The first presentation in the Casady School “Medicine with the Experts” Science Lecture Series began at 7 p.m. on Tues., Oct. 4, in the Middle Division Community Room on the Casady campus. Dr. David Lee Gordon expounded on neurological diseases. I found every aspect interesting and his presentation style engaging. His explanation of what is a migrane was fascinating. Dr. Gordon joined the Department of Neurology at the OUHSC as professor and chairman in January 2007. He founded and directed the Acute Stroke Unit at the University of Mississippi Medical Center from 1991-1999. He has also received the American Heart Association’s Award of Meritorious Achievement in 2000.
Other medical professionals a part of the lecture series include Physical Therapist Rene’ Daman, who will speak on autism on Dec. 5; Dr. Robert Mannel will share a presentation on cancer on Feb. 6, 2012; Dr. Joseph Waner will talk about viruses and viral diseases on April 10, 2012; and Dr. Mark Anderson will close the series on May 1, 2012, with a discussion on keeping athletes injury free.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
OFLTA Conference, Stillwater, Oct 1, 2011
“Motivating and Organizing the Unmotivated and Unorganized” – Ellen B. Shrager http://home.comcast.net/~mrsshrager/site/?/home/: Students from chaotic households frequently perform academically below their ability and need help with motivation and organization. Poor habits prevent them from completing school work. Guide students to a future vision of themselves with these habits, and help form one new positive habit at a time. Where are you know, where do you want to be...good habits and discipline. What is the problem? Parents do not equate sucess with skills and discipline, but with admission to a university. ...Although you can use that dream to get them to help parents and their child pointing out how good habits will help the college common application and will provide them life skills of the 21st century.
Service-Learning bought her books for 6th and 9th grade and how to deal with the unmotivated and unorganized. I have some of her cards and her learning balls which I already started to use for reviewing purposes with bodily-kinesthetic children. They do work. I will read the books I have purchased and place them at the library.
I also learned that by being more proactive at organizing children, I have discovered problems with writing sequence which I had not seen before. To be very honest, it is also helping me personally to be more focused and organized in my daily life.
Elle states in her website, "focus on the changing roles of children, parents, and neighborhoods in society and the profound impact of entertainment, advertisement, and individual rights on a student's sense of self. ...From my observations, I learned that students’ unacceptable classroom behavior is a logical, albeit unintentional, consequence of the society that we have created!
This understanding has relieved me of the burden of judging and inspired me to confront these differences so that my classroom once again reflects my beliefs. I focus on five differences in students’ upbringing that create disruptions to learning in my classroom. I use to respond to these disruptions in the moment with ‘pop-up’ lessons on manners. Now, in an impersonal and loving way, I pro-actively introduce the differences between the way students are accustomed to behaving and the way students will behave in class. Thus, when impulsive students act out, I remind them that we have already discussed this, and the consequence is not perceived as a personal attack. Surprisingly, even rebellious students respond to this impersonal authority. I suspect that many are secretly relieved that there is a true adult in charge who affirms that their actions have consequences; otherwise we are reinforcing the students’ most inner fear that they and their actions are meaningless. Most days, my students respond to this classroom behavior code and the moments of sarcasm, drama, and tension are minimal. In “Successful Dialogues with Enabling Parents”, I help teachers to interact better with today’s parents, by discussing:
Five recent changes in parenting.
Five crucial steps to protect teachers’ authority.
Six common parental illusions.
Teachers will practice T R I A L – the process for responding compassionately and appropriately with difficult parents, without teacher burn-out! Additional discussion will include managing electronic grades, e-mail contact with parents, and student cheating. Teachers will practice discussing these sensitive issues with parents via role playing in groups of two. Teachers will be able to discuss sensitive issues with parents leaving both sides intact with their dignity. This will ultimately lead to more parental support for teachers and programs.
