Learning By HeartLearning By HeartThis Open Source Learning Community is created by educators for educators. Open Source Learning is the new name for Progressive Education. Articles
What Must Be Done: National Candidates Educational Policies
2007-12-28 03:46:00 Today begins a comprehensive journey to let readers know where the different candidates stand on educational policies. We'll highlight three areas of focus: No Child Left Behind, Learning and Teaching, and Innovation.Since many Progressive Educators in the Open Source Community believe that the educational mandate entitled No Child Left Behind, while a good sentiment to let no child flounder in sinking public schools, the reality has been less than ideal. In fact, many people call the bill "No Child Left Untested." Please remember that No Child Left Behind is fully a bipartisan effort that has been the death-knell to innovative teaching and creative learning. Sort of like everything touched by the current president's administration and this Congress. No one is excused from blame in this shambles of a law and what it has wrought Why is NCLB so bad? It's not just that it is underfunded. The bill needs to be scrapped, completely. It does not work and it is harmful to the ve... More About: National , Educational , Candidates , Policies , Candidate
Benazir Bhutto Assassinated
2007-12-27 22:07:00 Today, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan after returning from self-imposed exile in London just a few short months ago. When hearing of her return, I thought to myself, she is not long for this world. Today's New York Times obituary said of her:A deeply polarizing figure, Ms. Bhutto, the “daughter of Pakistan,” was twice elected prime minister and twice expelled from office in a swirl of corruption charges that propelled her into self-imposed exile in London for much of the past decade. She returned home this fall, billing herself as a bulwark against Islamic extremism and a tribune of democracy.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/ 28/world/asia/28bhuttocnd.html?_r=1&hp&or ef=sloginAs we head into another United States presidential electoral cycle, may we teach the children well about how the electoral process can lead to peaceful and meaningful change. More About: Benazir Bhutto , Assassinated , Hutto
Oobleck Pool at the Exploratorium
2007-12-26 23:24:00 Here's an example of what some teachers have done at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. This is a group of the Exploratorium's Teacher's Institute who run back and forth across a pool of cornstarch and water--Oobleck--at the Exploratorium. More About: Pool
Too Much TV--When Kids Are Bored
2007-12-26 21:49:00 The Exploratorium is a children's science museum that many Bay Area families visit during breaks. Teachers also use the Exploratorium to support their science learning in their classrooms. My children have been sleeping late this past week. It's what my wife truly hates: too much TV. Like one of those Berenstain Bears' books where the bear cubs and their goofy dad watch way too much television or eat far too much crappy foods. The sanctimonious books were the mainstay of our hosuehold when the kids were three, four, and five. Not any more, thank goodness. My daughter and son are now older and their taste in reading has gotten to be much more sophisticated. They've been reading books like EVERY LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS, which is about a girl whose family owns a funeral parlor (actually not one of my favorite books that she has chosen for us to read to her at night). My son is reading INTO THE WILD, based on the disappearance of a young man into the wilds of Alaska. Altho... More About: Kids , Bored
Come, All Ye Faithful
2007-12-26 00:19:00 Yesterday, my family and I made our yearly pilgrimage to church. This time we were at a candle light service at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Marin City. We chose it because we knew that it was Anne Lamott's church and that it was multiracial and multicultural. The last two elements would fit nicely with our family. Plus, the minister is a sister.Thirty minutes before the service began, I drove like a bat out of hell, trying to beat the traffic (which there was none) and parishioners who would be lined up down the block to get into the Marin City church. As we pulled into the parking lot, across the way from the Outback Steakhouse, where we have spent a good deal of our dining out time since we arrived back in the Bay Area, we noticed very few cars in the parking lot. Including our own car, there were only three families who had arrived. One very friendly-faced African American woman waved to us as I turned off the Christmas carols and the car. I wasn't mistaken, th... More About: Faithful
