Learning is Change

It’s On.

 

The war over Journey is highly energized by the antagonistic stance that I have toward all bad music. The fact that there truly is nothing I can say to prove an opinion, makes doing so all the harder.
I don’t believe that it is my fault that I hate Journey. I blame it mostly on the fact that in my formative years, I was forced to like derivative pop music because it was the only music my parents would buy for me. I used to listen to this meaningless music while I mowed the lawn, singing at the top of my lungs for all of the neighborhood to hear. These songs had a melody that would get caught in your head all day, and because I sang them so loud, the whole neighborhood seemed to hum them along with me. Unfortunately, the melody was all that they had. They lacked potency, relevancy, and more than anything else, purpose.

When I started middle school, my friend Charlie started me on a heavy diet of punk rock and ska. Now, this is not to say that this music had more depth to it, but I believe that it started my process of listening for more than just vocal melody. I started listening to the purpose of the music. The music that I was being introduced to had political aims. Many of the punk songs were railing against the way that teenagers were being treated. This was so relevant to my budding teenage angst.

In high school I began exploring music for myself. I was not satisfied to listen to what other people were listening to. I wanted my own bands, my own ideas. It pained me to see so many of my classmates clamoring for one more pop song to climb up the charts. I wanted raw guitars. I wanted disconnected feelings. I wanted reality.

There is nothing so unreal as a pop song. The world should not be able to fit into one simple rhythm, one simple sentimental chorus, one emotion. Life isn’t like that. It is complex and important. Boiling it down into a four minute catchy masterpiece is preposterous.

Journey, although not the only band that capitalizes on the one emotion, simplicity over everything sentiment, that the masses seem to crave, they are the band that seems to embody it and use it to persuade unthinking youngsters to like their music and pop music in general. The following is an analysis of their most enduring song:

Just a small town girl, livin in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin anywhere

The way that this song opens is incredibly vague. Where is the specificity? Are we supposed to believe that small towns are better than big cities? Is she trying to get away from the lonliness of being away from a small town? The thing she is trying to get away from seems to be lonliness, yet she is going anywhere, alone.

Just a city boy, born and raised in south detroit
He took the midnight train goin anywhere

Now it seems as though, both big cities and small towns are no good. If this loneliness is everywhere, what is the emotion can we possibly feel other than it.

A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

The idea here seems to be that the only solution is to have singular moments of drunken happiness while someone sings their troubles away. Hooking up with someone based upon only trying to get away from your problem is the wrong message to send. It is not something to savor in an anthem. It is something to be written about in a trashy novel or talked about with disdain among friends.

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

So now we are looking to prostitution. I don’t have any problem bringing the problems of the world into music, however, to do it is such a superficial way is terrifyingly inept. Find emotion? What emotion? How can you create any connection to the audience other than with melody when you have such trite lyrics.

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Is there anything more cheesy than saying that everyone wants something and we are all looking for it. Some winning and some losing is not something that needs to be stated. It is an obvious part of life. It is a line that was picked to rhyme. Nothing in music is more despicable than that.

Don’t stop believin
Hold on to the feelin
Streetlight people

Finally, my questions at the end of this torturous song can only be: what should I not stop believing, and why should I hold on to the feeling if the feeling is one with a prostitute or hook-up?

Now, it may not be fair to disect a song and put my own slant on it, but I believe that all the music that I listen to should matter to me. I believe that even if something is catchy, it must relate to me. Nothing about this song, other than the incredible melody and vocal quality, relates to my life, or provides me with edifying thought. I will not attempt to criticize the music of this song because, after all, I am tainted by all of my experiences with discordant music, just like some are tainted by much of the pop music that they have been exposed to.

The end to this debate can only come with another song analysis. Whatever some other students might believe, I do not think that all of the music I listen to is for everyone. I do, however, believe that everyone should be able to appreciate the lyrics of my emblematic band: Death Cab for Cutie.

There’s a saltwater film on the jar of your ashes; I threw them to the sea,
but a gust blew them backwards and the sting in my eyes
that you then inflicted was par for the course just as when you were living.
It’s no stretch to say you were not quite a father
but the donor of seeds to a poor, single mother that would raise us alone.
We never saw the money that went down your throat
through the hole in your belly.

Thirteen years old in the suburbs of Denver,
standing in line for Thanksgiving dinner at the Catholic church.
The servers wore crosses to shield from the sufferance plaguing the others.
Styrofoam plates, cafeteria tables,
charity reeks of cheap wine and pity and I’m thinking of you,
I do every year when we count all our blessings
and wonder what we’re doing here.

You’re a disgrace to the concept of family.
The priest won’t divulge that fact in his homily
and I’ll stand up and scream if the mourning remain quiet,
you can deck out a lie in a suit.
But I won’t buy it.
I won’t join the procession that’s speaking their piece,
using five dollar words while praising his integrity.
Just ’cause he’s gone, it doesn’t change that fact:
he was bastard in life, thus a bastard in death.

