The Velveteen Teacher

For those teachers that once loved or despised the classic (public domain) story of The Velveteen Rabbit, I dedicate this to you.

Download the original file here.

The Velveteen Teacher by T.C. Andrew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Cloud 9

I recently spent two days at a campus/hamlet in a rural town in Eastern Alberta called "Rosebud". The town has existed now for some time in the collective subconscious of most of the people I've spoken to about it in Calgary, due in large part to the quality and accessibility of their "Theatre". But this post is not about them. (however you can learn more about them by choosing this link: http://www.rosebudtheatre.com/index.html)

A view from the road (moving about the campus) at Rosebud
The clouds on the horizon brought snow, similar to the clouds in Part 2 of this blog.

What was special about this trip was that it was the result of ACSI (http://www.acsi.org/) and the vision they have for arts in education approaching Rosebud School for the Arts to host a two-day retreat for students in member schools to attend workshops on how to "tell important stories".  This brought together students from Calgary Alberta, Drayton Valley Alberta, Kooteny British Columbia and this one other place distant that I can't recall at this moment.  The students ranged from grade 8 to grade 12, both male and female.

What was important about this trip as moment in time for teaching was that upon arrival the students were handed a name-tag with a schedule on the back and were welcomed and blessed by the ubiquitous ACSI representative Dr. Phil Hills.  That was all anyone got...

Let's put this in perspective.  Rosebud is a small town.  The campus for the theatre school covers three of the four corners of the town (roughly 3 city-blocks in any direction).  The students have not been here before, nor are their any large sign around saying "please walk this way."  The instructions were:  You have your class listings, and a name of a building. Find some friendly people, they're all around and they know the place well.  Ask them, they'll give you directions.  There's a welcome sign on every door you might need to be in.  If you're going to be late, use public transit. It's free.  Oh, and there is a completely uninsured trampoline on one of the sites, so don't tell anyone when you use it.  Your chaperons are free to wander as they wish.

This is Public Transit in Rosebud.  It's free.

Freedom, the outdoors, lack of walls and bells, the ability to talk to strangers, roaming free with coed teenagers from out of town of a prime "socializing" age... oh look, a black bird in the reeds of an Oxbow Lake...

It's a wonder that anyone got to any workshop at all, right..? Actually, wrong.  It's not a wonder at all... this style of teaching is 100% 21st Century education.  It smacks of all the right tools for engaging a 21st Century student.

So now the icing -- my cell phone had no coverage out there in the Boonies, and though I had my iPad with me at all times, it never occurred to me to check if there was a network available.  It became a tool for focus rather than an element of distraction... and I, along with several others, put away my phone and became present. 


Present.  What a lovely word.  So important when storytelling, and so-much the reason I think that Rosebud has developed a solid reputation for fine theatre-art.  It helps that it's a beautiful town nestled in what appears to be an ancient lake-bed with a river valley anastimosed on a line of remnant hills reminding us of the ancient and beautiful creation around us... (I was once a geologist, every so often I get stratigraphic-reflux... sorry)

My point, I guess, is that I didn't once have to speak to a student about being where they needed to be, or about getting there on-time... because time didn't really matter much.  The teaching that needed to happen was closer to mentoring them on how to be a good neighbour as they moved through the community.  I had to show them how to be aware of the world around us, how important it is for Grade 8 and 9 science students to really comprehend the majesty of a water system and the morphology of the river... sorry; there I go again...

I want to break some rules and share one more picture.  This one is of three students, in three different grades, from three different schools preparing for an improvised presentation that will illustrate Laban's 7 Efforts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laban_Movement_Analysis)  Body language really tells this story which happened more often than not throughout the course of the workshops.  By design.  By necessity.  By accident.

Was every workshop perfect?  No.  Engaging for all?  Absolutely not.  The students I took responded mostly with the reflection that:  "We got to show others our story, and they liked it."  Speaking of the work they did to show off the One-Act play we derived over the past four months (one lunch-hour per week).  For teenagers, it's still about relationships, and getting feedback.

And Rosebud was primed for that.  What does an actor enjoy more than the applause at the end of the show; the validation that their work had personal meaning to someone else.  When that personal meaning can be faith derived we've found a bit of the kingdom, and that puts me on "Cloud 9".

I can't possibly capture all the wonderful things that happened these two days, nor will I ever reveal the traumatic nightmares that came for two-days post-trip as my body recovered from being around adolescent theatre-students...  I would like to say that if you get the chance, the show is great, the food is excellent, and the town is a delight not to be missed.

