Once again, I recently had the opportunity to speak to the students at Casady during a chapel talk. Below is the summary of my message:
When I was in middle school I read a lot. I played basketball and spent plenty of time hanging out with friends but one of my passions was reading. I read every Judy Bloom book. Some of my favorites; Freckle Juice, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret and Tiger Eyes. I also read the entire Hardy Boys series.
But perhaps my favorite series of books that I dove into were the Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) books!
The titles of these books were fascinating when I was 12 and 14 and admittedly may be a little hokey now: Monsters of the Deep, Your Grandparents are Zombies, Secret of the Ninja, and Return to the Haunted House.
Each CYOA story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions in response to the plot and its outcome. The books often contained nearly forty possible endings, while some contained as few as eight. It’s almost like being a puppeteer and controlling the characters. Or….more relevant for you - it was like playing a video game like Grand Theft Auto or Halo where each move you make will determine the next sequence of things to happen. During the 1980’s and 1990’s over 250 million copies of CYOA books were sold and translated into at least 38 languages. There is now an iPhone App, an interactive Wiki and several bizarre attempts to recreate the fantasy of CYOA books on YouTube.
After an introduction to the story, the reader is asked to determine the character’s next course of action. For instance, the first decision offered in Return to the Haunted House is:
If you decide to explore the large room beyond the wooden door, turn to page 11.
If you decide to walk up the spiral staircase, turn to page 7.
After the reader makes a choice, the plot branches out and unfolds, leading to more decisions and eventually multiple possible endings. At the end of the books readers find various types of conclusions – but there were always conclusions. This is good news for people like my wife who can’t stand it when a book or a movie ends in a cliff hanger. She needs closure….and these books provided it.
I have a confession to make. Mr. Pena spoke about cheating during his chapel talk last week. Well….I cheated while reading the CYOA books. I rarely cheated until I completed at least the first conclusion. But I did go back and re-read the book, making different choices along the way, until I came to the conclusion that suited me best. I did not want to get eaten by the giant sasquatch but I did want to rescue the pretty girl from the dungeon in the basement of the haunted house.
So why would I bother standing up here and telling you about one of my favorite childhood memories of reading these books? Our theme in chapel this year is STORY - so this topic qualifies on two fronts:
1. These are great stories themselves that were are talking about
2. And these books represent part of my story. I spent a great deal of time in my childhood immersed in a make believe world where I was in control of outcomes and every time I turned a page there would be a new adventure
I believe that having devoured every CYOA book known to man between 1985 and 1990 has helped shape the way I look at life in general. I don’t want to overstate the importance of the books and I think I can separate reality from fiction but nonetheless; I look at life as an adventure. The paths we take, the decisions we make and the consequences of those decisions are our own. You get to decide if you’re going to go see Mr. Calderon for extra help before the Algebra II test or if it more important that you spend a few extra minutes in the student center. You get to decide if getting into the car with someone who you know has been drinking is a good decision or if it’s worth calling your parents to come and get you from the party that you were forbidden from attending. These are tough decisions and each has consequences. You have plenty of people around you who will help define a good decision but ultimately, at your age, it’s up to you to do what is right for you.
One of the reasons the teachers and administrators that you are surrounded by do what they do for a living is to have the opportunity to help you with your adventures. If you need advice, seek it. If you want a different perspective on something that appears difficult or even scary, come see us and ask for some help.
Each of you has plenty of adventure in your lives. Choose wisely as you have a great deal to say about what awaits you around every corner.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Txt Reks R Speling?
We have entered the 21st Century. Technically we entered it almost a decade ago – but who’s counting? Therefore, should it surprise us that our students use a language born and bred in the 21st century to communicate with each other? Kristen Hawley Turner, a professor at Fordam University, recently wrote an article in Phi Delta Kappan magazine in which she coined the term “digitalk” to help define this new language that seems so far removed from our traditional English language – yet understood by every teen with a cell phone.
If we were to import a typical digital conversation between two 21st Century students into a word processor like Microsoft Word my guess is that we would see red…lots of red! The software would do all but reach out, grab our shoulders and shake us screaming, “This is wrong – all wrong!” Some educators lament the fact that proper grammar and digitalk may coexist in school writing samples. Foreigners in the digital world may struggle to understand the following question; “I 1-D-R wi rents tink im C-P all-t?” (“I wonder why my parents feel like I am sleepy all the time?”). But it is important that as 21st Century educators we appreciate digitalk for what it is: different and new…not necessarily wrong.
As technology spawns more social networking opportunities and digital communication becomes the norm we must anticipate and accept new forms of literacy. While digital literacy has a time and place, if educators communicate to students that their “language”, or form of literacy, is wrong the gap between student and teacher widens and the all-important relationship within that dynamic becomes difficult to create. Should we stop teaching grammar in schools? No. Should we appreciate and embrace the language that tomorrow’s leaders are using to communicate with each other? Absolutely!
One of the most important, and at times elusive, aspects of effective teaching in the 21st Century is relevance. What could be more relevant than employing adolescent’s mode of communication as a teaching tool? We could use instant messaging tools or Google Apps to have students work on a collaborative paper and encouraging them to communicate with each other about ideas and corrections – in their own language.
Before condemning digitalk we should consider the evolution of the English language. What we now call English is actually a blend of many languages. Old English was spoken in England until the 12th or 13th Century. The language was transformed due to influences by Scandinavians and later the Normans around the 11th Century. Then Middle English followed for approx. 300 years after the Norman Conquest. Early Modern English became popular in the 15th Century and Shakespeare modernized the language even further while the first known English dictionary was published in 1604. Latin and Greek influences became the norm and ushered in Modern English which was marked by an expanded vocabulary. Many new words were created to meet the needs of the technologically advanced Industrial Revolution and new words being adopted from other cultures due to the English Empire covering nearly 25% of the earth. Each phase of development for the English language marked a time of transition, new words and the birth of a new and expanded language.
