As teachers, part of our formal evaluation for the current academic year will be based on student surveys. Among my teacher friends, it is not necessarily a popular viewpoint to be in support of including this component in our evaluations. However, I have always been of the opinion that student evaluations could serve as a useful tool for improving instruction. Student evaluation forms are also used at the college-level, and isn't that our ultimate goal - to prepare students for college? I think that student evaluations could prove to be very useful for teachers. But, if it is to work, positive feedback trends and suggestions for improvement should be compiled at the administrative level and provided to teachers during the early summer. This will allow teachers an appropriate amount to time to reflect on their practice and implement adjustments where necessary.
I have been piloting the Moodle Learning Management System with my design technology students, and I have asked them to provide formal feedback and evaluations of the Moodle interface (and the 5 E's framework). So far, the feedback from students has been incredibly insightful. As a facilitator, I have provided some meaningful learning activities that have been very successful, and I have encountered pitfalls and roadblocks (the students were quick to let me know when these happened). Students (with initial support from me) were able to navigate the Moodle interface and communicate in meaningful discussion forums. I have found uses for the Moodle blog feature, and I have been able to weigh the benefits and drawback of the Moodle quiz feature vs. other quiz/survey tools on the web.
As teachers (both in traditional classrooms and in virtual learning spaces), it is our job to provide instruction that works for students. The students are our clients, and if we are unable to gauge how they perceive their learning, then we will also be lacking in the ability to improve the effectiveness of our teaching. We need to be sure that we are serving our clients to the best of our ability. I have found that making lessons that are as interactive as possible is, more often than not, the right path for science instruction. Still, there is a lot of room for improvement in my pedagogical practices, and these reflections definitely help to push me in the right direction.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
The Learning Cycle (The 5 E's of Science Education)
The 5 E's (a great way for students to acquire and process science learning):
- Engage
- Explore
- Explain/Communicate
- Elaborate
- Evaluate
Well, so far in my career, I think that I have done pretty well in providing my students with concrete, hands-on learning experiences whenever they were appropriate. But actually using the learning cycle to explicitly facilitate inquiry-based learning? Admittedly I have been lacking there. It seems that the timing is now right to develop my hand with the Learning Cycle. For one thing, the shift to the virtual classroom will eliminate much of the opportunities for "hands-on" experiences, so I should replace those experiences with as much inquiry as possible. Secondly, the learning cycle (http://www.dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/science/LearningCyclePlanInst11.05.pdf) offers a consistent framework that is meaningful and easy to follow, which will serve me well in organizing my distance learning lessons. It will also allow for a logical learning progression for all students, providing support for those who need it, as they progress through increasingly challenging tasks. The learning cycle approach provided ample opportunities for students to choose how they complete a task or direct their learning. Therefore, it will also help me to meet the requests of school administrators that asking us to achieve higher levels of differentiated instruction in our classrooms. The upshot is that I feel like I'm killing a lot of birds with one stone here.
I am so excited to really begin implementing the learning cycle with students that I have decided to pilot the process with one my classes this month. More on that as it progresses.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
This is a Personality Test
I recently completed the Keirsey Temperament survey: http://www.keirsey.com/aboutkts2.aspx
If you scroll down to the bottom of the Keirsey website, you can see a brief synopsis of each personality type. You can also click on the "four temperaments" tab at the top to read longer and more detailed narratives about the various personality types, including situational examples.
The sorter tells me that my temperament is that of the Guardian-Provider and, after reading through the description, I cannot argue with the classification. I like to entertain and I am outgoing. I am observant and friendly. But I am also slightly obsessive-compulsive about order and organization, and I tend to have a hard time digesting criticism from others (which might help to explain my adverse feelings toward the Danielson model of teacher evaluation). I have compassion for others, but I am also sensitive and take most things personally (for better or for worse). I enjoy participating in social activities and cooperating with others. In fact, part of the reason why I left my previous job with an engineering company in exchange for a career in education was that I felt I needed a job that would allow for more human interaction (as opposed to 'crunching numbers' on a computer all day). The only aspect of the temperament that I can take issue with is that I am supposed to be at ease and confident with public speaking. While it is true that I kind of enjoy public speaking during and after the fact, it is also typical that I feel quite a bit of anxiety leading up to the event. This is most likely related to my "attention to the details of furnishing goods and services". Essentially, I stress out about making things as good as possible, which can be difficult to come to terms with as a teacher - the job is never done and there is always more work to do.
I am excited to use this temperament sorter with my students. It will be a good metacognitive exercise for them as learners, and it also help me to get to know them better as individuals. I can also use the personality 'data' to inform my selection of cooperative groups for various learning activities. I have often wondered if everyone thinks that they have the "best" personality, at least most fitting for their temperament. If I did not think that I was doing the best I could, then I would want to improve. I have been recommending that everyone take Keirsey's temperament sorter. For me it was informative and provided a framework for introspection (I think I "feel" too much, but I am okay with that). At the very least, the temperament sorter is fun. So the Guardian Provider in me is asking that you go back to the top of this post, copy the link into your web browser, and take the KTS-II right now.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the Keirsey website, you can see a brief synopsis of each personality type. You can also click on the "four temperaments" tab at the top to read longer and more detailed narratives about the various personality types, including situational examples.
