Reflections on Day Two at NECC 2009
The Great Debate
Video: NECC 2009 Tuesday Keynote: Debate and Dialog | ISTE Connects – Educational Technology
Video: Post Debate Interviews | ISTE Connects – Educational Technology
RESOLVED: Brick and mortar schools are detrimental to learning.
This was not much of a “debate” since one of the guys who argued the affirmative didn’t find much to like about virtual alternatives, and the lady for the opposing point of view thought that schools couldn’t go on as they are either, and should have more technology.
I started the debate favoring the negative. Cheryl Lemke had a strong, well-reasoned delivery (ex, “…distance learning has the word “distance” in it”).
Gary Stager one of those who argued the affirmative, has often left me scratching my head. I like to think of him as an ed tech Thomas Paine, leading the clarion call for change. Unfortunately, Paine was unable to participate in the “new order” when change finally came. I mean this as no disrespect, to Dr. Stager. All revolutions need their agitators, and he is marvelous in this role. He has also obviously done some fantastic work with students both young and old. In this instance though, Gary stole the show, and made me change my “vote”. Here are some “favorite” quotes…
Coup de grace: the blame is in bankruptcy of our imagination
Pedagogical emphasis is on PRODUCT vs PROCESS
Online is taking worst of bricks and mortar
Whiteboards? Focus is still on the front of the room
Gary’s argument was against schools as they are, and Cheryl’s was for schools as they could be (Gary definitely had that too, but he made the strongest anti-status quo argument). They’re both right.
Metaphor for Instruction
metaphorswithtechnology – wiki
Presenters: Vivian Johnson, Hamline University with Cara Hagen
This was one of my FAVORITE sessions. I’ve been doing my own explorations using visual metaphor with my students. It’s a really great way to teach concepts to language learners. The presenters had a different and more structured approach than I was learning, so it was a good session for me to attend. They had a wiki setup for the session, and sent out an email alerting us of this in advance of the session. They were doing a team presentation, and quickly and seamlessly handled approving all of us having access on the wiki, so the technical aspects were very smooth. They modeled what they do, finding an image/visual to show a concept, and how to embed pic in wiki. They showed using mind maps, and other organizers, and suggested having HS students work on which type (linear vs. free-form) works best for them. They had us go to the discussion tab, and share what concepts our students have the most trouble understanding. We then picked one out from the concepts, and worked on finding an image to explain it. I chose someone else’s suggestion of Main Idea, which language learners have a hard time with. They tend towards a complete recount, rather than summarizing. Here is what I came up with, which suggests that it’s an outline. They then provided a rubric since the idea is for students to do this activity. I would highly recommend this session for educators working with language learners, and special education students who need visual support.
Pink Slip Season Starts…
…with this tweet from Dan Meyer announcing he’s been laid off, RIFed, pink slipped, axed, etc.
…and this response from Will Richardson, which strikes me as funny/sweet given the riding Dan’s given him in the past:
Notices will be going out in my district in the next few weeks, and based on the rumors, there will be four to five of our 20 teacher given notice. Folks outside California are bemoaning how someone as obviously talented as Dan could be let go of. Let me just share that some of the teachers being let go at my site are of similar caliber. We may have a budget in California, but thanks to Republican’s insistence on “no nude texans”, big cuts are on the way. Here is what I know so far
- We will have to reduce our 2008-09 general fund budget by $9.4 million.- SCUSD Superintendent Susan Miller
- Stimulus projection shows us getting $17M in Title 1 + $12M in IDEA – CBO
since that’s categorical, they still may be having serious issues in the non-Title 1/IDEA part of the budget, or they’ll lay folks off, then rescind it in August, pissing everyone off. - Talks with a co-worker who is active in our union, involve class-size in K, ninth, or third up to 25, 240 teachers laid off, and this WITH COLA freezes, and salary rollbacks. Health care is apparently killing the budget and is a big sticking point.
As Dan suggests, it’s a good time to hug your local untenured teacher.
And I’ll leave you with these, just to cheer you up:
Reflecting on the Bush II Years
It’s time for me to reflect on the, thankfully, outgoing administration. If you don’t like my politics post, I’d suggest skipping this one.
