february 1

For your MOM: Close your eyes. Watch the light show on the backs of your eyelids.

JOURNAL TOPIC:
[today's tunes: "Piano Quintet in E-Flat KV452" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]
Do you ever write something brilliant or perfectly on the first draft? How many times do you proofread and edit a piece before you're confident enough to share it with readers? Please describe an example of your working process. Did it go well? Did you learn something that can help you next time?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Our MOM
2. Journal
3. Discussion: our first draft road maps (you've received a mind map via email - please open and refer to it as we discuss)
4. Writing our first draft road map plans
5. Checking in: Time Investment Portfolios
6. TFS Chapter 7
7. Configuring your blog to support your Road Map

DELIVERABLES:
1. Create tabs on your blog to categorize your curation
2. Begin your draft paper (working title: WHERE I GO FROM HERE)

january 29

For your MOM: Find something to stare at. Focus. Now close your eyes, and keep staring at it.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes/ big finish to the week: "Time Is On My Side" by The Rolling Stones; "Times Like These" by The Foo Fighters; "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce; "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck] What have you learned about the ways in which you think about and use your time this week?

-OR-

Choose your own.

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Publish three journal entries to your blog
4. Co-create deliverables page
4. TFS finish Chapter 5 & Chapter 6
5. Introduction to mind maps

DELIVERABLES:
1. Update your Time Investment Portfolio and build it into your routine for next week
2. I owe you: First Roadmaps will be in your inbox by Sunday evening

ungrading webinar

I'm excited to present an opportunity to learn from three outstanding educators and contributing authors of the book UNGRADING.
 

Next Wednesday, February 3, at 10:30A, Laura Gibbs, Aaron Blackwelder, and Jesse Stommel will join for a webinar featuring a panel discussion and brief presentations of strategies we all can use. There is space for 100 attendees, and you can register by clicking HERE. You can also read more about the event and Laura, Aaron, and Jesse below.

UNGRADING
Companies would never consider hiring an executive based on a letter grade or a GPA. Professional sports teams would never give athletes millions of dollars based on a transcript. In today's world, social justice, pandemic-related school closures, and the needs of learners and their families demand that education adapt. Please join UNGRADING contributors Laura Gibbs, Jesse Stommel, and Aaron Blackwelder for a discussion about why and how educators can go gradeless to support effective, lasting learning. Together, we will learn why and how providing meaningful feedback can accelerate, amplify, and maybe even rescue learning in school.

Laura Gibbs has taught folklore and mythology courses online for the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences since 2003, and she is also the author of the "Tiny Tales" series of folklore and mythology books at 100Words.LauraGibbs.net. Laura is glad to share her experiences with asynchronous course structures, platforms, and tools; connect with her at Twitter: @OnlineCrsLady and also @OnlineMythIndia. Laura contributed the chapter entitled "Getting Rid of Grades" to Ungrading, edited by Susan D. Blum, West Virginia University Press (2020); you can read her chapter online at Grading.MythFolklore.net.

Aaron Blackwelder teaches high school English and coaches boys’ and girls’ golf in Southwest Washington. He is the co-founder of Teachers Going Gradeless, he is host of the podcast Beyond the Curriculum, and also serves as the educational contributor to Spectrum Life Magazine. Aaron is a Washington State English Teachers Fellow, was nominated for Washington State Teacher of the Year in 2019, and is a five-time golf coach of the year. Aaron is a husband and father of two boys on the autism spectrum, who inspire him to become a teacher who meets the needs of all students. Aaron contributed the chapter entitled "What Going Gradeless Taught Me about Doing the 'Actual Work'” to Ungrading: Rewarded by Learning. Ed. Susan D. Blum. West Virginia University Press (2020).

Jesse Stommel is an author, speaker, and teacher with a focus on education, critical digital pedagogy, and documentary film. In addition to his work as Digital Learning Fellow and Senior Lecturer at Mary Washington University, Jesse has written and edited several books on critical pedagogy and the humanities in the digital world. He is also the Executive Director of Hybrid Pedagogy, a nonprofit organization that  publishes an open access academic journal of learning, teaching, and technology, and supports faculty development through the Digital Pedagogy Lab. Jesse contributed the chapter “How to Ungrade” to Ungrading: Rewarded by Learning. Ed. Susan D. Blum. West Virginia University Press (2020).

january 28

For your MOM: Count to 60 - or backward from 60 - and see if you're anywhere close to the clock.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Time Has Come Today" by The Chambers Brothers; "Time" by Pink Floyd] How has using the internet influenced or changed the way/s in which we think about time?