The sorter tells me that my temperament is that of the Guardian-Provider and, after reading through the description, I cannot argue with the classification. I like to entertain and I am outgoing. I am observant and friendly. But I am also slightly obsessive-compulsive about order and organization, and I tend to have a hard time digesting criticism from others (which might help to explain my adverse feelings toward the Danielson model of teacher evaluation). I have compassion for others, but I am also sensitive and take most things personally (for better or for worse). I enjoy participating in social activities and cooperating with others. In fact, part of the reason why I left my previous job with an engineering company in exchange for a career in education was that I felt I needed a job that would allow for more human interaction (as opposed to 'crunching numbers' on a computer all day). The only aspect of the temperament that I can take issue with is that I am supposed to be at ease and confident with public speaking. While it is true that I kind of enjoy public speaking during and after the fact, it is also typical that I feel quite a bit of anxiety leading up to the event. This is most likely related to my "attention to the details of furnishing goods and services". Essentially, I stress out about making things as good as possible, which can be difficult to come to terms with as a teacher - the job is never done and there is always more work to do.
I am excited to use this temperament sorter with my students. It will be a good metacognitive exercise for them as learners, and it also help me to get to know them better as individuals. I can also use the personality 'data' to inform my selection of cooperative groups for various learning activities. I have often wondered if everyone thinks that they have the "best" personality, at least most fitting for their temperament. If I did not think that I was doing the best I could, then I would want to improve. I have been recommending that everyone take Keirsey's temperament sorter. For me it was informative and provided a framework for introspection (I think I "feel" too much, but I am okay with that). At the very least, the temperament sorter is fun. So the Guardian Provider in me is asking that you go back to the top of this post, copy the link into your web browser, and take the KTS-II right now.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Establishing Rapport
We do have rapport with one another. I'm sorry, but we don't. At least not in the context of this blog. By definition, rapport is a mutual relationship between two or more participants. Blogs tend to be a much more one-way form of dissemination. As the author of this blog, I make an effort to communicate to you, the reader. You, on the other hand, take in my writing without providing feedback (with a few exceptions). It is one-sided, but this is not your fault, its mine. I do not use my blog as a forum for eliciting responses and discussion. But maybe I should. I should work harder to engage my readers and provide them with opportunities to contribute/participate. It would strengthen my reflections, and probably provide all of us with a better experience with The Young Scientists.
I have spent some time thinking about the rapport I build with my students. The rapport is never exactly the same from year to year, from class to class, or even from student to student. So many variables come into play here. For one thing, I evolve a little as a teacher (and as a human) each year. One of the reason I like to keep this reflective blog is so that I will one day be able to trace my personal changes over time. Also, each year brings with it new students and new personalities. Rapport permeates the classroom in all directions. It is not just between teacher and class, but also between teacher and student, and between student and student. Some students (or groups of students) pose more challenges for establishing rapport than others. But that is the nature of the job. For me, this ever-changing dynamic is part of what makes science education such a compelling career.
Building relationships and rapport among students in a distance learning setting will pose its own unique set of challenges. For example, in the physical classroom I periodically adjust seating charts throughout the year to ensure "educational harmony" for my students. How will I know that the student groups in each of the five high schools have established a good rapport with one another? I will need to constantly collect feedback (i.e. in the form of student surveys) to identify areas where rapport needs to be strengthened.
Humor is essential for teacher/student rapport. Learning needs to be fun at least some of the time. However, I think that it can sometimes be difficult to be funny or "fun" in text. And some of the funnier things that a teacher might say may not be appropriate for typing (i.e. if its not documents we can always deny that we ever said it). There is also the risk that a humorous tone could be misinterpreted in text (in the absence of body language and vocal intonations). I think that web 2.0 tools can be very useful for injecting fun/humor into the virtual classroom.
Finally, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, rapport must be mutual. I think that distance learning really lends itself to students getting to know each other. All students (even the traditionally shy ones) can read about one and other and share about themselves. However, any group of students will include some individuals less apt to participate than others. Its easy to recognize and try to include these students in the physical classroom. But how do you coax these students to participate in the virtual classroom? For this reason, I think that it will be especially important to establish an open and supportive tone at the beginning of the year while making expectations clear for everyone.
I have had better rapport with some groups of students than others, but I have never failed to establish rapport altogether. And I don't plan to start failing at it now that I will be teaching in an on-line classroom.
I have spent some time thinking about the rapport I build with my students. The rapport is never exactly the same from year to year, from class to class, or even from student to student. So many variables come into play here. For one thing, I evolve a little as a teacher (and as a human) each year. One of the reason I like to keep this reflective blog is so that I will one day be able to trace my personal changes over time. Also, each year brings with it new students and new personalities. Rapport permeates the classroom in all directions. It is not just between teacher and class, but also between teacher and student, and between student and student. Some students (or groups of students) pose more challenges for establishing rapport than others. But that is the nature of the job. For me, this ever-changing dynamic is part of what makes science education such a compelling career.
Building relationships and rapport among students in a distance learning setting will pose its own unique set of challenges. For example, in the physical classroom I periodically adjust seating charts throughout the year to ensure "educational harmony" for my students. How will I know that the student groups in each of the five high schools have established a good rapport with one another? I will need to constantly collect feedback (i.e. in the form of student surveys) to identify areas where rapport needs to be strengthened.
Humor is essential for teacher/student rapport. Learning needs to be fun at least some of the time. However, I think that it can sometimes be difficult to be funny or "fun" in text. And some of the funnier things that a teacher might say may not be appropriate for typing (i.e. if its not documents we can always deny that we ever said it). There is also the risk that a humorous tone could be misinterpreted in text (in the absence of body language and vocal intonations). I think that web 2.0 tools can be very useful for injecting fun/humor into the virtual classroom.
