Connie Weber's Posts - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T06:34:30ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweberhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1949878289?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=connieweber&xn_auth=noCurrent heap of reading; working on a synthesis of these bookstag:www.classroom20.com,2009-04-26:649749:BlogPost:3354292009-04-26T17:49:52.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
(cross-posted at Fireside Learning)<br />
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May look like a hodgepodge, but somehow this is where I've settled in my studies the last three weeks. Taking it in, taking it in, taking it in. A knowledge fest. All of these books I've read and am now rereading my underlines, to sift and sort through the major ideas. Preparing for summer classes... Another big part of my reading lately has been Bridging Differences (Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier on their…
(cross-posted at Fireside Learning)<br />
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May look like a hodgepodge, but somehow this is where I've settled in my studies the last three weeks. Taking it in, taking it in, taking it in. A knowledge fest. All of these books I've read and am now rereading my underlines, to sift and sort through the major ideas. Preparing for summer classes... Another big part of my reading lately has been Bridging Differences (Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier on their edweek blog), each letter, WITH all the readers' comments. I've been going over the last couple of months' conversations, underlining, following references, sorting out the readers' voices.<br />
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I need some fiction! My last fiction book was Out Stealing Horses, which I loved. Desperately searching a great novel to get into. It's good to get a break from all the educational and neuroscience books. Just need a good story.<br />
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Oh! My favorite article from recent days: "Swamp Things" in The New Yorker. That got me to asking the question again: what are invasives? How long are they "invasives," and when do the become part of the ecology, a new framing of that ecology? --And of course, how does study of ecological systems and invasive species go with what's happening everywhere with digital connections? I mean, we're no longer just creatures of our localities, are we?<br />
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Fun. Just having a blast on a learning binge.<br />
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Now I'm wishing this were set up as a forum, because what I really want to know is what are you studying? What are you reading? What questions get your attention these days?<br />
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Back to school this morning; reading will have to be relegated to nighttime now. Goodbye vacation and all the free exploration time--<br />
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And hello to class, young students, here-and-now learning and play, all together, in the moment, sharing creativity, being part of a learning community. Sigh, Life is Good. (Can't wait until we discuss individual research and I get to share my stuff!)evolution of a homeroom class, ongoing. March 26, 2008tag:www.classroom20.com,2008-03-29:649749:BlogPost:1241832008-03-29T19:39:05.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
It's been a few months since my last entry; the entries used to be weekly, as I adjusted to a new kind of teaching. Now, here I am just a bit later and completely on the "other side."<br />
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There's no going back.<br />
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This year my students and I have experienced a fundamental “shift” in education. We are not only a strong classroom community (in real time, face to face, here and now), we are also a strong networked community online.<br />
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Our network is private. It's a ning network like Fireside and…
It's been a few months since my last entry; the entries used to be weekly, as I adjusted to a new kind of teaching. Now, here I am just a bit later and completely on the "other side."<br />
<br />
There's no going back.<br />
<br />
This year my students and I have experienced a fundamental “shift” in education. We are not only a strong classroom community (in real time, face to face, here and now), we are also a strong networked community online.<br />
<br />
Our network is private. It's a ning network like Fireside and Classroom 2.0, only it's composed primarily of young people. They have blogs, forums, profile pages. They work on a substantial part of their curriculum online, researching, posting their productions. They share work with their community and with a couple of other communities as well, including Art Snacks and EFL Classroom. Students read and comment on each others' work. They participate in discussions about their studies and their lives.<br />
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When students travel, they often produce travelogues and share them with their network in real time. Thus, in some ways, we've all traveled to Japan, Prague, Brazil, Iran, Israel, India, and all across America together. We've heard about castles and wild lands, about bustling and complicated cities all over. (We learn about internet access around the world...)<br />
A student who moved away is still part of our network.<br />
