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“in order to connect dots, one must first have the dots” Source: #rawthought: On Ditching the (Dangerous) Dichotomy Between Content Knowledge and Creativity by Amy Burvall

I remember there was a time when I would choose one word to focus on each year. Since putting my newsletter on hiatus, I have not had the same interest in such methodical approaches. However, if I had a word for this year, it may well have been books.

This year I really doubled down on reading books. It is not that I had stopped, but I felt that I was spending more time on other forms attention, such as online posts, music and podcasts. I was bugged by something that AJ Juliani posted a few years back about books being ‘the purest forms of creativity and thought’:

I love creative work, and quite frankly, probably spend too much time thinking of new projects and ideas (as well as books and blog posts!). But, I’ve found that spending time reading every day has helped ground me in high-quality content and information. There is something special about a book that a blog post or article cannot replicate. Maybe everyone does not feel this way, but books (to me) are one of the purest forms of creativity and thought.

Source: How to Read More Books (A Nerdy Solution) by A.J. Juliani

Now I am not sure about ‘purest’, but I feel that a book, even poorly written, is going to have been put through the fire of thought and criticism by nature of the medium more than say a social media hot-take.

Like Juliani, I have really doubled-down on audiobooks. I get these from a number places, whether it be purchasing from Libro.fmor Audible, as a part of the ‘Plus’ collection associated with on-off Audible subscription, as a part of my monthly audiobook minutes associated with my Spotify Premium subscription, or via subscriptions offered by the local library, such as BorrowBox and Libby. If I cannot find an audiobook, I also listen via the text-to-speech function using Moon Reader application. This is usually the same application I use to annotate digital texts too.

Here then are a list of books that I read this year:

Non-Fiction

  • All In by Joel Selwood – A sporting memoir that touches on life on and off the field when it comes to leadership.
  • Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder – a fascinating inquiry into the life and influence of Eileen O’Shaughnessy on her husband, George Orwell
  • On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder – a series of instructions on how to combat the rise of tyranny, such as “Defend institutions”, “Remember professional ethics”, and “Believe in truth”.
  • Killing for Country by David Marr – a detailed saga of politics and power in the colonial world stemming from Marr’s own family history.
  • Strive by Adam Fraser – an exploration of ‘happiness’ as being a challenge just outside our reach.
  • The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife by James Hollis – A guide for reimagining midlife as an opportunity to transform our lives.
  • The Writer’s Crusade: Kurt Vonnegut and the Many Lives of Slaughterhouse-Five by Tom Roston – An examination of the connections between Kurt Vonnegut’s life, Slaughterhouse-Five, and whether he actually suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
  • Adventures in Time: The First World War by Dominic Sandbrook – A book zooming in and out of the First World War, picking out the interesting points, rather than getting too bogged down by nuisance and complexity.
  • So You Want to Live for Longer? by Norman Swan – An exploration of how to stay young and healthy for longer.
  • Neoliberalism: A Very Short Introduction by Manfred Steger and Ravi Roy – An exploration of what we talk about when we talk about neoliberalism.
  • Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction by Catherine Belsey – A general introduction to poststructuralism based around language, culture, desire and truth.
  • Poetry: A Very Short Introduction by Bernard O’Donoghue – An extrapolation of the many ideas associated with poetry, a book with as many questions as conclusions.
  • Range by David Epstein – A provocation about the many benefits of breadth in a complex world, rather than a straight-forword manual for success.
  • The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt – An exploration of human activity, focusing on ideas of labor, work and action.
  • Magic Pill by Johann Hari – A look at the obesity epidemic and the rise of drugs being used to fight it
  • Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung – Jung’s psychic journey through his life and his ongoing engagement with the unconscious.
  • Lifelong Kindergarten by Mitchel Resnick – A book written for those who care about kids, learning, and creativity.
  • Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb – An exploration of the ways we are unaware of the randomness, whether it be by overestimating causality or seeing the world as explainable.
  • Did I Ever Tell You This? by Sam Neill – A memoir written as a distraction while receiving treatment for cancer.
  • How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell – A critique of the way even our attention has been capitalised upon through our use of technology and a meditation for how to do something more meaningful and human.
  • Why Marx Was Right by Terry Eagleton –  A response to ten theoretical objections to Marxism.
  • Fake by Stephanie Wood – An examination into the perils of finding love and connection via online spaces.
  • Principled by Paul Browning – An exploration of trust destroyed and regained and as it does, aims to impart practical advice that can be adopted by any leader wishing to become a more trustworthy leader.
  • The Internet is Not What You Think by Justin E.H. Smith – A dive into the basis of the internet in attention, the link to the past in figures such as Liebnez and Lovelace, the blur of where it actually starts and stops, as well as metaphor as a way of understanding.
  • The Season by Helen Garner – A document of a moment in life, time and culture, capturing all the ebbs and flows of an U16 football season.

Music Books

  • Listen by Michel Faber – An exploration into how and why we listen to music
  • Sweet Dreams by Dylan Jones – An exploration into the music that influenced the New Romantics and those caught up in the movement.
  • Shiny and New by Dylan Jones – Ten moments in music to explore the eighties.
  • Retromania by Simon Reynolds – An inquiry into the the different ways that the past plays out in music.
  • Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany by Uwe Schütte – An exploration of the origins, output and legacy of Kraftwerk.

Fiction

  • The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
  • Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  • The Stranger by Albert Camus
  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
  • Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
  • The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
  • Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
  • Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
  • Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
  • All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy 
  • As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
  • The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett
  • Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut  
  • The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan
  • Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton
  • For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway
  • A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
  • No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
  • The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorn
  • Slaugherhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 
  • Middlemarch by George Eliot
  • The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin
  • The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
  • Breakfast of Champians by Kurt Vonnegut
  • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
  • Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami 
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Turn of the Screw by Henry James
  • The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
  • Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
  • A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
  • A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes
  • Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
  • Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
  • Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  • The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
  • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Such is Life by Joseph Furphy
  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  • Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
  • The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Great World by David Malouf
  • The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I do not necessarily have a rating system, however these are the books that I have managed to reflect on in more detail:

By numbers, I feel I have read (or listened to) a lot this year. However, one of the challenges I still find is carving out the time and space to write and make sense of my reading. (Like this piece, which was pulled together over several weeks.) J. Hillis Miller’s once wrote that “there is always already writing as an accompaniment to reading,” however like food past its used by date, I fear that this ‘writing’ sometimes goes off before being processed and turned into muscle, fibre and energy, and therefore gets added to compost to be broken down, or worse, sent to landfill. Although I feel like my commonplace blog is littered with guides collected from the web on how to ‘remember everything’ (such as this), I worry that there are some books that I remember very little about. Too often my initial seeds of thoughts will be added to my notes, but never quite getting beyond that.

Although books might be more pure, I worry that without stopping and reflecting that they just become another form of mid-level consumption? This is something that Alan Jacobs has discussed:

you could listen to a Sally Rooney novel on Audible while chopping the veggies. Same, basically. This is what I think about almost everything from current big-studio Hollywood movies to new literary fiction to music by Taylor Swift or Beyoncé: it’s … okay. It doesn’t offend.

Source: more rational choices – The Homebound Symphony by Alan Jacobs

I also wonder if by listening to a book, it is easy to “chew it less”. You get through one book, only to be offered the next one to continue the consumption. I worry that reading without writing is not in fact reading at all?

But then I read something from Austin Kleon and was left wondering if maybe reading without intent was in fact ok?

A book doesn’t need to have a “takeaway”, it only needs to take you away.

Source: Instragram by Austin Kleon

More than ok, maybe reading is the perfect medicine at times, as is captured by the idea of bibliotherapy?

Reading has been shown to put our brains into a pleasurable trance-like state, similar to meditation, and it brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm. Regular readers sleep better, have lower stress levels, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression than non-readers. “Fiction and poetry are doses, medicines,” the author Jeanette Winterson has written. “What they heal is the rupture reality makes on the imagination.”

