Beyond words and understanding

Free 1.0
Originally uploaded by mahlness

In less than 6 hours, every one of the 40 year old dictionaries I had offered for free outside my classroom door was gone. I am beyond words and understanding.

Free!

Free!
Originally uploaded by mahlness

Casualties of the need for more space and years of non-use, these dinosaur dictionaries are now an extinct sub species in my classroom. (I saved one of each for our Book Museum).

Gearing up for 08-09

With two weeks to go until the kids walk in the classroom door, I have started preparations. Having done this a few times before, these days I accept and understand that I absolutely cannot effectively do anything until the kids' computers are set up and I know they are ready to roll. I'm about halfway done. The only tech unknown, thankfully, is where to put the solar panel for our XO's. Now, that will be fun to work on...

Then there's all the other stuff. I was so disgusted with the manipulative clutter from last year's math adoption, that I finally cleared out hundreds of manila file folders from a file cabinet, looking for storage space. Those files had been there for years. Somebody gave them to me, and I had never used them. Unfortunately, the manipulatives I put in those drawers reflect a pedagogy that is so outdated, it's hard (for me) to see any progress in the process. Exchanging one outdated way of doing things with another... Oh well. Less clutter is something.

Technorati tags: xo olpc xoclassroom roomtwelve everydaymath

XO Pics

Thanks to Alan Levine for his mention of this cool tool:

XO in the classroom - the whole story

I've written frequently about the XO Laptop here, and I thought it would be useful to try and organize all those writings in one place. I certainly did not start out the 2007-08 school year imagining any of this. Here is a chronoligical listing of all my writing about the XO in the last few months.

• OLPC (Nov 15, 2007) - I had just ordered an XO in the G1G1 program - found a video demo...
• OLPC - Merry Christmas! (Dec. 19, 2007) - my XO laptop arrives!
• The Three Amigos (Dec. 27, 2007) - comparison of my three laptops.
• Leaving town to find the neighborhood (Dec. 29, 2007) - first connection to xochat.org, the jabber server (amazing number of XO's there), success on Opera install
• OLPC in the classroom (Jan. 20, 2008) - I bring the XO into class, can't access the wireless network, do my first build upgrade, get connected, thoughts about how to use in the classroom...
• Seattle XO Users (Jan. 27, 2008) - meeting with the Seattle XO users group. Intimidating and exciting, this will open many doors, real soon...
• Our XO Laptop (Feb 2, 2008) - crosspost to my classroom blog, a formal introduction to our classroom - picture documenting first blog post from an XO.
• A Tale of Two XO's (Feb. 9, 2008) - a second XO arrives - a donation! I take them both to Writer's Night out at local coffeehouse, and kids read to the crowd from their blogs - from XO laptops!
• XO Joy (Feb. 17, 2008) - another XO is donated, so we now have three! Overwhelming, difficult to manage. Teacher pours water on keyboard so kids can use pic in PowerPoint presos they are doing on the XO laptop. Kids post short first impression of the XO articles on their blogs, compiled on the classroom blog.
• An XO Tale (Feb 20, 2008) - a voicethead on the XO.
• Note to Room Twelve (Feb. 28, 2008) - crosspost to classroom blog, during my absence from class to present at NCCE in Seattle. Picture shows our fourth XO laptop!
• Tomorrow, tomorrow... (Mar. 13, 2008) - reality of four XO's starting to settle in. Experience first classroom chat w/somebody - in Texas, video sharing....
• XO Users - Connect! (Mar. 26, 2008) - discover a new jabber server near Seattle!
• Year of the XO, part 1 (May 16, 2008) - title indicates my feeling that I should be somehow organizing all that's happening with the XO in my class. But this is a big moment, the beginning of a too cool XO collaboration...
• Instincts (May 21, 2008) - highlight of the year, describing the incredible experience with four University of Washington students, trying out a new piece of software they've developed for the XO. Amazing, unforgettable.
• Year of the XO, part 2: Memorial Day (May 24, 2008) - reflections from my backyard on the impact of the XO on my class, as the school year nears an end...
• A large neighborhood walkabout (May 27, 2008) - reflecting on the year, joining in jabber-enabled chats with folks far and near...
• How do you say Thank You (June 10, 2008) - as we prepare to return one of our XO's (on loan to us), the kids say thanks, in one of their final blog writing assignments.
• Report Cards, 2.XO (June 15, 2008) - I do report cards, aided by an XO.

