Hyperventilation???

Nothing is really stressing me out or causing me "hyperventilation" in the past week. Where I work I am used to letting problems and stress roll off of me. But I suppose that something new in my life could cause issues. Last week, my wife and I began taking foster care/adoption classes. These classes are an hour away and are 3 hours long. They are on tuesdays and thursdays. So I suspect this may become an issue at some point. Thankfully it is only for 5 weeks. But with full time work and 2 small children already it could become an issue. I am not worried because I know we can make it through this. God wants us to adopt 3 children we know and we are making that happen. Or I guess He is making that happen.

I've tried to never let classes stress me out no matter how hard they seem. Im more of a person that just says, " well I guess I need to work harder". Stress isnt my thing. Ive never found it of use. Pressure on the other hand is good. Nothing better then a little pressure to get you motivated. Although I've seen pressure collapse people instead. I suppose some people have legitimate claims to being stressed and "hyperventilating", but mostly they are just being over dramatic. Well, maybe something bad will happen to me and cause me to stress, but until then im not going to worry and Im going to be happy and work hard(something many people don't know anything about).

Late night Saturday thoughts

So I posted earlier today about topics the doc gives in his phaedrus readings. But I just got home and had some things going on in my mind I wanted to share. Remember it is very late for me and I'm exhausted.

So I work in a juvenile prison. I could probably type up 20 pages tomorrow about education in the prison I work in, so I'll try to stick to a few thoughts tonight. First, Education as we know it is broken. I guess I've been told this for years from some teachers and people in this masters degree I am currently pursuing. But not until I started working where I work did I see it in full swing. I work with a "fluid" group of kids. Meaning my first bell class may have 15 kids, but 2 weeks later 3 leave and 3 new come in. This happens so much that after about 6 months the class is totally different with a totally different dynamic. My teaching "style" is unable to even form because the state of "fluid" student body. I'm given basically no tools at all to use in the room and even simple things like calculators and pencils are inventoried and accounted for every school bell. The whole system begs for a remedy because it is broken. We can't teach assuming we as teachers know how to teach. The kids can't learn mostly because we can't teach.

Now this problem has to be fixed and lawyers, lawmakers, and people in authority have to find that solution. Of course none of these people have ever taught anything within a prison so they can't truly find solutions. So what can we do. Well the state decided to install computers in every room such that every student will have a computer in every class. Then they installed A+ software that is already dated and boring to let the students do work on the computers. I think this was their idea of bringing education into the 21st century, but honestly most of this could have been done 20+ years ago. It saddens me to see a major problem and no one fixing it. Obtaining an education is the single biggest factor in reducing the return rate of released prisoners. It is taken seriously in some ways because money is thrown at educational needs and services, especially since over 50% of the students are labeled Special Education.

Anyway, where I work is filled with problems, many of which have nothing to do with education. I just feel frustrated when I look at these kids and see them wanting a better life and we can't do anything about it. Lord help me if I wanted to show a Math related Youtube video. There is always some law, rule, or self created standard keeping us from being even slightly creative in the classroom.

I know prison education is less than an ideal situation. Sometimes I even get caught up in negative mentalities. Kids will complain about not being able to learn something or do something and teachers say "well don't come to prison then." I understand totally where this comes from. Both sides are frustrated about how things are being run. Neither side has a say in how things are to be run and so a great deal of frustration and tension builds. Until what. Until there is verbal, emotional, sexual, and physical lashing out. Totally counterproductive, but at least there is some satisfaction or illusion of control from doing that.

To end I will quote and old Coolio song "Why are we so blind to see that the ones we hurt are you and me."

Importance of Teacher Response

I watched the video which mostly was a man explaining his experiment with introducing computers to children and letting them self learn. They were not given any training or direction, just left to discover things on their own. There were several interesting ideas and possibilities from his limited sample. Remoteness, as in the distance from Urban areas was talked about much of the time.

