On table-sharking as "real" problem solving

When Stanley was a puppy he loved to “table-shark” stuff that wasn’t his. And after sharking he would race recklessly around the house often spilling out into the garden to avoid his outraged pursuers. 

He is a much larger Labrador now. Visitors often imagine they have stumbled over an elephant seal when they spot him snorfing on a rocky outcrop in the back garden.  Regardless of his girth Stanley still loves to bounce around with stuff that isn’t his. And it doesn’t have to be edible stuff.  An incautiously placed iPhone, a Firefly DVD, a discarded Danger Mouse sweatshirt, all capture his attention to the same degree as the pile of grated cheese, freshly baked foccacia, and the charred BBQ sausage.

His problem solving strategies have been refined over the years and he can shift from a seemingly   comatose Labrador to a verticalised and surface hoovering Labrador in microseconds. 

In turn we have refined the problem solving strategies we use to Stanley-proof our possessions. From impossibly high surfaces to a panopticon-like kitchen design we have upped the expertise needed to successfully table shark.  

Stanley is an expert problem solver with “many powerful domain specific problem solving techniques at his “paw and nose tips”.  Furthermore these problem solving techniques have been refined through solving the many opportunities we have presented through our incautious placement of sought after items on accessible surfaces.  [I note that my experiences with Stanley mean my definition of “accessible” is under constant revision]

As his table sharking expertise has built so the distinction between “real problem” and “routine exercise” has blurred.  Pulling on a tablecloth and nosing up shutters, once innovative solutions to real problems are now in truth routine exercises for Stan.

This distinction between the “real” activity and the “routine” activity is frequently misunderstood in schools where we are encouraged to provide students with the real over the routine – with “challenging, open-ended, ill-defined and ill-structured problems”.

However there is a problem with this pedagogical prompt.  As Stanley’s experience reveals - the distinction between “real” and “routine” does not lie in the activity itself.  The distinction lies in the domain specific knowledge of the learner –  a routine problem for one person can be a challenging, open-ended, ill-defined and ill-structured problem for another and vice versa.

Real and routine is an “in the eye of the beholder thing”.

If learning results from an interaction between student (a) and learning activity (b), and one persons real activity is another person’s routine activity it makes no sense to isolate the activity from the student by labelling it real or routine.  In doing so we privilege activity over individual and this may not be a good thing if it means we ignore the intersect. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that labelling activities can limit both teaching and learning – when we eschew learning experiences labelled as routine for learning experiences labelled as “real” (and rich and authentic) we neglect the nuance that should capture our attention  in the interaction between the learning activity (b) and the learner (a).

I am thinking about what happens when we privilege the activity over the individual (by labelling it as real/or routine).

How is the labelled activity perceived by students?

How is the labelled activity perceived by teachers?

How do these perceptions (of teachers and students) interact?

What are the outcomes of this interaction?

How is the labelled activity approached by students?

How is the labelled activity approached by teachers?

How do these approaches (of teachers and students) interact?

What are the outcomes of this interaction?

It helps me to think about this in the context of student writing – in the NZ Curriculum – the genres - descriptive, explanatory, information report, narrative, persuasive, procedural and recount – have identified surface and deep features.  Showing audience awareness and purpose through deliberate choice of content, language and writing style for different genres is a literacy challenge for our students.

We have commonly labelled student writing as “real” when it is done online in a blog that is accessible anytime from anywhere by any one and “routine” when it is done in an exercise book where access is individual and invited.  But I am not sure that we know how a student perceives the writing activity when it is done in an exercise book or online or how the teacher perceives the activity? What are the similarities and differences in perception between what is labelled real and routine – what are the similarities and differences student and teacher perception?   

If we label student writing as “real” when it is done online in a blog and “routine” when it is done in an exercise book, then how does the student approach the labelled activities? How does the teacher approach the labelled activities? Just what are the similarities and differences in approach to an activity labelled “real” or “routine”?

When students lived experience blurs the real with the routine – as it does and will - and students find writing (and commenting) online “routine” – how will students and teachers respond to the mislabelling of an activity (a school requirement to write posts on a student blog) as real when to students writing online for an audience may be a routine exercise?   

How will teaching and learning be influenced if as teachers we continue to believe we can label activities as “real” or “routine”?

