To explain my long absence...

Holy smokes, I have been out of touch for over a month. In the time I've spent away from talking with...well, if anyone actually reads this blog...YOU...I've been finishing my MEd thesis paper. My topic? The use of hand writing for learning. I am NOT anti-tech...but I am anti-putting-all-the-eggs-in-one-basket.

Assuming all goes well, the 60 page tome will be submitted and reviewed within the next month. It's been sent out to a hand-selected group of kind but intellectually critical readers as of yesterday, with the idea that if I can convince a wider variety of people to believe that there is a real benefit to writing by hand, then I might be able to make a real difference in some kid's life.

Or so it may seem. In short, computers are making very lazy students; they don't want to understand that the computer and the Internet and all the techno-toys out there won't make them better thinkers or communicators. I guess it's my role in life to try and show them, time and time again, that they will benefit from using the proper tool for the task at hand.

In the interim, between my last blog post and today, I have had my usual fun with tech. SMART board issues, computer issues, phone issues (my daughter's)...you know, the realities of living in the 21st century. I had a pen issue today; it ran out of ink. I got another one. Problem solved. I only wish all tech issues were so easily solved.

Ciao for now.

Things I like in the tech world....

Yeah, I like some tech. Not that it's a huge surprise, not to those who know me. I am dangerously close to being addicted to Words with Friends and I am linked at the brain with my facebook. That being said, I have recently entered into a comfortable courtship with a Kindle Fire HD. I don't have the foggiest idea how many of the features work, yet. But I did download and read an entertaining mystery novel. I can borrow one book for free per month; no risk there. And the book was not one I would have bought, so that's cool. The first book I actually bought was...Anne of Green Gables. Don't judge; I was having a nostalgic moment, and it seemed uniquely appropriate to juxtapose a classic and the technology upon which I would be reading it.

There are a ton of free apps I have added to the device as well, most of which attest to my addiction to sports, history, and of course, Words with Friends. I see that I can watch movies, and I have listened to music on it. I am intrigued and a little sketched out about using Skype on it. (Kind of feels like a Mirror, Mirror, on the wall thing.)

Mostly, I got the darn thing because it was on sale, and I could see that it would give me options for when I was sitting around with nothing to do...appointments that are not on time, for example. Sadly, what I cannot do is go on it at work. That requires a password which, I understand, is guarded by the Swiss Guard, Cerberus, and a cranky gnome with an itchy trigger finger. (Just kidding...I haven't gotten around to asking for it.)

So, I have entered the Tablet Universe.

Stay tuned.

Tech Troubles...Part idk...a million?

So, it's been almost a month since I last posted. Getting ready for a new school year consumes energy and brain, not the least of which is dedicated to making sure what I am hoping to do actually will work, and includes a "plan B" for when things don't quite go as planned.

My SMART board is in need of a technician to pay it a visit. Inexplicably, but not altogether unexpectedly (I think it is possessed by a gremlin), it will not turn on. It was working in June, and no one has used it all summer. So...I am working with my 3 square feet of white board. And of course I saved a few things on that computer that I can't access...nothing huge, but it will require redoing work. Bleah. No wonder I have trust issues with tech.

My personal laptop is going to the puter doctor on Tuesday, as the space bar requires brute force. I think that this should be a relatively easy/inexpensive fix. I hope so. I have to get busy on finishing my Masters' thesis...and pounding the space bar is exhausting. And there is that little thing called I have to do lesson planning, grades, and other assorted things via computer.

Bright spot: I caved and bought a Kindle Fire HD. I downloaded a book and read it. Things I like include the cool function that tells you how long it will take you to finish the book, based on your reading speed. Things that I don't like include batteries that run out of juice just as you get to the "good part" in a murder mystery. I love the fact that all the music I've ever bought from amazon.com is available to be played...in all, good purchase.

So today is a rainy day, which will preclude me going outside to do much. I might just have to read. A book. The paper kind.

For further thought, regarding Hunger Games:

I just read this blog post on Jezebel...
http://jezebel.com/at-real-life-hunger-games-camp-children-intend-to-fig-1048895777

It seems that there's a school-based summer camp patterned on Hunger Games, and the children attending LITERALLY believed they were to kill each other. And they were willing.

I'm scared.

 Hunger Games, Blood Sport, and Technology

My, my, I have been a poor correspondent.
Well, to *be* a correspondent, one must have someone with whom to correspond, eh?

Anyhow, I have been giving a lot of thought of late to the trilogy of books that begins with The Hunger Games, and how that post-apocalyptic world is really quite frightening. The Games are computer-designed and managed by people who crave blood sport, but who are too removed both emotionally and physically to be really affected by the outcome. This, to me, is the ultimate end of technology, if it remains unchecked and untempered by humane behavior. We see too often young people who are psychologically and physiologically affected by too much computer gaming, who are callous in their disregard for each other by texting, online "chat," and other forms of social media, and the result is a desensitized generation(s) of disconnected individuals who have little real interaction with other people, and who have learned disembodied violence from a very young age, and consider it "relaxing" and fun.

The Romans had the Colosseum, and today's world has...cyberspace. I don't think that the "odds will ever be in [our] favor."