What I got from it was something very simple. Kids like to explore, discover, and learn on their own. This isn't a big surprise or at least shouldn't be to most people that have ever been around kids. But what I would caution is that isn't an all inclusive learning environment. For instance we don't want people to learn how to run a nuclear reactor by exploring. Training and teaching are necessary. Sometimes discovery is good and can be the best way for people to learn.

I for instance was taught how to type but never how to use a computer. I learned about computers by getting one, sitting down, and going at it. Now I can assemble computers, replace parts, install OS's, do just about whatever you need. I am no computer wizard, but I have a good sense of what I can do with a computer and what not to do. This kind of hands on discovery has made me better with the computer than some Computer 101 class ever could.

But back to my point about teaching being necessary. Too many things that need to be learned need an instructor or something to provide learning. Even if it is just a book about the topic or an instructional video. I don't want anyone to walk away from this video thinking that teachers are no longer needed. Only when a teacher can be accurately simulated can real teachers be removed. It may be a long time before they can create an AI that truly can react to all the needs of the learner.

Response to Myths

MYTH 1 "the Internet is dangerous"

Well, I must say that about the soliciting sex, that I'm sure the Internet is no more dangerous than school or a dance. One thing I noted as important about this myth was and I quote: "when protection becomes prison." This is a really good statement. I do think the Internet is dangerous. I think so much misleading information is out there and young people are not good at sorting through the lies and truths. Heck, many adults get duped by the emails they receive or Youtube videos claiming outlandish things. That is why I think the Internet is dangerous. BUT, like any good thing, it is dangerous. Guns were good for hunting, but dangerous. Cars good for transport, but dangerous. Nuclear power good for electricity, but dangerous. I think most people will get what I mean. It isn't the technology or medium that is dangerous, but those that use it incorrectly or misuse it.

MYTH 3 "Boys are better at..."

I think I might actually disagree with this post. I've always been very firm in the fact that all people are different, but that men and women are different. Again this would only be a generalization with exceptions to the rules. But I think in general that men are women are definitely different. I'm not basing this on some study from some scientists, although they exist, but rather on personal experience. Men are more aggressive then women. I don't think that is debatable because it has a great deal to do with testosterone. So there are difference that are not created from the persons experience. Men and women have genetic differences. And if you believe in creationism or evolution you should accept that men and women have always held different roles in society with some exceptions. This is because we are programmed genetically to think differently, feel emotion differently, and learn differently. So yes, I think men and women in general are genetically better at different things.

Myth 4. “I’m too old to learn…”

Bunk. Total Bunk. Why anyone would believe this is beyond me. This doesn't make any sense at all. I feel no need to even give a response to this nonsense.

OLDaily blog response

The OLDaily story I read was about Blogging and was at the link http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/08/the_blogging_personality.php . The story was a short segment on what characteristics do bloggers tend to have and it had a link to a test about the 5 characteristics that were identified. The characteristics were Openness to Experience, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Extraversion. Bloggers should tend to score higher in these categories. When I liked to the test to see how I rank I found 120 questions waiting for me. Many were very redundant or just the same question asked in a negative way.

I took the test and found my scores were Openness to Experience(0), Neuroticism(19), Conscientiousness(48), Agreeableness(54), and Extraversion(40). Yes that is a zero in Openness and a 19 in Neuroticism. I am more conservative and calm in my life. Before I even took the test, just from reading the characteristics, the one thing that popped into my head was "liberal". Probably from all of the presidential talk on TV, but I read the traits and thought it sounded much more like a liberal person. Don't get me wrong, I know many conservitive right wingers blog also. But I would guess the average "joe" of blogging is a little more on the liberal side of things. Exceptions are always present to the rule. I wonder what others think?

Week one Tech issues

Well, week one was really hectic. I felt a great deal of pressure to get a lot of stuff done. One thing that made it hard for me was that new people were joining and I had to wait for them to get their stuff posted before I could get what I had to do accomplished.

