DOPA - the battle begins now

OK, so DOPA passed the House of Reps. and it's now on to the Senate. A couple of ideas for fighting back have surfaced in the last couple of hours:

1. Andy Carvin has set up an aggregator for reults on DOPA drawing from Technorati and Google News: Dopa Watch. Andy also has a more public forum, a blog on PBS, where he is trying to get the word out. Send him comments there - he has a big readership, more mainstream than the edtech blogosphere.
   
2. Will Richardson has posted a bit of a rant about this. For now, anybody should read and circulate this. Does he have anything organized? Not yet, but stay tuned. I think the best bet is for Will and Andy to get themselves on Oprah. Maybe then public opinion (which is how our legislators vote anyway) might experience a slight shift.
3. My thought is to contact the folks who opposed DOPA. Ask for their support. Tell them how important it is and how grateful you are that they opposed it. The fifteen smartest members of the House of Representatives are listed at the top of this page. Start with people who think like you, and ask THEM to change their colleagues' minds. They stand a much better chance than you or I. I am very proud to say my representative, Jim McDermott, is among those 15. Not that it was a tipping point for him, but it personally makes me feel better that I emailed him an impassioned plea last night...

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• DOPA

good grief - House overwhelmingly passes DOPA!

This just in, from Andy Carvin, on wwwedu:

Last night the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the
Deleting Online Predators Act, 410 to 15. It would seem that educators
had little to no impact on the outcome. Perhaps this is by lack of
numbers, or because the MySpace panic that's overtaken this country is
so overwhelming that no amount of rational pleas from educators would
have stopped it.

The battle moves on to the Senate. I'm not hopeful. Thoughts, anyone?

technorati tags

• DOPA
• carvin

FWD: Call Your Representative Today…

Just in case you have not aleady read this incredibly important piece of news, here is David Warlick with some good advice:

just got this through Dave Farber’s Interesting People:

ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 15, Number 73
July 25, 2006

In This Issue: URGENT ACTION ALERT: Call Representatives TODAY and ask them to oppose DOPA

URGENT Action Needed:

The Washington Office has learned that the House may try to expedite passage of H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), TOMORROW, July 26th.

PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY and ask that they oppose HR 5319. Capitol Switchboard number is: 202-224-3121.

Background:

DOPA is sponsored by Rep. Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and supported by the House Republican Suburban Caucus. It would require that, as a condition of receiving E-Rate support, all schools and libraries block access to social networking websites and chat rooms.

The bill raises a number of issues:

1) Local school districts and libraries should determine what content should flow into schools and libraries. Federal mandate over content control is very problematic.
2) Districts and libraries already have the power to block access to social networking sites and chat rooms and a number of them have already done so.
3) DOPA imposes yet another burden on schools and libraries participating in the E-rate and may deter many from continuing to participate.
4) This bill paints an unflattering and distorted view of the Internet as a whole, serving to scare away parents, students, teachers and librarians from making use of all its resources.

Last week, YALSA Executive Director Beth Yoke testified on DOPA before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on DOPA. You can read her testimony here: http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/
techinttele/DOPA_testimony

And also from Andy Carvin:

The American Library Association's Washington office is reporting that the House of Representatives will likely vote on the so-called DOPA Act tomorrow. DOPA, the Deleting Online Predators Act, would force schools and libraries receiving federal Internet subsidies to block all interactive websites, including blogs, bulletin boards, email lists and online social network. It's an absurd reaction to the anti-MySpace hype that's been dominating the media in recent months, and threatens to make the Internet completely useless as an educational tool. Schools already have the ability to block inappropriate websites, and they should be the ones determining which sites are educationally relevant.

Please call your congressional representative today and tell them that you are against HR 5319, as it's officially known. The House switchboard is 202-224-3121 - just give them the name of your representative. If you don't know your representative, you can contact them online - just supply your address and it will be directed to your representative. -andy

SPACE replaces PLACE

In the not too distant future...

The PLACE of edtech conferences is replaced by the SPACE of edtech conferences.

For attendees, no more gathering in central locations, paying registration fees, paying for plane tickets and hotel rooms.

That model is outdated, slow, expensive, wasteful, and unnecessary.

Space replaces place.

We meet in a space online. Virtually. A Skypecast broadcast live. Possible? Sure. Other ways? Of course. We need to let go of our antiquated notions of how ideas are shared, of how we "teach" others, of how we spread the word.

The technologies we are all so excited about are there for us to use - not just in our classrooms, but in the way we teach each other.

Warm day rant on NCLB

How hot is it?
Originally uploaded by mahlness.

Not to obsess about the heat too much, but it is getting a bit on the unbearable side around here, with our fourth day in a row of mid nineties, no AC, and very little breeze.... we are warm weather wimps out here in Seattle.

This has been bugging me for some time. It is about testing, NCLB, students, and teachers. It is about the basic assumptions behind testing and raising the bar of achievement.

Background point 1: states are mandated to test, and then increase test scores.
Background point 2: there is no funding for any of this to happen - for testing or for increasing achievement.

Assumption point 1: teachers are not teaching as hard as they should be.
Assumption point 2: students are not trying as hard as they should.
Assumption point 3: in order to make test scores go up, teachers and students just need to try harder.

This IS the plan. For those of us who leave a portion of our souls in the classroom every day, this is an incredible, demoralizing insult. For our kids who give it their all every day, this cuts the legs out from under their motivation.

If there were new instructional techniques being promoted, if there were new training being provided, if there were assistance from somebody for students and their families - and if there were any money to pay for ANY of this, then my Assumption points above would not hold water.

However, there is absolutely no plan for how to increase academic achievement. Wait, I take that back. Here is the plan: raise the bar! If you do that, achievement will go up!

How? Well, there is no plan for how. Just try harder, I guess.

(my personal core temperature just went up five degrees, not helping much with the need for cooling, but I feel better having pointed out the obvious)

technorati tags

• NCLB
• testing

Warm day baby steps

So what do you do when you live in Seattle and the temperature hits the mid/upper nineties? Not much. I know mid nineties may not sound like much to many across the US who have been withering away in the heat wave of the last few days, but when it happens out here, things just kind of stop. Sort of like when it snows. AC is not a common feature around here, especially in older homes, and many homes don't have a single screen. Our little home has neither. Bugs you say? What are those? So it's not all bad, but it is tough to be productive at anything physical. Thank goodness there is Internet stuff to work on :)

I've been developing a wiki for my school the past couple of weeks. I fully expect it (or something like it) to eventually replace the Arbor Heights Elementary School website, something I began twelve years ago. While I'm feeling my way around the wiki world, I am trying to involve a few parents in the initial building stage. If there's enough vested interest in the next month, with a core group watching and contributing to it, I will make it public at the opening of school in the fall. I hope to have staff, parents, and students all contributing to the wiki. We'll see...

