M is plugged in, right?  The rest of us are trying
to catch up. 
    Except that’s not true.  Will has something like two
decades of educational experience.  David Warlick has as much if not
more.  Barbara Ganley didn’t start teaching last week.  Other
teachers in the blogosphere are not new to teaching, but might be the early
adopters of new technologies in their schools, districts and/or
communities.  I’ve only been teaching for four years, so maybe much of Web
2.0 comes easily to me. 
    But that’s not why I’m writing tonight, even though the
question of why blogging is or isn’t for everyone is an important one, worthy
of lots of conversation by folks smarter than I.
    I’m writing because I see a potential problem developing in
and among the edublogosphere that is becoming more and more my professional
space. 
    A few months ago, my wife and I published, in English
Journal, a column entitled, "Why I Despise Nancie Atwell" by Sarah
J.H. Brooks. (Note: The link requires a paid subscription to the journal for viewing.  Sorry.)  The well-written piece is about the author’s frustration
with best practice texts, specifically In the Middle, one of those books that
my generation of reading and writing teachers is and should be devouring in
preservice coursework.  She’s frustrated because she only sees the success
stories, and not the stuff that didn’t go so well.  Let me be clear: the Brooks’ piece is in no way a condemnation of Atwell’s work.  We need best practices texts, and Atwell’s text continues to inform my practice as a language arts teacher.
    But best practices don’t work for every teacher, in every classroom, on every day.
    Best practice texts are, largely, excellent attempts to
share and promote those lessons, activities, and philosophies that are, at
least in theory, "proven" to be successful in a variety of
educational contexts.  Best practice texts, written by exceptional
educators, have informed my practice, and will continue to do so.
    Many of the blogs that are in the sidebar to the right of
this post on my site are, in my humble opinion, some of the best practice texts
of using technology in education.  I value the good ideas and lessons that
my colleagues in the edublogosphere are sharing on a daily basis.   
    The only problem with best practice texts, too often at
least, is that they turn classrooms into Mickey Mouse spaces where all goes
well and there’s never any trouble.  Every student in these books finds
success in the classroom.  At least, that’s how the texts present
classrooms.
    Again, this is not universal; many good texts share failures
as well as successes, but not nearly enough. 
    I do not want this blog to become a text that misinforms as
it informs. Nor do I want to read blogs
that paint stories of success while ignoring the stories of students lost or
unsuccessful along the way.
    We aren’t
going to learn anything by merely telling half of the story. And omission, intentional or otherwise, may
blur the narrative.
    Now, I’m not saying that this is happening, but, as I
prepare to embark on a larger blogging project than I’ve ever undertaken, I
want to make a public reminder to myself to tell as much of the story as I can,
without shading or blurring information in any way. 
    And
I think it’s reasonable to ask that those of you who are also blogging to do
the same.
     I know many bloggers are doing just that.   I encourage them to keep it up.  Let’s make sure that Will, and all of the rest of us, aren’t missing the stories of those students not engaged by these technologies.

    I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it, but the gang at EdTechTalk will be revisiting the Barnraising on Sunday.  They’re taking another shot at creating a solid, one-stop place for how-tos, whys and whatnots of Web 2.0 for the classroom.  I hope that you can and will stop by, if not during the show time, then before or after, and edit where you think necessary, even if only to add a question.
    Of course, I’m learning that there are several good places around the Internet where you can contribute your ideas and tips and information on how best to use Web 2.0 tools in your classroom and community.  Here’s one and here’s another.   (Aaron’s trying to put together a podcasting wiki , too.)   I’m sure you know of several more.  Maybe we should at least try to get links to all of these great resources in one place.  Maybe someone’s already done it. 

    I’m learning that so many people are afraid to edit a wiki, either because they don’t want to muddy someone else’s water or they don’t feel like they have anything to contribute.
    If there’s any lesson that we all need to learn about Web 2.0, it’s that we all need to be muddying each other’s water, and we all have something to contribute.
    So go do some wiki-ing already.

Ben, or one of his commenters, recently pointed his readers to Celestia, a free space exploration program.  Since I happen to be one of them (his readers, not space exploration programs), I took the opportunity to download the software.  I didn’t do much with it, but I thought it was a neat piece of software for space simulation. 
    Our science teacher today asked me if I could help her put together something for a look at astronomy that she’s doing next quarter.  I recommended Celestia and proceeded to figure out if we could get it onto our school computers.  We can.
    Then I tried to figure out some of the more useful student features.  It didn’t take me long to find out that Celestia is a BIG DEAL.  This site is a ginormous collection of resources, all free, that you can use to customize Celestia.  More better (Yeah, I said "more better."  And I’m an English teacher.  But it really is that good.), some really smart folks have created some really handy educational tours for free consumption and use with students.  Very, very cool.   There are geographical tours as well as lessons on terraforming and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  Amazing and really well done stuff.
    One note — if you do want to use the educational resources for Celestia (and if you take a peek, you will), make sure that you download the educational version of the program from the Motherlode website.  You need it to make everything work. 

