ISHCMC Food for Thought

Dear all,

Thank you for yesterday it really made me feel up and energized ahead of a week without students. I hope it had the same uplifting effect upon you.

I wasn’t sure whether to write a Food for Thought this week or not, but decided to do so because you should have less school emails and might have a chance to read it and catch up on previous ones. I was also feeling so positive about your visions that I thought I could add some more information for you to read and think about.

So here goes:

Firstly, attached is Helen’s ppt which was linked to Hattie’s work on Visible Learning.  Here is a link to a similar ppt that I had seen before by Hattie and posted through the NZ government:

 http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/media-speeches/guestlectures/pdfs/tgls-hattie.pdf

 Both are similar in content and do ask good questions about our mindset as teachers. I believe that this approach links very nicely with the “Culture of Achievement” that we are creating and naturally with the work we have done on Walk through templates and ideas of Dylan Wiliam, Sir Ken Robinson, Daniel Pink and many other authors not mentioned yesterday.

 A vision that was also mentioned yesterday that is certainly worth exploring is  that of “Visible thinking” from Project Zero. Here is a link to their site for you to explore:

 http://www.old-pz.gse.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/VisibleThinking1.html

 The strategies that are suggested here are certainly worth discussing at department and Grade level. In addition if you are thinking about potential PD and feel it would be beneficial to undertake this collaboratively as a Department or Grade level, Project Zero provides some excellent and affordable ($399 as a group) on line courses that encourage collaboration both for your team at ISHCMC and as part of a global network of educators:

 

http://wideworld.pz.harvard.edu/en/prog/visible.html

 Finally there were several presentations and visions about facilities, the school environment and health. All very important issues and ones that need taking seriously. Hence this final set of food for thought comes from some readings  that I have collected with the intention of sharing. The first is attached, Teaching for a Better World. This quote starts this document:

 “ One of the tasks of the progressive educator [...] is to unveil opportunities for hope, no matter what the obstacles may be.” Paulo Freire (1994) A Pedagogy of Hope

I like this quote because it provides us with a filter for our thinking. So often we are pessimistic, passing on our own fears to our students, about the issues of our world and look at them as a “fait accomplis”  rather than problems that can be solved with creative thinking. I believe it is our role to develop students who recognize the world’s issues, but are not scared by them, rather seeing them as challenges that can be solved and hence creating a better world. This approach would certainly benefit students long term health, as being optimistic is known to lower stress, release positive hormones and encourage a longer and happier life.

Finally I wanted to share this very recent article that is related to the environment but also encouraging others to take action through our own example and leadership.

Meet the College Professor Who Teaches His Classes in a Dumpster

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/10/10/professor-dumpster-teaches-class-his-home-which-yes-dumpster

Professor Jeffrey Wilson has taken green living to a whole new level.

Professor Dumpster, a.k.a. Environmental Science Professor, Dr. Jeffrey Wilson (Photo: Courtesy The Dumpster Project)

Professor Dumpster, a.k.a. Environmental Science Professor, Dr. Jeffrey Wilson (Photo: Courtesy The Dumpster Project)

Just how far are you willing to go in the name of sustainable living? Recycling, driving less, and reducing your red meat consumption might already be part of your daily routine. And perhaps you’re just waiting for a three-day weekend to check off the next item on your green to-do list: Installing a compost bin in your backyard. But would you ever give up your apartment, sell off your possessions—and move into a garbage dumpster?

Probably not, but then again we can’t all be eco-purists like Jeffrey Wilson, a.k.a. “Professor Dumpster.”

 

An environmental scientist at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, Wilson plans to live in what amounts to an oversized metal box for the next twelve months, reports FastCoExist.

And his employer is buying in: Wilson’s bare-bones residence will serve as a classroom, with the professor and his students converting it into a livable, eco-viable dwelling. At first, he will survive in just the empty shell, curled up in a sleeping bag on the metal floor—or “dumpster camping,” as he’s calling it. “I'm essentially becoming part of the one percent,” he joked. “This dumpster is 33 square feet, which is one percent the size of the new American home in 2011.” Over time, he and the students will add a slew of green improvements to the trash bin: Energy-efficient light bulbs, nano-insulation, and even an energy-producing toilet.

The plan then calls for Wilson’s students to put what they’ve learned to use by enacting similar energy efficiency upgrades to their dorm rooms. And there’s even talk of a Professor Dumpster road show, with Wilson travelling to local grade schools to teach school kids the merits of sustainability.

He said his ultimate goal is to bring sustainability to the core of the college experience. “What we are talking about right now is to start a green movement within historically black colleges and universities [of which Huston-Tillotson is one], and become the flagship school of that, under an initiative called ‘Green is the New Black,” Wilson said.

Not everyone has given Wilson's year of living dumpster-ly a thumbs up, however. 

“My ex-wife did not express a lot of encouragement in our [6-year-old] daughter sleeping with daddy in a dumpster, he said. "So that’s not gonna happen."

Have a good week,

Yours

Adrian