troll

This is a great example of poetry and digital storytelling to share with your students, not to mention a subject worth discussing.

To This Day

This is a powerful spoken word poem by Shane Koyczan. It's worth your time and you may want to share it with your students.

Text and audio of the poem.

Video project contributed to by many animators.



To This Day from To This Day on Vimeo.

HBO's Brave New Voices 2010 National Poetry Slam Team Championships

Some of you may remember this post back in May that featured Kyle giving his "last lecture." I just wanted to post a short update that Kyle will be on HBO next Saturday, October 23rd at 9 pm (Mountain Time) as part of their Brave New Voices: 2010 National Poetry Slam Team Championships.

Embedded below are two previews, one from HBO's site and one from YouTube. If you're available next Saturday and have HBO (alas, I do not), you might tune in to see how Kyle's doing.

Preview

I Hear Arapahoe Singing

Last night Kristin Leclaire asked her American Literature class to write their own version of Walt Whitman's poem, "I Hear America Singing." Their poem is called "I Hear Arapahoe Singing," and each student in the class contributed his or her own verse using the class blog. In an email, Kristin shared that "in class today, we analyzed our poem, and many students realized that all of their verses emphasized the insecurity of the individual but the strong, driving force of our pride as a united school."

Please consider heading over to their class blog and leaving them some constructive feedback.

WWSD: What Would Shakespeare Do?

No, don’t worry, this is not a reprise of that post. Anne Smith had her ninth graders complete a word trace from Acts 2 and 3 of Macbeth:

Through our study of acts 2-3 of Macbeth, the kids were put into groups looking at the use of one of the following words: blood, hand, man, night, sleep.

. . . I asked the kids this year to demonstrate their learning using any way BUT PPT . . .

I let my grad school buddies know of this, and Gary Stager our teacher, asked my students to think about the project this way: What Would Shakespeare Do?

After a few presentations today, we debriefed after each one discussing did their presentation merely distribute information or did they go above and beyond the expectations to really show WWSD? I asked the groups that gave a literal interpretation to spend some more time really pushing our understanding of Shakespeare's use of those words. Why those words? Who says them the most? Are there modern connections? What connections can you make between the uses of the words? and being creative with their interpretations. I am anxious to see them progress with their thinking.

The students came up with a variety of presentations including writing a sonnet of their own about Shakespeare's use of 'hand' and connecting it to a Good Charlotte song, creating a rap rendition about 'night' and connecting it to Mission Impossible, and creating a series of one man plays about his use of 'man'. Head on over, check out the examples, and leave them some constructive criticism.

I also think it's interesting to contemplate what various historical figures would do to communicate their ideas given today's tools, and challenge students (and teachers) to not only imagine that, but try their hand at creating it. What would Shakespeare do?

It Is What We Make of It

This is going to be a somewhat eclectic post, with no real insight or conclusion from me (yes, I know, I know), but I think that there are some connections here that perhaps somebody (or even my future self) can make. There also could be nothing at all here, but I think the links are interesting in and of themselves even if there is no real connection or higher meaning.

Thanks to an email from one of my school board members, I ran across this article at the Washington Post:

The 44-year-old North Bethesda resident desperately wants a restaurant here that caters to the raw food diet, which prescribes only fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouts, none of which have been heated above 112 degrees Fahrenheit. Over the past year, she has dedicated as many as 10 hours each month to attending meetings, sharing her ideas on a community Web site and creating raw food treats such as oat-hemp balls to persuade others of the virtues of raw food.

One thing Greenspan hasn't had to contribute is cash, a key element in getting new restaurants up and running. That's because the model for Elements is unlike any other Washington restaurant, and, as far as the founders can say, unlike any other restaurant in the world. If it successfully opens, Elements will be the first "crowdsourced" restaurant, conceived and developed by an open community of experts and interested parties.

So a group of like-minded folks use technology to come together to try to achieve a goal.

. . . "Most businesses are started because you have a great idea, and you take it out to the public to see if they like it," says Linda Welch, 49, the Washington businesswoman who launched and is funding the Elements project. "This is the opposite. We're finding out what people want and doing it."

They gather information from their stakeholders (and, in fact, are stakeholders themselves), to try to develop a product that meets the stakeholders’ needs.

. . . "It's the community. What's rewarding is coming together to create a place in the city that's beneficial to the community and yourself and your friends."

To paraphrase: It’s about the community, stupid.

. . . Characteristically, the group is optimistic. "It's not crazy to do if you have an established, loyal customer base," Takemoto says. "What's crazy is to open a business from scratch."