---

Part 2

The Cloud

After using the iPad to capture several photos and video my next experiment was to use my vast array of "cloud" providers to ensure that, having filled up my iPad, I could empty it out and quickly use the information on any computer that I might be near at the time.

Here are my favorites:

1. Dropbox:  Linked to my PC's desktop so the files sync automatically between them.  Free, so the space is somewhat limited.  The first attempt to upload files went -- okay.  Some files were too large to be uploaded.
2. Google Drive: (aka Picasa) using a PC I was able to see my iPad and thereby bring files over from local media and upload into Picasa.  It was labourious and slow, but at least I could store the bigger files.
3. Box.net:  great iPad app, but some irritation with the work-flow, and some issues with the output.  The file size again (for free) is a limiter and the upload process does not occur in the background so any interruption means having to restart certain files over again.  Most annoying feature - it renames files so if something doesn't upload you have to make an educated guess to which file it was...  So why use it?  Nice integration, 50GB space for free.
4. Skydrive:  the other three did what I needed them to do, so I didn't bother.  Not enough integration with the other apps to make this one worthwhile.
5. iCloud: My photostream is set to only accept pictures and not video (which is nice, because I only have 5 free GB).  Unfortunately everything goes in automatically and to save space I'm often having to delete files twice.  I always get my files to where I want them, and I always know what's there though.  I love this feature.

So the problem now is:  which do I decide to spend my money on?  I can't stay on the Lite versions forever?  Can I?

Bed-Time-Lines

The combination of the personal desire to share stories with the ability to host media-based, text-driven, original-content that can all be connected globaly has completely reshaped everything that we are doing within the walls of our schools, and if we're not careful we won't even see it happening.

This timeline shows just how I got to the moment I am in, blogging about the timeline that led to my ability to blog about the social network that I have created so I can share my digital stories using wikis and youtube as a place to flip my classes for enjoyment and enhancement of the students I teach.

*pant *pant

And I've done it with a tool I found searching keywords online that will host my data for free and is user friendly enough that it has only taken me four hours to produce it all.

The world we live in is marveolous though there is nothing new under the sun.

Follow:

• my youtube channel
• my blog
• my tweets

Here's a teaser for you:


or... better yet: start one of your own.

If all else FAILS improvise.

Today was the culmination of a project that (though not ill conceived) was certainly bred from a trial and error hodgepodge of good intention and the type of foresight you might expect from a gnat.  Gnats have foresight, I'm sure of it, it's just not very much I presume.  I did not look this up on wikipedia so please don't quote me on that.

Anyway...  Our journey along the path of mystery-story-telling-for-grade-6-science-students came to an end today, and that WAS planned for, and deliberate and rather last minute as school ends for the season come Friday.

Last week we used technology to create, manage, and curate EVIDENCE that students would provide to those who did not participate in the project.  The non-participators (heretofore referred to as: investigators) would then take said-evidence and try and solve the mystery story that was created.

Things needed to succeed?

We successful stored date, properly catalogued it but due to (again) this boiling pot of good intention and gnat-sight we have not yet found an effective or efficient method for retrieving data from a class set of iPads.  We leave our data at the whim of the Apple Cart users.  (aside: we call it the "Apple Cart" because Apple makes iPads and we put them on one big rechargeable wagon.  Clever right?)  I digress.

Today we arrived raring to go, only to find that our data had been wiped for an unanticipated software upgrade.

Four weeks of work finally stored and it was all for naught... or was it?

What to do.  I have 20 sixth grade students ready to participate in a project they have been waiting patiently to close for four weeks, and another 20 sixth grade students who have lost their proverbial mittens and didn't know where to find them.

This is where good structure, and a bit of flexibility comes in.

Because the students spent four structured weeks building the stories they had timelines, story-boards, documents, and mind-maps of the work they had done.  They were intimately familiar with the work that went into building an evidence bank (that was sadly wiped) and they were able to tell a good story.

Digital Curation

With minimal preparation they were able to welcome in a flurry of eager investigators and lead them through a story our drama students had carefully crafted collectively and collaboratively.  In a style similar to 20 questions the investigators were allowed to ask about the evidence they would have seen and then report their assumptions and conclusions to an online Google Form that would help them document their thinking.

After one failed attempt (which we applauded due to the fact that it inevitably led to successful learning so we could just as easily have labeled it the more PC "practice attempt") the students were able to (within 30 minutes) visit two different groups, hear two different mystery stories, and document two different conclusions with absolutely no direct intervention from resident adult "expert".

Things that were lost: physical data
Things that were gained: an adequate end to a project, and a set of data illustrating student thinking, and students capable of being flexible in how and when they show their learning.  They did a great job cleaning up after the mess that had been created.