Finally, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, rapport must be mutual. I think that distance learning really lends itself to students getting to know each other. All students (even the traditionally shy ones) can read about one and other and share about themselves. However, any group of students will include some individuals less apt to participate than others. Its easy to recognize and try to include these students in the physical classroom. But how do you coax these students to participate in the virtual classroom? For this reason, I think that it will be especially important to establish an open and supportive tone at the beginning of the year while making expectations clear for everyone.
I have had better rapport with some groups of students than others, but I have never failed to establish rapport altogether. And I don't plan to start failing at it now that I will be teaching in an on-line classroom.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Planning Ahead
As a form of stress management, I try to live in the "here-and-now" as much as possible. I am often not very good at doing this, but I am trying to get better. Anyway, with a career as an educator, it will never be possible to live strictly in the here-and now. Our responsibilities require that we plan far ahead, and maintain a vision for the objectives we need our students to achieve as we scaffold and build toward our instructional goals. Teachers are also constantly making efforts to improve their practices. In order to do this, we reflect back on previous lessons and try to build on things that went well, and modify or eliminate components that didn't work. We incorporate all of these things in our lesson/unit plans for the school year.
There is a quote by Dwight Eisenhower: "plans are useless, but planning is indispensable". Eisenhower was discussing preparations for battle, but I think that the same philosophy holds true for educational practices. Good teaching can still often be done "in the moment", but good planning will strengthen these moments and improve their structure and frequency. Some of my best moments as a teacher have stemmed from on-the-spot improvisations. My confidence as a teacher is highest when I feel that I am balancing all of the conflicting demands that come with the profession. For example, the need to be prepared with lessons that have been "thought through" vs. the need to be flexible enough to alter plans when necessary (another example of educators' conflicting dichotomies: using strict classroom management techniques vs. making learning fun and engaging for students).
As I prepare to teach The Global Environment via distance learning, the task of planning has taken on even greater importance. It is imperative that I work with the Syracuse City School District's educational technology experts to master the implementation of the Moodle interface this year. As a pilot program for distance learning, it is expected that we will all encounter "growing pains". As the instructor for the course, it is important that I have gone through all of the difficulties that my students will inevitably encounter so as to be better able to teach and assist them. As a participant in the "We Learn" distance learning grant, I want to see the program succeed and the district build upon these courses in the future. When the course goes online next September, it is likely that we will encounter an entirely new suite of issues and problems. Therefore, it is essential that we have our units and lessons completely planned out and detailed so that we can better focus on the delivery of the content. If our planning is complete then we will be better able to overcome any pitfalls with the technology.
The upshot is that it is February, and I am already planning a course for September (while still planning for and teaching my course load for the current school year). It feels a little strange to plan so far ahead, but there is no doubt that it will improve my instruction and give me more time to fine tune and tweak various components of my lessons. I will also maintain the flexibility required by all teachers, and continue to search for "teachable moments" where ever I can find them.
There is a quote by Dwight Eisenhower: "plans are useless, but planning is indispensable". Eisenhower was discussing preparations for battle, but I think that the same philosophy holds true for educational practices. Good teaching can still often be done "in the moment", but good planning will strengthen these moments and improve their structure and frequency. Some of my best moments as a teacher have stemmed from on-the-spot improvisations. My confidence as a teacher is highest when I feel that I am balancing all of the conflicting demands that come with the profession. For example, the need to be prepared with lessons that have been "thought through" vs. the need to be flexible enough to alter plans when necessary (another example of educators' conflicting dichotomies: using strict classroom management techniques vs. making learning fun and engaging for students).
As I prepare to teach The Global Environment via distance learning, the task of planning has taken on even greater importance. It is imperative that I work with the Syracuse City School District's educational technology experts to master the implementation of the Moodle interface this year. As a pilot program for distance learning, it is expected that we will all encounter "growing pains". As the instructor for the course, it is important that I have gone through all of the difficulties that my students will inevitably encounter so as to be better able to teach and assist them. As a participant in the "We Learn" distance learning grant, I want to see the program succeed and the district build upon these courses in the future. When the course goes online next September, it is likely that we will encounter an entirely new suite of issues and problems. Therefore, it is essential that we have our units and lessons completely planned out and detailed so that we can better focus on the delivery of the content. If our planning is complete then we will be better able to overcome any pitfalls with the technology.
The upshot is that it is February, and I am already planning a course for September (while still planning for and teaching my course load for the current school year). It feels a little strange to plan so far ahead, but there is no doubt that it will improve my instruction and give me more time to fine tune and tweak various components of my lessons. I will also maintain the flexibility required by all teachers, and continue to search for "teachable moments" where ever I can find them.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Reading List
I read somewhere recently that art is basically any human creation that, after experiencing it, impacts the way one views the world around them. I realize that www.goodreads.com has already established a website dedicated to this kind of stuff, but I want to post this here even if it is not entirely the appropriate venue for such a post.
As I begin to put together a reading list for the Global Environment syllabus (I plan to start the class off with "The Lorax", by Dr. Suess), I have been thinking about the novels that have left a lasting impression on me. Each one of these books has engaged, inspired or influenced me in its own unique ways. In the following list I will try to stay as chronological as possible and annotate the entries.
1) "My Teacher is an Alien", by Bruce Coville. This book introduced me to absurdism. It made me realize that you can write about whatever you want, and triggered an early interest in science fiction. In my later years, I bought a house three blocks away from the author's home in Syracuse.
2) "The Catcher in the Rye", by J.D. Salinger. Can there be a better book for male teenager to read?
3) "The Grapes of Wrath", by John Steinbeck. My literary introduction to corporate exploitation of man and nature. For a long time, I called this the best book I have ever read, and that may still be true.