Source: Can Reading Make You Happier? by Ceridwen Dovey

Or as Kin Lane captured so well, reading a book is answer to a lot of things.

Reading a book is the answer for a lot of what troubles me. When I’ve had to much screen time–read a book! When I’m tired from work and want to turn on the TV–read a book. When I’m frustrated with the current state of things in this country–read a book. When I can’t shut down the voices in my head because I’m spinning out about something–read a book.

Source: Reading a Book is The Answer by Kin Lane

In the end, I probably need to work on developing better habits when it comes to reading, but I might also need to give myself more permission sometimes to just walk away at times. Maybe, to borrow from Doug Belshaw, it is okay not to have an opinion on everything?

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There’s a wise saying that goes like this: A real gentleman never discusses women he’s broken up with or how much tax he’s paid. Actually, this is a total lie. I just made it up. Sorry! But if there really were such a saying, I think that one more condition for being a gentleman would be keeping quiet about what you do to stay healthy. A gentleman shouldn’t go on and on about what he does to stay fit. At least that’s how I see it. Haruki Murakami ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’

According to Haruki Murakami, “A gentleman shouldn’t go on and on about what he does to stay fit.” I respect this principle as there is something strange about reflecting upon health routines. In part, it always feels like there is a danger of leaning into ideals that mask the reality. Like when the doctor asks about your diet or alcohol consumption. (We can’t all be like Charli XCX, can we, who recently stated on the TapeNote podcast, “I drink, I smoke, I use autotune.”) Maybe like Murakami, I clearly am not a gentlemen as I am talking about health routines, but I do so because the more I thought about it all the less clear it seemed. And as this is my space and domain, I am really writing this for me, in the hope of making some sort of sense out of it all.

This year I have started running again. Actually, probably not running, as such, maybe more jogging. How does one define such things? For the purpose of consistency, I will call it ‘running’.

Anyway, last year I turned to Ringfit as a means of getting fit again. RingFit is a game on the Nintendo Switch, which involves defeating a whole lot of monsters to regain the lost rings. Wikipedia describes it as follows:

The game’s main mode is a turn-based role-playing game in which movements and battle actions are based on performing physical activities using the Ring-Con and Leg Strap, with the Joy-Con’s motion controls detecting the player’s movement and a strain sensor in the Ring-Con detecting bending of that accessory. Other modes include guided fitness routines and party-style games. These activities are centered around common fitness exercises, making the game part of Nintendo’s “quality of life” goals in line with the game’s spiritual predecessor, Wii Fit.

Source: Ring Fit Adventure by Wikipedia

As you progress through the various worlds, you are rewarded with access to more and more exercises.

Really, it is just about doing the same thing, while the game progressively gets harder. I liked it as I could easily dip in and out of levels while cooking tea or doing the washing. It was something that I felt worked for me, rather than I worked for it. The problem was, I got to the end of the game. Although good for getting my fitness to a particular level, I felt it lost its appeal when the gamification no longer meant anything. I guess I needed an actual real goal?

Alongside Ringfit, I had also doubled down on walking. Growing up, I used to walk quite a lot. It was ingrained in me at an early age. For example, I used to walk 2 kms to meet my mum halfway when she’d walk 5kms home from work just because. However, as life has passed by, I have lapsed from this practice. Distances that once seemed small, all of the sudden seemed large. I therefore decided at lunch at work to start venturing out around the local park. I had always done this, but only ever for a short stroll and then back to the desk. I also started going for walks while waiting for my daughters at their various extra-curricular classes, rather than sitting in the car on my phone. I progressively explored and extended the distance I would travel in the time I had. In addition to these various escapades, I also started to walk instead of catching transport where applicable.

A few years ago, I went to the doctor for a check-up. Her response was to lose 10-20kg. Easy! (To be honest, I cannot remember the last time I went to a doctor and they did not say that, but anyway.) With two young children, her suggestion was to get off the station before and walk the difference. Although great in theory, not everyone is Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who runs on his own idea of success:

I have taught myself to resist running to keep on schedule. This may seem a very small piece of advice, but it registered. In refusing to run to catch trains, I have felt the true value of elegance and aesthetics in behavior, a sense of being in control of my time, my schedule, and my life. Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking.

Source: The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Heading home I always feel under pressure to get to childcare and get tea underway, while heading to work, I always felt at the whim of others in getting out the door on time in the morning, let alone early. However, this year I started a practice of getting off earlier depending on the time. A part of my thinking was that when the Metro tunnel is finished, travelling further from the station to my work will actually be a reality, so best to deal with it now. As I started getting off earlier and walking that bit further I learnt a strange lesson, the city is actually a small place. With all the people, congestion and buildings, it can seem bigger than it actually is.

All this increase in exercise led to buying new shoes. I had a pair of old Asics Kayano 23s from a few years ago and they were still powering on. Maybe due to lack of use or that I am stubborn? Unlike some people who are happy to buy new runners almost religiously, I am reluctant to throw out what seemingly ain’t broke (I think this is what I like about Beau Miles) . The problem though was that they sort of were broken with a hole in the toe and minimal sole. I therefore went and splurged on a pair of Kayano 30s.

I am not sure if it was the guilt of having proper runners when I am just walking or the fact that they felt way better than my old pair, but I sporadically decided to run one night instead of just walking. I am not going to say it was easy, but I survived and I went on from there. When the venue for my children’s rehersal changed, I started afresh, venturing out bit by bit to find new paths. Over time, I developed a new loop.

I feel at this point I probably need to backtrack. With all this talk of a ‘return to running’, I fear I give the wrong impression that I am some “natural born runner”. Although I grew up walking everywhere, I was late to running. I remember doing 100m sprints in PE and always coming last. Although I played cricket growing up, there was very little explicit running involved. We never did any running sessions or anything at training, often as most also played football. Subsequently, for quite a while, I just never had the stamina for it.

I cannot exactly remember when I first took it up. I had a friend who ran with her dad. I think maybe she was the first impetus. We would sometimes go around the golf course near her house together.

From there I started running to my job as a cleaner when I was at university. As a solitary job after hours, it did not really matter how and sweaty I was. I think I may have also been inspired by Mark, the security guy, who told me how he used to run from Coburg into the city when he was younger and worked on construction.

However, again as life changed, whether it be moving out of home and starting full-time employment, I stopped running. I actually seemed to stop everything. This was noticed by older colleagues in my first two schools ‘invited’ me to go running with them afterschool. As much as they enjoyed running, I feel in hindsight that this was as much about me, not appreciating freedom of external attachments.

I am sure that there have been others who have influenced me since, but what stands out is that running is not a normal state. Running involves effort, it involves particular dedication, and it would seem that my life is something of tally between not running and making the effort? I am not sure.

All in all, I mention all this as a way of claiming my ‘return to running’ and the associated complexities attached with such as statement. So when I say I have returned, it is not some isolated habit I have taken up, but something that has history, that involves various choices and people. Although I am not sure how much sense I have made, maybe in the end the sense is that what may seem simple is often far more complicated.

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If you have a stupid idea, or a hurtful idea, the solution is not to stop thinking. The decision is to have better thinking, better ideas. Kevin Kelly ‘On Why Technology Has a Will’

Reflecting on my year in space last year and my theme of ideas for the new year.

For a few years now, inspired by Kath Murdoch, I have been choosing a word to focus on each year. Last year I made a change, where rather than thinking about outcomes, I instead turned to inquiry.

Inspired by a few reflections, I wondered if maybe I was approaching it all the wrong way? Rather than having something with explicit or implied outcomes, maybe I needed a new approach, one focused on an open-ended concept? Although Kath Murdoch talks about nudging you along a path, maybe the nudge that matters most is an inquiring mind?

