Day 145 (of 2023/24) a consideration of a four day week as shared by @newsweek … but definitely not the way most districts are doing it…

Day 145 (of 2023/24) a consideration of a four day week as shared by @newsweek … but definitely not the way most districts are doing it…

Every now and the, regions will explore 4 day school weeks. Currently Newsweek shared a story about a district in Indiana: https://www.newsweek.com/four-day-school-week-divides-parents-1893557#:~:text=An%20Indiana%20school%20district’s%20plans,the%202024%2D25%20academic%20year.

The usual reasons blend “meet student and family needs… cost savings for the district… ways to deal with some recruitment issues for teachers (and TTOCs)

And the usual counterargument… having to arrange additional child care.

In our province there has been addition to our Ministry of Education to include “and Child Care”. Now, my lens has shifted a bit to consider who are and who are we not currently able to support as a blended ‘education as child care’ model: those jobs and careers that tend to me Monday to Friday 9ish to 5ish… but what about the families that are still working to break into that ‘middle class model’ but have to focus on (and start with) usually weekend and evening work? This is what sometimes makes me ponder…

What if we did a 4 day school week… But Friday – Monday 9ish-4ish. Traditionally we haven’t worried about what those families who have work obligations on those ‘less desired days’ of work, and of course I am more than aware and mindful of the increased dissatisfaction that would be objected because ‘weekends are for families’… but that’s the point I want to raise… what about those voices who are not enabled. Can’t get to PAC meetings because they work nights. Can’t come into school during the day because of too many bad memories… or because they worked a night shift and have to sleep during the day…

Why change the hours of learning? Many good considerations. Schools systemically have been designed to reflect the factory work schedule for the working (and middle) class… but ought we give consideration to not doing what works for ‘most’ (who have regular 4/5 day a week careers) and consider the families that may actually be able to leverage some greater success if they don’t have to worry about their child care because it has traditionally been inconvenient for the system to respond to…

Is it worth doing a bit of a rethink about what the ‘school week’ can look like? How uncomfortable is it to reimagine dates and times of school…? Even if nothing changes, I hope thinking about school hours/days bring deep thoughts!

Day 144 (of 2023/24) the 1000 book library… online and always ready and current a #tEChursday thinkpiece

Day 144 (of 2023/24) the 1000 book library… online and always ready and current a #tEChursday thinkpiece

As a librarian I love books. I love the paper tablets that so many of us have used to distract ourselves from learning… sleeping… interacting with others… hmm similar to the digital tablets that are not as tolerated even though the reasons are the same…

Anyways, I’ve been doing some thinking around how to populate a library for a school that has two issues: a) it doesn’t currently have a library because b) so many of the students are remote and thus are never in one of our physical buildings. So it builds nicely on a thought I had awhile ago: the 1000 book library.

At first, a thousand seems like a lot… but most of the libraries I have been part of are well into and past the tens of thousands of books… because if you’re working on having books for a school that is K-7 or 8-12 or K-12 Its!) you need variety… and if you’re at a small school, a thousand books is only about 5 books for every student… considering how many books we tend to encourage readers explore… that’s only one book every two months. So, why am I thinking about 1000 books… and for this I blame my earlier time working at a bookstore. A nationwide chain while completing my education degree… to sell books, there are two types that are found in bookstores: new books and books that are still widely read. In many ways, much like a public library, though archives tend to carry many more books and they ebb and flow from collection to collection… but when books are not regularly being sought after.. they are weeded out. Something a bit harder to do for school libraries (because I still love the book Oranges and UFOs even though nobody has probably read that book besides me even when the pages were still white, not yellowed with age…)

And I am mindful that many of my population are not coming into our building to thumb their way through books nor necessarily want to interact with a librarian to guide them towards a particular book (or even better, a book series to invest time into!). Why not populate a library with “just” the current selection of books targeted for school age learners? And when a new book comes into he collection, one has to leave… ideally to a classroom library if a physical copy, but perhaps a legacy library section highlighting where families might buy/borrow the book that they read once and want to re-read it (as good readers to…. I keep emphasizing that while the original intent of ‘good readers re-read’ was targeted to re-reading unfamiliar words… my mis-interpretation of re-reading favourite books is just as valid!)

