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Yearly Archives: 2014

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Interesting piece in the New Republic about the use of periods in text messages and online chats.  It’s not something I’ve thought about or even noticed.  In text messages I rarely see any punctuation. The period in short-form electronic communication plays a quite different role than it does normally in writing. According to the article, […]

The post Periods? No. appeared first on Communicating Across Cultures.

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After a very bad day of wondering if my students would EVER actually see what I'm doing for them, I decided to go back through my old Facebook statuses to see if I ever talked about how appreciative my students were of me. I was not disappointed.

All of these posts were from the end of my second year of teaching. I had a group of sophomores that I had taught for two years in a row and the majority of these comments are from them.


June 4, 2013
"Wait! You're not teaching juniors? But you're supposed to be my English teacher for life!" ~sophomore I've had for two years

June 5, 2013
I informed my sophomore boys not to scare the new English teachers away next year when they have them. Their response:

"We're going to scare away every single English teacher until you're the only one left to teach us."


I'm not sure if I should be flattered or terrified for their junior teachers......

June 5, 2013
"I want to sincerely say thank you so much for all you have done. I know I am not the easiest student to control or the most obedient student, however you have taken time out of your days to help me. Thank you for having for much patience with me even though I know you want to throw me out the window at times. You've made these two years a little easier by helping me out and I appreciate the time spent greatly. THANK YOU!" ~card from my sophomore student


I guess I did something right.

June 11, 2013
I'm sitting here almost tearing up at what my students wrote in my year book. They didn't just sign their names, they wrote half pages and pages to me. Some highlights:

"You have taught me so much: how to write, how to break down literature, and how to notice the vile, inappropriate things Shakespeare put in his plays."

"Oh, and if you get married, please invite me to the wedding."

"You're super hip. Which is cool because most teachers have osteoporosis" (yes....he spelled it right.)

"You literally made me laugh every day and when you were gone for like 2 weeks or a month for your knee surgery I almost died"

"I don't think another teacher could have put up with me for so long." (a sophomore I had two years)

"It has been a blast and you have been one of the reason I've survived high school so far."


"It is teachers like you that make students want to learn and have fun"

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Rarely have I been so time poor – sad that it coincides with my engagement with the brilliant #rhizo14 led by Dave Cormier. This one might be a MOOCers MOOC: there is no set reading – scant introductory remarks – no trail of video tutorials or lectures… just trickster questions designed to get us thinking – posting – commenting – blogging – FBing – Google+ing… and lo – the community IS the curriculum. It is emergent – it emerges – it is what we want it to be! This post is a little reflection - and an invitation - let us write some poetry as a collaborative means of researching #rhizo14?




Declare
My project – if you can call it that – for #rhizo14 has been to bring as much of this busy fizzy messy stuff as possible into my first year #becomingeducational module and see what it sparks in first year students who in the end want to become educationalists.
In the process I have shared DogTrax ‘Steal this Poem’ (http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2014/01/16/rhizo14-steal-this-poem/) and with him used the concept of cheating as a tool to analyse the power structures of education. I have re-blogged several #rhizo14 blogposts directly to the handful of students who actually follow the class blog. I don’t know if the excitement sizzles through – but I hope so!
Research: Collaborative writing as inquiry
Some of us in the rhizome are exploring the idea of collaborative writing as a form of inquiry about #rhizo14. We are thinking about exploring (as radical un-content) the blogs that have emerged – the words that have touched us, weaving a paper in, around and through our own responses to the ones we choose – and our responses to the writing of our fellow flaneurs.
In this, I have been very influenced by Ken Gale – who has himself studied Deleuze through collaborative writing…  (see Ken Gale http://www.aldinhe.ac.uk/ojs/index.php?journal=jldhe&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=222)
Poetry and Inquiry?
Given the power of the rhizome – and the huge creativity in this ‘wonder’ (my collective term for us all – rejecting community – network – group); do #rhizo14ers want to generate poems (in the broadest and most multimodal sense) of our experiences – either as our own collective mode of inquiry for capturing (dead word!) our collective learning – that could be posted on a #rhizo14 website for just that purpose???
OR - for the LinkedIn Group: Higher Education Teaching and Learning and their Call for poems and creative works. Confession – I haven’t performed a rigorous back check on all this – but it serendipitously appeared in my email in-box from a friend who knows I like this sort of this. I am sharing it with a community that I know also loves this sort of thing…

Anyway – here’s their invitation - Submission Deadline: June 20, 2014:
Teaching as a Human Experience: An Anthology of Contemporary Poems
An edited anthology volume by Dr. Karen Head (Assistant Professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Literature, Media, and Communication), and Patrick Blessinger (Founder and Executive Director, Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association)

Volume one of the anthology series, Contemporary Teaching and Learning Poetry Series, Patrick Blessinger, series editor.