Then for something totally different, I set up a podcast feed for the Jr. Seahawk Newsletter, the student newsletter I edit and produce with the kids from all the classes at school. We managed to crank out four podcasts at the end of year, so it's not much, but at least it's a start. I used the November Learning site I set up for reporters to comment on, set up a "category" for podcasts, and... tada!!... that category has an rss feed. Had no idea if this would work when starting out. Have tried the feed through Bloglines and Netvibes and the podcasts play just fine. Very cool. Two things I hope for in the fall:

1. that the site remains free
2. that my district does not block it
   

Then just to push in an area I know absolutely nothing about, I got the news reporter feed listed (pending approval) on iTunes. Yikes, I had to sign up, and all this business, just to have them list it. But now I can download all kinds of great music for my iPod. Right.

Now to find a shady spot with a bit of a breeze....

Free City Wi-Fi

I remember reading about Philadelphia going with free wi-fi, and I must confess to being ignorant on how it's going. Here is sister city Portland's latest, from Tim Lauer in Portland Citywide Wi-Fi Gets Started:

Oregon Public Broadcasting has a report about the build out of Portland's citywide wireless Internet grid. (Dailywireless also has a report with a few more details.)

Starting later this year in the downtown and inner southeast sections of Portland, and later throughout the city, residents will be able to pick up an advertising based connection free of charge. Advertisement free service will cost $20 a month. The builders of the system indicate that when finished, 95% of the city will be covered. The bandwidth is expect to be 1 Mbps. In addition to providing access to residents, the city will use the system to connect to devices such as traffic beacons, parking meters, and other such city infrastructure that can take advantage of a wireless network connection.

It will be interesting to see how the local school systems interact with this system (According to the RFP, Portland Public Schools is a partner with the city...)

This is so very exciting to see. It will be interesting to note where Seattle - or anybody else - goes with this.

The case against classblogmeister - a response

Below is a comment I left in response to The case against classblogmeister, written by Dean Shareski, filling in for Wesley Freyer on Moving at the Speed of Creativity:

Well I suppose I better say something :) First, I think it is testimony to the power of Classblogmeister that its strengths and weaknesses are being openly debated out here. It is also testimony to its influence and success. Dean, I know you would never have brought up a wimpy, worthless tool that nobody saw much use for except for a few, that nobody could defend...

Next, if the primary "case" against Classblogmeister is that it just doesn't ring the chimes of high school students - well, I think that's a pretty weak case. I doubt David Warlick had his eyes on high school students as the primary beneficiaries of the tool when he was developing it.

On customization, I agree kids love it, that it sucks them into things. As an elementary school teacher however, I will also point out it's one of the biggest dangers lurking out there in introducing new technologies. I don't know how many times I said, as my kids had just been shown (or discovered) some new bell or whistle in PowerPoint and were obsessing over it, "frankly, I don't care how it looks, I care about what you have to SAY". Sound familiar, teachers?

Last, on the issue of longevity of blogs. I might be misunderstanding, but I'm assuming we're talking here about how long student blogs last, not how long Classblogmeister lasts - right? Anyway, having spent a school year blogging successfully with third graders, here are a couple of thoughts on longevity:

1) my kids and I want their blogs to continue. I do because it will be a record of their progress as writers (it's all about writing). They want their blogs to continue because they are proud of them, because they simply want to KEEP DOING THIS. They love being contributors, having a global audience, all that good stuff.

2) will I continue to monitor and publish their writing after they leave my class? Well, I am right now. I've told them 'til the end of the summer. Then who knows? There are a couple of possibilities - actually transferring their blog to another teacher's classroom blog, or I could even continue to monitor and publish. Maybe there is a new tool right around the corner that allows the importing of a Classblogmeister blog. This is totally uncharted territory, and I am not pulling off the road now...

The obvious ps to all of this is that the kids I am talking about are young. Technology will change (duh) in the course of their education. I am going to give them every opportunity to spread their wings and fly as far as is safe - right now. As far as I am concerned, Classblogmeister is the clear tool of choice.

As for the perfect blogging tool for high school students, I'll leave that for somebody else. I can tell you, though, there will be fewer choices in the US than in many other places... but that's another conversation.

Well, Dean, this has gotten to be a mighty long comment, so I guess it now becomes a post on my own blog, too :) Thanks for continuing and pushing the conversation. - Mark

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• classblogmeister

Hard to walk away

american bittern 2
Originally uploaded by mahlness.

I've not had such a difficult time before leaving school and classroom work behind. Even when I go out and find an incredible bird like this American Bittern today, I come home anxious to finish up this or that bit of blogging, work on a wiki, see what somebody else has written about NECC 2006, send a comment to somebody, check my classroom blog.... the school year is not ending like it used to.

Tuesday brought the exciting Skypecast, and worries about further blocking in my school district. Wednesday brought digesting all this, writing about the conversation, listening to it again, finding more and more exciting edtechblogs, and learning more about wikis, including editing one. Today has brought birds, more great blog reading and now I need to find out about mashups, something I was just reading about.

Spongemode. Here I am on summer vacation, and my kids are still blogging. I'm offering them feedback, approving their work, making a few corrections like I am still their teacher. I'm spending hours learning and planning - on the web, blogs, wikis - and not getting a credit or a dime for it.

Am I complaining? No way, I love it. I just find it remarkable right now how hard it is to walk away.

technorati tags

• necc
• necc2006
• roomtwelve
• classblogmeister

Pros and Cons of Educational Blogging...

Skypecast instant messaging (1)
Originally uploaded by Wesley Fryer.

Just plain amazing. Here's a screenshot Wesley Fryer posted of his computer while hosting the Skypecast last night, Podcast72: Pros and Cons of Educational Blogging Options. How in the world he managed to do this while simultaneously turning mikes on and off, responding to instant messages and emails from several of us, deciding who should go next, guiding the conversation, and occasionally having a good idea of his own :) - is beyond me. He must have been a teacher at one point in his life! Why bless my soul, I do believe he was. Fantastic job, Wesley, and everybody else involved in this conversation!

It's an hour and a half long discussion, wide ranging, but still focused. There are more of these in the works, and not just from Wesley. Brett Moller has one set up for next week...

In the afterglow of NECC, I hope people can begin to wrap their heads around what this may mean for spreading and sharing information. A point was made by many at NECC that F2F meeting was one of the biggest justifications for everybody getting together in San Diego. How about V2V? This Skypecast was a pretty powerful and rewarding way to meet people and exchange ideas, too. How we (are able to) do all this is changing so incredibly fast!

Anyway, head to Wesley's post for links to the podcast, show notes, the wiki, etc.

Birding getaway

Black backed woodpecker
Originally uploaded by mahlness.

Today Janeanne and I went to Eastern Washington in search of the black-backed woodpecker. We found these (parents and fledglings) by 8:30 AM. My other two "Birds of the Day" were also lifers: a pair of Lewis' Woodpeckers feeding young at a nest, and a family of five red naped sapsuckers. Absolutely breathtaking. It is so good to remember the beauty of the natural world. Here's Janeanne's summary of our day, posted to Tweeters.

