Mike Paul

Does A Machine Like Yourself Ever Experience Fear?

It’s rainy here in the Bluegrass State as another Friday rolls around. Spring Break is right around the corner for many of us, but not before we complete the last barrage of testing leading up to our end-of-year assessments—and my, aren’t those fun?

Still, there are so many things happening and more cool stuff than ever to share, so here are 10 Things worth sharing with you this week.

10 Things Worth Sharing

Based upon recent reading, I’m thinking a lot about the shared assumptions within each school building and how they affect teachers, students, and the outcomes we want for everyone.
Ever wondered how airplanes are able to fly? This interactive explainer does a better job than I’ve ever seen of explaining and visualizing that concept.
I’m happy to see so many people focusing on the science of reading with our students and supporting that work with great professional development. Here’s a success story from Texas on what is possible.
I’m diversifying my movie intake these days—partly by watching 52 Criterion Collection films this year—but also moving toward more human stories. When I saw the trailer for Sing Sing, I couldn’t wait to learn more about the film and the story. This looks like it will be amazing.
Steve Jobs wanted Apple to focus on a handful of products. Here’s why saying “no” more often can lead to success in whatever you do.
Teachers and students need more resources to use as they create products and demonstrate their learning. I was excited to learn about the Getty Museum’s over 88,000 art images freely available online.
Sometimes, you need to find a new perspective to improve your work, especially in education. Author Jennifer Croft uses photography as a writing tool to bring that new perspective.
Jisc, a technology organization in the UK, has compiled a selection of resources to support different stages of AI maturity in schools. Their aim is to provide a web-based hub of resources, growing over time to meet the needs of schools.
With the growing number of news outlets closing and a general public distrust of news sites, can we say that journalism is disappearing? I certainly hope not!
RIP Akira Toriyama. The creator of Dragon Ball passed away a few days ago, and the tributes are pouring in. The world lost a creative mind who influenced millions but whose work will live on for generations.

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Is journalism disappearing?

close up view of an old typewriter — Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

I know folks have strong feelings about this, especially journalism profs. Trust me — there’s no one who loves journalism as much as me, or someone who is constantly screaming about the blurring lines between *content* and *journalism.* But — I’m coming from a place of concern.
Tulika Bose, Scientific American

Leaders from several US journalism schools discuss the news industry’s declining state and how they prepare students to enter a turbulent business. They acknowledge the harsh economic realities facing the industry, which has seen layoffs and the closure of several news outlets.

However, they stress the importance of journalism and the need to teach students the skills needed to report on crucial events and provide accurate information to the public. These educators are also exploring ways to make journalism education more affordable and equip students with the knowledge to understand the business side of news.

Essential Resources to Guide Your AI Journey

elderly man thinking while looking at a chessboard — Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

Jisc, a technology organization in the UK, has compiled a selection of resources to support different stages of AI maturity, including strategic resources, supporting students and learners, supporting staff, maintaining academic integrity, safe responsible use, and AI tools. The resources include blogs, reports, videos, podcasts, and training courses covering generative AI, accessibility, assessment, bias, ethics, and AI tools. Jisc is also developing new resources to support the move to the operational stage, such as pre-procurement selection criteria for generative AI tools and a generative AI skills training program for staff.

Using Photography as a Writing Tool

black dslr camera mounted on black tripod — Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com

Photography allows me to reevaluate my linguistic and narrative choices from a fresh perspective and reframe the central questions of my work.
Jennifer Croft

Jennifer Croft, a recipient of literary grants and a founding editor of The Buenos Aires Review, discusses how photography can be used as a tool to inspire and improve writing. Croft highlights various considerations in photography, such as format, frame, contrast, texture, and depth of field, that can be applied to literature in productive ways. By adopting a fresh perspective and reframing the central questions of their work, writers can experiment with different techniques and enhance their storytelling.

Getty Museum offers over 88,000 Art Images for Free Usage

Full length portrait of a man holding a rod

I’m a huge fan of accessing public domain and creative commons licensed work for personal and educational usages.

Why do I think the public domain is important? The public domain feeds creativity across various art forms, assists in preserving films and historical documents for future generations, makes education more affordable and interactive, and helps open government operations to public scrutiny.

Also, using these works to inspire our own lets us all stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before, adding more light and warmth to our world.

Since 2013, the Getty Museum has released art images into the public domain–technically, using a Creative Commons (CC0) license. Now, they have over 88,000 images you can use for whatever purpose you like without permission.

Saying “No” More Often

"Instead of encouraging each group to let product lines proliferate based on marketing considerations, or permitting a thousand ideas to bloom, Jobs insisted that Apple focus on just two or three priorities at a time. “There is no one better at turning off the noise that is going on around him,” Cook said. “That allows him to focus on a few things and say no to many things. Few people are really good at that.”" (Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs) — Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Learning to say “no” more often is a primary driver of success. We all have only so much bandwidth to dedicate to projects. Choosing not to do something or having no opinion about it leads to more productivity and less stress.

