Rhetoric and Poetry

Out of our quarrels with others we make rhetoric. Out of our quarrels with ourselves we make poetry.
--William Butler Yeats

Leda and the Swan

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.
How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?
A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower[19]
And Agamemnon dead.
Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?

William Butler Yeats

Until next time...

Which box? Changing ethos?

Another couple of posts...

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 6:04pm
I think we have a great thing going with our topic. It is going to be great; we just have
to get it all together. Remember Dr. A said she does not want a term paper. I think she
just really wants us to think outside the box (which we are because not many teachers,
to my knowledge, use virtual labs) and do something, using technology, to improve
student achievement. I definitely think that is what we have! I know personally as a
teacher, I am finding some great stuff out there that I plan to use in my classroom that I
never would have done if it had not been for Dr. A making me think outside the box. I
have always been a lecture and sometimes a hands on teacher, but now I am going to
use a lot more hands on because after reading Pink's book I see how different this
generation is due to the technology that is at their fingertips. We have to change our
teaching strategies from lecture to discovery learning if we are going to reach this
generation and generations to come!


Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 6:42pm
I agree, we do have to make changes, but a change in "ethos" will have to take place for
people to really "see" what Pink is talking about. It is a total shift from the 19th century
models of education that serve to "mass-produce" good little American capitalists...learn,
make money, buy stuff, be a success...all that "good stuff." All ideas about objectives,
uni-directional instruction, and quantitative-comparative assessment come from some very
old and deeply ingrained ideas. Pink is right, but to change 100 plus years of
Progressive aftershock requires something more than we are giving it. Technology can
be a way just to "freshen-up" the same tired, boring, ineffective modes of
teaching/learning. What difference does it make if I see my teacher do it/hear her say it
or if I see it on the computer/read it from the computer if I am never asked to think
deeply? To make connections between ideas? To solve real world problems? To think
of others, to communicate and personalize the experience of others? To do something
that is good for society, for someone other than myself? I think the question we should
ask ourselves is not how we can use technology to improve teaching, but how can we
use teaching to improve technology or any area of our lives?

Until next time...

Will it? Does it? Can it? Should it?

Our chemistry teacher has been working on PBWiki and posting on WebCT. Here is one of our dialogues...
_______________________

Date: Thursday, February 21, 2008 8:24pm
I saw your links, they look good. I also went through the DNA Gel lab. It was cool. How
do you plan on backing it with EdPsych? I'm interested to see what your thought process
is here. Thanks.

Date: Monday, February 25, 2008 7:24pm
I am working on the ed. psych. stuff now. I just wanted to find some good labs and put
them up first. Now I am researching, and I am findind a lot of material that backs the
virtual labs. I found a few things in the woolfolk text, but more on the internet. How is
yours coming along. Have you found much info. to support our virtual lab ideas and the
whole right brain thinking topic?

Date: Monday, February 25, 2008 9:45pm
I have stopped working. I have become frustrated. I still don't know if we have defined
what right-brained means for us as a group, some people have suggested "visual
learner," so I am still confused. I have read tons of information and have posted a lot of
stuff to the wiki, but I am sort of stalled because I don't know how we are defining our
supporting information. I work opposite of you. I have to know the "language" that we
are going to use before I find content that will fit that definition. If that makes sense...

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:58pm
The technology of our project is "virtual labs". We have to find information that backs up
our proposition that virtual labs will help students learn better, faster, etc...! We know it
will help them because it will keep them interested (due to using technology, computers)
and it will help them learn it quicker because it is hands on (discovery learning) and they
get to play with it and see pictures (which is how a right-brained thinker learns). Does
that make sense? We just have to get all our info together and put in an organized
manner onto our wiki. She said she doesn't want a term paper; so we don't have
to "write" a lot of stuff we just have to find an operating virtual lab and back it up with ed.
psych. There is a lot of ed. psych out there backing technology in the classroom and how
pitures help students remember info. better than words alone. Look at page 271 in our
text. It talks about mnematics (I don't have my book with me and I don't know if I
spelled that right or not, but I do remember the page number for some reason).
Anyway, it talks about how students learn better from a few words and pictures. Tell me
what you are thinking.

