What I Believe

I believe every kid in school wants to have limits. I believe every kid is capable of greatness. I believe every kid is the result of what they have experienced, which is why they don't act the same way we do -- different experiences. I believe that every kid, at the core of it all, wants to be loved...just like us. I believe in trying to find a student's 'true colors'. I believe teachers should look at the kid, not just his/her behavior.


I know I am currently failing with some students...and it's difficult for me.


I believe that the current demoralizing push to 'reform' education is actually going to drive the teachers who believe in kids to find a different line of work. We didn't sign up to attend more meetings and have our heart-felt work judged by test scores. We got in this career to change lives. Yes, there is room for improvement...nothing I have seen on the 'reform' front will get us closer to greatness.


What do YOU believe in?

Registry Hall - Ellis Island

I created this Photosynth after my trip to Registry Hall on Ellis Island. This is a great way to remember places you have traveled. Photosynth is PC only, but once you have created it, you can view it on any computer and embed it!

It's Easy to Be Creative....It's Hard to Be Brave Enough to Share It!

The inspirational Peter H. Reynolds challenges everyone to "Make your mark and see where it takes you" through his amazing books, "The Dot" and "Ish." If you haven't read his books, stop reading this right now and go out and get those books. If you have read them and shared them with every one of your friends, continue.

I have listened to Peter speak many times and have been inspired beyond belief. I have never considered myself much of an artist, but I really enjoy doodling and playing with watercolors. One day during a meeting, I started doodling and realized it is a great way to reduce the stress that meetings cause. So, now I draw people in the group, creative letters, or just random art.

At one of the last meetings, I created the "C" man. Another of my friends, Linda Ragsdale, shows kids how to draw really cool things with simple letters and shapes. I used her idea as a start and created a character using only variations on the letter C. I then animated it with Animation-Ish. 


One of the things that Peter talks about is to not disparage your own talent in from of your students. The braver you are, the more brave they will be. So, with that thought, I share  "C Man".

What will you share with your students? How brave can you be? I challenge you to create a character and post it online.

Highway 30 Through Iowa

Last week I created my own Spring Break and took two days off to spend with my wife who does have a break. We took off early on Thursday morning and traveled to Chicago on a shopping and resting expedition. We had a very nice time, with the exception of VERY loud neighbors at the hotel.

We took a slightly different way home than we have on our other trips and ended up on Highway 30 in Iowa. I started teaching in a town called Lost Nation and another town called Calamus for two different school districts. Calamus is right on Highway 30 and Lost Nation is 14 miles North. While driving through Clinton, I remembered taking coaching authorization classes with a friend and all the laughs we had during those classes. I have 'retired' from coaching, but those memories were so warm and inviting.

Then we drove through DeWitt and I remembered driving there to play racquetball and a lot of fun times there. As we raced down the highway toward the location of my first jobs, the memories were overwhelming and sweet. I told my wife tons of stories about things I remembered...some not so pleasant memories, like the principal who said he didn't care what the concert was like, but it had better not last longer than 60 minutes.

What was most overwhelming though was the sweet and wonderful memories fourteen miles north in Lost Nation. When I moved there, I had NO idea what it was like to be a teacher and I think I had the absolute best place to learn. I was just twenty-two when I moved to town and immediately, I felt like I was part of a family. It seemed most of the families in town had children my age, in addition to school-aged children, so I was taken in on many occasions and was nurtured along the way. The kids would often hug me and the parents thought that was great. I had an amazing accompanist who always gently steered me in the right direction. I remember only getting two angry parent phone call, one had to do with show choir outfits....although the tone was all wrong, the parent was right. The other one was just a crazy swear festival and I learned a valuable lesson....if someone swears, hang up.

Along with the sweet memories came some very disturbing memories. Losing a kid my first year to a drunk driver and losing another one my second year when he took his own life. These two things became the scaffolding of much of my career as a teacher. I spend a LOT of my day trying to help kids with problem solving situations and trying to get grades and choices on the right track. I want to do everything I can to try to keep kids from making destructive decisions, though I know I can only do so much. The two tragedies in that town make me feel forever bound to that group of kids. I am fortunate to have been in contact with several of them after I moved on. Sadly the school closed the year I left and consolidated.

