Circuits, Pictures and Words: Illuminating a Writer’s Notebook

The one session that I wanted to attend but could not attend at National Writing Project Annual Meeting was about “hacking the notebook/illuminating the thinking” in which some very inventive folks are revamping what we can do with a notebook by using circuitry stickers to add electronics to notebooks. (I was presenting at te same time). Friends were raving about it for days.
How cool is that idea?

I just added my support for the idea by ordering a kit, still under development, at a crowd-sourcing site. And I am hopeful that I might be able to join a webinar this Thursday afternoon about the notebook circuitry kit. Here is the blurb I received from NWP:

When: December 5, 2013, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. PST
Where: Via Google Hangout on Air from this page.

Graphic.Vertical.HackingNotebooks

In a reprise of a National Writing Project Annual Meeting session, Jie Qi of the Responsive Environments group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and David Cole and Jennifer Dick of Nexmap.org and its I/O (Inside/Out) program walk you through the building of low-cost circuits that allow writers to hack the traditional notebook and tell stories with interactivity. Tune into this webinar to learn how you can work with circuits, writing, and your creative impulse to turn the writer’s notebook into a repository of STEM-powered storytelling.

Interested in learning more about this work and its approach and materials in advance of the webinar? See the I/O notebooking page and Jie Qi’s recently announced crowd-funding project, Circuit Stickers. Check out the video and take a look the circuit stickers she and her research partner, Andrew “Bunnie” Huang, are producing.

Tell me you aren’t intrigued, too?

Peace (in the systems),
Kevin

My #Nerdlution: 50 Comments/ 50 Blogs/ 50 Days

(Thanks to Katherine Mraz for making this cool icon for the #Nerdlution)

There’s a whole thread of conversations that led me to stumble upon this idea of using a twitter hashtag of #Nerdlution for making a personal challenge over the next 50 days. I saw it first with Franki Sibberson, and then with Colby Sharp, and then on to Chris Lehman and finally, here with Katherine Sokolowski. The idea is sort of a version of the New Year’s Resolution, but maybe a little more doable. In the next 50 days (December 2 through January 20), set yourself a goal and try to keep at it.

My goal is to make a daily comment on a different blog, so that by January 20 (if I succeed), I will have left a trail of 50 comments throughout the blogosphere. This goal comes from the realization that I have gotten a bit lazy with commenting on what I am reading, and not taking full advantage of the read/write/comment nature of the blogs that I read. I am still thinking of how best to track my comments and my path. I am beginning to use Storify to curate my activity.

Yesterday, I also wrote a poem about the nerdlution, as a way to show how it is about connections and community as much as motivating for change and new habits. (see a version on notegraphy)

nerdlution poem

 

You come, too. Just use the hashtag #nerdlution as you set a goal and strive for it. Make sure you post updates on Twitter with the hashtag, so you can get plenty of encouragement from others. Meanwhile, I am getting my keyboard ready for some commenting. Maybe I will stop by your blog. I hope so.

Peace (in the comment),
Kevin

 

Inspired at NCTE: A Documentary MultiMedia Poem

I attended an interesting session with co-facilitated with friends Ian and Greg (whom I met when they were facilitating the Massachusetts New Literacies Initiative). The session dealt with documentary poems (see Ian’s post about the session), and how to guide students to research a historical figure or time period, write a poem, and then use podcasting for publication. While in the session, I began a poem about Sojourner Truth, who lived for a time in my small city and whose statue is located just off the main road in one of the village areas not far from where she resided.

The other day, I returned to the poem, finished it up and then recorded it.

But I decided to take Ian and Greg’s idea even further, using Popcorn Maker to create a multimedia poem, with images, video and music. I like how it all came together here, even if the tool is still a little wonky at times, as I explore my own thoughts of seeing the Sojourner Truth statue, about the work she did around abolition and awareness of women’s issues, and about the world right now, still in need of the Truth.

Experience: Sojourner Tells the Truth

 

See what you think. I’d love some feedback. Is this doable for your classroom on some scale?

Peace (in the words),
Kevin