Just a 1/2 day here on campus on this lovely late-October Friday.
Homecoming is here. Classes ended at lunch. Life is good.
Beckett -- back on campus in his preschool for the first time in a full week -- came over to papa's side of campus to have lunch. Sitting on the floor of papa's classroom indian-style, the Long boys watched "Harold and the Purple Crayon" on the big screen while eating.
At some point in time, one of the good people that keeps papa's classroom clean came by with a vacuum to tidy up the room for the weekend.
Beckett celebrated her arrival by running *on top* of all of his student tables. Hard to fault his enthusiasm, although papa's students might have received a stern warning for similar behavior.
Mmm. Perhaps rapid, network-inspired change -- even in traditional markets -- is possible.
Just noticed the following update in my Twitter feed (thanks to @smartinez' retweet) not long after blogging about it myself:
Note:
Even though things may appear to be resolved, it is worth reading Slyvia Martinez' follow-up blog post to the one that originally grabbed many of our attention. Note her efforts to find balance, which -- in spite of my own note left on the wiki -- is to be appreciated.
And also note the first commenter. I suspect that true resolution will be in bringing voices such as his and those who reacted out of frustration together to re-think the power of language when marketing to and about students/schools.
Note:
I wrote my own reaction to the NYSCATE session title earlier today.
Been kicking around the idea of jump-staring "think:lab" once again.
Been nearly a year since I had the site shut down for a couple of reasons (focusing more on my classroom, less on consulting; being a father of another new child; time; etc.). And while I had hoped to wait a bit longer until the good people at Typepad were able to get everything put back together in terms of the template/design bits, something 'woke me up' today. And regardless of a poorly designed blog, the time to begin writing/publishing again is today.
Mmm. Students = enemies. An intriguing way to work on behalf of students, the very reason any of us have jobs in the first place.
Sylvia wrote about the upcoming session on her own blog: “Students are not the enemy.” She deserves to be thanked for nudging the rest of us into this ever-growing conversation. I also want to thank Wes Fryer for doing great work to take it to the next level via his recent blog post, "A proposed student social media protest campaign fro NYSCATE", that you should definitely read as well.
I wanted to drop you a note to let you know that I find this session
title and the frame that you're using to sell your services to be
offensive and beyond the pale. Our students are not our enemies and
their behaviors are not rooted in violence. So long as you make them
out to be, though, you'll certainly be doing our schools and our
students a great deal of harm.
I suspect you're a smart dude, wise about networks and the Internet. I
hope you'll hear what I'm saying here and, in the future, when speaking
and teaching about the actions of our children, you'll do so in a way
that doesn't make them out to be criminals. Because they're not. No
more so than vendors are scoundrels that prey on our worst fears.
All the best. I'd look forward to your response.
Even if that was all that was written, a critical point would have been made.
But, others had added their voices, so I thought I'd think-out-loud a bit on the wiki as well.
This is an excerpt of my much longer response left on the wiki:
Dear Chris,
Whether I consider my world view as a father (of 2 in diapers), as an
educator (who now is a 10th grade English teacher), or as a
speaker/consultant (working with school architects/planners around the
world, and many vendors like yourself who hope to have their
products/services spec'd into projects), I am stunned by the choice you
(and your entire organization, since they are indeed associated
directly with the presentation) made in terms of framing the underlying
reasons why someone should select a school-wide Internet management
strategy with your firm.
Ultimately this is just business. And I don't mean that a vendor can
pull that trigger and ignore those who disagree with sales/marketing
tactics. No. What I mean is that our collective, global, 24/7, 2-way
response is "just business". While we may respond as people, parents,
educators, and citizens, ultimately our response is "just business".
And your bottom line.
While it is tempting for me to react as a father and as an advocate for
my students (and the many I support world-wide), it is within my
business/consulting/speaking role that I am most perplexed by your
session's title. A marketing/PR campaign that is centered on fear has
limited value, esp. when kids are now the "enemies" in a system where
they are actually the entire point.
Worse yet, such a marketing campaign that suggests that those who
advocate for kids should see *now* their relationship with young people
as nothing less than *proactive warfare* strikes me as misguided,
poorly conceived, and frankly the work of a late-night presentation
drafting scenario decision process as a nervous speaker tries to figure
out a way to superficially dress up their presentation in order to
desperately scrum for business in a desperately competitive market.
This does not seem like an industry leader's voice based on wisdom and
a view of the big picture. It sounds like someone fighting to keep
their job.
The language -- “The Enemy Within: Stop Students from Bypassing Your
Web Filters” -- you engaged your perceived audience with is at best
merely buzz-language hype. Note: As
an English teacher, I give you casual props for borrowing from
something that was stated long before your product came to market, but
that is a side point.
At worst, your language strips the very industry you are paid to
*serve* of its mission and heart, not to mention the fairly painful
irony that it attacks the very group that schools exist to advocate
for...and to empower...
...
