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And, if you would like to apply to write for edu180atl during the 2011-12 school year, fill out the form on http://edu180atl.org/apply/. We only have 33 slots remaining for 2011!

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#180voices180stories

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 180 voices. 180 stories.

In April, the edu180atl team launched this site, edu180atlbeta, in order to test the feasibility of such a project. The April version of edu180atl was a huge success and we are looking forward to our August 1, 2011 launch of edu180atl. Our new website will be up and running soon which will allow you to submit an application to write for one day during the 2011-12 school year.

In the meantime, check out the posts from the month of April:

April 1, 2011: Whit Weinmann (@runningwitty) on The Power of Connections

April 4, 2011: Amanda Stavropoulos (@stavrofamily) on The Village is Waiting

April 5, 2011:Sharmaine Mitchell (@sharmitchell) on Tension

April 6, 2011:Sarita Yardi (@yardi) on Familiar Strangers

April 7, 2011: Tara Subramanian (@TaraWestminster) on Beauty in Broken Pieces

April 8, 2011: Bo Adams (@boadams1) on Through What Lens Do We Gaze

April 11, 2011: Jill Gough (@jgough) on Learning, Time, Risk, Trust, Choice

April 12, 2011: Jeffrey Small (@jeffreysmalljr) on The Breath of God

April 13, 2011: Peter Diaz on Learning

April 14, 2011: Brett Jacobsen (@jbrettjacobsen) on Listening by Design

April 15, 2011: Elizabeth Weaver on Through the Eyes of a Child

April 18, 2011: Kara Koetter (@kkoetter) on Failure

April 19, 2011: Jonathan Newman on Lightning

April 20, 2011: Buffy Hamilton (@buffyjhamilton) on Listening to Your Heart

April 21, 2011: Clark Meyer (@clarkbeast) on Consider Me a Convert

April 22, 2011: Usha Nair-Reichert on Precious Moments

April 25, 2011: Anna Harrison on The Perils of Perfectionism

April 26, 2011: Kimbrell Teegarden on Big Kid, Little Kid, Big Kid, Little Kid

April 27, 2011: John Burk (@occam98) on Physics

April 28, 2011:Lauren Formica on The Sound of Learning Physics

April 29, 2011: Josie Calamari on Witnessing the Becoming of a Student

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Witnessing the becoming of a student

I have met many beloved and interesting characters working with special needs students. There was the child who insisted I call him by his initials because they spelled out a famous internet provider. And there was the 7th grade boy who named my stress-induced acne after himself. As his homeroom teacher, I was responsible for dealing with his actions and their consequences. He would come to class looking for new signs of his bad decisions making, and promised to make better choices to help clear up my zits or “Ross’s.” But today, I had a student truly warm my heart. I have been working with this child for two years in different capacities, but always knowing he could achieve more than he thought he was capable of doing. Today, he came to school in the midst of royal wedding fever and stated, “Mrs. Calamari, I think I am here both physically and mentally today!” He had finally learned what I already knew. Even though he is ADHD and dyslexic, he has a brain that might work in mysterious ways, but it does work and works well. Yes, this comes towards the close of the year, but it is the pinnacle moment of his months of hard work, determination and motivation. He came to school feeling like the student he had worked to become. Along the way, he has learned how to read, write, and self advocate. 

About the author: Josie Calamari teaches 6th grade dyslexics at The Schenck School.

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The sound of learning physics

Illustration by Guila Forsythe

As a wide card-board tube was placed over a steaming Chick-fil-A cup of water, a confused fifth period physics class looked at their instructor as if he was crazy. While the physics class was initially a bit puzzled, it turns out that one can learn the wonders of sound through a simple demonstration. Today, I learned that sound travels fastest through solids, but it also travels faster through a light gas versus a heavy gas. Oxygen and Nitrogen are relatively heavy gases when compared to something like water vapor. In the tube demonstration, the water vapor of the cup of hot water displaced the oxygen and nitrogen normally present in air. By changing the gas in the tube, the sound of a clap traveled faster through the water vapor air than the normal air. In order to prove this point, a microphone and computer data collecting device were used. It turns out that sound through water vapor crosses the length of the cup in a few tiny fractions of a second sooner than sound traveling through normal air. This simple but fascinating demonstration had the entire physics class on their toes. Not only did this example further our knowledge about sound, but it also showed the concept of speed of sound in a new, exciting way. These sorts of demonstrations keep the class interesting and fun while still managing to be challenging and still be, well, physics.