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Relatives and friends are getting added now; we're becoming a multi-generational learning community. The teacher's sister is on. So are a couple of education professors. So is the school's librarian, and soon, a particular grandpa who has been writing extensively in our "Ask Elders" program all year long.<br />
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How did this happen? How did we become what we are, a networked learning community, connected across time and space, connected 24/7, charging ahead in the world almost as a learning organism composed of individual units all humming and operating together?<br />
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I don't know.<br />
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I do remember at one point there was a turnaround in my head: Oh, I thought, I see. It's not that I make a list of "regular" work for the week with a subcomponent that's "networked" activity. The edges had blurred too much to keep them separate. I relaxed and went with the trend. I began making a list of all the work blended together, requiring posting of much of the written work, and requiring as well that the students take the time to respond to each other, and also to leave "nice notes" as supportive comments just scattered around on blogs and work.<br />
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And by the way, even though technology has become a primary and central learning tool in our classroom learning community, it has dropped into the background. We hardly notice the machines as machines or the applications as applications, if that makes sense. They are all simply "enablers" of learning. They provide avenues, pathways, background, and production tools--the focus is learning. As in making a movie, the focus isn't on the camera but rather what is conveyed. As in listening to music, the focus is the song, not the player.<br />
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I know many people would say, well...duh, but a lot of people wouldn't--especially other teachers and administrators. Since they mostly haven't experienced the power of online learning they focus on the machinery, and also perhaps of learning as a mechanical process of dumping skills from one location to another. Web 2.0 is not even in their framework. "Content" is not an "interactive substance" in their minds, but a stationary set of "knowledge bits" that can be placed into the students--or not--depending on whether the "machine works." So even though we're working away on computers that have become for us something like our learning vehicles, they are seeing us as a classroom that has a lot of cars, not as a classroom on a journey.<br />
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About half or more of the kids in my class have personal computers. There's a smartboard as well, sort of a central "put it up and talk about it" place. Never does a student have to "go without" a computer if it's needed. The kids share their computers freely (it's surprising how generous and open they are in this way) and a student can also go to the lab to work, or use a portable laptop cart computer. We are sitting pretty, for equipment. Computers are up and at our service most of the day. But that's not the point, the point is we are enabled. The sky's the limit. Oh, wait, no there's no limit to the sky.<br />
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I think I'll keep this a draft of what's going on, and see if I can make myself describe the change in list form. I know what some of my friends will say immediately: give examples! Ok, I will, but this time I'm just getting down some of the overall comments on the type of learning that has become central in our Significant Shift in education.<br />
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I see the flexible use of technology, the use of an application in one setting or subject and then in another setting or subject; the toolbank can be reached into and chosen from. Different tools are used for different types of knowledge conveyance; the same tool is used for a variety of new (perhaps unintended) purposes, too.<br />
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The kids in my class feel:<br />
<i><br />
I can find out anything right now.<br />
I can select a set of worthwhile references on a topic.<br />
I can watch over myself as I navigate on the internet; and keep reminding myself to watch over myself, and help others to stay safe and keep on high-quality roads.<br />
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I can learn about the world.<br />
I can know about current events.<br />
I can access my library and thousands of libraries.<br />
I can access my local museums and thousands of museums.<br />
I can access absolutely up to date science news, or any kind of news, all the latest research. I can often find it on various levels, some for my teacher or parents, some for my friends and myself in a kind of "junior level" through accessing the educational subsites of larger sites.<br />
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I can do all this within a group, and we advance and accelerate each other's learning.<br />
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We have a teacher who is actively harvesting information for us; she models for us how to do it, and we do it for each other.<br />
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She asks questions of her colleagues, all over the world. She shows us how she does this.<br />