Making It Back
2007-12-24 23:44:00 This is the time of year when educators, like most other people around the world, re-charge and re-double their efforts to work diligently and faithfully in their classrooms and beyond. I know that I spent many a sleepless night worried about a kid or three, wondering if they were going to make it back to school in the New Year. One such boy was "Johnny," which was his actual name. He belonged to a gang called the Harpies in the North San Fernando Valley: Pacoima. This was the early '90s and Rodney King's beating was a not too distant memory from where we worked and plied our trade as teachers. One December, Johnny told me about pulling the trigger on this one "fool" to avenge another homey who had been shot the week before. He also told me about his own close calls with death when a drive-by went through his set. What I loved about Johnny and his best friend Alex is that they were good boys underneath all of that postering and blubber. In 9th and 10th grade, they weren't... More About: Back
December 23rd--White::Christmas
2007-12-24 05:19:00 Two days before Christmas . I remember this day more than any other--even more than Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So, what's so special about Christmas Eve Eve? It's probably the anticipation of being picked up by my dad on Christmas Eve. My brother and I would spend two or three times per year with our father, each time was very special, going to Downtown Chicago on the IC (Illinois Central Railroad). The train was a commuter rail line to the City then rather than a train the went from Chicago and all the way down through down State, Illinois, then on to Memphis, TN, Jackson, MS, and New Orleans. The City of New Orleans. Trains meant freedom. For generations of Black people and this one Black boy from Robbins, Illinois. Riding on a train was like the holiday that we loved so well; Christmas. Traveling from Robbins via Blue Island to the Randolph Street station, which were in the very bowels of City, underground out of the elements. It could be snowing like crazy, or... More About: White , December , White Christmas
Live, From Boston,...
2007-11-27 22:14:00 Actually, as I write this post I am at a Boarding school right outside of Brattleboro, Vermont. With all of the stops, it took me about three hours to get here. Ive slept very little in the last twenty four hours. Just a little on the plane getting, but as usual, I tossed and turned and tossed. My mind kept looping on the kinds of things I needed to do. Most of it was about development work back in San Francisco. Some of it was thinking about a parent who is going through a particularly rough patch. Some of my thinking was even about my own children. Are they being lost in the shguffle of exploration. I hope not. More on this all later... More About: Boston , Live
Archiving Classwork: The Definitional Essay Part I
2007-11-25 23:33:00 Last month we discussed using regular portfolios for assessment and I offered up a few common terms that would be helpful in this post. This time, I'd like to talk about what kind of work can or should be archived.The type of student projects that a teacher/facilitator should archive depends on the purpose of the assignment, aims of a particular class, or what is important for students to keep. Here are the steps to archiving:1.) FIGURE OUT WHAT'S BEING ASSESSED: The purpose of a particular assignment starts with what is being assessed. When I was teaching high school English, especially in the freshmen year, the first assignment was called the definitional essay. 2.) THE ASSIGNMENT: The definitional essay was, as the name indicates, about the students summer reading (i.e., For A Separate Peace it might be, "What is a friend?"). One of my favorite essay topics is "What is a hero?" This one came right before The Odyssey or Things Fall Apart. 3.) BREAKING THE ASSIGNMENTS ... More About: Part , Essay
Progressive Education: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
2007-11-24 22:13:00 Progressive Education has come a very long way since the 1940s--or has it? More About: Progressive , Today , Yesterday , Tomorrow
Be Glad For What You Have
2007-11-24 21:49:00 Today is my son Eian's 12th birthday. This is also the 12th anniversary of my brother Michael and wife Megan's wedding. Two very important days in our family's life. When so much of what we do around holidays, birthdays. and anniversaries involve buying things, it's nice to know that just appreciating what we have and who we are is enough. Today, my wife, daughter, and son went to my in-laws to have brunch. A big meal was cooked--both vegetarian and carnivorous--so that all pallettes were satisfied. Eggs, biscuits, ham, fruit, hot chocolate, and funny presents (I'm not sure if they were meant to be--but thanks for Eian's sweatpants, Grandma) gave way to gales of laughter and time appreciating each other. It wasn't Walton-esque, but we did take a moment to drink it all in. The most important stuff, of course, is the laughter. Although Eian is geting to the age whre hanging out with mom and dad is no longer all that cool, we do have a very good time together as a family... More About: Glad
