The Sonikcycle Syndicate

Edutopia, the “tangible embodiment” of The George Lucas Educational Foundation, has an interesting online community section called Sage Advice. Here, readers (typically teachers and administrators) respond in 25–100 words to hard questions on what works in public education. For example, this month’s question is, “What is the most critical skill students should master to succeed?” I submitted the following response:

Ultimately, the most critical skill set students should master is how to take responsibility for their own learning. This includes effective searching, critical thinking, and developing learning networks. Success in life is greater than academic achievement alone. Being responsible for one’s own learning is critical to that greater success in that it includes the development of constructive social skills.

What would YOU say?

HTFS: Week 3 — I suppose that some of the proclivity to boredom among teens is inherent to the age. After 14 or 15 years of life, the world is not quite the captivating spectacle of new and mysterious phenomena it once was, and for most the habit of being proactive in occupying the mind to avoid boredom has yet to form.

In the context of a so-called democratic free school one might expect boredom to be at a minimum. However, not infrequently do I hear, “I’m sooo bored!” In a public school where students have little choice in what and when they study I expect such sentiments since coercion breeds, among other things, boredom. But when one is free to pursue one’s passions at will there remains no excuse for scholastic boredom.

I wonder how much of this is just teen spirit, or a part of the “deschooling” process some of the students are still going through, or simple ignorance of the vast opportunity that comes from this enviable amount of freedom. I’m sure it’s all of these things and then some. In any event, it is my challenge to convert boredom into exciting curiosity… I think I can, I think I can )>>>

It’s been a while since I last ran the Gawker (click on the image)… Gracias por la sugerencia, Senor Esteban ;o)>>>

We’re just beginning to settle on a groove, which means there’s still a fair bit of discordance as newcomers get acquainted with oldcomers, students come and students go, classes start taking shape, and choices begin to take effect.

On Tuesday, Isaac, myself, and 7 students went to the Step Up for Kids rally at the NY State capitol building where, plied with the promise of pizza, some of our students “volunteered” to represent up on the steps in front of the crowd ;o)>>>

The highlight of the week came Wednesday when a troubled young lad got kicked out, never to return. His violent outbursts on the basketball court and in the subsequent all-school council meeting were the last straw. Then there was the fact that he kept saying he didn’t want to be at the Free School, which is the prime condition. The fact is, the whole scene just broke my heart. I won’t go into the details, so, suffice it to say that this kid has A LOT stacked up against him and at the same time he can intentionally be very provocative (especially for other teens with plenty of their own issues) which makes it really hard to figure out how best to help him. The Free School elders believe that had he come as a youngster under the “no medication” policy of the K–8 Free School and with all the time and room he might’ve needed to settle his issues, things might’ve worked out better. Alas, that didn’t happen and now the poor lad is quite damaged and I can hardly bear to imagine what’s in store for him in this life. I pray for the best.

On a more upbeat note, the week ended with a fun and interesting field trip with my ethnoexperimusicology class to a sound installation in the Nott Memorial, and to Jackson’s Garden, both of which are on the campus of Union College in Schenectady.

The ball is finally rolling in earnest! My 2 classes (World Music and Digital Storytelling & Web Publishing) got off the ground nicely and I’m still finding it hard to believe that I’m able to offer up such fun (for me) classes. This week I played more basketball than I have in the last 20 years, and I’m looking forward to at least a modicum of fitness as these kids will certainly keep me running ;o)>>>

The week was capped by a Friday night auction of the art from the BoardedUP project at the Grand street Community Arts center (right around the corner from here). On Saturday I joined the HTFS staff on a trip to see the Salvador Dali exhibit at MoMA in New York City. Wonderful time, wonderful week!

With a typically relaxed departure and a 2-hour delay at the Canada-USA border (a good chunk of which was due to having been pulled out of line as a possible terrorist), I arrived in Albany late Friday night. Saturday morning brought a warm welcome from Ms. Nancy, and various members of the Free School cult…AHEM…community ;o)>>> and temporary lodging in the Family Life Center.

Today was the first day of work. We spent the day cleaning, organizing, and discussing how best to utilize the building spaces. I worked mostly in the computer room clearing out junk, cleaning dust and grime,and reorganizing all of the machines and their respective cables. It felt good to be doing something, even if only in anticipation of the students to come.

This morning, I awoke thinking about how literal and highly interpretable my dreams were, last night. Over the past few months, I’ve awoken with this same thought — that my dreams of the night before had been directly related to what I had been feeling/thinking, or to what I had been watching on television. These types of dreams are in stark contrast to the dreams of my past. All of my life, my dreams have been kinda weird but pleasant and typically involved soaring leaps and bounds. My dreams have always been abstract and seldom had any people in them. It’s hard to describe how different I’ve been feeling lately when I wake up and realize that my dreams, like never before, were clearly about the very emotions and thoughts I had fallen asleep with, and included specific people who actually looked like their real world selves. Very strange, indeed.

I am logging this because the nature of my dreams of late are so unlike any dreams I have had before that I am convinced it is worth noting, at least for my posterity. I can hear them now, “Yessiree, ’twas back in aught eight that me Great-great-great Uncle Kelley had the classic DreamShift. As far as we know, nothing really came of it except in pictures it looks like he had more hair in his ears, after that.”

Biar jelas untuk log ini, tadi malam Michael bermimpi lagi tentang dia yang tersayang dalam hatiku…. aduh sakitnya…

On Sunday, May 18, 2008, I followed the time-honored UVa tradition of walking the Lawn. I thoroughly enjoyed the pomp and circumstance as I reveled in the ritual of UVa’s Final Exercises. Admittedly, I didn’t have high hopes for the commencement speech, but Hunter R. Rawlings III came through with a well-crafted bit of oration befitting the occasion.

I particularly enjoyed the conferment ritual whereby the dean of each school presents the candidates to the university president who then orally confers the degree and challenges the candidates to do good in the world (he actually makes remarks relevant to each field, e.g. to the MBAs and Commerce grads he said, in essence, “be ethical and don’t steal”). There was something powerful in all of that, I think it has to do with the power of words. It’s one thing to receive a piece of paper that says one is now this, that, or the other, but when combined with the power vested in a verbal proclamation by UVa’s President and Board of Visitors, there’s simply more meaning, at least to me ;o)>>>

Without a doubt, pursuing a doctoral degree was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m thankful to all who helped me achieve my goal, especially Dr. Who, a.k.a. Steve Whitaker who went well beyond the call of duty as co-chair of my committee!

I do not intend to pursue any more degrees, nor do I intend to blog about this subject ever again, cuz I’m DONE!!!

Alhamdulillah, by the Grace of God, it’s done-done. My dissertatin’ days are over! After a successful defense plus some substantial revisions, I have finished my dissertation. Earlier today, I tied up all of the loose ends and took it to UVa for publishing. Needless to say, I am elated ;o)>>>

For the interested, nay, foolhardy souls among you, feel free to download and peruse the manuscript…

The Impact of Weblogs on the Affective States and Academic Writing of L2 Undergraduates

In the thick of the final crunch and in a procrasti-distracti-nating frenzy, I created a mess o’ loops, here are three of my faves in commemoration of the whole scene…

Next

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Bassy

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Cengkok

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As it happened, I did have my pants on, and the dark clouds of dissertation crunch have passed. I successfully defended my paper, last Friday, March 28, 2008, and I say “YEAY!!!!” I, like all other doctoral candidates before me, feel as though a tremendous weight has been lifted off my entire being. It’s hard to believe…

I am eternally grateful for the loving support and guidance of my family, friends, and, of course, my committee. Alhamdulillah.