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She works to create learning environments for us. She starts us off by providing environments, contexts, conditions for learning.<br />
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My community is linked to other communities.<br />
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I bring people I love into what I’m doing.<br />
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I am not afraid of questions.<br />
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I write constantly, in order to communicate my ideas with others. I listen to, watch, and read the work of members of my learning community. I have a responsibility to support my classmates in their and in all of our learning.<br />
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I know how to create music, movies, podcasts, slide shows, multimedia productions of all sorts.<br />
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I can study a current event or topic area and present it to my class with high-quality links so they can examine my interpretation of the knowledge, can see what I was studying, and can reinterpret the sources in their own way.<br />
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I know how to settle in; stay with something, not be flighty. I have learned to work in depth.<br />
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I can work on problem-solving teams with my classmates, thinking through problems that are multifaceted, determining the variables in the networked systems. My classmates and I can propose ways to manipulate important variables or pieces of the puzzles in order to affect positive change. I am learning how people can make a difference in the world.<br />
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I know how to follow the pathways of my learning through internet knowledge hunts; I can move forwards, backwards, along multiply branched routes. I have the personal skill of being a good knowledge hunter. I can follow the traces of my knowledge hunt. I can select high-quality references and share them with others. I share pathways and links as part of my job. We know how to pool our knowledge.<br />
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I’m proud to show my friends and family what I’m doing.<br />
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I share thoughts with the elders in my life, and share their thoughts with my friends.<br />
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I have a place for personal sharing where I feel safe and respected, valued.<br />
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I can frolic and play with my classmates, creativity is open and can be initiated by anyone. I can share deep thoughts and silly thoughts.<br />
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I am comfortable and enthusiastic as a learner. The world is opening to me...</i><br />
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(cross-posted on http://firesidelearning.ning.com)Project Zero in action: an educational utopia, of sortstag:www.classroom20.com,2007-11-28:649749:BlogPost:817302007-11-28T12:30:00.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
I spent a couple of days with my study-group leader from Project Zero. I went with her Alma College students up north. There we visited Long Lake School in Traverse City Schools (of northern Michigan), a kind of educational utopia. This is a school that applied for and received a grant for educational transformation through the Department of Education Arts Education Model Dissemination.<br></br><br></br>Students at this school use "thinking routines;" they use them often, and well, and at all ages.…
I spent a couple of days with my study-group leader from Project Zero. I went with her Alma College students up north. There we visited Long Lake School in Traverse City Schools (of northern Michigan), a kind of educational utopia. This is a school that applied for and received a grant for educational transformation through the Department of Education Arts Education Model Dissemination.<br/><br/>Students at this school use "thinking routines;" they use them often, and well, and at all ages. When you enter a class, the kids will be engaged over some content area study through use of thinking-skills exercises. "I See, I think, I wonder" is one good example. Given a cultural artifact, a piece of art, the students proceed through stages of reflection to think about something deeply. "I see....": that's pure observation, clear and simple. Make or say a list of phrases. "I think...": that's when you connect previous knowledge with current knowledge; it's intellectual; you make or say a list of phrases. "I wonder...": that's the push forward, into the unknown. It's the launching point, the startup for investigation. As I write this I think it all sounds so simple. Maybe that's the beauty in the whole thing.<br/><br/>Students are actively making sense out of the world around them. They
are both studious and playful. We got to see the students go through<br />
individual reflection, small group reflection, and whole group sharing<br />