The school year ends, but writing about the XO does not:

• Another XO chapter (June 25, 2008) - another XO laptop is donated to us! Shaking head and thinking about the year just ended, I begin to plot and plan XO use next year...
• XO chat/video share at NECC (June 28, 2008) - trying to get XO's in San Antonio at NECC hooked up to same jabber server - never happens...
• NECC 08 Live, via XO (June 30, 2008) - live multimedia on the XO is pretty exciting.
• xoclassroom (July 20, 2008) - start up a wiki in hopes of connecting other classrooms with XO laptops.
• Johnny One Note news... (July 30, 2008) - local jabber server going down soon, I get beautiful XO laptop stamps from Uruguay.
• XO Classroom Video (Aug, 7, 2008) - I put together a few pics from my Flicker olpc set and "create" a short Animoto video.

technorati tags: olpc xo roomtwelve xoclassroom

XO Classroom Video

A few images of the XO Laptop in http://roomtwelve.com

Neighborhood Block Watch

On August 5, 2008, our neighborhood in West Seattle got together for our annual "Night Out", or Block Watch Party:

School home, 2.0?

A few hours ago I handed off my school web site. To my school - well actually, to my school community.

For 14 years I've been the webmaster for one of the very first elementary school websites on the Internet. It is certainly the oldest elementary (and possibly the oldest secondary) school website still operating out of the same URL. August 14, 1994 was launch day.

The school site is now a wiki. It is not a web site. Let me clarify a little. The web site will live on - but it will not be added to. As I said earlier today in a post the the PTSA email list and the district allstaff list, the school site (now a wiki) is a hybrid blend:

with wiki links on the left side, live rss feeds on the right, and our school information in the center…. Scroll down and you’ll see the familiar little icons from the old school home page – they still connect to the same web pages.

So we can't call it a web site anymore. Wiki sounds so out there and scary for a school home on the Internet. Even using the words web page brings up the wrong connotation. I guess it's a school home, 2.0.

The wiki has been wide open for over two years. Anyone could edit it. The vast majority of the content has been added by 2 parents and me. We had a few minor vandalism incidents, which we took care of in short order. I had hoped for a much faster buy-in by staff and parents. It just never happened - people weren't ready.

So this summer I started reading Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky. This (plus just the end of reasonable patience) was the tipping point. Well, actually, the tipping point was some vandalism that prompted me to lock the wiki down just as summer started. I had fought really hard to keep the wiki wide open - mostly, to encourage contributions from our school stakeholders, to make it ever so easy to add/edit.... Well, that never happened. What did happen was this....

• I locked the wiki, and I let staff and parents know
• I individually invited all staff members to join the wiki
• I came up with a way to include our old homepage in the wiki (imagemap was the big hurdle)
• I changed the domain forwarding of arborheights.com to point to the wiki, and not the web site

My biggest immediate hope is to get enough active stakeholders so that we can open up the wiki to anyone.

This will then truly be a School home, 2.0.

Here it is, Arbor Heights Elementary School

technorati: arbor heights wiki home page

Johnny One Note news...

Just when I thought I was about ready to break out from being an OLPC Johnny One Note on this blog, I got a letter in the mail a couple of days ago. I had heard about the OLPC stamp out of Uruguay, and ordered a couple without hesitation several weeks ago.

They arrived, delivered via registered mail, in an envelope with several beautiful canceled stamps on it - including the OLPC stamp. From Ebay. How very cool and beautiful.

But yesterday I got a body blow that took the wind out of my XO sails. The jabber server I've been using - and promoting to other educators as a good place for students to collaborate - is going to shut down:

I will be moving soon, and the school.letschange.org server will be going down for at least a few weeks.

