On the fourth of July the three older kids had spent the previous night with their aunt and uncle. My wife and I had the two little ones and we met at a small community pool near the in-laws. It was a good afternoon. The pool allowed us to hold the little girls as we went down the curvy slide. Yep, I think we had to go down that slide at least a hundred times.
On the way out of town we stopped to get something to drink and a snack as we headed to the in-laws for the rest of the fourth of July. My wife and I still had the two little ones, so I ran in to get the stuff. My wife had asked for a Pepsi and something salty. I wandered around the trail mix and peanuts, and then saw on the bottom shelf of the chip sections, Funyuns. One bag left.
As I carried the stuff to her window she broke out in a huge smile. As we drove to the in-laws we all enjoyed the bag of Funyuns. The little girls would ask for “nother one Mom” as they chomped on the one in their hand. The airy onion-like rings were perfect.
Both my wife and I love Funyuns, but it is not a snack we buy often. It is such a different snack that we usually opt for something more traditional when we are shopping. Why? As I stood in the aisle looking at the bag I debated if I should grab them. Even though I knew my wife and I enjoy them, it was still a risk. But the risk was stepping out of the safety of a routine.
Funyuns themselves are just different. The taste is not quite onion. The texture is fun, and the shape is supposed to be round, but you never get too many perfect round ones. They are different. And that is good.
Life just gets into routines. We feel safe in that routine, and sometimes we sacrifice what we like for safety. Be it from ordering the same dish at a restaurant, to squelching that impulse to be spontaneous because we do not know the outcome. Ironically, we know we would enjoy a different dish. We feel that spontaneous desire for a reason. So, I challenge you today to go ahead and buy that bag of Funyuns. Because I bet you will be like my girls and you will want “nother one.”
Reading the book Too Big To Know, by David Weinberger, was one of those moments that helped me see something I already knew in a slightly different light and that sparked a whole new train of thought. I love these moments.
The book is a look at how the Internet is changing the view of knowledge. I highly recommend the book, but I want to discuss the most obvious point from the book. Abundance.
Courtesy of Cornell University Library from Flickr
As David Weinberger points out, we have had an abundance of information for a long time. Have you read every book in your local library? Have you read every book you have bought or downloaded? Neither have I. What the Internet does is make that abundance faster and in different forms: articles, videos, apps, music, and opinions.
School is out for the summer, so I’m going to approach this idea from a dad perspective. Through this example I hope to express how abundance can be a great thing for learning.
Question, what does “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals, Yoda, and a Tom Brady rookie card have in common? Answer: My sons and how they come to find interest in things.
My two sons are 11 and 9 right now. And because of the abundance of the Internet and technology, I have been having a blast sharing my interest with them. One example is music. Right now my oldest son is into Harry Connick Jr. and 80’s music, while my other son is listening to the songs “Good Life” (One Republic) and “Believe” (Cher). They use Grooveshark to create playlists to dance to, or to have as background music as they play animal tag with their sisters.
My oldest son’s interest in 80’s music comes from the video game series, Just Dance. His interest in Harry Connick Jr. comes from the movie, Dolphin Tale, which Harry Connick Jr. has a role in. I have some of his CDs, but my son has been checking out other CDs from the library.
When my second son bought his iPod, I put some music on it he might like. The music on his iPod has grown from his own interest and suggestions from me. One of our favorite songs is “Closer To the Edge” by 30 Seconds to Mars.
We cheered on the Celtics (I am a Kevin Garnett fan) in the Eastern Conference Finals together because of trading cards and the NBA 2K11 video game. My second son’s favorite basketball player is Shawn Kemp, who he has only seen play on YouTube videos and the video game. He does have a few of Shawn Kemp’s trading cards.
We watched the Super Bowl because they have a Tom Brady rookie card. I’m a Minnesota Vikings Fan, last season was a tough one.
They don’t like everything I share with them, but what is incredible is the ability to share aspects of my life with them. And to share the original content, not just a story. My music collection is not unpacked yet, so I use Grooveshark to share a song they might like. Then if my second son wants the song we can buy it from iTunes. When my oldest son got the part of Winthrop in TheMusic Man last September he used YouTube to study the role.