Homage: Anita Diamant
2007-11-23 22:13:00 I surf on-line quite a bit. Most of the time I can be found on the CNN.com site, the New York Times site, CBS.Sportsline.com, and ESPN.go.com. I'm a bit of a news junky whenever I'm not banking and trying to manage the little money that I have to manage. I also like to surf the writing sites, looking for good ideas to stir the pot. See, I've been wanting to finish this novel that I started last year, but I can't seem to walk myself back through it. As a Head of a school, some sort of creative outlet, other than watching sports until my eyes bleed, is important to do.Yesterday, I found myself at Anita Diamant's website. She of the The Red Tent fame. I have not read Ms. Diamant's book, but I am fascinated by the social movements of books like The Red Tent. I particularly like the idea of historical works of fiction, especially those dealing with a biblical theme, like Elizabeth George Speare's The Bronze Bow. My wife read The Red Tent about eight years ago and like man... More About: Homa
Open Space: E-Portfolios
2007-10-14 21:00:00 Nearly two weeks ago at the Progressive Educators' Network Conference in San Francisco held the Whitcomb Hotel (October 4 – 6, 2007), a group of educators came together in an “Open Space ” dialogue to discuss portfolios in schools. Most of the folks that came to the open space session had some knowledge of portfolio assessment, yet the groups’ familiarity with using portfolios to assess students ran the gamut from “we use portfolios a lot” to “I’ve heard a bit about portfolio as an assessment tool and I’d like to learn more.”This particular blog entry attempts to start the conversation about portfolios between those people who want to enter the dialogue in this “Open Source” community. By Open Source, we mean anyone is free to join in the conversation (in a respectful way of course). Eventually, we’ll talk about moving traditional class content into portfolios. Later, we’ll talk about e-portfolios (electronic portfolios) and give some ideas about how... More About: Open Space , Portfolios
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Reframing the Essential Work of Inclusion
2007-05-13 06:00:00 It's been over a month since I last wrote. The discipline of writing every day gets tough when you are leading other efforts, especially a school. Today was probably one of the best days in the last month or so. Leading the effort of trying to reframe diversity and multiculturalism at the Wesley School in North Hollywood (Los Angeles).As I prepped for the work on Thursday night (May 10, 2007), I had flashbacks from my very first time in LA as an actor. I was staying at the Beverly Garland Hotel, which was the same place that I stayed when I first auditioned for and was hired to be on "A Different World." This time the news was different. After a little less than a week dealing with a major fire in Griffith Park, the new reports were that a fire was raging out of control on Catalina Island and fire fighters were battling a war on two fronts. People were being evacuated from near the area known as Avalon.I, on other hand, was going through a bit of a fire storm in my own mind.... More About: Work , Inclusion , The Essential , Essential , R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Anniversary--Moral Leadership
2007-04-05 08:03:00 Today is the 39th anniversary of Dr. King's death. He would have been twice as old as he was the day he was killed back in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. I'm not sure how many people actually mark the anniversary of MLK's death, as they now celebrate his life, but I think about his passing quite a bit.I had just turned six years old just two weeks before, and I remember the open casket views on television and in the Jet Magazine. What those views taught us, especially in the African American community, was that he was really and truly gone from us.Dr. King's death took from us the kind of fearless leader that we are just beginning to see again on the American landscape--where someone did not fear death and would put their very life on the line for what they believed in.Call it moral leadership. We have been in a vacuum where our most trusted figures are people that populate the television and movie screens. They play doctors and lawyers on TV, but they do not actually live... More About: Anniversary , Leadership , Moral
