so this past spring, there was a ton of hype on the news about the olympics ranging from the tibet controversy to pollution in china. but perhaps what got the most press (at least on the radio) was athletes taking steroids to boost their speeds.
now, any ordinary and moral person would look at that and say, "those terrible cheaters. how dare they defile the sacred trust of sportsmanship?" after all, these people are cheating to get ahead. they are not relying on their years and years of hard work and suffering. they're doing what they can to get a quick boost ahead of the rest.
and now, we draw attention to something else that has silently crept into our society for academics. SAT and ACT prep classes. it seemed like only a small minority enrolled in such courses when i was in high school. after all, at $1,000 for a handful of classes, it was only for the rich elite. now however, it's a bit of a different story. it seems that everywhere you turn, kids are cramming for these big tests and taking classes and trying to do what they can outside of school to prepare.
but wait, what is the ACT and SAT suppose to be testing anyway?
aptitude - n. - capability or ability either innate or acquired
but since it is a standardized test, students today are not competing against a certain score or percentage, they are competing with each other. this in turn quickly boils down to how many ACT/SAT prep courses you can take, which outlandishly guarantee lavishly high scores if you take their course. and thus, the whole point of it is missed altogether. you see, it is now no longer how able you are. it is a measure of wealth and how many prep courses you can afford. it is now not about how much knowledge and intelligence you have acquired over the years. it is about how many tricks you can do on the test to help you guess the right answer.
kaplan is a steroid for academics.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
cookies and the world we want
it's christmas time and that means one thing: seminar christmas parties at school. i like to joke with my kids and tell them that i am against fun and against breaks, but not a single seminar is christmas-party-less during the last week of school before we all run home to be rid of this thing called school for two whole weeks.
all of us have seen this situation. you have only 15 cookies, but there are twenty four kids in your class. you are now faced with two options that both follow a single underlying principle.
a. you can break the cookies in half so that everyone gets half a cookie and you have some leftovers
b. you can not give out any cookies at all
as i was contemplating this issue, a humorously evil thought crossed my mind. "what if i passed out the cookies in order starting from my favorite student all the way down to the kid that gives me white hair?" or maybe "i could start with the kid with the highest gpa and work down to the kids with the lowest." either way, i would obviously run out before the end.
any teachers reading this (or any decent human beings with an ounce of fairness) would be appauled if this actually happened in a classroom. shame on me for thinking such terrible thoughts! you see, that "single underlying principle" that i had been talking about earlier pertained to this universal and highly regarded idea of fairness. we place such a high premium on this fairness.
wait a second...
everyone gets the same share regardless of how hard they work? communism? the question then is this: when in the rest of their lives will they ever have another situation where they will be treated with such fairness?
do educators serve their students better when they prepare them for what they will encounter in the future? if this was the case, i think everything would be merit based. the smartest kids would get the best party foods, they would get the most attention and all the best stuff. but this is a sobering thought to even the most cynical of teachers. why? are we not preparing our kids for the world that is?
perhaps this is no great epiphany for most people in my profession, but this was a bit of a realization for me. someone once mentioned to me that one major role of teachers is to stand as a safeguard against the elements of change and ignorance. essentially, we preserve a society. although i agree with the latter, i think a very critical aspect of teaching is to challenge the status quo. another way of looking at it, we aren't administering merit-based snacks or merit-based supplies. we still adhere to this moral idea of fairness and goodness. there is some mystical moral element to our work that we seldom think about because of all the pressures to meet curricular and content expectations. we are teaching them how to live.
we are not simply here to prepare kids for the world that is. we are training them to become the citizens of the world we want and hope for.
all of us have seen this situation. you have only 15 cookies, but there are twenty four kids in your class. you are now faced with two options that both follow a single underlying principle.
a. you can break the cookies in half so that everyone gets half a cookie and you have some leftovers
b. you can not give out any cookies at all
as i was contemplating this issue, a humorously evil thought crossed my mind. "what if i passed out the cookies in order starting from my favorite student all the way down to the kid that gives me white hair?" or maybe "i could start with the kid with the highest gpa and work down to the kids with the lowest." either way, i would obviously run out before the end.
