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What I Learned Today (at #OTRK12): Not having the answers feels good!

(If you like, you can hear me read this post here.)

We concluded the excellent On The Rise K-12: Enhancing Digital Learning symposium today, and perhaps two dozen people came up to me with the same, interesting remark: the “feeling” of OTRK12 was really, really positive, especially compared with other gatherings of educators.

I discussed it a bit with a few people and came to a conclusion that might explain the difference.

When you go to a subject association conference you meet a lot of people who have “solved” teaching problems. They have instructional approaches that work (for them). They have (perhaps) a strong idea of what, precisely, they want students to learn. They have years, maybe decades, of experience with experimentation in their classroom which inform their practice now. And this is all good, to a large extent.

The problem is that each of those people has a different solution to the problems of teaching math or chemistry or geography or whatever. Unfortunately, sometimes this creates experts who are very certain of themselves, or who are held up as authorities in their subject area to the exclusion of innovative thinking.

Digital Learning is different. There are people who have decades of experience with digital learning, but there is no one who has even years of experience with today’s digital learning. It’s just not possible, because today’s digital learning doesn’t look like digital learning from 2012 or 1998. In digital learning, as a friend of mine is fond of saying, people aren’t experts; they just have expertise.

Brilliant people were here sharing what they have discovered. These are really, really skilled educators, and they are learners just the same as those who learn from them. There’s a tangible humility.

And so OTRK12 had nearly 600 happy participants who are well aware that we’re figuring stuff out as we go along, and that it will always be that way, from here on out, forever.

No one has answers, but everyone has possibilities. No one is very comfortable, but everyone is very hopeful. No one knows the destination, but we’re all moving in the same direction.

And it feels good.

3 Comments Posted on blogging

Unnecessary reply to Doug Peterson’s questions (@dougpete)

Doug responded to a couple of blogging challenges, including mine, and he wrote some great questions of his own for others to respond to. I was moved to answer them as well; the questions are in green since I now know it’s Doug’s favourite colour:

When was the last time you backed up your computer?

I backed up all of my documents about a month ago. All of my work files are mirrored continuously when I’m at work. I don’t back up the whole hard drive any more (haven’t in years, actually).

If you could speak any language other than English, what would it be?

Japanese, I think. Unfortunately, I don’t have nearly enough ambition or time to learn it.

Where would you go for your dream vacation?

At the moment, it’s California. That’ll probably change.

Have you ever received a parking ticket?

Yup, in Waterloo in 2000. I parked on the street overnight (well, until about 3 am) and got dinged for it.

You’re in control of the thermostat. What’s your ideal room temperature?

21 degrees.

Have you ever taken an online course?

Yes, two courses. Since this is kind of my area, I thought I’d share a little more about those.

I started my Primary ABQ from Western many years ago (2003?), but dropped it 4 days in because of the format. I had 150 pages of journal articles to read in the first week (you know, the very academic-sounding type). We also had to read all of the discussion posts for the course and reply to several in each topic. There were 28 people in the course, many of whom were apparently even more verbose than me, so there were about 100 posts in the first 24 hours. No thanks. That’s not good learning, that’s just busy.

A much better experience was my Math Honours Specialist from OISE in 2005. There were 5 people in the course, and we were often divided into two groups for meaningful discussions. The assessment practices were differentiated, and I learned a TON about good instruction in math. And I was able to fit it in even though our first child was a very young baby (that’s more related to my awesome wife than the format of the course).

What was the last educational conference that you attended?

I attended eSymposium 2013 in Sudbury on November 19th. I was part of the planning team, though, so maybe that doesn’t count.

Before that was ECOO 2013 in Niagara Falls. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.

When was the last time you were in a public library?

Maybe 6 weeks ago. I go with the kids from time to time, and the main branch of our public library has a little bookstore with very reasonably priced used books. Sometimes I find things for me, sometimes for the kids, and sometimes for my wife’s Grade 5 class. I love books.

Have you ever dabbled with Linux?

Yup, a fair bit. I played a lot with Red Hat about 10 years ago, and I fiddled with Ubuntu more recently. I like it, but it’s more fun than productive for me.

What would you consider to be the best photo you’ve ever taken?

This one is really hard. I have a few photos that I love, and a few that others seem to like to use. Check out a bunch at http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandongrasley/. Here are some of my favourites right now:

Honey bee at the lilac tree

American Tree Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Facepalm

Great Grey Owl (2013-02-24 10.22.33)

What, and where, is your favourite park?

Bellevue Park is our large municipal park in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and I love watching my kids play there. I don’t think I’ve been to enough parks to have any stand out in my mind, so I’ll choose that one.

4 Comments Posted on blogging

Joyful Blogging in Response to @fryed

A picture of a boy playing in water in an urban setting.

