I snuck in moments to watch the short Ignite sessions that have been archived at the Digital Media and Learning Conference YouTube channel, and tweeted out my comments and reactions. Here, I collect them all together. There are a few Ignite sessions at the end of the very long video that I have not seen. Maybe later …
Peace (in the Ignit-ion switch to learning),
Kevin
I adapted a presentation that I made to NCTE two years ago around cyberbullying for my students before February vacation, and figured I’d share it out. Feel free to use it, copy it, remix it as needed. We used it as part of a larger Digital Life unit, emphasizing positive aspects of digital tools as well as ways to stay safe.
In fact, during our digital life survey, the percent of students who say they have had a negative experience in online spaces is minimal, and no one reported any cyberbullying (although given the nature of things, they might not admit to it, either). The strongest message here is a reminder to kids that they have trusted adults they can turn to to help them in difficult situations. I’ve been intrigued by danah boyd’s exploration of this issue in It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens and how kids see behavior in online spaces differently than adults.
Peace (in the talk),
Kevin
All hail the fail. So said my friend Terry the other day as part of his response to my post about a digital composition that I attempted that just did not work for me. But part of failing can also perseverance (a theme which we did a whole lesson around in the classroom the other day) and as I took in Terry’s comments via Vialogues (see below) and then read some reactions from another friend, Molly, I began to rethink how the piece might yet come together.
Here’s Terry’s comments on the composition and some of my responses:
Here is Molly’s tweet:
@dogtrax PicPlay may not be the best tool. Video fade in/outs (keeping digital and your voice) would work. Keep fades close (reduce pauses)
— Molly Shields (@ShieldsMolly) February 13, 2014
It was a combination of both of their voices, plus my own doubts, that stuck with me, and as I was out shoveling last night (for the fifth time that day), it dawned on me how I could maybe “fix” the failure, and it required moving away from the video app that had inspired the composition to begin with. I realized that the PicPlayPost app was one of my problems. It was Molly’s comment about finding a way to cut and connect that made me realize that I could use Popcorn Maker, perhaps, to re-engineer the video sequences, and cut out the Tellegami ads at the end of the videos, too. (which Terry agreed gave the composition a very halting effect).
@dogtrax Would hack but can't remove from PicPlay w/out sacrificing video quality 🙂
— Molly Shields (@ShieldsMolly) February 13, 2014
So, here it is.
What’s interesting is that my original intention was to try to avoid a sequential left-to-right kind of video message and that is what I went back to. But with Popcorn, I could add another layer of music, and the project is now remixable by anyone who wants to give it a whirl. That was something that Molly could not do with PicPlayPost, although that was her first instinct (which I applauded). Popcorn can still act quirky at times, and is periodically laggy. But, if not completely at ease with how it came out, at least it better matches my vision.
Peace (in the remix),
Kevin
I’ve seen a lot of friends on Twitter using the “one word” idea. It’s a simple but powerful way to focus in on a theme for the new year. Or maybe not so simple. I’ve struggled with a single word that is large enough to encompass how I want to approach the year and not so intangible as to be meaningless. I’ve settled in on the word “Make” for a few reasons.
First of all, I really got involved in learning more about the Maker’s Movement this year, through work with the National Writing Project. Our CLMOOC was focused on the “make.” I am intrigued by how helping students learn through doing, and creating things/ideas is coming back around again.
Second, I am not a physical maker. I bumble my way through any project you hand me. When I fixed the toilet in our house one day, you should have heard the cheers and seen the high fives we gave each other. I mean, I had fixed the toilet, for goodness sake. That was a breakthrough.
So, this idea of focusing on “make” is always a way to slowly get me out of my own comfort zone. I know I have students who struggle with writing a story but could take apart a car engine, and even put it back to together again. I know I have students who can make an engaging video, publish it on YouTube, and yet, they can’t quite write a paragraph with deep meaning.
I can’t say right now how this word “make” will make its way into my daily life. But I do have a wide definition in my head of what it means to “make” and I’ll keep mulling this one over. It’s digital, physical and internal, and I am going to “make” 2014 a year of diving in as deep as I can.
In that vein, one of the things I have been doing is pulling together a Flipboard magazine around the connections of making and learning, and Connected Learning. It’s a start, and I am making the magazine happen. (meta-make?)
Peace (in the word),
Kevin
I don’t know about you, but the end of December rolls around and I realize that another year has skipped past me. If I don’t take time to reflect a bit, it’s all gone right out the window. Of course, one of the reasons I blog is to remember, to archive the thinking and reflection and experimentation that I dive into. This blog is a like a huge USB Memory Drive plugged into my head and heart. Ok. Enough sappy metaphors.
In the interest of using technology to share, I created a visual of the ten events that I want to remember from 2013 (I used a software program called Simple Diagrams) and then put the image on Flickr, and then moved it over to ThingLink, so that each image has a short bit of text with a link to the sites mentioned.
Peace (in the year),
Kevin
I wanted to share put this site of ASCII art by j. stark. This may be an old site (hosted by Geocities! I see some art dates back to 2000) but it has some neat artwork that is still timeless.
Happy holidays, where ever you are and whatever your beliefs. Thanks for stopping by.
 |"|")/"\<""|"\ / "|"| ||_"  <"|\ |/"\| ||\/||\ |\ |  | /|"|"
 |"|"\\_/_> | |   | |"||_   _>| \|\_/|/\|| ||"\| \|  |"\| |
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                        .-"""-.
