Someone Hand Me a Microphone

Young Poets

by Nicanor Parra

(trans. by Miller Williams)

Write as you will

In whatever style you like

Too much blood has run under the bridge

To go on believing

That only one road is right.

In poetry everything is permitted.

With only this condition of course,
You have to improve the blank page.

This is my Philosophy of Education. My students should, at all costs, avoid that road most traveled. If paralysis of our culture is to be avoided, students must go out into the world with a volume level set to YELL above the masses.
My goal is to create an environment where students can use their voices to shape their futures.
If you want to put my platform in a box, feel free. I have never been comfortable in boxes. I get claustrophobic.

Tools for the Mind

Hillary Seeland
hillary.seeland@gmail.com
11 November 2007

"Tools for the Mind"
Mary Burns

In her article "Tools for the Mind," Mary Burns argues that technology use in schools is not where it should be. In school budgets across the country, it states that (in part) the purchase of computers and technology for classroom use will enhance and enrich learning. This is proven false. Though technology is being used in curriculum, it is not utilized in a manner that requires students to critically think about or analyze information; computers and their applications are simply for show-and-tell.

It seems that teachers are to blame for the misuse of classroom technology. Students are required to learn the Microsoft Office Suite, PowerPoint, and the Internet for school work, all of which are point and click operations. Burns would like to see more spreadsheet, database, and computer-aided design programs taught in classrooms. She argues that these applications push students and teachers to "create new knowledge" which should be the primary goal of schools.

• Teachers are learning computer skills as opposed to learning how computers can enhance student learning.
• Many school districts have not supplied an adequate technology environment for computer-enhanced student learning.
• Do students really learn better simply by using technology?
• Not all computer applications are created equal.
• Student Internet use tends to be passive.
• Databases vs. PowerPoint? Databases win, hands down.
• Never use technology for the sake of using technology. Always be aware of student learning.
• Professional development time and money should be allocated to teachers for technology education.
• Teachers need support in reassessing technology use and implementing a version that truly enhances student learning.

I understand and appreciate the argument that Burns asserts in this article. However, as I read through, I couldn't help but wonder -- how does this affect the English department? The use of GIS, computer-aided design programs, and simulation software seems a bit out of place when discussing Transcendentalist essayists. Equally bizarre would be to use a spreadsheet to demonstrate the ratio of stresses to line breaks in Eliot's The Wasteland. I suppose that there are some amazing programs out there, but I wouldn't even know where to begin. Perhaps someone could clue me in ... or should I wait for the district to put me through a technology intense inservice?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I am sure that somewhere out there is a manual on how to effectively present a Power Point and I wish that I had read it. Is one expected to have the presentation memorized? Perhaps I could have used a laptop efficiently.

I spent the majority of my presentation looking up at the screen behind me.

Oh well.

Aside from the fact that my face rarely makes an appearance (perhaps this is not such a bad thing after all), I was amazed to learn that I use my hand a lot. Not just for emphasis, but to punctuate every word that escapes my lips. Sometimes I even use my hands to explicate sentiments that I don't verbalize. Yes, I am very talented.

To see it all, click here: http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5323e65192012176a2a1

If you would like to see the information on a spreadsheet, click here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pwGjXEBnpk7hTi_Sxs0psJg

I'm a Pre-approved American

I am sitting at Sitka High School at 8:22 pm on a Friday. Yes, it's true.

My energy project seems to have come to a mini-closure. Today, Kate helped me dig through the science department storage closet in search of a scale to weigh my junk mail. The first scale was too hefty, the second too wussy, the third was dismembered, and the fourth was mangled. I am learning to laugh at everything. We finally tracked down a scaled that worked and ... behold! ... three weeks of my junk mail weighs approximately 3.75 pounds!

Once I had some numbers in my hot little hand, I was sent back to the English Department to crunch some numbers. I learned that crunching numbers does not make me laugh. I struggled to convert tons to pounds, years to weeks, and billions to thousands. I had to cross multiply, which I have not attempted since ... hmmmm.

