1,000 Miles

Yesterday, I passed the 1,000 mile mark using my Nike Plus pedometer! Even though I had taken a few months off over the last year or so, for many months I was averaging about 80-100 miles per month. I bought a Lifestyle treadmill, new sneakers and began to really enjoy regular exercise. The euphoria felt after a hard run and a cold shower was something I really began to value. Things were changing for me. I even noticed that my thinking changed during runs. I became both reflective and imaginative with a clarity I didn't fully possess on an average day. It was awesome. Now, I am going for another 1,000 within 12 months. I hope my kness hold up.

Mr. Oliver

Yesterday, Joe Oliver passed away. He was 56 years old and had worked in my school system in different capacities for over 34 years. Mr. Oliver was the headmaster of New Bedford High School in 1996 when I applied for a job there. He told me on a couple of occasions later that although his decision to hire me came with some costs to him (as the other candidate for the position had 'political' connections to influencial people in the district), he always believed that he made the right choice. Mr. Oliver was the person who approached me after 10 years of teaching with an opportunity to enroll in an administrative training program (NISL). After trying to explain to him the reasons why I wouldn't be a good choice for the program (no interest in promotion, a 'question authority' personality, a student/classroom focus on education, etc.), he told me that he believed that I had leadership potential and that adding my perspective to the district, we would both improve. I did it. In those sessions and in committee meetings, he would challenge me to learn and do more. Mr. Oliver was an incredibly knowledgeable, deeply committeed, and a very focused educator. He will be sincerely missed.

Summer Posts

As you can probably tell, most of my summer posts are scattered in content. Some are about books I am reading. Others are reflections and thougths. Some of the posts are ideas for the next school year and others are political editorials. When the school year begins again, the blog should be a bit more 'collected' concerning content, but in the summer, I hope to have fun with my writing and blogging. In my teenage years, I wrote copiously but shared nothing. Today, I'm a different person and have a different purpose. Maybe it will work... I'll just have to see. :)

Comics and Metaphors

Comic books represent one of the greatest vehicles of imagination in the 20th century. I began reading comic books in the early 1980's and I still remember my first copy of the X-Men. The stories were dark. The characters couldn't always win. They struggled to know one another, and themselves. Not coincidentally, it seemed to have all of the right ingredients of teenage life. But comic books do more than that. When I was in my early 30's I began to appreciate a different dimension to writing and drawing graphic novels. One of my favorite complete stories was The Watchmen, by Alan Moore. Along with millions of fans, I read and re-read that story dozens of times, entralled with the narrative, the not so subtle cultural overtones, the hidden messages in panels and perspectives, and more. Then I was introduced to The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman and my whole world changed. Gaiman (and later Moore with his work on Promethea) began to clarify the purpose of comic storytelling. It wasn't juvenille. It was profoundly literary. I think I began to understand that a new mythology was being created in the modern world. I had read enough of Joseph Campbell to see some of the metaphors being lived through these stories, ones we desperately need in the 21st century. I am excited to see who follows in their footsteps.

On that note, this summer I'm reading an interesting book by David Hajdu called The Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America. It offers an account of the government's (and major media's) efforts to criminalize and censor comic books in the 1940's and 1950's. We see a cultural shift today through the integration of technology in all forms of media (Iphones, sidekicks, Blackberries, wii, etc.), but 70 years ago this cultural shift was represented with the introduction of comic books. Hadju cites that comics were selling between 80 to 100 million copies per week and reaching more people than movies, television, radio or magazines. Obviously the media has changed, but not its impact. Blogs, wikis, forums, MySpace, Facebook and other forms of collaborative communication are transforming not only how we access information, but how we value imagination. I'd like to think that the myths and metaphors of the 21st century will reflect these challenges. I'll read them.

Peace and War

I am finishing the book, War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoi, this week. It's my third time reading it, but the only time within the last decade and I've missed many of the characters (specifically Pierre). When I read it in my teens, I craved the knowledge that Pierre sought in the world around him. The mystery of existence and of human nature were the only things that mattered. When I read it in my 20's, the purity of love that Natasha represented became my current obsession. Now, I am reading an earlier draft of Tolstoi's work and I am not sure what I am seeking this time. I am married, secure in a career, have a family (of pets), and am very comfortable with my place in the world. I think this time, many of the mysteries have been experienced or explained in my life and I am looking at the narrative from the outside in.

I still appreciate the detail of Tolstoi's historical interpretation of Napoleon and his invasion of Russia in 1812. In college, one of my history professors (Professor Michichi) had us explore the brief, but powerful analysis of Tolstoi by the great philosopher Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and the Fox. Are we really prisoners of history, as Tolstoi describes? Is Bush as guiltless for the Iraq War as Napoleon was for invading Russia? I'm probably going to spend much of the summer thinking about these questions.

Blue Hills

Yesterday was the last day of the school year, and I decided to burn some energy hiking and running in the Blue Hills outside of Boston. The trails there have a good mix of flat biking roads and uneven hiking paths. Altogether, I ran about 7 miles and it felt really good. I am almost near my milestone of 1,000 miles run/walked on my Nike Plus pedometer over a period of a year or so. My goal is to try to get at least 100 miles recorded each month, but it ebbs and flows. Recently some friends and I have begun a challenge on the site to see who can run the most miles in 60 days. The competition is exactly what I need to get myself into a more active mode, but with the summer now here, that shouldn't be a problem. I am really looking forward to the time to plan, exercise, read and spend more time with my wife and family.