4) "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", by Ken Kesey. I have already alluded to this book in a previous post. The narration and character development in this book are excellent, and another great book for a teenage to read as they start to rebel against the establishment.
5) "Catch-22", by Joseph Heller. You are insane if you don't like this book. Hilarious. This book holds the for the fastest I have ever read a book. I am usually a pretty slow reader (I like to take time to reflect), but I think I covered this in under 5 days.
6) "The Great Gatsby", by F. Scot Fitzgerald. The author actually spent some of his childhood growing up in Syracuse.
7) "The Metamorphosis", and "The Breast", by Franz Kafka and Phillip Roth, respectively. I read these books one right after the other. Metaphors for alienation.
8) "Eucalyptus", by Murray Bail. I did not like this book the first time I read it. Then, I had a professor ask me to re-read it and ask myself one question: Is our life just a collection of the stories that we tell? I haven't stopped thinking about that question ever since.
9) "A Confederacy of Dunces", by John Kennedy Toole. Laugh-out-loud funny. Also triggered an obsession with New Orleans that, like the characters in this book, will never leave me. I often cite this as my favorite book.
10) "On the Road", by Jack Kerouac. Mostly just because I read it while traveling across the county as a young man.
11) "Lolita", by Vladimir Nabokov. The transformative power of words and laguage.
12) "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", by Robert Pirsig. How to approach problems with the scientific method. Also good primers for various philosophical ideas, and a good story line.
13) "Never Cry Wolf", by Farley Mowat. More explicitly about the scientific method, and a good nature/adventure tale.
14) "Raising Holy Hell", by Bruce Olds. This is historical fiction about John Brown. It really got me thinking about the strength of one's convictions. John Brown is an inspirational figure in American history. But to be sure, he was a fanatic.
15) "Under the Banner of Heaven", by John Krakauer. I recognize that none of these last three entries are novels, but they all read like one, as do the other Krakauer books I have read ("Where Men Win Glory", "Into Thin Air", and "Into the Wild"). I enjoy all of Krakauer's work, but "Under the Banner of Heaven" seems like the most "no stone left unturned" kind of thing that I have ever read. The history and the story here are blended flawlessly.
16) "Sometimes a Great Notion", by Ken Kesey and "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. These are largely the same story, just a different cast of characters and Kesey should be credited with probably the best character development I have ever encountered in a book. Kesey replaces Dostoevsky's Russian monasteries of the mid 19th century with Oregon's logger unions of the mid 20th century. There are many other differences as well, but these are still books about family tensions, and how all people come at the world with their own unique perspectives. BK is probably the best book I have ever read, strike that, its definitely the best book I have ever read.
17) "The Witches of Eastwick", by John Updike. Maybe magic is possible through human will?
18) "Slaughterhouse 5", by Kurt Vonnegut. For me this book felt like it had some universal truth in it. Also, very funny.
19) "Oil", by Upton Sinclair. Inspiration for the movie "There Will Be Blood".
20) "Invisible Man", by Ralph Ellison. This book was really important for me.
21) "The Moviegoer", by Walker Percy. Life is about unlocking the underlying mystery and defeating any tendencies toward general malaise.
22) "Freedom" and "The Corrections", by Jonathan Franzen. These books can be very depressing, which I usually don't like. I was glued to these books even though, at time, I didn't want to be.
23) "The Mezzanine", by Nicholson Baker. It is the minutia of everyday life that give us profound experiences and the most meaningful connections to the world. Also, great use of detailed footnotes. While reading this book, I was struck by the feeling that Baker was writing about exact thoughts and/or experienced that I had before, like we were the same person in some strange way.
24) "A People's History of the United States", by Howard Zinn. Okay, I am done trying to make this list exclusively about novels. There is a lot of non-fiction that has inspired and even transformed my perspectives, and this book is most important among them. Beware of the two party system, and don't be afraid the stand up for ideals.
25) "Hope and Despair in the American School System", by Gerald Grant. Why do there need to be such inequities between suburban and inner city schools? This book isn't great about revealing the history behind the problems in education, but does offer some refreshing potential solutions.
26) "Guns, Germs, and Steel", by Jared Diamond. Social science, laid out almost like a scientific paper in long-form. This really helped me to understand the history of human civilization, and I will definitely be using it with my class next year.
27) "A Walk in the Woods", by Bill Bryson. I also enjoyed "A Brief History of Nearly Everything", and "In a Sunburned Country". But Bryson's travelogue of the Appalachian Trail actually prompted me to start brainstorming my thru-hiker name.
28) "Two Americans: Truman, Eisenhower, and a Dangerous World", by William Lee Miller. I don't often read straight historical biographies. But this one was really well written, and these were too very interesting presidents during very interesting times in American history. I learned a lot while reading this book.
29) "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy", by Nick Hornby. Okay, so I am not even trying to list books in chronological order any more. "About a Boy" was good, but "High Fidelity" articulated a lot about manhood and music. Also, best use of lists I have seen in any novel
30) "Dude, Where's my Country?", by Michael Moore. The hijackers on September 11th were Saudi Arabian citizens. Why did we go to war with Iraq and Afghanistan?
31) "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt", by Chris Hedges. I can never eat a tomato withouth thinking of the migrant workers in Florida again. There is a lot of true despair depicted in this book, but it is also a natural offshoot from Howard Zinn. People are resilient, and there is still hope for humans, but we need to stop ignoring the deep problems that we face. I think Hedges is brilliant, and I also got a lot from "War is a Force that Gives us Meaning", and "Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle".