The confused letters above have left me believing that I learned more about myself through this project than I did about energy consumption. Junk mail has always been a huge bane and I know how wasteful it is. What became glaringly apparent to me was that I am lazy. Why haven't I called the phone numbers and written the letters? I am like every other "lazy American" who just lets stuff happen and tries not to think about its impact. I'm just one person, right? That's what we all say.

http://www.slideshare.net/hseeland/youre-approved

Read/Write Web

Hillary Seeland
hillary.seeland@gmail.com
16 October 2007

"Read/Write Web"
Will Richardson

The landscape of education is shifting. This is the warning Will Richardson sends to current educators. No longer is the concept of literacy defined as simply reading and writing, but it now includes editing and collaborating. The addition of the latter two skills requires that students expand their learning beyond the classroom. To improve understandings and connections with their learning, students must feel that their work is "meaningful" and "purposeful". The web can help achieve these goals by allowing students to access connections with experts in their learning fields and with other students around the globe. In this model, the classroom teacher shifts from a role as educator and becomes more of a facilitator; s/he is a guide, ever present to help students make the aforementioned connections.

• The Internet is a forum for publishing student work, collaborating on projects, and engaging in online conversations.
• Blogs, which anyone with an Internet connection can access, are a useful tool to teach critical thinking and communications skills.
• Wikis are like data Lego sets; they can be built, demolished, and reconstructed by anyone, anywhere, and at anytime. Great for class collaboration projects.
• RSS, Social Bookmarking, and Podcasts allow students and teachers access to constant, up-to-the-minute information.
• Teachers must not ostrichize themselves from this technological phenomenon.
• Teacher might want to rethink their role in the classroom.
• There are risk factors involved with Web publishing: namely privacy and safety implications.
• How much information students divulge is dependant on adult comfort levels, the capabilities of the software being used, federal and state laws.

I agree that teachers should be aware of the technological shifts taking place in society, but I am also ardently against a vision of the future in which students are glassy-eyed and monitor-glazed. Richardson piles a load of importance on Web usage, but his voice is arrogant and unrealistic in most of its points. He assumes that most schools and families have the funding for this technology, when in fact, they don't. The districts and families that do have the funding would gain much from tech use in school, but I would venture to ask whether or not they would be accessing an accurate portrait of the world at large.

Yes, I will use technology in my classroom, and yes, I will guide my students to critically analyze the information they have spat at them every nanosecond, but I will also treasure the moments when they extract a piece of post-consumer recycled paper from their backpacks, load a fountain pen with non-toxic ink, and scratch out a personal essay: just for me.

Note to Kermit: It IS Easy Being Green

I love energy!

I am very good at using it, abusing it, and then beating myself up for acting like the kind of narcissistic people that I despise.

To counteract said narcissism, I have decided to crusade against junkmail (including my anthropoligie and Nordstrom catalogues). No more credit card offers, student loan consolidation forms, or surveys offering free plane tickets if only I'd fill them out. Wish me luck.

1. How many pounds of junk mail do I receive a month? How much energy is consumed to produce said junk mail and get it across the country to this little island in Alaska? BTW, my mailman is the Sitka's mayor.
2. Google has a ton (hee hee) of resources for me to research and contact. There is a website called 41 pounds that is championing this cause. According to them, the average American received 41 pounds (hence the title) of junk mail a year. They have many statistics in reference to water used and trees cut down. Good stuff.
3. For data collection, I will collect all of the junk mail that I receive in the mail starting today and ending with the culmination of this project.
4. After every mail collection, I will record the date and weight of mail recieved. I will then (using pre-existing data) do math and figure out how much energy was used to send all of this junk mail to little ol' me. If I am really ambitious, I will seperate the junk mail into categories, ie. credit cards, catalogues, surveys, fliers, ect.

At the end of this project, I intend to remove myself from as many mailing lists as possible and firmly insist that others do the same.

Wolf Technology

I can honestly say that I am amazed at the changes that Sitka High School has made in the past ten years. As most of you know, I graduated from Sitka High (Go Wolves!) in 1997; I sat through Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" in the then-new gymnasium, and waited to exit the building forever. Now, I'm back.
Aside from making bad music and clothing choices (not to ignore the makeup and hair), the students of ten years ago dealt with dial-up connections and 35 mm film cameras.
Oh jeeze!
Sitka High is trying its best to keep up with new waves of technology and, I admit, they are doing a pretty good job. The students have active support in their technology training and do have resources available to them. It is expected by all that students act responsibly and respectfully when it comes to computer use and equipment handling.
My one major critique is that there are a number of old-skool (yup, that's right) teachers that refuse to touch technology with a ten-foot pole. I'm not naming any names, but they know who they are.

