Left Lane Ends

How do you like THAT irony? :>

First, i will say that it takes me longer to type on the  XO keyboard than it does on my iPhone’s tiny little touch keypad. Granted, the keyboard is made for little fingers…

Moving on. I am working on my annual reinstall of my laptop and got all excited about dual booting my machine with the Kubuntu flavor of Linux open source OS. I’m the first to admit that I’m not  a full out computer geek and I don’t get ’super duper excited’ about the newest and greatest - BUT, I’ve always been FOR the open source products out there. After attending a session about a district that is using Kubuntu (albeit in small numbers), I started rolling around ideas about how i could do the same for my office work by moving towards online tools like our webmail client for Outlook, Google Docs, etc. After all, Linux installs have gotten much easier over the years so why not take the plunge?

I’m on day two. I have stuff to do. My laptop is down - still. I just wiped it out and am giving Linux the boot. After finally getting my hard drive partitioned right and getting half way through the installation, I got an error - no go - shut down - do it again. It was at that point that i realized, I HAVE to have Outlook up all day for my job. I HAVE to use Internet Explorer for specific applications we have in-district. MSN Messenger is the only chat application we have open to pilot (and what good is a chat client if it isn’t up-and-running on your machine?).

I realized I was defeated, slumped back to tech services and asked for the XP install disk one more time so that I could do a simple, one partition install. At home, this would work (IF I would be willing to give up the ability to do serious video editing). In Africa (where I might be helping to install updated computers), this will work IF there is a solid internet connection. In Irving ISD, it won’t be possible. Even our students are required to have IE for distriuct systems AND for state-wide testing systems (which would make it hard for any texas district to move full-out to open source). I know there are work arounds. I know. But I want realistic solutions. I want developers to push the limits (like Apple has done lately) and come up with ways that I can work online without making my forearms cramp up like they are now. What good are new devices if the usablity stays the same as the old ones? What good is free software if it is problematic and cumbersome?

I’m not happy with Windows - I hate the copy of Vista that is running on my video editing mchine. But XP works. It meets my job requireents for email, messenging and district systems. So, Kubuntu - you get the boot… a single boot to XP only.

I’ll still run Open Office only, but Outlook will have to be installed. With so much of my work being done through a browser, it should have been easier than this… it should have been doable. Guess I’m being forced to stay on the highway with this one.

With that, and with my hands and arms cramped from typing this out on the XO, I’ll finish the post. There are a ton of errors due to the keypad that i’ll have to fix when my laptop is back up and running, and i’m sure as heck not going to go through the cumbersome process of grabbing and embedding link from the XO when i can do it three times faster from my laptop.

And, on a positive note, I’m glad to know that I CAN post to Wordpress from here, that web 2.0 applications do work, and that kids around the world will have the chance to feasibly do the same…

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but RadioLab is my all time favorite program on my local Public Radio station (KERA - which you can listen to/donate online). For me, it is the prime example of how to teach with audio, and I am now trying to replicate some of the strategies that they use in my own ways. Now, the trick is verbalizing my thoughts.
The final product will be four to five online modules on our district Blackboard servers that attempt to teach teachers how to teach using audio - specifically, using the free software - Audacity. My big question, though, is how to do this effectively. We have all seen the step-by-step paper handouts, but they don’t bring to life how to actually do something in a real, live classroom setting. Many of us have participated in online courses - ineffective and boring - where we are forced to discuss and respond twice to non-relevant concepts. And, sitting down to watch a video that simply feeds you information doesn’t get those neurons triggering to the point where the connections truly last and have an impact on teaching for more than a day or two. So, what does RadioLab do differently?

Darren Wilson pointed out how listening to a conversation (to learn a topic) is much more engaging than being fed information. I immediatley brought up RadioLab as the two hosts of the show are always in some form of dialogue about any given topic. However, it isn’t really an inteviewer vs. interviewee type of exchange. No, it is a teacher vs. learner dialogue… one of the hosts is clearly ‘trying’ to understand the topic at hand while the other has done research or interiviewed an expert that answers the learners questioning. THEN, the tables turn - the roles switch when the topic is tweaked and the learner has the greater knowledge and begins to teach his co-host. Finally, interspersed in-between this continual boucing back-and-forth are stories (well told stories!) that support the learning exchange. The stories always have more than one perspective (narrator, additional characters, topic experts) and always have multiple levels of audio (sound effects, music placed at the right times to allow the brain to pause and reflect).