                       /      \          ___,---,__
                      |       :|        (/_/|\ \|_/)
                      |      .:|           || \ | Â
   .-----.            \  ..::/            ||\ \|
   |`"""`|           .-`    :-.           || \ |   /______
   |_____|         .'         ':.         `|\ \|  `\     )
 .-[____=]-.      /'           ':\         """""         /
 `"-------"`     /              ':\         <"/"|\ |")|"
      .         ;                 :;        _>\_|"\|"\|"
     /|\        |                 :|     Â
      |         |                 :|
                 |                .:| ,__
   | ||\"|"     |               .::| |\ Â
   |"||"\|      :              .::::  \ |")/"\|"\\ /
                  \          ..::::/      |")\_/|_/ |
                _,-`-.___ ..::::::-'-,_     ^
             -"                        "~-
    /"|\ |")|")/"\"|"                      __
    \_|"\|"\|"\\_/ |                      |--| /___ |")||")|_" Â
                                   ________| | `\   |" ||" |_
           |                     `-----------'
          \|/
           '           | | ||\/||")<" /"\|" /"/"\|\ |  _____
  '-. .--..,__        |_\_/| ||" _> \_/|" \_\_/|"\|_      )
 ===->{::::.. _`:-                                            /
  .-' `""""'`                                              |/_
                                                       (@)  `
    <""|"|/"| /<"  >==-=-=-=-=-==-<              (@)  (@)
    _> | |\_|"\_>                                    (@)  (@) Â
                         >=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=<
             \     __,
              \______/|
   =======.==.
  _=-_-"-_|=_=`\_________________________   /___ |")|")/"\/"\|\/|
  _=_=-_-"| -=_=)========================` `\   |")|"\\_/\_/| |
   =_jgs=_|=_-./                                  ^
   ======='=='`
              (J U S T  B E  C A R E F U L  W H E R E  Â
                 Y O U  P U T  T H E  C A R R O T !)
 (art by j.stark)
_.--""""'.
.' `\
/ \
_/_ _,__ __ __/ |
|`_o)/ ` ` | ;
| )/o\> \ /
;"`""`""`"""`";.""-.
.' .--._.--. / ' \
/ / _ _ \ |'. '|
/ | / \ / \ | \__'/
; .-' \o/ \o/ '-. ;
| | () .-"""-. () | |
; | \ / | ;
\ ; \ / ; /
/`\ \ \ / / /`\
/ .:`""--....Y....--::` .:\
\:' .:' .:' .:' .:'/|
/'._.:' .:' .:' .:'.;':\
/ ``;--::.___::.--;``` | \
/ / \ |':.|
; | | \ ':|
| | _..._ | \ \
| \ .' o o'. / |:. |
\ './ o.-"-. o\.' \ ':.\
;. `-; ;-' .;\ |
| `-._ _/ \_ _.-' | |:. |
| | ```\o (>0<)` /``` | |/__':/
; \ '._/`\).' / ;77777
\ \ /```\ / /
\ '. .' /
\ `-.__ __.-' /
'. ``` .'
jgs /`-._ _.-'\
/ , ``;---;`` , \
| / | | | | \ |
'-'|__/\_/ \_/\__|'-'
Peace (on earth, let it be),
Kevin
I did a version of this story years ago as a podcast and updated the text a bit, and then used the iMovie app to pull it together as a digital story. This is one of our family traditions – writing notes to our future selves and stuffing them into glass ornaments. What’s yours?
Peace (in the glass),
Kevin
I am honored to have been nominated for some Edublog Award categories this year. If you have the inclination and time, I’d appreciate support. Just being part of the crowd of blogs and folks in these spaces is enough for me, though. Like many of my colleagues, I don’t blog for awards. I blog to reflect and understand and to share, and connect.
But, thank you.
Peace (in appreciation),
Kevin
The other night, at practice with my band (Duke Rushmore), we did something unusual. We’ve been working on some new songs for the past few weeks and as such, have ignored some of the old ones that we have always played. It’s part of learning, I guess, that we focus our energies on the present. But at practice, we decided to go back to some old songs that we used to know by heart. As the drummer kicked off the beat to the first one, I realized in a panic that I didn’t know what my first note was or how the song even began.
It was incredibly uncomfortable to feel so lost in the music.
The interesting thing is that I was not alone that night. In just about all of the old “chestnuts” that we pulled out, someone in the band — or more than one of us — didn’t know this note, or that chord, or where the break happened, or how to make the transition, or the order of the solos. We kept looking around at each other, asking: how could we have forgotten? Someone please help!
And we laughed.
But as a teacher, it reminded me something important. We take it for granted that our students are accumulating knowledge and experience, and that at any moment, they should be able to tap into the past work for the present assignment. Except, that doesn’t always happen, and we teachers get frustrated. Didn’t we already cover this? we wonder. The reality, though, is that without exposure and reminders, things get lost.
It was a humbling experience, floundering in a setting where I can usually thrive. I didn’t like that feeling, even in the company of friends who were not judging me for my missed notes, or wrong notes. My brain was working harder at retrieving information than it usually does acquiring it. I made a mental note about that process, and then got back to work re-learning my saxophone solos.
I’m still learning.
Peace (in reflection),
Kevin