First steps on the road

Justine Ashbee's art deserves to be shared. I've tried some of this sort of thing with middle years art students. They created a variety of interesting studies with black and red fine point markers, but my students were just stepping onto the path that Ashbee has travelled. So many different art concepts and techniques are demonstrated in this series of drawings. Follow the link and you will see some transendent images.

I work with ten and eleven-year olds. I plan to share this site with them. They love to doodle, perhaps it will inspire some to push for something interesting. 

Portable Lab or Classroom stations?

I'm a happy camper this week. The technology department found time drop into my classroom and establish the remaining network connections to the five stations in my classroom. My options and flexibility have increased dramatically. I have been delighted with the instructional support afforded by the Promethean Board system and I continue to approve of the Front Row sound system. After a year working with it I find I still have accidents when I raise my voice. These tools seem teacher centered to me. I think it is important to offer accessible tools for student centered learning.

My joy at having networked stations in my classroom is curbed by the knowledge that I am operating on borrowed time. Support for this access to the Division's network is ending soon. It is the last vestige of an earlier network I think and the hardware and server are triage. Resources and personnel need to be directed elsewhere it seems. I believe it will be missed.

The popular alternative is Mac laptop labs. I can see the arguments. A classroom's worth of laptops moving between rooms distributes a maximum number of computers to students with economy. If that becomes the alternative I will learn to make it work. The thing is, it sounds rather teacher centered again. I know, the student has the laptop, but only when the teacher brings it into the classroom. I access our school lab twice a week for thirty-five minute sessions. Give me a floating lab of laptops and I will probably gain an hour each week.

I characterized the Promethean Board as being teacher centered. The video above demonstrates that students can use it with at least as much facility as I can. I want computers to be an integrated element of learning in my classroom in the same way that my Promethean Board has become an integrated tool. A portable lab I book in advance is about as integrated a tool as the TV/DVD unit I used to drag into my classroom. It was hardly at my finger tips and it was certainly not at my students. Audio visual material flows in and out of my lessons now thanks to the Promethean Board technology. I had a student express a fascination with Uranium today. He was six feet from the computer and  did some quick research. At ten, his interest would have shifted to another topic by the time he found his way to a computer. The five computers in my class will be worked very hard for whatever time I have them. After that, we shall see.

Wordle: Teacher's summer

This is a cool application called Wordle. I recommend you check it out.

Where in lies the power?

A friend sent me this cartoon and it made me laugh. I think most people know "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." They may not be able to attribute it to Alexander Pope or remember the remainder of the line from his poem Essay on Criticism.

"A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again."

Knowledge does apparently lead to power and just as apparently people misjudge their own command of knowledge and overreach themselves. We see this in education when an paradigm is presented that preports to solve a problem or explain the reality of learning. Often enough it creates its own problems. If you teach as long as I have, and therefore attend as many conferences as I have, then you might forgive me forgetting which speaker cautioned that "The problem isn't the problem, the solution is the problem." I believe he meant that we must be cautious that our solutions to problems do not present problems of their own.

Fifth grade science

I must say the classroom seems more alive with the students. There is a name learning curve. I learn a student's name in the first week and then in the second and third week I unlearn it as I begin confusing these young people with each other. You would almost think they were my children! I see them in this video after the day is done and smile. I know it is still September, but isn't it a good thing to be able to smile at four active young people? It sustains the teaching.

Sometimes I assume my young students have the concepts and skills before they do. Common sense for a fifty-one year old is different than common sense for a ten-year old. We are examining the properties of matter and this lesson taught the skill of measuring mass.The period was only forty minutes and since it is the begining of the year, ten minutes were consumed teaching group work skills. They were given a list of eight items to measure. Next we learn about volume

The Philosophy of Charles Schultz

The Philosophy of Charles Schultz.

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read the article straight through, and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners. Here's another quiz.

See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier? The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care. 'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia ' (Charles Schultz)

My Grade Five and Six Room

I think I needed some professional lighting and an actor to speak my lines. I should probably have hired a script writer too. At any rate it is interesting to see how extensive the inclusion of technology is in this room. I have an audio system, a video system, and individual access to computers. The students are absent, except for their voices I guess. The room comes alive with their presence. It was a good first week. If my body complains it is because I am still coming off summer mode.

This year I opened the classroom with twenty-four students. Twelve are English as a Second Language. Three of those are newly arrived. It is a nice multicultural change from the homogenious classrooms I have generally had.