Again, to paraphrase: What’s crazy is not to use these tools and this ability to organize.

This seems to tie in well with Clay Shirky’s ideas about group forming and group action. It also reminds me a bit of this “group action to make a difference” video that I ran across at Dean Shareski’s blog. As Dean says,

This is the type of thing that illustrates the ability to be proactive . . . I’m looking forward to seeing passionate, connected teachers leading students in group formation that changes our world.

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

As Dean says in the comments to that post, “We only need a few motivated people to lead and the ease of organization can make it happen.”

It also reminds me of James Surowiecki’s keynote at NECC, which is only available for viewing by ISTE members, but everyone can view an excerpt.

Under the right conditions, groups of people can be remarkably intelligent.

So we should be figuring out – and providing – those conditions. What might those conditions be?

You need some method of aggregation.

You need a diverse group of people.

You need independent thinking. You want people to rely on their own information, their own intuition, their own knowledge. You want people to bring something to the table other than what everyone else around them is bringing to the table.

Hmm, sounds like a well-developed, diverse, and active Personal Learning Network.

Finally, it seems to connect for me (somehow, not quite sure how yet) to this presentation by Michael Wesch at the Library of Congress. Wesch, in relation to the YouTube community, talks about ideas including “user generated filtering” and “user generated organization,” and how as “media change, human relations change.” Towards the end he states, “It is not just what you make of it, it is what we make of it.” (He's now posted the full text of his poem, inspired by Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.)




So, how does this tie all together? As I stated at the top, I’m not sure I know. But I think it’s something along the lines of:

Technology is changing us. Us, the human race. It’s changing how we form communities and interact. It’s empowering individuals, yet in a powerfully group-oriented, networked way (“networked individualism” - sounds like an oxymoron, but I'm not sure it is). As educators, we need to delve into the “ridiculously easy group formation,” pull from the wisdom of our diverse stakeholders, and help discover and provide the conditions necessary for our students to leverage the power of aggregation. It truly can be what we make of it, if only we choose to try.

Or something like that.

Or not at all like that.

Like I said, I’m not sure how these all connect, I just have this strong feeling that they do. And if we can tease out those connections, it can have some powerful implications for the way we teach and learn.

What do you make of it?

Poetry Out Loud (and read to yourself)

I meant to write this a couple of weeks ago right after National Poetry Month ended, but better late than never.

First, this story on NPR lets you hear Shawntay Henry, this year’s winner of the Poetry Out Loud contest, read “Frederick Douglass” by Robert E. Hayden.

Second, you can listen to the winners of AHS’s first iPoem contest. This was a last minute idea, so we didn’t get as much participation as we would’ve liked, but we’ll start earlier next year. First place, for the poem “Cthulu (pronounced ku-thew-lew) Converses with his Master” by Allie Fresch (Video, Text). First runner up, for the poem “Tekel” by Olyver Mycroft (Audio, Text), and second runner up for the poem “The Difference Between Life & Living” by Brittany Knigge (Audio, Text).

Finally, from the Summer 2008 issue of Mountain Rise, the International Journal of Scholarship of Learning and Teaching (published at Western Carolina University), the poem Teachers Must by Joe Mills, North Carolina School of the Arts.

Each fall when the new grapes arrive,
we sift and evaluate them,
trying to determine how best
to help them be what they can be.
Some are thin-skinned and delicate,
others gruff and independent.
Some need oak, others stainless steel.
No single process works for all,
so first we must identify
the grapes for what they are, not what
we wish they were. We also must
believe that careful attention,
time, and the right environment,
can help develop character,
complexity, balance, and depth.
But, most of all, we must have faith
that even when we can’t see them
fundamental transformations
bordering on miraculous
are bubbling under the surface.

Poem in Your (Virtual) Pocket Day

In honor of Poem in Your Pocket Day, here's one for your virtual pocket (via a tweet from Carolyn Foote):

AHS iPoem Contest

This post is primarily to help publicize this to the students at my high school, but of course anyone who reads this is welcome to run with the idea.

