Too Much Text

Yesterday the New York Times released a piece titled, “Texting May Be Taking a Toll” written by Katie Hafner.

I pondered the title and noticed it was the New York Times’ most e-mailed story. Then I wondered, a toll on what? Is there some new texting tax?

Those were my initial questions. I read on and was blown away by some of the findings. In one case, a thirteen-year-old girl sent 14,528 text messages a month…A MONTH! Her story was featured in a California newspaper and her message frequency shot up to 24,000 due to her new fame. Ms. Hafner also covered issues with the toll texting can take on ones’ thumbs, anxiety and how it effects the classroom. Still in shock I read on and by the end of the article was troubled.

Is texting an addiction? Should the FDA get involved? What is the gateway drug for texting? Letter writing?

As someone who runs a blog designed to evoke collaboration and rapid communication, I find it troubling that there is text abuse happening. I try and promote the idea of good social networking and constant collaboration. In one of my more recent posts, I commented on how the founding theory behind facebook fell under the definition of a social network; the most recent incarnation, is not. Again, the ability to be in constant communication at any time anywhere is something very new to our culture. This craze only recently turned into a frenzy and has become commonplace in our daily lives.

It is hard not to find someone texting or on the phone. I think about this a lot when I am in an airport or a train station waiting by myself. When I look around I see phones aglow with tiny (sometimes large) thumbs pressing on a miniature keypad. What did we do before all of this? How did we ever survive? Well, we talked with strangers, we read a newspaper, and we daydreamed. The idea of wondering or pondering has gone away. Now we just know. We know what everyone is doing at all times of the day, whether it is through facebook, twitter or a simple text. But it is good to know. It is good to pop in on someone via a condensed message. It just needs parameters, especially with students.

So what do we do about this abuse of technology in our students’ lives and in our classrooms?

This is my plan of action if I ever catch a student texting in my classroom…

I notice a student texting

“What could you possibly be texting about in my class? I ask the other students to think quickly...What could “Student A” be texting about that is so important?

SILENCE

Students, who have the ability to send nearly 100 messages daily, fall silent when asked a simple question that evokes some minor creativity! (Confused? Watch Pink Floyd’s: Another Brick in the Wall)

I ramble off a quick-witted top five things “Student A” could be texting about…

1. Telling his agent he can’t do lunch in 13 minutes

2. Marcinek’s class is banal (teaching moment, define banal)

3. Wear R U? (see if they can understand grammatical flaw and explain)

4. U breathing?

5. LOL me LMNOP…Z

Students get a chuckle and the class continues. I make a brief request to silence all cell phones, pagers and typewriters. Again, a brief chuckle. Then I segue back to the lesson. We are discussing Lord of the Flies. What advice would you text to Piggy in Chapter 1? What would Piggy Text to his Auntie? What would Jack text to Ralph? Again, a teaching moment brought on by the abuse of technology. Taking the problem and converting it into a teaching moment works much better than wasting time trying to “catch” a student in the act, take their cell phone and then having to deal with over hyped mom or dad, who will most likely march into your room, pause to text something quick, and then ream you out for taking their son or daughters precious cell phone.

Texting is not going anywhere anytime soon. Schools can “crack down” and “police” it all they want, but it has become a fixture in our culture. It is excessive and being abused, however, it will fade eventually and there will be another form of technology to replace it one day. And most likely there will be studies conducted on it and we will all try and be better parents about it, but still use it ourselves. I can see it now…

New from Fruit Based Computer Company…

iThink (Only to be used with iFeeling and iCreate Applications)

iThink will think for you. It will read this writing for you. It will do your homework and get you an A+.

Features:

- Fits comfortably in your brain

- Can think better than you

- Can read 100 words a minute

- Will find you a job

- It will solve your arguments and help you add friends to your iFriend Network

If texting has become such a major problem in the lives of students then we need to intervene now, even if it involves being the un-cool parent or the un-cool teacher. Treat excessive texting like you would an addiction. Don’t get your kids the unlimited text option and don't abuse yourself. Remember those great PSAs where the kid learned how to smoke pot by watching his father? Yeah, if you are an excessive texting parent or an ETP, stop being a hypocrite and monitor your own texting before you crack down on the kids. Also, if you are a teacher, leave your phone hidden or out of view

from students. Don't ever let your kids catch you on it or texting. It just sets a bad example and gives you no leverage when confronting them. Finally, get your kids a text plan that has a cap, make them pay for it and don’t bail them out. I can guarantee you the phone companies are not reading this article with a troubled face.

