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Bored Yet?

11/30/2014

Today is Day 4 of Thanksgiving break and for many, it's the final day. Many school districts head back tomorrow, and college students are back to campus for the final few weeks before the end of the semester. Thankfully, I still have another day as my school district is nice to hunters and gives them the first day of deer season to stay home. I don't think I'm really eager to jump back into work...but I'm almost getting a little bored. There's only so much shopping, snacking, visiting, and work-avoiding you can do. It might be time to start being productive soon.

Even so, I'm going to continue to be as lazy as possible in the next day and half. Breaks are only breaks if you stay off the internet and leave all the work for when you get back. There's plenty to do between now and Christmas, and somehow, every year, it all gets done regardless.

I've now exceeded my ten minutes of "work" for the day; so it's back to the Steelers game. They're currently losing 7-6 so let's see if they can't bounce back!

Golden Ticket Idea

11/29/2014

I'm feeling lazy today, so this is taken from a post way back last summer:

Over the past few days, it's become clear that there is room to improve in the district in all areas. Scores can be higher, discipline can be stricter, floors can be shinier, and the hallways, technically, can be purpler.

While there are deliberate, methodical, and intentional ways to achieve these goals, one concept has been understandably but conspicuously absent from the discussion: the need for Golden Ticket Ideas.

Michael Scott on The Office once stated that in order to truly change things and life morale, one big bold sweeping gesture is needed. While our school certainly needs to focus on the small things, there should also be a ground-up focus on a Golden Ticket Idea.

It was not a series of meetings and lectures which led to this realization, but rather a drive to lunch with co-workers. Not to give away anything, but the English Department is now hard at work on its own Golden Ticket Idea. Let's just say no one will ever look at Wednesdays quite the same...
UPDATE: it didn't happen; it got shot down in the first meeting.

I hope it's not the last. We need at least five Golden Tickets if we hope to get into the Factory someday. Of course then we have to deal with an army of orange workers and a scary boat ride...

Shop Like It's 1992

11/28/2014

When I was in preschool, I remember attending a Christmas Eve service at my church during which my pastor said that Christmas was for children. Being a child at the time, I immediately thought "I knew it! Take that Adults! It's for me!" Moments later I realized that I wouldn't be a child forever, a prospect which suddenly seemed depressing. Getting taller seemed fun, but I didn't want to lose my new-found monopoly on Christmas. I wasn't really sure if my pastor was right or not, but I kept that memory tucked away.

Of course, in retrospect, he was completely accurate. As I revisit his sermon, I realize that he was trying to make the point that the commercialization/Santa/merchandising parts of Christmas were for children while the Christian origins, and the "family gathering" aspects were for adults. I've been realizing this more and more in recent years as I struggle not only to find things to buy for others...but thinking of things to even ask for on Christmas. It turns out that when you have disposable income, and free time, you tend to just buy the things you want, when you want them. If I want a new movie, I'll go buy it. If I want Steelers tickets, I'll buy them. If I want a new computer each year...I won't buy it because that would be crazy, but it certainly can't go on the Christmas list. At this point, I've already purchased all the moderately priced "giftable" objects, leaving only the "too-cheap-to-be-a-gift" items, the "too-expensive-to-be-a-gift" items, and the "stuff-I-would-never-buy-if-I-wouldn't-hate-it-if-it-showed-up-one-day." Gift cards work sometimes, but it's sad going from getting video games and Lego sets to getting small pieces of plastic to partially subsidize a future experience. It's tough to be as excited counting down the Advent wreath for these options. As a kid, Christmas was the Super Bowl of gifts...and now it's like a preseason college soccer game.

To my current students who read this: this may be one the last "fun Christmas seasons" of your life. To the adults, you'll either find this entirely accurate or slightly depressing. As for me, I realized today while Black Friday shopping that after four years of having a disposable income, I've finally purchased all the Blu-Rays I want and went home empty-handed. I felt a sense of victory...but also thought "now what?" People wonder why I've started to re-collect Legos. Honestly, if you're going to be asking for things you don't really need, they might as well be toys. I suggest everyone do the same; it'll make shopping not only cheaper but much more nostalgic and hilarious than it's current state. Deep down, isn't that what we all want for Christmas?

Who's the Fairest?

11/27/2014

As most people know, a few years ago stores started opening at 6am on Black Friday. 6am became 5am, when 3am, and finally midnight. In the past year or two, stores finally cut the suspense and just opened on Thanksgiving itself....first at 8pm, then 6pm...and finally they're just open whenever they feel like it. Thanksgiving was quickly invaded by the furious nature of Christmas shopping.

