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April 2009 - Posts

the trouble with defining love

"I don't eat meat," a boys explains self-righteously. "Is it because of the cruel way they are treated?" I ask, waiting for a speech about crowded crates. "No, I just can't justify killing anything that is capable of love." "Why do you feel that way?" Read More...
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2009 04 30

John Spencer

3 Comments

hunger

Yesterday was the day to blog about hunger, so this is actually a day late. I posted this on my other blog, but then pressed SAVE NOW instead of PUBLISH POST So, I'm in the midst of filming a video with my summer school group. I'm not supposed to make Read More...
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2009 04 30

John Spencer

0 Comments

the value of humor

I just finished watching an episode of Daily Show and I'm continually shocked about how much better they do at telling the news than anything else on television. At first I used to say, "It's great they could be so profound despite being humorous." Now, Read More...
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2009 04 29

John Spencer

2 Comments

What-if Wednesday: What if t.v. is the best way to learn how to be a teacher?

I rarely watch television. I know it's super-trendy to say that, but for me it's our lack of cable and the virtual monopoly (if there are two of them does that make it an oligopoly?) that little children have on making entertainment decisions. Still, Read More...
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2009 04 29

John Spencer

1 Comments

Techno-Tuesday: Starting a Class Blog

I've had a few people ask me about creating a classroom blog / website. I'm no master at it. My class doesn't win any awards. I don't speak at conferences on blogging. Idon't get a million hits per day or anything like that. However, I'm going to toss Read More...
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2009 04 28

John Spencer

8 Comments

Monday Metaphor: The Acoustic Classroom

When all the kids in our neighborhood memorized the words to "Beat It" and "Thriller" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," I sat in front of the record player to hear "Sweet Baby James" (before James Taylor had become the staple music for grocery stores) Read More...
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2009 04 27

John Spencer

1 Comments

Survey Saturday: Teach for America

In reading a recent Time Magazine blurb, a woman wanted to nominate a former Teach for America alumni who has created highly successful charter schools (Idea Academy or something like that), where 100% of the students have gone to college. I believe that Read More...
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2009 04 26

John Spencer

3 Comments

a note to myself in the first year

I wrote the following letter today to the person I was five years ago. I know it's a little odd, but here it goes: Hey John, This is a note to you in your first year of teaching. On some level, you're counting down the days. You're second-guessing what Read More...
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2009 04 25

John Spencer

13 Comments

Philisophical Friday: Beyond Freedom and Dignity

in Skinner's mind we were all lab rats in need of boxes to tell us where to go Beyond Freedom and Dignity reads like a creepy dystopia; a satirical piece on the educational system of the Cold War era. Instead, it is B.F. Skinner's vision for humanity. Read More...
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2009 04 24

John Spencer

4 Comments

Thursday Thoughts: People and Projects

a girl in my first hour wrote the play and some students finger painted this poster It is a deeply human need to know and be known, to love and be loved, to speak and to listen. It's also a deeply human need to create and to plan and to design. What happens Read More...
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2009 04 23

John Spencer

8 Comments

What-if Wednesday: What if all kids got to go on field trips?

I glance back at the students who are "not supposed to go" to the field trip. Most of the sixteen boys are listening to music players. A few are engaged in calm conversation and two of them are playing "That's Not Right," a game where people look at signs Read More...
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2009 04 22

John Spencer

2 Comments

short conversation

I'm touring ASU with a group of fifteen students. They have me with three of the high-level honors students, four with "potential" and eight of the trouble-makers. Our group is all-boys. In theory, this should have meant they were wild, but without the Read More...
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2009 04 21

John Spencer

4 Comments

Techno-Tuesday: Setting up a Social Network

Most teachers I know have now set up either a class blog or a class website. Often, they complain that parents are less likely to comment or view the site than they had expected. Other times, they are dissapointed at the student apathy. While I understand Read More...
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2009 04 21

John Spencer

0 Comments

Monday Metaphor: Photo Radar

At first glance, the metal creature seems innocuous, even cutesy. He's a Wall-E character transplanted on the side of the highway, a boxy metallic head peering out at the traffic. Next he's shooting lightening or red lazers into the unsuspecting glances Read More...
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2009 04 20