In “Successful Dialogues to Motivate and Organize the Unorganized and Unmotivated," I share my experiences with my successful “Seven Club.” Without specific help, children from poverty struggle to negotiate schools’ middle class value system. I started an after-school ‘club’ to help students whose actual grades were significantly lower than their intellectual ability. I use an assortment of products to foster the dialogue that will help the student to bridge the gap between home values and school values. What surprised me is the number of referrals from middle class families operating with poverty values. My conclusion is that between more parents working outside the home and the intense pressure to be well-rounded for school applications, many middle class families are running chaotic homes and their children need the same support as students from poverty.
Together we can inspire our students to believe that learning is inherently much more interesting than acting out.
MEDIA: Consumerism and socialization lessons
- Only comment on the effort and how they treat others not on the clothing they are wearing (Spend, spend spend)
- When something is said that they are just repeating from TV, etc. find the source
_ Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse...Unmotivated child by Natalie Ratchvon .Get them
PERSONALIZATION of impersonal corrections
- Structure without being perceived as criticism
4years old.......future car..... Teachers are the bridge of the future we are never going to see
postpone responsibility for education... Have pencils, do not let them disturbe others learning
Increase non-diagnosed Asper...High Functional Autism
What you look at, but do you see?
Emphasis on IQ instead of self-discipline and skills
Lack of adult in charge
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“How to use Internet Sources in the World Language Classroom” – Audrey Nelson: She focused on demonstration of videos, seemed unprepared, and had technical difficulties. She did not provide exercises, assessments or strategies as advertised. The weakest presentation of my day, but I want to get the video of I love Lucy to promote language learning. I think we need to be very careful about our choices of videos and the intention with which we pick them.
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“Time Management and Classroom Activities to Achieve Observable Performance vs. Assumed Knowledge” – Lilli Lyon Ms. Lyon explained that attention span, according to research = age with maximum of 28 minutes. She manages classroom with a systematic set of activities that keeps the kids engaged by movement, songs, games. All vocabulary is present and surrounds them to the point that they start to create with the language. To be acquired, a word needs to be repeated 75 times for children without learning challenges, 150 times for learning disable people. The more they repeated the greater the acquisition. She motivated to use more songs, have 2 minute reviews, like play with numbers, write as many things in the classroom you have in your head in one minute, etc. “focus on what the students can DO with the language: OBSERVABLE PERFORMANCE VS. ASSUMED KNOWLEDGE.” Inspiring! She uses 80's music and creates her own.
Repetition
70 times in context in your brain
150 times if learning disable
Allow errors
Are you teaching bell to bell: 12 minute increments, 5 minute units
Rubric of performance Excellent: Hamburger with all the fixings, Needs Improvement: Hot Dog, Good: Hamburger
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“Edmodo.com: Safe Social Media for Students” – Caleb Allison Social media is widely used by most of our students. http://www.edmodo.com/%20is a user-friendly network that is made by educators for educators and that is safe and secure. After this session, I placed my 5th graders in Edmodo. I was surprised to see kids who are challenge by homework, actually going to the site and having a small conversation. Here is a guide to every question you may have in Edmodo http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1rhw8/EdmodoAguidetoeveryt/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http://www.edmodo.com/community/professional-dev
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Digital Booth Camp: July 13, 2011
I signed up to make a 2 minute creative video and decided to go for the digital booth camp instead. I expect to learn how to promote my program in covergence with YAC students and community organizations.
In class, I will create the story and then decide how to distribute it, according to the intended audience and adapting the distribution methods to the times!
From the introduction yesterday, we will create a website that is interactive with all current digital forms in real time. We will be working with a word press site that is free. The interest will be in direct relationship with level of creativity, brevity, and inmediancy of the information. Basic Elements: Writing, pictures, videos.
Blog: One sentence...one paragrah...during the event
Web: 3-4 paragraphs...two hours after
Mediacast: one-three minutes...one day after
Follow-up: 3-4 paragraphs...weekly
Newspaper: 250-500 words ...once per issue ( Rolling Stone without music) quaterly and in color
Wrap-up: 350 words, post event, print or web
Yearbook: Tells the story...event end..flash drive, dvd, digital video soon to be added.