My favorite (unintentional) visual commentary on NCLB:
NCinDC’s Photostream on Flickr
My favorite commentary on the Iraq War based on spin from the same folks that brought us the “Texas Miracle“:
My favorite commentary on this whole sorry presidency and the electoral lunacy that allowed it to take place Here’s to the end of false dichotomies like, phonics vs. whole language, and psuedo-science that passes for reading programs:
Dh (dear husband) commented that Ed Rollins was saying complimentary things about Obama. Now, I’m sure this could have been because of this an innate respect for authority and the position of president that some conservatives (not all) have, but I smirked and asked if he was looking for some job security. Dh then related this piece from WaPo on the difficulties faced by newly out-of-work Bush appointees in D.C. finding work. I’ll just leave them with the words of ColdPlay:
Really, the lyrics fit in every way but one, none of these sorry SOBs are capable of that much self-reflection.
Revisting some old ideas, and tying it up in holiday ribbon…
It’s not too often that I find something that lets me revisit two very different posts, but here it is…
I listened to a fascinating This American Life: Ruining it for the rest of us which had a great segment (number one) on what happened in San Diego when there was an outbreak of measles that resulted from parents refusing to immunize their kids. Since TAL only lets you listen to a show for a week after it’s broadcast, you might not be able to hear it anymore, so I’ll just give you a rundown of what struck me from the show.
Naturally, the first thing I thought of was this post of mine, Hey, could you stop trying to poach off my family’s immunity?, where I opined on parents who deliberately eschew immunization for their kids (specifically the MMR vaccine). When I wrote the post I assumed that the ill-effects (getting measles, and the potential for complications) were a problem for the kids whose parents didn’t elect to immunize them. This segment featured a couple parents who were caught in the outbreak and the quarantine that followed because it struck before their kids were scheduled and had gotten their MMRs. Their choices endanger not just their children, but others who don’t make the same choices. The immunization schedule is predicated on the vast majority of folks getting shots, so that there is a “herd” immunity lowering the incidence of outbreaks, thereby giving protection to everyone, immunized or not. Here was the rub, the CDC did focus groups with some of the vaccine refuseniks after the outbreak was over and the basic finding about non-immunizers was that they don’t care about this “community” because they feel protecting their children from the chemicals in the shots is more important. Even after an outbreak that led to quarantines, neither side changed their minds about whether or not to immunize their own children, they just took the lessons they wanted to from the event. In this instance, until they are sending their own children to schools for the deaf and blind, I doubt they will change their minds.
It did get me thinking about these posts I’ve done on Assessment, and how differently many of us see assessment. I even heard a really sweet sounding TFA fellow nominating Michelle Rhee as one of 2008’s Most (Overlooked) Influential People on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. It got me thinking about the great generational divide around issues of incentive pay, tenure, and the belief in multiple choice testing for assessment. Maybe it’s not surprising that TFA’ers like Rhee, Killian Betlach, and others favor tests as assessment. Look at how they’ve come up, going to Yale (I don’t know about Killian, but it didn’t sound like Ms. Rhee was a legacy admit). Doing well on tests has paid off for them, it’s been a sign of their success. Honestly, since Ms. Rhee’s “negativity” has been limited to adults (mostly teachers). I don’t think it’s too far, even in her case, to say that she honestly wants to share the success she has enjoyed, with all those kids in D.C. I think she’s going it about it the wrong way, but in that I’m pretty sure she is sincere. I also think that given how TFAs go through “the system” straight out of college, into the classroom, they really don’t have personal experience of other professional jobs, so when they do education and teacher bashing, it’s often in ignorance of what the “real world” is like.
On the other hand, ya know that audio I pointed to at the start, This American Life: Ruining it for the rest of us? It had some points that support Rhee’s ideas about “bad apples” and in fact takes it to the next level. Apparently, having a slacker, jerk, or other “bad apples” in a work place don’t just make what they do worse, but bring down the whole team (prologue). Seriously! The success of a team is only as good as not the best or the average, but its worst member. On the other hand, the best way to counter bad apples is a particular leadership skill of making repeated inquiries and questions to solicit opinions by a team leader that makes members feel they are being listened to, defuses conflicts, and “immunizes” the rest of the team from following bad behavior. Food for thought.
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