You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
 ~ Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865)

If you have read this blog more than a couple of times you have undoubtedly come across my shameless reposting of TED Talks.  What can i say they are absolutely mind blowing.  A friend of mine posted this one on a recent post of his, it – even more than usual – blew my mind.
(no time?  jump to the 6 minute mark to see the demo without the history)

WOW!  Pretty incrdible.

So what do you see when you look at this?  It truly has the potential to drastically adjust life as we know it…
…however i have been thinking about this SixthSense technology in a highly simplified form. 

This device has the potential to fundamentally change the way in which we interact with technology – it would always be “there” - its benefits and detriments.  Personally,  i have battled administration and school policy over cellular phones  in the classroom, then of allowing YouTube onto our campus, then there was MySpace, FaceBook and an endless line of proxies that were blocked - ducked – and then reblocked.  How would you teach a class full of “sixth sensers”??  What would you block?  What would you allow?

If you believe (as i do) that some of the most important things we teach our students are responsibility and decision making then at some point you must give students the opportunity to BE responsible, to make a responsible decision, or to make an irresponsible decision and deal with its consequences.  As technology becomes more and more interwoven into our life, the importance of students demonstrating mastery  of these skills seem more and more important.

“Adolescence in essence is all about trust”
~ Gord Downie

“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)

Just last month i was wandering through the blogosphere reading some music blogs that interest me.  I was astounded by the comments that people were making, they were so severe.  Protected by anonymity it seems people aren’t really nice to each other.  I was disturbed by the fact that kys was an abbreviation that was thrown around like it was nothing.  Oh, you didn’t know either – kill yourself.  Disturbing.  In the same week my senior students reflected on this tragic article, to summarize their responses in a word:  harsh.

The importance of this new writing vehicle that we are a part of can not be understated and the direct instruction and consideration of commenting is something i believe has a place within the modern classroom.  A friend sent me this video this morning, which i found astoundingly powerful and will use to launch a lesson very soon:

http://www.youtube.com/oceanking97

Student Blog prompts:
What do you consider to be cyber bullying?  Can you share a time where you felt as though you were bullied online?  Can you think of an instance where perhaps your actions could have been considered bullying?  How did these experiences make you feel?  why?  What should you do if you feel that you are being bullied?

“I’m not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information.”
~ Bill Watterson

Nicholas Carr – Brian Cathcart -  Doris Lessing

“The more things change, the more they remain… insane.”
~ Michael Fry and T. Lewis

Thought this would be a nice piece to start of the new year:

Internet Archaeologists Find Ruins Of ‘Friendster’ Civilization

What are the similarities between this and other social networking sites?  What do you think was the real reason for so many people to stop using this particular site?

There was a definite process by which one made people into friends, and it involved talking to them and listening to them for hours at a time.
- Rebecca West (1892 – 1983)

There is a whole post on what Facebook has done to the meaning of the word “friend”…and it (the post) continues to evolve and morph in my head; over and over and over again.

This isn’t that post though.  I am actually just reposting something i saw on my Facebook today.  Its a topic that i have heard at TGIFs, at dinners, in the cafeteria, and during lunch in the staff lounge … I think it is important, relative, and an interesting piece in re-defining our roles in School2.0.  I would really love your thoughts on it:

originally from:  http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/12/08/social-media-engagement-should-teachers-and-students-be-friends/

SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT: SHOULD TEACHERS AND STUDENTS BE FRIENDS?

Recent efforts to make Facebook safer for kids may provide more options to control who sees what postings, but they may not address affect the fundamental conundrum facing educators – whether they can or should engage with  students in social media networks like Facebook…

Friend requests from students have caused quite a dilemma for teachers in several school districts in Georgia that have recently proposed policies restricting how teachers and students can interact online.

According to the article “Ga. District Hones Social Media Policy” published Nov. 19 byTeacher Magazine, teachers in Barrow County near Atlanta, Georgia are facing a proposed policy that would prohibit teachers from interacting with students as peers, both online and off, and would ban them from posting “provocative photographs, sexually explicit messages, use of alcohol, drugs or anything students are prohibited from doing,” on their personal social media pages.