any teachers reading this (or any decent human beings with an ounce of fairness) would be appauled if this actually happened in a classroom. shame on me for thinking such terrible thoughts! you see, that "single underlying principle" that i had been talking about earlier pertained to this universal and highly regarded idea of fairness. we place such a high premium on this fairness.
wait a second...
everyone gets the same share regardless of how hard they work? communism? the question then is this: when in the rest of their lives will they ever have another situation where they will be treated with such fairness?
do educators serve their students better when they prepare them for what they will encounter in the future? if this was the case, i think everything would be merit based. the smartest kids would get the best party foods, they would get the most attention and all the best stuff. but this is a sobering thought to even the most cynical of teachers. why? are we not preparing our kids for the world that is?
perhaps this is no great epiphany for most people in my profession, but this was a bit of a realization for me. someone once mentioned to me that one major role of teachers is to stand as a safeguard against the elements of change and ignorance. essentially, we preserve a society. although i agree with the latter, i think a very critical aspect of teaching is to challenge the status quo. another way of looking at it, we aren't administering merit-based snacks or merit-based supplies. we still adhere to this moral idea of fairness and goodness. there is some mystical moral element to our work that we seldom think about because of all the pressures to meet curricular and content expectations. we are teaching them how to live.
we are not simply here to prepare kids for the world that is. we are training them to become the citizens of the world we want and hope for.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
the age of happiness
so we're going to take a quick break from the techno-stuff that has dominated the blog for quite some time now and focus on something a little less tangible. earlier tonight on a drive to ann arbor, i began to think about how today's class went. specifically, i thought about my exploring psychology class. they are a special bunch of kids who love to complain. probably the biggest complaint is, "mr. liu, are we done yet?" i often just point at the clock and say, "is school over yet?" these rather often exchanges show me something has happened since i was in school (or maybe i was too much of a nerd while i was in high school to have noticed). school is no longer a place to learn. it's all about the FUN!!! wooohooo!!
this idea lead me further to consider a few interviews i heard on the radio about parents trying to make it through this hard economic time. the prevailing message that they were conveying was, "well, times might be tough, but we will still do most of our christmas shopping because we want our kids to be happy."
and that's just it.
HAPPINESS
it seems that such a construct has immerged from being a luxery to being a commodity to being a norm to being a right. some of my students are genuinely offended when i tell them that we're going to have a test. "a TEST? come on mr. liu... that's no fun..."
i think we as teachers have largely bought into this as well. we think long and hard about how to make our lessons and our classrooms more "fun" and over time, "fun" and "effective" become synonyms. somewhere along the way, the premium on happiness has become the most valuable factor in raising a child.
so what's the solution?
there certainly isn't a quick fix, but i'm not sure if there really even is a fix at all. this generation has lived its life in prosperity. we have not known struggle or hardship of any kind. why should we not be self-centered? maybe the silver-lining of this recession will be that we lose our offspring-centered perception of the planets, and return to a solar-centered one.
this idea lead me further to consider a few interviews i heard on the radio about parents trying to make it through this hard economic time. the prevailing message that they were conveying was, "well, times might be tough, but we will still do most of our christmas shopping because we want our kids to be happy."
and that's just it.
HAPPINESS
it seems that such a construct has immerged from being a luxery to being a commodity to being a norm to being a right. some of my students are genuinely offended when i tell them that we're going to have a test. "a TEST? come on mr. liu... that's no fun..."
i think we as teachers have largely bought into this as well. we think long and hard about how to make our lessons and our classrooms more "fun" and over time, "fun" and "effective" become synonyms. somewhere along the way, the premium on happiness has become the most valuable factor in raising a child.
so what's the solution?
there certainly isn't a quick fix, but i'm not sure if there really even is a fix at all. this generation has lived its life in prosperity. we have not known struggle or hardship of any kind. why should we not be self-centered? maybe the silver-lining of this recession will be that we lose our offspring-centered perception of the planets, and return to a solar-centered one.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
the future is now
teachers often think about technology as a mystical force. older teachers tend to view it as something that they ought to resist. newer teachers view it as something that they want but don't really know how to get or effectively use. all in all, we talk about "the future" as something that is still a ways away. we still view our students as more or less more modernized versions of ourselves and our generation. but the future is much closer than it seems.