This is something that CGP Grey touches upon with the idea of a yearly theme that is ‘broad, directional and resonant’. Although this focus may not have a direct impact on my work and relationships, for me it helps keep me focused when life becomes so busy. Last year I explored space. After my focus on flânerie, I had wondered about the space that helps make such practices possible. I had a heap of books I intended to jump into, such as The Production of Space and Assemblage Theory. However, then the COVID-19 hit and ironically changed the space. Instead, my collected reflections seemed to became about online learning, remote work and social distancing. Still thinking about some of these things, I felt that an interesting theme to dwell on was the notion of ideas. Here then are some of my initial thoughts:

  • History of ideas: How are ideas developed over time?
  • Ideas in space and time: What is the impact of context on ideas?
  • Bad ideas, good ideas and the way ideas produce other ideas: What is the difference between good and bad?
  • Musical ideas: What does it mean to have an original idea in music?
  • Assemblages and ideas: What is an idea and how does this differ from an assemblage?
  • Creating the space for ideas to fester: What are the conditions required for ideas to prosper?
  • Ideas and manifestos: What is the difference between an idea and an ideal?

So my journey continues from capacity to communication to intent to flânerie to space to ideas. Appreciate any thoughts or ideas about resources on the theme of ideas.

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Kath Murdoch on noticing

Reflecting on my year as a failed flânerie, I take on space as a new word and a new approach to my one word.

I am not exactly sure what I thought 2019 would be, but I certainly did not not expect what I got. My one word was flânerie. So many aspects of my life are structured, I therefore felt I need some serendipity. As I stated:

What I liked about [flânerie] was that it was not about merely observing, but also actively producing.

I tried walking. Failed.

I tried reading random books, but that seemed to dry up as well. Although I read them, I would never get around to doing anything with it all.

I think a part of me thought that a focus on being a flânerie was some sort of licence to let go. However as the year meandered on I realised that being a flânerie was probably as much about being structured and deliberate.

It all reminded me of those who claim to be agile or distributed. So often people have the right intent in trying to change, but they do not allow the appropriate resources for such ideas and initiatives to flourish.

A useful heuristic that comes up again and again in my job is the Project Management Triangle. This is where the quality of the finished product is a combination of time, scope and cost. Sacrifice any of these elements and you reduce the quality of the outcome.

Thinking then about my focus on flânerie, one such resource that was a problem was time. With my limited time wedged between family and work, I was often left trying to achieve more than was possible.

As the year ended, a part of me wondered if my year as a failed flâner came back to the expectations that I set for myself at the beginning. I was therefore left considering where to next. I often have my one word sorted out as the new year passes by. As January unfurled, I wondered if the practice had its day?

Inspired by a few reflections, I wondered if maybe I was approaching it all the wrong way? Rather than having something with explicit or implied outcomes, maybe I needed a new approach, one focused on an open-ended concept? Although Kath Murdoch talks about nudging you along a path, maybe the nudge that matters most is an inquiring mind?

Therefore, my one word for 2020 is ‘space’. Unlike past years, this year will be a wondering about everything associated with the idea of ‘space’. Here is my start:

  • Space as a Non-Human Actor: In Ian Guest’s research into Twitter, he talks about non-human actors.
  • Learning Spaces: What is impact of space on learning?
  • Space within the Mind: What would … do? Who are the defaults we fall back on? Theatre of the mind?
  • Space and Place in the World: What is my place within the world? What space do I take up? How do we perceive it? How does this fit with other people? What are the possible spaces?
  • Coalescent Spaces: Where does the physical stop and the virtual start?

So that is me that year. It is fascinating to reflect upon the journey from capacity to communication to intent to flânerie to space. Really appreciate any thoughts or recommendations about resources on the topic.

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The more we immerse ourselves in the unexpected – like visiting different grade levels or subject areas – the more we benefit and can see possibilities for our own “classroom worlds”. Amy Burvall ‘PD Walkabout’

When it comes to change and transformation, a strategy often used to support the process is the classroom visit. The question though is whether the greatest benefit of such walkthroughs and observations is the feedback provided to the teacher or what we learn as an observer? This post was prompted by David Hopkins’ #OpenBlog19 series.

Alexis Wiggins, the daughter of the late Grant Wiggins, shared a reflection on her experience of shadowing a 10th and 12th grade students across two days. The focus was not on providing feedback for teachers, as is often the case, but instead on empathising with the learner. Her revelation was that high school students spend a majority of their time sitting passively and listening. In response, Wiggins left with a range of thoughts about what she would change in her own classroom, such as providing time to stretch, offer brief mini-lessons and dig into personal experiences.

Approaching feedback from the perspective of leadership, Peter DeWitt discusses some of the focuses associated with walkthroughts. This includes cooperative learning vs. cooperative seating or surface level vs. deep level questioning. In conclusion, DeWitt suggests that,

Too many times the success of walkthroughs is a myth because they focus on compliant behavior, and making sure te huachers are covering curriculum. Walkthroughs will be much more successful if they bring about deep learning on the part of students, teachers and the leaders who are doing them.”

What stands out for me is that, like Wiggins, DeWitt’s focus is on learning for all.

Continuing with the idea of learning, Amy Burvall explores the opportunities to engage with and give feedback to colleagues from disparate areas. The intent is to open ourselves to the serendipity. As she states:

The point is I think the more we immerse ourselves in the unexpected – like visiting different grade levels or subject areas – the more we benefit and can see possibilities for our own “classroom worlds”.

Through such strategies as the ‘Wow, How, Now’, Burvall demonstrates the benefits to being open to others.

Exploring effective teaching, Jason Borton discusses how giving all teachers the opportunity to participate allows for ownership over their own accountability.

Raising the performance of our entire teaching team is the focus as well as each teacher taking individual responsibility for improving their implementation of quality teaching practices.

With different teachers released each week, the focus is on collective feedback. However, on the flipside of this, each teacher is then given the opportunity to learn and reflect.

As someone who visits a lot of different schools it is not my play to provide feedback as to how things are. Like a flaneur, I am instead interested the lessons I can learn. Sometimes the best feedback is what we learn as an observer and self-determined learner, I think this is where coaching is so powerful.

As always, intrigued in your thoughts and learnings. Comments welcome.

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If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. JD Salinger ‘Catcher in the Rye’

At the start of each team meeting somebody shares a few things to get to know each other a little more. Here are some notes relating to my contribution …

It is easy to get caught up in autobiographical stuff, such as why I am not really Aaron Davis or how I was born behind a bank, but like Holden Caulfield, in A Catcher in the Rye, I don’t feel like going into it. Instead, I would prefer to share ten characteristics and the situations that influenced them.

Service

Although there is no doubt about my mother’s influence on my life, it can be hard to think about what I inherited from her. I think it would probably by her commitment to service. I seem to find myself doing the work that needs to be done, rather than the work that I might want to be doing.

Context

So often we discuss the practicalities of education. It can therefore be easy to question the value of a Bachelor of Arts. However, I think that my study inadvertently influences a lot of what I do. In particular, the power and potential of context. As I continue to collaboratively develop different strategies and solutions, empathising with other situations is so important.

Perseverance

In my first teaching position, I was the fifth teacher in the role and wrote my first set of reports after five weeks of teaching. I could understand why others had left, double Year Nine English to end each Friday never helped. However, sometimes what is most powerful thing is persisting through and looking back at the lessons learned.

Inequality

I spent a year at an indigenous school in country Victoria. The experience gave me insight into the inequality often inherent within systems and an insight into my own privilege.

Difference

Although originally trained as a secondary English and History teacher, I have managed to balance my time between both the primary and secondary classrooms. I was lucky enough to teach at a P-9 school for quite a few years and it really emphasised the difference in practice and thinking. The biggest challenge I found was agreeing on some sort of shared vision of learning and teaching that allowed both sides to have a voice.

