Lessons from Auschwitz: The Power of Words

Lessons from Auschwitz: The Power of Words by Benjamin Zandar is a beautiful short video with an important message.  "I will never say anything that can't stand as the last thing I say."  This provides a reflective moment during the Holocaust Memorial Week.

Migrant Youth Voices on iPads and Blogs

I presented at NCCE 2014.  The basic concept of the presentation is giving underrepresented students a voice, bringing out the super hero in them, and allowing them to speak on topics of interest to them through the use of emerging technologies. The inspiration of this presentation is from the Oregon Migrant Leadership Institutions (OMLI) I've participated in at Oregon State University for the past five summers.  The presentation gives high school participant examples from the OMLI and reflects on tech integration from the perspective of a learning educator.

http://prezi.com/ontt6uhguty1/migrant-youth-voices/

Here are related posts about the OMLI experiences.
Giving Students a Voice with iPads and iMovies
Student Voice with Tablets vs Pens
Summer Camp Experiences Recorded with Weebly, Animoto, and Educreations

Multiple Perspectives from Winnie the Pooh to Groceries

My preservice teachers had a great discussion a few weeks ago about the importance of brining in multiple perspectives into the classroom.  Doing so affirms that the world is complex and takes more than one view to gain a picture of a concept.  It can widen our worldview.  Multiple perspectives activities should also be accompanied with conversations around information literacy, bias, culture, and language.

This Russian Winnie the Pooh video (Vinni Puh) by animator Fyodor Khitruk caught my attention.  One of my favorite blogs, The Kids Should See This, has a nice post about it.

In continuing the conversation of multiple perspectives, take a look at this interesting post, What a Week of Groceries Looks Like Around the World, on Nutrition News. I think it would be interesting to pair it with a unit that maps where food comes from with this site. Type in a recipe and explore the originations of the food.  

On a similar thread of thought, don't miss James Mollison's photographs, Where Children Sleep.  If you haven't seen it, The Danger of a Single Story TED Talk by Chimamanda Adichie is a must see!

How can you bring multiple perspectives into your learning environment?  If you are interested in more sites, check out my Multicultural and Bilingual Resources that I will add to in time.  Happy exploring!

A Different Kind of Normal

I love the view out of my window today.  Each gust of wind whisks a cascading twirl of leaves that settle in my yard, beckoning for my kiddo and dog to rake and splash them about before packaging them for compost.   Beyond the beauty of the fall, I love my view outside and inside my window because it is my view. Mine. I have chosen it and make it my own on a daily basis.  I invite people I care about to fill the space about me and to create and share my view.

As much as I love returning to my view, I find value in traveling. It’s a process to see beyond the first glimpse that a new view offers—to peer deeper into the everyday lives of the people who inhabit the space, the space they invite me into.  The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes; they all contribute to the reality of my growing worldview.

I recall the first time I saw a favela in Brazil. It was almost too much (no it was too much) for my aspiring middle-class, twenty-something, American mind to process.  Also imprinted upon my memory is a moment in Bolivia while crossing a bridge-- my experience up until that point in time told me I traversed over a garbage dump; but a glimpse of an orphaned street child huddled into a drain pipe cemented the realization it was a home to someone. It left me numb and silent.  I searched the procedures-- the laws that didn't allow me to adopt that child, or another little one half-wrapped in bright colored, dingy llama wool peering up from under a bridge.

Years later, after seeing countless similar views, my mind still doesn’t process these sights.  It doesn’t because it’s simply not fair, and I should find it unsettling!  Yet, I now realize the people inhabiting these spaces have unique voices that reach beyond my silence.  Beyond. Silence. Mine.  Kids in poverty. Their voices reach beyond anything we pretend makes sense. 

Simultaneously, I never cease to be amazed by the juxtaposition of joy and rich culture that is experienced within these spaces.  Through reading; discussion of space, design and architecture; traveling; and technology, I continue to expand the view beyond my window. 

Ingenious Homes in Unexpected Places is a TED Talk by Iwan Baan that recently expanded my view. It is something you must watch! Through photography, he shows how people build homes in unlikely places.  I continue to reflect on Baan’s phrase, “a different kind of normal.”

Bann’s talk reminds me of The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra in Paraguay, where three of my favorite people in the world live.

It also brings up connections to James Mollison’s photography in his books, Hungry and Where Children Sleep.   (Hint: Use the “next” button to view Mollison’s photos. They are worth it!)

The related issue of poverty is NOT a problem that only exists outside of my home country.  All I have to do is look beyond my window’s view within my state, within my neighborhood. Some of the struggle of families in my own back yard are highlighted in the documentary,  American Winter, that follows eight families in Portland, Oregon. 

This has direct implications for us as educators.  Here’s some information from the program I work in about cultural and linguistic diversity in Oregon’s schools.  These kids and families ARE our community. We ALL have a responsibility.