Manipulating language to effectively and efficiently convey intended messages requires creativity and mastery of a new literacy for the digital generation. Digitalk is powerful within the communities of adolescents that we are in contact with each and every day. By giving value to the literacy that students bring to class teachers can more easily engage students in discussions about content and critical thinking. Teaching traditional academic English is most certainly an important component of a liberal arts education in the United States but the ability to speak and incorporate their language is a key to our ability to effectively teach 21st Century students.
TAFN (for a comprehensive review of digitalk acronyms - including TAFN - please see the following link)
If we were to import a typical digital conversation between two 21st Century students into a word processor like Microsoft Word my guess is that we would see red…lots of red! The software would do all but reach out, grab our shoulders and shake us screaming, “This is wrong – all wrong!” Some educators lament the fact that proper grammar and digitalk may coexist in school writing samples. Foreigners in the digital world may struggle to understand the following question; “I 1-D-R wi rents tink im C-P all-t?” (“I wonder why my parents feel like I am sleepy all the time?”). But it is important that as 21st Century educators we appreciate digitalk for what it is: different and new…not necessarily wrong.
As technology spawns more social networking opportunities and digital communication becomes the norm we must anticipate and accept new forms of literacy. While digital literacy has a time and place, if educators communicate to students that their “language”, or form of literacy, is wrong the gap between student and teacher widens and the all-important relationship within that dynamic becomes difficult to create. Should we stop teaching grammar in schools? No. Should we appreciate and embrace the language that tomorrow’s leaders are using to communicate with each other? Absolutely!
One of the most important, and at times elusive, aspects of effective teaching in the 21st Century is relevance. What could be more relevant than employing adolescent’s mode of communication as a teaching tool? We could use instant messaging tools or Google Apps to have students work on a collaborative paper and encouraging them to communicate with each other about ideas and corrections – in their own language.
Before condemning digitalk we should consider the evolution of the English language. What we now call English is actually a blend of many languages. Old English was spoken in England until the 12th or 13th Century. The language was transformed due to influences by Scandinavians and later the Normans around the 11th Century. Then Middle English followed for approx. 300 years after the Norman Conquest. Early Modern English became popular in the 15th Century and Shakespeare modernized the language even further while the first known English dictionary was published in 1604. Latin and Greek influences became the norm and ushered in Modern English which was marked by an expanded vocabulary. Many new words were created to meet the needs of the technologically advanced Industrial Revolution and new words being adopted from other cultures due to the English Empire covering nearly 25% of the earth. Each phase of development for the English language marked a time of transition, new words and the birth of a new and expanded language.
Manipulating language to effectively and efficiently convey intended messages requires creativity and mastery of a new literacy for the digital generation. Digitalk is powerful within the communities of adolescents that we are in contact with each and every day. By giving value to the literacy that students bring to class teachers can more easily engage students in discussions about content and critical thinking. Teaching traditional academic English is most certainly an important component of a liberal arts education in the United States but the ability to speak and incorporate their language is a key to our ability to effectively teach 21st Century students.
TAFN (for a comprehensive review of digitalk acronyms - including TAFN - please see the following link)
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Who Are the Digital Natives and Who Are the Immigrants?
Students have always been shaped by their environment. 21st century students are shaped and influenced by an environment that is media rich, immediate, fast, engaging, dynamic and instant. It's electronic and digital. It's a communication medium with instant gratification. Students today are digital natives. Most of us, on the other hand, are immigrants or foreigners in this fast paced electronic world in which the students we teach live. But immigrants can, and in the case of educators, should, become fully fledged citizens of the same world our students live in. Otherwise we will always lack full understanding of the power of the 21st Century tools and skills students so badly need to be successful both today and tomorrow. Additionally, without joining the digital natives in their world educators will struggle to communicate important ideas and comprehend newfound motivational techniques.
When Gutenberg invented the printing press the mass produced written word spawned from verbal communication and books became the offspring of the scroll. Can you imagine how intimidating and scary the first book was? See this link for a spoofed peek into that very world...
I have been witness to similar reactions of fear, frustration and disinterest when a computer, iPhone, website or Smartboard have been introduced as teaching tools. The reaction is understandable yet counter cultural. There are likely many more technology tools viable for the classroom that I don't know about than those that I do know about. But for me, that is exhilarating ...we have so much to discover! Which brings me to an important point: as educators we should learn as much as we teach. We don't know it all and if we need help applying digital literacy skills into lesson plans we should feel comfortable turning to a student and asking for some help. The days of the sage on the stage being an effective teaching technique are over which can be intimidating and worrisome...or liberating and exciting.
When Gutenberg invented the printing press the mass produced written word spawned from verbal communication and books became the offspring of the scroll. Can you imagine how intimidating and scary the first book was? See this link for a spoofed peek into that very world...
I have been witness to similar reactions of fear, frustration and disinterest when a computer, iPhone, website or Smartboard have been introduced as teaching tools. The reaction is understandable yet counter cultural. There are likely many more technology tools viable for the classroom that I don't know about than those that I do know about. But for me, that is exhilarating ...we have so much to discover! Which brings me to an important point: as educators we should learn as much as we teach. We don't know it all and if we need help applying digital literacy skills into lesson plans we should feel comfortable turning to a student and asking for some help. The days of the sage on the stage being an effective teaching technique are over which can be intimidating and worrisome...or liberating and exciting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)