Solid Foundation

For quite a few years I balanced life between the classroom and administration. It taught me that successful schools are build upon a solid foundation. Whether it be the way people are made to feel as they enter a school or having clear processes in place. Often it is said that the business manager rules the school. Maybe a different way of putting this is that the administration team often lays the groundwork for success.

Meaning of Success

Ask many about the Ultranet and they will mention dancing girls and the misuse of funds. I was a lead user and am always disappointed when people are unwilling to look beyond the failures. Although the platform itself failed, I feel the Ultranet itself brought about a lot of positives, especially in regards to collection of data and students. What the project therefore taught me was that success is sometimes in how you consider something.

Compromise

I have been married for ten years. In that time I have learnt about the importance of compromise. Sometimes it is for peace, other times it is for sanity. The fact of the matter is that nothing moves forward if there is not a little bit of give and take.

Chaos

There are some who argue that having children has made them a better teacher. I am not sure that this is true, but it has definitely provided perspective and taught me to live with the unexpected. I think Austin Kleon captures this situation best in his discussion of the complexities of families.

Team

My current work has taught me about the importance of team. It is the first place job I have worked in where I am truly dependent on the collaboration with others to solve problems. Although I have always worked in teams, it always felt that if you worked hard then it was possible to get things done. This is not possible when you are part of the complex system.

So what about you? What would you constitute as the ten influences which led to now? As always, comments welcome.

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Chilly Gonzales on the future of music

A reflection on the music that represented my soundtrack for 2018.

Depth of Field (Sarah Blasko)

Although Blasko’s use of synth bass and programmed beats with this album leads to comparisons with artists like Goldfrapp, Depth of Field never quite reaches the same dancefloor intensity. Instead the mix often creates a feeling of fragility. In listening I was reminded in part of LCD Soundsystem’s american dreams, as the more I listened, the more the choice to hold back on certain elements seemed to make more sense. Overall, I found it one of those albums that never seems settled and subsequently hooks you in because of it.

I would place this album between Goldfrapp and Lamb.

Lilac Everything (Emma Louise)

Lilac Everything is a captivating album. The decision of Emma Louise to definitively augment her voice makes for an intriguing listening experience. Where some may be critical of the artificial nature of pitch correction, the use in this circumstance is novel and critically challenges the notion of identity and belonging. There is just something uncanny about listening to a female artist taking on a male voice.

I would place this album between Father John Misty and Jeff Buckley.

 

Isaac Gracie (Isaac Gracie)

The strength of Isaac Gracie’s self titled album is the rawness of his voice. In a world of lush productions, this album cuts things back to basics. Many of the tracks consist of drums, bass and guitar. This simplicity allows Gracie to stand out. In some ways this reminds me of acts like Beach House and London Grammar, who fill out their sound with less rather than more.

I would place this album between Art of Fighting and London Grammar.

Wildness (Snow Patrol)

It is interesting listening to artists who I grew up with, but have not necessarily listened to lately. They change, the world changes, music changes, I changed. The one thing that remains the same with Snow Patrol is Gary Lightbody’s distinctive voice. There is nuance with this album with a continual battle between acoustic and electric. Although some have argued that Jacknife Lee’s polished production is to the detriment of the album, I found that once I stopped comparing the album with the past it grew on me.

I would place this between Radiohead and Collective Soul

MassEducation (St. Vincent)

I loved last year’s MassEduction, but the rawness of Annie Clark’s voice accompanied by Thomas Bartlett on piano takes the music to a whole new level for me. Even though her music is relatively structured she manages to find creativity within constraint in this reworking. This is epitomised by a track like Slow Disco, which she has played supported by Bartlett’s piano, strings on the album, acoustically for NPR Tiny Desk and electroically in the Taylor Swift inspired reworking as Slow Fast Disco. Other artists to peel the layers back this year were Kimbra and Chilly Gonzales.

I would place this between MTV Unplugged and Chilly Gonzales

BONUS: Beckstrom Holiday Extravaganza Volume X (Chris Beckstrom)

Christmas is always an interesting time of year when it comes to music. There are those like Michael Buble that have carved out a niche. Last year Sia created an interesting album of original music. With all this said there is something truly joyful about Chris Beckstrom’s ‘Holiday Extravaganzas’, where each year he electronically reimagines a collection of Christmas classics. The pictures are also a useful reflection of the effort involved.

I would place this between Daft Punk and Aphex Twin

Some of the artists that stood out for me this year, but did not make the cut include The Presets, Amy Shark, Guy Pearce, The Wombats, Nils Frahm, Missy Higgins, Dreams and Aphex Twin.

Looking back it feels like the year of imagining, whether it be different versions (St Vincent) or new ground (Emma Louise). So what about you? What music has caught your attention this year? What albums and artists have you had on high rotation? Is there something that seems to tie your year together? As always, comments welcome.

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Kath Murdoch on noticing

A reflection on participating in the ‘7 black and white photos in seven days‘ activity and the power of constraint and images.

My one word this year has been ‘intent‘. Although this can mean many things in different contexts, one of the things I have tried to do is participate in meaningful activities when they may arise.

I was therefore taken by Ian Guest’s invitation to participate in an activity focused around sharing photos of my life. The catch was there were a few constraints at play. The images had to be black and white, involve no humans and have no explanations.

Here then are my seven photographs:

Day 1
Day 1

Day 2
Day 2

Day 3
Day 3

Day 4
Day 4

Day 5
Day 5

Day 6
Day 6

Day 7
Day 7

What struck me about the exercise was how much more aware I felt of the world around me. Rather than be drawn into a podcast or simply lost in thought, I was instead thinking about what I could or should capture to tell the story of my life.

In addition to noticing the world, I was also forced to think more visually. Where I am usually dependent on words (or audio) to convey a story, I had to think differently about the story being told.

This experience reminded me of Alan Levine’s recent discussion of picking a noticing pattern, something that keeps the brain active and engaged. For Levine, the pattern is ‘106’:


“A House of DS106” by cogdogblog is licensed under CC0

Amy Burvall on the other hand is always open to creative pursuits. Rather than looking for something in particular, she recently celebrated ‘looking down‘ and capturing the serendipitous surfaces:

Amy Burvall's Unicorn
Twisted unicorn in Canberra

What each of these situations has reminded me is that creativity can be cultivated, nature is full of inquiry if we are willing to notice it and sometimes it just takes something to spark that intent.

NOTE: Without a hashtag, they can be hard to collect. Although John Johnston has collected his, many others have just left them on Twitter. If anyone has a collection that would like to share, I would love to see them.

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Comments are the power of the village

A reflection on the comments on my blog(s) that have pushed my thinking this year

So often at this time of year people publish lists of posts that received the most views, what interests me though is not the number of hits on my site, but the comments that have pushed my thinking. As Robert Schuetz explains,

Comments are like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms, the sugary goodness that adds flavor to our day. Comments turn posts into conversations.

For the last two years (2015 and 2016) I have looked back at this sugary goodness. Below then is a summary of the comments that I received in 2017. For those whose words they are, thank you. For those that I may have missed, sorry.

Context is crucial in shaping everything we do.

George Gilchrist in response to There Are Many Parts to Redefining Schools

Idt’s complicated. A topic in isolation can provide focus, yet only in isolation is artificial. Focus should maximise learning.

John Casanova in response to There Are Many Parts to Redefining Schools

I hadn’t really noticed it until now but I do use the Eisenhower Method. In my early career I worked as a clerk in an investment and I kinda flipped this idea around and called it “prioritising based on what tasks have the capacity to cause us the most amount of pain” (but in more colourful language).

Response to Getting Work Done

Glad you like Blood Meridian, and I second the idea that this one will remain indelibly burnt on my imagination. The passage of the horribles is enough to make the hair on my neck stand at attention.

Jim Groom in response to They Kept on Teaching

Switch by Dan & Chip Heath is a great choice, in my opinion. The section on motivate the elephant connects with your quote from S. Sinek above. Take a look at my ThingLink I made after reading Switch.

