One Step

When I first began blogging somebody told me that the most significant obstacle to learning the Internet was fear. For a long time, I've known that it's possible to have students use wikis. But I never quite figured out how to do it. Well, today I incorporated the use of a wiki into my newsletter that suggests lesson ideas. The New York Times ran article article today entitled, In Connecticut, World's Oldest Women Dies at 114. In the newsletter I asked if such an article deserved a spot on the front page of the New York Times. Tell your students to imagine that the Times editor asked for their opinion. Write a memo explaining your thoughts.

I then set up a wiki at, http://114yearolddies.wikispaces.com/ and suggested that teachers have students post their work here. Since I'm an educational consultant and not a classroom teacher, I'm not sure if teachers will take me up on the offer. But, it's worth a shot.

I'm excited about finally incorporating a wiki into a lesson idea.

Put Them on a Desert Island for a Week

Here's a suggestion: When two nations are about to go to war with one another, make them stop and send their heads of state to a vacated island, with nothing but the clothes they are wearing on their backs. Would such a program ease the chances of World War? What could be the negative consequences of such a program? By the way, I thought about this idea when reading this article on Iran's Uranium production.

The State of the Union

So, here's the question: In the age of Web 2.0 is there any point in watching the President's speech live? What might be the benefits of watching it live? What might some of the advantages be of reading the text of the speech which will surely be available on line sometime tonight, if it's not already available? I guess, I'm assuming that the text of the speech is important. Is it? Why is it? I guess I'll have to write about the State of the Union address tomorrow, in my newsletter. But, I'm not sure that I really want to do so. In many ways, I'm politicked out. (Did I just make up a word?) Does a speech have to be covered simply because it is given by the President of the United States?

Questions to Ponder about Educational Blogging

1. Ask your students: "What's the point of writing?" So often we ask our students to write and our students don't recognize if, how, or why writing is important.

2. What's the point of thinking before writing? What does it mean to think?

3. Does writing have advantages over speaking? If so, what are these advantages?

4. What does it mean to write for an audience? Is it possible for students to write for authentic purposes if teachers always give them the topic to write about?

5. What's the difference between writing on paper and blogging? Should there be any stylistic differences. Why?

I think it's imperative for our students to be involved in answering these kinds of questions so that they can play an active role in their own learning.

I'm Quoted in Ed Week

I'm really excited. Ed Week is running an article about Nicholas Winton: The Power of Good. Take a look at it.

A Secret Court to Monitor Wiretapping

The New York Times is reporting that a secret court, known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, will monitor wiretapping of conversations between individuals in the United States and individuals outside the U.S. when one is expected of being a terrorist.

Lesson Ideas:
1. Ask students if the United States government should have the right to eavesdrop on individuals. Under what conditions should they be allowed to do so.
2. Tell students to imagine that they are the telephone matrix in the United States and are privy to hear all of the telephone conversations that take place in the U.S. What kinds of things might they hear?
3. If it could be proven that no more terrorist activities would ever take place if everybody in the world stopped using the telephone system and Internet communication would it be worthwhile to abolish these communication systems? Why/why not? (Encourage your students to argue both sides.)

Barak Obama Announces He's Going to Announce

I don't get it, why does somebody have to announce that they are going to announce something. (Today Senator Obama announced that he was going to announce his run for the Presidency in a few weeks. Read the article.) It seems a bit silly, especially when today's advanced technology allows important messages to be spread so quickly. Wait a minute, soon people are going to announce that they are going to announce that they are going to announce. Should I keep going?

(By the way, I'll use this forum as an official announcement that I'm running for the MI State Board of Education, for which the election will be in November 2008. See, I didn't have to announce that I was going to announce.)

Here's a couple of possible lesson suggestions:
1. Ask students to draw a diagram of the process that a candidate goes through in announcing that he/she's going to run for the Presidency.
2. Do your students think that the Presidential campaign is too long? Why/why not? What might the public do to shorten the campaign?
3. Considering that yesterday, was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, you might ask students to prepare a dialogue between King and Barak O'bama. (It is pretty incredible that just 40 years ago, African-American's were fighting for equality. Today an African American is a serious contendor for the Presidency.)
4. Yet, have African Americans attained equality in our society? What does it mean to be equal? What's the difference between equality and equity?

Just some thoughts.

