pdZone

Teacher Encourages Indolence
I love it!

My head – she spins!
So much is going on in there right now, but I have come to see it as “c’est la vie”. Some of the items percolating right now include:

• brain-based learning – I find this stuff truly fascinating. The idea of trying to discover where learning lies really grabs me. After reading Possessing Genius (about the long strange trip it’s been for Albert Einstein’s brain over the past 50 years) last year, I became interested in the way that the brain operates. Is there any explanation that we can say is the answer to questions about how we learn? There may well be. Is this it? Dunno, but it makes for an interesting read and led to some interesting discussions this week at work.
• use of blogs in class – I find that there are so many cool things that I want to do with the kids, but never seem to have the time to implement. With only a few weeks left, maybe this is as good a time as any to try out something new. I would love to use b2evolution, but my server is unable to do what I need it to do. I have been playing a bit with Plone, and it looks like it has some potential. I want a system that will allow for private, group, and public postings for all users. It seems to do what i want, but I guess time will tell.
• planning for next year – I know, I’m nuts, but I’m always thinking of ways that I can do things differently/better next year. I have picked up many ideas from around the web. Again, it is a question of time.
• courses – I love being a learner! It seems that I have been taking courses for most of the past three years, and will continue in the foreseeable future. While it is a drain on me, I really love the experience of being a student. yes, I am procrastinating while writing this, but I am chalking it up as self-discovery.
• income tax – This weekend. Eep!

I feel some of my discussions with colleagues taking on a bit of an evangelistic tone lately.

Here is a webcast of a presentation by Alan November. He speaks about the need for change in how children receive an education. Some of the point he makes are about the need for:

• higher standards
• differentiated instruction
• children to be “desperate to learn”

His use of the term “digital immigrant” reminded me of the articles by Marc Prensky, entitled Digital Natives. In it, he speaks about the need to recognize what students know and what students need in the world of increased technology use. The articles can be found below.

Part 1
Part 2

“Every reader is a writer, every writer is a reader.” –Jay Rosen

A bit of a rant from Will, but I don’t think it is unfounded. We can’t continue to hide from the fact that powerful new technologies exist, or from the fact that students use these tools in ways that could not have been imagined many years ago. Yes, there are students who use the tools inappropriately, but that already happens. Any student who writes obscenities on a desk is using a pencil in an inappropriate manner. Do we contemplate the removal of all pencils from classrooms as a result?

“Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care.” William Safire

Very interesting!

It’s almost midnight and I have to get to bed, but I wanted to make reference to this post. Over the past couple of years, I have spoken to a great number of fellow teachers about the changing nature of society, information, and the way we acquire and use information. Unfortunately, I have not made use of weblogs in the way that I would have liked to do. We have dabbled a bit (it worked well), but have not had the time to get into it as much as I would like. They are amazing tools with almost limitless possibilities, but they come with responsibilities.

Key quote:

Sometimes when I see all the stuff that is posted on blogs by teenagers I find myself wishing that someone had given them some guidance. Lots of them are just not thinking. We need to build these types of things into our discussions in our classrooms. I like to think that good teaching about responsible weblog use would help. No, we can’t reach all but we won’t reach any if we keep burying our heads in the sand and keep worrying about what MIGHT happen.

By the way, I am in love with the concept of The Write Weblog!

Trust Will to put things into perspective. We are educators in a time of great change. We must accept what happen in the animal kingdom as part of our career – adapt or die (well, maybe not die!). This is another new medium that give us many new opportunities for student learning.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. (No, I’m not 117 years old – it just seemed to fit!)