The Case for Classblogmeister

I've been following NECC blogs and presentations pretty carefully over the past three days. With my Bloglines Notifier going off pretty regularly, it's been real easy to stay on top of much of the action, thanks to Technorati and those who tagged their posts.

I must say I'm disappointed and stumped not to have heard a single mention of Classblogmeister. I feel like I should have been there - I would have put out a great sales pitch. David Warlick, the genius behind this incredible tool, is moving right on, and rightly so, with those who are pushing the tech envelope in daring ways. And I think he may be a little shy about pushing hard on something he has personally developed.

I see people at NECC setting up free personal blogs, student blogs, and staff collaboration blogs - on Blogger and Wordpress. It will be interesting to see the expressions on faces of all these new bloggers when they get back to their school districts and find access to those sites are blocked. Lots are trying out Edublogs, but frankly, this system is not as stable as it should be, and I worry about the huge load being put on its server(s) - and it does not offer a controlled environment in which students can learn.

So here's my testimonial, my sales pitch for Classblogmeister. First, it's not blocked. Next, it offers TOTAL teacher approval before any student post or comment on a student post (take that, MySpace fear mongers). Teachers can leave online feedback for students to improve their writing (like if they want to get it published) that is hidden from public view. Next, it's free (thanks to David W's generosity). It also has a very active list on Yahoo! Groups for sharing and problem solving. Last, I have never, in 25 years of teaching, seen a more powerful classroom tool for motivating students to write. Nothing else even comes close. It is the perfect blogging tool for teachers.

So it absolutely stuns me that I hear so little mention of it. I should have put up a presentation at NECC. I've been asked to present regionally on this, but there is no money, either in my wallet or my school's to make that happen. So I'll continue to preach from this little corner. Maybe this would make a good topic for my first personal podcast - I'll have to think more about that one!

Anyone reading here who is looking for a safe blog for students, look no farther than Classblogmeister. It is especially suited for elementary and middle school aged children. Please be clear about this, students EACH HAVE THEIR OWN BLOGS. In my opinion, having students leave comments on a teacher's blog is NOT blogging, nor does that practice empower students to deal in any way with the reality they face when they go home and go online - which is part of the reason to start young, and at school. More importantly, it does not present a learning opportunity for writing.

My own experience using Classblogmeister with my third graders this year has been absolutely phenomenal. I'll close by leaving pointers to a few posts I have left on my year with them. I encourage the reading of all their blogs (oh, and they are still blogging this summer, even though school is out) at roomtwelve.com:

• Top 10 student blog posts
• The Class of 2015
• Just another day
• Blogging through the school year, part 1
• Blogging through the school year, part 2
• Blogging through the school year, part 3

technorati tags

• classblogmeister
• necc
• necc2006
• roomtwelve

NECC - tracking blogs, any teachers?

At the right, for a few days at least, are the up to the minute rss results for the hitchhikr page set up by David Warlick for tracking the bloggers at NECC in San Diego. A mouse over titles will give you the beginnings of the posts. (7-16-06 edit)

The blogging is fast and furious, some really exciting things are happening there. If anyone is collecting links to classroom teachers who are blogging/presenting at NECC, please let me know via email or comment. Thanks - Mark

technorati tags

• necc
• necc2006

Top 10 student blog posts

There was a suggestion by Vicki Davis for edubloggers to list what they considered their top 10 posts on their own blogs during the 2005-06 school year. Well, I don't have much to offer personally, but there was some pretty amazing writing coming out of my classroom. So I thought I'd offer the Top Ten Posts from my students this year. They are not all great pieces of writing, but they are meaningful and important for the authors and their teacher. Here they are, the top 10 posts from my classroom of third graders, in no particular order:

• My Weekend - Logan was the first to start the practice (on his own initiative) of blogging his "morning journal" at the end of the week.
• Changing Desks - Jose came a long way as a writer this year. Distinct paragraphs, the addition of personal reflections within a descriptive piece, describing a classroom routine, was nice work.
• THE WASL - Joey, working on this every day for a few minutes, began to develop a sense that others were reading his blog, so he asked questions of the readers - and got several comments.
• K.E.T's Escape - Jacqueline wrote this fantasy in two 15 minute periods as Thanksgiving approached. The class was responding to this prompt; "Pretend you are a turkey. How will you escape being served for Thanksgiving dinner?"
• About My Blog - Jackson, probably the most prolific blogger in the class, had some well thought out reasons for having a blog and included what made it work for him.
• my golf ball named Larry! - Hannah wrote this one morning, off the top of her head, in about 20 minutes. She does have a gift...
• THe Last Gift! - Danielle wrote this from home over Christmas Vacation, in response to a prompt I put on the class blog a couple of days before. Wesley Fryer has shared this piece a few times in presentations and podcasts...
• No presents allowed - Camden wrote this wonderful freeform list in respose to "Besides presents, what do you look forward to most over Winter Vacation?"
• Don't keep it totally secret - August wrote some very nice pieces, and several longer ones during the year, but this short blurb of wisdom just popped out right before Valentine's Day.
• Comments - Abigail responded to her readers, letting them know she was doing her best - the life of a third grader can get pretty hectic!

The danger in doing something like this, of course, is that you might hurt somebody's feelings by not including them on the list of your favorites - or that you might overlook pieces that were more worthy of a mention. Elementary school teachers know all too well the importance of fairness in the classroom, and the dangers inherent in singling out a few for special praise...

Well, I'm willing to take the chance here, because the much bigger danger, no - shame - would be if these kids did not get heard at all. They all should have their writing celebrated, so I encourage readers to browse through ALL the authors at roomtwelve.com

technorati tags

• mytop10eduposts

Blogging through the school year, part 3

This is the third, and final, installment in a series that began with:
- Blogging through the school year, part 1
- Blogging through the school year, part 2
Below are my recollections of important high and low points while blogging with my third graders this past school year, from April through June, 2006. The red links point to my posts on roomtwelve.com, the classroom blog, and green links point to entries on this, my personal blog:

• April, 2006 - The kids were starting to get lots of comments, so I suggested a way of Handling Comments that grown up bloggers use - they continue with this practice. I post another assignment for something to write about while kids are on vacation, Getting ready for Earth Day, no response from the kids - oh, maybe one. I was over my head as usual with the Earth Day Groceries Project, and was getting way too deep into blog conversations that left me frustrated, eventually bubbling over in my lash out Speaking with authority and credibility. But the kids were continuing to grow, able to do some remarkable reflective writing on The WASL.
  
