This is a most interesting view of bullying. There is a growing sentiment that entitlement is often a product of self-esteem and we, adults, should focus on self-efficacy and resiliency. Self-esteem fits under this and children learn to deal effectively with setbacks. It is certainly food for thought and I thank Darlena for the reblog.
Monthly Archives: June 2012
A Blog Experiment
I am using software called NVivo. Essentially, I use it to organize and summarize qualitative data. One cool feature is the ability to create a word cloud. I am experimenting with that feature and using the image facility on my laptop. I summarized some World Cafe events we held in February and March. The results were simply outstanding. The only fly in the ointment was I had to scan the picture and lost the colour.
The overarching question we created our conversation around was: “What engages us in learning?
February 4, 2012
Think of a time that you feel was a high point in your learning. This would have been a time you felt most alive, effective, and engaged in the learning process. Describe how you felt. What made this possible?
February 18, 2012
“Without being humble, describe what you value most about yourself. How does this contribute to the experience of learning for you? What setting does this seem to flourish best in? What would attract you to that setting?”
March 3, 2012
What encourages us to continue learning and see learning as important in our lives?
Questions emerged. I thought the most interesting was an absence in the data. What about teacher expertise in subject area or technical knowledge? It could be these are unstated but assumed necessary. Or it could be that the relational aspect, the art of teaching, is so important to this group of people the technical and subject knowledge is secondary. What do others think about this?
Twice today, I received blog entries about living life fully and loving it for what it is. This is an amazing post and the other is at Marie Wetmore’s blog on my blog roll. I received this one from http://wheresmytbackandotherstories.wordpress.com/. Please check all three blogs out. They are great.
John Lennon’s Advice on Education
I wonder what education might look like if we followed this simple advice each day for every person who walked in the door’s of our schools?
Imagine a world where we could be happy, responsible, and not deny others their opportunities?
Thought and Haiku for Saturday
Last night, just before I went to bed, I was watching the news from one of the Spokane TV stations. Washington State completed an audit for public education. One of the conclusions was that simply moving 1%of funding from central offices and administration would add about 1000 classroom teachers states-wide. I am not suggesting this could be done across the board in every jurisdiction but it is food for thought. What if we moved 10% from school administration and central office administration? What would the benefits be? Right off the top of my head I thought of additional classroom teachers and effective professional learning could be undertaken.
Will this even be considered or are we merely protecting an antiquated and bloated status quo?
I am working on the World Cafe summaries from several months ago trying to find software to organize, analyze, and present the data in a meaningful way. The March 17, 2012 event yielded what was very close to a haiku. I massaged it a bit this morning and came up with the following:
schooling as a place
can just be interrupting
learning for children.
It sounds a bit like Mark Twain.
This is for those who follow my blog and are on Facebook with me. I know some of you are horse people. Francesca is a wonderful writer, storyteller, and a horse person. Enjoy.
When I was younger, I used to ride horses. Every Saturday, my mother would drive us out to the stables and wait while I took lessons. My parents were always waiting for me while I learned new things. They did it silently, and honorably, and without proper thanks. This is what people do for those they love.
The first time I ever got to ride outside, away from the confined ring of the stables with its little jumps and man-made obstacles, I rode a horse named Tarzan. He was properly named. He was tame, but still a beast. He was sweet, but wild. When he whinnied, the whole barn shook.
We went out as a group into the fields. We walked. We trotted. It was a beautiful day. But then something happened that I couldn’t see or hear. Tarzan got spooked. He took off, running.
I tried to slow him…
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I posted several weeks ago about what I learned during my first months of teaching from my students. I have learned more from children than in any university class. Teaching and learning are not theoretical functions and they are not just stumbling around in the dark. They are both relational, messy, and complex processes. This is a wonderful share by a teacher from Australia. She posted this great TED talk. Take a listen.
Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids
This video came out a couple of years ago; it was powerful then and still is now.
“…in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first…”
A Vision By Wendell Berry
Nothing worth its salt comes easy. I enjoy Wendell Berry and his reminders that the world is a better place if we live in it fully in the moment and mindful of this very moment and place.