Thirty-one books seems like a good place to stop (1 great, influential book for every year that I have been living - not bad). All of these books (and a number of plays as well) have helped me to reflect on myself and on the human experience in general. I look forward to my continued reading and my continued adding to this list. Strangely though, I realize now that I have left off one of the most important books of my life, "The Giving Tree", by Shel Silverstein. My mother used to read this book to me (maybe that's why I neglected to include it, because it was initially read to me rather than by me), and now I have read it to my children. Reading this book today still provokes a strong emotional response in me. I feel guilt -- like I am a taker from my parents and from the resources of the world. My hope is that as I go through life that I can eventually come to be terms with this guilt and be at peace with Shel Silverstein (another brilliant writer). Ideally, I would like to feel that I have given back and nurtured people to a degree equal with all that I have taken and been given. That would be a good sense of balane and peace.
Honorable Mention (AKA these books are just as important to me as the ones above, but I forgot to mention them as I was writing the list. Note the shorter annotations):
A. "Civilization and Its Discontents", by Sigfund Freud. What an orgininal!
B. "Parsons's Pleasure", By Roald Dahl. Irony!
C. "The Sound and the Fury", by William Faulker. Another one about varying perspectives and seeing experiences through the eyes of others.
D. "The Pearl", by John Steinbeck. More money, more problems.
E. "The Rum Diaries", by Hunter S. Thompson. The film version over politicized this story. This book made me want to travel and meet people, and helped me to refine my sense of adventure. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was more ground-breaking, but "The Rum Diaries" remains a more important book for me.
F. "Beloved", by Toni Morrison. Another author who spent time living in Syracuse. Transcendent!
G. "Freakanomics", by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. Incentives. Note: this is the only co-authored book to make the list.
H. "A Civil Action", by Jonathan Harr. The #1 reason I didn't go to Law School.
I. "1984" and "Animal Farm", by George Orwell. My parents gave me these books in a double volume for Christmas one year. More than any other books, these provided me with a framework for thinking critically about power, corruption, and greed in government. Very timely in the current era of Super PACs.
J. "Brave New World", by Aldous Huxley and "The Time Machine", by H.G. Wells. Great books for thinking about the hierarchies within social classes, and the inherent implications.
K. "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius", by Dave Eggers. If you read one memoir this year, make it this one.
L. "The Clan of the Cave Bear", by Jean M. Auel. Recommended to me by my mom -- fascinating interpretation of early humans, gender roles, social order, etc.
M. "Interview with the Vampire", by Anne Rice. Would eternal life turn anyone into a vampire? How could one possibly cope with experiencing all the changes throughout history (both revolutionary and gradual)
N. "Cheap: The High Cost Of Discount Culture", by Ellen Ruppel Shell. This book really got me thinking about the good that I consume. It refers to Wegmans as a "love letter to capitalism" which "identifies with the local food movement" in a chapter that contrasts the Wegmans grocery store chain with that of the "behemoth" Whole Foods. An analogy in the furniture retail world would be Dunk & Bright vs. IKEA.
O. "Don Quixote", by Cervantes. One of the funniest and poignant books I have ever read. Everyone comes through the universe with their own unique perspective, so try not to judge them.
As I begin to put together a reading list for the Global Environment syllabus (I plan to start the class off with "The Lorax", by Dr. Suess), I have been thinking about the novels that have left a lasting impression on me. Each one of these books has engaged, inspired or influenced me in its own unique ways. In the following list I will try to stay as chronological as possible and annotate the entries.
1) "My Teacher is an Alien", by Bruce Coville. This book introduced me to absurdism. It made me realize that you can write about whatever you want, and triggered an early interest in science fiction. In my later years, I bought a house three blocks away from the author's home in Syracuse.
2) "The Catcher in the Rye", by J.D. Salinger. Can there be a better book for male teenager to read?
3) "The Grapes of Wrath", by John Steinbeck. My literary introduction to corporate exploitation of man and nature. For a long time, I called this the best book I have ever read, and that may still be true.
4) "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", by Ken Kesey. I have already alluded to this book in a previous post. The narration and character development in this book are excellent, and another great book for a teenage to read as they start to rebel against the establishment.
5) "Catch-22", by Joseph Heller. You are insane if you don't like this book. Hilarious. This book holds the for the fastest I have ever read a book. I am usually a pretty slow reader (I like to take time to reflect), but I think I covered this in under 5 days.
6) "The Great Gatsby", by F. Scot Fitzgerald. The author actually spent some of his childhood growing up in Syracuse.
7) "The Metamorphosis", and "The Breast", by Franz Kafka and Phillip Roth, respectively. I read these books one right after the other. Metaphors for alienation.
8) "Eucalyptus", by Murray Bail. I did not like this book the first time I read it. Then, I had a professor ask me to re-read it and ask myself one question: Is our life just a collection of the stories that we tell? I haven't stopped thinking about that question ever since.
9) "A Confederacy of Dunces", by John Kennedy Toole. Laugh-out-loud funny. Also triggered an obsession with New Orleans that, like the characters in this book, will never leave me. I often cite this as my favorite book.
10) "On the Road", by Jack Kerouac. Mostly just because I read it while traveling across the county as a young man.
11) "Lolita", by Vladimir Nabokov. The transformative power of words and laguage.
12) "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", by Robert Pirsig. How to approach problems with the scientific method. Also good primers for various philosophical ideas, and a good story line.
13) "Never Cry Wolf", by Farley Mowat. More explicitly about the scientific method, and a good nature/adventure tale.
14) "Raising Holy Hell", by Bruce Olds. This is historical fiction about John Brown. It really got me thinking about the strength of one's convictions. John Brown is an inspirational figure in American history. But to be sure, he was a fanatic.