Dan Gallagher in response to Reading Leadership

Every conference and workshop these days seems to include, and rightfully so, discussions of flexible, engaging, physical learning spaces. We also need to spend time learning more about digital learning spaces. What makes them interactive, engaging, and impactful? You’ve introduced key elements of a new area of study, “modern geography” perhaps?

Robert Schuetz in response to V is for Visuals

Images are a part of today’s culture — so finding ways to create a visual style that resonates with people is a quick and easy way to communicate messages that resonate. In fact, without visuals, I’m not sure that you can really communicate effectively in today’s world. That raises a huge question: What are we doing to teach kids to create provocative visuals?

Bill Ferriter in response to V is for Visuals

I remember Bob Sutton’s books really impacted my work as a principal, most notably Scaling Up Excellence and Good Boss, Bad Boss… along with his other NSF edu-titled book

Lyn Hilt in response to Reading Leadership

I appreciate your response to Couros, whose original post seemed to focused on ’personal branding’ as a way of marketing the self which can close off possibilities for being an active citizen online. The idea that we should have our ’professional purposes’ first in mind when we are online leads to the relative silence of many edtech / innovation gurus on political issues (Audrey Watters has written about this), which is an ironically inauthentic use of social media.

Benjamin Doxtdator in response to Supporting Digital Identities in School

The #edublogsclub series has me wrestling with a deeper question, “do we manipulate our digital learning spaces, or do they manipulate us?” My original intent with digital V/R mapping, thank you Dave White, was to invite social interaction in the pathways of my digital footprints. What it has become is a reflection activity. Where is my education occurring? Why is it in these spaces? How is my map changing over time? Am I driving this, or is it driving me? To what degree are we responsible for our templates? The fact that I don’t know will fuel my next blog post.

Robert Schuetz in response to Supporting Digital Identities in School

The About.me page is static, and in this fast changing environment it might be more useful to consider the role of the online identity for personal and professional purposes. Many young people can not separate what happens online and the reflection of negativity or positivity on their actual identity. We see this though tragedies caused by online bullying. Perhaps the skill of discerning online content about the self is invaluable.

Raegina Taylor in response to Supporting Digital Identities in School

Your post reminded me of a challenge I see every time Couros posts about students having those three aspects of a digital identity: no matter how much we as educators may encourage this, ultimately it is up to the students to make it part of their lives. I have been blogging with my students for some years now, and when it is not a class requirement, they stop posting. I think part of this digital presence that we want students to establish – the ”residency,” as Robert Schuetz said in the recent blog post that led me here – is not always happening where we suggest. I know my students have an online presence – but it\’s on Instagram and Snapchat, not the blogsphere. Perhaps instead of dragging kids on vacation to where we think they should set up shop, we need to start following them to their preferred residences and help them turn those into sturdy, worthy places from which to venture out into the world.

Christina Smith in response to Supporting Digital Identities in School

I think transformation means a transition from one form to another, not a complete exchange. Often I see new ideas and methods taken up with little regard for what went before. That is doomed for failure. As you say, change takes time and commitment, and definitely balance. But schools need to step us into the future, not tie us to the past. Balance with one foot on the past as we stretch forward into the future.

Norah Colvin in response to Generous Orthodoxy and Educational Change

Being mindful of the consequences is so important – and I think that’s a shortcoming of Edtech generally.

Benjamin Doxtdator in response to Breaking the EdTech Machince

Google Sheets has always been an amazingly powerful tool for me but a difficult one to get lots of people to think about outside of simple number operations.

Tom Woodward in response to Tips, Tricks and Sheets

Last year I used forms embedded in a site to have staff sign up for PD sessions, then had a master sheet that pulled in data from the sheets connected to the forms. The master sheet was then embedded on the site along with the sign-up forms, so that people could refer back to see what they’d signed up for and see what others were doing. I’m not sure that anyone used it (they still just rang me to ask. Isn’t it always the way?), but I was very pleased with the elegance of the whole setup.

Eric Jensen in response to Tips, Tricks and Sheets

You have given voice to so many through your blog. So much research and insight goes into each one and the edu community is the beneficiary!

Steve Brophy in response to Towards Collective Innovation

I think as more individuals advance their learning, while sharing and connecting with other learners, the education institution must move forward.

Robert Schuetz in response to Towards Collective Innovation

You mention the use of hashtags in the context of emotions; I never thought about that! Are you saying the hashtags are used here in a similar way to emoticons? To imbue a tweet with a sense of emotion … but perhaps with more subtlety than an emoticon might? If that is the case, why do people feel the need to do that; what’s the gain or payback? And for whom?

Ian Guest in response to Did Someone Say … Hashtags

There is no doubt that I use hashtags for the “tribes” or community purpose. Your post made me think a bit about that, and I came to the realization that that’s almost the only time I use a hashtag. Thank you for your useful analysis. Now I will need to further analyze my own use. Your post makes me think I may be avoiding hashtags.

Algot Runeman in response to Did Someone Say … Hashtags

Portfolios are a cornerstone of authentic assessment. The opportunity for reflection and longitudinal tracking drives personally impactful, transferrable learning; good for students and teachers alike.

Robert Schuetz in response to Picking a Portfolio Platform

This is a helpful typology. The enabler abdicates responsibility while authoritarian limiter allows no freedom. Mentor implies cooperation.

Benjamin Doxtdator in response to What Sort of Teacher Are You?

Is there a missing dimension? Two dimensional interpretations may prove inadequate when describing our learning networks.

Robert Schuetz in response to Making an Online Learning Hub

digciz as hospitality: one with choice: one among many; one with many; one beside many; one from many; one without many. What will I choose as the “one”?

Sheri Edwards in response to Risk of Hospitality

A balance, though, might be worth considering. Use the comments you see and hear to spur your own thoughts. Take a walk while disconnected and mix the sights and sounds of nature around you with those gleaned thoughts of others. Make something new as a result.

Algot Runeman in response to Questions for Cal

I try to notice when I am told something (or read something) I don’t fully understand, and ask questions for clarification or more information. With the world now at our fingertips there is no reason to not know what we want to know.

Norah Colvin in response to Daily Habits

Do the words of Alex Pentland help to explain why collaboration is scant in education?  The ideas of natural law that teach us that humans are basically competing all the time?

Simon Kiely in response to

I would also argue that sometimes teachers who see blogging as ‘another thing’ could do away with some old habits or practices they don’t need anymore.

Kathleen Morris in response to Obstacles Associated with Blogging

Why must it be a choice? I use both for consuming information, the mobile often for acquiring media (images, video, audio). I find most writing cumbersome (sloppy on the tiny keys, and the sheer challenges of copy/paste). One tendency is to make a line between a platform for consumption (mobile) vs creation (a “real” computer), yet that’s suspect. You can certainly create a fair amount of things on a mobile device. To a point.

Alan Levine in response to Death of the Desktop Computer?

I firmly believe that no individual device is the answer for all needs – choosing the right tool for the job, that’s the key.

Heather Bailie in response to Death of the Desktop Computer?

Bosses need to understand there is greater access to information and expertise than ever before. This makes it easier to challenge the voice of authority. Today, meaningful change occurs through crowd-sourcing.

Robert Schuetz in response to My Way or the Highway?

Personal beliefs about leadership are that they are meant to inspire and empower, not be about control and power. Sadly that is not the case in every school.

Steve Brophy in response to My Way or the Highway?

Sometimes the compromise is worth it, other times it’s better to leave and see what new opportunities arise.

Sue O’Connell in response to My Way or the Highway?

Starting PD by immediate upskilling is always my preferred plan. It’s so tempting to just grab the mic though.

Jon Corippo in response to Professional Development, Awesome or Awful?

Often those presenting (like teachers who are being ‘inspected’ as they teach) feel that they need to perform & be visible.