I wonder if we will we hang onto the pretence of the label “real” long after it has become “routine” in the eye of students?  I suspect so - the edu_twitter stream is choked with tweets from teachers touting for comments so as to make their students’ blog writing for an audience experience appear “real” in a Potemkin Village kind of way. 

It is more fun to imagine that we will we look for a new “real” for student writing  – perhaps will we simply reframe genre to include learning how to write for Wikipedia as has been happening for a while at the University of East Anglia

Wikipedia - banned by some academics as a source for student essays - has been made compulsory reading (and writing) for a new course at the University of East Anglia.

Students are assessed on editing and writing articles on Middle East politics for the online encyclopaedia, which is open to contributions from anyone.

Or maybe to keep it “real” we will we embrace retro writing – and prepare students for a “World Made By Hand” like future - where preparedness for re-engineering available resources will ensure that students can continue writing and showing audience awareness and purpose albeit that this involves scratching text onto home-made parchment with nibs crafted from found materials using pigments extracted from the bark of native trees.

Comments

[ailsa]

nice post arti. Making reals is worth unpacking. What makes things more and less likely, stable, unquestionable? Have been rereading some Latour and he suggests looking at the things when new and not yet packaged, polished and closed off, or digging into the corners, the weak points, the controversies to get such boxes open. Not quite his words, but it reminds me of Christmas :)
I find the same thing in my study of change in counselling, whats real? If its face to face there's an assumption that its better than telephone or text...again, seems to be in the eye of the beholder.
(My kobo reader came with Machiavelli's the prince, and Shelly's Frankenstein, so my moral compass may be a little skewed this holiday season.)
Interestingly, current young people are more involved in writing than any previous generation http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-09/st_thompson

[Allanah King]

Being a fairly Twitter addicted type I do wonder at the point of teachers to tout for blog comments on children's writing that is, let's face it, pretty ordinary. Just because it is written on a blog doesn't make writing any better than writing on a piece of paper- maybe its a little neater font and a spell check- that's all!

I find it odd that some teachers often invite comment from other teachers on their children's writing when they haven't given any public comment for the child themselves. Why should I if they won't?

I don't mind, in fact quite like, commenting for children whose work is actually good. But just attracting comments for the sake of commenting seems pointless. It's not a competition.

My 'audience' for the writing my kids do in class is pretty much ourselves and our whanau. I am realistic enough to understand that most people in the world don't really want to fill their evenings writing feedback for my bunch of eight year olds- no matter how great I think their writing is!

[Allanah King]

Oh and Happy New Year :-)

[Artichoke]

Thanks Ailsa - and enjoy Machiavelli - I have only ever managed memorable quotes - I am reading Bill Bryson's "At Home - A short history of private life" without the benefit of any e-reader this summer - it is a huge book and I risk asphyxiation every time I read in bed.

I used to take philosophy classes with Year 11 students at a local college - we spent much enjoyable discussion exploring concepts like truth art and real - solipsism has its own fanclub amongst 15 year old girls - my favourite take on reality was a fabulous cartoon by Dave Blazek (Loose Parts) Living next door to a philosopher
“ … so you’re saying, not only how do I know the garbage you threw over my fence is real, but maybe the fence isn’t even real, and … hey, this is the same trick as last time!”
July 27 2000

Your doctoral research always interests me - I like the challenge in thinking about what makes a conversation real - is it the "gaze" - the fingering of the soul that can happen in the f2f - or is it the connection? So thanks for new provocation and the link to Clive Thompson on new literacy - I had missed this -

[Artichoke]

The counter argument Allanah - and there always is one - is that we are all "touting" in the blogosphere - so when teachers tout on Twitter for comments for their students online writing they are only doing the same as the rest of us who link twitter or Facebook alerts to our blog publishing process - or write comments with links back to our own writing etc.

I blogged a long long time ago about Blogger whoredom, blogger pumping, blogger frottage and blogger integrity There is no getting around it - blogging is a narcissistic act - a look at me act.

So I don't find it odd that teachers tout for an audience as such - rather I find it odd that as teachers we claim that writing a blog post online is more real for students than writing offline because of the audience when we know very well that in many cases the audience for student writing is no more real than the audience for writing students do offline that is shared with peers, teachers and whanau.