It’s not enough, but through technology, I am slowly finding a way to both hear and give voice to those in poverty, to those who don’t have access to the basics such as clean water and food, yet whose voices capture the complexity of the human spirit in music, art, compassion-- found in spaces they make their own.  Their voices shape my view and push me to look at a different kind of normal.

Why Become an Educator? #DoIgetpaid4this?

Here come a few perhaps uncharacteristic posts for this blog, but they are connected to both Tech and Ed.  They are about two topics that have influenced the last few years of my life.  Two topics I have been exploring: 1. Passion driven education and 2. gratitude. 

Angela Maiers writes about passion driven education.  Some of my thinking and teaching have been influenced by Daniel Pink’s ideas on motivation as seen in this post a few years back where my students talk about their life sentences—basically what drives them.

 This TED Talk by Sean Aiken entitled, What Makes You Come Alive, reminds me of some of the questions I have for pre-service teachers.  Why are you here?  Teaching is NOT an easy field.  At the end of the day of prepping more hours than one wants to admit, sacrificing time with family, friends, and even self, there are typically no accolades.  In fact, the antithesis too frequently awaits; there can be critiques—from students, parents, administrators, colleagues, and self, even from the best or maybe especially from the best.  As teachers we may have the best intentions and feel ready to change the system, but the path to do this is challenging and quite frankly isn’t the right path for all. So, if you are entering this field, know why!  If you do-- if you know, I’ll go out on a limb and say you won’t regret it because the bonuses and benefits are many.

All of this is spurred on by the fact that I just wrapped up working with a few college students who have the potential to be AMAZING educators!  (See the video below.) If they choose teaching as a profession, they will rock.  How do we offer our youth experiences beyond the classroom walls to experience their passions that may turn into hobbies, jobs, careers, lives lived?  So they KNOW,  “That’s my sentence. That’s where I belong!”

http://youtu.be/QjHckjbw2ZY

You Go Pedro!  If you ever forget why, because we all do; I will be one of many who will remind you.

To take this a step further into the realm of public education and tech today, I stumbled upon this site. I’m not sure where the project is at this time, but the ideas that are within the site should make those who know why they are in the profession stop and think.  Redefining Education.

#DoIGetpaid4this?  Hmm… define “pay.”

Bullying, Self Image, and Crap in the Classroom: Part 2 Bullying

Bullying and Pork Chops.  This is a continuation of a series of discussions ignited in one of my pre-service teacher courses.  We have some extremely capable young educators ready to step up to the plate and tackle some large issues!  Bullying is one of these issues. (See part 1: Crap for another issue.)

Shane Koyczan is simply amazing. Be aware.  He will shape the way you think!  Bullies called him Pork Chop.Shane Koyczan: To This Day

http://youtu.be/ltun92DfnPY

Search Common Sense Media for other resources on bullying: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Crap, Bullying and Self Image.  How are they related?  How can we approach these topics in ways that will instigate positive change?

Happy thinking!

Crap, Bullying, and Self Image in the Classroom: Part 1 Crap

What do crap, bullying, and self-image have to do with each other?  Probably a lot more than this post will explore!  As one of my pre-service teacher courses began to explore topics of social justice and ways of integrating them into their K-12 curriculum, three major themes emerged: crap, bullying, and self image.  This is part 1 of this series.

I admittedly brought the topic of crap into the mix as an example.  When I travel to some of my favorite places in the world, I get particularly frustrated with inequities in access to something as seemingly simple as a toilet and clean water.  (Yes, I am sure I could do a blog on this topic alone. You have been forewarned if you get me started.)   

Let’s Talk Crap by Rose George

http://www.ted.com/talks/rose_george_let_s_talk_crap_seriously.html

This funny short You Tube video fit too perfectly into the toilet theme and my love of technology to pass up.

http://youtu.be/UR4mlLiyjYo

If  you have any great lessons geared toward sanitation and access to clean water, pass them forward.  This is an important topic that is all too often flushed down the toilet so to speak.

Exploring Social Justice with Storybird

This is the second in a series of two posts where in a brief assignment, my students explored Social Justice integrated with technology and I share their results with a wider audience.  (Take a look at the first post on Thinglink accessible here.)  This post highlights Storybird, an online visual storytelling site. It had been a few years since I played with Storybird, and I was happy to see the teacher account now includes ways of managing classes and assigning projects.  Check it out!