About the author: Lauren Formica- Junior at the Lovett School who enjoys anything environmental , is a proud debate nerd and has a passion for community service.

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orbit.mov Watch on Posterous

Physics. It's a word that makes most students (and adults cringe). Often when people find out I teach the subject, they share stories of their horrible experiences with the subject—hours spent trying to decipher complicated formulae and absorb ideas from incomprehensible lectures. But it's never been that way for me—when I look at physics, I don't see equations—I see symmetry, beauty and an endless chain of questions. My greatest challenge as a teacher has been to change the way the world sees science, one student and one question at a time.

For many of my students, visualizing physics turns out to be one of the biggest difficulties, since the motion of objects, from planets to baseballs, is governed by forces they can't see. Recently, thanks to the power of technology, I've found what might be a tremendous breakthrough in overcoming this difficulty. Students in my classes are learning to program interactive 3-d simulations of situations in a programming language, VPython. They can then interact with these simulations, and see how the velocity or net force change as the objects moves. You can see an example of this above in the movie simulating the elliptical motion of a comet around the sun.

I came to discover this tool through another technological wonder—the Global Physics Department—a weekly collaboration of over 20 physics teachers from around the world that get together on Wednesday nights to chat via elluminate and share ideas about physics teaching. The power of technology to allow us to visualize and build global collaborations might just be the key to taking the fear out of physics.

About the author: John Burk is a physics teacher and new father with more questions than answers.

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Big kid, little kid, big kid, little kid…

From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all. --Ralph Waldo Emerson 

They are lined up along the field, more than 600 children in total. It is Buddy Day at Trinity School, an event that began indoors with the “big kids” (2nd through 6th grade) helping the “little kids” (three year olds through 1st grade) write letters to troops serving overseas. Now they have physical challenges to overcome together, and the field is radiating energy far beyond the light of the bright morning sun.

The big kids own their responsibility with notable pride and aplomb; they are clearly aware and empowered by the knowledge that the little kids are looking up with eyes of wonder and adoration. The little kids respond with unreserved joy knowing a big kid has taken their hand and is showing them the way as if nothing else matters but their success in that moment.

This morning, each child is simultaneously teacher and student; empathy, role-modeling, patience, and team-work are just a few of the skills covered in this lesson. The reciprocity of the learning creates a palpable life-force before my eyes, a natural resource produced by human capital alone. It is an energy that we must work to harness more intentionally, knowing that our students benefit so greatly from its light.

Today I learned that when we provide the opportunity for our young teacher/students to engage each other, all that is left is to step back and bask in the glow.

About the author: Kimbrell Teegarden is a mom, a wife, a school counselor, a Presbyterian minister, and a teacher or a student, depending on the moment.

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The Perils of Perfectionism

As I was perusing the pictures of Don Stewart’s morning clinic at Chastain Horse Park, I came across a picture of me, jumping on my pony, Beau. The first thing  I thought of was how far I was leaning forward—I was hovering over the pommel of the saddle, not anywhere near the middle. My leg was fine, if a little too far back. My eyes were looking ahead. My back was flat. While my elbows looked like chicken wings, it wasn’t a major problem. It was my upper body that ruined the whole image.  I had known I had a tendency to lean forward over jumps from looking at pictures, but I thought I had cured that habit. Apparently not.

Seven years of sore legs, sweat, painful injuries, and hard work, I still had faults when jumping over a small, 2’3” jump. It made me wonder—would I ever look as good as George Morris? Would I ever be perfect?