As you describe - "I am realistic enough to understand that most people in the world don't really want to fill their evenings writing feedback for my bunch of eight year olds- no matter how great I think their writing is!"

[AllanahK]

My point really is that some teachers efforts to engage comment for class or student blogs would be better spent directing their attention to engaging the school community. Some teachers routinely solicit comments in a variety of forums- Twitter, Facebook, RSS- it's a variety of spam IMHO. It's that 'in your face' come here and look at me attitude that I find difficult to affirm.

I understand that some people are trying to find their voice, their place I suppose but comments just for the sake of having comments is not worth a lot. People might like to save their commenting to work that is actually noteworthy rather than I wrote something- come leave a comment.

Most of the people in my network have never given feedback on any of my writing and neither would I expect them to do so.

Some people do feel connected but only lurk.

[Artichoke]

I think it helps to think about writing and seeking comments online as "social surrogacy" -

Reading Shirkey helped me understand how first gin, then television and now social networking (in this specific case we are arguing for writing online (all that blogging twitter wikis etc)) is social surrogacy - it provides the experience of belonging by
1. Displacing other uses of our time (including sleep)
2. Providing us with imaginary friends/ followers

“Television viewing has come to displace principally (a) other diversions, (b) socialising, and (c) sleep.” Fowles cited in Shirkey p7

Feeling like you belong is especially important for us pyjama people if Oscar Wilde is right -

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."

No wonder we write for unknown and accidental audiences.

[AllanahK]

So you know that I was up til 3am this morning do computer stuff!

I agree about the sleep thing.

I'm not so sure about the imaginery friends. I would agree that most are imaginery but some end up being more than that. Through Skype, email, DM they become more real.

Some, I know that if we really did meet we'd be 'real' friends. Not the sort that could bring you chicken soup if you were sick or would fix your letterbox after hoons smashed it but supportive friends all the same.

[Holly Chun]

Interesting “conversation” between you and Artichoke! Cyberspace is virtual, is imaginary! Or is it? In the real world, you are easily held accountable. Is it more relaxed in the virtual world? Will it be “safer” to experiment in the cyber world than in real life? I am not sure. I can be sure that I can overcome geography and time zones online. It is night time on January 3 in Canada but already January 4 in NZ. Yet messages and thoughts can be delivered in microseconds. Thinking about real and virtual, like a dream, is euphoric. Like watching the movie “Inception”. Like you’re living in a dream.

There are a lot of things you can’t tell in the real world. An imaginary friend is always there when you need him / her. She will never hurt or betray you. Every kid has one, be it a whale or a unicorn. I can’t see why we can’t keep an imaginary friend as an adult. Virtual friends in cyberspace, however, are real people, although you may not always know their true identity. Somehow it is possible for the virtual community (or part of it) to converge into the real world. Therefore, I can tell my secrets to an imaginary friend who does not exist, but not to any member of the virtual community.

I am an online student. All my writing, instructors, and fellow students are online. Yet they are real and the degree that I’ll get is real! Online writing and discussion is my reality. Our learning relies on this mode. There is no offline writing in my program. It is effective, because once you post your discussion it is made available to say twenty plus people who can give feedback. I think it is effective and beneficial for learners at all levels.

[AllanahK]

When I was writing about imaginary friends I was meaning the 'friendships' of random followers who, in the first instance, made contact via a follow or friend request who I thought maybe actually wanted to engage in some sort of conversation or collaborative learning. These people, I class as being imaginery.

The virtual friends are people that I have never met and most likely never will but I class them as friends all the same- there are not so many of those. That friendship, like real friendship is built up over time and involves a level of trust. I have a few friendships built up over time like that- through twitter, email, Skype, mutual on line interest or collaboration.

If you're very lucky some of those virtual friendship cam become real. When I went to the UK from NZ people who I had never met before, apart from virtual connections, welcomed me and showed me their part of the world. The friendships started virtually have become real.

When virtual friends come to NZ and I can reciprocate I try to do so.