15) "Under the Banner of Heaven", by John Krakauer. I recognize that none of these last three entries are novels, but they all read like one, as do the other Krakauer books I have read ("Where Men Win Glory", "Into Thin Air", and "Into the Wild"). I enjoy all of Krakauer's work, but "Under the Banner of Heaven" seems like the most "no stone left unturned" kind of thing that I have ever read. The history and the story here are blended flawlessly.
16) "Sometimes a Great Notion", by Ken Kesey and "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. These are largely the same story, just a different cast of characters and Kesey should be credited with probably the best character development I have ever encountered in a book. Kesey replaces Dostoevsky's Russian monasteries of the mid 19th century with Oregon's logger unions of the mid 20th century. There are many other differences as well, but these are still books about family tensions, and how all people come at the world with their own unique perspectives. BK is probably the best book I have ever read, strike that, its definitely the best book I have ever read.
17) "The Witches of Eastwick", by John Updike. Maybe magic is possible through human will?
18) "Slaughterhouse 5", by Kurt Vonnegut. For me this book felt like it had some universal truth in it. Also, very funny.
19) "Oil", by Upton Sinclair. Inspiration for the movie "There Will Be Blood".
20) "Invisible Man", by Ralph Ellison. This book was really important for me.
21) "The Moviegoer", by Walker Percy. Life is about unlocking the underlying mystery and defeating any tendencies toward general malaise.
22) "Freedom" and "The Corrections", by Jonathan Franzen. These books can be very depressing, which I usually don't like. I was glued to these books even though, at time, I didn't want to be.
23) "The Mezzanine", by Nicholson Baker. It is the minutia of everyday life that give us profound experiences and the most meaningful connections to the world. Also, great use of detailed footnotes. While reading this book, I was struck by the feeling that Baker was writing about exact thoughts and/or experienced that I had before, like we were the same person in some strange way.
24) "A People's History of the United States", by Howard Zinn. Okay, I am done trying to make this list exclusively about novels. There is a lot of non-fiction that has inspired and even transformed my perspectives, and this book is most important among them. Beware of the two party system, and don't be afraid the stand up for ideals.
25) "Hope and Despair in the American School System", by Gerald Grant. Why do there need to be such inequities between suburban and inner city schools? This book isn't great about revealing the history behind the problems in education, but does offer some refreshing potential solutions.
26) "Guns, Germs, and Steel", by Jared Diamond. Social science, laid out almost like a scientific paper in long-form. This really helped me to understand the history of human civilization, and I will definitely be using it with my class next year.
27) "A Walk in the Woods", by Bill Bryson. I also enjoyed "A Brief History of Nearly Everything", and "In a Sunburned Country". But Bryson's travelogue of the Appalachian Trail actually prompted me to start brainstorming my thru-hiker name.
28) "Two Americans: Truman, Eisenhower, and a Dangerous World", by William Lee Miller. I don't often read straight historical biographies. But this one was really well written, and these were too very interesting presidents during very interesting times in American history. I learned a lot while reading this book.
29) "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy", by Nick Hornby. Okay, so I am not even trying to list books in chronological order any more. "About a Boy" was good, but "High Fidelity" articulated a lot about manhood and music. Also, best use of lists I have seen in any novel
30) "Dude, Where's my Country?", by Michael Moore. The hijackers on September 11th were Saudi Arabian citizens. Why did we go to war with Iraq and Afghanistan?
31) "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt", by Chris Hedges. I can never eat a tomato withouth thinking of the migrant workers in Florida again. There is a lot of true despair depicted in this book, but it is also a natural offshoot from Howard Zinn. People are resilient, and there is still hope for humans, but we need to stop ignoring the deep problems that we face. I think Hedges is brilliant, and I also got a lot from "War is a Force that Gives us Meaning", and "Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle".
Thirty-one books seems like a good place to stop (1 great, influential book for every year that I have been living - not bad). All of these books (and a number of plays as well) have helped me to reflect on myself and on the human experience in general. I look forward to my continued reading and my continued adding to this list. Strangely though, I realize now that I have left off one of the most important books of my life, "The Giving Tree", by Shel Silverstein. My mother used to read this book to me (maybe that's why I neglected to include it, because it was initially read to me rather than by me), and now I have read it to my children. Reading this book today still provokes a strong emotional response in me. I feel guilt -- like I am a taker from my parents and from the resources of the world. My hope is that as I go through life that I can eventually come to be terms with this guilt and be at peace with Shel Silverstein (another brilliant writer). Ideally, I would like to feel that I have given back and nurtured people to a degree equal with all that I have taken and been given. That would be a good sense of balane and peace.
Honorable Mention (AKA these books are just as important to me as the ones above, but I forgot to mention them as I was writing the list. Note the shorter annotations):
A. "Civilization and Its Discontents", by Sigfund Freud. What an orgininal!
B. "Parsons's Pleasure", By Roald Dahl. Irony!
C. "The Sound and the Fury", by William Faulker. Another one about varying perspectives and seeing experiences through the eyes of others.
D. "The Pearl", by John Steinbeck. More money, more problems.
E. "The Rum Diaries", by Hunter S. Thompson. The film version over politicized this story. This book made me want to travel and meet people, and helped me to refine my sense of adventure. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was more ground-breaking, but "The Rum Diaries" remains a more important book for me.
F. "Beloved", by Toni Morrison. Another author who spent time living in Syracuse. Transcendent!
G. "Freakanomics", by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. Incentives. Note: this is the only co-authored book to make the list.