But as a librarian, I know that what I am thinking about is not easy. Books have a complicated history with copyright and ownership… books have long been able to be shared, traded and sold 2nd hand in physical forms, but the ‘lack of royalties’ that the music industry has emphasized is likewise highlighted in the publication world when dealing with ebooks. Movies and Music have navigated nicely into streaming services that make the old ‘limewire’ pirating not as attractive. But books… with the exception of Amazons Prime Reading and libraries trying to work with apps like Libby … have not found the same streaming popularity. With amazon, I have found its price per level of availability (much like how many bands fight/fought having their music available, some authors are also not wanting to change their service model) and with Libby, it’s the ‘one copy at a time’ that can be frustrating knowing that the wait time for physical books makes sense because the book is physically its another person… but a epub/pdf/kobi can be available to everyone at the same time <— but that’s not the current agreement with publishers and libraries…

So, I want to start with a small scale operation. Not even 1000 books. But I am connecting with some people I know in the ‘self/small publishing’ world with a proposal (because I still want the authors to get paid) to have books available to our students… online… on demand. With the starting offer of: paying for the price of one book… and then a % of the book for multiple streams of the copy. So if Mr Landy publishes a book “The ghost in the library” and the kids go crazy for it, the publisher would be paid for one copy and then (this is still in draft mode) 25 cents for every ‘multiple stream’ – so because everybody wants to read it right away, in one week – the book earns $10 for the ongoing copy on the virtual shelf… and because 200 people also read it at the same time, 200x.25 = $50 instead of buying 10 copies and having 189 people have to wait months to get their hands on the hot copy. I am also hyper aware (and nervous) that event his model might not be sustainable on most library budgets… so maybe the initial rollout is even more school friendly at 10 cents for multiple streams. But of course, we can also make it so that not only can the student/family read the book right away, but also have a link so that they can order a physical copy to add to their bookshelf at home (or bookshelves if you are so privileged!)

I know that one of the barriers I experienced in a physical school library was the dreaded “holds list” – where a copy of a book might circulate only in one classroom for months while others want to explore it and others are yearning for it. I would like to see what would happen if/when a popular author releases a new book and everyone in the live and online populations of our school can all be reading the same thing at once and talk about it. There are very few experiences that are able to be shared experiences… but they are happening and spur conversations around our school… The Tortured Poets Department shows that shared thoughts on music are important; and some YouTube content is popular to talk about (though not as global as viewing habits are very personalized) and you know what I don’t hear? Chatter about reading the newest books. The classics are good and important, but what if we started a culture where kids could all talk about reading the latest book from a specific author…? Not talking about waiting for it and then wondering why they had ‘that book’ on hold a few months later… I think this could be a good idea. So maybe a test run of a 50 book library…

I know copyright and digital hosting are issues to work on. What are other factors I may not have thought about”

Day 143 (of 2023/24) Session 3 – Relationships ! Fostering Resilient Learners by @KristinKSouers

Day 143 (of 2023/24) Session 3 – Relationships ! Fostering Resilient Learners by @KristinKSouers

Day 142 (of 2023/24) cursive and IQ fading? Thinking exercise via @mailonline

Day 142 (of 2023/24) cursive and IQ fading? Thinking exercise via @mailonline

…the added tech benefit: print on screen and then have the tool translate it into more easily editable text so you can get it into dyslexic friendly comic sans! (Spoiler: I am trying the looping technique I have enjoyed in youtube shorts where the ending synchs with the beginning…

Well… first, I’ve never been a big fan of cursive – as a student it was an impediment to my learning which our family’s Apple IIe cured. Secondly, IQ is too often used as a tool for which it was not designed and has enough racial, cultural, and social bias within it that maybe it’s not the tool we use to measure that thing called “intelligence”

But the Daily Mail brings up some fun food for thought in education: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13273363/handwriting-extinction-IQs-begin-fall.html

America’s fight to save handwriting from extinction as IQs begin to fall for first time ever and teachers warn some 20-year-olds can’t sign checks anymore | Daily Mail Online

And, an earlier article showing how an AI tool can mimic handwriting has me more confident that it is AI that will figure out how to break some longstanding written puzzles… from Linear A to Kryptos on the grounds of the CIA headquarters.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12973527/AI-copy-HANDWRITING-tell-written-robot.html

AI can now copy your HANDWRITING – so, can you tell which of these was written by a robot? | Daily Mail Online

Articles by Daily Mail that look at IQ tend to look at ‘how you compare’ using some different IQ tests.. which overall just measure how well you do on IQ tests… Mensa elitists only know that they are good at passing those set measurements: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11665875/Are-smarter-three-year-old-Mensa-quiz-IQ-measures-up.html

Are you smarter than a three-year-old? Take this Mensa quiz to see how your IQ measures up | Daily Mail Online

Heck: test your own “IQ” on a variety of online IQ tests… just expect to have to pay to get the results…

So… what’s going on with cursive and IQ.