The abundance we have can be a powerful aspect to our lives. Yes, there are some negatives, but that is for another blog post. My sons’ and I are building strong connections because we can share and experience life in a completely different way than before. History is important and powerful. Shawn Kemp is my son’s favorite player. He has never seen him “play.” But he knows a lot about him, plus he understands the history of the Oklahoma City Thunder (who he is cheering for in the finals because they use to be the Super Sonics) because of his interest.
When embraced, this abundance we have can allow us to naturally learn anything that interest us. It can build connections; between people, between today and yesterday, and even between who we were and who we can be, because it allows us to explore and investigate life in ways we couldn’t before. It gives me an opportunity to be a better dad, to be able to enrich my children’s life with more than just stories. I can share my history sometimes in its true form today.
I remember when “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” was a hit in 1984 and have shared stories from that time in my life with my boys. Today, the song is just as important because it makes us excited when it is one of the songs for the dance battle on Just Dance 2 (yes, I have won on that song a couple of times).
A Pic Collage of Interest
P.S. My second son made the collage this morning at home while I am at work. Connectedness, but that benefit of technology is another blog post.
Saturday morning I was working on cleaning the kitchen, getting recycling organized, cleaning counters, stuff like that. The house was in full child mode, the older three were downstairs doing something that made a thud every few minutes. The two youngest girls were in the recliners, movie on but their attention on the books in their laps. My wife was getting ready for the day.
I had started on the clean dishes in the dishwasher when my second son said, “Dad, I hit my nightlight and now all the lights downstairs don’t work.”
What?, I thought. And I felt the knee-jerk reaction of parental frustration start forming in my head with the words already on my lips. I don’t know why, but sometimes life gives us a moment to learn from, and I gave myself a few moments to think by saying, “OK, what happened?” in a calmer tone. Just under the frustration a thought had pushed through, if I wanted my son to continue to talk to me when things happened, when he might have made a mistake, then I had better pay attention to how I handled this situation.
By bumping his nightlight he threw the breaker for that part of the basement. Not a big issue, I switched the breaker back on and changed the light bulb in his nightlight. Problem solved. But I haven’t always handled simple situations with calm; too many times that knee-jerk frustration sets the tone for that moment. I realize I need to change that habit. If my son has a problem and he gets negative responses from me every time, even before I have figured out what is going on, then he will simply stop coming to me for help. I don’t want that to happen.
We teach people who we are by our habit of response. And they will act accordingly. As I thought about how we influence students I thought of one of the most patient and strong colleagues I have worked with, Mrs. Moss at Centura. Every morning she was helping students with math problems. Every morning! They knew she would be there for them, they could ask their questions and know she would help them. Mrs. Moss’ habit was to smile and say, “Let’s look at that problem.”
I hope to be as good of a teacher and parent as Mrs. Moss, to create a habit of response that lights the way to a positive reaction to the situation instead of a knee-jerk negative comment.
There has been a kind of running joke between my students and me about how I deconstruct Disney movies with my kids to reveal the “deeper” meaning of the film for them. Actually, I do that, but that’s not the purpose of this blog.
I love to hear, “My brain hurts.” I think I do a good job at creating lessons that reach a deeper level for the students. Many times my students do better on their Literacy Skills AR test than the Reading Practice test. But, at some point a student will ask, “Does everything have to be so deep?”
Yes, yes it does.
OK, maybe not so deep but I think we have to have a serious WHY to what we do. Teachers have to answer that question all the time, but maybe it is something to really consider. And not just for a lesson, but for our lives.
In school, sometimes we have to practice a skill, like math or welding. Sometimes we have to learn new vocabulary so that we can look at a subject on a deeper level. And sometimes a lesson is just fun or relaxed. Many times in school the WHY is based on test scores or grades. A look at those parameters and learning is for another blog. But schools have to have some measurement and we will leave it at that for now.
Let me give you a stat: “Thirty percent of college and university students drop out after their first year. Half never graduate, and college completion rates in the United States have been stalled for more than three decades,” from US News and World Report.
Is the WHY of school to prepare students for college? Or should it be to help them live up to their greatest expression of their talent and dreams? WHY are we doing what we are doing? I know that I am in a unique situation that lets me investigate education from a different aspect while also being in the “classroom” dealing with the real world of teaching. Being at this intersection is frustrating and motivating. I would love to change education, but in reality I am not much of an influence. But like you, I have a classroom, students, and a life to live.