and discovery.<br/><br/>By all appearances, the students absolutely love their thinking-skills program. Their education is in large measure composed of satisfaction and joy. Students are so involved in their work that issues of management rarely appear, and when they do, get worked out easily.<br/><br/>The most notable thing of all to me was how well the students listened to each other. It's nothing like the typical way that education goes, with the kids raising their hands to be called upon by the teacher for the purpose of supplying an answer that teacher wants, nothing at all. It's nothing like the common picture of kids raising their hands to be called on--and if not called on, just waiting, waiting, waiting, noisily or impatiently, basically "checked-out" until it's their turn. It's the opposite at Long Lake School. A kid gets called on, then everybody listens. Students listen and help sort through that person's reasoning; they respond to that student with "clarifying questions", requests for elaboration, further questions to explore. They applaud and support each other's work.<br/><br/>I want to write more about this unique school and the power it contains for strengthening what's going on in education. It was absolutely astonishing to visit it now, after the students in 6th grade have been in a "thinking-skills-immersed" program for five years. The students are powerhouses. They're motivated, engaged, considerate, reflective, creative. <br/><br/>A question I walk away with is how does technology go with the Harvard Project Zero initiative. I don't see evidence that it's a significant part of the picture. I'm imagining the design of a hybrid that combines Web 2.0 with the "Teaching for Understanding" programs, or "Artful Thinking" programs. Whooooo....this is going to be fun. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>thinking classrooms, thinking dispositionstag:www.classroom20.com,2007-09-01:649749:BlogPost:437482007-09-01T10:54:17.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
There’s some strong support out there. Take Ron Ritchhart, for example. This is from Ritchhart’s book, Intellectual Character, <br></br><br></br> “What if education were less about acquiring skills and knowledge and more about cultivating the dispositions and habits of mind that students will need for a lifetime of learning, problem-solving, and decision-making? What if education were less concerned with the end-of-year exam and more concerned with who students become as a result of their schooling?…
There’s some strong support out there. Take Ron Ritchhart, for example. This is from Ritchhart’s book, Intellectual Character, <br/><br/> “What if education were less about acquiring skills and knowledge and more about cultivating the dispositions and habits of mind that students will need for a lifetime of learning, problem-solving, and decision-making? What if education were less concerned with the end-of-year exam and more concerned with who students become as a result of their schooling? What if we viewed smartness as a goal that students can work toward rather than as something they either have or don’t? reenvisioning education in this way implies that we will need to rethink many of our well-accepted methods of instruction. We will need to look beyond schools as training grounds for the memory and focus more on schooling as an enculturative process that cultivates dispositions of thinking.” (Ritchhart, 2002, pg. xxii)<br/><br/>It’s a meaningful thing, creating “thinking” classrooms. It takes time and energy, more energy than it takes to get all those “knowledge bits” into kids’ heads. We know it’s worth it. Put on our teacher hats, put on our parent hats, put on our citizen-of-the-world hats, we know it’s worth it. We want to see learners happily undergoing changes that will last a lifetime, who are motivated and empowered, and who have the dispositions that drive them to keep learning.<br/><br/>Ritchhart’s list of “thinking dispositions” is as follows: people in learning environments need to be open-minded, curious, metacognitive, seeking truth and understanding, strategic, and skeptical. <br/><br/>Open-minded: we need to have students “…being flexible, willing to consider and try out new ideas, generating alternative options and explanations, and looking beyond the given and expected.”<br/>Curious. Curiosity “…acts as an engine for thinking. It fuels our interest and helps us to generate questions and pose problems.” <br/>Metacognitive. Metacognition is thinking about one’s thinking. “Research on the thinking of experts and effective learners has shown that these individuals tend to actively monitor, regulate, evaluate, and direct their thinking.” <br/>Seeking truth and understanding. “Truth and understanding must be developed actively through certain mental moves, one of which is reasoning based on the evidence we are able to uncover…Helpful mental moves include looking for connections, exploring applications and consequences, pushing ideas to to the limits, pulling ideas apart, contrasting one ideas with another, and building explanations.” <br/>Strategic. We’re strategic when we’re “planful, anticipatory, methodical, and careful in our thinking.” <br/>Skeptical. We’re skeptical when we’re probing. “Being skeptical means probing below the surface of things, looking for proof and evidence, and not accepting things at face value.” (Ritchhart, 2002,)<br/><br/>Acceptance of Ritchhart’s list would lead us to view education as not at all primarily about accumulation of knowledge-bits, but rather about attending to learners’ development as whole selves, as active, aware, caring, motivated learners. Nurturing and cultivating a “culture of thinking” in our schools is wholly different than having kids recite or parrot knowledge-bits we choose for them to memorize.<br/><br/>It requires shifting perspectives to something qualitatively different, in which to a great extent you hand the reins to the kids—while guiding them, of course. We have to let the students have ownership of their learning. Teachers are watching, encouraging, listening, providing feedback, and helping along the development of metacognitive skills at each stage of the way. Creating a culture of thinking means shifting over a substantial part of our curricula to what’s variously called “project-based education,” “learning by doing,” or a “performance perspective,” all of which emphasize kids choosing for themselves how to extend or apply their knowledge by creating a product or activity of their own.<br/><br/>neuroscience of joytag:www.classroom20.com,2007-08-31:649749:BlogPost:458492007-08-31T16:32:57.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