It all made me think—if you strive for perfection, you’re going to have to shoulder the burden of failure. There’s always going to be some little flaw—your heel isn’t down, you can’t hit the right note, you can’t figure out a math problem. If you want perfection, you need to be prepared to fight a losing battle. Seven years can make you great; but no amount of time can make you perfect.

About the author: Anna Harrison is an enthusiastic horse rider, pianist, and soccer and basketball player. She is a Harry Potter nerd extraordinaire.

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Precious Moments

It's exit interview time ... an opportunity to review with proud soon-to-be graduates their college experiences. Yet, this year these exit interviews are different because a wise 7th grader taught me a valuable lesson: to take time to appreciate life without worrying about a long to-do list.

Last week's tornadic Friday evening found mom, dad, boy and dog together in the basement with nothing else to do but talk to each other in the flickering candlelight.  No X-box live, no TV, no grading exams, no preparing for class and no writing the next article.  Just the whole family together, being together.  Many are the days when we are all together without really being together, each one doing his or her own thing.  However, that Friday there were no pressing deadlines...just the four of us talking.  Our 7th grader reflected upon his transition to a new school, his successes and challenges, and the lessons he had learned. "I need to re-calibrate myself," he sighed, pondering over his situation.

Yes, I thought. I too need to re-calibrate, taking time for what matters most and appreciating what each moment brings. That evening was an especially graced time as we all shared our ideas, passions, fears and hopes about life.

Yes, the exit interviews are very different this time around.  The lessons I learned that stormy Friday night have helped me appreciate the present a lot more, without worrying about my to-do list. That will always be there.  As I hear the joys and challenges of each student's journey towards this proud moment of graduation, I feel truly blessed and privileged to have had the opportunity to share a part of this amazing journey. 

About the Author: Usha Nair-Reichert is an associate professor and director of undergraduate programs in the School of Economics at Georgia Tech.

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Consider Me A Convert

For thirteen years now, I’ve ended the year in my 8^th grade English classes with a sprawling group project in which students work in groups of four or five to adapt a scene from Romeo and Juliet into film.

The project has steadily evolved as the available technology has evolved.  It has definitely gotten a lot easier; I have bittersweet memories of the early days when editing involved wiring two VCR’s together and pressing “play” on one machine and “record” on the other to get the desired clips into a crude sequence.  But today it feels like something fundamentally changed when one kid brought his iPhone 4 to class so his group could do a dry run of filming a scene.

 I’ve never before been able to offer the kind of formative feedback on student filming that I can with student writing—filming and editing being such a monumental task there was only time to do it once—but today we had a rough draft to work with. We were able to look at shot composition and blocking and make revisions by shooting again, all in a matter of minutes. In short order, they had worked through one key sequence and were ready to apply these lessons to the rest of their film. And by the end of the day I, had several groups using smart phones to quickly test and revise their ideas.

Count me as a convert to the idea that cell phones should be allowed in school.

About the Author: Clark Meyer (@clarkbeast) teaches English at Westminster. Good with ideas, not good at follow-through, works best in teams for that reason

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Listening to Your Heart

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

On a cold winter’s day in January 2003, I woke up with what I thought was a severe case of indigestion.  In spite of shortness of breath, nausea, and pains in my back, I ignored the symptoms and was determined to make it through the day at work and my team taught class of 1^st graders.  By mid-morning, though, I was so nauseous I could barely stand and was concerned I might pass out in front of some very impressionable six year olds.   Concerned I might faint and frighten the children, I went to my principal, who upon seeing my pallid appearance, ordered me home immediately. 

My mother drove me to my physician because I was too sick to drive.  Because I had a history of high cholesterol, my physician decided to run an EKG.  The next few hours were a blur of nitroglycerin, a ride in an ambulance to the emergency room, and admission to the cardiac unit of North Fulton Hospital mixed with disbelief and worry that I would miss the first night of my final semester of master’s degree studies.  