Submissions should be submitted electronically to:

https://www.hetl.org/poem-submission-form/ 

Volume One Overview

The poems in this collection will deal with the real life-worlds of professors, instructors, and others working in education and it will cover contemporary teaching experiences in education. The poems will be written mainly by college and university professors, instructors, lecturers, and others in the field of education, and will cover the many roles teachers play, including instructing, lecturing, mentoring, facilitating, coaching, guiding, and leading. This volume will cover the manifold life experiences and perspectives of being and working as a teacher in education and the epiphanies (experiences of deep realization) experienced in that role.

This volume seeks to give creative voice to the full range of experiences by teachers, students, and others. It seeks to empower readers with personal agency as they evolve as self-creating, self-determining authors of their own lives, personally and professionally. In short, it seeks to expand our consciousness of what it means to be a teacher in contemporary life and within diverse learning environments and cultures. The poems will be based on teachers’ meaningful experiences in and out of the classroom and will provide artistic inspiration and creative insight to other teachers who work as teachers.

Submission Requirements

You may submit up to two poems or creative works per person. Any poetic form is accepted, but each poem should be limited to 300 words, unless the poem of longer length is exceptional in quality and highly unique in insight or style and appropriate to the poetic form used. Thus, poems and creative works expressed in a pure economy of words and that are able to distill the human experience down to its bare essence are highly valued as are creative use of voice, passion, imagery and the interplay of intellect and emotions.

The poem “Lecture” by Tami Haaland and the poem “Student” by Ted Kooser are a few examples of the type of work this volume seeks.

Submissions

We invite submissions of high quality poems and creative works for Volume One entitled, Teaching as a Human Experience: An Anthology of Contemporary Poems. We are interested in poems by teachers (e.g., professors, instructors, lecturers, faculty) as well as other practitioners in the field of teaching and learning.

Submission Deadline: June 20, 2014

Submissions should be submitted electronically to:

https://www.hetl.org/poem-submission-form/ 

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ACÇÃO MISSIONÁRIA AURORA – AMA

PROJECTO TCHUMA TCHATO
EM PARCERIA COM TFI

CARTA DE NOTÍCIAS 01/2014 – 20140131_TT2013/14_CN01

O sentimento era de pesar, a tarefa árdua de ser paciente, porque não havia mais nada a fazer. Mas, como diz o ditado, o navio tem que estar em movimento para que o leme surta o seu efeito.

Então tenho feito o que posso que é orar. Orar e ir por aí a visitar os que têm apoiado e que com o tempo se tornaram amigos através da rede social nascida da Iniciativa “De Barraco a Tijolos.”

H, que em tempos ajudou com cimento e um bom desconto nas chapas para o telhado, enquanto conversávamos falou algo que se veio a tornar uma boa ideia; “Já que a propriedade onde está a igreja/centro comunitário fica situada na curva de uma das entradas principais para a comunidade, porque não construir lá um painel de anúncios? Eu mesmo o patrocinarei se em troca puder anunciar o meu negócio. E terão muitos mais espaços onde quem quiser anunciar ajudará com uma doação mensal e assim se irá gerando algum dinheiro para continuar a obra.”

Por outro lado enviei um pedido de permissão ao Centro Comercial Jock of the Bushveld aqui na cidade, para montar uma “VENDA DE QUINTAL,” que foi autorizada para o dia 1 de Fevereiro. No dia o Alan e eu lá fomos para o Centro, carregados com vários objectos de grande porte para vender, cadeiras de escritório, armários, cadeiras de plástico, etc. Devo confessar que estava um pouco preocupado de chegarmos ao fim do dia e termos que carregar tudo outra vez de volta à base mas Deus é grande e isso não aconteceu. Em cerca de 5 horas quase tudo já tinha ido. Fez-se quase o suficiente para pagar os anúncios do Projecto e da Igreja/Centro Comunitário.

De volta ao painel de anúncios que parecia de facto uma óptima ideia. Depois de falar com o Pastor Jabu que por sua vez se aconselhou com a congregação e obteve o consenso, a estrutura foi colocada no lugar. Noutro dia o anúncio do patrocinador e do primeiro apoiante foi montado. Então, quando íamos montar o nosso, num Sábado de manhã, uma carrinha parou e um homem saiu dizendo que era da Municipalidade. Com ar de poucos amigos ordenou a nossa apresentação na Municipalidade na Segunda-Feira seguinte para explicar o que estava a ser feito ou então a estrutura seria demolida.