[Dorothy]

I puzzle about what anyone means by 'real' when it comes to children writing. Is writing made 'real' because someone wants to read it or because someone wants to write it? I suspect that writing is 'real' if you actually want to write it in the first place - whether you are an adult or a kid. That shopping list, that Christmas wish list, a letter to the editor, a card of appreciation. It is the intention, not whether it is digital or on paper that makes it real. I also think writing is 'real' if you know you want to pass that exam and 5 x 300word essays stand between you and getting an Achieved.

It is an almost impossible task for a classroom teacher to have 30 children doing 'real' writing on a regular basis. "This week children we are exploring narrative writing" is only likely to inspire a small number of children.

At this time of year I am intrigued to watch my RSS feed from our student blogs and see who is writing what in the holidays. I would put a link back to a post I did about this at the same time last year but am resisting! About 150 of our kids have their own blogs, and since most of them don't have access to computer technology in their homes, I think that any of them who make the effort to find a device and internet access and post some writing are about as genuine 'real' writers as you could find. eg 14 year old David!

It is probably the same for kids who are commenting on each other's work over the Summer break, and even this 7 year old girl leaving messages for her teacher! And there are a lot of students posting writing over the Summer break on FaceBook that is real to them.

I do agree with Allanah that teachers who solicit comments on their kids' blogs and don't leave feedback themselves have missed the point somewhere along the line. We are surveying students as part of ongoing research and they tell us that they particularly like feedback from the teacher, friends and whanau. But they do get chuffed by the random comments from strangers that they receive from time to time.

This was written by 10 year old Toreka earlier last year;
One important part of blogging is leaving comments to give people feedback about what they have posted. You can go back and look at the comments from your readers and see what they have suggested you can do to improve. The one thing I like most about blogging is reading my comments. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to have comments from different countries.

I think the aquisition of literacy is very similar to the process of becoming fit. There are a percentage of natural athletes out there who for some reason like going to the gym or pounding the pavement. The rest of us need some incentive like health or weight problems to get us out there. And if we are really fortunate - like we have a great trainer or some cheerful buddies - one day we wake up and realise we actually quite enjoy it and it becomes a 'real' part of our lives. Same with reading and writing. An important skill of teaching is jollying along and inspiring that bunch of kids who are not naturals until one day they find themselves 'real' readers and writers.

Time to head to the beach with a book again...

[Artichoke]

Thanks Dorothy – and apologies for the lag before this response – I am working on a Science textbooks writing project over the break – I have very tight deadlines and could not look at Artichoke until I finished the first draft for each book.

In the post I argued that labelling an activity (b) as a “real challenge” or an “exercise” was not useful and might even be limiting to educators because “real” or “exercise” could only be determined by the interaction between the learner (a) and the activity (b).

Your argument Dorothy is that the reality of the challenge is determined by how much “wanting” is going in the learner simply shifts the whole labelling thing from the activity (b) to the learner (a) -

It is still isolating two things that are interacting and as such I believe it misses something that is going on in teaching and learning.

For example – in labelling the student as a “wanter” or a “don’t wanter” we could end up arguing like this -
if a student (a) does an activity (b) under duress (or at least without enthusiasm) then the activity must be an exercise.

This is an argument that potentially clouds our thinking and limits our practice –

For example thinking about students as “wanters” has lead you to argue for external incentives that in time may be internalised – you argue that we need incentives so that we might want to become fit, to write, to read, to become literate etc

Thinking like this (labelling students ) makes “wanting” the new grail and this leads us to look for incentives to want - much like the MoE has done recently with the latest ICTPD cluster goals.

The MoE’s “lets make every one wanters” goal reads like this ….

ICTPD Goal 3: Teachers to integrate e-learning effectively into their practice creating an innovative and exciting learning environment for all students

Because they are assuming that the answer lies in students who are “wanting” the Moe have written a National goal that focuses on innovation and excitement provided by the (e) rather than on the learning outcomes that results from the interaction of student(a) and activity(b) –

Teacher reporting will be based on providing evidence of the technology used and the excitement observed as a consequence – and this will create a Sisyphean struggle whereby the fervent adoption of the latest (e)thing must never end – to ensure the “wanters” honeymoon never ends – also ensuring the effect artefact – the Hawthorne effect endures - and the trade hall merchants remain happy.

It is a great example of why I am leery about the whole labelling thing – whether it is (a) or (b) being labelled –I suspect it distracts us from what is important – the learning outcome.