Although I maintain a personal Facebook page, I have a policy against Friending students. On occasion I will accept friend requests from students after they graduate, but I’m concerned about blurring the line between social and professional relationships.

I’m sure most middle and high school, and maybe even some elementary school teachers face this kind of dilemma. Do you interact with your students through social media sites? What do you think of administrative oversight of educators’ online activities?

One of the commenters quoted in the Teacher Magazine piece expressed concern about students who see teachers as confidants, particularly young people who have no other close adults they can trust. Could restricting student/teacher relationships be detrimental for students? Or is it a good idea to have clearly defined boundaries supported by official policies?

Tuesday, December 8th 2009 by Katie Stansberry

Bring your thoughts and/or comments to WiredWednesday this week, post them right here, or better yet do both!!

I guess i should start:

Personally, i don’t befriend students, current or past. I constantly am considering and re-considering this – and still don’t have a definitive answer. I think having two accounts is a decent solution – and this is how i’ve handled my in-class social networking activities…

HOWEVER

this i believe to be a major difference and a challenge. Our students don’t differentiate in their online lives like we feel the need to. When they “friend” our other identity they give us access to a lot of stuff that…to be honest, I do not want.
A lot of the buzz of these technologies (who’s momentum we are hoping to use to drive us toward our learning goals) is using the power of true social networking – and the students’ love for it – to drive an educational goal. If they were to begin creating other identities for “school stuff” then a lot of that power could be lost, or in other terms we would return to simply “doing this for the teacher”.

My attitude is that although the definition of “friend” is rapidly changing – the one that i use…doesn’t include my students. Thus i do not include them in my “friends” on facebook

like i said at the outset, a lot of thought…but no real answers…

No one wants advice, only collaboration.
~ John Steinbeck(1902 – 1968)

Well this blog is kind of morphing into a place for sharing ideas that will hopefully guide our WiredWednesday conversations.  It wasn’t the vision and it needs more time, but i just don’t have it right now.  I do want to share this though as it is one of the more powerful things i have seen recently:

Some parts i really found provocative:

• schools exist as a place to send kids while grown ups work
  • a teacher whose students don’t learn will not get fired; but one that allows their students to run around the city would.
• what will be the mark of a good teacher in 2050
• building intellectual alloys
• basic building blocks of Education in the 21st century
• participatory, personalize, post-national
• two million minutes
• writing
  • average writing assignment:  a paragraph to one page and length
• brain research in 2050
• if email is outdated; where does that put books and writing
• choosing which form is more/most appropriate?
  • exactly what Bill and i were promoting with our PBL initiative
• lifelong vs. k-12
• long term problems within a “short-term” game (politics)

“We are all so different largely because we all have different combinations of intelligences. If we recognize this, I think we will have at least a better chance of dealing appropriately with many problems that we face in the world. ”
 ~ Howard Gardner

This video was posted on a friends FaceBook last night and will serve as a wonderful place for us to connect with during our WiredWednesday (or any other time!) discussion.  He posted saying that it was essential viewing for all educators:

Which of Gardners intelligences do you see being more/less important in the next two years?  what about the next 10 or 20?  Does this effect what you do (or should do) in your classroom?  How?

“Don’t mind criticism. If it is untrue, disregard it; if unfair, keep from irritation; if it is ignorant, smile; if it is justified it is not criticism, learn from it. ”
 ~ Author Unknown

In the comment field of this post please let me know ways that you feel the presentation that you saw today could be improved upon.  I appreciate your honesty and attendance today,

thanks,
mistermark

“Let a good man do good deeds with the same zeal that the evil man does bad ones.”
~ The Belzer Rabbi

This was shared on twitter by Jenny today and i absolutely love it.  It hit me on a day that i am grading the senior class’ responses to Social Media Revolution; their first writing for me.  Many of their responses are fantastic and many were written because they assumed they knew what i (the teacher) wanted to hear – this is something we will continue to work on.  I found Zittrain inspirational and (like so many TEDers) a fascinating and captive speakers…i also found in his talk, the follow up to my seniors’ blog posts.