Facebook for Literature and History

In a follow up to my post on “Why is Everyone So Afraid of Social Networking” I felt that it was necessary to portray some of the positive elements of social networking. One of the foundations of social networking can be derived from psychological principles and the enrichment of the Ego. However, this is simply one side of the social networking process. The core of social networking begins with a common interest and spreads out to satellite communities. However, I feel facebook and myspace are not really social networks. The core of facebook was to bring college students together and you could only join if you had a university address. This core idea has since faded and expanded into a community of people adding “friends” daily and not even really knowing their affiliation. Mind you, this is not a universal trait, but when I polled my students on how many “friends” they have on facebook, there was rarely a number below 500. FIVE HUNDRED! Really, who can keep up with that many birthdays?

The original concept behind facebook falls into the social network definition, but the recent versions are simply millions of people accepting or denying invitations based on, and let’s be honest, looks or profile information, not a common network interest. With that said, I wanted to take the concept of facebook and myspace and apply it to literature or history. This lesson worked nicely in my classroom and feel that it can work in any classroom, even those without any form of technology.

Here is an outline of how the lesson should flow.

Objective: Create a “profile page” for one of the characters in history or literature.

Process:

1. Define a social network

2. Define what “facebook” is and what it accomplishes

3. Ask students how they can apply the answers to #2 to the characters we are reading in the novel or history.

a. EXAMPLE: In Lord of the Flies, who would be in Piggy’s social network? What would be his interests? What links might he share? What might be written on his wall?

4. Ask students to create a profile page for one character in the story. They have to include all of the following items:

a. Picture – Let them draw the picture because it promotes creativity and saves paper and printer ink.

b. Basic Information

i. Age

ii. Location

iii. Birthday

iv. Sex

v. Occupation

vi. Religious views

vii. Political views

viii. Favorite Music

ix. Favorite Books

x. Favorite Movies/TV shows

xi. Favorite Quote – This is a good way to get students to elicit an important passage that defines that character.

The best way to display these pages is limit each student or group to one giant post it page. Allow them 30-40 minutes to accomplish this task and make sure they don’t over due it by trying to be overly artistic. While being artistic is wonderful, remind them that this activity is for understanding the literature.

When you are finished with this activity use the sticky portion of the giant post it pages and hang them around the room. Have students present their pages and explain why they chose to design it that way and their rationale for selecting information. Have them explain why Piggy (from Lord of the Flies) is reading Robinson Crusoe.

Remember, this activity should be half creative and half factual evidence from the text. Also, the creative material cannot just be there to gain a laugh from your classmates. EXAMPLE: Jack from Lord of the Flies likes to listen to T-Pain’s music (No offense to T-pain, but it doesn’t fit Jack’s personality).

This activity fosters reading for understanding, understanding characterization and allows students to think critical and creatively when combing through a story. I use this activity every semester and it really brings out a good dialogue about the story and the characters we read. It enhances our class discussions and gives students a familiar device to remember character traits.

The idea of a social network is to build a community from a common interest. In our literature and historical texts, this concept is evident throughout. I think it should be a part of our teaching and aid in building our students’ understanding of characters and historical figures. I hope you like this idea and look forward to hearing feedback from those who have tried it!

Happy Memorial Day to all out there and let us take a moment this weekend to reflect on those who have done so much for this country. Thank you!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

Today is my parents' Anniversary. They have given my brother and I so much support through out our lives and our academic careers. Every year I try and think of a gift I can give them that can sum it all up. Unfortunately Apple does not have an 'App' for that. So how do we repay the ones who have given us every piece of their lives, made endless sacrifices and have simply been there? How do we show them our gratitude? For me, it's simple. I always try and find something that will make my mom cry (in a good way!). With my mother that is never hard. And my Dad loves looking back at old photos, but hates posing for them. So this year I wanted to combine these ideas in a way that both visually and musically capture 32 years of marriage. George Lucas was busy, so I turned to my good friend Animoto!