The printed page and personal contact

Sorry I haven't been in touch, but I've been inhabiting the world of the printed page, poetry, poets, and people. I mean, people in the flesh. Human contact. Something, we who were at the conference all determined, don't tend to have enough of, at least not chosen, intentional contact, in this cyber-isolationism we've imposed upon ourselves. Yeah, the kids would hashtag that as "first world problems." And I tend to agree, although there are developing nations that have little clean water, but yet have Internet. Go figure.

One thing that struck me this week while I was attending and reading at a poetry gathering, was the oddity of  the few people who took the podium in Robert Frost's rustic barn in Franconia, NH, surrounded by trees, mosquitoes, and rapt faces...who opened up their laptops to read. It felt and looked really incongruous, and I was not the only one struck by the weirdness of it. It felt as if the page--as in, paper--should be celebrated, there in the historic setting. And there was the fact that the faces of the readers were oddly lit, the light source coming from under the chin, from the computer screen. The strangest thing, one that seemed not only out of place, but hard to work around as an audience member, was the barrier between reader/speaker and the listeners caused by the upraised screen. It just felt wrong. And this reminded me of the many, many times I have looked out at my own classroom, and found that eye contact was almost impossible to maintain, as all the eyes were down-turned, focused on the screen and whatever task or distraction was being displayed.

Something to ponder, I think. Human beings need human contact, and we must be very aware of the boundaries we erect while trying to make connections.

Two days at poetry camp, and my head is already swimming. Not only is it the company of so many colleagues who are doing the same (right) thing in so many schools, but it's also the buzz of ideas. New this year is the ongoing under thread of the Common Core, and how what we are doing supports the standards. Also, the implementation of technology in the practice and teaching of poetry has come up many times. We are all mostly in agreement; one woman, a tech integration specialist and English teacher from North Carolina said it best: "if the technology is not transformative, don't use it." In other words, if it's fun, and catchy, and an interesting gimmick, it's not enough to sell her on using it in the classroom. And her school is a private one that is tech based, with most of their students going to what she calls the "...IT schools," as in MIT. Also, there are apparently many working poets who love to skype; this could be awesome for so many schools that don't have the budget to bring a person to their schools physically. I will be getting a list sometime soon, and when I do, I will share info. Podcasts are something a lot of teachers have tried, and with varied interest on the part of their students. My final project for class focuses on the use of podcasts and skype; I was really glad to hear others talk about their uses and experiences with these two forms of tech, as I was just "pie in the sky-ing" when I chose to embed those two things in my project. In short, it appears it might just work. (phew)

I'm still at "camp" until Friday, and I would posit I will be even more awash in new ideas by then. I'll check in.

Poetechnologically yours...

“Before you become too entranced with gorgeous gadgets and mesmerizing video displays, let me remind you that information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other, and we need them all.” 
― Arthur C. Clarke

I'm mentally trying to transition gracefully from my technologically dominated world (and I do mean dominated, and some, if not all of it, is by choice) to a more introspective, slower-paced measuring of time. That is to say, summer. I need to stop checking my Facebook, my phone, my emails, my Words With Friends, my clocks...in short, all of the things that dictate the who, what, where, when, and why of my daily existence. To this end, and to preserve my sanity, I will be going to the Frost Place in Franconia, NH for a total immersion week that is functionally titled the Conference on Poetry and Teaching, with an extra day and a half workshop called Teachers as Writers. Titles aside, I will be going to Poetry Summer Camp. And I am glad, glad, glad. Six glorious days of sitting in Frost's barn, listening to words, to people, forging bonds across time and space with people I don't see but maybe once a year, or once in a lifetime. I will be relatively unplugged, yet totally plugged in. There is something both energizing and comforting about trekking uphill on a dirt road to the Frost Place, greeting the day with coffee, conversation, and collegiality, and knowing that, at least for a short time, I will be with my "tribe," focusing on the ways that words connect people. As connected we are by our electronic devices, we are never more divided at the same time. We need to hear each other pause and think, to speak with intention and affection, to question and puzzle out ideas and nuances. In short, we need to slow down. And dwell with words. And be present to each other. This is wisdom-making, and we need it more than ever.

When the lights go down in the city...a thought or two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvE0G4a994E (Journey...yah, just listen and enjoy...)

I submitted my final project for class today. One might think that it would be cause for celebration, or relief, or what have you, but instead, I find myself really thinking about where and when tech fits into my general schema. I have grown so accustomed to more than half expecting all things tech to fail at any given moment, I'm still not sure I want to trust or rely on embedded tech elements. Yet, when these things work, they add a lot to what we are already doing. The world we live in requires a more than passing acquaintance with all things digital, and I am no neophyte myself. However, I still maintain that elementary skills are paramount; no amount of technology will help one bit if the student/user brings an empty rucksack to the camp out. I see tech as being of a supporting role; if my lesson requires tech to work properly, though, I might be in trouble. The core of any lesson must be simple and solid, and if it's not, no amount of fancy stuff will help it out one bit. I worry a little about the younger teachers, or pre-service teachers, who depend so much on technology. I am not convinced they are creative enough in their teaching, or solid enough in their own basic skills, that they can continue on when the lights go out...whether that is literal or figurative, it makes no difference. Both happen, and we need to be prepared. If Socrates could teach without props, leading the young men of Athens in logic and rhetoric under a tree in the middle of town, we should be able to do at least the same.

The Podcast...done, if not awesomely, but I did it. woot!

Ok, don't laugh. Ok, laugh if you wish...I won't hear you from here.

cmgadapee.podbean.com

Feel free to comment.