Renew--Quick Write
2007-04-03 23:21:00 Next week is spring break, a right of passage not just for people who are headed down to Ft. Lauderdale, but for those people who need to recharge after a long stretch of time in the saddle.I'm curious to see what other people do to recharge, especially after a grueling time working or thinking at a pretty high level.Many people don't believe that thinking can be just as taxing as doing. Think about what your mind actually does. In this last week, we had our major fundraiser at the school, my wife's best friend is getting married and I'm the officiant, and my big brother is coming to town. With this said, it's time to look at recharging my brain from all of the intensity of the past few months. What will I do? Take a hike on Mt. Tam (Tamalpais), go bowling, read two books, do service in the community, and just hang out. I'll even go into the office once or twice, but it will be a clean office ready for the paint to be laid on the canvas.What do you do to recharge? I wonder... More About: Write , Quick
Passion
2007-03-29 06:14:00 When is it okay to be passionate about the things you do and give yourself over to the things that you believe in? When I was a young actor coming up in New York and LA, all I wanted was "do" my craft. I didn't even care if it was a craft or an art or something that was just plain fun, all I knew is that I wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than me.During the rehearsal process of the last plays that the Negro Ensemble Company did at the 52nd Street Theater in New York back in 1986 (called The War Party), I was confronted by two of my colleagues for "duffing it." Duffing it in Southern African American vernacular means that you are not taking things seriously. I was horrified that anybody would think that I wasn't taking my work seriously. After all, the play was one of the the first truly paying gigs that I ever had. I was excited (inside), but looking back twenty years later I believe that my fear had gotten the best of me. I couldn't show the fear that I felt, whi... More About: Passion
Behavior Modification: Take Two, Consistency
2007-03-28 06:20:00 Last time I discussed the cons of behavior modification. This time I am approaching it from the other side. When are behavior modification techniques worth it? The first thing to keep in mind is that you must be consistent. If you waver at all, you're toast. Children are like lawyers in training. They look for the one loophole or chink in the armor, and they then try to exploit it for what it's worth. Exploiting usually means giving them something they want (even though you know better) or trying to catch you during a vulnerable moment. Just remember, you know what's best. I always urge parents to cultivate and listen to that little voice inside of them that tells you what is and is not appropriate, or a kind of parents' version of Jiminy Cricket. It's your conscience, of course. If your conscience says, "No matter how much they beg to stay up a little later to finish that television program, you know that they will be absolute monsters without a full ten hours of sleep." Encou... More About: Behavior , Consistency , Modification
Behavior Modification: Does It Work?
2007-03-27 08:22:00 You hear often that there is a time and place for everything.I see it at my local warehouse-type grocery store all the time. Some child behaving badly and a parent promising to buy the little darling a treat if they "can just keep it together until we get to the car." Many parents even have the system worked out ahead of time with poker chips, check marks, or even money as the prize for good behavior. Of course, bad behavior means the loss of the same "dear": item and the bountiful harvest that waits.Some parents are on to the faulty logic, realizing that some of the techniques they use to manage their children's lives no longer work anymore after some unseen milestone or over time.Yet, can behavior modification work at all when trying to instill good habits or attempting to break bad ones?In my humble estimation, "No!" I have certainly used behavior modification with my own children and even in some schools that I have worked at as their standard policy. I have seen great gains wi... More About: Behavior , Work , Modification
Right Decisions