The Beginnings of an Interview with Isidor Pinkasovitch

He doesn’t know why his family lived there, but Isidor Pinkasovitch remembers living in a little shack with his mom, dad and brother. The small “shed” had two rooms, one used by day and the other by night. Pinkasovitch, now called Dave Lux, remembers a larger house on the top of a large grassy hill. He theorizes that his family must have lived in a barn owned by the farmer. But why? In Slovakia of the late 1930s, observant Jews didn’t live in the “middle of no where.” They stayed in large urban centers.

Pinkasovitch will never know exactly why or how his family lived on the large farm, distant from all neighbors. He hasn’t seen or spoken to his parents since he was six years old, since he boarded the train. But, he still has the questions. He theorizes that the Slovakian military tried to draft his father, Mordecai. Instead of joining the army, however, the older Pinkasovitch moved his family beyond the army’s grasp. So, he thought.

Then one day, while Isidor’s father was away at work, he, his mother, Esther, and his older brother, XXX, were paid a visit by a couple of soldiers. Can you imagine being the mother of two small boys, all of the sudden hearing a knock at the door. You answer the door, only to be pushed aside by three large men with guns. You stand there helplessly and horrified as the unwelcome visitors rummage through your few possessions. Pinkasovitch rationalizes that these soldiers obviously enjoyed the power of abusing Jews. What would these soldiers have expected to find in a small shed run down shed?

After his father returned home, Pinkasovitch remembers quickly packing their belongings aboard a buggy that they did not own. He reckons that the farmer who owned the land loaned his father the horse and buggy. He’ll never really know. He’s got no one to ask.

Regardless of the reasons, in Isidor’s next memory, he and his family are living in a two or three story building with countless other families. Slovakian guards “protected” the building. The guards weren’t mean; they were just there. Unlike the shed that the family had recently left, this building had indoor plumbing. Though the families cramped in together, Pinkosovitch remembers taking day trips with other kids.

He clearly remembers a blond lady who came and visited his parents. Though he didn’t know it at the time, the nameless lady’s mission was anything but simple: convince parents to send their children away. This lady likely warned that war would break out any day. The Germans had already moved in and they were determined to go beyond the lands of Czechoslovakia. She certainly informed the older Pinkasovitches that Hitler had publicized his plans to kill Jews. If they took their visitor up on her offer, they could save their children’s lives. Of course, this meant putting two young boys on a train, alone.

Pinkasovitch doesn’t know how many times the lady visited. But he knows she must have visited more than once. She couldn’t have possibly convinced his parents to send him away in just one visit, he theorizes. He doesn’t know why his parents agreed to let him and his brother go. What were they thinking? What did they say to one another? The Pinkasovitch boys were the only ones from the building to go. All the other parents refused. Why were Mr. and Mrs. Pinkasovitch different?

Book Continued

Just what were the ghettos like in Czechoslovakia after the Nazis took over the country. They were obviously cramped, imagine twelve or sixteen people sharing a space that was built for four. See the garbage gathering in the streets and the sewage running down the road. Let yourself sense the smell. Ugh!!

Unfortunately, we don't have to go back to the ghettos of Eastern Europe to find a place that fits this description. When was the last time that you talked about the Iraqi child who doesn't know where he's going to get his next meal from? What about the inner city Washington, D.C. kid, who lives a few miles from the White House.

How can we actually motivate our students to think about the smaller details in human society? How can we get them to think about individuals?

You might ask them to pretend that they are one of these kids and write a journal entry describing their life. Tell them that it must be a complete page. What kind of a school do these kids go to? What are their greatest fears? What about their greatest thrills?

Just a thought!!

The Last Post

Ok, so what's the last post about? As frequent readers know, I'm working on a project to distribute a film documentary entitled, Nicholas Winton: The Power of Good. It's about a man who saved 669 children from Prague before WWII. I'm planning on writing a book about the great deeds that people who he saved have done during their lifetime.

But the purpose of this blog is supposed to be about Current Events in Education. So, how can this book be applied to current events and not history? The answer is far too simple. Horrible atrocities continue to occur in the world. Look at Darfur. Consider the victims in Iraq. Are there any Niki Winton's who are trying to get the children out? What can we do to promote safety?

An Introduction

I'd love comments on the following post:

The year is 1939. The place is Prague, Czechoslovakia. The reality is horrible fear. Jewish parents must decide if they should send their children away. They know that the Germans have "conquered" most of the country. The Germans are so mighty that they didn't fire a single bullet. They control the streets. They steal from the grocers and harass the neighbors. None of this seems important now though. The only thing that counts is my Moshele, my nine year old freckled Moshele.

My husband and I stare at each other intensely.