Sing Sing – A Film About Being Human

red theater chair lot near white concrete pillars — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Before I saw the trailer recommended to me on YouTube, I knew nothing about the film Sing Sing or the program it depicts.

Immediately after viewing it, I wanted to know more.

Sing Sing‘s Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, highlighted in the film, uses creative arts such as theatre, dance, visual arts, music, and creative writing to foster personal growth, self-discipline, and collaboration among inmates. It creates a positive environment for self-expression and notably reduces recidivism rates.

I’m looking forward to watching this one and seeing how the triumph of the human spirit can work wonders, even in the darkest places.

The Science of Reading and Professional Learning at Work in Texas

kids sitting on green grass field — Photo by Vika Glitter on Pexels.com

“If a child memorizes ten words, the child can read only ten words, but if a child learns the sounds of ten letters, the child will be able to read 350 three sound words, 4320 four sound words and 21,650 five sound words.”
Dr. Martin Kozloff

Although I’m an avid reader, I’m not a reading teacher. I’ve never claimed to be, and I don’t think I’d do a great job with it. Reading came easy to me at a very young age and I don’t have a clue how to share that magic with anyone, unless I tell them “read”–which is, of course, silly.

If students could start reading on demand, they would, if only to get us to shut up and leave them alone.

Thankfully, more schools across the US have begun implementing programs based on the science of reading to get more kids reading at “grade level.” Yes, I’m fully aware that reading at a grade level is an arbitrary designation, but it’s what we have to work with, and it works.

What is the science of reading? Briefly, the science of reading refers to a comprehensive body of research from various disciplines, including cognitive science, neuroscience, and psychology, that explores how we learn to read. This research emphasizes the importance of explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies. It advocates for evidence-based teaching methods that have been proven effective in helping all students learn to read, particularly emphasizing the systematic teaching of reading at the early stages of education.

science of reading infographic — Infographic from the National Center on Improving Literacy

One curriculum becoming more popular every year is the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program. The Aldine Independent District in Texas adopted Amplify CKLA to improve students’ reading proficiency. The curriculum provides students with knowledge-rich, grade-level texts, which helps build vocabulary and a base of common knowledge that fosters inclusive learning communities.

The district has also implemented robust curriculum-based professional learning to ensure teachers are equipped to deliver strong instruction that meets the needs of all students. The program has already shown promising results, with 50% of third graders reading at or above grade level within the first two years of implementation.

Similarly, the Spencer Community School District in Iowa shifted to CKLA for grades K-2 to increase literacy, with great results thus far.

In both cases, the district is focused not just on a new curriculum but also on providing quality professional development for teachers. No matter how great the curriculum is, it can’t work without teachers ready to implement it.

Perhaps more importantly, focusing on changing the hearts and minds of teachers to see how reading instruction was not working in the past and the need for change. In An Uncommon Theory of School Change, the authors posit that before transformative change can take place in a school, we must take a deep dive into the shared assumptions of teachers and wrestle with the fact that what we’ve done before must not be working, no matter how comfortable we are in that teaching.

Bottom line: whatever is best for kids, we need to do that.

Incredible Interactive Explainer Demonstrates How Airplanes Fly

gray plane wing — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“The sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning.”
Chuck Yeager

I love flying. My grandfather was a pilot and former member of the Army Air Corps (pre-Air Force) and owned a little Cessna for years.

I still get a thrill during every takeoff as my stomach drops and lays somewhere on the ground as we climb, leaving the restriction of the ground.

But how do planes fly? You may know, but I bet a student has asked you at some point.

Even if you know how planes fly, this epic interactive explainer is a great way to share flow concepts and how an airfoil works with anyone.

https://ciechanow.ski/airfoil/

Shared Assumptions & Changing Culture

text quote from An Uncommon Theory of School Change https://amzn.to/3UYRFjl — from An Uncommon Theory of School Change

The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture. If you do not manage culture, it manages you, and you may not even be aware of the extent to which this is happening.
Edgar Schein

I’m reading An Uncommon Theory of School Change for a class, and the image text struck me. Actually, it knocked me to the floor.

Specifically, the idea of “shared assumptions” among a school’s teachers and staff. Every organization has these shared assumptions, and they all influence how the day-to-day functions of the organization, specifically in defining the organization’s culture, as Ed Schein explained.

So, why are these shared assumptions important in our schools?

Easy: they play a large part in how students learn. If teachers have decided, perhaps with the best of intentions, that “our kids can’t do that“–whatever that is–then it’s highly likely that the kids won’t do that.

(Somehow, this has turned into a bad commentary on one of Meat Loaf’s greatest hits…)

This line of thinking also shows up in John Hattie’s work, as teacher estimates of achievement significantly impact student learning.

Part of our work to change schools should involve a hard look at our shared assumptions and, perhaps, some adjustments to those assumptions.

After all, you know what happens when you assume something…

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