So, this got me to thinking.....What if new teacher induction was more like this? A warm embrace from the community and nudges in the right direction along the way?? No one yelled at me (with the two exceptions above). I wasn't on any 'intensive assistance' plan, but I surely made about every mistake in the world as a new teacher (well, not every mistake, but enough). What I had was a community of people who worked really hard at molding me into a better teacher through their love and gentle nudges. I think they taught me much more than I taught them. I will be forever grateful to those people for helping make me who I am today.

It seems a basic flaw in this plan is that parents aren't always how they were back then. There is growing animosity toward teachers. However, I maintain we are all on the same team and we have the same goal for kids. Right? I know my goals a pure and honest and with the best interest of the student in mind....I think parents have the same goal. We need to find a way to work together and maybe gently nudge each other back on the right path.

Thanks to the people of Lost Nation for the love and the kindness....Twenty-five years later I think of you all fondly.



Photo credit: www.lostnationiowa.com

Digital Fabrication

A few times in my lifetime as a teacher, I felt as if I was standing at the edge of the World and seeing the start of a revolution. For example, I remember the very first time I was on the WWW when it was in its infancy. I ordered music from JW Pepper through an early terminal type program called PNMN. It was all words then, but I could order music and interact with other teachers and I felt the world shift.

A few years later, we were all summoned to the, then new, business lab and shown the graphic-based WWW. I was actually sitting in Iowa, hearing audio from the Netherlands. I remember, vividly everything about that experience. My friend, Jenny, was leading the workshop and it was life-changing.

Now, some years later, I am in a very different place watching that same sort of shift. At ISTE Conference (then NECC) 2009, I was privileged to share the stage with Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns and Glen Bull to discuss projects that would get kids involved in school. I watched the skilled Peggy and Glen impress the crowd with the idea of Digital Fabrication in schools and a little machine that would cut out what a student would design. I remember being very impressed, but not fully understanding the implications.

I have watched the progress of this project over the eighteen months since the first presentation and I have been amazed that all around this concept of digital fabrication. I watched the Fab@School project gain national attention and the inventive Glen Bull post the YouTube videos posted below and been totally amazed at this work.

Knowing the software genius, Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns, has been one of the true joys of my life. In addition to designing what I believe is the most teacher/student-friendly software on the market, she is a kind and amazing human being. She allowed me a sneak peek at the Fab@School software that is being created for the digital fabrication movement and it is, as you would expect from something coming from Peggy, wonderful.

Keep an eye out for the progress on this software and the digital fabrication movement. I am certain that you will be seeing the next classroom revolution. If you haven't checked out Dr. Peggy Healy Stearn's software, be sure to check out Stationery Studio*, Community Construction Kit*, Diorama Designer*, The Graph Club 2.0, Neighborhood Map Machine, among others. 


* indicates software that will have relevancy to the Fab@School project.

Stationery Studio will always be nearest my heart because it introduced me to FableVision!


After you watch the YouTube videos, let me know what amazing things you would invent for your classroom!!!! Be part of the revolution!

Several Unexpected Surprises

Dear Neglected TJOJ Readers:

I apologize for the long absence. When I set to writing this blog, I intended to share tools and experiences...after a few months, it got sort of preachy and so I discontinued. Although I never intend to preach, I am so very passionate about education and the way things are going (or not going) in schools. I am going to try for a better mix in the future. 

The first unexpected surprise this week was when I was observed by someone I did not know from an area college. I am offering Professional Development sessions to my colleagues at school in an after-hours format. They can receive college credit for attending. I didn't know what to expect from this observation, but like a regular classroom observation, with me, what-you-see-is-what-you-get. I was reading the observation report when I came upon this quote,  "It is very evident that technology is a real passion of Terry’s and it shows in his energetic teaching and the way he encourages the use of the applications he is presenting. He is obviously a leader in this area and the go-to guy for the staff." Wow. It might not be surprising to know that I am fairly harsh with myself in terms of school, because I always try to make things better. I also have gone through periods of feeling very unappreciated. This was nice to hear from an outside source.