  
• May, 2006 - an invitation to write on their blogs about anything - I just gave them "blog time", with some ideas, of course - brought Mother's Day and More!, diverse, interesting stuff. Something I had wanted to do for a long time was Blogging from Tully's, and three kids pulled it off, reading from their blogs, on my laptop, in 21st Century Coffeehouse . The month came to an end with worries over classblogmeister failing, and a discussion of next year, without a blog, in Rugged days.
  
  
• June, 2006 - The conversation about the possible end of their blogs brought a very teachable moment in Blogging about blogging, and I was so moved that I posted The Class of 2015, with quotes from several. This was, without doubt, their most inspired and passionate writing of the school year. I posted Just another day to document the changing nature of the classroom. Finally getting picture permission, I posted a group shot, at Here we are... The kids were in a Blogging Frenzy! (also posted on my blog at Blogging Frenzy - crossposting is something I did several times during the year, when the lines between personal and classroom blogs overlapped, or became blurred). Then, in an attempt to try and do EVERYthing before the school year ended, I posted a couple of short videos of the class, The Room 12 Cheer! and Room 12 Cheer - almost! Those were the last two entries on the classroom blog during the school year. I tried to wrap it up personally at Last Day's Eve.
  
  The school year ends, but the blogging continues, with the first student post, at Summer Writers!

There. I'll follow with some personal reflections on what this has all meant as soon as I can.

Blogging through the school year, part 2

Yesterday I posted Blogging through the school year, part 1, August through December 2005. Below are my memories of important high and low points while blogging with my third graders this past school year, from January through March, 2006. The red links below point to my posts on roomtwelve.com, the classroom blog, and green links point to entries on this, my personal blog:

• January, 2006 - we start off the year posting our Personal narratives, basically a copy/paste from Word docs. An attempt to wed our writing program with the blog. Not so great, as only about half the class did theirs in Word. For those who did post their writing, it looked great, because they had more than one or two paragraphs - but this was after a couple of months(!) working on the piece. Lucky writers? just happened because of a Friday the 13th, a teachable moment that a few kids really got into. Nice comments was just a hint of a big boost we were about to get... Teacher writes about Amazing student bloggers
  
  (I'm realizing at this point I simply must leave out huge chunks, just to get through this. Also, readers must understand that, compared to the time we spent on more traditional stuff - math, art, gym, music, cursive writing, social studies, etc - blogging activities took up a very small part of the school day, and we maybe only gave time to the blog one or twice a week.)
  
  
• February, 2006 - it's not quite as painful as it first was to think about, but there was a big buzz in Seattle and on our student blogs, with Super Bowl Excitement. It actually spurred on our first attempt at podcasting, Seahawks Cheers - podcasts! Teacher posts A good week Then we lost, of course, and there was an outpouring of feelings on student blogs (More on the game ). It was a good time to go back and revisit the Blogger's Contract. One of the moments that most amazed me with my class was Third grade tech problem solvers. One of the moments that most amazed my kids was Room 12 - in Texas! And this one event just supercharged the rest of our school year. Teacher posts The Winter Olympics! on the classroom blog, hoping for students to blog from home, while on vacation - one or two takers, a flop...
  
  
• March, 2006 - I held a Family Internet Night and left the PowerPoint and podcasts on the school blog at Podcasting - finally! I had an incredible experience with The New Story - The Skypecast Another remarkable moment in the classroom came with Comments, articles - and podcasts! ("how come the girls get more comments than the boys?"). A downer came with Blocking Flickr - can't get past it, as I was counting on incorporating those images on our classroom blogs (had promised it, actually).

End of part 2. I'll try and wrap up the school year in the next installment.

Blogging through the school year, part 1

I just read The Next Movement from Darren Kuropatwa, a great review of the evolution of his use of web 2.0 technologies with his classes this year. So I felt motivated to remember, reminisce, and ultimately, plan for next year - I can't believe I just said that. Anyway, here's a month by month chronology of highlights/lowlights of blogging with my third graders. The red links below point to posts on roomtwelve.com, the classroom blog, and green links point to entries on this, my personal blog:

• August, 2005 - I set up my account with classblogmeister, enter students names, passwords, post several test blogs from Billy. Lots of personal experimentation and practice for me, on classroom and personal blogs.
  
  
• September, 2005 - school starts, aargh. The kids are so little :) We start some basic keyboarding (Type to Learn), they begin using Word, begin understanding the saving/opening of documents on the school server, locating their own directories, etc. Not easy stuff, amazing that we got through this.
  
  
• October, 2005 - continuation of Sept. stuff, getting more fluid, more reliable...
  
  
• November, 2005 - They kids find out about their blog (Getting started), learn passwords, all that stuff. We also go over the Blogger's Contract, a lot of important ground to cover, the kids are itching to get started. Very exciting! On the first weekend, kids are sending comments, sort of... (Comments). I assign their first blog writing piece, Thankful writing, and then Turkey stories. Teacher is swept away and overwhelmed.
  
  
• December, 2005 - another assigned piece, Besides presents, lots of making of snowflakes, get together our first PowerPoint presentations, Snowflake Presentations Online!, I end the calendar year by assigning One More Gift. This was during our winter break, and led to a very big event in January, 2006.

End of Part 1.

As my kids often said when they just plain ran out of time, to be continued...

It's not over

mixed table,
originally uploaded by mahlness.

The last day of school was five days ago. What do teachers do to kick off their summer vacation? Many, like me, spend a few more days in the classroom, cleaning up, packing up, organizing, etc. And when you have 17 computers that you are responsible for, well... I've got another 2 days at least.

This picture of the end of a table is pretty reflective of the world in which I teach right now - keyboards, analog clock, patch cables with laptop projector, memory chips, glue sticks, papers, paper bag...

More pics from the classroom cleanup operation today at Flickr

Losing the Passion? - a response

(So what do you do when you spend more time posting a comment to somebody's blog than you usually spend writing on your own blog? Well, copy your comment, and put it on your blog as a new post, of course)

Brian Crosby, a sixth grade teacher in Nevada, posted Have Too Many Lost The Passion? - talking about how one of the casualties of "programmed teaching" and testing - is the passion teachers have for their work. Another byproduct is that technology innovation, even real basic web 1.0 stuff, gets swept under the rug and forgotten. I couldn't agree more, and I encourage the reading of his complete post. Here's a bit...

This lack of passion means teachers are having fewer discussions about teaching and learning - and the programs so many of us have to follow leave zero time and resources to promote the kind of teaching we would like to be doing so sharing the new teaching tools becomes irrelevant to all but the few.

This struck a chord with me, so I left this lengthy response:

---

Brian, nice post. I do agree with you about what is sucking the passion out of the profession. I’m glad you see some cracks in the wall, because I don’t. The demon I’ve been struggling with this year was a schoolwide writing curriculum (built on the “writer’s workshop” idea) that had no technology component - pencil and paper, Mead notebooks, right out of the 19th and 20th centuries. I did it, but I also got my kids blogging - and that experience was just incredible.

