Transitions

I sent 25 emails on Friday. I was tying up the lose ends as I transitioned out of life as a graduate assistant and into my temporary role as the Library Media Specialist at a local high school. Each outgoing email was like watching my assistantship flash before my eyes. I was closing the door on two years of relationships and projects and opening new doors to the future.

With this transition, I have found that mind is freed to dream new dreams in a new space. Albeit a much more confined space. My contract puts me into the library for the remaining 3 months of the school year. I've chatted with a few of my librarian superstar contacts and their advice is to focus on being a learning centered librarian and developing collaborative projects.

I was at the movie theater this afternoon and a flood of ideas hit me. I stepped out to jot them down and here is what I came up with as possible goals/activities:

• Bathroom Library Newsletter complete with QR codes
• Reading Motivation Project - Guys Read - Spring/Summer activities focused
• Laminated maps of local lakes with fishing books and a link to a Google Maps fishing report mashup
• Short film contest - TBD
• Collaborative projects with at least one teacher in every grade level, and every major subject area
• Seasonal reading collection displays
• Information literacy and research presentations in all ninth grade language arts classes

The wall

Between 2003-2006 my father ran 5 marathons.  I never once heard him tell me a story about hitting the wall.  He finished every race he started.  Never in record time.  Never with a complaint.  But almost always in visible pain. Still, never a story about the wall.

A few weeks ago I had a dream.  I started running.  Soon I was running a race.  I was running faster than I have ever ran before.  I was piling up 6:00 minute mile after 6:00 minute mile.  I've never even run a 5k in under 30 minutes.  My best half marathon pace is an 11 minute mile.  As each mile passed I thought to myself, "How long is this race?  Can I keep up this pace?  Am I running a marathon?  How long is this going to go on?"  Despite my uncertainty I continued along the route of, what turned out to be a marathon, in a time that I never believed I could achieve.

All of the sudden I was called elsewhere.  Some day matter from work broke its way into my fantasy. I had to coach someone how to turn on a computer, find their way to a web browser, create an account at a blog service and then type their first blog post.  This process took a long time, but I felt unphased.

By the time I returned to the race my personal record pace was all but eliminated.  My finish with the elite runners unachievable.  I finished the last 9 miles at the 6 minute mile pace but given my delay by the time I finished my final average was an 11:00 minute mile pace.

I have been struggling for two weeks to discover the meaning of this dream.  At first I thought that I am not following my dreams and I need to retreat from the world, abandon all obligations and focus on my distance running.  Believe me, I would really love to interpret the dream this way.  My latest interpretation is two fold.

First, we never know when and where we will receive the call to go beyond our selfish fantasies and be asked to become a part of something bigger than ourselves.  I support pre-service teachers as they venture into the world of technology.  I love what I do.  Each day is a new adventure and I anticipate every opportunity to teach, lead, serve and learn from the future educators of the world.

My second conclusion is that, a dream does not need to be some unachievable thing to be a dream.  I had a dream that I ran an 11 min. mile marathon.  At first I felt disappointed, that if only this or if only that I would have finished the race in this time or that time.  After careful reflection I have come to relish in that idea that my dream is to run an 11 min. mile marathon.  I know I can do it!

So what to make of the wall?  Having never hit one I can still imagine that they don't exist.  But if I hit one?  Then, I guess I will just keep going because I know that my biggest hero has already broken through 5 of them before me.

Flipping the Classroom with Video

Given that my last several blog posts were conducted via video, I thought it would be fittingly ironic (I never know how to use ironic correctly) to compose this weekly reflection in text during our module on video sharing in education.  So, here goes nothing...

This week I read a post by Wes Fryer at the Speed of Creativity blog.  First, Wes described an instructional phenomenon that is sweeping the nation.  Some (read Daniel Pink) are calling it the "Fisch Flip" although, Karl Fisch himself humbly denies any credit for the approach.  Instead Fisch attributes the origin of the concept to Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams work on educational vodcasting.

The basic premiss of the flipped classroom is that a teacher develops their lessons and posts them on a video sharing site or classroom management site prior to face to face class time.  Students' homework is to watch the video presentation and then in class they discuss the topics in greater detail.  They also participate in independent and group practice of relevant exercises related to the learning task.

