The Curmudgeon Speaks

Curmudgeon Jr. (grandson #2). Great thinkers start young.

I am taking a break from grading essay exams. I have this giant pile of material I must plow through. Give a couple of dozen graduate students a couple of hours and they can generate a lot of stuff. Some responses were generated using a word processor and printed. Some were hand written. I think I should be able to deduct points for poor penpersonship, but then I would not want to be evaluated on the penmanship employed in my evaluative comments so I resist. I have my scoring rubric (not to be confused with that weird multi-colored toy that was popular some years ago) generated and am doing my best.

I think it would be helpful if students would also provide some type of structure for me. It would be helpful if the content that actually reflects an attempt to answer the question would be differentiated from the content that was provided as a filler. I hate having to try to guess which is which. I have two interpretations of this student behavior and I am never certain which is fair.

The first interpretation I call the “I learned this stuff and I want to use it at least once” explanation. I have a more positive reaction when I use this interpretation. This interpretation implies that students know some of what they are writing is not relevant, but find some satisfaction in filling up pages with course related information. “Go ahead”, I think.”I don’t mind skimming this stuff if it makes you feel good.”

Then there is the “the answer must be here somewhere” interpretation. When I reach this conclusion, I admit to feeling annoyed. I would like to be able to subtract annoyance points. I often try to determine if students can apply some of the ideas we have covered. I have always understood that this was kind of the goal. So, I ask questions that offer scenarios and ask for a response that proposes a course of action with justification or an interpretation based on a perspective, model or theory. What I sometimes get is a memory dump of all information generated by the reference to the perspective, model or theory. As a psychologist, attempting to evaluate such responses reminds of the assumptions associated with the Rorchach test. I think it assumes the answer will emerge if I spend enough time staring at this ambiguous content. I must know the answer so I should be able to find it in there somewhere. Maybe if I stared longer something would emerge. However, I often reach my tolerance for ambiguity limit before I achieve the vision of an answer and I begin to decorate the page with large Xs. Sorry, but this is my way of avoiding subtracting annoyance points.

OK – I feel better now. Back to searching for meaning in essay responses.

There was a request that those of us who blog/tweet regarding educational topics should make a special effort to post something today in praise of teachers and tech. I understand that part of the focus was to bring attention to the political decision to cut targeted funds for tech in education, but there was this broader feeling that the work teachers do is under-appreciated.

My focus here will not be on politicians or parents. I complain enough about these groups. I would like to offer some observations directed at the ed tech pundits and keynoters. You know who you are. I will say upfront that I think you are part of the problem. You put down existing teaching practices and promote your own visions; “Engage me or enrage me” indeed. Mostly, you tour the country collecting speaker fees and promoting your books. You may have once been in the clasroom, but most of you have given this up for more lucrative opportunities in the public sphere. You read and quote from each others’ books and blogs, but seem unaware of the research journals that those of us who study learning in classrooms follow.

I do not like the message that learning from books and lectures is bad. I do not appreciate the implication that those who ask students to read carefully prepared materials or listen to explanations are uninformed, lazy, or uncaring. I understand the value of variety. I also understand that your anecdotes of this student or that student tend to be about individuals and not the groups that teachers must educate. Most of your examples fit the characteristics of what I call “hobby learning” – it is true that individuals can accomplish a great deal on their own or with peers when a topic strikes their fancy and resources to explore are easily accessible. Go down the list of what we ask schools to accomplish within a group context. Assume we only study those topics we can get a majority of the students to endorse. Very few topics are majority hobby choices.

Boredom is a funny thing. It is also an individual reaction that depends on many things. In some cases I find the practices you propose extremely boring. Wandering about in Second Life when I want to learn something is not only boring, but extremely frustrating and inefficient. If I can understand something in ten minutes when clearly presented, why would I want to waste an hour doing things that have little to do with the cognitive processes I use to understand and apply. When possible, I also prefer exploring the real world. When I know very little, I also find time discussing what I do not know with others who also are naive quite frustrating. A clear introduction or even a well written book would be quite helpful at this point.

The notion of when and to what extent students should be allowed to control their life experiences is also beginning to be very confusing. So, students find books and listening to an adult boring and hence games and exploration of YouTube are to be encouraged because such activities are suited to the preferences of adolescents. BUT, students prefer pizza, hamburgers and fries and in this case such choices are now on the outs and ignoring students preferences we force the consumption of salad and broccoli. Perhaps the book advocates need a spokesperson with the charisma of Jamie Oliver. Jamie claims that we can learn to like the things that are good for us. Perhaps this could be true of reading a book.

I think educators are capable of understanding nuance and balance. It makes far more sense to me to encourage educators to diversify their content and their techniques than to suggest that a whole sale shift is required. Implying that their practices are completely wrong and radical change is necessary without offering a more thoroughly evaluated alternative is inviting another wasteful pendulum swing toward categories of activities that did not work the last time they were tried.

BTW – I do support the allocation of tax money to EETT. Teachers and students need the opportunities tech already offers the wealthy.

I have the surreal feeling that I am a character in a television series. I have decided the frustrating thing about this feeling is that I cannot tell if the series is a drama or a comedy.