Give teachers maybe just a little chance to change on their own, do their own thing, research and try out new things - and then let’s see if the passion is gone.

Yesterday, I brought my colleagues up to our computer lab - I promised them 20 minutes. Last day of work. End of a long day of meetings. I just wanted to show them what the lab would look like next year, since we just upgraded it. Imagine the energy. Imagine the enthusiasm… the drooped shoulders, the exhausted faces.

I talked for about 15 minutes about the lab, upgrades happening this summer, and so on. Then I thought I’d throw in just a bit about blogging. Why not? Nothing to lose, I had talked about it before, shown them my class blog during the year, etc.

I suggested they all get a personal blog going this summer. Just to try it out, I said. I worked myself up to some pretty passionate stuff in about 60 seconds - ending with something like, “if we as teachers don’t embrace and use these incredible new tools, and teach our kids how to use them safely, then I think we will be failing our kids, and I think ultimately, we will be negligent. Nobody else is going to do it. It’s up to us….” etc.

Somebody asked how they could start a blog. I showed them edublogs.org - within 10 minutes, over six teachers had a blog set up. I don’t know how many were successful, everybody was trying at once, getting a username, blog title, etc - I felt like I was back in the classroom again - yikes! It was great.

Now I don’t expect that they will all continue this - but I bet a couple will. I send this story along as an example of what teachers can do when the other stuff is out of the way - the tests, the rigid curricula, the endless meetings, the expectations that they be mindless implementers of the “perfect program”, etc.

I put a little passion out there for my colleagues, and many grabbed at it, even in their exhausted state. They were taking a chance to learn something new, to grow on their own, to experiment, to play. The spark is still there, it just needs to be lit - and given a little room to breathe.

I’ll get back to you on my “rant” later. - Mark

technorati tags

• technology+literacy
• classroom+change

Last Day's Eve

Tomorrow is the last day of school for me and my third graders. Tonight I have once last chance to prep for a day that might make a difference in 22 young lives. One last chance. I'm lucky to be in a spot like this, with so much potential sitting on the porch stoop, waiting to take off.

It has been a remarkable year. This is a bright and caring group. They are pioneer bloggers, and they know it. Due to timing and the loud mouth of their teacher, they have had a lot of exposure. They have been read by many, they have received comments from students and teachers worldwide, and several have been quoted (think what this means, folks!!) all over the Internet. Eight and nine year olds, adding perspective that is right now pretty unique. And it is not just perspective, they are adding new content. See here, for example.

My hope is their experience will become commonplace, real soon, that writing and commentary like theirs will be everywhere. We will all benefit. I salute them, and I thank them.

Lest anyone think we don't know what's important and how to have fun, I send along a couple of short videos from yesterday in the classroom. They are on our classroom blog, which will continue running through the summer, at roomtwelve.com (visit the blog for background):

• The Room 12 Cheer (866k wmv video), from 5/19/06
• The Room 12 Cheer almost (831k)

Blogging Frenzy

A week to go with my third graders, and it is getting frantic. It is all about the classroom right now. There are very few who go through this annual intense emotional roller coaster - of letting go - of moving on - of grieving - of getting so close and then saying goodbye. This is the part of being a classroom teacher that makes it, as John Mellencamp would say, "Hurt so good". I am so busy, maxed to the limit in every way, trying to make everything sweet and meaningful for my kids and me in these last few days.... All I can do here is copy what I just posted to my classroom blog:

Wow! The students at roomtwelve.com are outdoing themselves these days, publishing blog posts at an amazing rate. On all sorts of topics, like summer vacation plans (assigned by me), to sports items, video game stuff, fantasy writing, and on and on.... I am so very proud to be their teacher!

A couple of new things we've taken on this past week:
- most students now have a picture on their blog (upper right corner) of something important or meaningful to them.
- some students are including links to other web sites in their blog articles. They picked up how to do this pretty quickly last week.

Our last day of school is June 21st, and we will be blogging right up until the end. Many students will continue to blog here over our summer months (more on that later). - Mr. A.

Comments - Thanks to the teachers

There has been so much talk on some blogs lately about comments - on educational blogs, and just in general. Three I found very interesting were from Doug Noon, Graham Wegner, and Dean Shareski.

I just posted the following on my classroom blog. Wanted to be sure the folks below were recognized here as well.

This is a special thank you to the teachers who have left comments for the kids here. Your words have REALLY helped these third graders become stronger readers and writers! Here is a list of teachers who have left comments.

Most of the names are linked to their blogs, if they have one: Nancy McKeand, Ms. J.-S, Cheryl Oakes, Lani, Jeanne Simpson, Ms Bailey, Ms. Sato, Janice Friesen, Mr. Warkentin, Miss Vail, Ms. Fullerton, Mrs. DeGiorgio, Mrs. Turner, Jody Hayes, Pam Jeter, Mr. Brune, Jennifer Bazley, Dean Shareski, Brett Moller, Julie Jaffe, Michael Cridland, Mrs. Cessna, and last but not least, the man who gave us a confidence boost, got us excited, and who asked other teachers to send comments to student bloggers - as homework - Wesley Fryer!

Thanks to all of you! - Mr. A.

ps - if I`ve missed somebody, please don`t be shy about letting me know. I want to include everybody!

Wish I had done as good a job sending comments to their students. Many, many thanks!

Just another day

Today was an exhilarating and exhausting time in the classroom, blogging with my third graders. I send this chronology along because I think many do not realize the impact, both on the students and the teacher, of what is happening in some corners right now. This was my day:

• Before I even leave for school, ten comments to student blogs come in. I approve them all quickly via email, hop on my bike, and get to school, huff, huff....
• About half an hour before school starts, another six comments come in, one from a teacher at our school, and five from Gordon Brune's fifth graders (I make notes to tell my kids about all this)
• The school day begins. Lots of business, the kids are hyped up very much, although we still have a couple weeks to go.... I tell them about the activity on their blogs, there is a lot of excitement, questions ("Did I get one?", etc). We talk about the obligation to respond in some way to comments (again!), review their options, and then I give half the class read/write time (30 min) on their blogs, and half the class does a math assignment. Later in the day we flip/flop.
• During the day, my kids post twelve new blog articles. I approve ten of them, leave feedback for the rest... These blogs were not directed or assigned by me. I would say some of my kids are in a true writing frenzy, so postings were all over the place, from August's thoughtful I Hear Ya', to an anticipatory School from Jackson, to Hannah's wacky my golf ball named Larry! What teacher would not love this?
• It's a regular day, in that we have math, reading groups, music, recess, lunch, art, journal writing, spelling, and so on...
• During recess and my prep period, I have student news reporters from all classrooms come to my classroom to record news for the podcast version of the May Jr. Seahawk Newsletter - and record their thoughts about the school year for the PODCAST ONLY June edition - a first! (learned a lot in the process - more recording tomorrow)
• During the day, my kids send countless comments to the blogs of their classmates, students around the world, teachers all over the place, and university folk - in response to the comments left on their own blogs. I do my best to screen/edit/help with all comments sent. (Teacher cringes at the thought of all the typos and misspellings missed!)
• As I am writing this at home in the evening, two more comments come in. I approve them.