Podcasts

Podcasts are one of the latest hot topics on the internet, but now they have become more and more of a standard in technologically progressive classrooms. Some teachers have become internationally famous for their podcasts, which are audio or video files that can be downloaded onto mp3 players or subscribed to through rss feeds. Many teachers have been using podcasts for years, as you can see from Eric Langhorst's amazing page. I am still in the shadow of some great people here, but I would like to begin making some podcasts on my own for the next school year. It seems that they can be used as a study tool by having the teacher record their classroom lectures or go over the notes before a big exam, or they can be used to record projects by students. I am really looking forward to getting started on this project this summer. If any of my students are reading this blog in the summer, let me know if you have any ideas for classroom or student podcasts!

Content/Context

At the end of the semester (and a couple of times in the middle), I ask my students to give me feedback on the way the course is designed, as well as other things. One of the most common comments in my Multicultural Studies course this year was that there was too much content - and that it moved far too quickly. Students recommended covering fewer topics and in greater depth. It's a good point, but one that I am struggling with. Do I abreviate exposure to cultural groups, multicultural themes and recent connections in world events to select fewer but deeper issues? What's really my intent in the course? Do I want to provide students with as much cultural content as possible to give them a chance to explore topics and issues not covered before in the high school curriculum or do I want to build a more significant understanding of a few special themes? An inch wide or a mile deep? My perspective is clouded, obviously, by my own personal bias concerning pedagogy. Ultimately I would expect that students filter the content they learn with other distractions in life, leaving high school topics learned sometimes near the bottom of the barrel, but maybe not. Does covering fewer topics mean that students are doing less work? I don't think so, even though, its hard to think that with some students at least, that it is not the desired goal. Students want to know more about their world and about themselves. They want to be able to form a personal relationship with the content learned: to make it memorable and something that they can use. That, I think, is the direction of my intent.

RAFTS

One of the strategies that might be useful for other history teachers are RAFTs. The acronym stands for Role, Audience, Format and Topic. Basically, the teacher chooses each for a paticular context in history and asks the students to do an assignment imagining that they are that person in history. They are scaffolding assignments. I've used them for a couple of years with positive results. Since my school may be moving to a 180 day cycle instead of a 90 day semester plan, my plan is to use them one a day as homework assignments. So far, I have been writing ten for each weekly unit in a semester (18 week, roughly). I am almost done with the list, but I thougth I could give a few examples for other teachers. Here are a couple from the first week:

1. You are an Aztec warrior. Write a prayer song to your gods concerning the Spanish invasion.

2. You are a Spanish Conquistador. Confess your role in an Incan slaughter to a Spanish priest.

3. You are English newspaper editor. Write an obituary for your readers about Pocahontas after her death in England.

4. You are a Puritan Separatist. Create a pamphlet for new converts attacking the Church of England.

5. You are guilty of witchcraft in Salem. Compose your last will and testament to your family concerning your verdict.

6. You are Nathaniel Bacon. Deliver a speech to your followers on the injustices suffered before burning Jamestown.

7. You are Pope, leading the Pueblo Revolt. Explain, in a secret message, your plan and reasons for attacking the Spanish.

8. You are an English Anglican minister. Write a sermon explaining your reasons for condemning Puritan Separatists.

9. You are Squanto, a Native American. As an old man, recount your adventures to your children before meeting Pilgrims.

10. You are you, a high school student learning American history. Write a note to a friend concerning what you’ve learned.

When I am done, I will publish the whole list on my website: http://www.engineofsouls.com/.

Value

Yesterday, I had a chance to meet with a friend of a friend and talk about their ideas in beginning a new web site. My role was to help provide some sort of context by relating important events and issues in history to the content of the new site. It was something that I had not done for a long, long time - and something that reminded me about the value of the work that I do. I had the chance to share stories from the past with adults - and not only were they curious, but they also were grateful. For over a decade, I have tried to do my best to entertain teens with fantastic plots, ethical challenges and the great human drama of history - in an uphill struggle to create in many the value of learning about our collective past. Here, it was easy, and I almost forgot how easy it was. Many of my friends do not share the same love of study - the same fascination with the human experience - that I have. It is rare that I get to use my knowledge of experience and experience of knowledge for an audience - but I loved it and am very grateful myself for the oppoortunity.

Be the Change

Today was a typical day at New Bedford High School. Most of the students trudged through the heat and humidity of the school to see how their school year would end. I have a lot of students absent, which is not surprising considering the heat, but many students who were happy to be in school as well, although they probably wouldn't admit it. At this time of the year, I often reflect on whether I made a difference or not. It's a good time to share stories with colleagues and sit back and create quality time with students. I experienced both today. In two different conversations, I talked with colleagues about the necessity and the strength of building solid relationships with students. Engaging them in the classroom as individuals is the cornerstone to quality learning, no matter what the research says about the latest pedagogy. We recognize, and students know, that the respect a teacher earns is often measured by how consistently they care about students. Over and over again, though, I hear from students, teachers, parents and administrators about the horror stories of bad teaching. Control and fear destroy great classrooms. As a school, ideally, we should create an atmosphere of leadership and inspiration that demonstrates to all parties that other solutions exist. It is possible to demonstrate tolerance, patience, forgiveness, understanding, acceptance and respect in the classroom as a teacher while also maintaining clear, fair and consistent rules. I have to admit that I am not the best at doing this, but I try hard. This is the kind of school in which I would like to teach. But I can't just write about it. With a new superintendent coming into the school system, I have the chance to voice my ideas through different committees and different community groups. I have to speak out. Of course, at this time of the year, the best ideas flow... Let's see if it happens.