This will happen within the next two weeks. If anyone has a server that I can put the jabber server on, that would be great. Otherwise, we'll be down while the server takes the slow boat.

I replied on the Forum:

Oh man, I am so very sorry to hear this! Your jabber server has been absolutely rock solid, and I thank you VERY much for putting it up there and sharing it. It has made some fantastic connections!

I started a wiki a bit ago (xoclassroom.com), in part hoping to connect classrooms via jabber server (yours, primarily) - so I'll be looking for an alternate server for a while... if anybody has a suggestion, please share....

We'll see. Now back to some other notes...

Technorati tags: xo olpc roomtwelve jabber xoclassroom

Summer Blog To Do List

In the next week (ha!) I hope to post here on these topics:

1. My kids' summer blogging - and a bit about the past school year, at roomtwelve.com
2. An update on SSR 2.0 - the tipping point for this long overdue post being Will Richardson's recent post about the NY Times article...
3. Tech professional development 2.0 - in my head for over a year, this finally has jelled a little. A throw the baby out with the bathwater post.

technorati tags: ssr roomtwelve "professional development"

xoclassroom

In an attempt to connect classrooms using XO laptops, I've started up a wiki. Please spread the word:

1. tag any posts, pictures, media havng to do with XO laptops being used in classrooms - with xoclassroom
2. contribute to the wiki:
   xoclassroom.wikispaces.com/

There is of course a Ning, yet embryonic, and maybe there ought to be more... suggestions appreciated!

Domain: xoclassroom.com

technorati tag: xoclassroom

Ednet is now Ednet2

A few weeks ago I wrote Another list is gone, almost - bemoaning the impending loss of Ednet, which I consider the grandaddy of all Internet edtech lists. Here's what happened after that post.

It really broke me up.

To the point that I volunteered to take over the list.

I'll spare you the process, but the deed is now done.

Ednet is now Ednet2

At several points along the way I wondered if I had lost my mind. Hadn't I just written about the email list being a thing of the past? In the end I had no choice, for these reasons:

• I cut my internet teeth on Ednet. I learned so much there, and I felt so grateful for all the advice and guidance offered from the list, and individuals on it. It was a way to pay it back. The feeling of wanting to help was undeniable, and strong.
• I knew how to do it. I've started and moderated Yahoo!Groups lists for several years. It's not that hard. Plus I figured if it got real active again, there were a few list members I could hit up to take over moderator duties :)
• Finally, I'm a saver. I think many things increase in value and credibility with time - if you start with a quality product, of course. That's certainly the case with Ednet - quality. You don't just throw something like that away - or allow it to disappear, if you can help it.

So here I sit, loosely holding the reins on this venerable piece of Internet edtech history. I hope it continues to grow and expand in scope. That will be up to its membership. I believe it still has a lot to offer. Below is my first post to the list. Feel free to join!

Hello Ednet Subscribers,

Ednet is now at a new home. You all should have received an email saying you
were on Ednet2. There was a bunch of information in that email, which I'll
try and consolidate here:

- To send a message to the list: ednet2@yahoogroups.com
- Note that replies to Ednet2 messages go to the list, not the poster.
- Unsubscribe: send a blank email to ednet2-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
- Home on the Web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ednet2/
- There you can set your email preferences, post, get the rss feed, etc...
- Or send me an email if you want anything changed.

Please feel free to post messages to the list. Here's the Mission Statement
from the original Ednet:

EdNet@UMass is intended as a forum for the exchange of ideas among those
interested in exploring the educational possibilities of this new medium,
and beyond.

EdNet@UMass should serve to:
* link educators with similar or overlapping interests on the "Information
Superhighway".
* introduce students, educators, and interested others to current concerns
and actual work in a number of possible fields, as well as to local and net
sources of information.
* provide informed but informal criticism of, or suggestions for, projects,
proposals, articles, trends, etc.
* to act for all as a community where their educational ideas or questions
will, at least, be taken seriously-- whether in friendly opposition or eager
collaboration.