Dr Deborah Netolicky in response to Professional Development, Awesome or Awful?

Not sure I want awe about me or the content (but this needs to be compelling) – I want awe at their own insights through workshop experiences.

Chris Munro in response to Professional Development, Awesome or Awful?

I wonder what the effect would be if PL providers/deliverers (incl academics) would be paid only after the impact of their work is seen?

Matt Esterman in response to Professional Development, Awesome or Awful?

I think there’s a fine line between inspiring an audience, sharing moonshot ideas but not making Ts feel as though those ideas are out of reach for them and their organization. Show what’s possible without frustrating.

Lyn Hilt in response to Professional Development, Awesome or Awful?

The way sheets can pull in and parse info from the web is pretty exciting as is the way the spreadsheet can be made accessible online to other web things.

John Johnston in response to Organising Data with Forms and Sheets

Although I like tinkering and making stuff I also like things that last a long time, a bit of a tug of war in my head.

John Johnston in response to Developing a Writing Workflow

I spent many years advocating blogging in schools – espoused a variety of purposes and clear outcomes. I still advocate for them but I am met with resistance from so many. An opportunity lost in my humble opinion.

Celia Coffa in response to Blogging the Digital Technologies Curriculum

Another path would be to be fancier in Google sheets and write a formula that grabs all the month’s elements with whatever HTML/markdown wrappers you want and then make that sub-page public on the web and set a cron task and php page to grab it every month and create a post.

Robert Schuetz in response to Laying the Standards for a Blogging Renaissance

A big issue is even if we wanted to train entrepreneurs the skill set is not there for teachers to direct 100+ small enterprises.

Lucas Garth in response to Learnification and the Purpose of Education

I feel (and fear) that the silos have answered the “how do I publish this on the internet?” question so effectively, for so many people, that the impetus to learn and make things — as I learned NucleusCMS — almost two decades ago, is all but gone. Discovering content management systems and weblogging, after hand coding a clunky monthly newsletter, was almost magical. I doubt that today’s “publishers” feel anything like the same satisfaction, but I get it again from the IndieWeb.

Jeremy Cherfas in response to My #IndieWeb Reflections

You’re right that the concepts used in the IndieWeb haven’t yet solidified into something that less technical users can grasp. I guess that’s what makes it fun for more technical people to play with, and yet is a frustration for those just looking for something that works.

Malcolm Blaney in response to My #IndieWeb Reflections

Today, the easier pared-down standards that are better and simpler than either of these old and and difficult specs is simply adding Microformat classes to HTML (aka P.O.S.H) to create feeds. Unless one is relying on pre-existing infrastructure like WordPress, building and maintaining RSS feed infrastructure can be difficult at best, and updates almost never occur, particularly for specifications that support new social media related feeds including replies, likes, favorites, reposts, etc. The nice part is that if one knows how to write basic html, then one can create a simple feed by hand without having to learn the mark up or specifics of RSS.

Chris Aldrich in response to Laying the Standards for a Blogging Renaissance

I wouldn’t call it “an alternative way of working on the web”, but as the original way of working on the web. True to the methods of the original web that made all this possible.

Christopher Küttner in response to My #IndieWeb Reflections

The Thermomix as ‘all-in-one’ cooking machine strikes me as an excellent example of assemblage Aaron, perhaps even a learning assemblage. It (and the various configurations), the instructions, the ingredients which go in, the food which comes out, recipes, you, your family, are completely entangled together and assemble differently when one of these actors changes … or a new one becomes involved. An allergy that emerges in a family member would change the assemblage completely. One might argue, well OK, that doesn’t change the Thermomix, but in assemblage thinking, that wouldn’t be the point. The Thermomix is not an isolated performer in the Davis household food prep, it is part of the assemblage. If wheat or dairy products had to be excluded, then the assemblage would shift to accommodate it. One might even say it learned.

Ian Guest in response to Learning Technologies

I thoroughly enjoyed this post. Although our musical tastes differ, like you, I crave the stimulation music provides. I appreciate the algorithms Google music crunches because, with Google’s help, I am constantly expanding and diversifying my playlists. Whether it’s at the gym, in my truck, or in my office, music is part of my divided attention routines. Within the last month, I have made a daily, hour-long commitment to learning how to play guitar, fingerstyle. As a result, my listening focus has shifted to pickers like Mark Knopfler, Lindsey Buckingham, Jerry Reed, and of course, Chet Atkins. I guess I am on a quest to show old dogs can learn new tricks. Thanks for the song suggestions – I’m searching Google Music now!

Robert Schuetz in response The Music of 2017 in Review, or The Year I Discovered Jack Antonoff

I think the line about bending history into a linear narrative is very apt. I always think of Ian Hunter’s work here – the school exists as it does because it is adequate to society’s ed needs.

Greg Thompson in response to Is This the End of School as we Know It?

There is plenty of invented history in education to justify arguments for apparent new-ness, to perpetuate polarisations in debates, and to sell a ‘better way’.

Deb Netolicky in response to Is This the End of School as we Know It?

Of course, technology impacts schools, but much of what schools need to be for kids is irrespective of technology. I favor a 4th option: schools adapt to new circumstances as we find out what works and what does not.

I’m not a big believer in deliberate disruption for the sake of disruption. Schools can be improved, but it’s a mistake to think that every change is evolution. We need to take care if we care about what we end up with.

Audhilly in response to Is This the End of School as we Know It?

it’s important for us to have conversations about our values and beliefs regarding school and learning. If nothing else, it helps establish some common vocabulary in the spirit of change.

Robert Schuetz in response to Why Would You? – Using Questions to Extend Understanding

So they were some of the voices that made a difference to me last year. I must admit that I did not know where to start with my other blog, particularly my conversations with Chris Aldrich. So what about you? Who were the voices in your village that changed the way you thought last year? As always, comments welcome.

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Read Write Respond

Maybe there were some things that I would have changed, however considering the current state of things, I was again pretty lucky this year.

Personally, our children have continued to grow up. The youngest has progressed from learning how to climb the ladder to get on the trampoline to now utilising a range of objects to seemingly climb anything. Nothing is out reach as I learnt when she poured my coffee all over her resulting in an ambulance trip. Our eldest also had a trip to the emergency after standing on glass. It is moments like this that I am reminded how lucky I am living in Australia to have access to a quality public health system (although we do have private cover as well.) We also went on a couple of trips, including a couple of weeks in New Zealand and a weekend in Warrnambool.

At work, I saw my role change from that of a technology coach to becoming a ‘subject matter expert’. I think when you are working within an agile project you do what needs to get done. This has included:

  • Working collaboratively in the creation of a series of online modules
  • Exploring ways to automate the creation of school timetables
  • Leading the deverlopment of a biannual reporting solution with the help of Tom Halbert
  • Comparing different models for online learning hubs
  • Increase understanding data literacy

I have enjoyed the challenges associated with my job this year, however I must say that I miss working with students and teachers. Being removed from the school environment, it can be strange telling people that I am an educator.

With my learning, I presented at two EdTechTeam Summits, the National Coaching Conference and EduChange17. I was lucky enough to be invited to present on flipped learning.I also met a few more connected educators in real life, such as Darrel Branson, Alan Levine, Richard Wells and Andrea Stringer.

In regards to my writing and thinking, I would saying that there are three themes that have existed across my posts this year:

TRANSFORMATION

I have wondered a lot about the complexities and parts associated with change and transformation in Education. Whether it be the conditions that are created or the questions we ask.

WORKFLOWS

I have explored different ways of working and improving digital workflows, whether it be automating the creation of timetables and the summary of data. smartphone. I have tinkered with a better web. This included spending a month in Google+, participating in #DigCiz and exploring some of the obstacles associated with blogging. I have also developed new spaces, such as Wikity and a site for re-claiming my online presence.