So, now the trick is to figure out how this approach can benefit my online modules - how do I work in:

• Teaching/Learning Dialogue
• Storytelling
• Multi-Layered Audio

And how do I do that in an environment that feels like an online course/online learning module. The thoughts are rolling…

It has been a while since I have heard a really good keynote speaker and Marco Torres fit the bill. Digging around online revealed a popular phrase that he must use: Quit, Complain or Innovate (while he didn’t use it at TCEA, I love the line). Like most of the things that stimulate my writing mind, it has continued to pop up throughout the past couple of weeks. I have a hard time with negativity, and the conciseness of the quote gave me a humble smile with different encounters at work, in meetings and on campuses. We all have choices.

Angela Stevenshas written about our current revisioning of our one to one laptop program in Irving, leading to some nice discussion about what the Academy of Irving ISD will do to take the next steps with community funded bond monies. Additionally, each High School campus has been asked to think about how they can revision their programs to make what we do with students more powerful and more effective.

One High School campus is seriously talking about the option of ditching Microsoft Office and installing only Open Office (open source software) on their laptops next year. This has me wondering if this change could be a rallying point for the campus. ‘We do laptops, and we do them differently.’ I hear a lot of talk about moving to open source, but 2200 students using Open Office may make a big statement.

More than just looking at installing a different software package, plans being discussed include:

• Adding a week of staff development focused on lesson development/technology integration at the beginning of the school year
• Integrating quality one-to-one styled lessons into district curriculum
• Scheduling a class of students that can work on projects to benefit the technology integration at the school
• Developing once-a-week teach sessions that have two components: 1) skills/ step-by-step on how to use something, and 2) idea generation time or thinking about how to use something in context. Teachers could be allowed to choose not only the topic to attend once a six weeks, but also choose whether they wanted the skills or the think piece.

Innovating is not just about doing something new, it is about making a decision to change. This campus is in the initial phases of thinking through that change, and it will require administrator support and a lot of work. But, it is clear what they are going to choose - and that sure ain’t ‘quit’ or ‘complain’. Those two don’t get you very far when the left lane ends.

The link is: http://www.teachmorebetter.com

We’ll see over time if this will work, but my idea is that we can put together a core group of writers from Irving to write about our 1:1 laptop program. A core group means the writing load is not on one person AND readers will get a variety of perspectives about our program. The design is coming along, now it’s time for content.

A few weeks back at TCEA, I went to get a Jamba Juice for lunch. It’s just a smoothie - nothing spectacular or complex. However, when my smoothie-maker finished her mixing and blending, she walked to counter with nervous look on her face saying, “This is the first one that I’ve made right today!” Granted, this wasn’t a huge, earth shattering accomplishment - but it was easy to see that this small achievment meant something to her. With a big smile and a warm “very nice!”, I started to wonder how often we miss those opportunities in the classroom or with our coworkers. It is so easy to get wrapped up in our own day, in our own perspective, and overlook the small achievements of those around us. Since that time, I know I have passed up many opportunities to recognize the achievements of those around me, but I know that when I take the time, it makes a difference. After all, I know how much I appreciate the same from others - don’t you?

So, life happens. Once again, I’ve taken a leave of absence from my blog. Its been a rough year. I’m divorced… Again. But, I can’t attribute my lack of motivation to write publicly to just that. Honestly, I’ve let myself get weighed down with putting out fires at work and allowed that mentality to control too much of my motivation. On the bright side, I have a couple of opportunities to pause: one this week at a work related conference; and one next weekend personally. The great thing is that I have some projects in my scope that will give me the opportunity to jump out of this ring of fire… As long as I so choose. ;)Oh! And I have pink eye!! Who gets pink eye?!?