-OR-

Choose your own.

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. TFS Chapter 5

DELIVERABLES:
1. Create your Time Investment Portfolio
2. Publish a post on your blog about what you anticipate learning this semester (title: ANTICIPATION)

january 27

For your MOM: Nothing. Just b(r)e(athe).

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Yesterday" by The Beatles; "Old Time Rock N' Roll" by Bob Seger] It has been said that, "Everything old is new again." Cultural trends such as fashion and music are often recycled; what are your new/old favorites? What styles do you wish stayed in the past?

-OR-

Choose your own.

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. TFS Chapter 3 & 4

DELIVERABLES:
1. New routines
2. Create your time journal

january 26

For our MOM: Think about the last time someone said to you, "Penny for your thoughts," or: "What the he** are you thinking?" Well? What WERE you thinking?

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Think" by Aretha Franklin; "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" by Bob Dylan]

What are you thinking right now? Take the next few minutes to record your thoughts as they occur to you and write them in your journal.

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Review Chapter 1 of Time for Success (Q & A/ post to your blog/ title: TIME FOR SUCCESS #1)
4. Chapter 2

DELIVERABLES:
1. Make sure you're caught up on your blog - let's devote some time to this today

what device/s do you use to learn?

What do you use to connect to the internet? Phone? Tablet? Laptop? Desktop?  What brand? How old?

Please comment to this post with your answer, and be as specific as you can (if you know the type and version of your operating system, please include that too).

january 25

For our MOM: Have you ever felt something with a different sense than the one for which the thing was intended? Tasted the sound of a doorbell? Listened to a shoe?

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Listen to Snow" by Zhang Bichen; "Snow" by Red Hot Chili Peppers]

People who experience synesthesia experience phenomena with multiple senses. Exploring this possibility as an idea can help us clarify our own thinking, and even become more creative. So: Describe your favorite music - to a deaf person.

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Review Week #1
4. Feedback on journals & posts
5. Readings for Week #2
6. Reminder: please schedule your 3 individual roadmap meetings for this week 

DELIVERABLES:
1. Have you published everything from last week on your blog?
2. Publish a post about today's reading/discussion (title: HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE)

acoustic awesomeness

Anyone who has ever studied literature with me knows that I am a huge fan of alliteration. Thank you to Zoe Ward for giving me a perfect opportunity with the title of this post! In response to my call for suggestions for tunes to accompany our writing time each weekday morning, Zoe has posted her first monthly playlist - check it out!

 

update: reflection post and roadmap rough draft

For all OSLA Learners who completed the Readiness Inventory, Onboarding Interview, and Roadmap meetings, I just shared files (videos of the meetings, along with transcripts and word clouds of the RI meeting) via Dropbox. If you didn't receive this, please email.

Being able to refer to these conversations should help you as you post your REFLECTION on the beginning of this process and the rough draft of your roadmap.

Each Learner has identified a field of interest. As we discussed in our meetings, the next step is to start brainstorming. Specifically: 

1. What elements of your current HS program would help you excel in this field? 
2. What other subjects/experiences would help you in this field? (this link will help) and 
3. Who are the people you admire for their expertise or experience in this field?

january 22

For our MOM: How do you feel when things are in order? Clean? Neat? Sensible? Are you calmer? Do you breathe easier? See if you can remember how to feel that way right now.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Epiphany" and "Just Us" by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross from the movie soundtrack of Soul]

Chaos and disorder come in many forms - a messy kitchen, a long to-do list, absence notices from classes you're not even taking anymore - and it often causes stress and makes us uncomfortable. We like our universe neat. That's why many people prefer reducing life to things we can observe or count. Recently I watched the movie "Soul" with my family, and my daughter and I discussed our favorite characters. Hers is Terry. 