John Spencer

5 Comments

hope for the next generation

In reading Fahrenheit 451, a student suggested that the robotic dog was a symbol of how machines are being humanized and humans are being mechanized. That's not the exact terminology he used, but it's the basic gist. So, I posed the question, "Is it true Read More...
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2009 04 18

John Spencer

2 Comments

Philosophical Friday: Rethinking Theory

Too much theory makes a mind constipated, filled with ideas but unable to think; intellectual, but not smart. It transforms a person into a Cliff Claven (on Cheers) prototype . On the other hand, all action and no theory turns a person into a shallow Read More...
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2009 04 17

John Spencer

5 Comments

a crazy idea

I'm co-writing an article about the culture of fear created by NCLB and what it does to collaboration in professional development. I've been surprised how much I like doing research and writing in the formal, academic tone. It forces me to use precision Read More...
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2009 04 16

John Spencer

5 Comments

Thursday Thoughts: What no one ever tells you about classroom management

Sometimes windpower is not such a great thing I'm posting this a day early. It began as a comment on another teacher's blog and now I'm expanding it. Today the kids were edgy. In my seventh hour, they were constantly engaged in side conversations. A few Read More...
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2009 04 15

John Spencer

8 Comments

What-if Wednesday:What if schools had music?

I'm convinced that the Ray LaMontagne's "Trouble" album is the most suitable soundtrack for gray skies and quasi-violent winds. By the time I reach "Jolene," I feel the crush of the world through a solitary man who sounds like he just gargled razor blades. Read More...
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2009 04 15

John Spencer

7 Comments

Techno-Tuesday: Recommended Sites for New Teachers

I want to mention ahead of time that this is not meant as a be-all, end-all list. I just recently started a Delicious account and I'm adding tons of links. I'd love to learn more about sites out there that have been helpful. So, the following list is Read More...
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2009 04 14

John Spencer

7 Comments

on reading Farenheit 451

Right now we're reading Farenheit 451 in my seventh hour. When I first read it, I thought it was about censorship. Then I thought it was about literacy and what happens when books are replaced by television (Marshall McLuhan's concept that the medium Read More...
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2009 04 13

John Spencer

10 Comments

Monday Metaphor: Time and Teaching and Traffic Jams

What if the best time to write lesson plans is actually during a staff in-service? What if the best time to hold a conference with a student is during bell work? What if a teacher's time is better spent doing a project with students after school than Read More...
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2009 04 13

John Spencer

5 Comments

Survey Saturday: Art or Science?

When I first began teaching, I viewed it entirely as an art. I railed against formal lesson plans, Blackboard Configurations and measurable goals. It jarred me to see mission statements or hear the word "data" or listen to a diatribe about shirts and Read More...
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2009 04 11

John Spencer

2 Comments

sopa

My friend Dierdre wrote a quote on her Twitter: Robert Stakes "When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative; when the guests taste the soup, that’s summative ." I'll add my twist: When the politician steals the soup and sells the restaurant to a multinational Read More...
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2009 04 11

John Spencer

4 Comments

my beloved, offensive heroes

I just recently read a blog post about someone whose eyes were opened after building homes in Mexico. I really appreciated the style and tone, because it wasn't all condemning or self-righteouss and it didn't reek of the "Those poor people are worse than Read More...
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2009 04 10

John Spencer

5 Comments

Philisophical Friday: Which approach is right?

My favorite history book of all time is Modris Eksteins' Walking Since Daybreak. It is sharp in its analysis, but creative in its style. Ekestins uses metaphor and poetic flair while analyzing statistics and deconstructing popular myths. It is a narrative Read More...
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2009 04 10

John Spencer

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Thursday Thoughts: My Blog Wordle

I did a Wordle combining my two blogs and this is what I found: I thought it was cool that "students" and "read" were top words. So was "best." Any time, I can have something in the superlative, I'm doing okay. Read More...
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2009 04 9

John Spencer

3 Comments

ten things I don't do

This began as a response on my friend Quinn's blog. Christy once told me the number of hours a person spends in a lifetime ironing, folding socks, folding sheets. She asked me, "When you are on your death bed, do you want to have those hours back? Do Read More...
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2009 04 8

John Spencer

1 Comments

What-If Wednesday: What if we misunderstand drop-outs?