While we’re setting up “thinking classrooms”, and supporting an “active mindset”, we have to keep right in the forefront the importance of joy, and of play. In The Neuroscience of Joyful Education by Judy Willis, we get all sorts of validation for this.<br></br><br></br>Think of all the schools and classes you know about that are cutting back on play, thinking less play will translate into more academic achievement. It may be that just the opposite is the case.<br></br><br></br>“Unfortunately, the current…
While we’re setting up “thinking classrooms”, and supporting an “active mindset”, we have to keep right in the forefront the importance of joy, and of play. In The Neuroscience of Joyful Education by Judy Willis, we get all sorts of validation for this.<br/><br/>Think of all the schools and classes you know about that are cutting back on play, thinking less play will translate into more academic achievement. It may be that just the opposite is the case.<br/><br/>“Unfortunately, the current emphasis on standardized testing and rote learning encroaches upon many students' joy. In their zeal to raise test scores, too many policymakers wrongly assume that students who are laughing, interacting in groups, or being creative with art, music, or dance are not doing real academic work. The result is that some teachers feel pressure to preside over more sedate classrooms with students on the same page in the same book, sitting in straight rows, facing straight ahead.<br/><br/>Neuroimaging studies and measurement of brain chemical transmitters reveal that students' comfort level can influence information transmission and storage in the brain (Thanos et al., 1999). When students are engaged and motivated and feel minimal stress, information flows freely through the affective filter in the amygdala and they achieve higher levels of cognition, make connections, and experience “aha” moments. Such learning comes not from quiet classrooms and directed lectures, but from classrooms with an atmosphere of exuberant discovery (Kohn, 2004).<br/><br/>There are no neuroimaging or brain wave analysis data that demonstrate a negative effect of joy and exuberance in classrooms, yet some schools have unspoken mandates against these valuable components of the classroom experience. Now that hard science proves the negative effects of stress and anxiety, teachers can more confidently promote enthusiasm in their classrooms.” (http://www.ascd.org/<br/>
educational leadership, summer online, now archived, "The Neuroscience of Joyful Education by Judy Willis)Intergeneration Service Work: Beyond Ourselvestag:www.classroom20.com,2007-08-26:649749:BlogPost:444252007-08-26T15:18:27.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
On the last day of our intergenerational program, we were left with chills , the kind of chills come from encountering a moment of life’s truth, of boundaries crossed that connect all people across time.<br></br><br></br>I’d been bringing the kids out to the senior home once or twice a month all year. For this particular visit the kids had spent a good while preparing; they knew the stories of their elders “by heart“ and were going to present the stories as a goodbye gift. These kids were experienced…
On the last day of our intergenerational program, we were left with chills , the kind of chills come from encountering a moment of life’s truth, of boundaries crossed that connect all people across time.<br/><br/>I’d been bringing the kids out to the senior home once or twice a month all year. For this particular visit the kids had spent a good while preparing; they knew the stories of their elders “by heart“ and were going to present the stories as a goodbye gift. These kids were experienced storytellers, usually telling myths and tales from many cultures and many times, anything they loved and were moved by. But this time the tale to be told was a biography, a biography of the child’s own partner, gathered up across many visits and a through a lot of gentle questioning.<br/><br/>As the kids got in front of the room to tell about their partners, the administrators of the home and I noticed how the featured elder would sit taller, smile bashfully, and look pleasantly honored to have this attention showered upon him or her. Close companions were listening, personal histories poured out. At the end of each life story, the audience clapped with acknowledgement for both the teller and the glimpse into a rich personal past.<br/><br/>Then Jenna volunteered to go. Her partner sat in the wheelchair, head hanging down slightly and cocked as if to put all emphasis on hearing; sight mostly gone. Mrs. Radinsky was thought-of as “in her own world,” gruff, unapproachable, difficult, uncommunicative. Jenna never found her this way; the two of them had an understanding. They’d be off in the corner, conversing about childhood games, gardens, favorite pets, family recipes. No one else was invited into their bubble of shared secrets.