I think that's a great foundation from which to go forward. - moderator Mark

NECC 08 Live, via XO

NECC 08 Live, via XO
Originally uploaded by mahlness

On the picnic table in the back yard in Seattle, watching/listening to NECC 08 from San Antonio. This was a Ustream session setup by Jeff Utecht on Sunday, June 29th. Twitter going in another browser, shared chat also running...

Any XO users in San Antonio (or elsewhere), be sure to tune in to the OLPC Birds of a Feather Session at 4:45 on June 30th.

tags: olpc xo NECC08 NECC

XO chat/video share at NECC

If anyone is interested in joining in an XO chat or video share while at NECC, I'll be keeping a chat invitation out there and open for you to join. Often. And occasionally a video/photo share.

To connect, you need to set your XO to the same jabber server: school.letschange.org - don't you love it? Here's how:

In Terminal, type:sugar-control-panel -s jabber school.letschange.org

hit enter

hit control/alt/erase to restart sugar

Once you get your Internet connection started up again, check the Neighborhood button - and look for a chat icon. Click on it, and you're in! Or it might be a Record button - we can share pictures/video.

All realtime, instantaneous.

See you out there! - Mark

technorati tags - xo olpc NECC08

Another XO chapter

Regular readers of this blog may shake their heads about yet another XO post. Man, I'm sorry, I guess I have gone off the deep end. I can't help it. I didn't plan what has happened. But I would not have missed a moment of this ride.

I've tried to come up with catchy post titles so I could put this story in a logical order, like "Year of the XO, Part 1". Problem was, there was no logical order to what happened in my classroom this year with the XO laptop. As soon as I thought I knew where we were going with them, things changed. So the news has been pretty scattered. I'm not going to retell it just yet. It would be much too long, and frankly, the story is still being written.

Yesterday, the fourth member of my classroom XO family arrived! Like the second and third, it was a donation. I'm absolutely blown away by the generosity and good will that has prompted people to do this. I'm so grateful for the chance to give my third graders the opportunity to expand their worlds and their thinking with these little green computers.

Most people who bought an XO in the G1G1 program have one laptop. I was thrilled when I got mine. But I had no idea of its power and potential until I had more than one. They were designed to be used in groups. The next time you see somebody slamming the XO for being too slow, too user unfriendly, too underpowered - please keep this in mind. The built in collaborative potential is phenomenal, and many people just don't see that. You have to look them as a group. You need to use them in a group to really get it. I like to think of that group as a family. OLPC has called it The Neighborhood.

This fall, we'll start the year with 4 XO laptops. I can't wait. Last year I brought mine in to school in January, got a donation a couple of weeks later, another a month later, and a loaner in late February. So we kind of made up our "xo program" as we went along. While we were figuring out how to work them and what to do with them, more appeared. Things were hit and miss, until late May when we participated in a pilot of a new piece of software for the XO with some UW students. That was for sure the cherry on top of the sundae.

This summer I'll work on upgrades, try out new "builds" and "activities". And of course I'll come up with a way to teach my kids how to use them and show them what they can do with them. It'll be nice to have some time to work on the planning. One of the things I'm most excited about is using them as e-book readers. They are designed to be used in tablet form for this, and are super - a relatively large screen and excellent color display. I'm thinking a flash drive library of books, with several flash drives holding hundreds of books.... We'll see.

I feel extremely lucky to have a chance work on creating new and unique learning environments for my kids that will challenge them in creative ways. Once again, to those who have donated and loaned their XO's to my classroom, I send you many, many thanks.

technorati tags: xo olpc roomtwelve

Happy 85th, Dad!

My dad was born 85 years ago today, in Miles City, Montana. It would have been Lemmon, SD, but Miles City had the closest hospital. Tonight I spoke with him in Ithaca, NY, where he lives in assisted living, close to my mom and sister. 

Happy Birthday, Dad! 

(picture taken and uploaded from an XO laptop, and blog posted from one)

Hummer Solstice

Solstice Hummer
Originally uploaded by mahlness

A few feet away from this frenzy of energy from a hummingbird, I'm about as far away from it as I can be, in terms of resources. It is the summer solstice. This young fellow ( a juvie Anna's) has been a persistent visitor lately.