It amazes me how easily the teaching of my kids has become a round-the-clock proposition. This will sound horrific to some, but I look on it as a very exciting new way of thinking about education. I will still be teaching my third graders after school is out on June 22nd this year. I have told them I'll keep their blogs active (with their parents' OK) through the summer.

Everybody else seems to be in countdown mode, but I'm in this desperate "I've got so much more to show them and there isn't nearly enough time" mode.

Many, many thanks to those who have left comments for my kids!. It excites them, of course, to hear from people in different corners of our planet, but the end product that excites me the most is that they spend a good deal of time really reading and writing with purpose. With a purpose and will I have not seen in 25 years in the classroom.

The Class of 2015

Part of the class of 2015 will be my 22 third graders. Today we talked more about their blogs. We had talked about what will happen at the end of the year before. Today I gave them a chance to blog their thoughts - about their blogs.

I wish I had these to send to Will Richardson as he addressed 49 superintendants from NY state, to David Warlick when he spoke to a conference in Arizona, and many others. These voices speak volumes of the way kids are embracing web 2.0 technologies - if we only let them.

What they also convey is the tremendous power new technologies have to offer, in terms of motivating kids to write. I have never, in 25 years of teaching, seen anything come close to this. Below are excerpts of what they posted today. The links to their blogs are at the end of this post:

Why do we write on our blog. Do we have to? Why? I just want to know, isn’t it a simple question? The world may never know. I really like to write on my blog. It’s a strong way to express yourself with strong feelings. My blog is awesome in my opinion. I really like my blog, it’s one of the coolest things in my life! I love my blog and I don’t want to lose it. - Camden

I want a blog next year. I think I’m a better writer. I think kinder gardeners should blog. - Gus

Blogs are important because you write a lot of articles and how would you feel if it got taken away. How would you feel if someone Stole it away from you, would you care? Think about it, please think about it. - Isobel

You can write on your blog any time you want to. You can even blog from your house if you know what you are doing. If you are even on summer break you can write on your blog. - Jackson

One day in class I asked, “what will happen to the blog next year?” He said we could write all summer until next year our blog will be saved in a folder so that his new class can have a blog. No more writing will be on our blog. It will be all in the past. How horrible can this get! At least the new kids will have a blog. So SAD!! - Jacqueline

I feel proud that I have a blog. Having a blog is more fun than I thought it would be. It feels great to have a blog - Joe

Next year I don’t think I will get to write any new articles on my blog because my teacher will have a new blog. I wish I could blog until I’m out of school. I think next year I’m going to try to get my new teacher to start a blog so I can blog next year and more people can blog. - Joey

I feel so sad that we don’t get the blog next year and I really hope that our class next year can make her or he let us have a blog. I think I’m a better writer because of my blog. I’m going to miss all my writing and comments but we just NEED to leave the blog. I just hate that so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, much. But I think that the kids in Mr. Ahlness’s class next year will do a great job and I know that they will. - Hannah

Well I think for the summer I’m not really going to write articles because my computer doesn’t work. That’s why I can’t write any more articles on my blog. The other thing is that next year I’m not going to have a blog. Can you believe that? A kid without a blog, yikes! - Jose

I think other people should have a blog because it will give me a chance to comment more people and so I can get more comments too. I like blogs because you get to share a creative idea with the world. It is cool having a blog. - Logan

I feel safe when I write on my blog. I feel important when I write on my Blog. I’m going to miss writing in Mr. A’s Class. I feel like I want to write in the summer. - Tia

I think other teachers should let their kids have a blog. Even kindergartners. I think everybody should have a blog. Everybody should express his or her writing in a good way. - Abigail

We are very safe when we write. We can put our FIRST name on our blogs but last is a no-no! Because then some evil person might look you up in the phone book and go all voodoo on you!!! - August

Blogs are good; people, kids, or other people in the world can send you a comment. And when somebody sends me a comment I just get happy and send a comment back to him or her. And when I get out of school I feel happy and sad. I feel important to my blog because I wrote things that I wanted to share with EVERYBODY. - Dylan

And finally, one blog put it all together:

My blog is very important to me and I still want to keep it going. It’s hard to let go of something when you really care about it. I think that I will keep writing and writing because I want even more experience with writing so I can teach other kids to write.

My teachers appreciate my writing and I respect that. When a teacher looks at my article and says I did a good job, it makes me feel great because I know that they really do like it.

I think that other kids should blog because it’s fun and it really helps you learn more and more. Sometimes you can look at other people’s blogs and get Ideas, but you don’t want to take their whole Idea.

When I blog I have to be careful about these things: last names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal things, but I’m not stupid to put my phone number or anything like that but you never know if anyone could accidentally write anything very, very personal. You also don’t want to write inappropriate things because you are not setting a good example for the younger ones.

I’m not sure if my teacher next year will let us have a blog, but if she or he likes someone’s blog than my class can have a blog. I really don’t want to let go of my blog and I think I have to burst a tear. - Danielle

Those are just excerpts from some of the blogs. I encourage the reading of everything they have to say.

I am extremely proud of these young pioneers. I do believe they understand where their place is in the evolution of the web. They are proud to be pushing the envelope. I think they even feel a bit of responsibility for doing it well, so others may benefit from their efforts. They are a very special group.

Below are the blogs of all the 8 and 9 year olds from roomtwelve.com, the class of 2015:

Abigail
Alice
Alina P
Anthony
August
Billy
Brian
Camden
Danielle
Dylan
Gus
Hannah
Hayden
Isobel
Jackson
Jacqueline
Joe
Joey
Jose
Logan
Mariah
Michael
Ming
Tia
Tyler

technorati tags

• roomtwelve

Brighter spots

I should know better than write after a hard day in the classroom. I'll let my previous post stay, because it's important to me that I remember the journey. It's all about the classroom right now, and the end of the year is such an incredibly loaded time.

Yesterday I had a group of "blog testers" who volunteered to help me figure out where comments and blog articles were going. As a result, I'll have my kids start blogging again today. They just need to tell me when they've posted something, so I can go look it up for approval (or editing). I think the topic will be their blogs - how they feel about them, what they'd like others to know about them. This is something Darren Kuropatwa had his kids do a few months ago. I had read the post, but forgotten about it. Thanks for the link, Jeanne!

And we finally have a few pics of us that will be appearing on the class blog and elsewhere. The first spot is our school's Young Authors' Conference. Since I'm the webmaster for the school, my kids get featured :) Actually, they're the only ones with parent permission for pics on the web. Anyway, more to come on that, and I'll have more to say on student pics on the web another time.