Cursive tends to have a reputation of being faster because it flows… my experience is that is only helpful if you can decipher your own unique font later on (I sometimes struggled with my own writing). Some hate it when the letters blend together – preferring that the style and approach of block print and cursive stay separate, while admitting that ‘print is generally more legible and easier to read’. I agree – so when doing ones own writing, I don’t have a preference for what others do… print… scrawl… bit of both…

The usual argument for cursive is that the deliberate movement of fingers when forming letters enhances brain connectivity while hitting the keys on a keyboard is less stimulating to the brain… though I do wonder if ‘practice matters’… I used to type (finger movements only) what I was hearing going on around me in order to improve my speed and accuracy. I sometimes still revert to using my fingers to connect with how a word is correctly spelled. I believe in learners building rigor with the use of pens, pencils and sytlus’ – but my tendency is to support pencils and writing and typing overall… my (un?)conscious bias because those are the approaches that have worked best for me… Printing in pencil for quick edits; typing with longer prose that may need more revision.

My bias remains that I have regularly (when I have a classroom) taught how to read cursive; but made it optional for the students to explore it. But I also encourage ‘readers’ to take some time and look for cursive outside the school building.

IQ Tests have some flawed genetic research behind it. It is unable to measure non-cognitive abilities which are equally (or more so) essential for ‘success’ <— all depending on what the standard aligned definition of what ‘success’ means for learners…

The originators of the IQ test – Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon were not intending their test to be about intelligence, but rather to identify children who needed some academic assistance… and be mindful, in the early 1900s… neurology has come a long way, baby! The eugenics movement is how the IQ test shifted towards “age norms” and then used to identify some (but not ‘our kids’) as feeble minded. Binet believed his test had limitations… Stanford (the school, led by a psychologist named Terman) pushed onwards…

Gotta be mindful that “IQ tests often have problem with validity and reliability. Many tests also contain biases that have contributed to scientific racism and discrimination. Understanding how these tests were developed and what they purport to measure can help us to better appreciate their potential uses as well as their limitations”.

In other words… I’m not too worried about IQs falling… and would rather efforts be put towards handprinting rather than writing. And hypocritically:

A) I do have to sometimes ask about an IQ when we are discussing whether to modify or adapt a course for a student – but I mindfully bring out my own bias fairly regularly in these discussions…

B) I do have a preference for young learners to make good use of pencils and paper (though less so on some photocopied worksheets – but I’m good with ones with open ended use such as venn diagram templates) but printing for most… cursive for those for whom it works well… and of course the added tech benefit: print on screen and then have the tool translate it into more easily editable text so you can get it into dyslexic friendly comic sans!

Day 141 (of 2023/24) #earthday and the theme of ‘plastics vs planet’… educations dirty pro-plastic secret…

Day 141 (of 2023/24) #earthday and the theme of ‘plastics vs planet’… educations dirty pro-plastic secret…

Year one of my professional career had me take in an important lesson from the librarian I was replacing: never learn how to fix or refill laminators… they are the worst. A mantra I have maintained decades later. I help with photocopiers, computers and alarms… but I don’t help with laminators.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMMqY9sTd/

And they’ve always had a complicated place in education in my mind: so often we emphasize taking care of the environment and then do many laminate artifacts in plastic so they don’t break down over time…

And it seems to have been… school after school after school that I’ve been in, an ‘important tool’ by many who otherwise are very (much more than me) environmentally conscious… so, I can only assume that there is something I am missing by ‘big-laminate that is encouraging the continuation of plasticizing student assignments as a ‘keepsake’ so that the heart trumps the brain. Also why the shift away from plastic straws continues to be tricky… quick talking around convenience and effectiveness of the tools of plastic.

I notice that the theme of plastics has even gotten companies like Starbucks attention who are offering reward points for bringing in and using reusable drinks. Admittedly I prefer using the mobile app… but I’ll mindfully use my mugs (mostly highlighting they are made with recycled materials) when I swing by this week.

But can education move away from some small things to start on pathways to a better impact on our planet – as David Brower said: “we don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” and as useful as plastics have been… they have made things too easy and too cheap which has resulted in them so often being ‘discarded after single use’. But that’s not what plastics do. They don’t just disappear after single use… much like the mighty laminator, they become long time artifacts of our cultures and societies that does long term harm to our planet – the reference of turtles being impacted by straws… animals chocking when 6-pack rings wrap around their neck… the fact that we have all ingested plastic without knowing it… and the gathering of plastics at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Even scarier, the belief that this is only the tip of the metaphorical iceberg with the garbage at the surface representing 30% of what’s there – and 70% findable on the ocean floors… as plastics don’t decompose… they just become smaller bits.

