Hello New School Year

I've never really committed goals for a new school year to print. Of course, I've had some goals, and maybe I've even shared them vocally. But this year I've decided to more formally list what I hope to accomplish. Perhaps it will motivate me to pursue these five goals more vigorously than I would otherwise. So, in no particular order, here they are:

• Carve out space to focus on student agency. Since presenting on this at the Chromebook Institute this past June, I've been thinking a lot about it. It is always a goal, and I think I've done fairly well at times. But I want to make a more concerted effort to reflect on what agency means and how to work with my students to empower them to pursue their interests. 

• Do more making in the classroom. This encompasses working with both digital and physical materials. After participating in #CLMOOC this summer, I have been reminded of the way that creating stimulates ideas and fosters a more thoughtful, even mindful, attitude. In our fast paced culture, creating requires slow, which is sorely needed in most of our lives. Not to mention more time for play.

• Be an advocate for connected learning. Again, something I was reminded of in #CLMOOC. My Diigo links have multiplied greatly this summer as I picked up ideas regarding projects and tools from my colleagues. Not to mention the benefits I continue to accrue while taking part in a host of twitter chats. For that matter, I also want to stay connected to the great people I've learned from online.

• Encourage my own kids to be creators like I do with my students. While attending Educon last January, I had a number of conversations with other educators about this. Too many of us agreed that we wished our own children had the opportunities in their classes that we were trying to provide for our students. And we agreed that, with the time-consuming nature of teaching, it is too easy to lament a lack of vision in our kids' classrooms without trying to rectify this at home. A huge oversight.

• Lighten up and have more fun with my colleagues. I could probably include my students as well, but we have light moments in class. Outside of class, however, there is just so much to do. I find it too easy to bury myself at my desk. This is not right. I work with outstanding people. Interesting people. Funny people. Not to mention that research shows that laughter keeps you healthier. This is an imperative.

So there they are. Five goals. I could have listed more. For instance, I didn't even broach the need to work with students to help them create healthy digital routines that revolve around generosity, kindness, and curiosity. But I guess that one goes without saying. Tomorrow the new year begins. As the artist Chuck Close says, "Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work." I'm ready.

No Thanks Google--I'll Do the Editing

Since last winter, I have made Google photo my main online space for saving my photographs.  It has proven to be a useful way to keep my pics organized and always at the ready for use. And it has been interesting to experiment with Google Photo's Auto-Awesome feature. With this feature turned on, Google will manipulate images in a number of ways. Some of these I have quite enjoyed, like the way it will turn a series of images into a gif:

This has been quite handy and fun to explore. What I am less sure about is the way Google will enhance photos:

On the right is my photo. The "auto-awesome" enhancement is on the left. It’s a great image, but I had nothing to do with it beyond pointing and clicking the camera. At times I consider posting these, but I don’t because it is not my work. I enjoy editing my pics, whether I do this in Google photo, Pixlr Express, or PicMonkey. In fact, here's my own editing process for the photo on the right, including cropping, brightening areas, applying tilt focus, and frame:

Regardless of the outcome, the value is in the process itself. It is reminiscent of David Gauntlett's ideas about creativity in his book Making is Connecting. Here's what he had to say in an interview with Henry Jenkins:

Everyday creativity refers to a process which brings together at least one active human mind, and the material or digital world, in the activity of making something which is novel in that context, and is a process which evokes a feeling of joy.

An active human mind--exactly. This is not about becoming a professional photographer. It is about having agency over the way I represent the world I see around me. Instead of letting a program do the work for me, I want to be in control. There is meaning in my decisions that disappears when I allow Google to manipulate the image.

I start the new school year this week. As I do, I will be thinking a lot about student and teacher agency. In this era of high stakes testing and top-down mandates, the challenge is to carve out the time and space necessary for my students and I to focus on questions that are relevant and engaging. And to make the classroom a collaborative learning community where we produce and share work based on these questions. As I think about what I want for my students and myself, it is to experience the frustration, surprise, and wonder that comes from creating, regardless of medium. There is no way to cut corners in this. There is no way to cheat. One must put in the effort to experiment. Whether working with images, video, or text, discovery and resonance only arise when one takes responsibility for creating based upon individual vision.

That's awesome. And I'm ready to begin again.