<br/><br/>Jenna was one of our best storytellers. She would bring you right into the heart of things, fast; she charmed us into seeing things through the twinkle of her eyes; how could we resist? Jenna began the tale of Mrs. Radinsky’s childhood, the pleasant times of farm life in Poland, the textures and activities of her everyday life. Mrs. Radinsky was listening acutely. As she listened, we noticed her straightening up on the chair, first uncurling her upper shoulders, then elongating her lower back—gradually she even rose up to a standing position, something she hadn’t done on her own for a while. <br/><br/>Jenna talked on, sweet and forthright, telling about Mrs. Radinsky’s siblings and the games they played. But suddenly something totally incongruous happened; as if a thunderstorm swept into our performance space. Mrs. Radinsky, in a raspy but booming voice, addressed the group: “It’s time. It’s time. I’m telling my story.” Jenna, used to unusual behavior from her elder buddy, just kept going, “…they rode the family cow, although they weren’t supposed to, they’d sneak off into the field…” Mrs. Radinsky’s voice intersected Jenna’s “…we were captured. German military officers came. They moved us at gunpoint, the train. Auschwitz, that’s where…My story--I’ve never told my story. Now it’s time. That’s where I was. I was gone a long time.” She spoke loudly, stunning the audience with her power, and her tears. Was this really happening? This was a lady who had only spoken in sentence fragments to anyone but Jenna for a while, and to others only uttered what was required to go about daily living. She now addressed the group outright: “I lost my family, my whole family.” The anguish in her voice gripped us, paralyzed us. Kids looked at me to see how to react. Nodding gently, I kept listening. An elder friend moved next to Mrs. Radinsky and supported her by holding her upper arm. She whispered something to her. Mrs. Radinsky kept talking. The kids, the other elders, the administrators--we were hearing words completely foreign to our usual meetings: “…Sonderkommandos, unspeakable things. Naked, our hair cut off, we….explosives. We carried the explosives to…The death, we wished for the death but some of us were workers…” She gazed over her audience, an acutely focused look in her eyes. There was complete silence, a thick and heavy pause. Then, a shift occurred. Mrs. Radinsky reached into her bag to get an embroidered handkerchief, wiped her face to get rid of the tears, composed herself, and said only one more thing in this meeting: “I thought it was time to tell my story, and it was. So I did. So now you know and I can begin to talk again.” With dignity, she sat down. The senior home’s administrator patted her on the back. With red cheeks, a red nose, and tears in her eyes, the administrator turned to me.<br/> <br/>Carry on, I thought. “Jenna, very good, thank you Mrs. Radinsky. Your story is so important, keep it coming..” I started a round of gentle applause. “Now, who will go next?” The other stories seemed plain but comforting: more gifts offered, more gifts received.<br/><br/>The rest of our meeting, and on through the school year’s end, we remained aware of the larger and markedly profound intersection in lives we just witnessed and felt. This moment in time, this meeting, had carried us far beyond ourselves. <br/><br/>new persontag:www.classroom20.com,2007-07-20:649749:BlogPost:346722007-07-20T12:05:53.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
Just thinking about the last quarter-year or so, I learned so much. I've been learning all sorts of new stuff through collaboration with a colleague<br />
about how to begin a learning center. Got even more into CR2.0, this great<br />
philosophical and techie educational network with the bunch of<br />
idealistic-thinking, forward-moving colleagues. Learned how to build<br />
larger bases in networks, learned to connect networks (such as CR2.0<br />
with Facebook). Learned, learned learned. <br></br><br></br>I'm now experiencing…
Just thinking about the last quarter-year or so, I learned so much. I've been learning all sorts of new stuff through collaboration with a colleague<br />
about how to begin a learning center. Got even more into CR2.0, this great<br />
philosophical and techie educational network with the bunch of<br />
idealistic-thinking, forward-moving colleagues. Learned how to build<br />
larger bases in networks, learned to connect networks (such as CR2.0<br />
with Facebook). Learned, learned learned. <br/><br/>I'm now experiencing that uplifting headstate that comes from growing so much that new growth is easier; I'm on a roll.<br/><br/>Just
3 months ago I talked about being on that edge, of being ready to take<br />
a leap, of knowing that I'd never again perceive the world in the same<br />
way. I was right--my view is qualitatively different now. And I can<br />
honestly say, I'm happier, more engaged in all sorts of learning, and,<br />
more expressive. There was a rapid growth in my general writing skills<br />
and capacity, a rapid growth in taking the risks to do some creative<br />
writing, and a HUGE growth in connectiveness with people who provide<br />
important feedback and support as we all move forth in such an<br />
information-sharing world.<br/> <br/>I'm a new person, much better for having indulged in such a hyper-focused dive into new-world technology. I KNOW my students are better off as a consequence of my bringing myself into broad, purposeful, and ethical networks of people sharing knowledge. I feel ready to go, with much, much more.adding music to my pagetag:www.classroom20.com,2007-06-06:649749:BlogPost:255122007-06-06T17:37:38.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