my students once accused me of listening to NPR while i drive. it is true... i listen to NPR all the time. recently, i was listening to a program about a new study done by the macarther foundation. the research finds that what parents and teachers have been resisting for years and years may actually be something that's good for the students. they say that this is a generation with a whole new sense of global awareness and connected-ness.
it has become now more than just a place for mindless time-wasting. this is a whole new culture of interconnectedness. the future and technology is no longer something we can idly stand aside and speculate upon. our system is becoming irrelevant at an alarming rate. we must think of newer and better ways of doing things.
the next item on the table is how we can use social networking to our advantage in the classroom.
my students once accused me of listening to NPR while i drive. it is true... i listen to NPR all the time. recently, i was listening to a program about a new study done by the macarther foundation. the research finds that what parents and teachers have been resisting for years and years may actually be something that's good for the students. they say that this is a generation with a whole new sense of global awareness and connected-ness.
it has become now more than just a place for mindless time-wasting. this is a whole new culture of interconnectedness. the future and technology is no longer something we can idly stand aside and speculate upon. our system is becoming irrelevant at an alarming rate. we must think of newer and better ways of doing things.
the next item on the table is how we can use social networking to our advantage in the classroom.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
New Mobility
have you ever been lecturing and suddenly realized that you had a mistake on your slides? or you were moving around the room and wished you could magically make things appear on the board without you having to walk all the way there to write it down?
now there is a legit way to use your iphone or ipod touch as a mobile touchpad / keyboard / and presentation remote. all of this can be done for the cost of $4. it is called, touchpad elite and can be purchased through the apple app store.
here we have the mobile keyboard. taking advantage of one of the best aspects of the iphone / itouch, the program will allow different orientations and your display will always be pointed up. want a wider keyboard? just tilt sideways.
this is the presentation remote. now all i need to do is rig a laserpointer onto my iphone and it'll be a fully fledged presentation remote.
the default black surface makes the entire device a giant mobile touchpad.
one of the main drawbacks to this setup is it's connectivity. both your computer and the iphone/itouch must be on the same wifi network. if your school doesn't happen to offer wifi (like my school) then you're in trouble.
here is a simple solution. get an old wireless router if you have one. otherwise, you can probably get a cheaper older model for not too much. the wireless router doesn't need to be connected to the actual internet for it to function as a wireless connector for two computers. in this case, i picked up my old 11mb/sec wireless router that is quickly going on 6 years old. i plug it in and join its network with both my devices. BAM. success.
now all i need to do is convince my superintendent to make itouches standard issue for new teachers.
now there is a legit way to use your iphone or ipod touch as a mobile touchpad / keyboard / and presentation remote. all of this can be done for the cost of $4. it is called, touchpad elite and can be purchased through the apple app store.
here we have the mobile keyboard. taking advantage of one of the best aspects of the iphone / itouch, the program will allow different orientations and your display will always be pointed up. want a wider keyboard? just tilt sideways.
this is the presentation remote. now all i need to do is rig a laserpointer onto my iphone and it'll be a fully fledged presentation remote.
the default black surface makes the entire device a giant mobile touchpad.one of the main drawbacks to this setup is it's connectivity. both your computer and the iphone/itouch must be on the same wifi network. if your school doesn't happen to offer wifi (like my school) then you're in trouble.
here is a simple solution. get an old wireless router if you have one. otherwise, you can probably get a cheaper older model for not too much. the wireless router doesn't need to be connected to the actual internet for it to function as a wireless connector for two computers. in this case, i picked up my old 11mb/sec wireless router that is quickly going on 6 years old. i plug it in and join its network with both my devices. BAM. success.
now all i need to do is convince my superintendent to make itouches standard issue for new teachers.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Galileo
two weeks ago, a package arrived in the mail.
and northville was changed forever.
after it was acquainted with its predecessor, it was given a name. because after all, every passionate mac user names his or her machine. [be warned... the amount of nerdiness is about to reach astronomical proportions] every computer i have owned has had a name of some significance. my g4 1.33GHz powerbook was named isis after the egyptian mother of the gods because the g4 was the first mac i have ever owned and thus the progenator machine. the macbook my masters program issued me was named prometheus after the greek demigod who stole fire from zeus and gave it to mankind and from that fire, civilization was born. that white macbook's purpose was to for teaching and bringing knowledge and civilization to the world. and now, the new metalic macbook has been named galileo after the man who challenge the accepted norm and changed the way an entire world thought.
