Last night, Bill and I headed down to Hoke County High School, where we presented LEARN’s online courses to students and parents at their GEAR UP event. There was a lot of enthusiasm in the school for sending students to college, and I think they did a great job of getting students out to the event, which was held at night and wouldn’t have been as well-attended in many other areas.

The keynote speaker spoke in the school gym. Click on the picture to see my favorite part of the school gym:

Our speaker was a graduate of Hoke County High, and he’s now in Charlotte, where he operates his own company and is a pastor. His speech centered on providing vision for young people, and was very well-received, but I couldn’t help giggling at one point in his speech, when he stressed that young people who surround themselves with negativity and negative influences will often end up negative. He was addressing the parents, telling them about how good books could be a salve for the negative influences, and said, “When negativity goes in, what comes out? Negativity. When you make sure to surround your children with books, when positive reading material goes in… what comes out? Positive reading material.”

Great debate on lottery and education. I even resorted to name-calling. When I get off work tonight, this may be where all my time goes. If you choose to enter, be nice. These people are my friends.

I have been getting geeked out on Creative Commons and I spent about two hours yesterday creating information for the LEARN NC teachers on how they can use Creative Commons to search for materials they can use. While doing so, I found the MIT open courseware site, and I think I almost lost my virginity to it. That site is amazing. Seriously. You could geek out so hard in there that the world would stop for a few minutes.

Monica Byrne is an MIT grad. I’ll have to rant and rave tonight in her last level 1 class about it.

My good friend Eric sent this tidbit over the weekend, and I have to say, I’m fascinated:

CNN.com: Students offered online PE courses

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/06/22/online.pe.ap/index.html?section=cnn_offbeat

I’m all in favor of online courses, and I’m quite certain that this idea has some merit behind it. In fact, the online course may well promote a more rigorous physical program than the average PE course. And certainly, the scheduling flexibility would be wonderful– I know kids really struggle with PE requirements when trying to build a well-balanced schedule that adequately prepares them for the workforce or for college.

But the news that PE has moved online raises several questions for me. I think my greatest concern is the problem of perception. I already wonder how online courses are viewed, and have tried to steer our program towards courses that I think students and parents could easily conceptualize as “online courses.” We’ve begun to explore more adventurous territory, tackling a foreign language (Latin) out of necessity, and an art course out of the belief that we can use online courses to create more meaningful offline experiences in online courses. But even those efforts have met with some resistance because it’s hard to envision what a course with a heavy speaking component would look and feel like asynchronously, and I think people naturally think of art as so hands-on that removing the immediate presence of “the master” would render the course impossible. So I can imagine serious concern about an online PE course.

My biggest question would not be the validity of the experience– there’s an abundant amount of information about health and wellness on the Web, and people are able to use that to create personalized workout regimens that help them feel better. I’d worry more about liability and supervision– part of the school’s responsibility during a PE course is to create opportunities for students to exercise and learn about fitness in a monitored environment. Does online PE take the capable teacher out of the equation and replace him/her with an untrained eye (or worse, no supervision)? If the answer is yes, I think you have a safety issue; you may have a student who ends up exerting himself beyond his limits and no reasonable capacity to catch that behavior. If the answer is no, what does the online course do that the face-to-face teacher could not do?

Still, it’s worth considering that we are definitely able to supplement or augment our physical education curricula with Internet-based tools, and hey, I may come around one day and trumpet the virtues of online PE.

(Note: The CNN article will expire on July 22, 2005.)

Jess, usually known for her solid people skills, responds to the question, “So, what do you think about all these people we work with?”

Moser launches a horseshoe. He was summarily schooled in the art of horseshoes.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryRSS.cfm?ArticleID=5725

This tidbit about electronic yearbooks is from eSchool News, which will require you to register with your e-mail address. (Not that I can condone this kind of behavior, but some people use BugMeNot.com to get into these kinds of resources.)

Reading about how kids are creating electronic yearbooks for their face-to-face schools has got me wondering what kind of role extracurricular activities might play in an online school. Would a yearbook be in order for the LEARN NC classes? Would students be as interested in the communal aspects of their “virtual” high school as they are in their face-to-face school?

It’s an interesting thought– someday, distance learning teachers may organize/facilitate distance learning extracurricular activities, like a chess club, yearbook, or film club. Would parents be as supportive of those activities?

newsobserver.com | Letters

Judith is a teacher for LEARN NC, and a really damn good one. It warms my heart to see this letter printed, because she’s exactly right– it’s disappointing to see people lament the “deterioration” of the English langauge without giving a nod to two facts: 1. Language is changing quickly, and cultural shifts in the Internet age will make this transition perhaps more jarring, but you have to consider that culture dictates language and it’s not going to be the other way around, and 2. If we have failed to teach kids proper grammar, it’s probably a reflection of the fact that so many academics producing educational materials are out of touch with why anyone would be motivated to learn that the materials don’t end up terribly useful.