The technologies used weren't that difficult. I have used a "gator" before and had enough knowledge about them to get through. I havent really used an IM in years. Yes I know for some this may seem odd, but honestly my job and lifestyle don't allow me to have much computer time so it is just easier to call someone or go see them if I want to talk to them. And like cell phones, sometimes I feel IM systems just give too many people too much access to me. And like my cell phone, I don't turn it on often. My cell is probably on about 1-2 hours a day max and I treat IMs the same way. I just don't feel like "chatting" with people all day long. I have things to do with my job, family, friends, and church. Very little of it involve me on a phone or a computer.

Don't get me wrong, I love technology and think it is very useful. I just know that moderation is a good thing.

Phaedrus: Monica's Comment Reply

The thing that caught my attention the most about the blog is that students often learn things that are not in the curriculum at all. We have a set of things to teach, but often are teaching many other things at the same time. For example:

Most readers of this will probable know I teach math in a juvenile maximum security prison. When I teach math I am constantly reminded that I am really teaching a whole host of other things. I am teaching manners, respect, study skills, life skills, appropriate interaction, note taking, hand washing. I mean, it is any number of things I teach in a day that has nothing to do with math.

But it is more important to learn things that are not in the curriculum. I hear all the time "when will i ever use this?" I agree that most of these students will never use anything like a quadratic equation in the real world. That isn't the point of most mathematics education.

First, but doing higher math your ability to do basic math increases to where it is natural. I'm not good at dividing because I learned about it in 2nd grade and stopped using it. I am good at it because every since learning it I use it all the time as a part of working other more difficult problems.

And Second, Problem solving is a main topic in math. I might go so far as to say it is what math is all about. Being able to understand that for a situation rules apply and finding answers to problems can be done systematically, by trial and error, by starting with a guess, by substituting or exchanging one thing for another. This is huge. Learning skills to solve problems is paramount to people, especially inner city youth in gangs.

But that is about all I had about that. Just thought I'd shout out about everything we learn that isn't in a state standard.

EVERYONE ELSE ON DISTANCE EDUCATION

In a previous post I defined "distance education". The post was long and drawn out but basically said that disance education was any education where the teacher and class are not all together learning at one physical location. Now that we've chatted and seen what the Doc says I guess I was off a bit. It isnt just the teacher and learner being apart, but rather simply that they are not the same person at all. If two people are not the same person then any learning between the two requires there be distance education.

In the post I mentioned a fear of mine that education will be almost all done outside of a traditional classroom in the near future. Maybe this is just a dooms day scenerio for me or perhaps it is the inevitable future.

I found some things others posted about DE very interesting. First, someone said "Distance Education means a way of getting an education that isn’t on campus or at school." They seemed to be making the same error many of us make an assume that distance education means not in the same room when it only means that some form of communication is needed regaurdless of distance. This seemed to be a very common mistake made by many of us and I would say that most people out there would make a similar error in thinking. We can blind ourselves to what is common to us or what we percieve as traditional and comfortable.

Quote #2 "Distance Learning is an educational experience that allows students who might not otherwise have the opportunity, the chance to learn by interacting with others and exploring the content on their own." Again, this doesn't really seem to be accurate. I mean, yes distance learning is all learning so it provides everyone the opportunity to learn. But it isn't some mysterious and amazing fix to those people that can't otherwise learn.

Quote #3 "distance learning is the ability to offer educational opportunities for students and other individuals/groups from a distance. Distance learning provides people the opportunity to better them selves with little disruption to their schedules and lives." This one in many ways is very true. It does offer the opportunity for students to be education from a distance. But only in the since that all education is at a distance. But the scheduling issue has nothing to do with "distance education", but is rather just an outcome of using certain technologies. Some technologies such as email and the Internet allow schedules to be more flexible then oral transfer of knowledge.

Response to Docs "On Distance Education"

In the article on Phaedrus and in the chat last night, the same thing was brought up. That "All education is done at a distance". Those are the Docs words, but I think they are true. He continued on about how we are so fluent in some methods of bridging the distance, that we don't call them technologies. I am not so sure that this is the real problem.