so far in the project, we have been able to refit a standard overhead projector cart to house all of our various pieces of equipment. the smartboard has now become stand issue in my classroom. but only recently have i devised a means to overcome the pesky problem of where to place the wiimote sensors. too close doesn't produce a cone of reception large enough to cover the entire display surface. too far and the spatial resolution deteriorates and the tracking speed diminishes. sensors placed too close make the display more succeptible to dead zones produces by the IR shadow the teacher's body casts by simply being in the way of the light. here is at least the first step to a viable solution for a nomadic teacher.
The wiimote can now pivot on a verticle axis, which drastically increases its versitility. the rubber feet of the tripod make it useful on various surfaces, even ones on an incline.
project galileo will be a multi-step project to build a classroom of the future. or at least... a classroom of the present.
and northville was changed forever.
after it was acquainted with its predecessor, it was given a name. because after all, every passionate mac user names his or her machine. [be warned... the amount of nerdiness is about to reach astronomical proportions] every computer i have owned has had a name of some significance. my g4 1.33GHz powerbook was named isis after the egyptian mother of the gods because the g4 was the first mac i have ever owned and thus the progenator machine. the macbook my masters program issued me was named prometheus after the greek demigod who stole fire from zeus and gave it to mankind and from that fire, civilization was born. that white macbook's purpose was to for teaching and bringing knowledge and civilization to the world. and now, the new metalic macbook has been named galileo after the man who challenge the accepted norm and changed the way an entire world thought.
so far in the project, we have been able to refit a standard overhead projector cart to house all of our various pieces of equipment. the smartboard has now become stand issue in my classroom. but only recently have i devised a means to overcome the pesky problem of where to place the wiimote sensors. too close doesn't produce a cone of reception large enough to cover the entire display surface. too far and the spatial resolution deteriorates and the tracking speed diminishes. sensors placed too close make the display more succeptible to dead zones produces by the IR shadow the teacher's body casts by simply being in the way of the light. here is at least the first step to a viable solution for a nomadic teacher.
The wiimote can now pivot on a verticle axis, which drastically increases its versitility. the rubber feet of the tripod make it useful on various surfaces, even ones on an incline.
project galileo will be a multi-step project to build a classroom of the future. or at least... a classroom of the present.
Monday, November 3, 2008
wii smartboard
It seems that the greatest flaw and the great strength of youth are the same things. We are terribly impatient. Instead of waiting for my IR pens to arrive in the mail, I drove out to visit the good folks at Radio Shack. For $1.99, I bought an IR LED bulb and bought a spool of wire for $5.
The pen itself is a simple device. I just pulled out the insides of a standard ballpoint pen and carved a notch hole on the side of the casing. Two long wires were attached to the two leads of the bulb and they were threaded into the hallow shaft and out of the hole I cut in the side. Then I just attached a regular AA battery to the side with electrical tape and rigged it so I could just press the exposed wire against the exposed end of the battery to complete the circuit. At Radio Shack, I was eyeing the switches and buttons, and I should have just bought them. Curses for not listening to that little voice!
I first started with one wii remote, but I eventually moved on to 2 since it provides much more sensitivity smother movements. The wiimote is special because it contains all of the basic components that make a smartboard so darn smart: an IR sensor and a bluetooth connectivity system. Yep, those suckers at Nintendo didn't know they were actually helping teachers everywhere get around a very expensive roadblock. The actual mechanics of it are complicated, but the gist is simple. The wiimotes act as infrared cameras that are able to detect an infrared signal. With the wiimotes synced to your computer through bluetooth, they can then relay the signal about where the IR signal is coming from.
With 2 wiimotes, I'm better able to detect an IR signal in 3D space since the the two wiimotes have overlapping fields of vision.
I downloaded a program called wiimotewhiteboard, which does the rest for you.
Currently, I've tested it on my laptop's LCD screen, and I've tested on a data projector. For now, I'm just messing around with the arrangements of the wiimotes and figuring out what positions get the best image tracking.