Sometimes we ignore our hearts, literally and figuratively.  We ignore the warning signs and try to rationalize the signals our heart is sending us, the signals that tell us that contrary to overwhelming logical evidence, something just is not right.    We explain away the signals and rationalize why we should ignore those nagging feelings something is “off” because it sometimes feels safer to not act at all.  Maybe it is because we’re taught to make decisions based on facts and evidence, rather than emotion and intuition, we develop the habit of ignoring the messages our hearts send us.  My epiphany today is that having the faith to trust your heart can be difficult even when experience tells you it is the right thing to do.  I sometimes think we are afraid to trust our hearts because it means facing the reality of uncertainty, the end of a dream, or the challenge of change.  However, ignoring our hearts ultimately is more painful and harmful over time that acting on our intuition.   How do you learn to trust your heart in our data, logic- driven world?

About the Author: Buffy Hamilton (@buffyjhamilton) is an educator with a large heart. A NSBA Top 20 To Watch and ALA Mover and Shaker, she is the founding media center librarian at Creekview High School's "Unquiet Library."

Editor's Note: Buffy wrote and submitted this post to edu180atl as promised before heading to the ER to check on her heart.  Although the word count is  longer than the limit, the editor decided that this time every word mattered.

Image Credit: Love is in the air by Flickr member smilingbluedog, accessed April 20. 2001 10:45 pm

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Lightning

The last line of part one of Life of Pi (I’m reading it now with my English 10 students) reads, “This story has a happy ending.” While older Pi knows he survived his ordeal on the ocean, younger Pi could only grit his teeth and hope.

My students have been working on an audio story project, inspired by This American Life. They’re doing interviews, writing scripts, and using GarageBand to produce their stories. It’s something I’ve wanted to try for years, and I wrote and produced my own story last summer to get ready. Now that we’ve embarked, much of this has been out of my control. I can approve their interview questions and talk to them about the importance of getting people to tell them stories, but I can’t be there during the interview and say, “Whoa! You’ve got to follow up on that point! Get her to give you an example!” Since I haven’t gone through this before, I don’t have the wisdom of hindsight, only a gut sense that the means (the skills learned, the challenges faced, and the discoveries made by the students and me) will justify the ends.

Of course, I am hoping for a happy ending. I want their stories to be interesting, surprising and reasonably well put together. But I’m also trying to see the world the way Pi does when he’s watching lightning strike the ocean. He knows he could be burned alive, but instead he feels happiness, exaltation, and wonder.

About the Author: Jonathan Newman has taught English and journalism at The Lovett School for the past eight years. Among other important attachments, he has a dog named Chicken.

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Failure

I strive daily to provide my students with authentic learning experiences. Since this is my first year teaching technology, I am constantly referring to my network for ideas and advice on the latest and greatest tools out there. In preparation for this week, I planned to introduce a new Web 2.0 tool, one I hadn’t worked with before. Almost immediately, I started to feel frustrated. What was I doing wrong? Why wasn’t it doing what I wanted?  It started off as frustration, but as I got deeper into the problem, I began to sense something different, something very uncomfortable.

I was failing at a task I was supposed to be good at!

As a teacher, I was failing. But as a learner, was I really?

Even as adults we struggle to be part of the elite few who seldom make mistakes. Luckily, mindsets concerning failure in the classroom are shifting. I am becoming more aware that failure is not only acceptable but necessary for authentic learning experiences to take place.

Where does this sense of pressure to always be successful first begin? In the home? At school? Or within ourselves?

Samuel Beckett tells us to, “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

What can we do to ensure that these words are taken to heart each and every day by young and old learners alike?

About the Author: Kara Koetter (@KKoetter) is a Florida native new to the Atlanta area. As a relatively young educator who is also a self-proclaimed perfectionist, she is working to fail better.

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Through the Eyes of a Child

Coaching Girls on the Run for the past four years has been one of the most meaningful, inspirational, and rewarding experiences of my life.  Although it is my responsibility to teach elementary-aged girls lessons about healthy living, I find that I learn just as much from them as they do from me.  Today was one of those days.

Each season the girls plan and execute a simple community service project during practice.  When the girls voted to do a car wash and donate proceeds to Japan relief, I immediately started worrying…Was this feasible in less than an hour?  Would we raise any money?  Did we even have access to a hose?  To my absolute shock, the girls raised over $175 in less than an hour, washing car after car with pure joy and excitement. 