Make students personally accountable for what they will generate in class and do not blame the bread, blame the breadmaker if people do not come to your site!
Booth Camp Class
FTP File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server.[1] FTP users may authenticate themselves using a clear-text sign-in protocol but can connect anonymously if the server is configured to allow it.
The first FTP client applications were interactive command-line tools, implementing standard commands and syntax. Graphical user interface clients have since been developed for many of the popular desktop operating systems in use today.
My Conclusion: FTD software... It is a way to share, it is a host I guess for your website. WS.FTP is $29 http://www.ipswitchft.com/Products/Ws_Ftp_Pro/Evaluation.aspx?k_id=bingpro; http://www.ipswitch.com/
Fetch installer is free for mac's http://fetchsoftworks.com/
Cheapwebhost news.com hosted by linux: http://cheapwebhostnews.com/. http://www.linux.com/ 150 G is enough
2 sites org and com 500 e-mails, $6.99 to $89.00
Can have subdomains like mysummerwork.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A HOST IS NEEDED: Word Press.com: Costly, do not use. Word Press.org: Great support. USE IT. 1n1.blue is another. Do not place this host in the district server. Word Press.org is free, has good support and has built in a mobile component
My workshop guardian angel was pedrameh@hotmail.com. Mitchell Franz offered to help with videos: m.a.franz@gmail.com, mitchellfranz.com. My teacher was Jake Palenske http://palenske.net/portfolio/Welcome.html. Jake's task was to empower us to create a website like http://cspa2010.mysummerworkshop.com/?p=1249.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class process: Jake created the FTD for us and helped us input all the database information to create our own. then he taught us how to get fetch. Finally he gave us the directives to create a subdomain in his clay.mysummerworkshop.com.
Breakout sessions information
All websites produced at the booth camp will be available at cspa2011.mysummerworkshop.com. issuu.com might be a good source for printable books. Word Press, Vimiu and Picassa were recommended, but Picassa uses flash which does not work with mobile devises well yet.
Instagram, photogene, half tone, photo stickers were mentioned
Everything can be done in real time with the best duo combination: Ipad and Iphone News from everywhere at anytime!
Snapseed $4.99
PICFX
DROP BOX, simple and Free
In class, I will create the story and then decide how to distribute it, according to the intended audience and adapting the distribution methods to the times!
From the introduction yesterday, we will create a website that is interactive with all current digital forms in real time. We will be working with a word press site that is free. The interest will be in direct relationship with level of creativity, brevity, and inmediancy of the information. Basic Elements: Writing, pictures, videos.
Blog: One sentence...one paragrah...during the event
Web: 3-4 paragraphs...two hours after
Mediacast: one-three minutes...one day after
Follow-up: 3-4 paragraphs...weekly
Newspaper: 250-500 words ...once per issue ( Rolling Stone without music) quaterly and in color
Wrap-up: 350 words, post event, print or web
Yearbook: Tells the story...event end..flash drive, dvd, digital video soon to be added.
Make students personally accountable for what they will generate in class and do not blame the bread, blame the breadmaker if people do not come to your site!
Booth Camp Class
FTP File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server.[1] FTP users may authenticate themselves using a clear-text sign-in protocol but can connect anonymously if the server is configured to allow it.
The first FTP client applications were interactive command-line tools, implementing standard commands and syntax. Graphical user interface clients have since been developed for many of the popular desktop operating systems in use today.