This makes powerpoints way cooler 'cause now I can draw straight on the slides while I present. I can underline things or circle them. I can draw diagrams in the rooms where I don't have chalkboard space. This pretty much makes those silly things useless because I can draw my diagrams, save them, delete them, or do whatever with them.
Horray for technology! Leave comments if you have questions.
The pen itself is a simple device. I just pulled out the insides of a standard ballpoint pen and carved a notch hole on the side of the casing. Two long wires were attached to the two leads of the bulb and they were threaded into the hallow shaft and out of the hole I cut in the side. Then I just attached a regular AA battery to the side with electrical tape and rigged it so I could just press the exposed wire against the exposed end of the battery to complete the circuit. At Radio Shack, I was eyeing the switches and buttons, and I should have just bought them. Curses for not listening to that little voice!
I first started with one wii remote, but I eventually moved on to 2 since it provides much more sensitivity smother movements. The wiimote is special because it contains all of the basic components that make a smartboard so darn smart: an IR sensor and a bluetooth connectivity system. Yep, those suckers at Nintendo didn't know they were actually helping teachers everywhere get around a very expensive roadblock. The actual mechanics of it are complicated, but the gist is simple. The wiimotes act as infrared cameras that are able to detect an infrared signal. With the wiimotes synced to your computer through bluetooth, they can then relay the signal about where the IR signal is coming from.
With 2 wiimotes, I'm better able to detect an IR signal in 3D space since the the two wiimotes have overlapping fields of vision.
I downloaded a program called wiimotewhiteboard, which does the rest for you.
Currently, I've tested it on my laptop's LCD screen, and I've tested on a data projector. For now, I'm just messing around with the arrangements of the wiimotes and figuring out what positions get the best image tracking.
This makes powerpoints way cooler 'cause now I can draw straight on the slides while I present. I can underline things or circle them. I can draw diagrams in the rooms where I don't have chalkboard space. This pretty much makes those silly things useless because I can draw my diagrams, save them, delete them, or do whatever with them.
Horray for technology! Leave comments if you have questions.
the up and down sides of technology
since the beginning of the year, i've been painstakingly working towards a modern classroom that takes full advantage of the fact that it exists in the 21st century. but alas, there are obstacles. my students don't believe me, but all of the materials i make for class and the digital aspects of my lessons are all driven by my old powerbook g4. it runs exactly like the day i opened the box, but that was also almost six years ago. it's to the point where sometimes i'll type out a whole sentence and then have to wait a few seconds for my computer's processor to keep up with the speed of my typing. it's kind of depressing to think that the rate-limiting factor to my productivity is not my own abilities, but in how quickly my computer can interpret my typing.
so this leads us to the first downside. it's EXPENSIVE. i've recently made up my mind to invest in a new computer. MAC spoiled me with the macbook, so it put off my computer buying for a year. fortunately, mr. steve jobs has just put out a new line of fancy shiney new macbooks.
the second downside to technology is that when 100% of your materials are online, including tests and lecture slides, it really sucks when comcast fails you and you don't have internet for a weekend. since i had forgotten to take attendance at school, i wasn't even able to fill it in once i got home. while i lay on the floor in my study, i couldn't help but feel powerless and liberated all at the same time. it was a strange sensation full of conflicting feelings.
and now, the upside. i've had a most exciting time with introducing new technology into a community that thinks laptop carts are glimpses of the future. i was talking to my principle, trying to convince him that laptop carts just made more sense and that they're really some kind of new-fangled innovation. they're just smaller computers put into a portable cart. i've recently finished a grant from northville's mother's club for the purchasing of a class set of student response clickers. for the first two weeks, i occupied my free time with think of ways to involve all of my students, have a way to gauge the whole class's understanding, and have a way to track individual student progress without having to put aside an extra fund for future mental therapy bills. the answer was in these individualized clickers where students can respond anonymously and a computer does most of my tedious work for me.
additionally, i've been working on a far fetched idea that i would have never dreamed of coming true. last year in methods, i was making fun of sherley for how willow run middle school is like the el derado of technology: laptop carts in every class, smartboards, surround sound, and windows. (i had taught in a room without any windows all year so nature looked unfamiliar to me) during our talk about expensive things, talk about wii tennis came up, and someone commented that they hard heard someone had built a smart board out of a wii. well, it's not just a rumor anymore. in the second week of november, northville high school will see its first make-shift smart board made from materials that cost a combined total of $38 (not including tax). the device itself fits in the palm of my hand and works with any digital projector + computer setup and works on any surface.