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 6:23pm
I am fine with visual learning if that's what definition everyone wants for "right-brained,"
but it means alot more than that...if we choose "visual learner," we should just throw out
any mention of Pink's text...I just need to know the definition before I can know that
my "virtual lab" meets the standards of that definition. I don't want to waste any more
time.
_____________________________

My frustration is showing, and I hope I don't make anyone mad, but people assume too much about the change that computers can make to their classroom. Used innapropriately they are just like a textbook with moving pictures.

Until next time...

Other Opinions and "Racing Thoughts"

Activity on WebCT has all but stopped. I have used the time to be inspired by my other classes, but I have real concerns, now that we have only 2 months to complete our effort. I have to write a paper for my class in Curriculum Studies. We are asking the classic question, "What knowledge is of most worth?" I will post a link to the paper after it is finished next week. I thought the artwork to the left is descriptive of my mood. "Racing Thoughts" is part of the Jasper Johns exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I was looking for books on Amazon and found this guys reviews.
There are two reviews, one of Maxine Greene's The Dialectic of Freedom and one of Chet Bower's Let Them Eat Data. Other perspectives are good to take into consideration: a fine understanding of the problems that others have with the presentation of new ideas can help one communicate more effectively. Questioning--Openmindedness--the keys to creation. (Notice his only two posts are about writers on the "liberal" boundaries of Educational Curriculum and that they are both negative reviews. Something to consider, too.)

Until next time...

Thoughts That Have Got Me Going This Week

Here's the list I promised. I have to keep the "getting an education" in front of me, not the "going to college."

• CA Bowers, Environmental Education
• Role of post-modern language theories as it applies to Environmental Curricularists

"We have become alert to difference, diversity, the incompatibility of our aspirations, beliefs and desires, and for that reason postmodernity is characterised by an abundance of micronarratives. For this concept Lyotard draws on and strongly reinterprets the notion of 'language-games' found in the work of Wittgenstein.
In Lyotard's works, the term 'language games', sometimes also called 'phrase regimens', denotes the multiplicity of communities of meaning, the innumerable and incommensurable separate systems in which meanings are produced and rules for their circulation are created."

• "Eco Dictionary"
• The Commons, History of the Word and Modern Usage
• The Language of Poetry
• The Power of Myth

Until next time...

Grade "A" Mentality

"Traditional instruction is more concerned with the study of opinions about the real world than with the study of the real world itself. Internalizing others' views requires just one thinking skill—recall. Trying to make sense of one's own day-to-day experience requires the use of every known thinking skill. This notion has made relatively little headway in U.S. classrooms because, for many educators, the line between first-hand and secondhand knowledge is often fuzzy or nonexistent. Many believe that the important thing is for students to be knowledgeable. Where that knowledge comes from—whether someone hands it to the students or they figure it out on their own—seems to be of little consequence."

February 2008 Volume 65 Number 5 Teaching Students to Think Pages 64-67 "Cover the Material—Or Teach Students to Think?"

The bold in the quote above it mine. I was so glad to see a post from Dr. A today. The above is a quote from the article she wanted us to read. Our group hasn't been posting. I notice that when people don't stay in touch, connected in the discussion boards, if they don't let me see and hear their process of learning, I get uncomfortable. I wonder if anyone is thinking about things...if they are reading and looking and processing. I wonder if everyone is having as much fun and living with as many ideas as I am in this process. I don't know if my expectations are too much, but in my teaching, I think I would require some kind of cycle of "reflection" that requires students to process the experience from the "me" perspective, to make sense of all the new information by integrating it into their "being."

I couldn't believe that I was hearing myself last night, when I said to a colleague in another class, "As long as I can keep making A's on my papers. As long as I can get my license renewed, nothing matters." I wanted to slap myself. I am so entrenched in the "make the grade" mentality that I don't stop to think of all the incredible ideas that I have been exposed to and want to learn more about as this process of study has unfolded. I want to make a list of some items and post them so I don't forget what I was really passionate about this week while studying.

Until then...