APPLICATIONS

I continued to reflect on the feautres and affordances of various applications, such as Google Drawings, Google Sheets, Facebook Pages, Google’s Explore Tool, YouTube and Global2 . I also wrote some curated posts on portfolio platforms and ongoing reporting.

In regards to my newsletter, here are some of the posts that left me thinking this year:

Learning and Teaching

Establishing a culture of inquiry through inquiry – Kath Murdoch encourages teachers to begin the year with questions that can then be the start of a short inquiry, rather than the usual regimented style. For Edna Sackson this involves starting with the child. Sometimes the challenge with inquiry, as Sam Sherratt points out, is having permission.


Inquiry into Inquiry by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Why I Hate Classroom Themes – Emily Fintelman reflects on classroom themes and wonders what impact they are really having on learning. She suggests that our focus should be on how spaces are structured and strategies that can be used to give students more voice.


Classroom Themes by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

The skill, will, and thrill of Project Based Learning – Bianca Hewes reflects on here experiences with Visible Learning and Project Based Learning. She highlights the similarities, such as a focus on stages and structure. The post finishes with a call to work together to strive for a better education for all. It is interesting reading this alongside the David Price’s analyses and a useful introduction to Project Based Learning.


PBL vs VL by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Why Journalism Might Actually Be the Class of the Future – John Spencer suggests that the true makerspaces are found in creating texts, an activity best captured by journalism. To support this, Spencer provides a range of practical suggestions to turn every student into a budding journalist. This reminds me of Michael Caulfield’s writing about creating the web and connecting ideas. I wonder how it fits with the Digipo project and whether domain of one’s own is the greatest form of journalism?


Journalism by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

This free course can teach you music programming basics in less than an hour – Quincy Larson discusses Ableton’s free interactive music course that runs right in your browser. Having taught music a few years ago, I found this as a much more engaging method of grappling with the different principles of music in an interactive way.

If you enjoy listening to music, but don’t know much about how it all works on a structural level, this course is for you. It will teach you some of the principles at work in popular songs like Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and Björk’s “Army of Me”.

Catch the Flipgrid fever! 15+ ways to use Flipgrid in your class – Kayla Moura provides an introduction to Flipgrid, an application for visual feedback. To support this, she lists some potential uses, such as a debate, an exit ticket or a book report. In some ways it reminds me of Verso and the way that users can share and respond in a centrally managed space. The main difference is that Flipgrid is built around video.


Catch the Flipgrid Fever by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Here (with 2 Years of Exhausting Photographic Detail) Is How To Write A Book – Ryan Holiday unpacks the process involved in developing a book, from the initial proposal to the published copy. This lengthy reflection is a great example of ‘showing your work’. Holiday shares a number of tips, such as recording quotes and ideas on notecards, as well as breaking the book into smaller chunks. It is a reminder of the time and effort involved in developing quality writing, something Mike Caulfield touched on.


Ryan Holiday ‘Here (with 2 Years of Exhausting Photographic Detail) Is How To Write A Book’ by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Using ‘Visitors and Residents’ to visualise digital practices – David White and Alison Le Cornu have published a paper continuing their exploration of digital belonging and the problems with age-based categorisations. One interesting point made was the blur that has come to the fore between organisations and individuals. It is interesting to consider this model next to White’s work in regards to lurkers, as well as the ability to ‘return the tools’ without inadvertently leaving some sort of trace.


‘Using Visitors and Residents to visualise digital practices’ by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Asking the right questions – Alice Leung unpacks a range of question types and their place in the classroom, including no hands up and higher order. I have written about questions in the past, while Warren Berger’s book A More Beautiful Question is also an interesting provocation.


Asking the Right Question by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Twist Fate – The Connected Learning Alliance challenged teens to pick a classic story and create an alternate scenario through art or story where a famous hero is the villain or an infamous villain, the hero, with the finalists collated in a book. For further insight into the project, Sara Ryan and Antero Garcia provide a reflection on the some of the stories and the project.


Twist Fate @mizuko ‏ by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

How colonial violence came home: the ugly truth of the first world war – Pankaj Mishra pushes back on the myth that World War I was largely a white European affair, instead suggesting that it was the moment when violent imperial legacies returned home. Along with Nafeez Ahmed’s reflection on Thanksgiving, these critiques remind us of the many forgotten voices during memorial days and national celebrations. Interestingly, TripleJ have decided to move the Hottest 100 Count from Australia Day, ‘a very apprehensive day’ for the Indigenous people of Australia. This is all a part of what Quinn Norton describes as ‘speaking truth’ against racism.


How colonial violence came home: the ugly truth of the first world war by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Use Maps & Mapmaking in Your ELA Classroom – Kevin Hodgson discusses the power and potential of maps in extending comprehension and representing understanding. I have written before about visualisation before, however Hodgson’s post provides a range of ideas I had not considered.


@Dogtrax on Maps by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Edtech

Don’t Blame the Tools – Jose Picardo points out that blaming technology overlooks that the tool is only one part of the pedagogical canvas. I think things like SAMR can confuse the conversation. Instead, we need to start with a wider discussion of education.


‘Don’t Blame the Tools by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Against Expressive Social Media – Mike Caulfield makes the case to break with our dependence on the social media generated dopamine hits to develop the type of critical collaboration needed for the future. Reflecting on his own history of the web, Caulfield suggests that we need new ways of working that challenge our collective thinking, not just confirm our biases. Along with Audrey Watters’ post on edtech in the time of Trump, these posts ask many questions to address for a different imagining of educational technology and a democratic society. It also provides a useful background to the intent beyond such tools and technology as Hypothes.is, Wikity and Smallest Federated Wiki.


Against Expressive Social Media by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Dear Twitter. It’s not me, it’s you – David Hopkins reflects on some of the changes that have occurred lately within Twitter, both socially and technically. There seems to be a lot of talk around Twitter of late, whether it be around alternatives, possible changes or how it is being unbundled.


On Twitter by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Reconceptualising Online Spaces To Build Digital Capacity – In notes from a webinar Naomi Barnes presented, she explores the question of integrating digital technologies. Building on the work of Marshall McLuhan, she discusses the idea of dialectics. This reminds me of Belshaw’s eight elements of digital literacies. Along with Jonathan Wylie’s presentation on good technology integration, these posts offer some alternatives to the usual reference to the SAMR model as the solution to talking about technology.


Technology by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

What should teachers understand about the snapchat back-channel? – Benjamin Doxtdater questions the place of Snapchat and other such backchannels in the classroom. Sachin Maharaj goes a step further to calling for it to be actively banned. For Steve Brophy, this is about waterholes. This takes me back to the question about what sort of teacher you are: limiters, enablers and mentors. However, as Bill Fitzgerald’s investigation into Edmodo demonstrates, there is also an ethical side to be considered. This was also highlighted by Twitter’s changes to privacy.


Benjamin Doxtdater ‘What should teachers understand about the snapchat back-channel?’ by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

A Sociology of the Smartphone – Adam Greenfield shares a portion of his new book, Radical Technologies, unpacking smartphones. In this assemblage of parts he looks at what actually makes smartphones work, the changes they have brought to our habits and the impact on our environment. On this matter, Kin Lane documents the valuable bits in a smartphone that everyone wants, Doug Belshaw discusses email and notification literacy, Aral Balkan asks who owns the data, while Mike Caulfield rues the impact smartphones have had on research. Greenfield’s essay also serves as an example of how technology can construct a ‘templated self’. This is timely with the tenth anniversary of the iPhone. In another extract from Greenfield’s book, he reflects on the internet of things.


A Sociology of the Smartphone by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

I Deleted All But The Last Six Months Of My Gmail – Kin Lane describes his process of taking back control of his digital bits from the algorithms. He is doing this by deleting archived data often used to develop marketing profiles. In addition to Gmail, he has documented cleaning up Facebook and Twitter. Lane and Audrey Watters also discuss this further on Episode 62 of the Contrafabulists podcast. Coming at the problem from a different perspective, the Guardian Tech Podcast discussed the new movement of platforms designed to support people in archiving their digital memories and moments.