So, while the plastic coating may help make teaching resources and student artifacts spill-resistant and long lasting… perhaps we ought to make a start and model that we can archive student learning differently (photos/videos) and model more environmentally friendly strategies… which will make some people upset ~ cuz I’ll advocate using phones more for completing simple tasks currently produced with photocopiers and archiving exemplars of what students do.

In the meantime, this earth day, take a scan around home and work and note how vital plastic has been in our lives (cars… chairs… cups… audio/video components…

Final reminder when we laminate: Because it’s a plastic, laminate film is not biodegradable, so it can take hundreds of years to break down in a landfill. This can contribute to the growing problem of plastic pollution in our oceans and other natural environments.

Day 140 (of 2023/24) 3 book club shares in the same week (and I’m reading other stuff too!) Wayi Wah! By @jochrona

Day 140 (of 2023/24) 3 book club shares in the same week (and I’m reading other stuff too!) Wayi Wah! By @jochrona

A staff member is doing a masters and guiding ‘us’ through a study of Wayi Wah! By Jo Chrona

Day 139Day 139 (of 2023/24) #tEChursday look at @microsoftedu Reading Progress – sigh, it’s a good tool…

Day 139 (of 2023/24) #tEChursday look at @microsoftedu Reading Progress – sigh, it’s a good tool…

Video based blog reflection today – on Microsoft’s Reading Progress –> now available through Teams (no sponsorship!) https://youtu.be/2XoxpYj4HiA?si=wtfVKNxEuE1hJ1ER

Day 138 (of 2023/24) Session 2 – Self Awareness! Fostering Resilient Learners by @KristinKSouers

Day 138 (of 2023/24) Session 2 – Self Awareness! Fostering Resilient Learners by @KristinKSouers

Day 137 (of 2023/24) metaphor share

Day 137 (of 2023/24) metaphor share

A classic Landyism has re-entered some popular usage this week:

Day 136 (of 2023/24) further thinking on if ‘the good olde days’ really were…

Day 136 (of 2023/24) further thinking on if ‘the good olde days’ really were…

It’s not the first time I’ve been reflecting on the ‘good old days’ that many on social media seem to be referring to and wondering if we are on the same page. There have been a number of times: in meetings; in pro-d learning events; at conferences where I’m hearing others worry about the youth and the pressures of today and how much easier “we” had it once upon a time ago…

And I will agree, there were some benefits when kids could be outside, unsupervised, and not worry about a community member reporting them to the rcmp or mcfd. When the afternoons were less scheduled (I have written before about how the rise of generalized anxiety seemed to have a tie in with… not screens, but with over-scheduled after school hours – especially when kids could do anything they wanted, as long as it was/is either karate or soccer.

But… the risk of self harm? Not new. Anxiety and Depression? Many from ‘those days’ have shared how they were ‘late in life diagnosed with….’ and/or self-medicated for a prolonged amount of time… and no, the prescription some suggest now of “just suck it up, we did’ did not work then, and is not working now as we now better understand trauma, anxiety, depression and neurological tendencies.

Yes, kids still need rigor and tension, but we better know it’s not ‘one size fits all’ (so hopefully we won’t lose 50%+ of a graduating class from grade 6-12 as my cohort did…).

I like that there is video/photographic proof of bad behaviours and actions. The notes we wrote and passed and were caught and read aloud (to great embarrassment of many – not always the perpetrator who originated it) did not lead (to the best of my remembrance) about regulating the amount of paper and pencils and pens – yet the creative arts and wordings were many and cruel.

Were utterances such as “go k yourself” happen? Yep. Not uncommon. So were slurs – both racial and gender and socioeconomic… not to mention how many people did not feel they could express who they feel they were until well beyond graduation… some may see this as too enabling… upon reflection, it’s a LOT better than the pressures ‘we’ put upon the members of the lgbtq2ia+ society were ridiculous in hindsight. A student I more recently worked with helped illustrate some of the confusion – he was mad at ‘all the Sogi students’ and when I asked about a specific class member he tried to clarify ‘well, not them… they’re like my sibling’ <— and found it hard to reconcile his frustration with his friendships.

There were more fights in my grade 2 classroom than I have ever had to deal with as a principal.

Self harm+ is not new.

Would’ve loved to have a video of more than a handful of fights I ‘saw’ that may have helped police and school admin. Much better than ‘eyewitnesses’ <— the least reliable of evidence providers.

But I know that many will agree with how Socrates views our youth: “…they love luxury; they have bad manners; they have contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders; love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

I know some yearn for the ‘old days’ – I just still believe that those ‘good old days’ weren’t so good for so so so many – and the kids today will likewise grieve how ‘bad’ the next generation is as well…