Yes, I am making another plug for this grand application! I hope since reading my last post on Animoto you have tried it many times over and even come up with an assignment for your class. I cannot stress enough the brilliance of this application and hope that you give it a try. Even if you don't use it in your classroom, take a few moments to use it to say, "thank you" to those who have "been there" in so many ways.

Thank you Mom and Dad

Why Is Everyone Afraid of Social Networks?

A colleague of mine recently informed me of her troubles with incorporating the idea of a social network into her classroom. The primary concern is the safety and privacy of her students. This cause for concern is completely warranted and should be addressed anytime you allow students to engage in a web based social network forum. However, my concern with the social networking scare is that our children and students are privy to a social network everyday of their lives. It is called school.

The 21^st century student is connected in myriad of ways. Most have a cell phone, iPod and a digital camera. Some simply have an iPhone. These devices allow students to connect, share and collaborate with anyone. Furthermore, students have more accessibility to each other outside of their social networks. The social network, whether it is facebook or myspace is exactly what, those of us who grew up in a pre-online social network world, did everyday!

We took pictures of our friends. We hung them in our rooms or dorms. We relayed secretive notes to those who made our heart flutter through back channels. We snuck out late at night to visit our significant other while our parents were fast asleep, just to steal a kiss down at the end of the block. We sent letters to each other in college and would call from our telephone. Instead of texting in class, we would doodle or write notes about plans for the weekend. Instead of “sexting” we would just write dirty notes to our girlfriends or boyfriends. We had hundreds of friends at our disposal everyday at school and every Friday night at dances when the neighboring schools would join.

Facebook and myspace are not a new concept. I repeat, this is nothing new. I once had a corkboard in my bedroom as well. This is what was displayed on it along with the facebook equivalent:

Corkboard	Facebook
Pictures of friends posted with pushpins	Pictures of friends posted via digital Camera.
Clippings from the newspaper that were of interest to me or that featured my favorite team or friends.	Links to websites that feature our friends, interests or favorite teams.
Buttons from elections or causes	Digital clip art that represent our causes and political affiliations.
Notes from friends	The Wall
Birthday cards	300 birthday wishes from your network (two who actually say something more than just “happy birthday”

Again, social networks are nothing new and we should not be scared of them. Yes, there have been awful stories about the downfalls of all of these networks, but in the grand scheme the stories that get the headline news coverage are…

A. About as frequent as hearing about a plane crash.

B. Dramatized and sensationalized for ratings.

C. A Situation that is unmonitored and unstoppable in any social forum.

So what is the big scare with social networks? We are all a part of them everyday and have been without knowing for years. Today’s student simply has the abridged version of what we had all but 15 years ago. Let’s be honest, today’s student is lazier then we have ever been. Yes, they are precious and we are all, “so proud of them”, but lets face it, they have it pretty good (well that’s if you exclude graduating into the worst economy in history).

There are many great upsides to allowing students to be part of social networks. One of them is the website called Zinch. Zinch is a social networking site used by many major colleges and universities across the nation. Like facebook, Zinch allows pre-college students to set up a profile that lists all of their major academic achievements. Universities and colleges actually look at this information and in some cases, students can even apply for scholarships directly through this site. It is a great way for students to access heaps of information and showcase themselves in a positive manner.

The fine line between virtual networks and actual socializing is that you can veil certain elements of your life. They allow you to be someone else; someone you are not (although we are transplanting faces now). In any case, social networks belong in the classroom. There is no way of pushing back what is already a part of our students’ life. With anything, we as teachers and administrators, need to set parameters for the social networks we decide to use in our classrooms. There needs to be…

1. Open invitations to all – parents, administration, superintendent, school board, grandparents and cafeteria ladies (yes, they no more about our students than you would think!)

2. There needs to be complete transparency with any virtual social network. Like reality, all content should be on the surface for all to see.

3. The social network should focus on content only. It should be viewed as a social forum for academic dialogue, nothing else

4. There should be a district wide “Social Networking Constitution” that every parents, faculty member and student should have to sign. A team of all of the above including administration should create this document.

There, fairly simple. With great power comes great responsibility. Venturing off into a social network with your students should be taken very seriously, however, you should not be afraid. If you plan it out and cover your bases it should be a wonderful, collaborative environment.