Kin Lane ‘I Deleted All But The Last Six Months Of My Gmail’ by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

What Do You Want to Know about Blogging? – Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano responds to number of questions about blogging, such as how to start out in the classroom, setup precautions, develop a habit and extend your thinking beyond the simple view of blogging. Kathleen Morris’ post on why every educator should blog, Marina Rodriguez’ tips for student blogging and Doug Belshaw’s guide how to write a blog post add to this discussion.


What Do You Want to Know about Blogging? by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Why RSS Still Beats Facebook and Twitter for Tracking News – David Nield provides an introduction to RSS and why it can be better than social media for consuming content. One of biggest benefits is that it is unfiltered by the stacks. Nield provides some strategies for working with RSS, such as IFTTT and feed readers. Alan Levine lifts the hood on RSS, explaining how it works and what OPML is, while Bryan Alexander states why he decided to rededicate himself to RSS reading. In the end, it comes back to Doug Belshaw’s question of curating or being curated?


RSS Still Beats FB by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

We Are All Using APIs – Kin Lane explains how APIs are a part of our daily existence. Although we may not be able to do APIs, we need to be aware that they are there and what that might mean. This focus on the ethical as much as the technical relates to Maha Bali’s post about adding humanity back to computer science and Ben Williamson’s call to explore the social consequences associated with coding. Providing a different take on the ‘Hour of Code’, Gary Stager explains that the epistemological benefit of programming comes over time as we build fluency.


We Are All Using APIs @APIEvangelist by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Learning Machines – Ben Williamson takes a dive into machine learning. He breaks his discussion down into three key areas: algorithms, hypernudges and personalised learning. Associated with this, Williamson also wrote about wearable brainwave training. Approaching this from the perspective of automating education, Naomi Barnes provides her own thoughts and reflections.


Learning Machines by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Storify Bites the Dust. If You Have WordPress, You Don’t Need Another Third Party Clown Service – Alan Levine reflects on Storify’s announcement that it will be shutting down. He provides a number of options of what to do, including downloading the HTML content and stripping the links from it. This is a reminder why #IndieWeb and owning your content is so important


Storifried by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Storytelling and Reflection

Media, Technology, Politics – Data & Society: Points – In light of technology, fake news and democracy, a group of researchers led by danah boyd have applied their thinking to a range of issues with some attempt to make sense of the current state of being in the US (and the world at large).


‘Did Media Literacy Backfire? by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Will the AFLW herald changing times for gay players in the men’s game? – Kate O’Halloran reflects on first openly gay AFL players and wonders whether this will bring about a change in the men’s game. I have been left wondering what other impacts that the women’s competition might have on AFL and women’s sport in Australia in general. All of the sudden women are not only playing prime time, but also getting involved off the field in areas such as commentary as experts. In a sport that has seemingly pushed women to the margins, I am left wondering what impact AFLW will have on such jocular institutions as The Footy Show? As a father of two daughters it leaves me with hope.


Changing Times by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Clash Of Ideas: The Tension Of Innovation – David Culberhouse outlines the importance of tension to foster innovation. Coming back to the ‘learning well’, he highlights the importance of difference and the way in which heavily managed environments undermine this.


Clash of Ideas @dculberhouse by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Collaboration – Gary Stager considers all the hype surrounding Google Docs and it’s collaborative edge. In discussing his decades of experience, he suggests that writing is selfish and collaboration should not be forced, rather it needs to be natural. Along with Peter Skillen’s reflections on technology, these posts offer a useful provocation in thinking about modern learning.


Collaboration by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

No Me Without Us: Reflections After the UNIR #SelfOER #OpenTuesday Webinar – Reflecting on the call in regards to OER, Maha Bali discusses some of the challenges associated with the privilege around sharing. This is a continuation of a discussion around OER as a way of being.


@BaliMaha ‘No Me Without Us’ by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Tweeting and blogging: Selfish, self-serving indulgences? – Responding to Clare Narayanan and her critique of the guru teachers who spend their time at Teachmeets and on Twitter, Deb Netolicky discusses finding balance between self care, family time and service to the profession. This is a reminder that being online is a choice with consequences. Something Claire Amos touches upon. Benjamin Doxtdater also suggests, maybe our primary focus should be on self-care and private journals.

Tweeting and blogging: Selfish, self-serving indulgences? by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Competition – Dale Pearce highlights three key factors involved in creating a culture of competition in Australian schools: increased funding to non-government schools, public reporting to celebrate ‘winners’ and residualisation of public education. None of these aspects have been addressed with Gonski 2.0, (although Gonski has been brought on to help identify what practice works best.) To me, this is a part of a wider conversation about education, involving issues such as managing stress, providing the appropriate support, dealing with the rise of digital abuse, working together as a system and engaging with what it actually means to be a teacher.


Competition in Education by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

#rawthought: On Ditching the (Dangerous) Dichotomy Between Content Knowledge and Creativity – Amy Burvall explains that the key to joining the dots is having dots to join in the first place. Reflecting on the dichotomy between creativity and critical thinking, Burvall illustrates arts dependency on knowledge and skills. The challenge is supporting students in making this learning experience stick. Deb Netolicky also discusses some of these points in here discussion of ‘21st Century Learning’, while Bill Ferriter questions what comes first.


On Ditching the (Dangerous) Dichotomy Between Content Knowledge and Creativity @amyburvall by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Tackle Workload. This bandwagon actually matters – Tom Sherrington discusses the problem of workload piled on the modern teacher. He highlights a number of elements to reconsider, such as report comments and pointless assessment. Considering the problem from the perspective of the teacher, Jamie Thom advocates becoming a minimalist and cutting back. Steve Brophy suggests looking after our own wellbeing by putting on your oxygen mask first. One thing that matters is our own development.


Tackle Workload by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Should men or society stop the Harvey Weinstein’s of this world – Marten Koomen explores where to now with Harvey Weinstein and the way women are treated in society. He suggests that we need a collective effort by government to develop legislation and policy. Along with Rebecca Solnit’s post on blaming women for men’s actions and Julian Stodd’s investigation of the wider cultural problem brought out in the #MeToo movement, they touch on a wider problem around gender and inequality. On the Gist podcast, Mike Pesca discusses the challenges associated with reporting such topics. Jenny Listman adds a reminder that such power is abused by regular people too.


Should men or society stop the Harvey Weinstein’s of this world @Tulip_education by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Bias Thwarts Innovation – Harold Jarsche explains why gender equity is so important when fostering a culture of innovation as it provides more dots to connect. This is a clarification of an initial post Jarsche wrote about our networked future. I have touched on the importance of gender equity before. Julian Stodd also wrote a useful post that breaks innovation down into six ‘thoughts’.


Bias Thwarts Innovation by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

Excuse Me While I “Just” Go Innovate – Pernille Ripp pushes back on continual call to just innovate, arguing that she innovates every day when she teachers, plans and contacts home. The problem is that these things do not count as innovative in many experts eyes. Bill Ferriter adds his own take on the reality of the classroom teacher, explaining that he does not check his emails during the day, that he is responsible for a range of people and that working with children is his number one priority. It is interesting to compare this with the discussion between Will Richardson and Bruce Dixon on the Modern Learners podcast in regards to the failure of teachers to engage with learning how to learn, as well as Richardson’s call from a few years back that the system is broken. For more on Ripp’s work, read Jennifer Gonzalez’s profile.


Just Innovate by mrkrndvs is licensed under CC BY-SA

FOCUS ON … Books

I did not read as many books this year, but here those that I did:

So that was 2017 for me, what about you? Who have been the voices that have stood out for you this year? As always, comments welcome.