Tornado

One of our group members was in the path of the Prattville tornado. She and her family are doing fine. Their house is still intact. My heart goes out to all the people who lost their houses, and especially to the kids that two of our teachers work with who have been touched by this experience. I am going to ask if our group members want to get together and do something to help, maybe with the High School.

Direction or Determination?

This self-directed group centered EdPsych project has shown me that people in general do not think out of the box (by that I mean they do not move beyond the traditional), nor are they able to apply techniques offered to them unless they are asked to make them part of the process. Possibly, depending motivation, they may even have to be told explicitly to apply certain techniques, with "grades" attached. This of course flies in the face of "intrinsic motivation."

Pink's book gives ideas and techniques to enhance the right-brained, creative, emotional, integrative, experiential processes: I don't think it has crossed anyone's mind to put these techniques into application during our group project. What my group members have taken away from Pink's book is that the right-brain means visual, probably because they didn't get past the Chapter 1, which talks about the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. What a uninspired idea, "To use Virtual Labs to engage Visual Learners." Just another way to say, "Well, since we are giving them something to look at, we are addressing right-brain aptitudes." It is short-sighted, tired, and not at all creative. Sorry to be so direct.

I am not saying that Constructivist approaches can't work, but guidance has to be the key. Asking the right questions, giving some timelines for productivity, assigning roles, promoting interest and inquiry have to be present to propel learners down the constructivist path--at least until they can "read the road map" themselves. To achieve the level of integration that Constructivist techniques require for a student who has gotten away with rote memorization, a bit of critical thinking, and very little real creative thinking for their entire life takes much effort and planning behind the scenes.

I am reminded of a story that a friend and painter who died last year shared with me. She was a student at Black Mountain College in the 1940's. When I asked her how she painted, she said, "I never have a plan. I start by moving color around on the canvas. I use angles and color until I see a form emerge." I can relate this to Constructivist theory and appreciate that freedom, the unplanned application of energy and ideas can produce a deeper understanding of concepts. But, I was also very aware that my friend had years of formal training, she had "chosen" her color ahead of time, cleaned her brushes, and set a new canvas in front of her before she began. She came to the canvas with much preparation, perhaps even words from the nightly news or the topics of conversation at dinner running through her head. The act of creativity is never completely unplanned. The quest of the teacher is to find the line between direction and determination. We want to direct, not to determine--most of all we want the learner to "see the form emerge." I am waiting to see something emerge with this project...I'll let you know if I see it.

Until next time...

Disequalibrium and Disinterest

The only activity from our group has been a discussion post from one of the science teachers. I am not sure who is who at this point. She has voted "yes" to the "Virtual Labs for Visual Learner" idea. She has virtual labs that were provided with her teaching textbook and is eager to use them. This is commendable, I guess. Everyone is jumping to curriculum--"What kind of technology can I use to teach this and that?"--rather than looking at the psychological implications of the choices, "Why would I want to use it?"

Anyway, in the meantime, I was reading the Woolfolk Text and other articles on Constructivism trying to gain some insight into "structure" in regards to self-directed, group, project centered kinds of approaches to learning. From this current experience I am having with the EdPsych project, I would not in a million years give high-school students a topic, reference materials, and grading rubrics, ect. and set them on their way to produce an inventive project. Like most of my group members, they would want to work to the rubric, the grade...leaving out the "creative" and fun parts of the discovery process. Or, they would wait until the last minute, thus not giving themselves time for "immersion" in the topic. Or, they would do something not at all inventive or out of the box because they haven't done their research and really believe that they are being inventive. (What I want to know is what box are we suppose to be thinking out of? I question who is in which box? Aren't we all indifferent boxes, and "coming out" for one person doesn't mean any change at all for another?)

I think the group is not achieving its potential for two reasons: 1.) Most adults, even at graduate level education, are inexperienced in or unable to function at the area of "Formal Operations." The abilities to think hypothetically, consider alternatives, find all possible combinations, and analyze one's own thinking are difficult for many adults, not to mention teenagers. Most students would have little intent or ability to take information from two sources and integrate them into a "new" understanding, invention, or process. 2.) Placed in a social situation, Piaget reasoned that people were thrown into cognitive conflict, and that this "disequilibrium" initiated steps toward resolution that would produce change. Most people are resistant to change, especially adults, and many do not do any form of personal evaluation of their thinking or motivations. This is particularly devastating to many learning styles promoted by Constructivism.