Here are a few of my students’ creations and thoughts about Storybird:

http://storybird.com/books/some-girls-6/

“I really enjoyed using Storybird, even if it did take me a bit longer to finish than I would have liked. The artwork available for use is simply amazing, and if you use the right search words you can find exactly what you need. I loved being able to customize my own story, and this could be a great tool for a specific problem or occurrence in your classroom. My story was pretty simplistic, hoping to be for a younger audience; however, it is about celebrating our differences. It's pretty superficial but with more time and using more resources it could be great! Enjoy :)”  (EN)

http://storybird.com/books/what-happened-to-our-food-and-homes-by-kl/

“I really wanted to create a story about how humans affect animals’ environment for young elementary students. I wanted to show students that people do affect others by their actions by showing how we affect pandas, foxes, rabbits, and polar bears. There is a little bit of a science part to the story because people do affect the environment with global warming.”  (KL)

http://storybird.com/books/the-spotted-bird-family/?token=vz8s66cbmv

“I liked using Storybird http://storybird.com/teachers/ to create my book because you can choose an image style and they give you a wide selection of images in that same style to use as your book illustrations. Sometimes, however, the images did not really fit what your image of the right image for the page should have been, so you have to be flexible. I was surprised how easy it was, but coming up with the content to put in the book was a little more difficult. I found my book turned out pretty superficial and with a lot more time, I would have liked to come up with a more intricate story that delved a little deeper into social justice issues, tackling some of the Bomer & Bomer article points. However, I think this would be a great way for ELLs to simplify what they have learned into a short story, concreting their knowledge and using language to describe what they learned. If they did a screen-cast or presented it in class, that would also give them speaking practice too.” KG 

Thanks to my students for their work and willingness to share!

Scavenger Hunt: Social Justice

When Tech  I recently sent my pre-service teachers in my Approaches for P-12 ELLs on a scavenger hunt.  They then shared their results in small group blogs.  I told them I would aggregate some of their responses and share.  (This is another way I see my role as an instructor shifting as I use Social Media.) Here are their social justice lesson plans, sites, and video results.  I am not endorsing these sites (although some of them are my favorites), but posting them in one place for my students to further analyze.   Access the list here.

Met Ed  I encourage my students to take a critical look at the sites in a way that goes beyond the directions of this small assignment.  What are some questions a teacher at your grade level should ask when looking for educational sites related to social justice?  How could the sites be used in a way that fosters learning?  For the teacher as a springboard? For the students?  What questions should be asked as one evaluates sites related to social justice for educational uses? If you taught one of the lessons from one of these sites, how could you integrate it into a content area?  What language would need to be addressed to help your language learners be successful?

Happy evaluating!
A special thanks to my students for their willingness to share.

(Photo by  robynejay) 

What is Standard English and Related Questions for Teachers

What is Standard English?  What are the various perspectives of it? How can it act as a gatekeeper?  Do our views of it shape how we approach language learning, teaching, and assessing?  How do these types of discussions fit into critical pedagogy?  These are the types of questions my College of Ed course have discussed. Watch the following engaging short videos and read the article about Linda Christensen  to continue reflection on these and related questions.

Punctuation Saves Lives

Language (See my previous post about Stephen Frye’s video here.)

Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography - Language from Matthew Rogers on Vimeo.

Discussion: How do the views voiced by Linda Christensen in this article on the National Writing Project site tie into the discussion? How can bringing in the everyday language in ways such as this site called Pop Lit  relate to teaching academic language and content?  Continue the discussion by sharing your thoughts or related links.

Quick Byte: One Day on Earth 11-11-11

Participate in this global collaboration by uploading a short video clip on 11-11-11, or just enjoy the One Day on Earth project 11-11-11.  Watch this video trailer to learn more.

Don't miss the 10-10-10 Geo Map!  Click on a country of your choice and zoom in to watch a video or two.  I viewed a few from some places I have traveled, and a flood of memories reminded me of the injustices of the world juxtaposed against indescribable beauty.

Keep your eyes on this site.  I will share it with my Exploring the World class!  It promises to encourage open dialogue on topics of social justice.  How can you use it in your classroom?

Quick Byte: Multiple Perspectives

Does the world sometimes look a little flat or one dimensional?  Does one perspective get boring or just not seem to capture the complexity or full picture of life or history?  Do you ever want to have a say in the ending of a story?  Do you think creativity and multiple perspectives relate?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will want to watch Raghava KK: Shake Up Your Story TED Talk. (It's under 5 min. and may result in a new app on your iPad.)  It also has some clear implications for education.

This talk relates to the first TED Talk I ever watched that hooked me, The Danger of a Single Story with Chimamanda Adichie. It really draws out an idea that I advocate for in my teacher prep classes-- including multiple perspectives in our teaching.  We should be doing this in all the content areas: language arts, math, science, social studies, etc.  What ways could you bring in a variety of perspectives into your classes?

In addition, this talk points in the direction of the future that is within grasp with transmedia storytelling and augmented reality as seen in my Worth a Wow: Inanimate Alice and What's a Book? Is This a Book? posts. 

If you liked Raghava KK's TED Talk highlighted above, watch his earlier talk entitled Five Lives of an Artist.  It's good stuff.