These are simple lyrics, yet they convey an image. They aren’t talking about the specifics of life, not skimming the surface in an attempt to reach the masses. Even though my father was not like this, I can relate to the power of this message. It is about something. It is powerful, potent, relevant, and beautiful. Journey may be catchy, but they can’t hold a candle to modern indie-rock music.

12.12.06

Core 1:

  1. There is no comprehension question today. We will be discussing the conflicts in the story after tonight’s reading.
  2. You have three options today:
    • Blog wars
    • School 2.0
    • Reading chapter 10 and 11 and write down the conflicts that you are seeing “coming to a head.”

Core 2:

  1. What is School 2.0?
  2. Comment, Nominate, Write.

Core 3:

  1. Think-On: Some of the most ridiculous ideas lead to the best results:
  2. I hope that this has made you think about all of the different things in school that you would like to find solutions for. What I would encourage you to do, is use your practice in giving funny solutions to problems, and turn this on what you do every day: school.
  3. What is School 2.0? What does should it look like?
  4. Comment, Nominate, Write.

Core 4:

  1. Take a look at my essay.
    • What do you notice?
    • What is my thesis?

Comforting Skin

 

The following is an essay written as an example for my Core 4 students. Their essays, as well as mine, is part of a multi-cultural novel unit and persuasion unit focused on the concept of change. My essay is a work in progress, and should be treated as such.

Identity is art. It is craft. It is make-believe. There is truly no such thing as a personal identity, only one that we have constructed to look like someone we would want to be. In reality, we are all swirling around within our own skin, looking for something to hold on to long enough to call our own. Comfort is a luxury we do not have when it comes to identity. We must exist in a constant flux as to who we are and what we want. Race, sexual orientation, personality: these are the things that complicate this process. Discomfort in our own skin is the constant state of our lives because of pressures from each other, ourselves, and our societal environment.

Relationships affect action. The connection made with another person requires a deliberate change in identity. You must shift into your mode of friendship with this person, remembering all of the things that you have done with this person, all of the things that this person doesn’t like, all of the things that will be of value only to this relationship. This creates discomfort within the skin you were born into, chafing against the way you must act with other people. In the book, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, Jeremy Simms never feels comfortable within in his own skin because he is constantly having to change his identity for his white family and his black friends. This change is most obvious in a passage when he must try to live within both identities at the same time. In talking to a black friend he must stutter out, “She d-did, Pa. R-right now, ‘fore y’ll come, she did–” His white father cuts him short with “an angry gaze upon his son” causing Jeremy to “falter” and “[hang] his head.” This stutter is emblematic of the discomfort that Jeremy feels when talking to his father in the presence of his black friend. He is so uncomfortable that he cannot speak clearly. When forced to get back to his “white” relationship, he can no longer say the words that he most desires to. His relationship with others is directly responsible for paining his identity.

12.11.06

Cores 1-4:

  • Vote on the next Guest Blogging questions:
    • What’s more important: social or academic experiences?
    • Who was the teacher that had the greatest affect on you, either good or bad? (Or, other stories from classroom)
    • What do you see as the biggest factor in the generation gap?
    • Which is better: work or school?
  • Take a look at the Authenticity Awards

Core 1:

  1. Chapter 8 Comprehension Question: How did the school board members know to come in to Mrs. Logan’s classroom and look at the pasted-over front pages of the textbooks?
  2. Discuss-On: Who should decide what gets taught in schools?
  3. Discuss Chapter 8:
    • What is the worst type of coercion displayed so far?
    • Why does T.J. “turn” on the Logans?
  4. Read Chapter 9:
    • What are the major conflicts that are arising in the story?

Core 2

  1. Write-on: Are there such a thing as good guys and bad guys?
  2. Read “Entire City Put on War Footing.”
    • How can we maintain the moral high ground?
    • How is our current situation reminicent of this period?

Core 3:

  1. Write-on: how can laughing at a bad situation help to change it?
  2. Write our mini-satires.

Core 4:

  1. Analyze our discussion, looking for questions that are provable and thought-provoking.
  2. Choose a question to write an essay about either from the discussion or from my list. (and #2)

Teacher 2.0

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A lot of edubloggers are focusing on what School 2.0 should look like. I really like the idea of looking ahead (and hopefully planning ahead) for the inevitable progression of modern education. But the more that I think about what a technologically and pedagogically progressive school should look like, I am struck by the thought that my job as a teacher must change as a result. Now, I am not talking about the change from lecturer to co-learner, from “sage on stage” to “guide on the side.”. I think that I have already made that shift. The change I am talking about is in terms of job description. Whatever changes I may be making in my career, I’d like to think that I know what I want out of my vocation. So, I am going to attempt to write the ideal job description for teacher 2.o as well as the job description would feel trapped inside of and never be able to fulfill the obligations of.

