Jobs also attacked America’s education system, saying that it was hopelessly antiquated and crippled by union work rules. Until the teachers’ unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform. Teachers should be treated as professionals, he said, not as industrial assembly-line workers. Principals should be able to hire and fire them based on how good they were. Schools should be staying open until at least 6 p.m. and be in session eleven months of the year. It was absurd, he added, that American classrooms were still based on teachers standing at a board and using textbooks. All books, learning materials, and assessments should be digital and interactive, tailored to each student and providing feedback in real time. (Isaacson, p. 544)

Education was something Jobs thought about often. Even in his final encounter with Bill Gates, Steve asked him about this subject:

Jobs asked some questions about education, and Gates sketched out his vision of what schools in the future would be like, with students watching lectures and video lessons on their own while using the classroom for discussion and problem solving. They agreed that computers had, so far, made surprisingly little impact on schools–far less than on other realms of society such as media, and medicine and law. For that to change, Gates said, computers and mobile devices would have to focus on delivering more personalized lessons and providing motivational feedback. (Isaacson, p. 553)

Reference:
Isaacson, Walter. Steve Jobs. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.
Image Credit: L.A. Times Technology Blog

My last several pranks involved cars. In years past I had put a car up on blocks… but just barely so they wouldn’t notice. The year before that, my unsuspecting victim had red dye in their windshield washer fluid. So this year I needed to up the ante. I had read about this little trick and thought it would be perfect for a friend of mine. He was pretty mechanical and so would wonder what the heck was going on. So the game was on.

Creative Commons Image -Some rights reserved by ‘las – initially’ on Flickr.

I snuck out into the parking lot with my bag of goodies: a roll of aluminum foil and a bag of popcorn. I popped the hood of his car and carefully wrapped the popcorn around the manifold with the aluminum foil. The idea – when he would start driving, the manifold would heat thus popping the corn and making all sorts of racket under the hood! Oh it would be great! I was snickering all day just waiting for him to take a drive.

We always took an afternoon break at Bob’s Kwik shop across the street from the college at 2:30. On the button. You could set your watch by it. So the crew went over to Bob’s. But Jeff wasn’t there… hmmm… I bet he was driving his car. Oh sweet! He came in about 10 minutes late. No car. He had a drained look on his face. He was white as a ghost. Someone asked him what was up? He said, “I have just been at the police station. My car caught on fire at Wal-Mart when I went there over the lunch hour.”

I sunk. Everything shut down. I couldn’t hear anyone talking or see what anyone was doing. They kept talking about the car and what Jeff was going to do. It wasn’t insured and he had no way to pay for it. I was just sick. Literally sick. Ready to barf my soda and pretzel I had munched on.

“Jeff… I think I might know what happened,” I said in a very timid voice – not usual of me. “WHAT?” he cried out! “Well I was trying to pull an April Fools joke on you and so I put popcorn on your manifold. It must have been what caused your car to catch fire. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” I didn’t know what to say or do. He just stared at me. Deadpan look like ‘what am I going to do now?’

Then he shouts – “April Fools! My car didn’t catch fire!” The laughter rolled out of Bob’s Kwik shop all the way to the college. Backfire! Oh – how did I fall for it? How did he know? I was still sick. I couldn’t believe it!

So, moral of the story – think before you pull a practical joke! Serious consequences could ensue! I’m just glad it didn’t really catch fire!

This Plinky Prompt spurred a story that I thought you would enjoy. 

So what IS the most expensive thing I have ever broken? Being a boy and growing up with LOTS of energy, I broke a LOT of things! Some on purpose, some not. Was it a stereo? A bike? Crystal that we used for fancy dinners? I did tear an expensive tire off of my dad’s car by accident. (It was icy!) Does that count? The timing chain in my car broke and ruined the engine. But I didn’t really break it – it was just old!

Okay – after a little thought, I don’t think I am not even in the right realm. My NECK is the most expensive thing I have ever broken! C-3, 4, and 5 to be exact. First day of summer vacation. June 6th, 1998. We were itching to get down to the river and into the water! The race was on and I was first! Oops – something happened. Can’t move. That’s a weird feeling. No feeling!

Although that’s the most expensive thing I have ever broken, I’m just glad my mother had fabulous insurance. We would still be in debt almost twenty-five years later.

The Giving Trees - From the Gallery Osborne

I was compelled to write tonight in reflection of our sermons this morning. It started with our children’s sermon. What a great way to engage and get the adults thinking about the Gospel and the Gospel Sermon. As Colvin was up front with the other children, I was amazed at how clear the pastor’s analogy was to me. It started with an apple tree. He asked the kids, how can you tell an apple tree? Well, duh! Because it has apples! Okay, so how can you tell a lemon tree? Well, maybe it’s because of those round yellow things dangling from the branches. What’s this have to do with anything? Then, the next question sealed it for me – How can you tell a Christian? Wow! How powerful is that? It should be pretty easy to tell (just like the fruit tree) by the good things we do for others. By going to Church and learning with other Christians. By doing good deeds and going out of our way for others. By our witness to Christ. By modeling and teaching our children that He is the light. By humbly getting on our knees and praying for his guidance, forgiveness and thanking him for the blessings he bestows on us every day. By picking up the Bible and reading his word.