I prefer to think about the interaction between the learner (a) and the activity (b) – rather than whether the activity is “real” or the student is a “wanter”

If you look instead at the intersection of (a) and (b) – at the what can the student do stuff –then it is easier to give “where to next feed-back and feed-forward” that is explicit, proximal and hierarchical – so the student can achieve the intended learning outcome.

And as for including hyperlinks to your own writing in the comments Dorothy – I would be delighted to have them.

[school stationery Jackie]

Happy New year all, thanks for starting 2011 with a banging post

[Artichoke]

Thanks "school stationery Jackie" - and Happy New Year to you and all your stationery.

Stationery is something it is impossible to dislike - it offers promise and potential - and although I am made uncomfortable by shopping malls I am always content if left in a book shop or stationery store. Thick nibbed fountain pens, soft lead pencils, black ink, sketch pads and Moleskine notebooks capture my attention every time

I don't suppose I could persuade you to elaborate on your criteria for "a banging post" -

[Dorothy]

I am enjoying pondering on this post and on the expansions of your thinking through the comments. I am not sure how you are able to do this with the deadlines you are facing!

I think there are a world of students out there who I have lost touch with - students who have literacy normalised from birth in their own homes, and modelled by those who are near and dear to them, and what you are talking about is undoubtedly just what they need. Actually, the labelling distinction you wrote about was a bit of an eye-opener as I haven't seen it being bandied about in our cluster.

In my current work life, there are too many kids who have never seen an adult wanting to do any activities involving read or writing (outside of school) and for them I do not see 'wanting' as a new grail. Nor do I see (e)solutions as the only answer for them. We just want to get them reading and writing and I am unapologetic about wanting them to move beyond being functionally capable and to share my own enjoyment of both!

I have been learning from Jannie Van Hees (specialises in literacy with NESB kids and has done a lot of work in low decile schools) who has been working in our school for a couple of years with our students and teachers focussing on writing. While a lot of her work emphasises the expansion of vocabulary, it is fascinating to see how the kids enjoy crafting and recrafting sentences and pieces of writing as she works with them. An activity she calls 'sentence explosion' - which involves a lot of arcane grammar terminology that many of the teachers had to learn before they could implement it- has kids of all ages intrigued and motivated. Quite possibly this is the intersection for them between the learner and the activity. Also interesting to see that when they feel satisfied with their writing, they then want it published in the space they perceive will provide the greatest readership/audience.

[Artichoke]

Thanks Dorothy – I think you have pinned the intersection and your observation about Jannie Van Hees and her work with your NESB kids “ a lot of her work emphasises the expansion of vocabulary” is significant

Ruby Payne’s work with students from intergenerational poverty - has a similar emphasis on expansion of vocabulary as a necessary (but not sufficient) strategy. Hart and Risley’s (1995) study helps teachers understand why.

In this piece Payne addresses the nine interventions particularly helpful in raising achievement for low-income students.

• Strategy 3. Teach Students to Speak in Formal Register
  Dutch linguist Martin Joos (1972) found that every language in the world includes five registers, or levels of formality: frozen, formal, consultative, casual, and intimate (see fig. 1, p. 51). Both school and work operate at the consultative level (which mixes formal and casual speech) and the formal level (which uses precise word choice and syntax). All people use the casual and intimate registers with friends, but students from families with little formal education may default to these registers. Researchers have found that the more generations a person lives in poverty, the less formal the register that person uses, with the exception of people from a strong religious background, who frequently encounter formal religious texts (Montana-Harmon, 1991). Hart and Risley's (1995) study of 42 families indicated that children living in families receiving welfare heard approximately 10 million words by age three, whereas children in families in which parents were classified as professional heard approximately 30 million words in the same period. Teachers conduct most tests through formal register, which puts poor students at a disadvantage. Teachers should address this issue openly and help students learn to communicate through consultative and formal registers. Some students may object that formal register is "white talk"; we tell them it's "money talk."

  Levels of Language
  Frozen: The words are always the same. Examples: The Lord's Prayer, The Pledge of Allegiance.
  Formal: The word choice and sentence structure used by the business and education community. Uses a 1,200-word to 1,600-word spoken vocabulary. Example: "This assignment is not acceptable in its present format."
  Consultative: A mix of formal and casual register. Example: "I can't accept the assignment the way it is."
  Casual : Language used between friends, which comes out of the oral tradition. Contains few abstract words and uses nonverbal assists. Example: "This work is a no-go. Can't take it."
  Intimate: Private language shared between two individuals, such as lovers or twins

  Have students practice translating phrases from casual into formal register. For example, a student I worked with was sent to the office because he had told his teacher that something "sucked." When I asked him to translate that phrase into formal register, he said, "There is no longer joy in this activity." Teachers should use consultative language (a mix of formal and casual) to build relationships and use formal register to teach content, providing additional explanation in consultative register.

Writing is a trickier thing – it seems likely to me that the majority of New Zealand students grow up in homes where very little writing goes on for them to model on–those parents - lucky enough to be in paid employment stagger home from work each night – are more likely to make food and then collapse in front of the TV than write reflections in their journal or continue working on the great NZ novel. Its that Clay Shirky – TV as social surrogacy thing again.

When teachers from high and low decile schools are complaining that parents struggle to find time to hear students read each night– I cannot imagine that many parents are modelling writing each evening

Clive Thompson’s post on the new literacy in Wired Magazine (hat tip Ailsa)captures this quite well

• Before the Internet came along, most Americans never wrote anything, ever, that wasn't a school assignment. Unless they got a job that required producing text (like in law, advertising, or media), they'd leave school and virtually never construct a paragraph again.

Student writing often improves when professional learning first focuses on teachers learning how to write – Helen Timperley’s pedagogical content knowledge and all that – writing is something we talk about heaps but often don’t do much of once we leave school.

Thompson continues

• Lunsford’s research found is that “young people today write far more than any generation before them.
  That's because so much socializing takes place online, and it almost always involves text. Of all the writing that the Stanford students did, a stunning 38 percent of it took place out of the classroom—life writing, as Lunsford calls it.

So perhaps the way students socialise – your Facebooking students - will mean the future looks brighter for student writer’s of all ilk.

[Artichoke]

I am wondering if you have been communicating with the residents off the corridor Allanah - there has been a flurry of chicken soup making activity at our place ever since you posted this comment -

On my second trip to purchase chicken necks from the Aussie Butcher in Mt Roskill this afternoon - I figured out the connection and your involvement.

There is interest in tossing in a pig trotter or two - pied de cochon and all that - I bought a pack from Foodtown for Stanley (and Nibs) but Stanley guards them so assiduously that it seems kinder to give him a biscuit tonight - and I'd hate to waste a trotter if it could be used elsewhere.

So as someone who has been the recipient of chicken soup Allanah - can I suggest they "throw another chair leg on the fire mother" and add a trotter to the mix?

[botts]

Hey Arti - i've finally come back. I finished my masters and took some time off from anything vaguely academic and now here I am searching for real sustenance for my brain once again.

My experience in post secondary education would suggest that there is no "real" as long as the tasks are being set and graded by a teacher in a classroom where both students and teachers are bound by trying to achieve outcomes. Everything gets done to meet the outcome and even my primary school aged kids at home will tell me thatbthere is no point completing an activity because the "teacher isn't going to mark it". However, when the students begin to enjoy the activities in class and then go out of their way to continue writing for their own satisfaction then the task has become real to them and they will continue to (in this case) write in a real context.

The other interesting side note to this argument is the social media thing and the all-connectedness of the world as we know it. I am sitting at the pool while my kids do swimming lessons, reading and writing social media comments on my iPad. There are plenty of people here doing similar things and I would think that many of them are engaging in gratuitous text creation simply because they enjoy the feedback and responses they get. However, they are doing it because there is an opportunity to do so and not because some teacher said they had to complete 25 posts this semester as part of their assessment. That, for me, is the real.

Peace - botts

[Artichoke]

Ahh the most welcome return of Botts – I’ve missed you and your perspective on the things that matter – and I'd love to hear more about your masters study and research - to find time in a life to think, read and interrogate ideas must have had its moments -

I like the “real is what you do when no one is looking argument” - it reminds me of an anecdote from an Auckland principal who related the story of inadvertently following a bus laden with pupils from his school – pupils whom he judged as school leaders taking full advantage of their imagined anonymity in the back-seat – so character is what you do when no one is looking.