To look at the abilities that Pink talks about in his book, then take into consideration the two assertions above, sets off alarms. His "six senses" seem to go beyond the cognitive abilities considered "Formal Operations." How can learners, because of resistance or inability, develop these senses when they require skills that are more foreign than the logic and analysis focused on by Piaget? Where does the ability to think creatively and analytically in unison to solve complex problems or develop real world solutions to problems come into Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development? How can people become reflective and empathic if asked throughout most of their lives not to be?

Until next time...

Learning Naturally Without Structure?

I am asking myself what, if any, structure can be applied to the processes of "natural" learning?

This is an interesting excerpt from the article "Human Behavior In The Context of Training: An Overview Of The Role of Learning Theories as Applied to Training and Development" Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Vol. 7, No. 2, June 2006.

"Constructivsts believe that all humans have the ability to construct knowledge in their own minds through a process of discovery and problem solving. The extent to which this process can take place naturally without structure and teaching is the defining factors amongst those who advocate this learning theory. Jean Piaget (1970), a Swiss psychologist, observed human development as a progressive stage of cognitive development. His four stages, which commence at infancy and progress into adulthood, characterize the cognitive abilities necessary at each stage to construct meaning of ones environment. In this sense, Piaget’s theory is similar to other constructivists’ perspectives of learning (e.g., Vygotsky). Fundamentally, Constructivism is a cognitive learning theory because of its focus on the mental processes that construct meaning. Other important learning theories equated with cognitive psychology are Scaffolding theory of Lev Vygotsky, and J. Bruner's Construtivist theory. Lev Vygotsky’s theoretical framework is that the culture we live in influences our social and cognitive development. Vygotsky (1978) writes: "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (p, 57) (intrapsychological). He further adds that the potential for cognitive development is limited to a certain time span, which he calls the "zone of proximal development" (ZPD). The implication of his theory for training purposes is that the job of an educator has to identify this zone and to find out where the child was situated in this zone and build upon their specific level through a "scaffolding process". Building from what the learner knows is in essence anchoring the learning on past experience. A major theme in theoretical framework of J Bruner is that learning is an active process in which the learner constructs new ideas or concepts based upon their inherent /past knowledge. Much of the theory is linked to child development research (especially Piaget). In his most recent work, Bruner (1986, 1990) has expanded his theoretical framework to encompass the social and cultural aspects of learning. Under the theory of constructivism, trainers can focus on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in trainees. Trainers can tailor their strategies to the trainee’s responses and encourage trainees to analyze, interpret, and predict information."

Wiki Update

Checked the Wiki and no activity. We have a meeting scheduled on the PBWiki Talk-To-Chat for the beginning of March. I expect a flurry of activity in a few weeks. I will be posting some Comparison Tables that look at similarities and differences between Pink's The Whole New Mind and Woolfolk's text this weekend. I think I am also going to summarize my ideas on "R-Directional Thinking," Pink's term, and how it enables us to touch upon the play between right and left brain activities (integration, empathy, holistic perception) and perhaps can broaden our scope in selecting "virtual labs" because it broadens our definition of "right-brained" competencies. Slow progress is still progress. Until next time...

Chatroom Meeting

Well, my group met in a chat room set up in WebCT on Monday at 5:00 p.m. I came away from the meeting feeling energized because I believed we had accomplished our objective of nailing down the topic/question we wish to use for the project: How can we use "virtual labs" to access "right-brained" thinkers? I have expressed reservations about seeing the brain as a right vs. left instrument and I posted them on a PBWiki page a weeks ago. During our chat, I quoted some pages from Woolfolk's text that support this, but we are still stuck with "right-brained" as our way to talk about higher-order, creative, intuitive, emotional thinking. I hope when the others have done their literature comparison that this will change. Anyway, at least we were all going in the same general direction. On a good note: although only one person responded to my post, "Who Are You?", on the discussion board, I felt like we all got along well, that everyone was heard, and that each person's questions were answered.

