Ordering NASA shuttle tiles

One of the side benefits of the space shuttle program shutting down is that NASA has a surplus of shuttle tiles.  These are the heat-resistant tiles that covered the outer skin of the space shuttle.  Actually, NASA has about 7000 tiles.  They are giving them away to schools and universities that pony up $23.70 for shipping. Here's the news release from NASA.  Now, this sounds easy enough, I thought.  The press release makes it sound easy...

The lightweight tiles protect the shuttles from extreme temperatures when the orbiters re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. Schools can request a tile at: 

http://gsaxcess.gov/NASAWel.htm

Turns out this is not for the faint of heart.  The gsaxcess site is an example of how not to design websites.  I finally figured out which link to click on.  Then I began hunting for my school's NCES number.  What is an NCES number?  From the GSA website:

Universities and Schools can acquire an artifact directly from NASA without the aid of the State Agency for Surplus Property (SASP). You must first Register to receive a User ID and password. To register you will need the Department of Education's statistics tracking number (an NCES Number if you are a school or an IPEDS Number if you are a University). Just follow the links provided (highlighted text) to obtain the NCES or IPEDS numbers and to register. 

After negotiating yet another website, I'm up to 4 screens now, I finally figured out how to navigate the National Center for Education Statistics site.  Looking up private schools didn't work.  So, I just clicked on the first Search for Schools link, filled in my zip code, hit return, prayed, and voilà, in the upper right hand corner of my school's information was an 8 digit NCES number.  Armed with this, I was able to register at the GSA site.  Cooking now, I hear you think.  Nope.  Turns out, I was just the "Person getting the Access Code."  I also needed an "Approving Official."  I tried filling in both blanks with my email and phone, but was told that the two could "Not be the same person."  Hmm.....time for cloak and dagger work.  I entered my administrative assistant's information, the computer accepted this, and we were off.  Once I had a temporary password (somebody super creative at GSA decided the temp password should be 12345678,) then I received an email with a user id.  This turned out to the be the first of 5 emails I received from the GSA involving space shuttle tiles.  Now I was faced with a screen which listed NASA "artifacts."  Did I want something from
 Aircraft Launching, Landing, and Ground Handling Equipment ( 1 / 1 )
OR
Nonmetallic Crude and Fabricated Materials ( 0 / 0 )

How was I to tell?  Finally, I noticed a tab that said Space Shuttle Tiles, clicked it, clicked the only link on the page, and found this:

I added the Space Shuttle Tile to my cart!  This caused another email to appear in my inbox.  Time to contact my Approving Officer!  I raced downstairs to the office and before I could ask my administrative assistant, she said, "I just got mail from NASA.  Should I delete it?"  I asked her to open it, and neither of us understood what she was to do next.  Apparently, she was supposed to register first.  So, as the Approving Officer, she went through the same registration process.  This generated another 2 emails to her inbox.  Following one of them, we managed to find the correct link for her to "Sign-off" on my purchase.  Then, we followed another email link to the secure payment site (the US government only prints money, they only accept credit cards) where we entered the appropriate information, generated 4 more emails and finally had a receipt.  The whole process only took an hour!  In three weeks or so, Catlin Gabel will own a space shuttle tile which we have promised to keep in its protective wrapping, not to sell, barter, or trade it to anybody else in any country on any planet, and treat with the respect it is due.  Shuttle tiles also come with their own MSDS forms since they contain materials which are hazardous to breathe.

There are also other NASA artifacts "for sale."  Anybody need pliers, needle nose assembly M/U?  How about some used NASA medical items?  Perhaps the Ark of the Covenant?

School Funding "Bing(o)"

American education is undergoing one of those "Woe is us" moments where we throw up our hands, look around, and try to figure out how to fix America's education system.  Microsoft is now encouraging the American Idol model.  Here is an excerpt from a recent Oregonian article:

Beaumont Middle School is one of 15; national finalists for a chance to win $100,000  from Microsoft search engine Bing, but the potential prize won't come to Oregon unless the Northeast Portland school garners the most votes

If Beaumont wins the $100,000, the money will build and supply a new media center with updated books, furniture and computers, said Fred Fox, the teacher whose eight-grade media literacy class produced the video entry titled http://www.ourschoolneeds.discoverbing.com/Projects/Default.aspx?prj=499#fbid=gMpCLCXDaHJ&wom=false">

And the competition in the final round is tough. A Wisconsin school would like a new theater, a Georgia school needs a new roof, a North Dakota school wants new science lab equipment

"We are the only school in the state of Oregon in the running," Fox said. 'It would be amazing if the whole state got behind us."