My Conclusion: FTD software... It is a way to share, it is a host I guess for your website. WS.FTP is $29 http://www.ipswitchft.com/Products/Ws_Ftp_Pro/Evaluation.aspx?k_id=bingpro; http://www.ipswitch.com/
Fetch installer is free for mac's http://fetchsoftworks.com/
Cheapwebhost news.com hosted by linux: http://cheapwebhostnews.com/. http://www.linux.com/ 150 G is enough
2 sites org and com 500 e-mails, $6.99 to $89.00
Can have subdomains like mysummerwork.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A HOST IS NEEDED: Word Press.com: Costly, do not use. Word Press.org: Great support. USE IT. 1n1.blue is another. Do not place this host in the district server. Word Press.org is free, has good support and has built in a mobile component
My workshop guardian angel was pedrameh@hotmail.com. Mitchell Franz offered to help with videos: m.a.franz@gmail.com, mitchellfranz.com. My teacher was Jake Palenske http://palenske.net/portfolio/Welcome.html. Jake's task was to empower us to create a website like http://cspa2010.mysummerworkshop.com/?p=1249.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class process: Jake created the FTD for us and helped us input all the database information to create our own. then he taught us how to get fetch. Finally he gave us the directives to create a subdomain in his clay.mysummerworkshop.com.
Breakout sessions information
All websites produced at the booth camp will be available at cspa2011.mysummerworkshop.com. issuu.com might be a good source for printable books. Word Press, Vimiu and Picassa were recommended, but Picassa uses flash which does not work with mobile devises well yet.
Instagram, photogene, half tone, photo stickers were mentioned
Everything can be done in real time with the best duo combination: Ipad and Iphone News from everywhere at anytime!
Snapseed $4.99
PICFX
DROP BOX, simple and Free
Monday, January 3, 2011
World Creativity Forum
Two things I want to remember
1. Mission: Converge, Connect, Collaborate, Create (I love this process)
2. Pink's FEDEX Time and autonomy, mastery and purpose
Other memorable moments: There were many
a. Proud of seeing Native American leadership
b. Admiring and questioning oil leaders
c. Way the lunch was served: Efficient and green
d. School kids from England and headmaster contacting us to continue conversations.
1. Mission: Converge, Connect, Collaborate, Create (I love this process)
2. Pink's FEDEX Time and autonomy, mastery and purpose
Other memorable moments: There were many
a. Proud of seeing Native American leadership
b. Admiring and questioning oil leaders
c. Way the lunch was served: Efficient and green
d. School kids from England and headmaster contacting us to continue conversations.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
A speech to remember
Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech
Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system.
Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here's the speech in its entirety:
Here I stand
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States."
To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!
Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system.
Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here's the speech in its entirety:
Here I stand
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States."
To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Technology Professional Development at OK State Department of Education
Thursday, July 1: Promethean for Educators: Promethean is the educators version of the business-minded Smart Board. It is designed for student interactivity. The ActivExpression component provides instant student responses. It has a website with lesson plans accessible for free. There is ongoing 'free" professional development. $2,000 will get a Promethean board at the Volunteer Center. I hope we will be able to find grant funding for this. It is amazing. I was not able to attend a Smart board training yet, but the tech people at the State Department would purchase a Promethean over a Smart Board for Ed. purposes. I think this board could also be used at Independent and Assisted Living facilities.
Tuesday, July 6: Motivating the Digital Natives I only attended an hour of this workshop. I had to take family to airport. I learned about edmodo.com, a social network for educators. I also learned about todaysmeet.com where students can take notes digitally. The so-called backchannelling is great. For a month we will be able see our notes on Skype, Delicious, Animoto/Edmoto, Ning, Jing project. I attended edmoto and how to use todaysmeet.com/motivatingdigialnatives. Manuel can be found at twitter.com/manuelgonzales. We signed up for his workshop at his ning. From the todaysmeet.com/motivatingdigitalnatives I gathered the following websites: Explaining Web 2.0: http://edsocialweb.wikispaces.com/; Imaginationcubed.com -artwork (e.g. smartboard tools-ish); collaborative modem;use kisstunes to create music for videos. technology tips for teachers: http://web.mac.com/tammy.w/Tips/Tammys_Technology_Tips_for_Teachers.html, google skypeinschools.pbworks.com; animoto.com, skype.com; creativecommons.org for free pics, sound, etc. that can be used in student projects;pixlr.com photo editing; delicious.com for saving your Internet bookmarks or favorites online; http://delicious.com/TTUMPA/; tagxedo.com-create your thoughts on something in a shape instead of just a word cloud: wordle.net : we use it with our elementary students and their weekly spelling lists; it jazzes up the boring spelling work for them; bibliography links:bibme.com to create a bibliography; easybib.com for bibliography citations also. Youtube videos: on selected youtube videos insert "kick" before you in youtube (ie. www.kickyoutube.com.....) saves the file in flash. tooble.com for download to save youtube videos as mp4 file to save on iPods or video files to show to students.