Hooray for JD!

$2 Million Settlement Reached In ‘Chubby Bunny’ Case

Jeepers, it’s interesting to know how many times I risked life and limb to make people laugh. For a while, we played this game after just about every halftime at ComedySportz-Chapel Hill.

I think it’s important to know that the fact that the child was playing a food-based game was not the most disturbing thing about the article. It’s that the teacher was gone from the classroom long enough for this to happen (or, for the game to begin, for that matter). Schools that leave children, even high achievers or “good, responsible kids,” unsupervised have got a serious liability problem, and $2 million would not even come close to placating me if I lost a child due to a school’s negligence.

The teacher is now a principal. Part of me twinges a little bit, but I will bet this guy will be extraordinarily vigilant in every aspect of his professional life from here on in.

I guess if you hang around long enough, someone will put you on their board. I’m certainly not there yet, but I have been named to my first national steering committee– this one for the National Association of Comics Art Educators. The mission– to promote awareness of the art of comics in classrooms.

I’d used them as a resource a couple of times before. When I was researching my LEARN article on comics as a teaching tool, I corresponded with James Sturm, who is the author of the tremendous The Golem’s Mighty Swing, as well as one of the co-founders of NACAE. His focus seems to have been creation of comics art curricula at the higher ed level, particularly on a programmatic level. I also went back and forth with one of their board members, Scott McCloud, whose work I think I’ve pimped sufficiently in this blog.

While some of the past efforts seemed geared more towards higher ed, I’m on board to provide the perspective of a K-12 educator. The next phase of NACAE’s mission is to make comics more pervasive in school media centers around the country. I owe thanks to Ben Towle, who scouted me out and vetted me for the project (and I’m still not really sure how it happened, but I’m not complaining at all).

I am, of course, extremely excited, because I really can’t convey the depth of my gratitude to the comics industry for making me the reader I am today. Comics stimulated a deep and lifelong interest in reading for me, helped me acquire a ridiculous amount of vocabulary, and now provide me not only a wonderful hobby, but a shared vocabulary into the secret society of comics readers. (And if you believe we’re not a secret society, you’re soooo wrong. I’m out in public, but you’d be amazed at how many people I know quietly talk with great nostalgia about the comics they read growing up. Isn’t it amazing that a society that claims to put such a premium on reading would stigmatize such a huge literary industry?)

So, if you are one of the many quiet proponents, I hope you will check out NACAE’s website, and you can hop on their message boards under a pseudonym if you have something to add about the teaching of comics but aren’t quite willing to out yourself as a comics fan.

Notes for NACAE:
Development of curriculum materials for schools? Possible integration into learning objects models? See MERLOT as possible indexing for open-source materials.

McCloud’s texts are comics-form textbooks for the comics industry. Can/should learning materials be presented as such?

Broad literacy aside, what are some specific things comics can be used to teach? Supposing a teacher has not read any comics and picks up just any old comic book, what can we assume they might do with that comic in a classroom? McCloud’s texts probably provide insight but could be built upon.

What are some state and national standards that one might use comics to address?

Yes, sadly, I do sometimes use this blog for professional notes rather than self-indulgent posts about how much I love my wife. You may ignore.

Notes on Blogging for New Teacher Support
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about communities of affinity, bulletin boards and blogrings that grow up around a particular topic or interest, that are self-regulating and self-sustaining. People are willing to share quite a bit for free. (see Wikipedia, Teacher Wiki)

The model should be extensible to new teacher support and mentoring, provided that modelling, leadership, and incentive exist.

Modelling: Hipteacher, Teacher of the Year
Leadership: Mentor teachers should be expected (and incentive should exist) to blog regularly on reflections on life in the classroom and at the school as a whole. Perhaps a series of topics could be given in advance of the school year and mentors would be expected to touch upon each topic at some point in the year. Commenting should be encouraged at the end of each entry (example).
Incentive: New teachers need to see that the practice can save them time or energy, OR need to see how blogging can connect them to part of a greater blogging community. External incentive must exist (CEU credit for new teachers, mentor pay for existing teachers). Time savers: Will communities of affinity form in comments areas, and will those communities contribute meaningfully to the teaching process for new teachers? Can those contributions save them time? Will teachers use blogs as a dump for research, a la White Noise? Connections to community: CEU credit should be tied to commenting in blogs related by afiinity, as well as posting levels throughout the year. Mentors should regularly be reading new teacher blogs.