It was then that something interesting happened: people have started to push back. Look on social media and you'll see people pledging to stay home on Thanksgiving. Stores (at least some) promise to stay closed on Thanksgiving. The outcry that making someone work on Thanksgiving is unfair has started to resonate. To make someone work on a holiday seems somewhat criminal...

But people working on holidays is nothing new. July 4, New Years, Memorial Day, even Christmas are filled with stores, pharmacies, and gas stations all open all day. I've yet to here an "outcry" against people needing to work on these holidays. For many, going to see a movie on Christmas Day has become a family tradition...despite the fact that movies don't just play themselves.

When you think about it, Thanksgiving has become the most popular holiday in the country. It's non-denominational, it's non-patriotic, it's non-controversial...it's literally the weakest holiday on record. It stands for a general, universal concept that few would reject. It's like having a holiday on saying "Bless you" or saying hi, or shaking hands. It's the most generic possible celebration...and therefore it's become the most beloved in a world of increasing "tolerance".

Do I like Thanksgiving more than any holiday? Yep. Sadly, even the critic is sometimes not immune from the problem.

A Day is a Day is a Day

11/26/2014

Today was a half day...well, at least for the students. After arriving at school at 7:45, the students blistered through all eight periods and were promptly dismissed at 11:15. The staff stuck around, working in meetings and lunches until the usual 3pm dismissal. It was an easy day, but a tremendous waste of time on all fronts. Forty-five minutes is never an especially long class, so fourteen minute classes are practically useless.

And yet, despite everything, it still counts as a day. This shortened, holiday-break of a day counted as one of the 182 required days that all students must attend. Because, of course, that's how years and grades and learning are measured. In days. It doesn't so much matter how much a student learns, as much as how old they are and how many days they put in. There's rarely a chance for advancement because the required days still needs to be hit. Days are king in public education, just as "credit hours" rule in higher education, and the "clock hours" are the measure of payment in most jobs. We're not measured for our value, production, or ideas...we're paid and rewarded for our time. It's the one thing people aren't getting any more of.

Don't get me wrong...I'll take a half day over a full day every now and then. It's given me time to write this blog entry AND finish all my grading, rather than choosing one or the other. Still, the fact we all must pretend today is "real" just so it "counts" exposes an interesting problem in the way we measure learning. One wonders when the clock will run out on this view...

Quantity over Quality

11/25/2014

Growing up, it's not uncommon to here that quality tops quantity. Children are told to be patient, wait, and try hard to make sure that they're getting the most of their effort. What I've started to realize more and more is that there's perhaps a lot more value in quantity. I've recently been wrapping up my final grad class and learning about the ins and outs of academic publication. It turns out that while getting a few "A" journals under your belt is a great move, there's also lots of value in padding one's resume with smaller publications.

I've noticed this with my students as well. The one's able to get the work done and move on are the ones with the time, flexibility, and freedom to pursue badges and ask more engaging questions in the long run. The ones hung up on details, trying to get everything "perfect", are the ones that ultimately rush to finish at the end. Since time is always the one limited resource, it could just be that "more" is truly better than "better". A sad message in some ways, but an important one.

Bill Gates once said "if I had an important task, I'd give it to a busy person. He'd find a way to get it done quickly." As society speed up, so to must our workflows.

Badges for All?

11/24/2014

As I mentioned last Friday, I had the chance to visit the Pittsburgh Learning Pathways Summit which focused on the varying educational experiments happening all over Pittsburgh. One of the strongest threads through the entire event was the idea of using digital badges as a method of validating student work beyond simply using grades. For example, if a student specialized in a particular skill, like coding, or working outdoors (a skill not often graded and tested in school), this individual could earn a "badge" online which recognized their progress. Not only would the badges serve as a visual representation of their work, but it would be honored and validated by other organizations beyond the high school.

The idea is a great one and the technology certainly exists to pull it off. Mozilla has a strong "Open Badges" platform, and the with the increase in web-based tools, it would be very simply to organizations to use free sources to start badge-programs everywhere. The problem is...will this ultimately validate students, or will the flood of badges drown out real progress?

For example, it's possible to get an "A" in a class and everyone will generally accept that as a positive step. The same is true for scoring a 2000 on the SATs or a getting a 4 on an AP test. Badges, however, are different. Some are skill based, some are competency based, and others are disposition based. It's actually possible to get a badge just for feeling a certain way about a subject. While these badges allow for educators to honor different types of work...will this ultimately lead to badge-inflation? Will soon everyone have tons of badges, making them virtually meaningless?