Cleaning Up

One important item that I have purposefully left until now to reference is that there was one group who did not use their data.  Rather than trust the school "blanket" of iPads they chose to use their own personal devices (privately because of course they wouldn't want to get caught having their own personal devices out on school time) and so when they arrived today they had their entire project organized, itemized, and digitized for dissemination.  Suffice it to say, our investigators were over-joyed to be allowed to interact with this group.

I have, myself, compiled my own digital portfolio of work on my own personal device.  As you may have already realized I am working at incorporating a strong and appropriate use of modern technology in the drama classroom, and documenting processes and strategies for making work -- well -- work.

What follows is a short list of links and apps that have helped make the process easier and more "expressive".

My digital booklet showing the students' good work:
http://ebooks.scribblepress.com/book.php?g=LXLMZ4ZN

The app used to create the book on the iPad:

The app used to create annotations in the pictures shown (and published):

The apps are both free - and I like them.

Getting a Mark versus Leaving a Mark

Yesterday's post included a reference to students using the latest and greatest to create better opportunities for them to succeed.  Today I noticed through my twitter account that people had started to share that information.  The feeling I got knowing that the work we're doing is being seen, understood, and appreciated by others brought about a significant positive response in me.

I could not keep the news to myself so I shared what was written, and who shared it with the students of the class the post involved.  The next ten to fifteen was a remarkable exercise in listening to students about what they want versus what they get.

I have been encouraged in the past by work being done by other teachers.  The work that SCIL is doing to publish students work with a global outreach is the number one thing in the back of my mind today because my students actually ASKED if they could publish their work publicly.  They wanted to know if what they're doing is valuable to others.  Seeing the public response to my work made them wonder if the mark that they were getting for some class assignment was as important as the mark they are leaving behind.

In a christian institution such as the one I teach in, the value of outreach (evangelism) is certainly forefront in what we do, and yet we so rarely value our students work by saying "This is worthy of publication".  Even if it is just short snippets, digital summaries, or brief vlogs it is becoming so very apparent that students are hoping their work is looked at not only for an evaluation of common learning outcomes, but for the value it has in the growing database of global knowledge, world-view, and editorial.

If I can use the world-wide-web as a place to promote strong educational practice, and curate my own sense of what counts as "good work" then I can model the practice for a growing number of students who would like to do the same.

The video embedded here is a brief example of that digital curation. It can be done so quickly and easily now-a-days.  Imagine this in the hands of students who want to show what they are most proud of...

The app used to create and upload the video is Videolicious.  It's free, very simple to use.  The only drawback is the length of video is restricted to 50 seconds.  I appreciate brevity, but sometimes it's a little restrictive.

Technology Abuse: A Solution?

One of the biggest problems we encountered with technology use in our school last year was the abuse of the physical technology itself.  Keys were being pulled off to be reorganized as a prank.  Students were finding ways to change the accessibility options to confuse less computer-literate students and ultimately their profiles were becoming corrupted due to an overwhelming tendency of students wanting to "personalize" their profiles in Windows.

I didn't encounter this problem in my classes... what I mean is, I did not notice this activity happening in my class, just the frustration that my students had having to deal with the ramifications of these behaviours happening in other classes.

So what was the difference?

I believe it comes from two things:

1. Having looked into Sugata Mitra's SOLE project research I have determined that the best course of action when giving students access to computers they do not own (particularly at the upper-middle class middle school level) is to assign one computer per four students.  This tends to allow students to self govern and does seem to keep them on-task and less likely to personalize.  This is particularly important for times of student-directed research.
2. Currently I am working with students on creating personal reflections.  I have had the students create an outline of what they wish to create first, and on paper, and then submit to me their ideas and explain which technology they would like to use to create the final version of the project.  This limits the amount of time they have access to the computers, and also ensures that they have a plan of action before they ever log-on.  Students are using computers now to enhance their personal responses, if the computer is the appropriate tool, and the use of the computer is happening in a more responsible manner.  Most importantly students do not appear to be "killing time" before they can take the project home to work on.

My criticism of practices that I'm seeing elsewhere is best summed up by an allegory:
When you hand a hammer to a student and say use this, they will, but not necessarily for what you intended.  If you hand them a nail and a piece of wood they'll choose the hammer because it's the correct tool to put the two together.

In conclusion, may I encourage you with this: Don't hand students technology because you want them to use the technology, hand them the project and have them choose the technology to use.  In the meantime it is your responsibility to model as many different TOOLS as you can in your lessons.