"No, he's my son. I love him more than I've ever loved anybody. I'd sooner die than let him go."

"But, who knows what's going to happen if we don't send him. They might get us and him. I don't want my son to die. I love him too."

"David, I just don't know. It hurts so much."

"I know honey. I know."

Imagine the anguish of the parents. Niki Winton had offered them a chance to send their children out of the hell-hole called Czechoslovakia. But, if they took Winton up up on his offer they had to, well, send their children away.

Could you do this?

Imagine putting your ten year old on a train alone, not knowing if you'd ever see him again. Imagine staring at your son through the train window. Your little boy sits down. You don't see him anymore. The train slowly moves away. It picks up speed. Soon, you don't see it anymore. You'll never see it again. You'll never see your son again. You don't know it. But, you've just saved his life. Jewish tradition teaches that if you save one life, you've saved a whole world.

A World of Goodness:

Nicholas (Niki) Winton was a twenty nine year old English stockbroker, in 1938. At a time when million of people across the globe didn't know where they were going to get their next meal from, Niki had a good job. He was single and could enjoy the good life. An avid sportsman, he was looking forward to going skiing.

But then something happened that would change the world. Niki's friend invited him to come and visit Prague. His friend, a British embassy employee said something like, "Don't go skiing. Come and visit me. I want you to see what's going on here.

In Prague, Winton visited a refugee camp. Imagine the scene. (To be continued.)

The President's Speech

According to the Washington Post, President Bush said that he was going to add another 150 personnel to the reconstruction effort in Iraq. These individuals will be responsible for helping to build schools and local government and political interest groups. I'm not an expert on reconstruction, but considering the President is sending another 20,000 soldiers overseas, I'm not sure if 150 reconstructers is enough? What do you think?

I think it's particularly interesting however that the government does recognize the importance of building schools in Iraq. What should be the purpose of these schools? What should be taught? Might right wing Islamists call the curriculum American propoganda?

So many questions can stem from the President's speech last night. The speech was only twenty minutes long. You might consider showing it to your students and allowing them to ask their own questions. Perhaps they could even address their questions to the White House?

Geneva Convention: A question to ponder

If the International Community could agree to the Geneva Conventions why couldn't they simply agree to eliminate war? (I guess it really doesn't matter since countries only follow the Geneva Conventions when it is in their interest to do so. But, it's still a question worth asking students.)

Why Does Hatred Exist?

When I was about fifteen years old, I was walking down the street wearing a kippah, a Jewish skull cap, with a couple of friends and a couple of older kids drove by and started throwing rocks out of the car yelling anti-semitic slurs. A year later I walked through the death camps and concentration camps used by the Nazi regime in Poland. Ten years later I walked through the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in L.A. When you enter the museum you immediately hear a great variety of racial slurs. The point is to teach that nearly everybody is prejudiced in one way or another. I'm writing this post immediately after watching the PBS broadcasting of "Anti-Semitism in the Twenty-First Century: A Resurgence." Here's the question, why does hatred exist? Why do people intentionally hurt one another?

As teachers, I don't think we have to have all the answers. However, it's important to ask the questions. These two questions can be addressed in nearly every subject area. Is there something biological about people that incites hate? How does literature address hatred and seek to advance/reduce it?

Is it possible that supporters of bloggers and Web 2.0 are simply encouraging a new medium through which people can harass one another and promote hatred? Before the Web 2.0 kids were typically only bullied in school, now they are bulled at home, virtually, as well. Why?

Anti Semitism

Pay it Forward

Consider the following paragraph from the Pay it Forward Foundation website:

Reuben St. Clair, the teacher and protagonist in the book “Pay It Forward,” starts a movement with this voluntary, extra-credit assignment: THINK OF AN IDEA FOR WORLD CHANGE, AND PUT IT INTO ACTION. Trevor, the 12-year-old hero of “Pay It Forward,” thinks of quite an idea. He describes it to his mother and teacher this way: "You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward. To three more people. Each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven." He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. "Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three. Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?"

As readers of this blog may recall, I am doing some consulting work for a foundation that is disseminating the film, Nicholas Winton: The Power of Good. Nicholas Winton, a twenty nine year old English stockbroker, saved 669 children, mostly Jewish, from Prague before the Nazis invaded in 1939. Many of the children who Winton saved made incredible contributions to the world in their own right, including Baron Alfred Dubs, British MP, famed film director Karl Reisz, and Joseph Schlesinger.