I know I fall short. I am in good company. But as I reflect today I have a few things I’d like to address with myself.

• Life is fast. Complex. Overwhelming at times. How can I simplify?
• What is most important?
• In what aspects of my life can I go “deeper”? Gain a richer understanding.
• What can I do for others to enrich their lives?
• What hats do I wear and how can I model a Christian life in each?
• In this time of giving, what is my gift to humanity? Am I leaving a legacy He would like?

Lastly I come back to one thing: Simply. Simplify in Heart – Mind – Body – Spirit

Number One - Google Docs

By far, this is the number one tool I would suggest to teachers. Google Docs is a web-based suite of tools (word processing, spreadsheets, forms, presentations, and drawing)  that has extremely powerful collaborative and sharing capabilities entrenched in its design. With an array of creative uses, Docs provides teachers these tools to be more efficient in managing their classroom, collaborating on school improvement meeting minutes or managing grades and lesson plans. As a classroom tool, there are countless 21st century projects a teacher can facilitate through many available projects and templates within Google Docs.

Another reason Google Docs is first in my list is when looking through lists of other great tools, Docs has many of these other features built-in. For example, not only can you use the regular productivity software but you can also upload and share your own files eliminating the need for a service like Dropbox. You can also use pages/spreadsheets/presentations as web pages for other projects, agendas and what not. There are just so many great things about putting these tools in the cloud (on the Internet) that I can’t describe them all here.

Take a Docs Tour | What’s New | Docs for Educators

Number Two – WordPress

One of my professional missions is to ensure that every teacher has a web presence. It is so important that this tool is available to communicate with their students, parents, and the community. It provides teachers a platform to share what they are doing in the classroom and share student work with a more relevant, authentic conduit. It also provides a means for two-way communication from parents and community members genuinely interested in the success of our future leaders. WordPress floats to the top of my list because of its ability to easily generate great looking, dynamic sites including web pages, blogs, and a host of other features designed for effective communications. It’s a flexible tool for teachers just starting out or the most tech savvy educators.

WordPress.com | Edublogs.org

Number Three - Diigo

The Internet is a vast land of seemingly endless information. As a facilitator of learning, teachers need a tool to collect useful web gems . The amount of websites teachers collect for any given curriculum is daunting enough. On top of that, sharing these gems so all students have access can be frustrating to say the least. The answer is social bookmarking. Diigo is a powerful bookmarking engine able to share links anytime, anywhere. Bookmarks are organized how we think, using tags. The social side allows us to share links and updates with other teachers in the same field. Diigo steps up the social bookmarking game by providing a tool to annotate websites; highlighting sections, making comments, and more. Lastly, another feature of Diigo allows for group and classroom interaction and discussion. This is one tool that would be hard to live without.

Diigo Educator Accounts | Social Bookmarks in Plain English

Number Four - Twitter

Social Networking is all the buzz right now. It’s cool, if not necessary, to have a Twitter or Facebook account. Maybe you have one already for sharing pictures with family, getting a new recipe from a friend, meeting up at a reunion, or just sending messages. (Goodbye email?) But why does this have importance as an educator?  I see three main reasons teachers need a Twitter account: 1) Building a network of like-minded professionals in your field. Having others to lean on for ideas or support. 2) Self-directed professional development. There are so many resources shared on Twitter and this is a great social filter, letting your colleagues decide what is good and what is not. 3) Communication with students and parents. Teachers use this tool to share upcoming announcements, homework, tests, sports scores and more.  It is a great way to use the tools our students are already using and leverage the power of social media. As a friend on Twitter said to me, “Twitter is what you make of it – if you follow other educators and people with like interests, you learn from each other and can get some amazing resources and ideas. You are who you follow!”

Twitter for Educators | Twitter for Teachers Wiki

Number Five - Skype

The world is flat. And the classroom should be too. Skype is an invaluable tool to break down the walls of the classroom and transport your students to any part of the world. This video conferencing software runs on Macs or PCs (and even mobiles) and is a great cross-platform communication software for anyone with an Internet connection. The possibilities of going global are endless – from virtual field trips to connecting with scientists, authors and more. You can share your screen with other classrooms or having a parent or community member join your class. Only your creativity will limit the use of this invaluable tool.

50 Uses of Skype the Classroom | Using Skype at School for Dummies

Until next time!

About Bellevue University’s Center for American Vision and Values

So my question to you is: Why should a <insert title here> have to acquire 21st century skills?

Titles may include: Custodian, Grounds Keeper, Secretary, Programmer, Videographer, Helpdesk Support, Program Coordinators, Directors, Therapists, Technicians, etc.

To me, it is not a matter of title but a way of thinking. We can move from convergent thinking to divergent thinking about the everyday way we do our job. With knowledge of 21st century skills we can think of different more effective ways to do our jobs in a manner suitable for this generation.

Image by http://www.flickr.com/people/jakecaptive/
Used under direction of Creative Commons Licensing.