“Real Joy” by Todd Baker (technowannabe) via Flickr, CC-BY-2.0

Donna Fry challenged me and other Northern Ontario bloggers to be joyful in our blogging and share in Lee Kolbert’s challenge. Here’s my entry in the fun.

The Process

  1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
  2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
  3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
  4. List 11 bloggers.
  5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

Here we go:

Acknowledge the nominating blogger

Donna Fry – big thinker. Read her stuff (I know I didn’t need to say that, since you do already).

Share 11 random facts about yourself

  1. I like to read fiction, but I stress about what I should read.
  2. Math makes me happy.
  3. Coffee is a food group.
  4. I have read Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede about ten times, and I just read some of it to my daughter. I didn’t read the whole thing to her, though, because she couldn’t wait for me and she finished it on her own.
  5. I like cooked tomatoes, but not raw tomatoes. I don’t know why.
  6. My favourite part of winter is that there are no mosquitoes.
  7. If I had no need to work, I don’t know what I would want to do with my time.
  8. My favourite pie is blueberry, followed by raisin and pumpkin. In case you needed to know, like if you’re baking at Christmas time or something.
  9. I wear my watch on my right wrist.
  10. I know how to knit, but I’ve prioritized other things in my life, so I gave all my needles and yarn to my mom.
  11. I feel guilty when I don’t keep up with a podcast or a blog.

Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you

1. What was the first “subject area” you studied after leaving high school?
Pure Math and Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. I eventually settled on Combinatorics and Optimization with PM/CS as minors.

2. If you could cook anything, what would you cook for supper tonight?
Pizza, probably with barbecue sauce mixed with the pizza sauce, topped with mozza, asiago, chicken, and red onion.

3. What makes you stop and pause during your day?
Something reasonable but unexpected, whether it’s something I hadn’t thought of or something I disagreed with. Sometimes that changes my mind.

4. Cats or Dogs?
Dogs. Cats are a big, fluffy allergen.

5. If you could have only one Pinterest Board, what would the topic be?
Stuff To Make

6. What was the catalyst that got you blogging in the first place?
I was loving Twitter for connecting with people and having conversations, but sometimes I had more to say. Hence my tagline, “When Twitter isn’t long enough”.

7. What is one (funny) childhood misconception that you had, or that you have experienced with a young child?
I thought “delicatessen” was pronounced “dell-ih-CAT-iss-in” until I said it aloud as an adult. I was laughingly corrected.

8. What was your favourite summer job?
I worked at the UW Instructional Support Group helping students to learn computer science. That’s the job that showed me I wanted to be a teacher. It was a winter term job first, but I returned to it through various seasons.

9. Where do you find flow?
Writing is my flow generator. When I write, things become clearer. I don’t write enough, it seems.

10. What was one personal challenge you faced in 2013?
Finding a balance between work and family is an ongoing challenge, but I think I’m winning. Now I usually only work a lot at night if I want to.

11. What are YOU passionate about?
Mostly I’m passionate about learning stuff, as evidenced by my rather large number of interests.

List 11 bloggers

  1. Kerri Grasley (@KerriGrasley, http://kgrasley.wordpress.com)
  2. David Jaremy (@DavidJaremy, http://davidjaremy.wordpress.com) (see David’s response)
  3. Doug Peterson (@dougpete, http://dougpete.wordpress.com) (Doug was nominated more than once; here is his response)
  4. Peter Anello (@PJAnello, http://anello.ca)
  5. Steve Wilson (@GeraldtonSteve, http://wilsonteacher.ca)
  6. Lisa Donohue (@Lisa_Donohue, http://lisadonohue.wordpress.com)
  7. Brian Aspinall (@mraspinall, http://brianaspinall.com) (see Brian’s response)
  8. Danika Barker (@danikabarker, http://danikabarker.ca/barkerblog/)
  9. Eva Thompson (@leftyeva, http://evathompson.wordpress.com) (see Eva’s response)
  10. Colleen Rose (@ColleenKR, http://northernartteacher.wordpress.com)
  11. Mark Carbone (@markwcarbone, http://blog.markwcarbone.ca)

Post 11 questions

  1. Who is the “most famous” person you’ve ever spoken with?
  2. What’s one thing you’ve learned recently for pleasure but not for work?
  3. What’s your favourite type of exercise?
  4. What is something you love to do in each season of the year (name 4 things)?
  5. What’s something you have to do that you feel self-conscious about?
  6. Who helps you to “overcome”?
  7. If you could magically change one thing (and only one!) about the state of technology in education, what would it be?
  8. What do you appreciate?
  9. Who have you thanked today? For what?
  10. Is “unplugging” a good thing for you, or a bad thing, or …?
  11. How did you feel when you were nominated?

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone if you decide to participate, and thanks to Donna! That was fun!