I'm thinking very seriously about writing a book about the "children" who Winton saved. The purpose of the book would be to demonstrate that "one" act of goodness truly can prompt many other acts.

Is there a Jamil Hussein? Who Cares?

On Friday November 24th the AP ran a story about six sunnis being covered with kerosene and burned alive by shiites as they were leaving a mosque in Baghdad. The AP cited Jamil Hussein as their source for the story. He's been cited on other stories as well. But then the Iraqis denied his existence. Bloggers, all over the blogosphere, have questioned his existence. Look at Townhall for starters but Technoratti says that Jamil Hussein is one of the most frequent searched terms and there are are plenty of blogs that pop up on their site. Who was the AP using as their sources? Yesterday, the Iraqi government confirmed his existence. This AP article will shed more light on Hussein.

So, what's the point of this story for education. Can we trust newspaper articles? Since Jamil Hussein appears to exist, the easy answer might be yes. But, wait a second. There were other articles that denied his existence. We should be teaching our students to remain skeptical and look for multiple sources of information. We can certainly teach them to do this on the Internet. We've got bloggers like Michelle Malkin who inundate the blogosphere with minute details so that people can stay up on the news. But don't trust everything she says, don't trust everything that anybody says. TRIANGULATE!!!

Jamil Hussein

"The Perfect Storm for Education"

Will Richardson has an interesting post this morning entitled, "The Perfect Storm for Education." The post questions why schools are so much slower to use technological advances than other institutions. I wrote a response to Will's entry that I wanted to post here.

So Will, How do we start? Here's one possible suggestion: Ask students to identify a current event from overseas that they would like to investigate. Once they identify the event they have to obtain three different perspectives of what happened. They then have to develop a single presentation of the different perspectives in which they incorporate sound, some of it being from a personal interview of somebody involved with the event. Students will then have to explain how this presentation fulfills one or more mandated objectives. As I write this response, Will, I realize taht many schools lack the necessary technology to have students do these assignments. So, what comes first, the acquisition of the technology so that teachers can learn to use it effectively or the teacher demand for the technology?

Cars that won't let drivers drive drunk

Forbes Magazine is reporting that Toyota is developing a new device that will be able to tell when drivers are drunk and prevent the car from driving. The same device will have the capability of slowing down and stopping when a driver falls asleep behind the wheel.

So, how could you use this news article in a classroom? For me the question is about responsibility and where responsibility lies. Can you imagine a driver suiing Toyota because he fell asleep behind the wheel, the car didn't stop and he got into an accident? Would such a suit have legitimacy? I'm going to teach religious school now, but I think I'm going to ask this question to my students. Perhaps, they'll blog about it afterwards.

A Change in Business Plan

Ewan McIntosh suggested that I write a post about the update in my business plan. Several weeks ago I wrote about the fact that I was no longer going to blog because instead I was going to sell subscriptions to a daily newsletter containing daily lesson plan ideas. After working under this business plan for a few weeks, I began to wonder if it was possible to sell information on the web anymore. There are so many free texts available. Shortly after Thanksgiving Weekend I decided to change my business plan for schools. I'm now distributing this newsletter free of charge and getting sponsors to support the newsletters. If you work at a school and are interested in receiving this newsletter please contact me. As part of my new business plan I'm also keeping my Living Textbook on this website, instead of a wiki, and using Google adsense with it. I'm looking for sponsors for each of the pages on the Living Textbook, as well. Obviously, anybody can access this Living Textbook free of charge since it is available on my open access website.

Criticism from Scotland

Ewan McIntosh has written a blog entry in which he criticizes the meme. He's accusing me of trying to make money off of somebody else. The only problem is that I'm not trying to make any direct money from the meme. I'm simply trying to add substantive conversation to the education blogsophere. After reading his entry, however, I suggest that we work together to find a way to make money from this meme and donate it to charity. Read what he wrote, read my response and then comment for yourself.

A January Lesson Meme

I've written a lot about the importance of using technology to develop high quality lessons. But, tonight, I want to start something new - a monthly meme designed to collaboratively develop high quality lessons. Each month I'll start a different lesson meme and we can see where it goes. After you are tagged, your responsibility is to tag another three individuals. Since, the best lesson plans are developed in different iterations, it doesn't matter if somebody is tagged on multiple occasions. So, here goes:

Objective: Students will recognize the importance of actively contributing to democatic communities, at local, regional, national, and international levels, within which they are members.

Process: ???

Tagged: Bud the Teacher, Vicki A. Davis, and Darren Kuropatwa