H. "A Civil Action", by Jonathan Harr. The #1 reason I didn't go to Law School.
I. "1984" and "Animal Farm", by George Orwell. My parents gave me these books in a double volume for Christmas one year. More than any other books, these provided me with a framework for thinking critically about power, corruption, and greed in government. Very timely in the current era of Super PACs.
J. "Brave New World", by Aldous Huxley and "The Time Machine", by H.G. Wells. Great books for thinking about the hierarchies within social classes, and the inherent implications.
K. "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius", by Dave Eggers. If you read one memoir this year, make it this one.
L. "The Clan of the Cave Bear", by Jean M. Auel. Recommended to me by my mom -- fascinating interpretation of early humans, gender roles, social order, etc.
M. "Interview with the Vampire", by Anne Rice. Would eternal life turn anyone into a vampire? How could one possibly cope with experiencing all the changes throughout history (both revolutionary and gradual)
N. "Cheap: The High Cost Of Discount Culture", by Ellen Ruppel Shell. This book really got me thinking about the good that I consume. It refers to Wegmans as a "love letter to capitalism" which "identifies with the local food movement" in a chapter that contrasts the Wegmans grocery store chain with that of the "behemoth" Whole Foods. An analogy in the furniture retail world would be Dunk & Bright vs. IKEA.
O. "Don Quixote", by Cervantes. One of the funniest and poignant books I have ever read. Everyone comes through the universe with their own unique perspective, so try not to judge them.
Friday, February 1, 2013
The Return of The Global Environment
The Syracuse City School District was recently awarded a grant for piloting a distance learning program. The grant specifies that five courses (French 1, Spanish 4/5, pre-calculus, ESF: The Global Environment, and ESF Writing) will be offered to Syracuse students via Moodle, the district's distance learning interface. In a collaborative effort, one teacher from each of the city's five high schools will be responsible for planning, creating, and delivering one of these courses online as a substitution for one of the traditional courses in their normal class loads. As a participant in this grant, I will be teaching the ESF Global Environment in the distance learning format.
Here is how it works, supposedly. Each high school dedicates a single classroom to the distance learning initiative. Small groups (about 5-8 students) at each of the high schools will be in the room during each of the five periods when one of the courses mentioned above is being taught. Each class will be a different group of 5-8 students (it will not be the case that the same students are all taking each of the five distance learning courses). Each high school will be assigned as the "home base" for one of the distance learning classes (for example, Corcorcan will be the home base for the Global Environment). So, say Global Environment will offered during period 3. That means I will meet in the distance learning room during 3rd period with the 6 or 7 Corcoran students enrolled in the course. There will be a video camera on me as I teach and the video image (and audio) of my instruction will be projected onto the smartboards in the distance learning classrooms of the other high schools. I will also have the ability to see video feeds from each of the high schools as viewed on Corcoran's smartboard as picture-in-picture (PIP) images. Students from all of the other high schools will be able to interact with me (or any other student in the class) in real-time. Sound futuristic? Its really not, but it is relatively new for high schools to implement this type of technology (virtual classrooms are becoming much more common at the college level). The Jetson Family could now feel comfortable sending their kids to the Syracuse City School District.
I have taught EFB 120: The Global Environment (Energy, Adaptation, and the Exploitation of Resources) once before during the 2010-2011 academic year. I really enjoyed teaching this course in a traditional classroom setting, and I now look forward to the unique opportunity of teaching this course in a "virtual classroom". At many of the high schools, there have not been enough students enrolling to justify offering the course. Now, interested students will be given the opportunity to take this unique college credit course virtually, whereas it would not even be offered otherwise. This is a great example of a win-win situation. However, I am not without my reservations.
The opportunity to teach The Global Environment via distance learning was really an offer I couldn't refuse. I find teaching this course intellectually and personally fulfilling, and I believe the students get a lot more out of it than just college credits. I think that it changes their perspective of the world around them. However, the students have to be motivated and generally interested in the course content. Distance learning presents the added challenge of selecting/recruiting a roster that will be well suited for this course from student populations that I have never met. How will I know that these are the "right" students for the distance learning version of The Global Environment?
I admit that the anxieties do not stop there. I guess this would be as good a time as any to confront a deep-seated personal issue: I am a technophobe. I do not own (in fact, refuse to own) a smartphone. I was initially resistant to cellular telephone ownership and only signed my first phone contract in the summer of 2003 because I needed a contact number to list on my resume as I searched for employment in the Pacific Northwest. I suppose I will also succumb to the allure of smart phones eventually, but not until encountering some unforeseen necessity (maybe I will one day need one to effectively facilitate distance learning with my students?). However, I dread the idea of incessant proximity to the internet. On a related note, I also have great difficulty soliciting friends to watch Syracuse basketball games at my home. The reason for this is my lack of a flat screen, high definition television set. There is nothing wrong with my traditional 32" CRT television. It is only ten years old and it works fine. There is no need to buy a new TV, and my reasoning for this is probably best articulated by "The Story of Stuff". My technophobia extends further to such phenomena as GPS systems (will humans lose the ability to interpret maps on their own?), to eReaders (why should books need electricity), and to Google itself (are people losing the initiative and drive to pursue information in creative ways when Google can easily just do it for them)?
