A Rationale for Some Recent Work

I wrote the following to share with my students, but thought I would make it public. Thanks for reading.

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Understanding that many of you struggled with the New York Times article, “The Foul Reign of Emerson,” I thought it might be helpful for me to provide a rationale for why I assigned it.  As I said a number of times in class, the piece was challenging.  Benjamin Anastas wrote it with the Times readership in mind: a readership that is typically highly educated.  While you might not be a part of this target audience, I do believe that struggling and stretching can have positive outcomes in your ability to grasp difficult texts. Think of it this way, if you are an athlete you don’t want to practice and compete against others below your level.  To improve your skills, you need to be pushed by somebody at least at your level, if not beyond it.  I think the same holds true if you are a musician, painter, performer. Or reader.
Some of you might have felt the same frustration when you read Emerson’s “Self-Reliance.” Perhaps you found yourself wondering, “why would MrG put me through this?  Why do I need to know any of this anyway?”  That last question is a pretty common refrain regarding many things “learned” at school.  Why do I need to know this?
My answer: you don’t.
Being unfamiliar with Emerson, or Anastas’s criticism of him, will not relegate you to some kind of second class status or cost you a job.  But I think this is the wrong question to ask. When I learn something new, my question is, “how can this benefit me?”  And my answer to this question is that the more I learn, the more the world around me takes shape.

snehit

Here’s the way I see it: due to my lack of knowledge, the world around me is obscured.  It’s dark.  Kind of like the night on the cusp of dawn when the outlines of objects can start to be discerned.  As I learn from others, whether it is Emerson, Einstein, an artist or colleague, these outlines become more substantial.  Objects present themselves.  The darkness recedes a little more.

C. Johnson

But there’s this as well: as these things I read and watch and listen to enlighten my world, they also help me to understand how to articulate my own ideas.  In essence, they allow me to take part in creating the world that is slowly announcing itself from the shadows.  Kind of like Harold with his purple crayon.

This is why I want to keep learning, even when that learning requires struggle and frustration.

So my question for you is this: what do you find it important to learn, even if it includes struggle, and why?

The View from Day 10

Taking a cue from #wickeddecentlearning,

Dan discusses what he's learned in these first 5 days that he should probably remember.... http://t.co/hnbFKpTkqi
— WickedDecentLearning (@WickedDecent) September 4, 2013

I decided to give my students a survey concerning how they were feeling as we hit the Day 10 mark.  While this doesn't seem like a particularly important milestone, my district has gone 1:1 this year with Chromebooks. So I was curious to see how my 11th graders were feeling about school overall, but also about the use of these devices.  Here's the snapshot with some of my reflections tossed in for good measure:

Observation #1: These kids are busy.  Some of them are really busy.  I've taken to thinking of this as the "professionalization of school."  Sometimes when I talk to my students, I swear I'm talking to my adult family members and friends.  Their schedules are overflowing.  Loaded classes, extra-curricular activities, practices and games and performances--and this is just what they have going on at school. When I consider how busy the adults in my life complain about being (including me) I realize that, if nothing else, school is training them to carry this mantle.  

Observation #2: These kids are busy.  I find it's good to remember sometimes that these are not adults I'm with whom I am working. They are young people who are busy negotiating a whole lot of issues besides what I throw at them in my class.  Yes, I want them to ask important questions and produce interesting work.  But I know I think about my class a lot more than any of them do. My point is not to devalue what I do or my subject matter, but to think realistically about what I should expect from this group of 16 year olds.  
Observation #3:  To quote one respondent: The fact that all that I have worked towards my entire life is finally coming down to its final years almost revolutionizes the way in which I approach things.  Since these are juniors who took the survey, many of them wrote about the college process, ACTs, and what for them is very important business.  It is easy as an adult to disregard this student's perspective as a bit overwrought; however, I can't criticize it without considering my own role in a system that sends plenty of messages everyday that education is about GPA, test-taking, and positioning oneself to get into the "right" school.

Observation #4:  Over half of my students replied that the Chromebooks offer an advantage overall for their day-to-day education.  This is good news.  At the same time, many of the comments they added belied the degree to which they really saw the benefit.  

The rest of the observations relate in one way or another to the Chromebook.  Personally, they have really gotten me thinking.

Observation #5:  Many students are still skeptical about the advantages offered by the 1:1 environment.  Ultimately it might be helpful for learning, but it's too early to tell.  I am actually happy to see this.  After all, one thing I and other teachers constantly ask them to do is think and not just mindlessly embrace ideas because they are told to.  If they need longer than 10 days to decide on how helpful the Chromebooks will be, well, that seems logical.

Observation #6:  Those who talked about advantages definitely stressed the easy access that the device offers.  This access includes being able to find resources and connect with teachers.  I fully agree.

Observation #7:  Similar to #6, some students were pleased with how much more organized they felt now that some classes have begun to use Google Drive as a central location.  I mentioned this same discovery in a tweet: 

#1to1 benefit: teaching Ss to organize their work. So long shredded folders with stuff from 5 classes. #d225play pic.twitter.com/SU50VIbPMh
— scott glass (@sglass771) September 4, 2013

Observation #8:  Some students explained that the Chromebook pales in comparison to other devices and see it as a very limited machine.  Of course this is true; however, I am curious to see how they feel about it as the year goes on, more teachers begin to use it in class, and they get more familiar with Google, as well as other apps and extensions.

Observations #9:  Just because they are kids does not mean they are instantly attracted to technology.  This might be the most informative point.  As adults, I think we have the attitude that if we dangle a device in front of them, students will immediately forget all the other reasons they find school to be a drag.  Like the computer and internet are some kind of catnip that disables all judgement.  Well, apparently this is not true.  Here are a few choice comments: Sometimes I would rather just write out notes or get an assignment and do it on paper instead of the Chromebook. I don't like it because my parents paid 200$ for a computer that I already have. I don't mind using pen and paper to take notes because then I know for sure what I wrote. too different, too much technology, too many problems, hate them to be honest.  Reading these comments makes me realize that if I want a truly collaborative learning community, I must do more to make my case for why I think this device can be helpful.  And I must give them the opportunity to use it to learn and create in ways that are personally meaningful.  But I think this also suggests a disconnect or gulf, even, between students and the faculty and administration.  Well there were students involved in a 1:1 pilot last year, most of them were oblivious to the impending change. Now that it is here, it is clear that many do not understand why the Chromebooks became a requirement and what benefit they add.  One takeaway for those heading down the 1:1 path--get the students involved in the process early and often.

Observation #10:  Related to #9: at the Day 10 mark many students already report a general sense of apathy: It's okay. I just always wait for the weekend. It feels like we've been here for 10 months rather than 10 days. Schools awesome..  School is as routine as always.  It's fine? School is school.  The device alone changes nothing.  Most educators would probably say, "well, duh."  But, as educators, I think many of us are excited about going 1:1.  Yes, it represents a shift and a challenge, but these are worth it because so many possibilities seem within grasp.  What a number of my students report, however, is not excitement, engagement, and a renewed sense of purpose in their education.  Indeed, so many of them still see education as something done to them, not as something over which they can take ownership.