Recently, I have talked to former students who have "dropped-out" of high school. The common assumptions from society are that these students are lazy, undetermined and at a low skill level. The reality is that two of the students I talked with were labeled Read More...
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2009 04 8

John Spencer

3 Comments

you might be interested

Hey, I have written a few blog posts on my other blog that might interest some of my non-teacher friends and some of the people who regularly read this one: The Island of Misfit Toys The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread Also, I got a real kick out of one Read More...

2009 04 7

John Spencer

0 Comments

Techno-Tuesday: The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

It's the best thing since sliced bread. A bit cliche, but true on the surface; that is, if "best" simply means more efficient, more convenient and more marketable. However, to anyone who actually kneads the dough, lets it rise, bakes it and then slices Read More...
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2009 04 7

John Spencer

2 Comments

Metaphor Monday: The Island of Misfit Toys

I assigned the students a project called, "United by Borders." Here, each child wrote about personal borders that they have attempted to cross. Some students described reading the eviction notices and going through the ritual of packing quickly as they Read More...
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2009 04 6

John Spencer

3 Comments

what I wish every teacher knew

One of the most liberating books for me was the Please Understand Me, about the Myers-Briggs temperament sorter. Although I am not a fan of "personality tests" (the type where I am a blue-green or a dancing dolphin or a wood gnome) the concept of the Read More...
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2009 04 5

John Spencer

1 Comments

Survey Saturday: What reform would you initiate?

It seems like the school system is often turning out new ideas that promise to dramatically improve student learning. When I was younger, it was journal writing and then block scheduling and then graphic organizers and then rubrics. These were trendy Read More...
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2009 04 4

John Spencer

3 Comments

Podcast: Social Studies 2.0

My good friend Javi and I recorded a podcast today. It's difficult for me to hear my own voice. It sounds squeky and tinny and I end up realizing the number of times I say, "ugh" and "umm" but it was a blast to record. The main them of this podcast (the Read More...
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2009 04 3

John Spencer

4 Comments

a random non-teacher thought

The Office is the only show I watch on television. So, last night, I flipped it on to find a three hour finale of ER . Yeah, I was a little pissed. ER not only jumped the shark, it landed on the pool deck, ended in a coma and has been kept on life support Read More...
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2009 04 3

John Spencer

4 Comments

Philisophical Friday: What is meaningful?

"I knew school was bogus when they introduced imaginary numbers. For my entire school career. I say it as if it were something I was paid for. For my entire school prison term they drilled into me the idea that negative numbers cannot have square roots. Read More...
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2009 04 3

John Spencer

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a political cartoon from a student

A kid wrote this idea out for me and asked me to draw the cartoon portion. Normally I have kids jumping to sketch political cartoons, but this year they've been a little shy. Anyway, I thought it was a cool concept: Read More...
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2009 04 2

John Spencer

10 Comments

the future of this blog

I've been looking at this blog for awhile and feel that there are a few things that seem a little off 1. I'm not crazy about the title. Learning with Impact seems a little "eduspeak" to me. It's white noise and it doesn't embody what I really believe Read More...

2009 04 2

John Spencer

7 Comments

Thursday Thoughts: Success

Our track team is small. It's made up of mostly sixth and seventh graders, so it is small in height as well. We're a tight community, but we're under no illusion that we'll win the championship. Usually, that doesn't bother me. Yesterday, however, a loud Read More...
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2009 04 2

John Spencer

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What-if Wednesday: Knowledge is Power

While sitting through a training on coercive control techniques, I catch a glimpse of a laminated pre-fabricated teacher poster. In bright, bubbly letters, it reads, "Knowledge is power." It might as well read, "Knowledge is a fluffy bunny" or "Knowledge Read More...
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2009 04 1

John Spencer

3 Comments