perhaps the greatest lesson i have learned so far this year regarding technology is this. despite being expensive, it is still available. all you need to do is know who to beg for money and how to make due with innovations when money doesn't quite cut it. creativity always seems to win out in the end. i will be posting pictures of my smartboard in a week or so.
so this leads us to the first downside. it's EXPENSIVE. i've recently made up my mind to invest in a new computer. MAC spoiled me with the macbook, so it put off my computer buying for a year. fortunately, mr. steve jobs has just put out a new line of fancy shiney new macbooks.
the second downside to technology is that when 100% of your materials are online, including tests and lecture slides, it really sucks when comcast fails you and you don't have internet for a weekend. since i had forgotten to take attendance at school, i wasn't even able to fill it in once i got home. while i lay on the floor in my study, i couldn't help but feel powerless and liberated all at the same time. it was a strange sensation full of conflicting feelings.
and now, the upside. i've had a most exciting time with introducing new technology into a community that thinks laptop carts are glimpses of the future. i was talking to my principle, trying to convince him that laptop carts just made more sense and that they're really some kind of new-fangled innovation. they're just smaller computers put into a portable cart. i've recently finished a grant from northville's mother's club for the purchasing of a class set of student response clickers. for the first two weeks, i occupied my free time with think of ways to involve all of my students, have a way to gauge the whole class's understanding, and have a way to track individual student progress without having to put aside an extra fund for future mental therapy bills. the answer was in these individualized clickers where students can respond anonymously and a computer does most of my tedious work for me.
additionally, i've been working on a far fetched idea that i would have never dreamed of coming true. last year in methods, i was making fun of sherley for how willow run middle school is like the el derado of technology: laptop carts in every class, smartboards, surround sound, and windows. (i had taught in a room without any windows all year so nature looked unfamiliar to me) during our talk about expensive things, talk about wii tennis came up, and someone commented that they hard heard someone had built a smart board out of a wii. well, it's not just a rumor anymore. in the second week of november, northville high school will see its first make-shift smart board made from materials that cost a combined total of $38 (not including tax). the device itself fits in the palm of my hand and works with any digital projector + computer setup and works on any surface.
perhaps the greatest lesson i have learned so far this year regarding technology is this. despite being expensive, it is still available. all you need to do is know who to beg for money and how to make due with innovations when money doesn't quite cut it. creativity always seems to win out in the end. i will be posting pictures of my smartboard in a week or so.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
rodriguez and me
wolverine fans all across the nation have had a very difficult fall. michigan football isn't quite what we had expected. the end of last year heralded new hope with the coach who practically invented the spread offense. but the present problem is, i don't think, an issue with the coach or even with the team. the problem is the combination of the two. the michigan football team has been built off the standard quarterback passing and runningback running kind of plays we've all come to know and love. it's not quite yet built the way rodriguez wants or needs to be successful. there were a few times this season when they just pulled the ball down and played the kind of ball they're use to playing. moments like these have been saving the season from complete and utter failure.
recently, i'd been having quite a bit of trouble with my exploring psychology class. AP has been going very well, but that's probably because they're AP kids. we pack them 33 to 35 to a classroom built for 30, and they still learn just fine. but a small class of 27 exploring psychology kids quickly became a thorn in my side. it wasn't until recently that i began to realize the problem. i was trying to teach like rodriguez has been trying to coach football. i was teaching according to the style and method of my mentor. even though she is excellent at what she does, i don't have same group of kids, the same time of day, or the same kind of personality.
this past week has been a huge turn-around for my small exploring psych class. we've hunkered down into my style of projects and lectures with a good smattering of discussions. i think in the end, this is a whole lot better than trying to fit that round peg into the square hole.
i sure hope rodriguez figures out his game soon too.
recently, i'd been having quite a bit of trouble with my exploring psychology class. AP has been going very well, but that's probably because they're AP kids. we pack them 33 to 35 to a classroom built for 30, and they still learn just fine. but a small class of 27 exploring psychology kids quickly became a thorn in my side. it wasn't until recently that i began to realize the problem. i was trying to teach like rodriguez has been trying to coach football. i was teaching according to the style and method of my mentor. even though she is excellent at what she does, i don't have same group of kids, the same time of day, or the same kind of personality.