Sincerely, Christian Long
Twitter: @christianlong
Blog: think:lab
While most of you can be far more pithy and to-the-point than I can, consider adding your voice to Chris, his company Sapphos, and NYSCATE (the conference organizers).
If anyone else was curious: yes,I am. Effective now.
If anyone is curious why, please get in touch. I'd be happy to chew the fat.
Shifting Priorities
Otherwise, it was just time. Life moves on. Priorities shift.
And certainly other voices are better suited for this state-of-education conversational game and have more valuable/timely things to contribute than I am able to do at this point in my life/career.
My Kids, My Students
Don't get me wrong. I still blog like crazy. It'll just be elsewhere.
But my days as an edu-blogger are now officially in the past tense.
All that previous "think:lab" blogging energy will now be dedicated 100% to my kiddo (and his bro/sis-to-be) and to my HS English students (each year):
the "rabbits and cheshire cats" blog (desc: 3 sections of Hon Eng 10 focused primarily on Joseph Campbell's "hero journey" and a wide array of classic 'Brit lit' readings)
the "pass the conch" blog (desc: 2 sections of 'regular' Eng 10 with the same focus as above, just with a slightly more conservative pace re: readings, the length of student responses, etc)
Come Visit, If You'd Like
Feel free to swing by at any point.
While I'm not focused on outside voices being 'the point' of the exercise or fostering 'flat classrooms' per se, you are free to add your voice to the comment mix as long as it appears
technically relevant to the discussion
appropriate in spirit re: why these blogs exist in the first place
focused on the students, not me
Notes:
As of 8/26/08, we are in our 2nd week of school. This is the first week where they are obligated to respond to multiple posts. The 2 blogs will remain open/active all school year (with a few weeks as 'extra credit' weeks when the students need a break, semester exams pop up, etc.).
6-8 prompts are given each week. Responses are always due by Mon @
8:30 (even if we have a long weekend). Each prompt follows a set
formula: set-up, challenge, length, hint, etc.
Topics/provocations are meant to supplement class discussion,
encourage SAT vocab adoption, and offer my students a way to engage
each other 24/7 in ways that the typical 10th grader may not be exposed
to yet. All of this is done with an eye on their being part of a
competitive college-prep independent school environment and looking
ahead at preparing them to be agile at the university level. It also
allows me to begin to customize resources for all of individual
students: colleges that will fit their personality, books/films they
should consider, dealing with the stress of school/life, and
challenging them to add a key idea to future class discussions.
Posts are identified in a W1, #5 fashion ("Week 1, Entry #5) to help the students keep track of how many they've done each week.
Students are graded based on the # and quality of their comments each
week; you can find all related grading info on the blog. I keep
rigorous spreadsheets (etc) to track this since I'll receive up to
150-200 comments per week once the year picks up speed and need to
ensure that everyone receives the grade they have earned.
I try to respond -- inside the original comment -- to all student
responses prior to Saturday midnight (since I am flooded on Sunday
nights and can't do them all justice at that point). Students who seek
feedback typically submit their replies b/w Mon-Sat; others know ahead
of time that it is hit-or-miss past Saturday whether I'll type them a
personal response. Obviously unique/striking student responses will grab my attention even on Sundays, often leading to me breaking this rule.
Students names are never used, nor do we highlight/name our school. All student replies are given a first-come-first-serve name (i.e. "Student #7, etc.) that I edit in before they are published.
All comments are moderated.
Thank You
As I said in my last post, thank you.
I've been very lucky to have this network offer me a seat at the 'table'.
And my students/child(ren) are the better for it.
P.S.
I have no intentions of continuing to edu-blog here at "think:lab" after today.
I consider it the equivalent of a remarkable 'graduate' degree that I've been blessed to experience for the 3 years and claim many mentors, friends, & colleagues from this process.
The technical reason I am keeping "think:lab" alive is for archival reasons and that several other blogs I have use "think:lab" as a 'parent' URL, including my kiddos' blog. Thus, Typepad will continue to receive my yearly payment though all new blogs (including my 2 classroom blogs mentioned above) are now going to be WordPress.com sites.
Thanks to a QR Code generator, my kid gets his very own QR code this 12/25.
Suppose that means he'll be stealing papa's cell phone for legit reasons now that he'll need it to confirm that this actually reads "Beckett Michael Long":
Can't Think of a Time I Haven't
To be honest, every single keynote conference presentation I've given that has centered on re-thinking the future of school design, I flashed a shot (or dozen) of public QR code displays (esp. in Asia)...
For most of my arch/edu clients/audiences, QR codes were new.
I had little to zero interest in looking at the actual technology behind these content-embedded phone-scanning 'images'. That's somebody else's gig.
All I wanted to do was emphasize that information/content is everywhere -- along with the ability to connect to it, edit it, mash it up -- and that such a realization should have an impact on the way we think of 'boundaries' in campus/school/classroom design.
Not sure if my Beckett will truly face a day when every street corner,
deli shelf, billboard, movie ticket, hip-n-trendy clothing item, or
museum display will be QR codified and PDA/cell phone readable. Maybe yes. Maybe no.