As adults, we are skilled at analyzing every minute detail, weighing the pros and cons of a situation, and thinking realistically before we make a decision.  True, this way of thinking typically allows us to avoid unwelcome surprises, protects us from failure, and ensures positive outcomes.  However with it comes the implicit danger of limiting the boundless possibilities of what could happen.   What would happen if the pragmatism that guides our thinking evaporated and instead, we saw the world through the eyes of a child, where all things are possible?  I challenge you as I challenge myself: never let the pragmatic thinking of our adult minds impede the limitless potential of our future generations.

 About the Author: Elizabeth Weaver is a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill double-majoring in Psychology and Sociology.  Next year, she will teach middle school Social Studies in Atlanta with Teach for America.

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Listening by Design

In the business section of the Sunday New York Times, each week an executive is interviewed and expresses a significant leadership lesson that he/she has learned over time.  It never fails that approximately 90% of the time the leader reveals that listening is one of the most critical ingredients to great leadership.

So, I thought I would give listening a try today.  I did and this is what I learned from students, teachers, parents and administrators in my Mount Vernon community where I reside.

Listening to...

Claire, she taught me to be in the moment and enjoy.

Stephen, he reminded me to always assume the best.

Cate, she taught me to lead with your heart more than your head.

Allison, she taught me to see the angles.

Lauren, she modeled discernment.

Andy, he taught me that small deposits have a cumulative effect.

Eric, he taught to be a calming force.

Marsha, she pointed me in the right direction.

Paula, she ignited my creative juices.

Miles, he reminded me to take risks.

Robert, he reinvigorated my passion.

Mary, she embodied growth mindset.

Jovahn, he reminded me that nice guys do finish first.

Adrienne, she modeled serving others.

Bruce, he taught me the pursuit of precision.

Morgan, she exemplified the mindset to never, never give up.

Heather, she encouraged me to consider another point of view.

Braden, he reminded me that a sense of humor is necessary to team building.

What an incredible day of listening and learning! I need to do more of it.  I am privileged to be surrounded by great mentors.  However, as someone said recently, "Application makes all the difference."  Now, it is time to make innovative ideas happen. 

About the Author:  Dr. Brett Jacobsen (@jbrettjacobsen) is learning to be an effective listener, seeking to improve his creative intelligence, searching to launch the next big idea, and ultimately, hoping to be a great dad and husband.

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Today, I was working on a math project, and the people around me were talking about TV, and I knew that I couldn’t help but get involved in the conversation. SO WHAT DID I DO? Instead of getting wrapped up in their conversation, I walked across the hall and isolated myself in an empty classroom. By removing myself from the threat, there was no way that I could become distracted from my schoolwork. Even though I should have the self discipline to control myself around others, sometimes the temptation is just too great! This idea also carries over into other parts of my life, such as my home life. Other than my friends, I have numerous distractions that stand in between me and my homework. The computer is my biggest distraction, so sometimes I find it most effective to just turn the computer off and give it to my little brother so he can hide it. Sometimes, it is not those around me that pose a problem; rather, I am the one that poses the problem, and I that is what I learned today.

About the Author: I'm Peter Diaz!: A high school junior, who loves music, geography, sports, hanging with friends, public speaking, and trying new things!

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I spent today meeting with bookstores about my new suspense novel, The Breath of God. While there, I learned so much from the booksellers by asking questions about book marketing. For me, learning is more about questioning than answering. I learn best through exposing myself to new experiences and new ideas. This exposure to the new also sparks the creative spirit so crucial to my writing. But creativity is a necessary skill for all professions, not just those we stereotype as artistic. Creativity in science brings us iPads and new cures for diseases. In business, creativity keeps us competitive in a world where other countries produce more cheaply than we can. 