Happy viewing!

Quick Byte: World Peace Game

Mother's Day this year was a pleasant day when I unwrapped and played with a sparkling new, huggable iPad.  It was a delightful experience that lasted about an hour before my daughter claimed it as her own.  I may be exaggerating a bit because I do get my time on my baby.  Amongst many things, I enjoy finding online apps and games for my kid and students.  One of my previous posts, New Twists on Oldies: Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Lemonade Stand, spurred conversation about gaming in education.   The result of these conversations will be highlighted in a series of upcoming posts.

This post kickstarts this series.  Out of all of the gaming in education videos I have watched recently, this following one is my personal favorite.  The irony is that there is little to no technology involved in this game.  Watch 4th grade teacher John Hunter as he discusses his World Peace Game in a 2011 TED Talk.  What do you think?

 

Here’s John’s site with a trailer for his film.   Would you call this low-tech educational gaming?  Can these same principles that are working in the World Peace Game for John, be applied to educational gaming on computers and mobile devices? What makes a game successful in education?   When,  how, and why should games be included in education? What games do you use successfully in the classroom?  These are the types of questions I hope to continue to explore.  Explore with me!

Happy viewing!

Quick Byte: Seedlings Wraps Up Another Great Season

Awww....summer is upon us and it is time to relax and catch up. We each just finished listening to Seedlings @Bit By Bit podcast  “Wrap-Up” Show for the Season 3!  We loved hearing that Bob is having lunch and learning with his kids. You can read the Let’s Have Lunch! post here.  He also posted a helpful TED outline complete with links and summaries.

One of the underlying themes that stood out in this podcast is empowering students.  It ties back to our TEDx Redmond talks post.  This all relates to social justice, students taking learning into their own hands, and students doing amazing things with topics of relevance to them like bullying, etc.  It's powerful stuff!

Another concept that caught our attention is how quickly learning can spread when the right apps/tools are placed in the hands of students!  Hmmm... it sounds simple.  Could it be possible that we've got it turned around in part?  We're trying to educate the teachers how to use the tools, but they don't spread them at the same rapid rate and in the same way the students do.  We shouldn't stop educating ourselves as teachers, but there seems to be something to empowering our students to discover the apps/tools in ways that are relevant to their lives and learning.  We've seen evidence of this in our own students and teaching.

Quick Byte

As always, these are just a few of the interesting take-aways we gleaned from the podcast.  Seedlings, thanks for sharing, and congratulations on three seasons!

*This is one Quick Byte briefly highlighting podcasts, sites, etc. of interest.  More are on the way.

Co-post KK and CA

Language

Want a taste of the shifting shapes and sounds of wondrous words viewed in motion?  The below video offers just this.  It is also a great tie-in to the TCE course I am teaching this term which explores grammar and standard English. 


Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography - Language from Matthew Rogers on Vimeo.

I made this discovery on Open Culture, a blog I enjoy reading.  Happy viewing!

TEDx Redmond: It Doesn't Get Much Better!

Last week, my TCE classes explored the importance of setting high expectations for our students. This is also a topic Kacey and I have discussed as well. Do we give students enough responsibility and trust? Do we give them the necessary tools and empower them to take learning in their own hands? Do we allow them to have a voice? What would happen if we did more of these things? Perhaps TEDx Redmond offers us a glimpse of the possibilities.

Watch some of the excellent TEDx Redmond video clips of children and young adults talking with passion. Bob Sprankle has made them easily accessible on his blog Bit by Bit.

Watch this video of Perry Chen entitled For the Love of Movies! It will be obvious why I chose to highlight it.



I also recommend Cayle Diefenbach's talk Preserving Heritage.




TEDx Redmond was initiated by Adora Svitak. You can listen to her interview podcast on Seedlings show 94. Check out the line-up of TEDxRedmond speakers.

Happy viewing!

Ted Talks: Worth the Time

TED Talks are amazing!  Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) has talks, TEDx conferences, communities, and much more.  I find myself visiting the site at least weekly and have a RSS feed set up on my itunes.

Here are some of my favorites.  (I may not endorse all of the ideas presented, but will step out and say they promote thinking.)

• In What Adults Can Learn from Kids, "Child prodigy Adora Svitak says the world needs "childish" thinking: bold ideas, wild creativity and especially optimism. Kids' big dreams deserve high expectations, she says, starting with grownups' willingness to learn from children as much as to teach."
•  The Danger of a Single Story discusses how "our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding."

Here's Jeff Utecht's talk on Community Trumps Content.

Here are some recent TED talks I've enjoyed.

• Sugata Mitra: The Child-Driven Education   

• Steven Johnson: Where Good Ideas Come From 
• Matt Ridley: When Ideas Have Sex 
• Ethan Zuckerman: Listening to Global Voices 

Happy viewing!