Wednesday, July 7: Audacity: facilitator: Manuel Gonzalez. Audacity is a free program. Manuel self-trained after a COV Training (Celebrate Oklahoma Voices.) Example of Mike and Mike podcast (a radio broadcast edited.) That is what audacity does. You can also use to do digital story telling. High Educational example: High School students mentoring in American History during the summer turned their poems into rap songs. They worked with headstar 4 year olds. Students still remember the experience and the CD creation.
Workshop process
Basic: Introduction..How to get it, what it looks like
Advance features: Change voice tones, etc.
Learn to export it compatible files
Record voice with music. Get songs that are royalty free
How do we find audacity? http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download the 1.2.6 version, if you have windows 7 download the beta version. It saves it as a .aupfile. I can only play it in an audacity player
Types of files
audio files: .mp3; wav; .a+f; aup will be changed to .wav; .mp3
doc files: doc/docx; pdf, etc
Audacity control tools are the same as a VCR. Mikes are very sensitive. We recorded our introduction and how we spent our 4th of July weekend. Mute the first track unless you want to hear both at the same time.
Creative commons.org---free music, find, jamendo music to download legally music available for educators. Other sites for music: http://www.freeplaymusic.com/. We downloaded the music we saved at the desktop. We learned how to edit, duplicate, edit, and undo. 30 seconds or 10% is the only allowed time to take legally for free. You avoid lawsuits that way.
The programs' difficulties are handling the tools. Photo story 3 for windows. You can import the audacity file for your pictures. Vokie was another site a tech teacher asked if she could use with audacity because it changes your voice. A good site for free sounds is http://www.shockwave-sound.com/sound-effects/ocean_sounds.php
Think 2 minutes of content. Do not go over 3 because you lose your audience!
Effects tab...Helps you remove noise and unwanted sounds wuth noise removal and click removal, amplification will help the shy voices.
Fading under effects and silence under generate
What kind of headset? Shop carefully.
Other helpful sites provided by teachers, mostly media librarians: Site to keep track of URLS www.diigo.com, Photo Story 3 does not accept MP3 only wave files: Sound convertor files: http://webklipper.com/k/EOQm55jPuK1ROy5oExUr (with a webklipper annocation)
Thursday, July 8th: Digital Citizenship It is digital literacy on how to teach teachers and parents the abc of digital literacy. Our presenter is Perry Applegate who knows Jeanie.
The presenter shared her story of spagetti grew on trees.(spagetti harvest, bbc April fools video). She shared the video What is a browser: How you get to the internet: Internet explorer, Firebox, Chrome, Safari. Search Engine: How you use to look up stuff: Google, Yahoo, Bing, Wolfram Alpha. A search engine searches only their sites, not all the websites. Ranked by most searches, not for relevancy or reliability. Some are paid links. Search engines are paid for their link. cancer..$3 a hit for example.(leukemia, cancer with heat-probably not the most reputable.) So do not think the first findings are good. On Goggle it says, "paid results."
Look at the description..Google is the biggest, websearchguide.ca/reserch/compfram.htm compares search engines. Relevance and segregation are part of Google.
refseek.com is good for educational purposes. No paid results, and gives
Sweetsearch.com: Designed for high school students
Kids click.org is a good one for younger kids. They can narrow it down by subject area.
