EduBlog Insights

Comparing viewpoints is so interesting, especially when you are trying to teach. Also humor in the classroom helps learning and I love when I get the opportunities to combine the two. This comment from Michael on one of his posts made me remember a previous post from Will. We have an interesting comparison here. Will is charged and excited about making Google Maps. He begins talking about google map directions and tells us to check out step 19. (which by the way appears to be step 15 now). Will says this is “too funny.”

Along comes Michael a bit later. Michael is a student in Blogical Minds. He’s creative, imaginative and like Will he loves Google Maps too. Now in his comment on his blog Michael listed all 38 steps of his Google directions. He wanted to make his point where someone would really understand his concern. Michael pointed with great alarm to step 22 on his list. He said, “Look at the swim across part. When people rush they make mistakes. If an ultra gullible person reads that he will do it.”

The comment Michael was making to a couple of his teachers about Google Maps is going to give me some wonderful teachable moments. Plus I can share Will’s post with them and they can compare perspectives. Anyway the aspect that Will loved about Google mapping was alarming to Michael. Different perspectives, hmmmmm. Let’s talk about that. What do we need to clarify? How should teachers approach this? Let’s talk about literal interpretations versus figurative. Let’s talk about humor and different understandings. If people interpret language literally and do not understand multiple meanings are they likely to miss the humor in some writing? Then we could toss this out for discussion. Do we really need all 38 steps to understand his concern? The teachable moments are right there and ripe for the taking. I love that about blogs. You get so many teachable moments and they are so much fun.

As a teacher I am going to get a lot of mileage out of these blog postings. What’s so neat about these moments is that through blogging we get to share. And humor is a great way to start off the day!

Liz Ditz recently left a comment on my post about testing. A little humor sometimes goes a long way to help me put frustrations at bay, at least momentarily. If you are not reading her blog, I Speak of Dreams, you’re missing out. Her comment needs to be enjoyed by others so in case you missed it:

Did you see NCLB–The Football Version?

Author Unknown

l. All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.

2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL

3. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in football, have limited athletic ability, or whose parents don’t like football.

4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th games.

5. This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal goals.

If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.

See Graham Wegner’s interpretaion of the Web 2.0 Tipping Point For Education which was adapted so well by John Connell on his post, What if…? Graham liked John’s improvement, I do too! This got me thinking about the obstackes we still face. At times they can really get you down. However, Graham’s comment pointed to Rachel’s take on both images. Rachel is tipping us in the right direction:

Very good John I saw this on Graham’s site but you add an interesting dimension to it that shows how we really have to put ourselves out their on the edge if we want to make a difference. It’s a little scary sometimes and requires determination & self belief but i wouldn’t be anywhere else!

So I’m staying up even though from time to time we can tip in “down” mode when thinking about the obstacels. I love fusing the humor in with the learning. Humor synthesizes learning. We need more of it. This puts me in the right frame of mind as I am thinking about the K12 Online2006 Conference coming up. Keep all this in mind as we head towards the last part, the obstacles!

I’ve been thinking of ways to take obstacles and turn them into opportunities. I encourage you to do the same. Got any ideas, pass them this way!

DOPA has had me down in the dumps! I needed some humor and found some today. Check out how David Lee King celebrates his second anniversary of blogging with “Are you blogging this?” He says: