21apples

Initial Thoughts on POCC

Posted by arvind s grover Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:27:26 GMT

Wow, the opening session is in a giant room in the Boston Convention Center. i am overwhelmed by how many people are here, how many sessions there are, and how many possibilities I have to explore.

The keynote Frank Wu was exciting, the energy in the room is palpable, and I can’t wait to get started. Still haven’t decided if I will liveblog more than this.

Technorati Tags: Boston, Frank Wu, NAIS, National Association of Independent Schools, People of Color Conference, pocc, sdlc

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NAIS People of Color Conference Opening

Posted by arvind s grover Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:21:47 GMT

NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) POCC (People of Color Conference)
Nov 29-Dec 1, 2007
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Pat Bassett, president of NAIS opened the conference
3 books that he read before the conference

Difficult Conversations
Courageous Conversations About Race
Fierce Conversations

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Gene Batiste – NAIS Vice President
544 Independent Schools represented for POCC

First POCC - First National Conference for Teachers and Administrators of Color in Independent Schools

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Liz Fernandez, and Rodney Glasgow

- 100 student leaders were trained this morning on peer facilitation to lead student sessions all week
- regional action planning teams
- affinity groups with adults by gender

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Boston City Councilman – Charles C. Yancey
- discussing how many POC activists have come from and through the city of Boston from Malcom X
- official document from City of Boston City Council congratulates the SDLC and it’s organizers for its 14 years of training for indep school students
- Charles C. Yancey, Chuck Turner, Felix Arroyo, Sam Yoon
- 2nd proclamation from City Council to the POCC accepted by Gene Batiste

Fire Marshall just closed the building because too many people are standing in the back. Whoops

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Ira Brown (sp?) introducing opening speaker, Frank Wu, Dean of Wayne State University Law School

I’m not obsessed with race, we all are. Even if we’re not actively thinking about it, we still are thinking about it

I don’t wake up in the morning, get ready for work and think, “I’m an Asian American, here I go”

I’ll have an encounter that will remind me that race is important. I’ll be headed down the sidewalk minding my own business. A kid is walking by, he sees me, he smiles, I know what’s coming next. He strikes a karate pose, he says, ching chong, then he laughs and runs off. I could run after him, collar him and call him a bigot. But I wouldn’t, he’s just a kid. He doesn’t realize how hurtful it is to me.

“You speak English so well. To which I reply, gee thanks, so do you.”

“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired” – Fannie Lou Hamer

Frank Wu does not think the discussion on diversity will ever be over. It’s not a process, but an outcome. Consider democracy, no matter who you vote for next year, to fulfill your citizenship responsibility and the person next year complains about how we voted 2 years ago, when will this thing be over??? You’ll know they missed an important civics lesson. Similarly lies the work of diversity.

”..we will make good on the promise of a diverse democracy.”

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The Windsor School small chorus is performing “The Light of Day”

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Technorati Tags: Boston, Charles Yancey, city council, education, Frank Wu, Gene Batiste, NAIS, National Association of Independent Schools, People of Color Conference, POCC, Wayne State University

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Headed to SXSW Interactive Festival March 9-13

Posted by arvind s grover Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:39:09 GMT

I am fortunate to work in a school where 1) professional development is valued, and 2) the nearly limitless potential impact of technology is recognized.

Because of that, my school is sending me to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. I work/live in New York City, so sending me to Austin comes at a significant expense to the school. However, SXSW is a place where some of the most brilliant thinkers on technology and the future will be presenting. This is an opportunity for me to learn about developing technologies and approaches to using them. Most people who attend SXSW aren’t educators – but, they are thinkers. And that is why I want to be there. I want to push the boundaries of how we think about education and what’s possible. I plan to surround myself with outside-of-the-box folks who might help inspire future projects within my school.

My school, while traditional, became a 1:1 laptop school in 1998. This was very early, and as a girls school was pioneering. We are now 9 years in to the program and we know a lot more than when we started. Computers in the hands of every student have great potential, but require a dramatic shift in the way we think about the classroom. School change is an art and science, and anyone good will tell you that real changes takes years and great effort. I hope to be inspired by folks at SXSW like Kathy Sierra, Will Wright, Dan Rather, Limor Fried and hosts of other speakers who will be there.

So many of us attend professional development sessions that train on completely hands-on skills. That is great, that is necessary. But, are we spending enough time doing professional development on vision, on future-thinking? Probably not, so I am going to seize this opportunity.

Is anyone else going to South by Southwest? Please leave a comment, perhaps we can have an educator meetup in Austin.

Technorati Tags: 1:1, Austin, Creating Passionate Users, Dan Rather, education, future, Kathy Sierra, laptops, Limor Fried, professional development, school, school change, South by Southwest, SXSW, Texas, vison, Will Wright

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Collaborative Desk for Students

Posted by arvind s grover Wed, 11 Oct 2006 02:40:00 GMT

I spent my day off for Native American Peoples’ Day (formerly known as Columbus Day) hanging out at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. I was most interested in the architecture and design exhibit – Daniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind has me thinking about how right-brained (more artistically, less algorithmically oriented) folks are about to take over the world. One of his pieces of advice on how to get the right-half of your brain going is to get to design museums. I heeded his advice and had a great time.

While looking at some furniture I came across Jean Prouvé school desk (France, 1937). I thought the desk simply and elegantly displayed what a collaborative school was all about. It was a shared desk. One piece of furniture, two students, having to learn to work together and share a space. In my grade school days, we had double-desks, but each had a distinct area of its own, separated writing/working surfaces. This desk is just the opposite. One complete top for both seats. There are many ways to do this in modern classrooms of course, but I like the idea that this desk is fixed. There is no opportunity to pull apart (as we often do in modern classrooms). Even if you are working on separate tasks, with the Prouvé desk, you are in it together.

How many people think this desk would sell now? Anyone have furniture like this in their school?

Technorati Tags: A Whole New Mind, collaborate, Columbus Day, Daniel Pink, design, desk, furniture, Jean Prouve, MOMA, museum, Native American, France

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The Myth of "Keeping Up"

Posted by arvind s grover Tue, 23 May 2006 00:00:23 GMT

Creating Passionate Users did a wonderful post called, The Myth of Keeping Up, where they discussed the traps that we set for ourself by thinking we can “keep up.” We have a ton of stuff coming at us every day. E-mail, magazines, phone calls, web sites and more. Most of us pile these things up because we intend to review them. Somehow, we forget the lessons of “stuff” passed, where we never got to them. How frequently do you go through your magazines, emails, etc and just trash the old stuff? You have to, but you know that you will never get to them. Instead of letting these things build, feeling guilty about them, then tossing them anyway, you have to take a more proactive approach. You must prevent yourself from getting into the pile-up situations.

1) Read The Myth of Keeping Up and
2) read David Allen’s Getting Things Done, and get yourself organized. This book changed my life. The cover is totally tacky, but read this book

image from Creating Compassionate Users blog

Technorati Tags: Creating Passionate Users, David Allen, e-mail, Getting Things Done, GTD, junk, organization, stuff

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Naysayers Are More Important Than Your Supporters

Posted by arvind s grover Tue, 07 Mar 2006 01:40:06 GMT

One of the foremost educational change experts out there is Michael Fullan. His book The New Meaning of Educational Change gives fantastic insight into what it takes to make change in a school.

One of the most important points for educational technologists to take from it is how to deal with “naysayers.” All ed tech’s probably know about naysayers, those people who just refuse to try out new things. Fullan says that you have to listen to them: 1) either they are right (and you are wrong), or 2) they are going to derail what you are trying to do with their conversations with others.

I think a lot of educational technologists run for those teachers who wait with open arms. Sometimes, it is important to run to the naysayers, turn them to your side (see Fullan), then you have even more teachers to work with.

next post: why great ideas usually can’t catch on

Technorati Tags: books, change, education, teachers, resources, teaching

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