So last Friday was a strange day. The fire marshal visited our building. He condemned several offices (no surprise), said that there was far too much junk stored on our research floor, and noted that our largest classroom had more chairs than was allowed by the fire code. A full report was to be provided so we could take the necessary remedial steps.

That was Friday.

This morning, Monday, I am walking toward the building thinking about the mysteries of life (see my last post describing the door to no where) when I encounter the scene I decided to capture with my cell phone.

“This is probably not good”, I said to myself.

But look at the arrangement. Such a neat display. Everything in perfect rows and even color coded. Maybe someone decided to hold class outside. The odds were not great, but it was still a possibility. I think folks in the humanities and education are more likely to take their classes outside and sit in the grass. Look the chairs are arranged as if in an amphitheater – that is more like the Psychology I know and love.

Nope, my gut reaction was correct. It was trouble. Buildings and grounds had decided to act immediately on the fire marshal’s concern and bring the lecture hall up (or down in this case) to specs. If the sign on the back of the door said maximum occupancy was 75, then 75 chairs it would be.

Count the number of chairs removed. The custodian claimed it was 27. I am assuming the extra students in the moderate sized classes we convene in this room were supposed to sit on the floor or maybe Building and Grounds assumed class attendance would be down at this time of the semester and we could get by with fewer seats.

A few phone calls and we reached detente. They can take the chairs eventually, but we can provide places to sit for two more weeks. We will watch closely so that no one lights the carpet, the only item in the classroom that might burn, on fire.

See what I mean about strange events. How could anyone make something like this up?

I have been thinking about the mysteries of life. Why am I here? Where does the universe end? Then there is that strange question about trees falling in a vacant forest. I think this last one is a mystery only philosophers consider.

I can’t say I have been making any progress on these big questions. I have decided I should begin with a lesser challenge and work my way up. So, I have begun thinking about a question maybe only I have asked. I have worked in Corwin-Larimore hall for 30 years or so. For some of this time, I have even been kind of responsible for what happens in this building. Every morning when I walk into this building I look up and say to myself — What is that door doing up there? Was there a grand plan that was never realized? Should I be searching for money to finish this project? Am I liable if someone tries to use that door?

I was watching Good Morning America before coming to work. They offer many segments on healthy living. There was a short news item today about the military being concerned because a substantial proportion of potential recruits (20% if I remember correctly) were enough over weight that they could not be accepted for military training. Military officials were planning to present this problem to Congress and were recommending that school lunches be improved.

So, this is where my sensitivity kicks in. Why was the one suggestion, the one solution that could be imagined to improve adolescent health, focused on a “school problem”? So, the piece of pizza the teenager selected rather than go through the salad line is the source of the health crisis and the two cokes and cheese balls the same kid eats while sitting in front of the television after driving home at the end of the school day is not an issue? Was this the only suggestion the military officials could generate or the only solution the news folks decided to offer as an example?

Maybe educators should be pleased the public expects so much of them. Your kid have a drinking problem or making other poor life choices? Don’t worry, the school should be able to fix it. Is your kid fat? The schools should be able to come up with some magic, one meal a day, health plan. Is your kid harassing other kids from the computer in his bed room? No problem! Educators will create a program to address cyberbullying and counter your disinterest in supervision. It is great to be regarded as “the solution”. I think school boards should print tee shirts for teachers with this short motto – I am THE SOLUTION.

What about an extended school day so that this increasing list of challenges can be fit around the subject matter necessary to qualify the school as meeting standards? Only if teachers are willing to work more hours for the same pay? Really! But school boards and parents, did you like the tee shirt idea? Tee shirts would be cheap.

Just bought BarCode Scanner for my HTC Droid Eris. I can look up consumer opportunities and find the best deal. It turns out that the 9.5 oz. box of Hot Tamales price ranges from $3.00 at Amazon.com to $1.79 from Alwaysdirect.com. I already have two boxes so I should be able to survive until any order I place arrives.

What do you think of the title? My wife says I need a more positive attitude so I am trying. Actually, this is typically not the way things go.

For years, many, many years in fact, I have been plagued by the row of crab apple trees lining our street. These trees are planted on the berm. I never heard of this word before I came to North Dakota either – it is the area in your front yard between the sidewalk and the street. The city seems to own this land, but you have to take care of it. So, if they decide to plant some stupid tree such as the crab apple that has a pretty bloom for a couple of days in the spring and then is good for nothing the rest of the year except leaving this residue of rotting small apples that get smushed and caught in the cleats of your boots so you bring them into the house and then get yelled at, you can do nothing about it. (with apologies to any composition instructor or editor I have ever had)

I guess thinking about it these trees have had an occasional redeeming quality. They do play a prominent role in my recent and popular video short – “A North Dakota Blizzard”.

Actually these trees were not removed because the city realized that crab apples are a stupid and messy tree and an inconvenience to any home owner forced to deal with them. The city decided it had to dig up my front yard to replace some underground pipes and the trees happen to be in the way.

Hey – the stump of that tree seems to contain an image of someone or something. Now, I am going to have to spend the rest of the morning figuring out who or what that is. Maybe this is a sign of some kind. I have decided that it is a map of the Big Island. I am supposed to leave North Dakota and move to Hawaii!!

See, sometimes your problems simply disappear.