Rebranding Teaching

When two or more things that I like come together in a new collaboration, that is what really gets me excited.  You love them seperately, how awesome will they be together!  (I was going to put together this long funny list of synergizing collaborations that get me excited but I ended up scrapping it).
So this is the newest one...the profession of teaching AND design & branding.  BOOM!!!
I know.  It's fantastic and long overdue.  We don't need any more pictures of chalkboards, apples, schoolhouses, denim jumpers, etc.  Education is a changing field that is vital to our country's future.  We need to be enticing bright young minds to consider the vocation, not make them recall what it might've been like to be a third-grader in the 50's!
This happened when a Massuchusetts teacher submitted a request to NYC public radio's Studio 360, a  program that rethinks culturally significant items.  GOOD has a nice article on it. Hyperakt, a design studio, took up the challenge and put together some super cool things.  You can see more detail on their website or on the newly created InspireTeachers.org site.  (And I encourage you to do so.  I don't think GOOD chose the best pieces for their article).  The project has become the most popular thing Hyperakt has been a part of.  The pdf download of their full presentation is insightful to see what a design presentation looks like and it sheds light on how the ideas evolved.  The regional branding is cool and I love the yellow poster...Broaden Horizons, Teach Human Migration, Nurture Brilliance, Help Potential Blossom.  So cool.  All images are free and downloadable.  So add a little positive branding to your classroom or website!

5 pieces of advice...

Fr. Jim Martin is the most social media-tapped in Jesuit that I know and he regularly puts out things that I find value in.  As mentioned before, I read one of his books ("My Life with the Saints") recently and there was so much in it that I was a little worn out by the end of it.  I saw this article from Fr. Jim today and thought it did a nice job of taking a selection of the points from his book and boils it down into five pieces of advice. 

1. Allow Yourself to be Human
2. You Don't Have to be Someone Else to be Holy
3. You're Not Married to Everyone
4. Don't Let Anyone Prevent You From Becoming the Person You Want to be
5. You're Not Jesus

Simple yet significant points that are great for quiet reflection and just in time for Lent.  While #3 & #5 seem to have a lot of crossover and I like them a lot, #4 is my favorite.  I would make that into a poster and post it in my classroom if I still had one.

var Coding = "fun!";

As a technology teacher, I've felt that we spend too much time "teaching" keyboarding, Powerpoint, Word, etc. We need to think more creatively and incorporate some of that into core classes and integration those tech lessons.  Doing so might allow for more time in tech classes to teach coding and programming languages.  This is an area that is critical now and will only become more-so.  There is lots of concern about building up the offerings and rigor of these areas in our schools. 
A friend recently sent me the link to Codecademy, an online tool that teaches JavaScript coding.  I am hooked.  My friend said the difficultly increases quickly but it is fun for now and I think it would be a great tool for adults or kids that wanted to learn the basics. 
There are a lot of online tools listed on this page and Google has their Code University for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Snowy Saturday

I was starting to worry that I wouldn't be able to try out the new snow boots that I'd gotten back in November.  So I was pretty excited to see the snow coming day when I got out of bed on Saturday morning.  It came down pretty much all day long and I had several opportunities to bundle up, tie on my new boots (which are fantastic) and do some shoveling.  I also took a walk over to Witmer Park with Nicole to see what was going on there.  Kids sledding with their dads and dogs, a few snowmen had taken shape, we contributed a couple snow angels, threw snowballs and had a good time on the swingset.  So lots of fun out in the wintery wonderland and the other key activity on snow days is good cooking and we had that covered too.  Madras curry on Friday night and meatball subs on Saturday were both delicious.  Now off to make some Oriental Chickpea soup...

A Peek inside the Office

Two pictures I snapped earlier this week in my office...
This first one shows the jade plant that I have had for about four years or so.  It lived in my classroom, even when it was stuck beside a super drafty window during the winter but all of a sudden it just started dropping all of its leaves and sort of leaned over.  I tried more water, closer to the window, no response.  I'm guessing it was just its time.  Not sure on the cause of death, but it will be missed.  
This other one is what my desk looked like at one point and I just thought it was ridiculous so I took a picture. 