Hi All,<br />
I've added some music to my page. It's by highschoolers. The first is my daughter, singing a song she composed. She's playing guitar.<br />
The other songs are from Chelsea House Orchestra, a fiddling group. Both of my kids are in CHO. The instructor's name is Jed Fritzemeier, and he's one of the most gifted teachers I know. He has this group traveling all over the place, entertaining community groups. You should hear the people exclaim, as they hear these traditional Gaelic songs from "the…
Hi All,<br />
I've added some music to my page. It's by highschoolers. The first is my daughter, singing a song she composed. She's playing guitar.<br />
The other songs are from Chelsea House Orchestra, a fiddling group. Both of my kids are in CHO. The instructor's name is Jed Fritzemeier, and he's one of the most gifted teachers I know. He has this group traveling all over the place, entertaining community groups. You should hear the people exclaim, as they hear these traditional Gaelic songs from "the old country"!more on this new mind; with Hortontag:www.classroom20.com,2007-05-28:649749:BlogPost:227732007-05-28T18:28:31.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
My big thing is to figure out is what's going on with the new "world mind." I just can't stop thinking about it. It's such a new stage for human evolution.<br />
<br />
I read a cool article in Discover Magazine called "How Much Does the Internet Weigh," and that got me to thinking that the internet is an entity, rather than not an entity, just something ethereal. Hmmmm.<br />
<br />
Then another article, from the next (this month's) Discover Magazine: "Map: Welcome to the Blogosphere" which illuminates the…
My big thing is to figure out is what's going on with the new "world mind." I just can't stop thinking about it. It's such a new stage for human evolution.<br />
<br />
I read a cool article in Discover Magazine called "How Much Does the Internet Weigh," and that got me to thinking that the internet is an entity, rather than not an entity, just something ethereal. Hmmmm.<br />
<br />
Then another article, from the next (this month's) Discover Magazine: "Map: Welcome to the Blogosphere" which illuminates the connections being formed, strengthened, or let go, in a current analysis of information flow. By jove, if that doesn't look just the way you'd expect brain circuits to look...<br />
<br />
So are we jumping into a great big brain? Am I a point on a neural network?<br />
<br />
Last night, I was laughing and laughing because I found another relevant but very zany image: The Whos down in Who-ville, from Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss! You probably know the story: an elephant discovers a flower and hears a tiny voice emanating from it. He learns that there's a whole world living within the plant. In the long run, he has to get every single creature from that world to speak up, in order to ensure that world's survival. "Speak up! Every voice must be heard!" is the message. It's told in rollicking Dr. Seuss language, very amusing and fun.<br />
<br />
"'Mr. Mayor! Mr. Mayor!' Horton called. 'Mr. Mayor!<br />
You've got to prove now that you really are there!<br />
So call a big meeting. Get everyone out.<br />
Make every Who holler! Make every Who shout!<br />
Make every Who scream! If you don't, every Who<br />
Is going to end up in a Beezle-Nut Stew!'"<br />
<br />
So now I'm thinking that we're the Whos down in Who-ville! A tiny community within the big world.<br />
Does that make Steve the elephant, Horton?! And has he saved us from the Beezle-Nut Stew?!<br />
<br />
(And then who would be looking down on the flower that holds Steve, saying, "Speak up! Every voice must be heard!"?)<br />
<br />
I dedicate this post to those who are not yet used to speaking up on Classroom 2.0. Go ahead! You can't be any sillier than this!They got jazztag:www.classroom20.com,2007-05-23:649749:BlogPost:221582007-05-23T22:09:34.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
Ha! Wow! I got to watch a master in action. Our music teacher got these kids to learn how to EXPRESS! I had them in a good position for her "launching." They knew all the words to the songs, they knew the songs' contexts in the play...<br />
What they didn't know was HOW TO MOVE.<br />
<br />
Have you ever watched a gifted music teacher in action?<br />
<br />
Oh, what a pleasure.<br />
<br />
Talk about taking the ball and running with it! Passing, running, passing, setting up formations, experimenting, seeing what works, taking kids'…
Ha! Wow! I got to watch a master in action. Our music teacher got these kids to learn how to EXPRESS! I had them in a good position for her "launching." They knew all the words to the songs, they knew the songs' contexts in the play...<br />
What they didn't know was HOW TO MOVE.<br />
<br />
Have you ever watched a gifted music teacher in action?<br />
<br />
Oh, what a pleasure.<br />
<br />
Talk about taking the ball and running with it! Passing, running, passing, setting up formations, experimenting, seeing what works, taking kids' ideas, pasting in your own, molding a new plan, finding a synthesis. Wow.<br />
<br />
All I can say is I Got to Watch.<br />
<br />
And it was a privilege.<br />
<br />
You want to see some cool songs and dances? They'll be happenin', in my class play.<br />
<br />
(Whew)<br />
<br />
(Thanks to the music teachers of the world)<br />
<br />