I hope all who read this understand that social networks are nothing new. They have been part of our lives for years. The functionality is all the same, however, the medium* has changed greatly. Please leave me feedback on the parameters your school district has set for using social networks. And let’s collaborate on the best practices for implementing social forums into the classroom.

*This aforementioned medium will be outdated tomorrow

Bloggers Love Feedback! Thank You Threadless.com!

Sometimes being a blogger is a thankless job. One in which you create and distribute for free, simply because you love it. I love sharing information about my experiences with teaching and technology in the classroom. And I do this for other teachers to learn and experience new ideas for the classroom. Every now and then a small note really make you feel really great!

Two days ago, I featured threadless.com for use in the art classroom and sent an e-mail to the site letting them know about the post. I expected nothing in return, but instead received the kind e-mail below.

Hi Andrew,

Thank you so much for your kind email and for featuring Threadless on your blog! This is an awesome article! Since you talk about bringing Threadless into the classroom in your blog, I wanted to let you know that we have taken the idea to inspire students one step further and have launched a program called Threadless 101, where the regular Threadless design challenge is scaled down for teachers to use in the classroom! I think you'll enjoy reading about it and hopefully blogging about it even more. Please feel free to read up on it in the attached introductory letter and check it out here: http://www.threadless.com/artists. Please feel free to email me anytime with questions!

I hope to hear from you soon!

My best,

Mimi

I really encourage all art and design teachers to go to the link embedded in the e-mail and download the PDF. Threadless also has course materials that you can download in one folder. The course materials are well organized and will help implement threadless.com into your class. Threadless 101 is a great venture and really promotes the idea of creative design by students. I hope to hear from all of the art teachers out there who will be trying this out! Please send me your comments and feedback if you are trying this!

After you read this, find your nearest blogger and hug him or her and then proceed to leave them a little feedback on their page. It really goes a long way!

Go Threadless!

Threadless.com is a user generated t-shirt site that promotes user design and sale of a t-shirt. The basic concept can be seen here from an image from threadless.com…

Users log in, and submit an original design that they created. The design is then put into a forum for users to critique and praise the design. If the design receives enough recognition, threadless will put it on a t-shirt and feature it in their store for sale. I liken this site to a student-writing contest. The author submits an original idea and gets recognized for it and in some case, will receive a monetary gift. Plus, imagine applying to art school with a best selling t-shirt in your portfolio! That will surely get the attention of admissions officers!

I think every art classroom should make a strong push to have each student design a t-shirt for threadless. Even if the students’ design is not selected they are interacting with their peers and getting the opportunity to see and learn from other designs. Just by replying on a threadless forum, students are networking with other artists. This forum can create opportunities and lead to possible internships or job experiences.

I’ve never taught art, but if I were to incorporate threadless design into my art class, here is what I may cover.

1. Students create an original design that has to focus on
1. A specific style of art (cubism, impressionism, abstract, etc.)
2. An artists style (Warhol, Monet, Picasso, etc.)
3. Take an object and make it into a design
2. Students create their design and present it to the class. They have to address their process and inspirations for creating the design as well as field questions and criticisms from their peers.
3. Once they have been through the class presentation gauntlet they will submit their design to threadless.com and report back on the responses they receive.

This is a fun project any art classroom should welcome. It incorporates technology, creativity and social networking. Plus it gives the student portfolio a little extra flare!

I hope you give threadless.com a try and I look forward to hearing how you have used or plan on using this site in your classroom!

Lindenwold Middle School Features iTeach!

In their weekly news letter, the Language Arts Department at Lindenwold Middle School, in Lindenwold, NJ featured two blog posts from iTeach. The newsletter focuses on utilizing Shelfari and Goodreads for their summer reading program. The newsletter author asks teachers to check out these new learning tools and finds both sites to be a good way to keep students accountable over the summer.

The author also covers the Animoto post and encourages teachers who are hesitant about making videos in the classroom, to try this new tool and experience the ease of the application.

Please let me know if you are featuring iTeach in any of your school publications! It not only helps promote new teaching ideas throughout your school but increases my smile along with my ever expanding ego :)

Thanks to all who share and collaborate new teaching ideas!