    Last May, my school board approved an allocation to purchase a wireless laptop cart/mobile computer lab for our school.  This was exciting, because we were, at the time, working on a small package of professional development around incorporating technology into our instruction.  Teachers who were excited to experiment with technology couldn’t always make it into the computer lab.  This mobile lab was supposed to make it possible for those teachers and the more experienced teachers in our school to have access to technology at the same time for a variety of purposes.
    We don’t have a school library, and the district has some handy online research resources that we can use, when we’re on computers.  Adding technology was exciting because we were going to be using it in some pretty meaningful ways.  I had intended to begin blogging in several of my courses with students.  I was excited that we would be able to write online together several times a week, if not every day.   The additional access to computers was really a big piece of what I thought I needed to be successful, as I felt and still feel that the best way to create a community of writers is to find ways to publish with them regularly.
    Unfortunately, I’m still waiting for those computers.  The staff’s excitement is long gone.  Promises made by district technology personnel were broken repeatedly.  My administrators went to bat for us again and again — and their requests were met with deaf ears.  Our technology staff is overworked and understaffed.   
    The long and short of it?  The $30,000 worth of laptop computers that I ordered in December and that arrived in the district in January are sitting somewhere offsite gathering dust. A laptop cart with space for 24 computers sits in my classroom, and we stack books on it.   The SMARTBoard that was purchased for my classroom sits in the hallway outside my classroom, still in the box, where it will most likely sit until summer.  A box containing a ceiling mount projector is sitting next to the trashcan in my classroom.  At least we can put trash in the trashcan.  The box is just in the way.
    This angers me somewhat.  I considered naming names in this post, and just railing and fuming about all of my frustrations.  but frankly, while that would feel good for all of five minutes, it wouldn’t fix anything. We’d still be missing computers and there would really be no reason for anyone to hurry up and get them to us.  And, I’ve found, it’s always easier to blame and point and jump up and down than it is to get going on a project in spite of an extra obstacle or two (or twenty).  Of course, it’s taken me most of a year to get to that realization in this particular circumstance. 
    I’m done waiting. 
    On Monday, I’ll begin my speech class.  I haven’t taught speech in a while.  We’ll be blogging as a major component of this course, despite the lack of access.  It might fail miserably (and not just because of technology accessibility).  Then again, it might not.  Perhaps I was using the lack of tech as an excuse or a mask for my fears about taking blogging to the next step in my classes.  My students regularly post their thoughts to Moodle.  Now,  they’ll be going public.   
    If we can get into the computer lab, of course.

Nancy is curious to know why you blog with your students.  She’s speaking to/with some teachers soon, and would like to include your responses. 

    Talk about a digital divide.  NASA is making plans to create an "Internet in space" so that space probes can more easily communicate with home base.
    Fascinating.

    Just spend a crazy couple of hour writing/drafting/talking/developing the seed of some curricular tools and resources over at the EdTechTalk Barnraising.  I think the core of curriculum is developing, but it will take a significant amount of time and resources over the new few weeks and months to flesh out and create a useful resource for teachers.  We’ve all been creating our own tools and webpages to help us to share knowledge and help other teachers to use Web 2.0 as a classroom device.  It’ll be nice to create a central place to develop and share all of our work. 
    I hope that’s what the EdTechTalk wiki will become.  But it’ll be up to all of us to make sure that what we’ve created becomes more than a collection of neglected wiki pages.
    Here are a couple of things that I’m thinking about as my brain is in super-connective thinking mode.

• The wiki at EdTechTalk could become one stop shopping for anyone getting started and for those looking to further integrate Web 2.0 in the classroom. 
• Lots of really smart people have lots of great ideas spread all over the Internet.  How do we centralize that so as to be efficient and not recreating the wheel all of the time?
• How do we get stakeholders invested in using a central place for all of our resources?  (I don’t mean that everyone should only use one place to write or share, but I do think we could be lots more efficient and effective if we can begin to at least link back to one or two central resources, as well as link ourselves to a few key places.)
• What are the essential resources/pages/ideas/people that should be linked in to the EdTechTalk wiki?  Who will make the effort to make sure these links get created?
• What am I overlooking/missing through the haze of my excitement?
• How does centralization like I’m attempting to describe hurt/harm/conflict with the idea of Small Pieces Loosely Joined?   
• How can we use the category features of MediaWiki to create a resource that contains multiple ways of organizing and accessing information?
• Can we pay people to develop some of these ideas further?  Where would the money come from?  Would people want to get paid to develop wiki materials that might and probably will be changed over time?

Can you tell that my mind is racing right now? 

    I’m over at EdTechTalk right now participating in their New Media Barnraising.  If you’re reading this on Sunday around mid-day (11-1pm Mountain Time), feel free to join the conversation.  Events like this one might be the future of online collaboration — I’m tickled to death to be able to participate.