This year I had one of those great teacher moments when a former student tagged me in a photograph on Facebook. The photo was of a slide that had graffiti scratched into it, the worst kind. This former student is a father now and was spending time with his son at the park when he came across the graffiti. Part of his post, “Made me think of the book The Catcher in the Rye. Kids and their innocence.”
What we do in the classroom matters. What we do in life matters. It might make your brain hurt, but I ask you to answer your own WHY questions this summer.
As stated in Barry Schwartz’s TED Talk, too many options can be paralyzing. We all feel empowered by choice. It gives us a sense of control of our lives, of our own happiness. But I agree with Barry Schwartz’s there is a negative side to choice. Whether it is too many choices, or an unexpected choice, we don’t feel empowered. We feel frozen and unsure.
Personally, I went through this last week. I was presented with an unexpected opportunity to return to the classroom. Understand; this was a choice that was totally unexpected. It challenged me to think about my future: where did I want to be in five years? Where did I want to be next year? Instead of feeling free and honored to be considered for the position, it froze me. I decided to stay with ESU 10 at the moment because I needed to finish what I had started. Where will I be in five years? I can’t say for sure, but that is for another blog.
But I’m starting to see this paralysis in education. Many schools are considering going to a 1:1 environment with iPads. I think that is awesome, but there is a hurdle that needs to be addressed: app choice.
7415 free apps in the area of productivity. How productive would I be sifting through all those choices? I know what you are thinking; use the search option. OK. I’ll use the keyword “Grammar” (Hey, I’m an English teacher).
Results: 720 apps, both free and paid.
As the landscape changes in the classroom with mobile technology, it is good to be aware of different hurdles that a school, a teacher, or student may face. In this case the option of choice regarding apps. A great benefit of mobile devices is the ability to personalize content and the learning experience a student has through the apps and tools provided for them. But which app to choose? There is not a “right or wrong” answer here, but Barry Schwartz’s does present a philosophy to consider.
We are in a transitional period, a reconstructing of our “fish bowls” you might say. It is not easy, but it is exciting to be in the mix of this change. What will education look like in 5 years? The choice is ours…
My two little girls were excited this morning to go to daycare. Fridays are show-and-share days and they had something cool to show today. Snap bracelets. I gave the girls the snap bracelets last night. The girls had no idea how they worked until we showed them.
I brought out the bracelets straighten out, then held my girls’ hands and then snapped the bracelet on to their wrist. They responded with a wide-eyed expression that then turned into laughter. My youngest hollered, “Again!”
For the next five minutes my wife and I snapped the bracelets on our daughters’ wrist, on our wrist, and of course even the older ones had to get into the fun. The girls soon wanted to snap the bracelets themselves. My youngest had a tougher time getting enough force behind her snap to get the bracelet to curl around her arm, but she did get it a few times.
My second daughter, though, took off with it. She had it on her ankle, “Look daddy, look at the lizard on my foot!” She had it on her upper arm; she was snapping it on her brothers’ wrist. And she had to take it to bed with her.
This morning they had their snap bracelets on and excited to share with their friends at daycare.
As life does, it got me thinking about education. Without getting too bogged down with deep issues, the snap bracelets are a great example of learning. When my girls were presented with the bracelets they recognized the animals, but did not understand the apparatus the animals were sitting on. We “told” them what it was. They still didn’t totally understand, but they knew what jewelry was and this didn’t look like a bracelet. Then my wife and I demonstrated how it worked. It was the coolest thing they had seen. My girls understood, but weren’t ready to do it themselves, so we demonstrated for a while then handed the bracelets off to them to play with.
Now comes the powerful aspect. My youngest daughter could make it snap once and awhile, but she still needed assistance. Plus, she only wanted it on her wrist. That’s were she is as a two-year-old. But my second daughter, almost a year and a half older, took off with the snap bracelet. Understanding the concept, she tested it out on her ankle, on her upper arm, on her siblings.
Isn’t that what we want in learning? As teachers we are there to show our students the subject matter (a poem, cell division, drawing perspective). We can “tell” them stuff, but once we show them how powerful the subject is, to practice the concept with them until we let them go to expand their own learning. To test the ideas out, to experiment with the concept, to create a new idea… to learn.
I have been moved to tears by two movies lately, but I will get to that in a moment.
I do not matter. Nobody really reads my blogs, or notices when I do not tweet, or update my Facebook status. This is my fist year without any coaching responsibilities, and I miss it, but the games go on. ESU 10 will not shut down if I am not there, or even if I move on. I do not matter on a grand scale. But I will get back to this in a moment.
