Recording devices and the modern classroom

Last week, I saw this post from @coolcatteacher, Vicki Davis, referenced on Twitter. Even though "Spies Like Us" is three years old, it is still relevant and I'm sure there are many, many additional cases of teachers and students being called out by surreptitious video and audio recordings.

It is a reality of our modern life that video cameras are everywhere. Just do a YouTube search on your school. Even though many schools ban recording devices, you will most likely find video that has been uploaded.

I certainly don't have a solution to this problem, other than the advice to be mindful that you could be recorded at any time. One the one hand I find this thought to be an invasion of privacy, but on the other I wonder if this knowledge will help us become better teachers because we know that people could be watching. Even if it did make us better teachers, is this the right way to improve practice? We live in strange times, indeed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brian_ford/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

"You Can't Always Get What You Want....

...[but] sometimes you get what you need." Sometimes I find this chorus from the Rolling Stones' song runs through my head. Most recently the lyrics have come to mind as I'm watching the edublogosphere discussion on the acceptance and rejection of NECC 2009 proposals. Both Vicki Davis and Lisa Thumann have written eloquently on the topic, but I would like to add my two-cents worth even though I did not submit a proposal for NECC.

First, last week students at my school found out whether or not they had made the spring musical. There were high-fives and some tears, but one discussion stuck with me. One of the girls who got a prominent role in the play was ecstatic. She talked about how she had worked hard for three years to develop her singing and acting skills and now her hard work had paid off. Then she found out that one of her friends really wanted the role she earned and her face fell. She muttered that she couldn't possibly take the role if her friend was disappointed. Her friends talked her out of such drastic action by reminding her that she had worked very hard to earn the recognition and that, obviously, the director felt she was the best person for that role.

Further, I've noticed that, at least on my campus, tryouts for sports are really a formality. No one is cut from a team. In eight years I've never heard of a student being cut from a team because of lack of talent (Poor grades, yes. Talent, no). That explains why we have one team with 60 students. Yes, 60. They compete within the team for spots at matches, but no one is EVER cut.

Finally, this comes on the heals of getting a rejection letter from CCSS regarding one of my proposals for a session at their annual conference. My first thought was "bummer." My next thought was "cool, now I can spend more time networking!" Was I disappointed? Sure, but taking it personally wasn't appropriate. I know the committee got dozens of well-qualified proposals and they can't accept them all. I am thankful that one proposal was accepted.

So, what does this all mean? I'm a little concerned that we're so used to making everyone feel good about themselves and not "rejecting" them that we've gotten to the point where we have difficulty accepting the fact that there might be another idea out there better than our own. Someone else might be better for the job.

During the course of the past year, I've had several occasions where I was both "accepted" and "rejected" in my professional life. What I've done is this: I've asked myself "am I 'better' than someone else or just the right person at this time in this situation?" and "Does this 'rejection' make me less of an educator or am I just not the right person in this situation at this time?" I hope that pondering both of these questions helped me check my own assumptions about who I am as an educator and what I do. It's also kind of freeing to realize that maybe I'm not the right person today, but could be later. While I haven't always gotten what I wanted this year, I have come to realize that I generally get what I need at the time.

*image provided by Classroom Clipart

Appropriate Behaviors Don't Grow on Trees

Lisa Thumann recently blogged about recent changes to the Children's Internet Protection Act. Important changes include adding language requiring schools to teach about appropriate behavior on social networking sites and chat rooms. Additionally, students must be made aware of the pitfalls of cyberbullying. Social networking and chat rooms are still blocked at my site, but the more I learn, the more I agree with Vicki Davis' mantra that we must stop demonizing the tools and start correcting inappropriate behavior when those tools are used. Thanks Lisa and Vicki for continuing to sound the horn to teach the behaviors we want, not eliminate the tools we need.

Day 3 The Thank You

Day 3 of the "30 Days to Being a Better Blogger" Challenge suggests that we write thank-yous to those who have helped and inspired us in our blogging journeys. I've been blogging for just a few months and already have a whole host of people who are inspiring me on a daily basis. However, there is one educator in particular that I'd like to thank right now.

Vicki Davis (coolcatteacher) was the Keynote Speaker at the Google Teacher Academy last June. I honestly don't remember if she even mentioned blogging, but I started reading her blog and she ALWAYS seems to have just what I need, when I need it. My favorite nuts and bolts post is "Ten Habits of Bloggers that Win!" I read it a few weeks after I started blogging. She has also written asking the question "are you part of the solution or part of the problem?" Just today, as I am looking for sites that contain appropriate copyright free or creative commons license images, she posts "Let's get kids out of Google Images and into Good, Free, Legal Photos."

So, Vicki, thank you for all of the hard work that you do in your own classroom, at conferences and in cyberspace. You have given me the courage to start blogging and continue to write about my own journey as a teacher trying to integrate Web 2.0 tools.

What Exactly is Rigor in the 21st Century Classroom?

This morning, GA teacher and technology guru, Vicki Davis posted a wonderful analysis of and commentary on Tony Wagner's "Rigor Redefined" from ASCD. As always, Vicki gives us a lot to think about as we consider how we are teaching our students. I find myself constantly wondering if I'm meeting the needs my students will have by the time they enter the work world.

Oh, The Places You Can Go!

I have realized, with something of a jolt, that I am the "newbiest" of newbies to Web 2.0 in the classroom. Here I thought I was gaining some foothold in this exciting new world, and then, WHAM, I get knocked back to earth. This is not a bad thing.

Last night I read Vicki Davis' post, at her blog Cool Cat Teacher, "A Second Look at Second Life Filmaking." When I was at the Google Teacher Academy in June, I heard several teachers talking about using Second Life in the classroom. Since then, I have been reading bits here and there about it. I am familiar with Second Life only in the most basic of ways. I still don't understand how you can make real money in a virtual world, but that's for another time.

Vicki's entry made my head hurt. NOT in a bad way, but in a way that made my brain have to stretch and work to visualize the possibilities. I read Diane Carr's article Machinima in Education, recommended by Vicki, and whimpered. Then I visited Machinima.com.

I watched a couple of videos and suddenly understood that I had seen machinima before. Last spring two different student groups put together videos that integrated video from games into their overall presentation (specifically, re-enacting battles from history). At the time, I thought it was a great idea to put the videos together that way. Educationally, it seemed to work too, as they were showing their understanding of battles and strategies through the character action. After reading about machinima, I want to go back to those students and talk to them about their process and using virtual worlds in class projects.

At the same time I am getting excited about all of this, I realize, with some sadness, that Second Life and Machinima are not in the cards yet. I still have a long way to go to get up to speed with Web 2.0, but that's okay. I realize there is much to do where I am, let alone where I'll be in two or three years!

It's a brave new world and I'm excited to be here!

Wise Counsel From an Inspiring Teacher

Please check out Vicki Davis' (aka Cool Cat Teacher) post on reflections from NECC 2008. She offers some great advice not only about this conference, but also about our place as educators in a rapidly changing technology world.