But, Tuesday morning there was a post to our discussion board that read "So, is our topic...using virtual labs to access visual learners? I don't think we decided on a specific topic, just the direction?" Again, I was so frustrated. We had talked about visual learning being one element of "right-brained" skills, but I had disagreed that we should be limited to this one area. This is a slightly-edited version of what I posted as my reply:

"I didn't come away with limiting ourselves to "visual learning." There are all kinds of skills that go with right-brain learning. I suggest we write some clear and concise objectives to present to Dr. A. in relation to the rubric that she provided for us, but for the purpose of establishing some "general" cognitive (problem solving/synthesis) objectives. I suggest that we actually have two objectives (the literature review of Pink and Woolfolk's books, and the application of "virtual labs" to access right-brained skills and thus improve learning for students). See proposed objectives:

A=Audience B=Behavior C=Condition M=Degree of Mastery

1.(C) Given a survey the literature (Woolfolk's and Pink's)
(A) our group
(B) will be able to write a visually pleasing, well-crafted, grammatically correct Wiki Frontpage that exposes the strenghts and weaknesses of teaching to the "right-brain"
(D) which can be used as common language and underpinning for our group's exploration of "virtual labs" as teaching tools.

2.(C) Given a selection of "virtual labs" provide by group members
(A) each person
(B) will present an independently constructed Wiki Subpage containing a "virtual lab" that accesses the skills predominantly controlled by the right brain
(D) and that can be used as a teaching tool in the classroom to improve the education of secondary students ages (10-16).

There are actually other objectives suggested by the rubric that are in the "affective" and even "psychomotor" domains, but I propose this for simplicity sake....I will post these objectives on the Wiki so everyone can see them and edit them if they choose. Thanks."

Since posting them day before yesterday, I have had no response. I will check the Wiki again tonight. Question: How can I communicate more effectively? How can I assure that we are all "hearing" and "perceiving" what is trying to be conveyed?

Books On The Way:
Raising Your Spirited Child
Mary Sheedy Kurchinka
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk
Faber and Mazlish

Someone told me that both books even help with adult interactions.
We'll see! Until next time...

Introduction -- Educational Psychology Project?

I feel like a psychology experiment. We are into the fifth week of a group, project-based learning experience for a graduate Foundations of Education class. I have decided to write this blog because I believe from this point forward I am going to learn as much about Constructivist Philosophy and its real world application--working with others and my assets/limitations in this area--than about the psychology of education or technology application in the classroom. I have a lot of work to do.

This class, billed as an on-line course, met for the first time in early January. At this point we went over accessing WebCT, filled out forms for classroom observations, and were given a basic syllabus. Automatically, I thought "there are no dates, no specific exercises, no schedules with time frames." My left-brained organizer went into melt-down. I have survived my whole life by compensating for my creative spirit with detailed organization and planning. Then, our professor, Dr. A, a small woman with a clear, demanding presence read aloud our project assignment: "Based on your readings in Woolfolk's 10th Ed of Educational Psychology and research, identify virtual and other technological ways to enhance the educational process for students of all ages." She held up another book that she wanted us to read in addition to our text, for research: A Whole New Mind—Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future by Daniel H. Pink. My right-brain cheered, “Finally, an opportunity to learn something my own way!”

We were then given a break and a brief opportunity to introduce ourselves before "finding" our group members. Most people had already formed their groups during the break, most of them knowing each other from work or other graduate courses. I was recruited, I think, because I have education and work experience in computer support, which I talked about in my self-introduction. I was honored to be asked to join this group: the members are gregarious. I could tell they have a passion for education and wanted very much to succeed in this class.

We are a group of seven: myself--a single mother of two boys, poet, literature teacher, editor, and computer technician; and as I write, I realize that I do not know a lot about my group members, so I am going to post a question on our discussion board to find out more about them. I’ll talk more specifically about my group members and our interactions in the next post. I am going to post a few times in the next day or so to catch up with what is actually happening today. Until next time…

Currently I’m Reading:
Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning, Concept to Classroom
A Passion For the Past: Creative Teaching if U.S. History, James Percoco
The Spectacular Spider Book, Valerie Davies