If we will have the wisdom to survive,
to stand like slow-growing trees
on a ruined place, renewing, enriching it,
if we make our seasons welcome here,
asking not too much of earth or heaven,
then a long time after we are dead
the lives our lives prepare will live
here, their houses strongly placed
upon the valley sides, fields and gardens
rich in the windows. The river will run
clear, as we will never know it,
and over it, birdsong like a canopy.
On the levels of the hills will be
green meadows, stock bells in noon shade.
On the steeps where greed and ignorance
cut down
the old forest, an old forest will stand,
its rich leaf-fall drifting its roots.
The veins of forgotten springs will have
opened..
Families will be singing in their fields.
In the voices they will hear a music
risen out of the ground. They will take
nothing from the ground they will not
return,
whatever the grief at parting. Memory,
native to this valley, will spread over it
like a grove, and memory will grow
into a legend, legend into song, song
into sacrament. The abundance of this
place,
the songs of its people and its birds,
will be health and wisdom and indwelling
light. This is no paradisal dream.
Its hardship is its possibilities.
─Wendell Berry
When we discussed this poem, students understood that success is not always an easy journey. Some important aspects are the hard work and disappointments along the way. The word and phrase that caught their attention was “This is no paradisal dream. Its hardship is its possibilities.
Truths
I woke this morning
to several truths;
honouring
respecting
diversity
in wholeness
in parts
healing
wisdom
meaning
makes us stronger
me stronger
without weakening.
Community
thrives
each person
and truths
named
nurtured
watered
fed
valued
appreciated
strengthened
in healthy diversity.
with healthy diversity.
Chair Building
I use this lesson plan as an activity in the Grade 7 Science Structure and Forces unit. The students work in pairs.
- Students draw a plan for the chair design.
- Concepts to Include might include corrugation, lamination, and triangulation; design considerations such as arches, beams, trusses, and columns; and show an understanding of what fastening techniques for this design i.e. friction fit, mass, and glue, staples, rope, tape (within reason), or nails or screws (within reason).
- Consider properties i.e. stability, brittleness, ductility, hardness, plasticity, compression, and tensile strength. Students need to consider deformation, structural stress, structural fatigue, and possible structural failure. What are internal forces (mass of materials) and external forces (load on the chair).
- What role do aesthetics play i.e. symmetry and appearance? What is the chair used for?
- Students use recycled material i.e. cans, plastic containers, and cardboard (boxes, tubing, and pieces).
- Students construct and track changes. The original chair design might be altered depending on material availability, functionality, and durability. They should test the chair as they build.
- I limit class time to 2-3 classes. Most materials are found at home and students can receive help from family, friends, or neighbours.
- I email parents and tell them they are consultants, who can offer expertise, guidance, and time unavailable in the classroom. Parents are good about insuring students do the lion’s share.
Students are innovative. One student included pop bottle (he told me it was for pop) holders in the arms of a deck chair. Another student gathered discarded pizza boxes after hot lunch and used those.
Assessment is a rubric. A criterion is I test the chair. Its ability to hold my 250 pounds, give or take, is part of the challenge. Only one chair collapsed under my mass. It lacked support.
This is a Grade 7 project, but I think other can modify it for other grade level needs. Students can work in pairs.
Cautionary note: I allow nails, screws, and tape as fasteners, but within reason. The first time I did this activity a student built a nail chair. He used so many nails it is doubtful they were recycled.
Here are some examples of this year’s chairs.
This chair is made from used pressure treated lumber and plywood. The back folds forward and the student used baling twine he got from the farm as the hinges.
This chair is constructed from willow. The willow qualified as recyclable as the students were going to have to dispose of the willows when they cleared underbrush anyway. The only thing missing is a cushion. These students could go into business selling yard furniture.
Although this stool did not have triangles for stability, the centre piece helped in that respect. When I sat on the stool, it was wobbly, but with my mass it became less so. The students used baling twine as the only fasteners. One of them has horses and these were available.
This chair is built from recycled wood and a discarded cushion. The students gathered the wood from the neighbourhood and a neighbour helped. He drilled tap holes for the screws.
Teacher as Transformer 