I think the real issue is using the "right" bridge at the "right" time in order to bridge the gap. For instance, email is not the most effective way for a teacher and learning to do everything. Neither is chatting, webquests, classroom group work, or any one method. I think the real problem is that the old classroom isn't a "cure all" to work for educationing people. BUT neither is online/internet/web methods. We have to be sensitive to the situation and the students. Not all students learn the same way. Some need to hear, some see, some do, some discover, some be told, and so on.

I hate it when people act like the traditional classroom is the way things should be. But I equally hate it when peopl thing the "WEB" is the future and face to face education is useless. Just my thoughts.

PRE CHAT

So I get home from work and go play 2 softball games today. Then I roll into the house and eat my dinner waiting for me. I feed my 7 month old and then get to the computer about 845 and my IE explorer decides Java wont work today. I have to run Mozilla just to get the chat room going and I learn that it is postponed to 930pm.

Just a typical ended to a normal day that is spiralling out of control. I then began to chat some in IM and then in the chatroom. It was really great. We talked about and seemed to cover the entire topic without even having the teacher present. It was education and allowed me to identify and learn somethings about the people.

I think these kind of activities allow for learning to take place. No fear of grading or anyone coming down on you.

Tapped IN

Just realized I should be blogging about this also. Well, I didnt spend too much time there yet. I set up my office but havent really done much to it. I like to just go in there and start doing stuff. I will try to do that next week sometime. It looks interesting and I hope it is faster and better then the chatting on blackboard. Lets just hope.

Flabbergasted

Got back from camping this morning and thought I'd check the old email to make sure I've done all the homework for the week. Yes, I did it all. BUT......... There is a new post to read. And a comment about doing more then we are asked to do. I admit at first I was stunned. I just don't know how to explain it. It was like being a teacher for years and then suddenly they say "oh yeah, remember we will be working Saturdays and the day shift has been replaced with midnights. I just didn't seem to compute. But I started to think about something. How either in the reading or email or something that distance education isn't just a normal class with the people far apart. It is more then just that. Internet and Web courses aren't at all restricted by the Monday-Friday 8-3 schedule we become accustomed to growing up. I think this is hard for many especially teachers or other jobs that in many ways take the m-f 8-3 schedule for granted. I know I don't take it for granted because I've worked full time jobs that were no where near that schedule. Now I'm learning that education isnt on that schedule anymore. College has beegun changing to include night and weekend classes. So distance education may just keep the ball going. Technically, I could have done all my work for this class at 3am if I wanted to. Past internet courses were in some ways so flexible to allow me to work only one day a week of my choosing.

So what about this. I'm not sure. I think the flexibility is great and with chatrooms and IM's people get to stay in contact. As the tech gets better and cheaper we will all have very functional webcams. This will really begin to take away the need to have traditional classes. Why take a Calc 3 class in a room when you can do it from home or on vacation. You'll still be able to see everyone, talk to everyone, ask quetstions, see the teacher respond in real time. When this will happen I don't know but it seems almost inevitable for many courses to switch to a distance learning option. Some hands on training course may need to meet but again many basic or hands off classes can be done DE.

FINALLY. I must say I don't smile at the thought of doing school work seven days a week. But here I am doing it. Funny.

Education

I think education as instruction involves both "teaching and learning". Education is the teaching and learning. If one of the two isn't present then I don't think education is happening. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe learning is all that is needed for education. Perhaps if someone is sitting down playing and learn something then they have been educated. I'm not sure though. I would just call that exploratory or experiential learning. I still feel both have to be their for education. If I teach and you learn, then education has occured.