Ask.com kids can put in whole sentences
bing: decision engine. Great for shopping. It is the microsoft search engine. Segregate subheadinds
WolframAlpha is a great search engine for math and science. Great for b-day info.
Being a good searcher:
1. Be specific
-Develop a search plan (bio, role, presidency,wife...What kind of info do we want: facts only) In addition to search engines, databases and books. Spelling does count!! N
-Narrow them, Boolean operators (passe) Help refine the search or(expands) and (narrows) not(eliminate certain related topics) The magazine databases require them, + and -
host searchers. gov. edu college, com, etc. It is changing now. The host domain name is changing. She provided domain names for other countries.
cnet.com: Reviews technology
smokingabd www.health.gov: Site searching
Google advance search should be taught to the students. You can find several pp on study skills. You do not have to reinvent the wheel.
Almost all uses advance searchers look at all possibilities in google advance search
How do we know if a website is good: Who, what, where, when,why
Who created the website, who is the responsible person?
What? Does the website meet your information needs? how easy is it to use? How well written is it? grammatical and spelling errors-not an expert in the field. Check simple fact.
When? when was initially posted and updated.
Where? .org is good,but not fair and balance edu,.k12, .me personal website
Why? was it created?...propaganda techniques...bandwagon approach...everybody believes this.
Fact and opinion differentiation Tons of good lessons recognized usage of strong words.
Easywhois.com tells who owns the website.
altavista..link:
History of website: archive.org How web sites were
livebinders.com web space sites to evaluate by perri
http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit/14682
Tuesday, July 6: Motivating the Digital Natives I only attended an hour of this workshop. I had to take family to airport. I learned about edmodo.com, a social network for educators. I also learned about todaysmeet.com where students can take notes digitally. The so-called backchannelling is great. For a month we will be able see our notes on Skype, Delicious, Animoto/Edmoto, Ning, Jing project. I attended edmoto and how to use todaysmeet.com/motivatingdigialnatives. Manuel can be found at twitter.com/manuelgonzales. We signed up for his workshop at his ning. From the todaysmeet.com/motivatingdigitalnatives I gathered the following websites: Explaining Web 2.0: http://edsocialweb.wikispaces.com/; Imaginationcubed.com -artwork (e.g. smartboard tools-ish); collaborative modem;use kisstunes to create music for videos. technology tips for teachers: http://web.mac.com/tammy.w/Tips/Tammys_Technology_Tips_for_Teachers.html, google skypeinschools.pbworks.com; animoto.com, skype.com; creativecommons.org for free pics, sound, etc. that can be used in student projects;pixlr.com photo editing; delicious.com for saving your Internet bookmarks or favorites online; http://delicious.com/TTUMPA/; tagxedo.com-create your thoughts on something in a shape instead of just a word cloud: wordle.net : we use it with our elementary students and their weekly spelling lists; it jazzes up the boring spelling work for them; bibliography links:bibme.com to create a bibliography; easybib.com for bibliography citations also. Youtube videos: on selected youtube videos insert "kick" before you in youtube (ie. www.kickyoutube.com.....) saves the file in flash. tooble.com for download to save youtube videos as mp4 file to save on iPods or video files to show to students.
Wednesday, July 7: Audacity: facilitator: Manuel Gonzalez. Audacity is a free program. Manuel self-trained after a COV Training (Celebrate Oklahoma Voices.) Example of Mike and Mike podcast (a radio broadcast edited.) That is what audacity does. You can also use to do digital story telling. High Educational example: High School students mentoring in American History during the summer turned their poems into rap songs. They worked with headstar 4 year olds. Students still remember the experience and the CD creation.
Workshop process
Basic: Introduction..How to get it, what it looks like
Advance features: Change voice tones, etc.
Learn to export it compatible files
Record voice with music. Get songs that are royalty free
How do we find audacity? http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download the 1.2.6 version, if you have windows 7 download the beta version. It saves it as a .aupfile. I can only play it in an audacity player
Types of files
audio files: .mp3; wav; .a+f; aup will be changed to .wav; .mp3
doc files: doc/docx; pdf, etc
Audacity control tools are the same as a VCR. Mikes are very sensitive. We recorded our introduction and how we spent our 4th of July weekend. Mute the first track unless you want to hear both at the same time.
