edu180atl: laura deisley 5.24.12

 When a teacher can’t see why a student is stuck, or when an interface designer dismisses the 12% of the users who can’t find the ‘off’ switch… we’re seeing a failure of empathy, not a flaw in the user base. -Seth Godin

I struggled to fight back tears this morning. Our Global Studies team challenged 170 seventh grade students to design a low-cost, innovative solution to a global problem. Today, Torrey and 10 classmates were selected to pitch their ideas to an audience of parents, administrators, faculty, students and community members.  Although their 8-minute presentations were exemplary, their research and analysis thoughtfully executed, and their prototypes impressive, I was overwhelmed by their empathy. Each student designed a solution with a specific user in mind, someone whose circumstances are very different than hers and who has a fundamental human need that the students showed they understood, could feel… and wanted to solve. One young man shared with us his water filtration system, SPLASH, believing that little ideas can grow into big ones that solve problems “because everyone counts.” His tagline: One person can make a splash, but the world can make a wave. Read more

edu180atl: ted sadtler 5.23.12

I had to drive home to take Fred the Jack Russell terrier for a walk, before returning to school for a 5:00pm meeting. The drive home was my first quiet moment to think about what I would write this evening. As I pulled into my driveway, I noticed the Lily of the Nile had begun to bloom. Read more

edu180atl: john burk 5.22.12

When I first started teaching, my world stopped at my classroom door. Venturing out beyond that door meant interacting with the uber-teachers around me who seemed so confident of what they were doing. Teachers who never found themselves with 20 minutes of dead time at the end of a lesson. I imagined these teachers in their mythic classrooms inspiring students to heroic feats of academic excellence with captivating lectures. I imagined students who were always focused on learning, never distracted by grades, gossip or other trivia. Of course, all of this was the exact opposite of my classroom, a swirling vortex of confusion, where my indecipherable directions could cause even the most capable student to lose confidence and be overtaken by uncertainty and grade anxiety.
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edu180atl: megan howard 5.21.12

Without the ability to think about yourself, to reflect on your life, there’s really no awareness, no consciousness. Consciousness doesn’t come automatically; it comes through being alive, awake, curious, and often furious. ~Maxine Greene 

I have felt alive, awake, curious, and furious this 2011-12 school year. Consuming the wisdom generated from 175 posts, and now creating this 176^th post, I have gained greater consciousness about learning and schooling and being in this world.

And I feel wide-awake to possibility. Read more

edu180atl: jay watts 5.18.12

Today was the last day of class for my Economics students, and because my course is a non-exam course, we had few preparations to make for “Exam Week” that is just around the corner.  Class started at 10:55 AM, and I knew that Facebook’s initial offering was scheduled to go public around 11:00 AM.  I put up a live feed from the NASDAQ on the SMART Board to allow the students to witness the first trade of what some are calling the stock of the future.  While we waited for trading to begin, I spoke about my brief history with online technology.  Having graduated from college in 1994, I began my teaching career having neither accessed information from the web nor received an email.  In 18 years, I have seen online companies like AOL and Netscape come and go.  Each was promised to be the “future”, only to rapidly become a thing of the past.  Once I completed my 15 minute talk, I allowed the students to have downtime watching the SMART Board or decompressing on their own laptops.

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edu180atl: donovan mitchell 5.17.12

I believe that having a unique point of view is good. Everyone is different. My creative thoughts are of unicorns and trolls running around, so I definitely see things differently. Read more

edu180atl: mary catherine groome 5.16.12

See you later alligator…

This year went by in a snap.  Those are the words spoken in my classroom each morning as we count down to summer.  Six days left, and all I hear are moans and groans from students that kindergarten is almost over. 

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edu180atl: erin levin 5.15.12

Today I learned that dreams really do come true. Prayers are answered. Wishes granted.
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edu180atl: julie rosenkranz 5.14.12

A few weeks ago, a pre-kindergarten student stopped by my office to discuss his latest project.  His latest task was the creation of a prototype of a ship to be used to rescue distressed whales.  He explained in detail the features of his model, and I was struck by the ability of this five-year-old student to recognize a problem and his desire to help find a solution to an issue that has little bearing on his daily activities.  Read more

edu180atl: lela johnson 5.11.12

Today I learned that it only takes one day to completely flip around how you view society and each individual that plays a part in it. Read more