Escusado será dizer que foi um grande aborrecimento. O anúncio voltou para o carro e o resto do dia foi passado a aconselhar com o Pastor e o patrocinador para tentar encontrar a melhor maneira de resolver este problema inesperado, já que é prática corrente de que se algo deste género estiver dentro de uma propriedade, que não seja residencial, não necessita permissão.

Na Segunda-Feira à tarde conhecia o resultado de uma reunião que o Pastor Jabu e Bongani tinham tido com o inspector da Municipalidade. Apenas queria esclarecimentos sobre para que fim seria a estrutura e quanto tempo esta iria lá ficar. Aparentemente as explicações foram satisfatórias e na Terça-Feira o nosso anúncio foi colocado.

Agora oramos que mais firmas fiquem interessadas em anunciar nesse espaço para assim podermos levantar os fundos e continuar a obra.

João Rodrigues
Clara Collazo

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AURORA MISSIONARY ACTION – AMA
TCHUMA TCHATO PROJECT
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TFI

NEWS LETTER 01/2014 – 20140131_TT2013/14_NL01

Feeling heavy in my heart for the gruesome task of being patient for there was not much it could be done. But, as the saying goes, the ship needs to be in motion for the rudder to have its effect.

So I’ve been doing what I can which is mostly praying. Praying and going around visiting the various supporters become friends who have been made so through this networking of the Initiative “From Shack to Bricks.”

H, who has helped with cement and a very nice discount on the corrugated iron for the roof, while talking threw out what came to be a very good idea; “Since the property of the church/community centre is located on a bend in one of the main entrances leading into the community why not setup a billboard there? I’ll sponsor it if I can then advertise my business and you’ll have quite a few other slots to charge whomever else wants to advertise on that premium spot and hopefully make the money to continue building.”

On another front I asked permission to setup a Saturday YARDSALE at the Jock of the Bushveld Centre here in town which was granted for last February 1st. On the day both Alan and myself made our way to the YARDSALE spot with quite a few bulky items to sell, office chairs, lockers, plastic chairs, etc. I must confess I was a bit concerned we’d reach the end of the day and maybe have to hauler most of the things back to base but God is great and that didn’t happened at all. In about 5 hours pretty much everything was gone. Made almost enough to pay for both the Project and Church billboard signs.

Back to the billboard which sounded indeed like a very good idea. After talking to Pastor Jabu who then counseled with the congregation to get their approval, the billboard structure was put in place. Another day the sign from the sponsor together with our first client was fit in. Then when we were going to fit in ours, on a Saturday morning, a van stopped and a man came out saying he was from the Municipality. With an upset mood he told me we’d have to come by the Municipality on Monday to explain what that was all about or he would come and demolish the billboard.

Needless to say it was a disappointment. The sign went back in the car and the rest of the day was spent counseling with the Pastor and the sponsor trying to figure out the best way to solve this unexpected problem since it’s common knowledge that once it’s in your property and not residential these things don’t need permission.

Monday afternoon I got the results from a meeting Pastor Jabu and Bongani had had with the municipality inspector. It seems he just wanted to clarify what that thing was for and how long it would stay there. He apparently was happy with the explanations and Tuesday the sign was up.

The prayer now is that more businesses will get interested in advertising there and thus help raise the funds to carry on with the building.

João Rodrigues
Clara Collazo

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What’s taken me so long to post this week? Partly – I came over all pithy and just wrote: The trouble with books in HE could be exactly that weight – that sense of reified knowledge – that implacability – and ... the Reading Lists. I have seen students on just one module (of four) expected to read 8-12 books per week before each new seminar. Of course the lecturer probably means ‘dip into’ rather than read in depth – but the task is impossible and makes the students feel like failures every week. It also leaves them in no doubt as to their role: shut up – read this – you have nothing to say here… So – we have this juxtaposed with the more fluid, potential space of the oral – and of the quasi-oral which is the web. It feels more participative, engaging and engaged. Unique among media it invites transmission rather than just consumption. We evoke the camp fire and the tribal elders telling their tales of a shared collective history. An ever-present. Cool. But who gets to tell the tales – and who gets to hear them? These societies also ‘other’ the inconvenient and rebellious…