2007-03-26 02:44:00 How does a person know that he or she has made a good decision? Bad decisions seem to abound not only in our lives, but also in the lives of the children that we love. Mark Twain is credited with saying, "Good decisions come from bad decisions, which lead to good decisions." For those of you who know me know that I turned 40 about three weeks ago. I have been trying to stay as active as I can, especially given the breakneck pace that I keep-coaching varsity baseball, being an assistant school head, a Master's Degree class every Monday night, father and husband, as well as trying to get at least some sleep occasionally to offset that loopy stare one gets during sleep deprivation. Yet, I wouldn't have it any other way. I noticed that I didn't have enough to do, so I began playing men's baseball after a season's hiatus. A friend of mine in the Bay Area calls it Men's Little League. Today was the first game. I do the things that everyone should before beginning any rigorous activi... More About: Decisions
Hands On Education
2007-03-25 04:46:00 Remember when school was good?Of course, you do. Perhaps it was a favorite teacher that inspired you to great heights. Maybe it was a coach or even a parent that made a difference in your life. For many of us, those people who made us roll up our sleeves get tremendous kudos as heroes. I loved the diaramas and stuff that made you get your hands dirty with education. Mostly what we did in school was work in workbooks, though. Yet, those times when you could research all you want--in books--and take away some knowledge that seemed rare, but worth sharing. Esoterica.I remember making a diarama of the North Pole. Matthew Henson making his way across the frozen tundra of my mother's boot box. I had to find a whole bunch of cotton balls to make the clumpy snow just right. Then, of course, there was the igloo made out of real sugar cubes. None of those fake packets that you get from the diner, but real sugar that Mr. Ed would eat. Finally, the little green army men from some o... More About: Education , Hands , Hands On
Connecting the Dots
2007-03-24 06:53:00 The last few blogs may seem like whiplash (to the reader) in trying to tell the story of an educational journey, yet the tie between creating a philosophy of education without some biographical content is foolish. It's all about process rather than coming out of the head of Zeus fully formed like Athena.Being raised within and being weened on the milk of a fairly traditional educational system means that there's a lot of baggage that comes with the territory of being educated while deeply scrutinizing the current educational system. Like anyone else, I am a product of the schools that I went to. I can say with some pride that I went to Headstart (1968), Lincoln Elelmentary School (1st - 3rd Grades--1968-1971), and Berneice Childs Elementary (4th Grade--1972) all in Robbins, Illinois. I also attended Carl Sandburg Elementary and Junior High School (5th - 8th Grade--1972-1976) and Thorton Township High School (1976-1980) both in Harvey, Illinois. Yale College in New Haven, Conn... More About: Dots , Connecting
Open Source Learning Communities: Evolving Practice
2007-03-23 06:21:00 Partnerships in an academic community usually means a quid pro quo relationship. Yet, is that what's best for all involved? Is that what's best for teachers? Is that what's best for students? Should there be an outcome or exchange for services in the schoolhouse? At a Progressive Educator's conference in San Jose, California, one of the conference leaders said that Democracy is 'not about what you get, but it's about what you give up.' Education is the same way. For teacher and student, certain things have to be given for it to be a true exchange, which is not necessarily even.A teacher came to see me today to discuss his upcoming obeservation, which I am to do within the next two weeks. He said that one student taught him how to be a much better teacher because the student knew how to advocate for herself--even at nine years old.The student said to the teacher, "When you give me instructions, I don't quite understand because you speak in a kind of shorthand or a kin... More About: Open Source , Open , Source , Practice , Open-Source
Open Source Learning Communities
2007-03-21 18:42:00 LA days are so far away from today, nearly a generation as the crow flies. As a beginning teacher back in 1990, I needed to learn how to learn. By the time I left full time college in 1984, I believed strongly that I was done for good with school--no looking back. Yet, I found myself trapped in the whirl of the school I graduated from, working in a pyschiatric hospital to dull the pain of feeling like a failure. How many people thought that when they left college? How many people saw that school had let them down or worse, they had let school down. Yet, I loved school, or parts of it: the reading, the discussing, the camraderie. The spiral of history means that learning happens over and over again. Some folks call it karma, but it's more like loop the loops in a rickety World War I bi-plane or circling the globe for months on end, over and over and over again on the space shuttle--sometimes the terrain is the same but often times it is different.I've been speaking to my co... More About: Open Source , Open , Source , Open-Source , Learning