Teacher 2.0:

Impassioned secondary teacher wanted to create high-level small-class learning environment in a diverse school dedicated to reflective pedagogy, thoughtful technology integration, and teacher leadership.

General Job Responsibilities for all teachers at our school:

  • Collaborate with team, department, and greater teaching community via both synchronous (essential question directed in-person discussion, Google Documents-style collaborative lesson planning, real-time chatting) and asynchronous methods (wikis, non-mass e-mails, Personal Learning Network reading and linking).
  • Maintain a reflective teaching blog, podcast, and/or wiki which is focused upon finding solutions for classroom problems, creating more student engagement or acheivement as shown through authentic assessements and teacher anecdotal evidence rather than state-wide assessement scores, or generating new ways to connect to students, teachers, or other members of the education community.
  • Read and interact with a Personal Learning Network made up of a few administratively selected educators and a vast majority of personally selected teachers, authors, and students who challenge you to become a better teacher.
  • Create your own professional development objectives for the year based upon your passions and your readership of your PLN. The majority of the professional development time throughout the year will be based upon your own objectives.
  • Create curriculum that can be shared, edited, and reproduced through creative commons licenses.
  • Use non-graded e-portfolios as the exclusive means of assessment and personal student reflection.

Specific Job Responsibilities for the English Language Arts position:

  • Create and maintain a digital authentic writing community, in which students are responsible for reflecting upon their own work, linking and commenting on others’ work, and understanding and controlling the direction of their own writing progress/process.
  • Conduct project-based learning that asks students to address real-life issues through authentic writing and media creation.
  • Use inquiry-based lessons to teach the conceps of textual analysis, considering all types of text (visual, auditory, and performance.)
  • Model the creation of touchstone-texts and resources that produce well-balanced viewpoints of our world, and help students to do the same.
  • Ensure that each student can question the validity of statements made in writing or in speech by verifying sources constantly.
  • Cultivate each student’s unique writer’s voice so that the intentions of their writing meet the impressions of the reader. This process must include constant feedback, grammatical and conventions mini-lessons, and constant question asking as to the purpose of the choices that the student author has made.
  • Conduct in-depth digital and conventional discussions on the nature of read and writing, user-selected texts, and thematic issues related to other curriculum.
  • Model higher-level thinking skills in writing and verbal remarks to the class and expect the same high-level thinking from students.

I know that I will be adding to both of these lists quite a bit as my thoughts keep coming, but I thought that I would start off with these. Please let me know what you think of they way things truly should be in schools. Oh, and if anyone knows of a job like this out there, please let me know. I would love to be a part of a school that is this perfect. (I know that this doesn’t exist yet, but I suppose I can dream.)

11.08.06

Core 1:

  1. Chapter 7 comprehension question: How does Mr. Granger plan on getting the land back from the Logans?
  2. What is a white ally? How can we be white allies.
  3. Read Chapter 8 and look for new forms of revenge.

Core 2:

  1. Take Maus Quiz.
  2. Answer the following comprehension questions on your own sheet of paper in order to earn your AR points (you must turn in your book before you attempt these):
    • What two diseases has Vladek had?
    • What are the names of Vladek’s two wives?
    • Name one concentration camp that Vladek went through.
    • List two of the jobs that Vladek had in the concentration camps.
    • List at least five different animal types that Art Spiegelman uses and what ethnic backgrounds these animal types represent.

Core 3:

  1. Write-On: What are the things about technology that make you mad.
  2. Read computer story and discuss how humor can be an organizing factor for a piece of writing.

Core 4:

  1. Go over the rules for online discussions.
  2. Model question asking from previous discussion.
  3. Go to the computer lab and discuss your multi-cultural novels.

12.07.06

Core 1:

  1. Chapter 6 comprehension question: How did Uncle Hammer react when Cassie told him about the “incident” with Lillian Jean in Strawberry?
  2. Discuss-On: What is the difference between respect and fear? (pg. 109)
  3. Read chapter 7 and discuss:
    • How change affects all parts of the racial hierarchy.

Core 2:

  1. Discuss-On: What was Art trying to get across with his depiction of the falling pictures and joined frames on page 115 and 116.
  2. Read the last chapter:
    • How do you put your life back together after such tragedy?
    • What are the lasting effects of war/genocide?
    • Is it a happy ending?
    • What is the significance of the last line?

