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Weather Machines, Androids, And Changing Times

Now have web based weather installation. Plus a few bells and whistles. Yes–I can check on my ipod or my portable or….. Still nice to be able to go to a kitchen shelf and get the low down.

You might call me old fashioned because of above… for me seeing heroic, elegant, aging beautifully Sidney Poitier, and Others —-once young and idolize-able — had me realizing that an age is passing.

What will the new “paradigm” involve. An ipod now , a six foot android companion in 20 or less years.

Perhaps an addiction to science fiction (and fantasy, but less to the point in this note) has better prepared me to welcome drastic cultural/technological changes. And , perhaps, I’m kidding myself.
Obsolescence & Wisdom as natural -if not familiar–companions.

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Twitter Universe

Have added twitter, tweet deck and have just finished session with Erik Duval on twitter in his educational setting (higher ed, Europe).

Twitter is now a

    Presence

in the online culture … and he, Erik, has, attempted to move students to the point of fluid use of twitter in order to help them understand its reality from “within” the process. I have to agree that, if you’re going to judge a process its reality will be quite different as perceived from within (by the fluent practitioner) as opposed to from without– via, say, descriptions of the social or psychological impact by researchers or practitioners.

My sense is that our existential reality is changing; we have differently grounded senses of connectedness. As a result we are changing our gut senses of privacy, focus, sociality, civility — more, probably, to come.

Can’t easily turn the changes around. Don’t know that we should. But, culturally speaking we have stratifications…

    non web

,

    browser web

,

    browser plus weblog web

, and now, most extremely,

    browser+weblog+plus+twitter and oh yes .. cell phone web

.

How different are the consciousnesses of the participants in the various levels? How well will communication take place between levels. What advantages, disadvantages, exist between levels when cooperation, communication, competition are taking place?

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Rhizomatic Learning

Hello.

Listened to a recording of yesterday’s instructor discussion of Dave Cormier’s notion of rhizomatic learning. Have to say that all, Dave, Stephen and George … represented slightly different viewpoints that worked well together and which helped Dave to unpack the metaphor of rhizomaticity (??).

I also tried to twitter summary thoughts as I listened:

 

-Steve to Dave: Rhizome replications/modeling from one person(rhizome) to another (rhizome). George rhizomes aren’t separate (unlike trees).
-Dave:We are part of the same system, we are so intertwined in the same system that we can also meaningfully refer to one continuous entity.

-Steve to Dave: Rhizome replications/modeling from one person(rhizome) to another (rhizome). George rhizomes aren’t separate (unlike trees).

-George asked Dave about what’s next wi Rhizomatic learning/open learning: D will do a formal inquiry addressing questions re teaching openly

-Days 2 and 3 of Change Mooc see Dave’s blog summary: http://davecormier.com/edblog/2011/11/10/rhizomatic-learning-response-for-day-2-and-3/

-Dave:creating comfortable learning environments is a way of creating passive, disengaged learners(who therefore won’t learn independently).

-Presenters parcing the intended (metaphorical) impact rather than a literal interpretation of his rhizomatic[metaphorical] lens on teaching.

-Rhizomatic learning…NOMAD/soldier/worker kind of model (George)–a way of framing a discussion.Nomad genuinely from Deluz & Katar.- othr 2

-The rhizomatic mtphr applies to process of growth. Diff biol&philosoph versions-qualities.A thousand plateaus…framework-definition.

-Listening to Dave,Stephen,George debriefing rhizomatic learning metaphor.It isn’t an epistemology…its a lense to learning. Dont prescribe.

 

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PBIS Links (and brief comments.. except where indicated … PBIS.org prose)

State/Center Cites

Illinois: Illinois’ Site
Maryland: Maryland’s Site
MIssouri: Missouri’s Site
Florida: Florida’s Site
Connecticut: Publications at Center for Behavioral Education and Research
for overall model: A Schoolwide Model for Service Delivery: Redefining
Special Educators as Interventionists
Simonsen et al 2010 31:17  Remedial and Special Education (Oriiginally published 11/20.200

( click here for  Online   version)                       :

—————————————

School Examples Of PBIS implementation (from PBIS.org, 6/19/2011)

Elementary School Examples

Middle School Examples

High School PBIS (from pbis.org)

“Papers:

  1. Focus on High Schools I: Secondary Level Supports Within a School-Wide Framework (Chicago Forum-07)

    The presentation describes secondary level support in high school PBS system.