 

I asked her why, and she replied: "The count is off." Terry's whole purpose is to get it right - the idea of error nags him and annoys him so much that he's driven to fix it. So, here is my question for you today: What in your life is messy? Is there value in maintaining its messiness, or would you benefit if the count weren't off?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Scanning your journals for the week
4. Reviewing & discussing road maps
5. Next steps/ reflection post

DELIVERABLES:
1. Three journal topics on your blog (today)
2. ROADMAP #1 on your blog (today)
3. Reflection post on your blog (title: REFLECTION #1) - by Monday morning 1/25

january 21

For our MOM: Today is a brand new day. Everything is possible. Only don't forget to breathe.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Just Breathe" by Pearl Jam; "Time to Pretend" by MGMT; "Today My Life Begins" by Bruno Mars]

Why do we have to re/learn as adults the things (like breathing and using our imagination) that come so naturally to us as children?  How can you start over today with an open "child's mind" and see things that you might otherwise have missed?

-OR-

Choose your own.

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Review: how to publish our journal entries online (3 for tomorrow)
4. Stuff we always seem to hear about and never seem to do very well: managing our time, managing our energy, and creating strategies and routines that help us reduce stress, get organized, become more creative, and help us achieve our goals
5. Timing is everything - redesigning your posts

the doctor is in

Hi there,
I am hosting OSLA office hours from noon to 1:00 pm, Monday through Friday. If you have a specific question, or just want to share ideas or chat, I'm here! I shared the meeting ID and passcode in this morning's Zoom - if you need the info please email. 

Have a great day,
Dr. Preston

january 20

In preparing for this morning, I realized a few things (this is learning!):

• Since we're meeting at 8:30 am each day, I will make sure the daily post is published by 8:00, not 10:00 as previously mentioned. If anyone feels strongly about the agenda being published the day before, so you can get a head start on the journal or just have a preview of coming attractions, please let me know and I'll consider putting it up farther in advance.
• Today, history is being made, and it's important enough that I think we should bear witness. So I'm going to stream the inauguration ceremony, and we'll see how the time goes.  This gives us what educators like to call a "teachable moment" - have a look at the journal topic and next steps below. The event will certainly give us ideas to discuss in our individual meetings over the next couple days!

For our MOM: The last few years, and especially the last few months, have been turbulent and troubling. As you take a moment to breathe, try to find any part of you that feels troubled - and then see how still, and calm, and untroubled you can become.

JOURNAL: (today's tune: "Hail to the Chief" by James Sanderson)

Today's tune was adapted in 1812 and has become the personal anthem of the President of the United States. Today, in Washington, D.C., the United States inaugurates its 46th President and Vice President. What does this symbolize to you? What is significant about this for you and for your family? What do you think it says about our nation, that we can endure difficult times together and then vote for change - and elect a woman of color to the second-highest position in the country?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. We will watch the inauguration and discuss as time allows.

PLEASE:

Take some notes in your journal about the inauguration. What did you observe? What did you think and feel as you watched and listened? Most importantly, what do you think is important to know in order to really understand this event? Politics? Psychology? What else?

goallll

"Why bother creating our own goals," a student asked me once, "when we're already told what it means to succeed in school?  Aren't we just supposed to get A's?"

Being able to set and achieve goals is important in every endeavor: sports, organizations, self-improvement, emptying the dishwasher before your mother gets home.  The most successful people at the highest levels of competition know this. For example, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski requires his players to set goals for themselves and the team each season. They already know their roles and share a desire to win, but this process adds another dimension.  In Coach K's words, “Mutual commitment helps overcome the fear of failure—especially when people are part of a team sharing and achieving goals. It also sets the stage for open dialogue and honest conversation.”

When you share your goals you're sharing ideas that inform and inspire your colleagues.  These goals will form the basis for your Learning Plan for the rest of the year, so please don't delay: get the job done. 

Keep something else in mind.  Unlike players on a basketball team, you are being allowed, encouraged, and required to change the game itself.  Why not analyze a political argument by comparing it with your favorite book or movie?  Even zoning out and watching somebody's cat on YouTube for a while can be a learning experience - can you demonstrate what you just saw in such a way that it will help us?  What's that? Your mind wandered, and you'd rather build a robotic cat that writes, reads, interprets, and explains political arguments to irritating teacher types?  Cool.  You can do that too.