this past week has been a huge turn-around for my small exploring psych class. we've hunkered down into my style of projects and lectures with a good smattering of discussions. i think in the end, this is a whole lot better than trying to fit that round peg into the square hole.
i sure hope rodriguez figures out his game soon too.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
the champ: a reflection of the ever-increasing gap
so sometimes i like to play this little game with myself. it definitely puts me in my place and reminds me about who i am and what i can afford. the game is called, "go onto apple.com and see how much the most expensive computer can be."
the last time i played was about a year and a half ago. the reigning champion clocked in at just over 5k. needless to say, the new heavyweight champ is well over this.
this is the current price for a power pc with all of the frills, and i do mean ALL of them. of course, this gives us a bit of a skewed image of just how expensive this computer really is, but i think it does provide a meaningful message. we are seeing computer companies cater more and more to the higher end.
but perhaps this is just the embittered rantings of an avid apple user who feels that the company is making super high end products and super low end products. is there still a computing middle class out there?
the last time i played was about a year and a half ago. the reigning champion clocked in at just over 5k. needless to say, the new heavyweight champ is well over this.
this is the current price for a power pc with all of the frills, and i do mean ALL of them. of course, this gives us a bit of a skewed image of just how expensive this computer really is, but i think it does provide a meaningful message. we are seeing computer companies cater more and more to the higher end.but perhaps this is just the embittered rantings of an avid apple user who feels that the company is making super high end products and super low end products. is there still a computing middle class out there?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
what has and hasn't worked
it's been three weeks exactly since we started school, and it hardly feels like it's only the forth week. honestly, it feels as if i've been doing this all my life. it's still a little bit strange sometimes when i stop and realize that i am a teacher now at my former high school. but in all honestly, there really isn't anywhere that i'd rather be.
when the "experts" say that our generation is wired, i don't think they quite knew the extent of the truth that they were speaking. i really think the field of psychology or sociology will be revolutionized in the next decade or so when researchers really examine the fundamental differences in cognition between this generation and any that have come before it. i can write my lecture notes on the board, but if i put that exact same information on a powerpoint, then the students pay more attention and remember the information better. the overhead projector is ancient technology now, and the digital projector reigns supreme.
all in all, i think i have been having tremendous success in my classrooms. this might be due to the fact that upon completing my masters program, i suddenly and instantly became a master teacher. but i suspect it might be because i was trained in belleville michigan, a district that has struggled for the past few years, and now i am in northville, one of the best public schools in the state. most of my "problems" come from my non-AP class, exploring psychology. here, i find that demonstrations rule the day. lecturing for thirty minutes is a wasted thirty minutes if there isn't at least three demonstrations in there somewhere. they must constantly be writing, seeing, and doing. once, i tried to lecture for most of the hour.
mutiny.
when the "experts" say that our generation is wired, i don't think they quite knew the extent of the truth that they were speaking. i really think the field of psychology or sociology will be revolutionized in the next decade or so when researchers really examine the fundamental differences in cognition between this generation and any that have come before it. i can write my lecture notes on the board, but if i put that exact same information on a powerpoint, then the students pay more attention and remember the information better. the overhead projector is ancient technology now, and the digital projector reigns supreme.
all in all, i think i have been having tremendous success in my classrooms. this might be due to the fact that upon completing my masters program, i suddenly and instantly became a master teacher. but i suspect it might be because i was trained in belleville michigan, a district that has struggled for the past few years, and now i am in northville, one of the best public schools in the state. most of my "problems" come from my non-AP class, exploring psychology. here, i find that demonstrations rule the day. lecturing for thirty minutes is a wasted thirty minutes if there isn't at least three demonstrations in there somewhere. they must constantly be writing, seeing, and doing. once, i tried to lecture for most of the hour.
mutiny.