The second surprise may be the sweetest. I received a handmade card from a student (a class assignment, but regardless) from a VERY quiet freshman boy. It had musical notes on the front and the inside said, "Thank you for being a great teacher. I'm sorry I didn't go out for chorus last year. I think you're my favorite teacher in the whole world." That would be nice from ANY kid, but from a painfully shy kid who is not in my class, it's heaven. It is also affirmation that the heart and soul I have been pouring in to kids has not gone unnoticed. Lately, I have been working extra hard to find roads in with kids that seem to struggle. I imagine the casual onlooker might see it as funny. I walked with a girl in PE one day and challenged her to walk faster than her normal snail pace. Not because I care about her speed, but because I wanted her to know she was noticed. 

Both of the things above make it seem like I am tooting my own horn, or holding myself up as an example. That's not really my point, and if you knew me in real life, you would know that is not me. It just reminded me that sometimes, if you want to make a difference, you have to step outside of the normal. You have to put yourself out there. You have to put yourself in a place where you can lead and let your passion for education shine. You have to challenge what the kids believe about school and teachers. The sweetest part of this job is the times that you see a smile from the girl who walks in gym class, or you get a note out of the blue. I am one lucky guy.

Finally, a great surprise last night... A blogger that I deeply respect as a teacher and as a blogger sent a tweet about the absence of blogging. I was humbled to know someone I respect so greatly had noticed that it had been since November that I blogged here. When I made a silly remark back about being sure that the five people who read this were sad, another comment from someone I respect came through. 

So, I make a parallel with my teaching spirituality...Just because you don't know your voice is getting through, doesn't mean that it isn't. Keep speaking, keep dreaming, keep pushing....maybe there will be some unexpected surprises in your future!!

EDUBlog Nominations

My Nominations for The 2010 Edublog Awards are:


Best individual blog- Spencer's Scratch Pad http://www.johntspencer.com/
I have just located this blog and it makes me think really deeply about things related to education.


Best individual tweeter- Diane Cordell @dmcordell
I call her "The Great One" because she is nice to everyone, she is willing to help ANYONE out, and is now retired and uses her knowledge to help coach and guide younger teachers.

Best class blog-Lee Kolbert's Class Blog http://weblogs.pbspaces.com/mrskolbert/
Lee's class have excellent blog posts on a wide variety of subjects. There have been many times where I have thought that the kids have a unique perspective on a subject. 

Best resource sharing blog -Free Technology for Teachers http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
Not only the sharing of resources & links, but FTT gives ideas on how the websites might be useful.

Most influential blog post- Rather Painful Reflection http://attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com/2010/11/edcampkc-rather-painful-reflection.html
Wow, this one is relatively new, but I think it resonates the feelings of many teachers. It is one that stuck with me for days!

Best teacher blog- Paul Bogush  Blogush http://blogush.edublogs.org/
Paul is a rebel of sorts because he posts great ideas and things that make me think. He also shows sort of a 'warts and all' sort of perspective in which he opens up about things that are troubling to him and that he is not perfect.

Best School Administrator blog Educational Discourse http://kwhobbes.wordpress.com/
Kelly is another person who is willing to put his thoughts out there and let them fall where they do. It's honest and open and very engaging.

Best educational wiki: Vicki Davis' Westwood http://westwood.wikispaces.com/Web+2.0
Vicki is, in my opinion, the queen of the Wiki. She not only has an amazing set of resources, she also teaches people about how to effectively manage them.

Lifetime achievement- Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher
Vicki is a very dear person who shares a lot about her "Flat Classroom" project and every day teaching. Although she hasn't been 'famous' in edtech circles for years, she is so very knowledgeable and is a practicing teacher. 


http://edublogawards.com/