One of the themes that connect the two movies is the importance of the everyday. The importance of finding the meaning in life by our everyday struggles. Whether we write poetry or work hard for our family. These two films express the why behind those struggles and relates the power we have to make each moment matter.
I do not matter, except to a few people, most importantly my family. I have made difficult decisions that I felt would be the best for my family. I strive to create a better life for my wife and children.
I matter to a few students. For all my failures, I have simply tried to empower my students to find their own voice. Have I succeed? Not all the time, not with all the students. But I have tried. Every day.
For whatever reason life has been reinforcing the idea that every day matters. For me, for you, for the people we interact with every day.
As life would have it, I have been reading about the “Butterfly Effect” in a number of different types of books. None of them actually about the true nature of the Butterfly Effect which is connected to chaos theory (even though I feel like I am living out chaos theory at times). My reading material has been about the philosophy behind the idea, the power of a small action to create big effects somewhere else.
I bet life has shown you this effect. Whether it was an interaction at the store with a grumpy employee that ruined your day, or receiving a letter from a former student revealing that one moment that helped them later in life. The small moments make a difference.
To the chagrin of my wife, at the checkout stand I have been making up crazy answers to the ever present, “Did you find everything you we looking for today?” What I find so interesting is not the normal everyday conversation we engage in after my response, but that moment when the employee actually stops and stares at me… and then the smile appears.
Let’s say a butterfly’s wings can cause a tornado, but which flap of the wing caused it? Which moment set everything in motion? Why didn’t the butterfly’s wings cause a tornado five minutes earlier? We cannot predict life; we cannot predict which moment will cause the difference. And maybe that is why we forget the power of our everyday life.
Dirty diaper dropped into the diaper pail. Clean diaper secured. I stand my youngest daughter up so that I can get her pants pulled up in a single motion. She looks at me, spreading her arms out wide. I mimic her move. A single second passes before she falls toward me, trying to wrap her arms around my shoulders with all her strength. Her little hands just reaching my upper arms. I return the motion with my own arms, wrapping her tight against my chest. A giggle escapes her and we release our hug. I set her down on the floor and she is off to her next adventure (usually hollering out her big brothers’ names to see where they went).
Every morning I get my three-year-old daughter up for the day. She grabs her blanket as I lift her out of the crib. She then finds her spot on my shoulder. Her head snuggled into my neck and she whispers, “I take care of you.” Almost everyday I have to just stand there and hold her, knowing too soon she will be able to get up on her own.
If we take the time, we can see and feel those small moments when others tell us they love us. If we take the time, we can create a small “I love you” with an action that is just a part of our everyday routine. If we take the time… the smallest thing can have the most powerful effect in our lives. Take the time.
(This video is for my beautiful wife… remember our concert date?)
“Red light!” Jill looks over the kids. Jason is… falling. He is out.
You are frozen, waiting for the “light” to change.
“Green light!”
You take off, but not too fast, so you can stop with the light change. But your feet want to run, the light is still green. You are torn between letting your feet go, reaching the end before she turns around to change the light, or keeping your pace in control so you can freeze when the light turns back to red.
What color is the light in your classroom?
I recently showed the Ted talk, “Why Videos Go Viral” by Kevin Allocca, from a TEDYouth event. The main point of the talk is about why videos become popular, but Kevin makes an interesting point toward the end of his talk, “No one has to green-light your idea.”
Kevin was talking about creating content on YouTube, but the idea goes way beyond that. I would love to be a student during this time. The opportunities to create and pursues activities that ignite our passions are at our disposal.
And that is where I think educational reform needs to take place.
It is not in technology. It is not standardized tests. It is in turning around and hollering, “Green light!” The underlining paradigm of education needs to change. Students are creating projects and pursuing their dreams without us. They are finding their own way in this world, finding their own success.
Without us.
And I think that is the most important aspect of all of this. School should be the place that empowers students to be able to live their life to the fullest. School should be the place that strengths our society by build community and cultivating our culture values. And one of our most traditional values has always been the idea of success. It is the heart of the “American Dream.” And at this moment in time, we have a greater opportunity to pursue our dreams then ever before. But is school matching the possibility that is present in our society?
We need education to change the light to green.
I would love to hear your stories about how you have been changing the light in your school. Share your stories with me in the comment section.
It is all Connected 