But the idea that "Learning is Everywhere" that underlies QR tech?
Over the last 24 hours, I've been blessed with a fast and furious flurry of gracious messages coming in from all corners of my networked globe.
While I'm not at liberty to explain the backstory until this coming Wednesday morning -- when I'll go all blog-post-ga-ga over it -- suffice it to say that even after 4 years of blogging this loosely coordinated message avalanche struck me as almost stunning.
Looking His Way
Looking at my kiddo's horizon-bent gaze this afternoon at the pool...
...I began to sense that such a flurry of network messages will be the norm for him throughout his future. Real time feedback from all corners of the globe sparked instantaneously by real-time events/actions within his life.
Its all digitally connected. And its all digitally immediate.
For me, still amazing. For Beckett, just the only thing he'll ever know.
Can't tell how many books the kid has near to his crib. Or on his floor.
Silly really. And we haven't even begun to 'read' yet.
Just repeating words, pointing at furry animals he knows the name of, classics like Mike Mulligan's steam shovel and bears named Berenstein, mama books mama reads best, papa books papa reads best, and some funky Japanese ones that are just cool for the sake of cool.
Yet, I'd give them all up -- in a blink of a librarian's eye -- for Marion's design-minimalistic alphabetic wonder book.
Call me a design snob-geek. Or whatever comes to mind.
But if my kiddo (or any future kiddos) went to to a school that had design chops like this little kiddo academic research center -- of all things -- does, I'd be very proud. Now, if only their web site lived up to this lovely bit, then we'd really have some inspiration to wrap our parental arms around. [shrug]
And assume my kiddo would be expect to be read to each night in a toddler-sized Eames rocking chair, too.
Now, take out your stop watches and throw down your bet on when Ethan has a commission or two that get added to this list in the next few years now that his college years are about ready to launch.
And I spend every second in his presence trying to figure out what he's just figured out. Put two and two together. Fallen in love with. Influenced by.
And what will stick as he shifts from pre-memory toddler to full-memory kid.
Kid Memory is the Darnedest Thing
A 7th grade science teacher said something to my classmates/me years and years ago that continues to hold fiercely to my gray matter:
The earliest event you can actually recall happening took place somewhere between the ages of 18 mos and 3 years of age.
[paraphrased just a bit, since I'm digging 25+ years deep on this]
Image: Into the Unknown, by Thomas Hawk
Not sure what causes this, nor do I recall any 'facts' he gave us to support his claim (although every time I ask a new class of students of my own to recall their first memory -- that does not require a parent telling the story over and over to them again -- I find that he was pretty much right).
My non-scientific guess:
Perhaps it occurs when a toddler/child is finally old enough to 'frame' experiences by real language of their own that allows the mind to finally hold tight to the event's existence in its future memory banks.
You See: The Radio Loves a Good Story
Thought about this again yesterday as I was listening to This American Life's "Fear of Sleep" episode on the radio. It was the story of the man's memory of his 6yo self watching a particularly classic 70's film that grabbed me.
Makes me wonder when my own 13 mos old Beckett will begin to collect events in his mind -- fuzzy and accurate alike -- that will end up in his conscious memory filing cabinet long into his adult life.
Probably something that involves oddly constructed boogeyman fear and/or the smell of homemade apple pie.
Can't help but love the "All I did was trade Lunchables" kid. He gives a delightful close at the end of the vid, in particular.
Also had a hard time not spitting my milk out my nose when the "circle, circle, dot, dot..." moment happened at the 0:53 mark.
Ultimate Assignment Today?
Seems to me that the "PSA" [aka: public service announcement] -- both in earnest and playful terms -- may be the ultimate school assignment today in terms of combining the following formula:
digital video hunger/possibilities +
content research +
storyboarding +
thoughful editing strategies +
a love your audience mindset=
legitimate demonstration of learning
Keep it to 30 seconds.
Be brutally honest to your students re: storyboard, edit, and audience components.
And tell 'em that for every 30 sec of final content the save, they might need an hour or more of raw footage -- and a lot of time spent rigorously editing -- until the final product really sings.
Come up with a dynamite rubric they understand and you can put your name on.
And then set 'em free.
Limits Academically
Limits in terms of subject/curriculum?
Nah.
None really exist, save for engendering academic purpose/results and maintaining a code of respect & common sense at all times.
Beyond that it doesn't really matter if one choose a political topic, satire, political satire, current events, history, literary characters creatively brought back to life, foreign language study, or life at school. It only matters that:
a) its relevant to the class
b) the students understand what they created content-wise
c) the superficial cleverness of doing video in class doesn't replace the power of a well-crafted piece put in the hands of a truly engaged audience.
For What It's Worth:
Because this falls into the "no specific blog post category" category -- and I simply ache to make sure everybody falls in love with it as I have -- I'm going to use the thinest of connective tissue to rationalize my placement of it here.
Answer: go back and listen to the entire This American Life radio episode and see if you can find the connection.
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