RSS reader with pre-set OPML file would be required during launch to make this process easier. Is this an effective way to integrate professional development into the school day, rather than leaving it for out-of-school situations? Could this be marketed as CEU credit people can get during a planning period?

Barriers: How do you measure participation? Raw numbers of posts will not be acceptable, as grunters could emerge.

I like to put goodies in my blog that will help me later at work. This is one of those things– measurable verbs that will help teachers write measuable objectives. There’s nothing worse than instruction that isn’t measured/assessed meaningfully! Politely stolen from here.

For those of you that come to this blog for nothing more than giddy laughs and cheap thrills, I have added some of my own verbs at the bottom. You may feel free to add your own in the comments. Though why you would do so is beyond me.

Cognitive domain

KNOWLEDGE
define, describe, identify, label, list, match, outline, reproduce,
select, state

COMPREHENSION
convert, defend, distinguish, estimate, explain, extend, generalize,
give example, infer, paraphrase, predict, rewrite, summarize

APPLICATION
change, compute, demonstrate, discover, manipulate, modify, operate,
predict, prepare, produce, relate, show, solve, use

ANALYSIS
break down, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, identify,
illustrate, infer, outline, point out, relate, select, separate,
subdivide

SYNTHESIS
categorize, combine, compile, compose, create, devise, design,
explain, generate, modify, organize, plan, rearrange, revise,
categorize, combine, compile, compose, create, devise,
design, explain, generate, modify, organize, plan, rearrange, revise,
rewrite, summarize, tell, write

EVALUATION
appraise, compare, conclude, contrast, criticize, discriminate,
explain, justify, interpret, relate,summarize, support

Affective domain

RECEIVING (willingness to attend)
ask, choose, describe, follow, give, hold, identify, locate, name,
point to, select, reply, use

RESPONDING (active participation)
answer, assist, compile, conform, discuss, greet, help, label,
perform, practise, present, read, recite, report, select, tell, write

VALUING (worth or value a student attaches to a particular object)
complete, describe, differentiate, explain, follow, form, initiate,
invite, join, justify, propose,read, report, select, share, study,
work,

ORGANIZATION (bringing together different values)
adhere, alter, arrange, combine, compare, complete, defend, explain,
generalize, identify, integrate, modify, order, organize, prepare,
relate, synthesize

CHARACTERIZATION BY A VALUE
act, discriminate, display, influence, listen, modify, perform, practice, propose, qualify, question, revise, serve, solve, use, verify

Naughty domain

PORN SITES
browse one-handed, jerk, whack, choke chicken

PIMPIN’
bitch-slap, shakedown, pimp, ho, impregante, abort, roll

BODILY FUNCTIONS
scratch, sniff, vomit, hurl, poop, pee, crap, vomit

How do we keep online courses from sucking? Quality assurance, people. Quality assurance. This is a real article on quality assurance in online courses:

http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewSym/Mono3.pdf

These are some fake steps to take to ensure quality in online courses:

• Have lots of synchronous chats, especially several in a day. Require them all.
• Have more than 40 people in chat sessions. That way, everyone hears what everyone has to say!
• Use lots of video. People really miss the “face-to-face” feeling of lecture, so you can videotape your lecture.
• Avoid online discussion forums. Someone might say something inappropriate while you are not logged in.
• Assume, when working with K-12 students, or even college and grad students, that they should know enough about technology that you don’t have to explain how the Learning Management System works. They can figure out when you say that the assignment is due that they have to go to Tools–> Options–> Assignments–> Assignments–> Submit Assignment.

Spent the day Thursday at the 21st Century Schools retreat, which was a gathering of a bunch of movers and shakers in education. UNC-system president was there, acting State Superintendent of Public Education was there (in her eighth month as acting superintendent, so tell me that something isn’t seriously wrong with this cat Fletcher), president of the community college system was there, and heads of all the different education initiatives. And me. I was clearly the youngest person in the room by at least five years, probably ten, and it took me a little while to settle in and find my groove.

I seriously hope that a 21st-century schools graduate invents a cheap, stackable chair for hotels to purchase that won’t make your back ache and your butt scream with pain. I hate these things:

We listened to a lot of speakers, and time for the broadly-experienced group that had congregated to actually work on things was limited. In some ways, those limits may have been effective– we were only able to hit on the major points. But I don’t think that the New Schools Project got the feedback that they might have gotten if the group had spent more time working and providing feedback than they did.