Oh yes ... here is the link to my most fascinating technology report. I walked to the ends of the earth for some of this information; I dueled Monsters of the Deep, fell into the Bog of Eternal Stench, and scaled the Cliffs of Insanity. It was worth it though ... yes it was.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhszrc27_4gswsxj

Listen to the Natives

Hillary Seeland
hillary.seeland@gmail.com
18 September 2007

"Listen to the Natives"
Marc Prensky


It is time to renovate the traditional school setting. If teachers care about the current and future education of their students, they must open their ears to the voices around them. The 21st century's technological climate where we find ourselves is vastly different from the era in which we were schooled. Modern students are well versed in the gathering of information and are able to access said information with the click of a button. The outcome of such rapid growth and change nullifies traditional methods of instruction that are no longer interesting or engaging. Consequently, the gap between school and "the world outside of school" grows continually larger. Marc Prensky, the author of "Listen to the Natives," identifies simple (and not-so-simple) strategies that educators can adopt in an effort to effectively engage in learning alongside modern students.

• Digital natives vs. digital immigrants
• Teachers must practice putting engagement before content
• Adaptivity and connectivity are where digital technology will have its greatest impact
• The vital importance of the cell phone
• Programming is the key skill for 21st century literacy
• Listen to the students
• Educators must make room for 21st century subject matter

My struggle in responding to this article has nothing to do with its content and everything to do with the tag line for a soap opera: Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

It is scary to think about how quickly human beings evolve. From my perspective, the recent advancements in technology have created a mass information movement that reads like a science fiction novel. No matter which way you look at it, there is no sitting still. The only way that it is justified for those of us in education to dig our heels into the shag carpeting of our Nirvana lives, is if nuclear war annihilates everyone outside of Alaska and we actually do take up residence in igloos.

I do not want to live in an igloo; I hate being cold. I also hate the idea of becoming completely disconnected from my students. The points that Prensky makes in his article are uncomfortable and challenging for me to wrap my mind around, but I believe that his vision is the one that educational institutions need to look forward to (literally).

2015

Podcasts. The word just sitting there on the blank screen makes me anxious. Everything does these days, I suppose.

Now that the screen isn't blank anymore, perhaps I can explore this issue in more depth.

I can imagine a classroom where children are not taught by work books and sheets created by PhDs in far off places under fluorescent lights, in little cubicles, eating Lean Cuisine hot from the microwave. They, instead, are listening to a podcast of a live actor reciting a soliloquie on stage at the Shakespeare festival in Ashland, Oregon. They can listen to an author talk about his / her text or someone else's text, for that matter.

I am exausted by fill-in-the-blanks and D.O.L. and I have only been in the classroom for a week. Give me fresh. Give me new. Give me a world outside of this building and outside of this town where inspiration lies waiting.

Futuring

Hannah and Her Fox Project

My General Reactions

I loved it. Though a wee bit nervous, Hannah was able to perform her story with ease, grace, and humor. I giggled through the "little bug" scene and felt all warm and gooey when fox finally learned to be a better person.

• Fine example of personification fox = person

The use of technology in this project was simple and effective; it created not only a wonderful film to share with family and friends but a fantastic tool for Hannah to self-critique.

Questions I Heard Bouncing Around in My Skull

• When is the last time anyone saw a full grown yellow duck?

School / Train

My General Reactions

My scalp is bleeding because I tore all my hair out. As the children moved around in circles and made funny faces at the camera, I could not help but wonder ...

• What's the point of this project?

I can think of a thousand interesting, fun, multi-faceted ways to assess whether children understand what a metaphor is. School is like a train ... I get it. Fourth graders should get it just as easily as I do. Asking children to create this project ... oh wait ...

• Did the children really create this project?

requires no higher order of thinking on their part nor does it seem to have any further purpose. The music and images are so repetitive and base that I was forced to step back from the computer for fear that I would put my fist through the monitor.