Distance

The post about distance not always being a geographic thing was interesting. It got me thinking about how I am close to some people and very distant from others even though we may see each other daily. What is distance then. I suppose from one point of view distance is simply how far people are apart. But is that physically, emotionally, maturity. It depends on what you are talking about. I feel very distant from people that don't take very good care of their children. Even though I may see those people often. Conversly some people I only see once or twice a week at church I feel very close too because we share so much. Distance is just an obstical between people being "close". That obstical may be distance, maturity, drugs, or any number of things. I hear some parents say they feel distant from their teenagers. I don't have any yet, but I think I know what they mean.

What is Distance Education?

How would I define distance education? I guess until now I never really considered what DE is, but rather made assumptions about it according to my personal experience. When getting my undergraduate degree I always thought of DE as kind of a class where the teacher was just far away. Cameras and teleconferencing would bridge the gap and allow teachers to teach from anywhere. I'm not sure why I thought this, but I am sure that is more or less what I thought.

Now I see Distance Education in general as any education where the teacher and class are not all together learning at one physical location. This could be accomplished in many ways. Chatrooms, webpages, video, teleconferencing, email distribution lists, and in the future possibly cell phone. Laptops, the internet, and cheap webcams have all made this much more possible then just a few years ago. Now entire degrees can be obtained without ever meeting a classmate or teacher face to face.

I think as teachers become more comfortable with technology, the internet, and not needed all the face to face contact then distance education will grow even larger. Imagine not needing all the dorm costs and buying all the new furniture for college freshmen. Imagine them simply gettin online and completing introductory classes until they find what they want to do and then move to college to finish hands on work. That sounds ideal for many people. Spend 1 to 2 years at home getting all the core classes finished then go to college to finish the degree. Sounds cheaper and more efficient.

The big catch I guess is that colleges may lose money. So they may raise prices. In response college professors may come together and form their own colleges at minimal costs compared to the larger univeristies. Universities will have no choice but to go almost all online or all traditional stating that the education is better if you attend a physical class. That all may never happen, but it is a possibility.

Already an Impact.

I must admit that I haven't been a fan of IM's since the late nineties, but this class has reminded me already how useful they can be when used for a purpose. I think most people use them just to talk and gossip. They have nothing better to do but talk and why pick up a phone when you can type all day.

But when injected with a purpose, IM's can be very useful. For instance a work group or school group can communicate about assignments or a job. It allows for quick interaction with multiple people. And there are no long distance fees for calling and it doesnt use up minutes. I can imagine many useful tasks that IM's can accomplish, but I can easily see the pitfalls for the person that can't stay on task. I could easily spend 30 minutes "chatting" with someone when I should be doing work.

Still, like most technology, it is good and bad. I just think people need to remember that life isn't lived on the computer, it just makes somethings easier.

Introduce Me to You Blog

Hello, my name is Dan Bennett. I teach high school math at a juvenile maximum security prison in Ohio. I've been doing this for almost 2 and a half years. We do year around schooling so I don't get those wonderful summers off that teachers like so much. But onto me.

I am married to Angela my wife of over 6 years and we have 2 children. I enjoy computer games, football, exercising(although at 280 lbs. you wouldn't know it), reading just about anything, spending time with my family, and trying to be the best person I can be. I live in Flatwoods Kentucky and feel I have a wonderful family and life. I am happy and enjoy life. I don't enjoy life by skydiving, but rather enjoy the simple moments like roasting hot dogs over a campfire with my son. Those moments are great and I am sure those with children know what I mean.

I wen to Morehead State and earned a BS in Mathematics/Secondary Education with a second major/degree in Philosophy. I am now taking classes to earn my Masters degree and plan on getting my administrators license. My goal is to only work in the prison until all my children are in school and then my wife can also work some. Prison teaching pays much better then public school teaching. (almost 35% better when factoring in the difference in health care costs). It is a fun job that allows in same ways for great flexibility and creativity, but at other times is rigid and frustrating. For instance, just try to find a pair of scissors in the prison. Not really going to happen.

I don't know what the future holds for me, but I will try to follow God's lead in my life. I think He has brought me to where I am so I need to stay open to where he wants me to go. Peace.