If you are still thinking of this as a high school course to be gamed, please immediately find your closest friend and ask her to roll up a newspaper and smack you on the nose with it.*  (*If this doesn't work the first time, ask a friend who reads the newspaper on a computer.**) [**In this day and age, I should probably point out that this is not a literal instruction. We're in a pandemic and you shouldn't be anywhere near that person. Besides: Hands are not for hitting. Baseball bats are, but that isn't really relevant or appropriate here and now I find myself wondering how Montaigne ever righted the thinking ship once he got off on one of these tangents.] If you're one of those people who cut corners and thought we didn't notice, she will be doing you a favor.  It's better that you get your act together in private before we get started, before everyone sees what you do all the time, before 70% of your course grade is determined by your learning network.  Yep.  That's right.  You won't succeed without them.

The first month was rehearsal.  This is showtime.

More on how to achieve your goals and develop your community of support and critique tomorrow.

january 19

It's an inauspicious title: "January 19"...

Unless you know what you're looking for. From this point forward, this site will not only continue to serve as a repository for technology insights, professional development, and general "ahas" in today's wonderfully messy world of learning - it will also be the transparent fishbowl and online home (until we consider open source options) for the first cadre of learners/network members in the SMJUHSD Open-Source Learning Academy.

In the coming weeks, our members will set goals, develop Big Questions, and embark on interdisciplinary explorations that support their interests with traditional academic coursework and more. The Member Blogs page has links to... you guessed it.

Each day of the week, this space will feature:

• A nod to our MOM (Minute of Mindfulness) with a suggested idea or exercise that everyone is free to ignore as we spend at least 60 seconds - together online or on our own - centering ourselves and focusing on the here & now.
• A suggested journal topic to get your creative/expressive juices flowing. You may choose to use the prompt, or choose your own topic - if you choose to write about nothing, please write about that. Our journals are designed to be handwritten, because: 1) handwriting exercises a different part of our brain and assists in muscle memory; 2) handwriting is beautiful and also in danger of becoming a lost art; and 3) sometimes we all need to write things that should never be posted on the public internet. A private journal is the ultimate sanctuary for words that sob, rage, or slice like knives. Each Friday, members will pick their three favorite journal entries from the week (edited and/or sanitized as necessary) to post online, using this handy guide.
• Music to accompany your journal writing. I first picked this idea up from Bill Roy at UCLA, whose sociology lectures always began with music that got everyone thinking. Often, the tracks I choose relate to the journal topic. Sometimes not. Please feel free to contribute your own suggestions, and if you play something different while you write, put it in the comments for the day's post - we'd love to listen!
  
• An agenda of topics for us to cover together as we discuss ideas and make decisions about our learning.
• Things we need to accomplish in order to achieve our goals.

Please feel free to follow this blog (use the widget in the right column) or check back frequently - daily posts will be published M-F by 10:00 am Pacific Time. Additional posts may be published anytime. So, without further adieu: 

_________________________

January 19

For your MOM: There is no past, except in your memory. There is no future, except in your imagination. Give your memory and your imagination a break and focus on what's real. Right Now.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "One Day" by Matisyahu; "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins; "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra]

People talk a lot about "someday."  What if it's today?  What can you do right now-- in this very moment and for the rest of the hour-- to achieve your goals, realize your dreams, calm your mind, surpass expectations, and change the world?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Process decisions & schedule (including future group meeting schedule, which we'll discuss during Zoom meeting today at 1:00 pm Pacific)
4. Goals
5. Building your road map & planning next steps

PLEASE:
1. Start your Spring Semester Journal
2. On your blog, publish a post describing your Big Question / main interest and why you want to pursue it (title: MY BIG QUESTION)
3. Schedule your individual check-in HERE

welcome to the launch of the open-source learning academy

GAME ON!

It's time to launch the Open-Source Learning Academy for Spring Semester 2021. Today (Tuesday, January 19) on Zoom, we will talk about our options for scheduling, designing our Road Maps (and coming up with a better metaphor for our interdisciplinary explorations), curating our work, and benchmarking our learning. We will also talk about our daily/weekly routines and practices, so that everyone has a clear idea of what's expected and how we can learn best, both individually and together.

If you are a learner in our network, you've already received an invitation to our kickoff Zoom meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, January 19 at 1:00 P.M. Pacific Time. The meeting will last about an hour, and we'll have time for questions and discussion, so bring your ideas.

If you are seeing this for the first time, please email dpreston dot learning at gmail.

See you soon!