Everything is Amazing & Nobody's Happy

A co-worker sent me this video today.  And I got additional enjoyment out of it because it was so timely, especially the part about "just give it a second!"  We are (hopefully) winding up this migration of all the email in the district and I was working with an office manager at a high school today and, no exaggeration, I used some variant of "if you give it a second", "it'll take a minute to populate", "just be patient" at least SIX times with this one person in about a two minute span. 

Tech Article Round-up

I wrote this and sent it around at work today and thought I'd put it out here too.  

I wanted to share four articles I’ve came across recently that might be of interest.  Some are about iPads, some about 1:1 programs, some just about the relationship between tech & pedagogy. 

“Reflecting on two years of 1:1”

Written by Charlie Roy, principal of Peoria Notre Dame HS in IL.  They have been using MacBooks for two years in their HS and he shares a few key lessons learned as well as a couple of their struggles.  The most interesting part to me was in the comment section where he shared the PD sessions that their teachers went through in the year leading up to the rollout.

“A Workable Model for sub-1:1 iPad Use”

A very short article that gets at an important issue for schools that have some iPads but not a full 1:1 setting (that is most of us I think.)  It also alludes to the fact that, for the iPads to really come alive and transform the learning process, they need to used more deeply than just simply having “drill”-type apps.  They are just as powerful as a computer so we need to strive for higher levels of Bloom’s; using them to create, not just to remember or identify.

“Redefining Instruction with Technology: Five Essential Steps”

Continuing that same theme, this is from a 4^th-5^th grade teacher in Chicago Public Schools with a classroom set of 32 iPads.  She is talking about taking those steps, often scary, to transform your classroom and your teaching.  “The problem, I began to realize, was my own understanding of how the iPads should be utilized in the classroom. I had seen them as a supplement to my pre-existing curriculum, trying to fit them into the structure of what I’d always done. This was the wrong approach: To truly change how my classroom worked, I needed a technology-based redefinition of my practice.”

“Launching an iPad 1-to-1 Program: A Primer”

This article is a bit longer.  It shares the combined experiences and thoughts, in six critical areas, from two Florida HS’s that implemented iPad 1:1 programs.  The basic IT info (cost, network concerns, management, etc) is good but the key parts are under Philosophical Framework and Pedagogy (on Page 3), “It is our experience that schools must answer one important question: "Why are we doing this?" In our estimation, the answer to the question largely determines the success of your program.” 

I also think it is great that their first critical area is leadership, “Perhaps the most critical, yet overlooked, issue related to technology deployments is leadership….It is our experience that launching an iPad program requires a champion with sufficient positional power to command the attention of all constituents within the school community, including the head of school, faculty, IT staff, parents, students, and community leaders.”

Cedar Waxwing

A report in the Iowa Ornithologists Union mailing list shared that someone has driven through Water Works park during their Friday lunch and spotted a flock of Cedar Waxwings there.  Since I haven't marked them off my life list, I headed down there this morning and, thanks to the detailed report that they were in the crab-apple trees by the entrance, it didn't take me too long to find them.  There were probably a couple dozen of these sharp looking birds zipping between trees and snacking on the crab-apple fruits.  They are very slick trim birds and their colors and markings are so distinctive, the black mask, the vivid bright yellow tail band, and the red dots on the wing tips. 
A great way to start my sunny Saturday!

Oscar Nominations Announced

Check them out here.  And while there you can take a stroll through Oscar history, download the Oscar app, see what Oscar topics are trending on twitter and all sorts of things. 
One month to decide what to wear, what to cook, what movies to pick and try to view as many good ones as possible.  I've got a ways to go, but I'm going to have to look over the list to try and find some that catch my interest.
[edit.  I came across this video compilation of some of the cinematic hits of the 00's.  There were quite a few I didn't know, but lots that put a smile on my face too.]

Classical Ringtone

This video clip has been all over the last couple days, but if you haven't seen it, check it out here. 
Cell phones going off in public are always awkward, now try in the middle of a violin concert.  This violinist doesn't miss a beat though.  Good stuff. 
[sidenote: who still has that ring on their phone?!?!]