That technology like the iPad allows/encourages “gratuitous text creation” is a grand sentiment –.text creation without an outcome determined by others - I wish I had written it – having spent years sitting at the side of pools watching the kids have swimming lessons alerts me to a counter claim –in encouraging “gratuitous text creation” technology like the iPad do we discourage “gratuitous conversation” – do we discourage all that tentative reaching out to the other – that serendipitous conversation with strangers – the iPad discourages talking and listening with others in the “real”.

Perhaps
“Technology... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it.” Max Frisch
or
"It is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome." ~T.S. Eliot, about radio

[Sarah Byrne GVSU]

Having been on both ends of that situation - as the student and the teacher, I can tell you that I don't think and have never thought that posting writing online for an audience makes anyone feel like their writing is more real. As a student teacher, I have been searching for writing activities that make the writing experience "authentic," and I keep coming back to the same thing; much like what you have said, what is authentic and engaging is going to depend on the individual student. I'm in a school where the ability levels of students are variable, with quite a few special needs students and English Language Learners, and I feel like my biggest failure is in coming up differentiated activities that keep all students engaged. I'm always looking for that Zone of Proximal Development, and that is challenging in a way that at least I know that I am being authentically challenged by working on a "real problem." I just have to be careful not to expect that just because I am being challenged to "table shark" better, doesn't mean that my students are as well.

[Artichoke]

Re: “and I feel like my biggest failure is in coming up differentiated activities that keep all students engaged”

This made me smile in a knowing kind of way Sarah – having been there and felt the same sense of inadequacy – this thinking lies behind
a post I wrote a while back about letting loose the raccoons

Thanks for your comment – I like the distinction you draw between teacher challenge/engagement and student challenge/engagement – Sometimes activities we find pedestrian – a turgid meander – are brand new for students and fully capture their imagination – I suspect there is a whole lot of very basic content that students might well be excited by if it was introduced by educators who could still remember what it was like to be a neophyte – I suspect there is still awe and wonderment to be found in a textbook

[Warnock]

As normal I was searching on the web for a few new posts on gardening. Being that springtime is merely around the corner I thought that there would be several new articles. However I was incorrect, so it was lucky that I discovered this article.

[Artichoke]

Hi Warnock, I am not 100% confident that this post will help you in your quest for new posts on gardening - even with springtime just around the corner - but in my experience serendipity and happenstance cannot be overrated. So I am very glad stumbling over the post has made you feel lucky. Pam

[Short term courses in India]

Stanley has done a nice job by learning table-sharking which solves the real problem.It is better to distinguish between Real & Routine Problem to have a clear picture on which problem we have to focus.

[Artichoke]

Dear Short term courses in India,
I have read your comment to Stanley who thought it both packed with insight and personally flattering. He responded by rolling onto his back and waving his four legs in different directions in the air - a tummy exposing strategy he uses to persuade others to tickle him. Proving without a doubt that he can distinguish between the Real and Routine problem. Thanks from both of us.

[Lisa]

Arti,

I agree that all of life, including teaching and learning, is relative and based upon perceptions. It is often useful to label 'things' to make concepts more concrete images in our minds, in our perceptions. However, I am not certain that dileneating 'real' from 'routine' is one that is necessary. Both labels are actually real and relevant learning at some point in time. They are both rich and meaningful, otherwise the 'routine' would not exist. The routine is the real learning that has become intrinsic to the being, it is that which the being has habituated or made a part of themselves inherently so that they don't have to think too much about the activity in the future, such as riding a bike. Oh, but that first time we rode without falling down!d How exhilirating was that?!

So to me, routine is a positive result of real learning.

[B. Goode]

This is an important discourse on the metaphysical and literal properties of reality. As the author points out, limiting teachers, and consequently, students through a system of labeling can be counterproductive to the goal of improved learning. The terms routine and real are indicative of an educational system that is focused on representative results that are hoped for through rigid techniques. However, as was demonstrated by the Wikipedia example, perceptions on real and routine will ultimately have to be juxtaposed to the necessary costs and benefits of procuring a more satisfactory system of assessment and learning.