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.

Mobile Portland Users Group

Last night I attended a meeting of the Mobile Portland User's Group.  Their topic of the evening was mobile technology in education.  Attendees included developers, educators, job seekers, programmers, and the like.  I sat next to a developer who it turned out had also graduated from Berkeley High School......24 years before I did.  Without a doubt, he and I were two of the most "experienced" people in the room.  Late 20's and early 30 somethings dominated.....which might explain the presence of snacks purchased from Whole Foods.....and the beer keg in the corner.  I can honestly say it was the first education related conference I've ever attended in the US where a keg was present.  Nice touch, though.  Since the whole meeting was streamed live and can be found here, I don't need to summarize.  Yes, the video guy got rid of the cricket chirp before the meeting began.

The tech tools present were an interesting mix.  No Unix or Windows users here....these folks were Apple all the way.  Their work environment may demand Ubuntu or some flavor of php, but the personal brand of choice was Apple....iPhones, iPads, MacBook Pros, etc.  were all being used.  I sat in the back row with my iPad, my $3 thumb tack style microphone plugged in, ready to test AudioNote, a new app I downloaded two days ago.  AudioNote recorded the meeting perfectly.  It picked up speakers at the front of the room facing me, audience members asking questions facing away from me and even the guy behind me who asked a question!  While it was recording, I was adding my thoughts and notes.  Each line I added was time stamped.  Those notes I made prior to beginning to record were stamped 0:00:00.  At playback, the notes I had taken turned blue as the time reached my notes.  I held my iPad on my lap the entire time, writing, taking notes, etc.  The tool worked as advertised and has exciting possibilities for my students.

For those wondering....Since I had to pick up Noa from soccer AFTER the Mobile Portland meeting, I did not taste the keg, but stuck to the bubbly Whole Foods lemon water.  Yummy.