These technology issues are mine to resolve, and it will likely be a life-long struggle. But for now the question is how will the technophobe fare as a distance learning instructor? As a technophobe, and as member of the New York State Teachers Union, I am happy that my roster for The Global Environment will not and CANNOT exceed 30 students. I love the idea of distance learning expanding learning opportunities for students in schools who would not otherwise have these opportunities. I legitimately fear a scenario in which virtual classrooms replace living, breathing teachers. I fear a fully automated, robotic society devoid of old-fashioned, real human interaction and creativity (as opposed to the virtual kind). This is part of the reason for my eagerness to participate in this grant. On one hand, it is great opportunity for me as a professional educator and for the learners who will partake. On the other hand, if I discover that virtual distance learning is evil (or as Ken Kesey would say, part of the "Combine") then I will at least be well-positioned to destroy it from the inside (let me very clear here, I do not anticipate this second scenario, but I am first and foremost a teacher and will do whatever is necessary to protect the institution of public education). I mean look at this way: who will need teachers when everyone has Google Goggles? They will be the same people who need drivers' licenses when everyone has Google Cars.
My main point here is that it is a 'brave new world', and we are all people in it. One of the reasons that The Global Environment is so compelling to teach is that it helps students establish a context and an understanding for our modern world. I am very fortunate to be teaching this course again next year. However, I recognize that distance learning will come with a substantial learning curve. There is a lot of work to be done in preparation for this endeavor, and its time to get started.
Here is how it works, supposedly. Each high school dedicates a single classroom to the distance learning initiative. Small groups (about 5-8 students) at each of the high schools will be in the room during each of the five periods when one of the courses mentioned above is being taught. Each class will be a different group of 5-8 students (it will not be the case that the same students are all taking each of the five distance learning courses). Each high school will be assigned as the "home base" for one of the distance learning classes (for example, Corcorcan will be the home base for the Global Environment). So, say Global Environment will offered during period 3. That means I will meet in the distance learning room during 3rd period with the 6 or 7 Corcoran students enrolled in the course. There will be a video camera on me as I teach and the video image (and audio) of my instruction will be projected onto the smartboards in the distance learning classrooms of the other high schools. I will also have the ability to see video feeds from each of the high schools as viewed on Corcoran's smartboard as picture-in-picture (PIP) images. Students from all of the other high schools will be able to interact with me (or any other student in the class) in real-time. Sound futuristic? Its really not, but it is relatively new for high schools to implement this type of technology (virtual classrooms are becoming much more common at the college level). The Jetson Family could now feel comfortable sending their kids to the Syracuse City School District.
I have taught EFB 120: The Global Environment (Energy, Adaptation, and the Exploitation of Resources) once before during the 2010-2011 academic year. I really enjoyed teaching this course in a traditional classroom setting, and I now look forward to the unique opportunity of teaching this course in a "virtual classroom". At many of the high schools, there have not been enough students enrolling to justify offering the course. Now, interested students will be given the opportunity to take this unique college credit course virtually, whereas it would not even be offered otherwise. This is a great example of a win-win situation. However, I am not without my reservations.
The opportunity to teach The Global Environment via distance learning was really an offer I couldn't refuse. I find teaching this course intellectually and personally fulfilling, and I believe the students get a lot more out of it than just college credits. I think that it changes their perspective of the world around them. However, the students have to be motivated and generally interested in the course content. Distance learning presents the added challenge of selecting/recruiting a roster that will be well suited for this course from student populations that I have never met. How will I know that these are the "right" students for the distance learning version of The Global Environment?
I admit that the anxieties do not stop there. I guess this would be as good a time as any to confront a deep-seated personal issue: I am a technophobe. I do not own (in fact, refuse to own) a smartphone. I was initially resistant to cellular telephone ownership and only signed my first phone contract in the summer of 2003 because I needed a contact number to list on my resume as I searched for employment in the Pacific Northwest. I suppose I will also succumb to the allure of smart phones eventually, but not until encountering some unforeseen necessity (maybe I will one day need one to effectively facilitate distance learning with my students?). However, I dread the idea of incessant proximity to the internet. On a related note, I also have great difficulty soliciting friends to watch Syracuse basketball games at my home. The reason for this is my lack of a flat screen, high definition television set. There is nothing wrong with my traditional 32" CRT television. It is only ten years old and it works fine. There is no need to buy a new TV, and my reasoning for this is probably best articulated by "The Story of Stuff". My technophobia extends further to such phenomena as GPS systems (will humans lose the ability to interpret maps on their own?), to eReaders (why should books need electricity), and to Google itself (are people losing the initiative and drive to pursue information in creative ways when Google can easily just do it for them)?
These technology issues are mine to resolve, and it will likely be a life-long struggle. But for now the question is how will the technophobe fare as a distance learning instructor? As a technophobe, and as member of the New York State Teachers Union, I am happy that my roster for The Global Environment will not and CANNOT exceed 30 students. I love the idea of distance learning expanding learning opportunities for students in schools who would not otherwise have these opportunities. I legitimately fear a scenario in which virtual classrooms replace living, breathing teachers. I fear a fully automated, robotic society devoid of old-fashioned, real human interaction and creativity (as opposed to the virtual kind). This is part of the reason for my eagerness to participate in this grant. On one hand, it is great opportunity for me as a professional educator and for the learners who will partake. On the other hand, if I discover that virtual distance learning is evil (or as Ken Kesey would say, part of the "Combine") then I will at least be well-positioned to destroy it from the inside (let me very clear here, I do not anticipate this second scenario, but I am first and foremost a teacher and will do whatever is necessary to protect the institution of public education). I mean look at this way: who will need teachers when everyone has Google Goggles? They will be the same people who need drivers' licenses when everyone has Google Cars.
My main point here is that it is a 'brave new world', and we are all people in it. One of the reasons that The Global Environment is so compelling to teach is that it helps students establish a context and an understanding for our modern world. I am very fortunate to be teaching this course again next year. However, I recognize that distance learning will come with a substantial learning curve. There is a lot of work to be done in preparation for this endeavor, and its time to get started.
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