Friday, August 15, 2008
weeds and a farewell to meat
this entry actually has nothing at all to do with teaching...
have you ever had a bunch of weeds infest your lawn or garden? it completely defies the laws of living things. you can pull them and keep pulling them, but they'll always come back. this morning, i spent a good half hour pulling weeds out of the cracks of my brick patio. without their upper parts, they shouldn't be able to photosynthesize and thus, should die shortly thereafter. nope. they keep coming back.
speaking of things that keep coming back, i must take my hat off to george lucas and whoever is making the saw trilogy (oops, i meant... saw series). after reading the reviews for the new starwars clone wars animated movie, i wanted to become a movie critic. they use such colorfully negative words to describe things. alas, mr. lucas is still a money making genius though. the average person would have quit years ago. at least our movie appetites can be sated by the seemingly endless stream of saw movies. stay tuned for saw xii "getting cut up in space"
for all the ominvores out there, like myself, we are faced with a growing problem. since so much of our corn is going into making ethanol, cow feed is beginning to cost more and more. compounded by the growing cost of fuel, cattle farmers have had to sell off huge portions of their herds to offset the growing price. the problem manifests itself when there are no more cows to sell to offset the cost of keeping them. i hope they keep the double cheeseburger on the dollar menu still.
have you ever had a bunch of weeds infest your lawn or garden? it completely defies the laws of living things. you can pull them and keep pulling them, but they'll always come back. this morning, i spent a good half hour pulling weeds out of the cracks of my brick patio. without their upper parts, they shouldn't be able to photosynthesize and thus, should die shortly thereafter. nope. they keep coming back.
speaking of things that keep coming back, i must take my hat off to george lucas and whoever is making the saw trilogy (oops, i meant... saw series). after reading the reviews for the new starwars clone wars animated movie, i wanted to become a movie critic. they use such colorfully negative words to describe things. alas, mr. lucas is still a money making genius though. the average person would have quit years ago. at least our movie appetites can be sated by the seemingly endless stream of saw movies. stay tuned for saw xii "getting cut up in space"
for all the ominvores out there, like myself, we are faced with a growing problem. since so much of our corn is going into making ethanol, cow feed is beginning to cost more and more. compounded by the growing cost of fuel, cattle farmers have had to sell off huge portions of their herds to offset the growing price. the problem manifests itself when there are no more cows to sell to offset the cost of keeping them. i hope they keep the double cheeseburger on the dollar menu still.
Friday, August 8, 2008
revived! (plus a scary dream)
so i thought it was high time i started up this blog again as an account of my first year as a teacher.
so last night i had a dream that is probably one of the greatest fears any teacher could have. it was the first day of school and i had nothing prepared. no syllabi, no seating chart, and i didn't even know how to log into zangle. i was pretty screwed.
the class began with me asking my class how they would define psychology. as they answered each question, they had to say their names for the sake of me and their peers. from there, i jumped off into a lecture about the different subfields and approaches to psychology based on what they had answered previously. then to top it all off, they split into groups to begin analyzing a specific scenario based on a specific approach i gave to each group (biological, cognitive, behavioral, etc). soon, i heard the rustling of books being put away. in a furious rage, i shouted, "the bell doesn't dismiss you. i dismiss you!"
when i woke up, i decided it was either a very good or very bad sign for me as a teacher. it could be very good in that it suggests i could even teach in my sleep. not just teach, but also randomly come up with a lesson plan on the fly. it could be very bad in that it shows how my lessons involve very little thought and just sort of fall together as they go.
here's to hopefully making tenure in the future.
so last night i had a dream that is probably one of the greatest fears any teacher could have. it was the first day of school and i had nothing prepared. no syllabi, no seating chart, and i didn't even know how to log into zangle. i was pretty screwed.
the class began with me asking my class how they would define psychology. as they answered each question, they had to say their names for the sake of me and their peers. from there, i jumped off into a lecture about the different subfields and approaches to psychology based on what they had answered previously. then to top it all off, they split into groups to begin analyzing a specific scenario based on a specific approach i gave to each group (biological, cognitive, behavioral, etc). soon, i heard the rustling of books being put away. in a furious rage, i shouted, "the bell doesn't dismiss you. i dismiss you!"
when i woke up, i decided it was either a very good or very bad sign for me as a teacher. it could be very good in that it suggests i could even teach in my sleep. not just teach, but also randomly come up with a lesson plan on the fly. it could be very bad in that it shows how my lessons involve very little thought and just sort of fall together as they go.
here's to hopefully making tenure in the future.
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