Rugged days

The past two days have been rugged at school. Everything looks fine from the outside, but there are two big time issues I'm wrassling with.

My third graders' blogs are not working properly. I'm spending hours looking over them, figuring stuff out - when I don't really even have minutes. The kids really want to blog. Yesterday we talked about next year, when they won't be with me, when they won't have their beloved blogs. and so on. There were tears as I explained how I would phase them out. Lots of good questions. They were grasping at straws, trying to wrap their heads around how the blogs could still exist, live on, somehow remain. This phenomenal response is unlike anything I have seen in 25 years of teaching. And right now the blogs are not working. Three weeks to go in the school year, and there is this just incredible knot of emotion. Aargh.

The other is the literacy (specifically writing) program at my school. It is a very long story, which I will maybe share here later. Anyway, plans are being made for next year. And I am a lone voice suggesting anything other than the mandated all school paper/pencil, Mead writing notebook approach to writing that we had this year. My feelings are so strong on this, it is very difficult to even begin a conversation about it with my colleagues. My blood pressure shoots up, and there is this chasm of misunderstanding so wide that it seems impossible to even begin to address - never mind explain sensibly. And a rant will go nowhere here. So I'm trying to figure out what to do about it. I will probably write. Unfortunately, I have so much to say, there is so little time or energy to do a good job of expressing myself, and nobody will have the time to actually read and digest what I have to say, with all the end of the year craziness. One thing I do know. I cannot go through another year as I have this past year - way too many sleepless nights spent with this puppy. Better stop for now. I can feel the blood pressure rising.

New Literacy?

New Literacy?,
originally uploaded by mahlness.

Now the inclusion of the American flag is coincidence, so don't jump to any conclusions that this is a political statement. This was on a classroom door just down the hall from my classroom. I love my school and all my colleagues (this is a very good teacher), but this cutesy depiction of "how we write" could have been produced 70 or 80 years ago. We really do have a long way to go. Sometimes I forget how far.

Just to be clear about this: The writing process has changed. It is NOT encapsulated in a pencil any more. Web 2.0 technologies (and earlier) have indeed changed not only the container, but also the process.

I'm not sure what the most forward thinking graphic might be right now. I'll work on it. Any ideas?

MySpace and DOPA - great interview

Thanks to a nice comment from Jeff Cooper yesterday, I checked out the latest on MySpace from Danah Boyd - this time with Henry Jenkins from MIT:

Discussion: MySpace and Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA)

This interview will be a real eye-opener for many, I hope, into what the controversy over MySpace is really all about. In my simple words, it's about kids, kids wanting to socialize, parents worrying about them, parents trying to control them. Nothing new here. Nothing except the arena. That's what is so terrifying to parents, fed incessantly by our mass media machine.

I hope this interview gets even wider airplay than Danah's earlier, but also very good: Friendster lost steam. Is MySpace just a fad?

She did end up doing a great job on the O'Reilly Factor, but if the message is going to get out there and really influence public opion (and therefore create a change), she's gotta land on Oprah. Here's hoping.

The Rant

This past week the wwwedu discussion list has been hopping with some fightin' words. Moderator Andy Carvin just posted a great summary of the discussion, with quotes from a few contributors, including me, on the new learning.now blog he is writing for pbs.

Contributing to a list is hard work for me, compared to brogwriting. I feel like I have to choose words so carefully.... So, rather than add to the wwwedu discussion, I just added the following comment (also easier to write) to Andy's post:

Yes Andy, that was one good rant and discussion. I hope readers remember that the feelings behind Jeff’s rant continue there still - and are shared by many, myself included. Just speaking the problem does not solve it, make it go away, or lessen the feeling that produced it.

And yet I wonder what those just tuning in on this discussion think about all this? Are those ranters really a bunch of loose cannons, spurred on by some wild hair of a crazy idea? I think it would be pretty easy to think that, if you’ve not been involved in the discussion. Don’t schools have computers? Aren’t they connected to the Internet? What’s the problem then, for goodness sake? Just settle down and keep the kids safe.

So I do worry about that. I think those of us waving our arms around so wildly at times at this or that windmill need to remember the most powerful change agent in the US - public opinion. I hope we are not shooting our cause in the foot, adding, in our passion, to the fear that may “overtake the Internet’s potential…”

Thanks for the thoughtful and kind remarks Andy. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. - Mark

21st Century Coffeehouse

I'm sitting on the floor in a packed coffeehouse in Seattle. No, it's not Starbucks - it's Tully's. Our school has had "readers' night out" here five times this year - kids bring their latest writings and read for an audience - PA system and all - the whoosh of the latte machine adds to the ambiance.

I was so proud of three of my third graders, who came down and read from their blogs off this laptop. All the other kids had their floppy pieces of paper, their little "books", etc. My kids just came with courage - and I would say some confidence - that the experience of writing for a global audience has brought them this year. They read a Mother's Day story, a fantasy turkey escape story from Thanksgiving, and a journal kept during the week of our high stakes testing on the WASL.

This is so far from the coffeehouses I remember in the 60's. My kids tonight were part of a very new generation, the one embracing totally different ways of reading, writing, and communicating.

Ease off the teachers

So much has been written about how teachers just don't give a care about integrating technology, web 2.0 modules, into their classrooms. I'm tired of the blame being put on teachers. Put it squarely where it belongs - on the administrators and legislators who are motivated out of ignorant myspace.com fear.

How can we teachers begin to integrate curriculum using 2.0 technologies when those tools used to implement that technology are prohibited, blocked, and outlawed from access in our schools? A short list of prohibitions in most school districts in the US:

• all blogger.com domains
• flickr.com
• any rss feed from blogger or flickr, even if specific users are cleared
• del.icio.us
• note that many sources drawing from the above also come up short and do not work properly, for instance:
  - bloglines
  - netvibes
  - suprglu
• rate limiting or total blocking of multimedia files: mp3, realaudio, quicktime, etc, etc. Listen to a podcast over 500K? Forget it.

If you are a web 2.0 proponent, how would you do without access to all/any of the above in your work? I say ease off on teachers. Those who don't understand why we are not embracing The New Story with open arms need a little dose of reality. Spend some time in a classroom, a school, talking with a teacher, checking out the tools we have at our disposal. Then tell me it's our fault.

Time to look and place blame elsewhere.

Netvibes, reading, teaching

I first heard about Netvibes from Jeff Utecht - via a very nice staff presentation on rss he posted. Looked very cool. But I thought, one more thing to track? - I don't think so. But I read more, encountered more mentions, most recently David Warlick. So I set mine up. And it is so cool, so sweet - at least on a high speed connection, fast computer from home. We'll see how fast it is and what gets through tomorrow at school. What really excites me is the potential for the regular classroom teacher, the non-techie, to get into web 2.0 with this. Adding feeds is an absolute no-brainer: just paste the blog address in the add feed line, and "autodiscovery" takes care of the rest. The drag/drop, graphical interface is so much more inviting than the dry Bloglines display. I really think the classroom teacher can grab onto this one, at least I hope so.