School is out. The tank is empty. It feels good.

Last Day Bittersweet

No technology piece here - this is just about teaching...

Most northern hemisphere classrooms are over for the year by now. Today was the last day with my third graders for me in Seattle. It was out of control chaotic - in the best sense, a great way to end the year.

I did my usual last day of school rendition of Mark Twain's The Glorious Whitewasher - a 10 minute one man skit where I play Aunt Polly, Tom Sawyer, and Ben. The tie came off, my shirt got untucked, and my sleeves got partly rolled up. It went pretty well, one of my better performances, I'd say. It's nice to give the kids a piece of me that they never get to see, on the last day.

I can't tell you how many times people came up to me today and mentioned my supposed relief and exultation.

Far, far from exultation were the feelings I went through today. I'll miss my kids. I wish I had done a better job with them in so many areas.

Teacher angst. It's the part of the job that drives better instruction "next year" way more than any other summer course or inservice.

(Image from http://www.studiobtheater.info/audition_info.php)

Report Cards, 2.XO

It's become a little bit of a tradition for me to post a picture of my report card table mess - which includes my laptop connected to a student blog. This year , with the addition of 4 XO laptops to my life and classroom, there was a twist. I had an extra fine time reviewing student blog articles to help determine their grades in writing for this marking period - connected via an XO, in blazing sunshine in my backyard (a very big deal in Seattle lately).

I do not have manilla folders with writing samples to send home to parents or to pass on to next year's teacher. The fate for both of those folders would likely have been the same - eventual recycling material.

The writing on my kids' blogs will live on, for a very long time - available to anyone. Even if the site closes down someday, there will be digital footprints of their writing, in many places. Tomorrow night I burn 25 CD's after school, one for each of my third graders. There will be tons of Word docs and PowerPoint presentations, several videos, hundreds of pictures - and each student will get a local version of his/her blog.



Technorati tags: xo olpc roomtwelve

How do you say Thank You

Well, online of course, and if you have a blog, you do it there - because it's even more powerful when others can see your thanks. I remember so well the lessons taught me by my parents about sending thank you notes - mostly for birthday presents and Christmas presents. You just had to do it - and quick. As a grown up, I'm really bad about it anymore. But when the opportunity comes up in class, well, we do it - but now, without the cards, the pencils, the postage stamps, and the trip to the post office. Here's what I just posted on my classroom blog:

This post is a thank you to two people. First up is Mr. Glenn Malone, who loaned us "Tami", our fourth XO Laptop. Here's what the students in Room Twelve had to say during Tami's last two days in our classroom:

Thanks For Tami- Jade
Letter - Kayla
Tami - Katherine
Thank you Mr. Malone - Chris
Dear Mr. Malone - Zareya
Tami - Noelle
Thanks for Tami - Ryder
Tami!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Kaitlin
Thank you For Tami - Adam
Thanks for Tami - Suad
Tami - Bryce
Mr. Malone - Dalila
Thanks for Tami - Emily
XO Laptop - Sonny
Thank you - Alec
Thank You - Laurel
Thanks For Tami - Marcela
Thank you note - Gabrielle
Thanks for Tami - Gwendalin
Thanks Mr. Malone - William
Thank You - Colton
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Malone - Lillie
(the three remaining are in final edit
mode)

The second thank you goes to Mr. David Warlick, who recently upgraded our blog by adding a wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) editor to make it easy for students to add links, format text, and add pictures! Many, many thanks! - Mr. Ahlness

Looking back, it was a good excercise in writing - with a little social responsibility thrown in for good measure. I found it interesting in a couple of ways. It was real easy for my kids to write about this. Their thank yous were genuine - and it was interesting to note their different approaches.

I was also tickled that several used this short assignment to play with the new graphical blogging tool. Many played with fonts and colors, of course. But several also were very interested in including hyperlinks to people and places in their writing. Showing them how was a snap. One trial learning, I do love it. Powerful stuff.

tags: xo olpc roomtwelve