Next, Fryer documents a recent interview he had with Dale Eizenga, a chemistry teacher at Holland Christian Schools in Holland, Michigan.  Eizenga talks about his experience using the flipped classroom model....





I was struck by Eizengal's use of a sports practice analogy to really bring to light the powerful potential of using web video as an instructional practice.  This is certainly a concept I want to explore further as I journey out into the field.

The remainder of Freyer's post outlines his insightful analysis of the interview.  I will let you read it for yourself.

Does Everything Make us Stupid?

Is Google Making us Stupid? a 2008 article in Atlantic Magazine, author Nicholas Carr examines the impact of the internet on our brains

Carr relates his experiences related to concentration and attention in a world dominated by instant access to information.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that the human brain is changing to adapt to the medium of the internet.  Focusing on long drawn out arguments and reading complex texts is more difficult event for accomplished readers and writers.

Carr argues that throughout history changes in information media have changed the information we transmit.  Carr sites neuro-scientific research that the human mind is more “plastic” or malleable than once thought.  Historical changes in media and the concept of plasticity lead Carr to be concerned about the future of the human race.  How will humans behave in a world of neurological prosthetics?

Carr tempers his skepticism with a story from Plato’s Phaedrus that details Socrates opinion on the advent of the written word as a medium for communication.  Clearly Socrates concerns have been unfounded.  Critics throughout history raise warning flags about the consequences of changes in media on the human race, most have not been alarming as imagined.  Carr upholds his skepticism by describing a scene from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Oddysey when an artificially intelligent machine feels pain as it is disassembled.

While Carr’s analysis is thoughtful and detailed, I am left feeling that the article was just a sensational piece written to inspire disdain from the literary audience of the Atlantic towards the educational technology field.

Juggling Projects

The semester is getting started and it is time for me to start thinking about how to juggle multiple projects and get some things done.  My first big task in my online learning course is to interview a practicing teacher regarding their use of Web 2.0 in the classroom.

My timeline is as follows:



9/9    Topic Selection
9/16   Resource Selection
9/23   Interviewee Information
9/30  Interview
 10/14   Analysis and Writing

Online Learning

Last fall I used this blog, my Twitter account and the apollo project podcast blog.  To reflect on my learning in an independent study course titled Emerging Media Technologies.  The results of this jump into connected learning were pretty fantastic.

As I documented in my last post I have made connections with teachers and administrators from around the world. 

My readership went from almost a complete flat line in August to a series of blips and bumps throughout the semester.  Some of my most read posts occur during last fall's emerging media technologies experiment. 


What will happen this year as I use my blog to reflect on my studies into the world of online learning?  To the extent that the blogs and reflections of my cohorts extend beyond the walled garden of D2L we might see something transformational happen.  To the extent that my cohorts and I develop a solid Personal Learning Network we might see amazing connected learning. 

One Year of Blogging

My first full year of blogging has come and gone.  I have written about 30 posts and have received somewhere around 40 comments.  I am very thankful for my faithful 6-7 readers who have taken the time to read my posts over the last year.

I have learned so many more things than I have taken the time to share.  My goal for this year is to document more closely some of my projects.  Whether it is ideas and tips on how to use Picasa to help speed up your digital storytelling project, or how to get Windows Movie Maker to do what you want it to do and when to let go and learn a more sophisticated program.  There is so much more that I can share.
 
I am happy with my blogging experience to date and hope to keep sharing and posting more often.  I hope you enjoy.

Since my last post about my CSA.  I have been busy.  I have completed several big projects both at school and at home. I haven't taken the time to post anything yet.  Here is a brief outline of what is going on:

• I completed an intense June summer school session that called me to complete over 40 pages of writing.  One big project was to synthesize my thoughts and opinions on the administration of a library media program.  You can read what I have to say online at my Library Media Notebook.
• My summer assistantship has been filled up with multimedia development for the Saint Cloud State University College of Education.  I documented a teacher preparation conference and have edited over 6 hours of video associated with the event.  More will be posted online soon.
• Another big project for me this summer has been creating my cousin's wedding slideshow.  It has been so much fun.  Check out this short clip:

• Tomorrow I will be meeting with my connection at St. Cloud Apollo High School to sketch out a draft of a digital storytelling project with ELL students.  Check out some of the research I have been doing with regards to digital storytelling to help struggling writers.

Digital Storytelling on Prezi