Americans are now being encouraged to fund their schools as if education were a reality television show.  No other developed (or developing) country would ever dream of educating its children this way.  This is so wrong on so many grounds that it would take weeks to explain them all.  So, in lieu of an explanation, dear reader, help me cast my vote.  After you visit the ourschoolneeds (real marketing thought went into that one,) site, http://bit.ly/toovapid please leave a comment as to which school deserves my vote.    Feel free to have your friends participate!  I will vote for the school which receives the most compelling argument in favor of receiving my vote.  Help your school win $100K from Microsoft!

Teacher as Learner

Somewhere in the back of my mind I think I have already written a post with this title.  If so, I may consider adding "Again."  In the beginning of ERIC, the 7th grade ancient civilizations project (Egypt, Rome, India, China) students have blogged three topic choices to me (Family Life, Religion, History, etc.) and I have then assigned topics.  This year I decided that group leaders, students elected by their peers, should have a hand in topic assignments.  The methods the groups came up with were fascinating.  One group blogged their choices, but the leaders asked me to email my topic assignments to them for final approval (fortunately for me, they approved my suggestions!)  One group passed out slips of paper in class, had everybody write their choices on them, then asked me to assign topics, again pending their approval.  The last two groups took a different tack.  Their group recorders, also an elected position walked around to every student, asked what they wanted and wrote it down.  If a topic had been taken by a previous student, students simply self-selected another topic.  There was no arguing, nobody wanted to switch at the end.

The empowerment the group leaders and the classes felt was palpable.  Students clearly could not believe a teacher was letting them choose what area they wanted to study.  Two classes didn't want me involved in the process at all.  Did I mind?  Nope, not at all.  Allowing kids to choose what they will study is a huge part of my project-based curriculum.  Was it easy to let go and not try to "engineer" who studied which topic?  It was surprisingly easy.  Next week we will begin research, students have their topics, and I have learned an important lesson about teaching leadership.  Weiden + Kennedy, the Portland advertising agency were right, "Just do it!"

What I Learned in School Today

There is a quote in my classroom.  It reads

Creativity is not just for the artist or the gifted.  It is for people.  It is a way of working, a way of thinking, a way of living.

Today, Nikki showed me she lives that quote.  Nikki is in an eighth grade media production class currently involved in creating movies based poems.  The poems were written by students NOT in the class.  The students in the class chose a poem to bring to life.  Nikki, in the midst of setting up her shot, was drawing stick figures on a rainbow.  She was using a dry erase marker.  Ever aware of resource use, I suggested she use a Sharpie which is considerably less expensive than a white board marker.  She replied she had CHOSEN the dry erase marker because she was going to have to erase the stick figures as she filmed.  Puzzled, I asked how she was going to erase the stick figures off the rainbow she had colored.  She explained she wasn't actually drawing on the rainbow, she had placed Scotch Magic tape on the rainbow and then demonstrated how easily the dry erase marker could be erased!  Truly inspired creativity!

Purring along

Today in class was the culmination of a series of terrific events.  Students have been working on short presentations.  The only requirements have been that presentations must not use paper and must be no longer than three minutes.  Early presentations were almost exclusively Powerpoints.  After each presentation, the class gave the group feedback about one improvement they might make and one part that worked well.  Kids were then regrouped for the next presentation.  Something amazing began to happen midway through the second presentation.  Creativity began to take over.  Skits began to appear.  Some kids used interviews to convey information.  This week, things really took off.