Time for only a little reading this past week, but a few that I remembered and will go back to:

• Our Classrooms are Flat - from David Warlick. I just love where he is going with this.
• Can Computers Help Schools? - from Brian Crosby. Well put, one of many responses to Jay Matthews skewed view.
• Bonnie Bracey's response was great, as well.

That list was way too short, not at all reflective of my interest - only reflective of the lack of time I currently have to pursue reading to learn. It's a busy time in the classroom...

What really matters

We take so for granted that technology now puts us in touch effortlessly with people around the world, instantly. It's when ideas spread and behaviors change because of that technology, because of that new way of communicating, that I get excited. I just posted this to the The Earth Day Groceries Project blog:

Welcome to Sri Lanka
Every once in a while, a report comes in that makes me sit back, take a deep breath, and shake my head in disbelief. Halfway around the world from where the vast majority of Earth Day Grocery Bags are decorated and distributed, a small community in Sri Lanka joined in. It's worth a read:

Report from Sri Lanka

Happy Earth Day, every day, everywhere!

Speaking with authority and credibility - revisited

Ever write something so awful that it's painful to even go back and look at it? Never mind read through it carefully. I wrote Speaking with authority and credibility nearly two weeks ago. I was smack dab in the middle of running the Earth Day Groceries Project, preparing my third graders for the WASL, and I had gotten way too involved in the discussion over George. I was exhausted, stressed, and frustrated. So I really let it fly.

There were people outside of the classroom saying things I did not agree with. Telling me what the problems were. I believed their suggestions for and criticisms of teachers were not based on the reality that I knew. I'd been doing this, pushing the tech envelope in the classroom, for a long time. I believed I knew what I was doing and had the right to say so.

I read through my post again this morning - yikes, words like "pontificating" and "spew forth" are certain to bring about angry and defensive reactions from even the most level headed and confident folks. Interesting responses to the post in several places.

Do I still feel the same? Sure.
Would I say it differently now? Sure.
Do I need to explain or add anything? Yes, I would add this...
It's about what those who are not classroom teachers have to offer - or at least what I find useful and helpful.

1. technical knowledge, the "how to" stuff. This is a short item, but very important. So many great ideas out there, and no lack of generosity in sharing them!
2. encouragement. This is huge to me. I have many to thank for this, and most are not in the classroom. Teachers doing what I do are very much on our own, not just in our schools, but in our school districts. You really have nobody to bounce ideas off of, get excited about new things with, etc. When I first started blogging on my own, and then with my kids, I assumed I was one of many doing that - hundreds, probably thousands, I thought. Not so. There is ONE other teacher blogging with her students in Seattle, just down the hall from my classroom. I try and encourage her...

So, many thanks to Wesley, David, Will, Gordon, and Miguel. (oops - one is a classroom teacher!)

I've learned a fair bit about myself in this - the rant, and the fallout. First, I need to carefully regulate how far I let myself get involved in trying to "fix" the systemic stuff. Blogland is a funny place, in that it's real easy to overestimate your influence and your ability to change things. I absolutely loved Doug Noon's post this week, Commit to Being a Flea - and the resulting conversation in the comments. This feels like a comfortable suit for me to put on for a while. But I will be "Mighty Flea" - or something :) Imagine an army of us.

Second, I've been reminded how fragile personal feelings are, how words said in the heat of the moment may linger for a long time, may become twisted, taken personally, misunderstood, and used for other purposes besides the original intent. I worried about losing friendships.

Third, I've learned that I just can't stop listening to good writing - I just love it. So, on this little blog, I've featured direct rss feeds to a few classroom teachers who are wonderful bloggers, but I have also added a blogroll that includes just plain good writers and thinkers on ed/tech stuff.

Fourth, I've discovered the peace that comes with hanging with your own kind. Don't take this the wrong way. I don't know how to express it exactly, it's kind of a "herd" mentality thing, I guess. There is a good feeling that comes from being surrounded - physically at times - by those just like yourself. I've never been much of a group follower - and education certainly does not cultivate this value amongst teachers - so it is comforting, in a way, to be in the company of classroom teachers who blog on their own and with their kids. It's a small herd (fleas, mostly), but at least I've located it.

Last, I've remembered what it's like to stick your neck out for something you believe in. It has been a while.

A day in the life

It is May, and I am so tired. I am very aware of how dangerous it is to put your mouth out there when you are not at your sharpest. But sometimes there is no choice. My post on Speaking with authority and credibility brought a lot of anger my way, not surprising. It also led to misunderstanding, once again not surprising. Some things that have got me through today:

• my kids' postings on testing (and incredible responses from kids/teachers all over): It's over, but the writing continues!
• Doug Noon's writing - yikes, he's the tellraven guy! I have got to find time to comment!
• getting a few blogspot.com domains cleared through the Seattle School District filter this morning. I will keep adding to the list, now that I know it's possible.
• recording/editing the news reporters for the April podcast of the Jr Seahawk Newsletter at school today - two hours into it, and two more to go, for a precious 5 minutes...
• Miguel Guhlin's writing, today and every day, it seems, lately...
• the hundreds of inspirational reports that I have read through carefully today and the past week, carefully editing before posting on The Earth Day Groceries Project
• the hundreds of pictures I've posted on dozens of new web pages from schools around the world for the same project
• a very nice email I got this morning from a teacher/doc student in NY, who put me together as the earth day guy who wrote a chapter in this book. Although proud of my contribution there, it is so very dated... Still, it does not take much to lift tender spirits right now.

So many things I want to write about. So little time. I have to, even more, seek out those classroom teachers doing web 2.0 stuff with their kids. They know what's happening, they will have more to offer me, and vice versa. It's 10:15 PM, got to correct papers, plan for tomorrow, and edit student blogs just sent in from home.

Effective teaching - what's that?

Doug Noon just posted a wonderful article, Effective Teaching, in which he writes about what makes a teacher a great teacher. Very much worth a few minutes to read. Unfortunately, what I see happening is the question of what makes a great or effective teacher is totally left out of the equation when schools decide how to improve.

The first thing districts look at will be test scores, comparing this district with that one. Then will come different approaches to instruction (whole language vs, literacy based, etc). Then will be evaluations of PROGRAMS or CURRICULA that promise to meet the needs identified by the schools to improve TEST SCORES.

Then folks come up with a little equation for how to get the job done. It is based on the idea that all you need is the perfect curriculum, taught in exactly this or that particular way - and you'll have incredible schools!!

Is there anywhere in this equation a piece about the fact that the secret to effective schools is - effective and expert teachers? Once school districts start their planning around the ideas Doug is talking about, education in the 21st century may have a chance. A little more cultivation of the motivated, expert, and committed teacher will grow a lot healthier schools.