After taking a poll and getting input for my digital pedagogy project (DPP), I found that there was the most interest in helping others learn how to make good coffee at home. I had a lot of different options for this, but I settled on three methods that are fairly user-friendly: : the V60 pour-over dripper, the French press, and an immersion-brew pot like the Sowden SoftBrew (see photos below). There is some special equipment required for these methods, but there are a number of inexpensive options on the market. All of these methods are easy and take 10 minutes or less. Just make sure to use filtered water, some good coffee (i.e., not the pre-ground stuff that's been on the shelf for months!), and the right proportions. So no more excuses! Make your mornings better and treat yourself to a good cup of home brewed coffee. You might even surprise yourself!
The week before last, I missed a class for my technology course. But when I found out that our professor gave us the option of watching an educational video or documentary, I was thrilled. Why, you ask? Two reasons: (1) I have been meaning to watch the documentary Waiting for “Superman” since it was released in 2010, and (2) I love when my school to-do list and my non-school to-do list align so harmoniously.
Waiting for “Superman” opens with Geoffrey Canada, a prominent educator in Harlem, New York, recounting his experience of realizing that Superman isn’t real, that there isn’t anyone who is powerful enough to swoop in and save everyone. It’s a poignant way to begin a documentary on the harsh realities of the American public school system. Education reform activists such as Canada and Michelle Rhee from Washington DC are introduced, and the film shows each trying to create a more positive and more effective schooling experience for the young people in their areas. Yet, each runs into the massive challenges and seemingly unassailable barriers of the system. Not least among these are teachers’ unions. The film explores different aspects of the American school system, often comparing public schools to private or charter schools, impoverished neighborhood schools to those in more affluent areas. It presents a heartbreaking look into the life that too many children and their families face on a daily basis. Classrooms and schools that are too full and don’t have enough resources, programs that systematically don’t or can’t meet the language and math needs of individuals, tracking, a bureaucratic mentality that forgets the actual human people for whom the system was created to support – the film shows how all of these and more are factors that contribute to a school system that has “drop-out factories”, appalling low academic scores, and even lower hope and self-confidence in students. For an education system that was once the model for the world, it’s alarming and tragic at best. The documentary follows five families from five different schools in five different neighbors in the country. All of them want the best for their children, and the filmmakers capture their heartrending journeys as they all make huge sacrifices and take enormous risks to help their children get the education they deserve. All enter lotteries to attempt to gain access to better schools, which in these cases are charter schools. Two got into their schools of choice eventually (one was waitlisted first), while the other three simply didn't. Waiting for “Superman” paints a bleak picture of the future of the American school system. Unquestionably, a reformation, a transformation is needed. But, there is hope as well. Many teachers, leaders, and others who work in the education field dedicate their lives to making change a reality. People work in everything from curriculum to teaching methods, from teacher education to professional development, from social outreach to politics in order to bring about change for the better. However, as the film suggests, none of this will really change if we do not refocus all of our efforts on what is actually good for our students. Too often other motives creep in to become the priorities, and adult success takes over student success as the modus operandi. To have any kind of authentic, enduring change in our school system, we must first examine and improve the mindsets and principles that guide us. Education is a field of service, and that service needs to be especially visible in leadership. The transformation that the American system needs cannot be half-hearted; it must be wholehearted, or it is simply not real change. What will it take for us, for anyone who invests in the future, to realize that we must return to a service-oriented, other-centered mentality before we can affect the kind of change our young people need? The last few chapters of Sir Ken Robinson's book Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative have dealt with the educational transformation (versus educational reform) which is so needed in the academic field today. Robinson identifies three main purposes of education: individual (i.e., for the purpose of improving the individual person's talents, etc.), cultural (i.e., for the purpose of deepening understanding of the world at large), and economic (i.e., for the purpose of imparting the knowledge or skill sets that will allow for gainful employment). Unfortunately, the current academic system does not serve people in these areas, mostly because it is too out of date for the current national and global demands. Robinson notes, "Understanding how they interconnect is the key to transforming the education system into a 21st-century process that has creativity and innovation at its center" (p. 66). There are waves of change going through every field and area of life now, but the academic system is not keeping up as it stands.
Robinson goes on to expound on the idea of the "academic illusion" (originally from James Hemming; p. 81). We hold popular but arbitrary measures of intelligence, such as a person's IQ score their ability to remember facts, and then base judgements, decisions, assumptions, and sadly even claims to superiority off of them. There is a tradition in splitting intellect and emotion, and then holding up intellect as the only thing worth valuing. However, Robinson points out, "Our ideas can enslave or liberate us. Some people never do make the transition and remain resident in the old world view: their ideological comfort zone" (p. 106). While his point may be grounded in the view that the "old world" way of education -- that one that established institutions of elementary, secondary, and primary schooling -- I do believe his comment, more generally interpreted, can be applied to each of us individually. In what ways do we stay within the confines of our mental habits, refusing to move forward? This is not to say that we have to throw out everything that we have ever taught or every method that was used to teach us. But every mindset, in order to be healthy, needs to be focus out beyond ourselves. This is especially true in education. Every teacher, administrator, director, aide, and parent should be focused outside themselves, toward the student, toward the future, toward what is best. To cling so tightly to an idea that it becomes more important than the people it is meant to serve is dangerous, and stifling, and it ultimately will fester. In what ways do we, on a a daily basis, need to refocus our attention on others? These are the ways that will ultimately bring about the growth and progress our young people need. I've really enjoyed working on my 20% project, Course Grind, so far this semester. It's been a blast learning the nuances of brewing and tasting (even though there is a lot more that I have yet to experience) and exploring the amazing local coffee community. At this point in the adventure, I will be shifting my focus from increasing my knowledge to sharing some of the information that I have. Although not related to technology in content, I will be using technology to create and share this little instructional endeavor. I'm still hammering out the details of my Digital Pedagogy Project (or DPP for short -- at least until I come up with a witty name), but I've decided that it will be an extension of Course Grind. I will create a series of short tutorial videos (under five minutes), and add a dash of cool photos and infographics as well. I'm hoping to curate all of this in an aesthetically-pleasing fashion on Learnist for everyone to enjoy (or judge with an eyebrow raised). Here are some of the topics I'm considering:
Welcome to my first AppSlam! An AppSlam is a quick tutorial (using Screencast-o-matic) on how to use an app or website with your students in the classroom. We're all about technology and collaboration here. This round is on iMovie, an app that can be found on both iPads and desktop Macs. It's a great way for students, even younger elementary kids, to share their knowledge and become the teachers in a creative way. The video below is only an intro the basic features of iMovie, but give your students room to explore and they will be sure to surprise you with what they create. |