Still, I would be willing to be that for some of those folks, the problems had never been articulated quite so starkly. And there is a serious problem with education in this state.

We took a cruise on the Cape Fear River for a working/social dinner. Why do people think these cruises are so keen? I got engaged in a good conversation with a woman from the state budget office and a woman from the Early College school in Asheville, and pretty much forgot that I was on a boat. Which is, I suppose, good, since I might have been disappointed with a cruise that was basically half a mile up the river, turn around, come back. Zzzzz. Waste of money. Put that money into a school.

Met up with Jeremy and headed to Level Five for a sketch show that made me bristle, because it was so obvious that the show needed a director. Note to comedians: No matter how hilarious you are, if you’re working in an ensemble, get a gd director. You are making your audience’s skin crawl with the bad/unpolished choices.

Wandered into the bar, where we were joined by Corey Howard. Brian Prince was running the karaoke for the first time, so that was ON. I did a couple of classics, including showing off my Nickelback chops for the hip kids. They had Digital Underground. I almost peed myself. I have been waiting to drop “The Humpty Dance” since Heidi first got me doing karaoke. OMG, I am awesome. It’s sick how awesome I am.

Had a couple beers, Jeremy and Corey were tied up in conversations, so I started chatting it up with a friend of Jeremy’s, and discovered within about two minutes that she went to high school with Ladybug. And the girl with her did, too. And they used to have sleepovers and did theater together for a lot of years. How cool was that? So they sent their phone numbers and e-mails home with me to give to Ladybug and told me we have to come down to Wilmington sometime so I can hang with the Other Side guys and they can have Ladybug all to themselves.

At the end of the day, the world seemed so much smaller.

I’ll be gathering thoughts in the next few days to create a presentation that I can use for the North Carolina English Teachers Association, and then again at the NC School Library Media Association Conference. (Obviously, since I’m just gathering info, you can infer that I have not yet applied, but will do so in the next couple days.) The topic:

Graphic Novels and Comics in the Classroom

I want to do something more than a book talk– I want the presentation to really riff on how to use comics to enchance students current visual literacy skills, to talk about a bit of what McCloud covered in Understanding Comics about why the form is pervasive and how it is iconic (double meanings intended).

I’d like to extend my article on using comics in classrooms– perhaps by workshopping with participants to actually perform some literary criticism on a short piece. I’m not sure. (I’ve just started reading Project:Superior and it may have some short material that would be worth deconstructing. It’s also absolutely beautiful.)

If you have thoughts on the subject or can suggest a work that’s keenly appropriate for grades 7-12 (which means no naughty words or images… I’m in the bible belt, folks), I would love to hear them through comments here or e-mail to ross [AT] LEARNNC *dot* org.

Thanks!

I enjoyed this article from the Raleigh News & Observer about the use of technology in schools. (I did not, however, wish to register, so I used the account from BugMeNot.com– ahhh, privacy.)

It’s a bit disheartening to hear the computers, software, handhelds, and other technology enhancements all termed “gadgets,” which in a major newspaper leaves me feeling like the connotation is negative. I’m sure state legislature fatcats are sitting around reading the morning newspaper, bellowing “They used the money we gave them to buy gadgets? Harumph harumph harumph. More blueberry muffins!”

They should have just used the phrase “all those kickass new toys.” That would have given the legislature the right impression of how the technology was being used.

Still, it’s good to know that there’s a mostly-positive spin on how teachers are using new tools to accomplish their goals, and it’s nice to see a writer who understands that the technology they’re using is a tool to reach a specific educational end (or set of specific educational ends) rather than the focus of the student learning. If I had a dollar for every time a school got gadgets and then spent all their energy showing teachers and students how to use the gadgets but didn’t show them the possible, practical applications, I’d have dollars. Lots of dollars.

Here’s a doozy– the Boston Herald ran an article with the headline:

Computer use boosts MCAS scores hands down

But– hey-yo!– the fifth paragraph begins:

The study also revealed that students who play computer games, chat online and surf the Web had lower MCAS reading scores.

Whoops!

Some educators, when you send them en e-mail posing a question, will, rather than respond to the question, make a big stink about the circumstances that caused you to ask the question.

My personal resolution: Admit when I don’t have a good answer, and provide it when I do.

Then I can bitch all I want about circumstances!

I’m working on a number of Career-Technical Education courses for high schoolers, including Medical Sciences, Horticulture, and e-Commerce. But I’m not yet to the point of developing curriculum for Exotic Dance I and II.

If only all parents would take this active a role in their kids’ educations.