Visions: Love You Save
2007-03-21 05:25:00 I had a vision that day out in the desert. What I visioned was myself very different than what I had dreamed of up to that point. No longer was I an actor. That was an image that I had as a child--to be famous like Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five. I certainly wasn't much of a teacher either. I couldn't even drink enough water. So much for leading by example. The vision I had while being transported back to base camp and getting care was not tied to solitary and solipsitic enedeavors. I couldn't get away from people--even in the desert. Those days were over, forever, although I did not know it at the time. The green light well beyond my reach, out on Daisy's dock."Hey, Bri, you could've died. Didja know that? Gotta drink some water, dude. Lot's of the agua.""Yeah, I'm stupid, I guess."Jules who I hardly knew was the guru of the desert adventure escapes--for kids and adults. A hired teacher with his crew who would take anybody out for the right price."Say, du... More About: Love , Save , Visions
Thoreau's Heartbreak
2007-03-20 04:38:00 Out in the desert I see my step-father's face in everything: cacti, the devil's forehead climbing rock, the 15-passenger van that we have rented, on the shell of a passing tortoise. In reality, I haven't seen him in over 10 years. The day I left home and entered college was the last time I saw him. He just showed up at my dorm on Old Campus in New Haven. Booker T. Washington. Of course, not THE Booker T. Washington. Book, as my brother and I referred to him, had changed his name from Booker T. Wolfolk. He drank a lot. That's all I could say and what I remember most: his hard drinking side. Out in the desert, I didn't remember much about him. Vision was waning."Hey, Bri, have you had any water lately? You don't look so good?""Book?""Why don't we get you back to base camp so you can take it easy?" The girls were far in front of us. We were acting as sweepers for the stragglers who couldn't make the entire trip up the rocks. Moriah's question wasn't really a question. She was... More About: Heartbreak
Hellhound on My Trail (previously from www.achildsbook.com)
2007-03-18 20:27:00 Cars lined up for a solid block as I pinballed my way out of the pocket of the restaurant’s drive-thru to the open road. I slammed on my breaks, trying to avoid hitting the car immediately in front of me. I had just come from Popeye’s on MLK and had to get home before the day proved to be a total loss—papers to grade and parent phone calls to make. My forays into fast foodland had spilled over from my monthly haircuts at Terrell Brandon’s Barbershop on Alberta to wherever, or more precisely whenever. Whenever I didn’t feel like eating the soup that was probably a better bet for my expanding autumnal waistline, I tramped through the city’s streets. So, I tacked hard to the right and parked in front of the cue (flash—red car—SUV—minivan—white car), then I saw him. For an instant, he reminded me of my grandfather old Zach Thomas, an old brown man kissing the pavement after too much cheap liquor—Night Train, Ripple, Peppermint Schnapps. I thought he had just gotten... More About: Trail
Coyote Raid--Quick Write
More articles from this author:2007-03-17 03:06:00 Through our campsite, the pack of coyotes pushed their way around the middle and edges, lapping up anything that wasn't in animal proof boxes. Tuna, pbj sandwiches, magic markers, a purple hoodie, and everything else that had a slight taste was eaten, except for the people in tents. I could hear the baying and then the paws and finally the munching of wild animals on loose gritty sand. I woke early that weekday morning and refused to get out of my tent--until coaxed by a colleague, another teacher, who knew well my fear. This was my first night and early morning at Joshua Tree National Park. When I think back on that time in September of 1990, what comes to mind is how afraid I was. There it is, I said it: scared shitless. The next few days (I can't remember how long we were there, perhaps a day or two) meant searching for coyotes everywhere. While rock climbing, I thought I saw them. Bouldering up a steep, steep hill, I could swear that they were right above the next ris... More About: Write , Quick , Coyote , Raid 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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