Just a small point about the task itself: wasn’t Dave in his paraphrasing of the ‘Is Google making us stupid?’ question, not really posing an either/or question – but challenging the peremptory nature of such questions? And wasn’t he also challenging the arrogance of the book-bound with their dismissiveness of all things web? I cannot imagine how many right-wing politicians must have nodded their heads in self-congratulation when they saw the Google = stupid proposition. Nothing seems to terrify them as much as a free and risky web. No, no they say – we need to make it safe – wrap it all up – tame this thing. The only point of ICT are the skills needed by business. Books embody the safe and controllable for them – whilst we know they also ‘light a fire in the mind’… We aren’t the ones who burnt the books but we might be the ones to sail the web as Digital Vikings as Amy Burvall suggests… 
So Karen sang:
http://karenatsharon.blogspot.ca/2014/02/books-is-making-me-stupid.html
And Jenny Mackness said:
http://jennymackness.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/rhizomatic-learning-knowledge-and-books/

And so many replied… The rest is silence ;-)

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I have finally watched the week four video. One last thought before I move to week five on the idea of "Is books making us stupid?" I write for many reasons. To keep records, to list what needs to be done for the day, to communicate with others, to work out my thoughts, for the sheer joy of a cleverly turned phrase.

Dave is right about the distance of writing, but wrong to think that this is somehow a cheat or dishonest in terms of communication. I think the reverse. I think that because one has to consciously think about what one is going to write, one is actually self censoring prior to writing as well as editing once it is down on paper. I am glad of that objectivity, glad of that distance. Too often words spoken in haste lead to unhappiness. Interpretation of oral words is just as culturally biased as reading is. Are we just celebrating the immediacy of the spoken word vs. the thoughtfulness of the written? The preference for the engaged immediacy of the spoken word can be as dishonest a cheat as the written word for are we truly truthful when we speak? And do we remember what was actually said or what we think was said? Is any communication truthful then? Or just simply truth as I know it and interpret it?

How is the give and take within an educational community any different? I have been present during some fabulous lectures, but most likely the ideas were synthesized after both reading information, discussion with peers and the application of practice. And I expect the lecture was written down first, prior to delivery. In a round robin discussion, how many times have I seen them veer off course because they have gotten bogged down in semantics or the inability to communicate a larger idea or guide the discussion? Sometimes groups mesh as an engaged community, sometimes they don't. Communication, like all human endeavors, is a flawed one.

This year I will be married for thirty years. As I look back, many of our arguments and fights were over our inability to adequately communicate our ideas verbally, by improperly interpreting the other's words, expressions and making assumptions as to meaning. A part of our life together has been lived apart due to his career. A phone call could lead to hurt, while a letter soothed the sting because we could explain ourselves fully. In a letter, I could explain what was in my heart and head, I could express my anger, hurt, love, loneliness and all of the other emotions that encompassed our relationship at that time.

I think, and this is an assumption, is that Dave is asking us, in the same way Prof. Sicoly (my research and methods prof) used to do, is to not make assumptions. To take every item of truth that we hold dear, whether written or oral and question it. And to remember that long after the spoken word has gone silent and no longer reverberates in our head, that the written word has a very long life span.

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Confession time: I still haven't watched the video for topic #4. Instead I made a video on, you guessed it, "Books is Making Me Stupid." The title seemed appropriate.

Since the question/statement has been rattling around in my brain all week I started to write some thoughts down (walking the dog is my time for clarifying thoughts!) I then recorded it using Audacity and hunted around on Freesound for some background music. But none of the music matched the rhythm of what I had sung. So I just started looking for jazz instrumentals that had an underlying beat. I played the music, while I spoke the song. It's not perfect (there is some squealing in the background which came from I know not where) but overall I was pretty pleased with it. You'll notice that the final is different from the original.

Now there are some things I wanted to do differently in terms of the images I chose, but two things happened: a Windows 8.1 upgrade (yuck!) and sheer laziness. (I just didn't want to be bothered hunting around for software that strips the sound off the video and leaves me the video alone, I always seem to pick up a virus, it was late, I was tired, Windows was hurting my brain, yada, yada, yada.) So instead I just went to Goodreads, plugged in the different words, picked a book that tickled my fancy and just worked on the timings in Movie Maker. For the videos I just went online (I knew I was going to use a still from Zoolander), except for the last clip of Mariana Funes, who graciously sent it to me so I could work on a zombie video. I was having trouble finding the steamed image, when I remembered how wispy Mariana's video was and decided to use a chunk for my video. Thanks goodness for my time in DS106 that gave me some background in making a video!







So here's my final product. As always, the video seems to look and sound so much better in Movie Maker. In YouTube the music in the background is fainter. Oh well.



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