Core 3:

  1. Analyze the threaded discussion for a pattern.
    • Question
    • Initial Answer
    • Question about Initial Answer
    • Example from text addressing Questions or Answers.
  2. See if you can reconstruct that pattern in your head and on paper when you read something new. (The Chase by Annie Dillard)

Core 4:

  1. Discuss-On: How do the characters in your book attempt to change an established hierarchy?
  2. Model tracing through a book for words, ideas, themes
    • Struggle
    • Hope
    • A Search for Truth
    • Acceptance
    • Growing Up
    • Hate
  3. Trace through your book for so that you will be answering in tomorrow’s online discussion session:
    • What is the one thing that this book made you think about that you had never thought about before? Why is this an important thing to think about?
    • What is the author trying to prove to you in writing the book?
    • What are the important issues which affect the cultural group represented in this book? In what ways are these issues common to all groups? In what ways are they specific to the single group?
    • How is the central issue/problem of the main character developed and resolved?
    • What qualities of the main character do you most admire? Why?
    • How does this book help you understand and appreciate cultural differences?
    • Which character/poem reflects your cultural outlook/view of the world? Why do believe that both you and this character are right? (or, if you can’t find any characters/poems that reflect your thoughts, find one that is the absolute opposite of your cultural outlook and discuss why you think this character is wrong).

12.06.06

Core 1:

  1. Write-On: Do you believe that each person has a place in life?
  2. Read Chapter 5 in class and discuss Cassie and Stacy’s “Place in life.”

Core 2:

  1. Discuss-On: How is war like a disease?
  2. Discuss chapter 3 and its use of trains as torture.
  3. Read chapter 4 and discuss the following:
    • Fragile Safety
    • Pictures as memory.

Core 3:

  1. Go over expectations for Online Discussion.
  2. Start discussing the short story using conversate.

Core 4:

  1. Discuss-On: Why is it important to look at literature and life in a hierarchical manner?
  2. Continue discussion of Cresthill hierarchy.
  3. How do we subconsciously advocate a certain hierarchy?
  4. How can we change an established hierarchy?
  5. How do the characters in your book attempt to change an established hierarchy?

12.05.06

Cores 1-4:

  1. Read my Weekly Authentic and discuss Critical Mass.
  2. Write your Weekly Authentic, Nominate for an Authenticity Award, and Celebrity Comment.

The Critical Mass of Ideas, Engagement, and Writing.

 

 Although this post isn’t in direct response to Hockey90’s Thinking About Thought, I believe it accents my post quite well, so I suggest you read it too.

The concept of critical mass has always been intriguing to me, but until recently I never saw the application to thought, teaching, or writing. For those of you who may be uninitiated, critical mass is the idea that there is some number of things (atoms, people, ideas, uproar, etc.) that it takes in order to create a desired action (attract more people, create a revolution, etc.). This means that it is very hard for one person to change the outcome of an election, but it is pretty easy for 10,000. This is a critical mass of people.

Well, I began thinking of what the critical mass of ideas was. If I think about the problem of world hunger for a minute, I probably won’t come up with any lasting solutions. But the question is: how many minutes do I have to think about it for me do so? How many different ideas do I need to have in order to create a critical mass, finding a path to a true answer that will actually work. For most of us it probably takes quite a few minutes and quite a few ideas to actually come up with answers. We have to consider all of the different possibilities and then pick the best one (and even then we are often wrong). It is my belief that only a true genius can see an answer from one idea. They are the only people who have a critical mass level of one idea or thought. The rest of us need more, and that is where other people come in.

If other people are not in the picture, if they do not put forth their ideas, drawing out more thinking from us, then very few things would ever get done. This is why teamwork and group participation is so important. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a discussion be born and die with a mere two comments from students. On the other hand, there are just as many discussions that reach a critical mass of comments, and every hand goes up. What is the critical mass of a discussion? I believe it is at least 3 hands up at a time, with at least one different idea. This is, however, just a working theory.

As for engagement, its critical mass is much harder to determine. I have been in many classes (Spanish in middle school) that I feel truly bored in. When I feel this way, it is very hard to become engaged in what is going on. How many thought-provoking moments does it take to draw me back in? How many times do I have to relate to the subject for it to work its way into my brain and take hold? The critical mass of engaging ideas is probably different for everyone, but for me it is considerably more than one. It also helps me when I have the tools at my fingertips to engage. If I have pen and paper at hand, I can better engage. If I have a laptop and a wireless connection, I can be looking up what we are talking about. I can be writing up notes. I can be making comments about the stupid things that people are saying around me (to myself). All of these things are aids to my critical mass of engagement. I wonder what this would be for each of my students.

I have talked quite extensively about memes and viral ideas and books, but I think that a critical mass of ideas is much bigger than one for writing. I have to hear/read about something a few times or at least be thinking about it a few times before I can comment on it, or incorporate it into my way of thinking. Blogging is the easiest format for creating critical mass that I have ever seen. You can collect ideas, aggregating them in your head, until the time when you have amassed enough of them to start writing about them. If you are running out of things to write about, start reading. Create a critical mass for yourself. Look around you, all of the ideas are staring right at you, waiting to be collected.