Creative commons.org---free music, find, jamendo music to download legally music available for educators. Other sites for music: http://www.freeplaymusic.com/. We downloaded the music we saved at the desktop. We learned how to edit, duplicate, edit, and undo. 30 seconds or 10% is the only allowed time to take legally for free. You avoid lawsuits that way.
The programs' difficulties are handling the tools. Photo story 3 for windows. You can import the audacity file for your pictures. Vokie was another site a tech teacher asked if she could use with audacity because it changes your voice. A good site for free sounds is http://www.shockwave-sound.com/sound-effects/ocean_sounds.php
Think 2 minutes of content. Do not go over 3 because you lose your audience!
Effects tab...Helps you remove noise and unwanted sounds wuth noise removal and click removal, amplification will help the shy voices.
Fading under effects and silence under generate
What kind of headset? Shop carefully.
Other helpful sites provided by teachers, mostly media librarians: Site to keep track of URLS www.diigo.com, Photo Story 3 does not accept MP3 only wave files: Sound convertor files: http://webklipper.com/k/EOQm55jPuK1ROy5oExUr (with a webklipper annocation)
Thursday, July 8th: Digital Citizenship It is digital literacy on how to teach teachers and parents the abc of digital literacy. Our presenter is Perry Applegate who knows Jeanie.
The presenter shared her story of spagetti grew on trees.(spagetti harvest, bbc April fools video). She shared the video What is a browser: How you get to the internet: Internet explorer, Firebox, Chrome, Safari. Search Engine: How you use to look up stuff: Google, Yahoo, Bing, Wolfram Alpha. A search engine searches only their sites, not all the websites. Ranked by most searches, not for relevancy or reliability. Some are paid links. Search engines are paid for their link. cancer..$3 a hit for example.(leukemia, cancer with heat-probably not the most reputable.) So do not think the first findings are good. On Goggle it says, "paid results."
Look at the description..Google is the biggest, websearchguide.ca/reserch/compfram.htm compares search engines. Relevance and segregation are part of Google.
refseek.com is good for educational purposes. No paid results, and gives
Sweetsearch.com: Designed for high school students
Kids click.org is a good one for younger kids. They can narrow it down by subject area.
Ask.com kids can put in whole sentences
bing: decision engine. Great for shopping. It is the microsoft search engine. Segregate subheadinds
WolframAlpha is a great search engine for math and science. Great for b-day info.
Being a good searcher:
1. Be specific
-Develop a search plan (bio, role, presidency,wife...What kind of info do we want: facts only) In addition to search engines, databases and books. Spelling does count!! N
-Narrow them, Boolean operators (passe) Help refine the search or(expands) and (narrows) not(eliminate certain related topics) The magazine databases require them, + and -
host searchers. gov. edu college, com, etc. It is changing now. The host domain name is changing. She provided domain names for other countries.
cnet.com: Reviews technology
smokingabd www.health.gov: Site searching
Google advance search should be taught to the students. You can find several pp on study skills. You do not have to reinvent the wheel.
Almost all uses advance searchers look at all possibilities in google advance search
How do we know if a website is good: Who, what, where, when,why
Who created the website, who is the responsible person?
What? Does the website meet your information needs? how easy is it to use? How well written is it? grammatical and spelling errors-not an expert in the field. Check simple fact.
When? when was initially posted and updated.
Where? .org is good,but not fair and balance edu,.k12, .me personal website
Why? was it created?...propaganda techniques...bandwagon approach...everybody believes this.
Fact and opinion differentiation Tons of good lessons recognized usage of strong words.
Easywhois.com tells who owns the website.
altavista..link:
History of website: archive.org How web sites were
livebinders.com web space sites to evaluate by perri
http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit/14682
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