About a week ago I forwarded some resources that I had come across about National Poetry Month to my Language Arts teachers. One of them replied to say thanks and also mentioned that April 17th was Poem In Your Pocket Day. I jokingly emailed back that that "sounded like the iPoem™ to me". By the next day I was thinking that wasn't such a bad idea, so I pitched the idea to my Language Arts teachers who ran with it. Here are the details for AHS students (and anyone else who might be interested in the idea):

In celebration of National Poetry Month, AHS and the Muse (Arapahoe’s Literary Arts Magazine) are holding an iPoem contest. To participate you must compose an original poem and create a digital project that – at a minimum – includes audio of your poetry (it can be more extensive - see the PDF below for ideas). You will need to submit your project by 3:00 pm on Monday, April 28th. Entries will be judged by a semi-distinguished panel of AHS Language Arts teachers and the winner will receive an iPod Shuffle. For more details, see the AHS website (pdf) or your Language Arts teacher.

VoiceThread Examples

We used VoiceThread for the first time just before spring break so I thought I’d share these examples. We still have a lot to learn about how to use it well, but I think these are a good start. Anne Smith describes several different poetry projects some of our freshmen completed - you should read the descriptions of the different types of poems as well as follow the links to some of the projects they created using various tools. Here are direct links to the VoiceThread examples in Anne and Maura Moritz’s classes:

Smith Period 2

Moritz Period 3

Moritz Period 4

Smith Period 5

As always, constructive criticism is welcomed, either on Anne’s post or – even better – leave a comment on some of the VoiceThreads.

Speaking From The Soul

It’s no secret that I sometimes get frustrated with the pace of change in schools, including in my own building. But hopefully it’s also no secret that I work with an amazing bunch of folks at my school. Whether it’s the faculty dance at an assembly, innovative uses of technology in the classroom, or thoughtful discussions about teaching and learning, the staff at my school is always looking for ways to meet the needs of our students.

Karen Gerlich is one of those amazing staff members. From her latest blog post:

Now I'm no wallflower, but I don't necessarily enjoy sharing my writing--writing for me is like a window on my soul--perhaps that's why I'm a reluctant blogger. But, I figured if 9th graders could share their writing, if Lary could do birdcalls, I could take a chance and share my poem. So I did. Even for a seasoned professional (or, ancient veteran teacher), I found it hard to recite my poem in front of the kids. Eye contact was hard to make and my stomach lurched, but I did it. Then Lary challenged me to put it on my blog. So I am. No eye contact, but my stomach is lurching...

I thought about quoting her poem here, but instead I really, really, really recommend you visit her blog and read it yourself. Karen leads by example. By sharing herself with her students, she helps build those relationships and those common experiences that are a huge part of learning. It’s nothing less than inspiring.

More Poetry Podcasts

Previously I blogged about Anne's classes posting podcasts of their poetry, and now Maura's classes have posted as well. Head over and take a listen to Period 1 or Period 6 and give them some constructive feedback.

Rhyme Time Podcasts

To update this earlier post, each student has now chosen the favorite poem that they've written and podcasted it. Please head over to this post on Learning and Laptops, listen to a few, and then give them some constructive criticism in the comments.

Rhyme Time

Over on Learning and Laptops, Maria – who is a ninth grader – wrote this:

Imagine: A place where students are adults and teachers are students. Imagine: A place where information is pulled, not fed. Imagine: A place where poetry can be real, deep, and fun at the same time.

Welcome to Ms. Smith's 9th Grade Honors English Class!!! Beware: This is NOT education as usual, please come prepared to learn in a way never experienced before. Please come excited to try new things, and to do your best, no matter the outcome.

. . . So boom! Out came student-taught poetry explications, publishing of our poems, and a opportunity that, instead of ogling Shakespeare's brilliance, we could to create our own! And our poems wouldn't simply be pieces of paper with a red grade, they would be published on the world-wide internet for others to enjoy and reply with their feedback.

The limits of blogging were pushed past the max as, each night from my computer at home, I would post the rough draft of one of my poems. Then I could scroll through all my classmates' poems, and discover new ideas and ways to improve. The next time I checked back, it was thrilling to read others' comments and feedback. It felt like a giant fishbowl, where instead of agonizing over a poem by myself, I could throw it out to a ton of different minds and we could build it up together, achieving an end result that I knew was truly my very best work.

If you go to the post, there are links to multiple examples on their blog. I particularly like this one.

Then, over on Anne Smith's ninth grade blog, the students in that class responded to this:

Students were asked to compose poems following the "I am" poem format revealing in one line who they truly are. This line is then repeated throughout the poem as they speak of their wishes, dreams, hopes and fears.

Students not only posted their poems as comments, but also commented on each other’s poems.

If you have a few moments, please check out the posts, read through some of the poems, and offer your constructive criticism in the comments.


Image Citation: Poetry and dreams, originally uploaded by Cher Amio.