The creative process is about exploring the unknown, taking risks, and having the freedom to be wrong. In researching The Breath of God, I read over 50 books in areas I had never studied before, and then I spent a month trekking through India and the Himalayas. Creativity is not about creating an idea out of a vacuum, but about putting different pieces of a puzzle together in a new way. Later, I trashed over 300 pages of the first-draft of my novel and rewrote the remaining 400 pages many times. Thankfully, I wasn’t graded on the early drafts of the book! For me, creativity and learning are intimately related. Learning inspires the creative process, and the freedom to create drives me to learn.

About the Author: Jeffrey Small is an author, speaker, school board member, entrepreneur, and life-long student. Twitter: @jeffreysmalljr

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Learning, Time, Risk, Trust, Choice…

We were given the gift of time and choice on our professional development today.  We had a day to choose what, how, and with whom we wanted to learn.  How often do we offer this gift to our learners?  What if we offered them even an hour to choose their learning?  Is the risk so great that we don’t dare?  Do we trust them to learn, to collaborate, to work and play, to grow? 

How many times do we say that we don’t have time to do something?  How often does the schedule get in our way?  And, which schedule do we mean?  Do we mean the daily schedule where a bell rings and people come and go?  Do we mean the schedule of all that has to be accomplished over the course of a week, semester, or year?  Do we mean both? 

How must our learners feel about time and the schedules? 

What must it be like to just get into an interesting experiment, story, or problem and then time forces us to go on?  What if a learner is interested the current topic and wants to learn more?  Today, I was late to every appointment because with each learning experience we chose to stay past the deadline.  How do I respond when my learners are late or need more time? 

It is about time, risk, trust and choices.  Will we choose to learn?

About the Author: Jill Gough (@jgough) works to be a better learner, listener, and friend. She thinks a lot about communication, visualization, and teamwork.  

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Through What Lens Do We Gaze?

Yesterday, Garr Reynolds used his Presentation Zen blog to write of sakura - cherry blossoms. Through the cycles of nature and through the beauty of the sakura, we are reminded of the circle of life - as some things wither and die, other things spring to renewed being. Likewise, my recent family trip to Disney reminded me of this circle. Not only did we hear the Elton John song during The Festival of the Lion King, but I ventured on Space Mountain with my son, just as my father had with me 34 years ago.

In Garr's post about sakura, he quoted Dr. Seuss: "Don't cry that it is over. Smile that it happened."

With those prophetic words, Seuss and Reynolds implore us to consciously and carefully choose which lens we use as we decide to gaze upon the world. Are we seeing endings in focus? Or shall we concentrate on the new beginnings? Rarely are there just two choices; more often we have multiple lenses through which we can gaze, each provides us with a version of the truth and an actuality of things...including ourselves.

My five week sabbatical has come to an end. Nay, the next leg of my educational journey has just begun. My lenses are enhanced and polished. That which I saw dimly in a mirror, I now see more clearly. I have enjoyed weeks of Sabbath to renew my vision and now have fresh eyes. The sakura are popping with explosive inside-outness.

About the author: Bo Adams (@boadams1) is a learner, a dad, a husband, a son, a leader, and a follower. He has always loved school, so he chooses to spend his every-days as an educator hoping to give back even a little of what he has gained from family, friends, colleagues, and students.

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In a popular Indian folk tale, Birbal, the witty favorite courtier of Akbar, an old Mughal emperor, talks about the value of everything, whether it be whole or not. He points out that the fine clothes that the emperor wears along with the sugar cane juice that is so tasty both are products of crushed material: jhute (cotton) and sugar cane.

The belief that everything has value resonated with me when I observed my homeroom at our service project. Old pieces of furniture and cookware were being touched up a bit to provide a cozy comfortable first home for refugees.

In education, too, we tend to overlook the students whose abilities seem broken (for want of a better word) and the teachers can be unaware of their strength in another area. Also these students abilities may just need to be discovered, and they can be turned from nothing into something special.

Realize that everything has great potential, but you just might not see it yet. Open your eyes and delve deeper to find what lies hidden inside.

About the author: Tara Subramaniam is in eighth grade at The Westminster Schools. She loves traveling, learning, and is interested in creating change. Follow her on Twitter at @TaraWestminster.

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