Links to other school examples

  • SWPBS Examples from Detroit Public Schools
  • SW-PBIS Video Site

  • SWPBS and Urban High Schools: Results and Issues Realized Across Implementation Years (APBS 08)

    The presentation provides research-based strategies on systems-change efforts utilized at the high school level from addressing administrator buy-in, overcoming faculty reluctance, motivating young adults, and increasing parent participation across these settings.

  • Positive Behavior Support in High Schools: Monograph from the 2004 Illinois High School Forum of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

    This monograph was prepared as a result of the Illinois High School Forum of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on May 18-19, 2004 in Naperville, Illinois. Preparation of this material was supported through several Federal Grants #H324D020031, and H326S030002; and the Loyola University of Chicago School of Education and Project Gear Up.

    School-wide application of positive behavior support in an urban high school: A case study

    The nuances of the application of schoolwide positive behavior supports (PBS) in an urban high school setting were investigated. Impact of implementation was measured using qualitative interviews and observations, including the School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET), Effective Behavior Support Survey, Student Climate Survey, and office disciplinary referrals. The results indicated that schoolwide PBS was implemented in an urban high school setting with some success. The overall level of implementation of PBS reached 80% as measured by the SET. Staff and teachers increased their level of perceived priority for implementing PBS in their school. A decrease in monthly discipline referrals to the office and the proportion of students who required secondary and tertiary supports was noted. These findings seem to indicate that PBS may be an important process for improving outcomes for teachers and students in urban high school settings.

    The High School Behavior Education Program (HS-BEP): A Secondary Level Intervention

    This handbook presents a secondary level intervention program for high school students. The high school behavior education program (HS-BEP) is designed to decrease the instructional “punishers” and increase positive adult interaction and specific behavioral prompts. The handbook provides: 1) a daily check in, class by class checks, and check out with teachers, 2) organizational, social and academic prompts, 3) establishment of regular communication with families of students, 4) organizational skills, and 5) assistance for homework completion.”

     

u

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What’s Right is not Might.

The goodness of a government is not to be found in its self-protecting pronouncements. Neither is that goodness found in the mouths and writings of those who show themselves to be currying direct favor or who assume, for whatever reason, that any actions of the government are intended by its members or representatives to be “good” . The measure of the good intentions [whether honest or cosmetic/feigned] and good works [those with a pronounced good intention] of a government are to be found in its effects upon its constituents as well as upon nonconstituents. The rest is wishes and lies.

It can be expected that the government will focus upon benefiting its constituents [as opposed to those who are clilents/constituents several levels away] first, somehow privileging membership by giving a greater share of the goods that are there (available within its legitimate bounds) and that are consequences of its actions to members.

[Work on this one more]It Is expected that these goods come NOT at the expense of the loss of these same goods to nonmembers. This caveat most certainly applies to goods that are, at least in theory, already the property or potenntial propertyof others or which are as yet unharvested yet equally accessible to all humans, all beings … air, water, beauty, oil in international waters, fish in international waters, generally mild weather (as opposed to tornadoes, floods, etc.)

And, because humanity, as individuals, families, nations etc, has inherent rights that preempt the “rights” of any power, large or small, transgressions against such rights within or outside of its boundaries can cancel or considerably diminish its claim to have done good within or outside its boundaries.

In order to weigh these things and best respect the difference between good and evil governmental behavior (willful harming, transgressions etc), each government, and all governments, must have an honest reporter — one which has the power to visit any situation and report its truths however and wherever they might be found. In addition an honest , neutral and powerful cop must be in place… with the power to trump all other powers and yet which must also scrupulously answer for the its actions and the anticipatable consequences all of its actions (before- the- fact–prevention of awful wrong is a greater good than punishment for awful wrong).

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Interviewer Keeps Me Straight

Interviewer(Int): What is it you think your approach to schooling should accomplish?
Spike (SPH): My approach should result in classrooms that work better with individuals because the classroom is designed for maximal useful impact for each individual.
Int: How’s that possible in a one subject class like history?
SPH: not quite as much unless the focus remains loose enough to accept a definition that is both substantively “respectable” and both interesting and learnable for the individual.
Int: So, given this latitude you think instruction [that which is organized by the teacher, possibly , but not necessarily , led by the teacher] you believe very diverse learners can acquire personally meaningful yet substantively creditable knowledge?
SPH: yes
Int: How would such a secondary education measure up against the present-day standard for appropriate content?
SPH: I’m not sure, frankly. What would be missing would be a direct, hammer and tongs, drilling on what textbook publishers claim to be the “corpus” of truth about, say, World History or American history? Not sure. (I’m leaving aside the issues of importance and legitimacy … very large issues … for the moment). But with such an approach, whatever the content, there will be greater likely mastery of content, in this case principles and concepts “history” .