They got jazz.our music teachertag:www.classroom20.com,2007-05-19:649749:BlogPost:203052007-05-19T16:14:35.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
Desperate to get my class to get into their respective characters while practicing their parts for our musical, I hunkered down next to our music teacher, crumpled down onto the chair, spent. We at last had a few moments alone. "I can't go on. I can't get anything more. I don't know what to do."<br />
<br />
She stares at me, warmly, a twinkle in her eye revealing that she sees that once again, I've gotten myself into trouble by stretching my limits far beyond what others would think is realistic.…
Desperate to get my class to get into their respective characters while practicing their parts for our musical, I hunkered down next to our music teacher, crumpled down onto the chair, spent. We at last had a few moments alone. "I can't go on. I can't get anything more. I don't know what to do."<br />
<br />
She stares at me, warmly, a twinkle in her eye revealing that she sees that once again, I've gotten myself into trouble by stretching my limits far beyond what others would think is realistic. Impractical. Jump right in, too much, too fast. A full-production musical, this time of year?<br />
<br />
"Ok, we can salvage this. Think with me. So, you've got a class filled with gifted kids. You've got a lot of heady stuff going on in here. The kids have their iPods, they have their Macs, they know how to compose a paper in a class session, with original voices, well-researched pieces. They make their techno-productions, they read and read and read. They write well. They can do it all."<br />
<br />
Bleary-eyed, I just kept listening.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, they've got it, here." She motions with her hand to her forehead, in the shape of a visor, to the forehead and then upwards. "You know where they don't have it? Here!" She motions by dropping her hands alongside her body from the head down, flicking downwards to the feet. "They aren't present in their bodies. They don't have it here." Again that motion, with a jazz step this time.<br />
<br />
She's working with me next week. Can't wait.Cryptic Commentary: moving forward, finding the localitytag:www.classroom20.com,2007-05-12:649749:BlogPost:144632007-05-12T00:49:49.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
During this phase of learning the new forms of communication and connection with Web 2.0, I find myself expanding and contracting, expanding and contracting. To what degree is it good to reach out? To what degree is it important to stay local?<br />
<br />
How large should the web be? Who gets to paint the web? Through what eyes is the web seen? Is it the size of a garden-spider's web, an ocean fisherman's net, a constellation of stars? I can't get the proportions right. They keep shifting.<br />
<br />
Pause to…
During this phase of learning the new forms of communication and connection with Web 2.0, I find myself expanding and contracting, expanding and contracting. To what degree is it good to reach out? To what degree is it important to stay local?<br />
<br />
How large should the web be? Who gets to paint the web? Through what eyes is the web seen? Is it the size of a garden-spider's web, an ocean fisherman's net, a constellation of stars? I can't get the proportions right. They keep shifting.<br />
<br />
Pause to think...<br />
<br />
Seems to me there's a new definition of local.<br />
<br />
How, just how, does this get defined?happy neuron in a new mindtag:www.classroom20.com,2007-05-01:649749:BlogPost:100482007-05-01T16:33:25.000ZConnie Weberhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/connieweber
Thinking about Classroom 2.0, I sometimes feel that jump of excitement that I used to feel as a kid, you know, when your "stomach flips" from being a passenger in a car that goes over a little rise in the road, fast, and lifts you with it--<br />
It's so exciting and satisfying to be part of this group of reflective practitioners. I've learned so much in the past few weeks. When I asked about what tech applications to use for making stories in class out of hand-carved critters, in just a couple of…
Thinking about Classroom 2.0, I sometimes feel that jump of excitement that I used to feel as a kid, you know, when your "stomach flips" from being a passenger in a car that goes over a little rise in the road, fast, and lifts you with it--<br />
It's so exciting and satisfying to be part of this group of reflective practitioners. I've learned so much in the past few weeks. When I asked about what tech applications to use for making stories in class out of hand-carved critters, in just a couple of days I was absolutely wealthy with resources, and really good resources, used successfully by inspiring educators (whom I now can call colleagues).<br />
When I write about the heart-felt questions on my mind about how to go forth in this brand new age, people validate the questions and add theirs. Answers become apparent through the very process of thinking together; the whole is much more than the sum of the parts.<br />
The blogs are inspiring, energizing, pathway-producing.<br />
For me, the network is providing an avenue for personal expression and communication, for use of new tools, for connection of like-spirited (very spirited, indeed) individuals who seem to share optimism, idealism, practical knowledge, and unabashed courage about showing one's self as a learner.<br />
And since we all are learners, and all--by choice--in this together, we're charting our course into the future.<br />
I'm a happy neuron in a new mind.