Kids are given almost no class time to prepare presentations.  I invite them to collaborate at home via the tool of their choice such as Skype, texting , or e-mail.  Then, I give them ten minutes at the beginning of class to polish, edit, and practice.  Today, a couple of groups showed websites created using weebly.  Another couple of groups began using YouTube videos (one worked, one didn't.  Life in the seventh grade!)  A couple of groups used Keynote instead of Powerpoint.  One group used Google Docs.  One group used OpenOffice Impress. Hardware included a Samsung netbook, Lenovo ThinkPad, Apple MacBook Pro (new and old,) and an iPad.  Presentations became about content and presentation style, not hardware or software.  Tools were used interchangeably.  Kids had no problem switching between or using the tools.  Research and data presentation became more important than which tool a particular group was using.  It was cool!

One tool that I added that helped all of the presentations was a KVM box.  Having two projector connections sped up time between presentations because 2 groups could set up at once.  Then, with the push of a button, kids could switch between two sources.  Turns out my IT department had a bunch of KVM boxes and cables left over from a server upgrade.  Presentations have never been so much fun.  Kids improved their skills on so many levels in so many ways.  Very exciting!

A Humbling Experience

As my Facebook comment states, "Today was among the most humbling days I have ever experienced as a teacher. 13 former students, friends, and colleagues patiently helped 7th graders dig deeper into their writing, look for ways to improve their stories, and offered suggestions on where to go next. The classroom atmosphere was truly electric."  As teachers, we strive to instill in our students a desire to dig deeper, be creative, and follow their passions.  Then, our students leave and we rarely see them again.  Today, I had students who I taught 23 years ago working with my current seventh graders.  These students are parents, parents-to-be, and world travelers.  Some of the students were second generation volunteers in my class.  Their parents volunteered when they were seventh graders.  In addition, friends and colleagues also spent anywhere from 60-90 minutes working with my students today.



What did they do?  They accomplished more in one discussion than I have been able to accomplish in 2 weeks.  They energized the students to improve their writing, to look for the story they wanted to tell, and to polish it.  Tom Tucker, Catlin Gabel shop teacher talks about the sandpaper grit necessary to polish wood to absolute smoothness.  The adults who stopped by today gave that gift to the students.  They talked with them in a totally non-judgmental way, they asked follow-up questions which required the kids to think.  Of course, they also laughed and giggle with the kids.


How did the 7th graders react to sharing their writing with perfect strangers?  They were as open as they could be.  They genuinely trusted these adults to help them edit their stories.  They learned a great deal about themselves as writers and they met someone who was sincerely interested in helping them succeed.


I had shivers running down the back of my neck as I observed the up to 12 conversations simultaneously happening in Fenway today.  It isn't often teachers get to actually see learning taking place.  Today was one of those days.  I was honored by the presence of my former students, friends, and colleagues.  I shall return to class tomorrow a more humble person.  Yes, we took pictures.  They will be posted tomorrow.

Google vs Apple just got personal

All right, it was not my intention to go nearly 3 weeks with no posting, but, in the words of my good friend and mentor, Jay Hurvitz, "I had nothing to say."  Oh sure, I have doing much thinking recently, but none of it seemed worthy of a blog post.  So I have been observing the world and Catlin Gabel for a while.  Interesting conundrums abound, some of which I will write about in upcoming posts.

Yesterday, Pam cam home with a Samsung Droid phone.  It looks and feels like an iPhone, has a built-in 5MP camera, is all touch screen, and feels like.....an iPhone.  Since our family and friends plan is on Verizon, and we keep being advised that Verizon has the best coverage in our area, staying with Verizon seemed the best choice.  Oh, and Pam's Blackberry died (or at least stopped charging.)  Stay tuned for how the Droid world measures up against the Apple universe.

The other big personal tech news is that Catlin Gabel finally solved what had been an unbelievably slow Internet issue.  It is true that I began my teaching career without the Internet in my classroom, but over the past ten years have increasingly begun to integrate it into my teaching.  I am also aware there are many teaching colleagues who have limited or no Internet access in their classrooms.  I am happy to help them figure out how to acquire this necessary resource.  Cajole principals?  I have experience.  Wire on weekends.  Been there, done that.  Revise curriculum to bring it into the 21st Century?  Worked on that project, too.  Anyway, it turns out that our school ISP had a few issues, which when resolved, restored our previously very fast connection....in fact, it now seems even faster.  I am, as always grateful for their assistance in keeping classroom infrastructure humming.

Keeping posts short is a goal this year, it is sunny in Portland today.....back outside I head.