Personally, I've already started tinkering with this in my class and I ran into the same issue last year. In the first draft of the game, I had a strict set of required badges...which made them meaningless as everyone had the same amount. Later, I started adding badges on a whim. Whenever a student did something well, I made a badge to match their needs. This ultimately led to badges being practically worthless as there were so many, none were special. This year, I found a middle path. I only have 12 badges available, and only 2 are required. The rest are reserved for those who really want to grow beyond just having an "A". So far, it's been a solid system. In this coming "badge" world, we'll need similar rules to prevent badge-flation from wrecking the badgeconomy.

Don't Tell...

11/23/2014

I had the chance to see Baldwin's Fall Play last night, which consisted of two one-act plays of vastly different tones. One was a light comedy called Check Please which consisted of a series of bad first-dates. It could easily have fit in on an SNL skit and covered all the stereotypical personality flaws you hear about on blind dates. By the end, the two protagonists realize it's time to stop dating losers, and they walk off together...leaving a mime and a man in a burlap sack confused on stage.

It was the other play, however, that raised many philosophical questions. Property Rites, a story similar to an episode of The Twilight Zone, told the story a business owner attempting to sell a set of 15 "automatons" which begin to malfunction. The owner soon realizes the robots are starting to become self-aware and seeks to destroy them so as to collect the insurance money. A few robots begin to "wake up" and attempt to wake the others...only to be met with resistance. As it turns out, one robot has already become self-aware...but realized their is value in staying quiet and conforming. It raised one interesting question: for as much as we're told to "be ourselves", is it true that most people don't want to be free? Even more so...do we want other people to be themselves? It left the audience not only intrigued, but thinking about life in general.

If nothing else, Property Rites served as an excellent reminder for the power of literature, theater, and the arts in general. Sometimes by viewing a problem or concept in a new, personified way, it can lead to a much different conversation.

Rebranding

11/22/2014

Yesterday I had the change to check out the Pittsburgh Learning Pathways Summit 2014 downtown at the convention center. This event, run by the Sprout Group, and a number of other local groups, put together a solid event focusing on the new possible "pathways" we should be creating in our schools to help all students learn. Some of these included coding courses, "maker" education, video game design, and nature programs. While none of these are the sole "solution" to education, they represent a new way of valuing subjects beyond English, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

One of the big ideas I took from the event was the importance of "rebranding" what technology and education can do together. We should no longer be talking about a list of cool websites that can help teachers here and there, but rather thinking about how technology, and design, and completely overall the way we think about education. Our previous paradigms have value in some areas, but rather than only trying to tinker it, there's a lot of value in starting from scratch...or at least giving students the option.

Going along with the rebranding effort, I went ahead and changed the name of this website...of course I'm sure I would have done that anyway.

Story Split

11/21/2014

Mockingjay Part 1 debuts this evening, proving two things: Hollywood will stop at nothing in order to make money, and that stories only work when you tell both parts. Just like with Harry Potter 7 and Twilight 4, the studios had the amazing idea to split the final chapter into two parts. "The book is just so big, you need more than more movie to tell it all!" That's the logic being floated around by fans, but it's clear that this is a money grab. It's true that the Hobbit did the same thing (and even worse), but it did so to such a degree that it is essentially parodying itself at this point. The Hunger Games' strength has always been in its ability to merge verisimilitude with fantasy and the insane...and visage which is now lost thanks to the ridiculous story split.

Of course, it's not the fact that they're making one book into two movies...it's the fact that they're making one story into two pieces. The Hobbit (and the Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars) all succeed because they each tell individual stories within their films. Even though there's a larger scope, there's a character resolution at the end of each one. These new "splits", however, just stop halfway through. The reason this doesn't work is the same reason you don't drink salad dressing, yet you eat plenty on a salad. It's the same reason you need crust on the pizza instead of just eating cheese and sauce. In all things valuable, there's a elements of "excitement", and an element of structure (which might not be that exciting). Take away the excitement, and you're left with nothing but the boring bits. Take away the structure, and you have a story told by a five year old running around with action figures. The only reason these fantasy/superhero movies work is the blend of character development and action. When you split them up, you're left with one boring movie, and one stupid movie...rather than just one really good film.

Now yes, I will be sure to see Mockingjay, perhaps even tonight, but I'm still not happy about this split. There's more to a story than characters, sets, ideas, and villains...there's the story arc as a whole which must remain unbroken.