Educator, Learner

These are some of my favorite things…

Brian Bennett — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:46:45 +0000

CC by NC-SA by Brian Bennett

In a spinoff from the Colorize It and Focus on One Color, I took a photo of my desk at home and then colorized some of my favorite things that surround me each day.

This also makes me think about how much junk I have on my desk. Maybe it’s time to make some strategic decisions and cut down on stuff I haven’t looked at it too long.

I did this pretty quickly in GIMP. I took the photo, duplicated the original and made the copied layer monochrome. Then, I applied a white layer mask and used the free select tool to get nice, crisp lines. I then filled those spaces with black to erase the mask and let the colors show through.

The thumbnail will take you to the full-res photo.

Summer 2013 is HUGE

Brian Bennett — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:28:35 +0000

It’s that time of year again: summer. Conferences are picking up and I like seeing where everyone is headed. So, I give you, my summer travel/life schedule.

Kaskaskia Community College, Centralia, IL: 5/22 – 23
Clintondale HS, Detroit, MI: 6/7
FlipCon13, Stillwater, MN: 6/17 – 20
ISTE 2013, San Antonio, TX: 6/23 – 26
Lincoln, NE:6/27 – 28
Another Flippin’ Conference, Yorktown IN: 7/15 – 17
BLC, Boston, MA: 7/21 – 23
Warsaw eLearning Conference, Warsaw, IN: 7/20
eQuip eLearning Conference, Plymouth, IN: 7/21
Screencast Camp, Okemos, MI: 8/2 – 3
GAfE Summit – Rocky Mountains: 8/13 – 14

If you’re going to be in/around any of these areas this summer, let me know in the comments, or send me a note on Twitter, @bennettscience

A Clockwork Orange: Minimalist Cover Design

Brian Bennett — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:57:06 +0000

I’m a big fan of minimalism. So, when I saw a minimalist book cover assignment in the DS106 Assignment Bank, I knew it had to happen.

I recently finished reading A Clockwork Orange, and it was more powerful than I anticipated. The book is also very dense with Burgess’ made up dialect for Alex and his gang, so I thought a minimalist cover might be a good juxtaposition with the way the book reads.

CC by Brian Bennett

My initial thought was to use a knife or a record for the cover because of Alex’s dispositions. At times, he is murderously violent, while at others, he is thoughtful and poetic, especially when he’s listening to Beethoven. However, I didn’t feel like those really carried the main theme of the novel. After some searching and some rough trial and error, I ended up using a dentist’s chair as the main image.

If you’re not familiar with the story, a chair plays a major role in Alex’s development. At first, it shows relaxation, or comfort. But, in the context of the story, it is a tool in a method of curing social disease. It is a tool where the occupant loses freedom, choice, and ultimately, self. It is a symbol of terror and carries the weight of the story along with it.

Process

This should have been simpler than it turned out to be…it really showed me that I have to work on my understanding of layers, paths, selections, and how they all tie into one another. I began with an orange background as a base. Then, I added a layer with the original chair image. I used the eraser tool to remove a lot of the extra detail in the drawing, until I was left with the outline of the chair, with the armrest included.

Next, I converted the chair layer to a 1-bit pallet, and I used the “Select by Color” tool in GIMP to grab the outline in one click. Then, I turned the selection into a path and removed it from the layer. Finally, I changed the layer opacity to zero and put it on the background. This maintained the white fill of the chair, giving some contrast to the image.

Finally, I added the title and author using Helvetica Neue Thin font.

I’m happy with the result, and the only thing I wish I had done better was smoothing the lines of the chair. I tried using a stroke command, but I wasn’t happy with any of the results. In the long run, I decided this was good enough for now. But, I’m definitely going to go do some more research so I can improve for next time.

You can grab the image on Flickr.

Life at 42

Brian Bennett — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:29:08 +0000

People say life gets more complicated as you get bigger. Well, I’m at 42, and I couldn’t disagree more.

I might not be as quick or nimble as the 19′s, but I sure am a heck of a lot more agile than the 52′s or even the 48′s. Admittedly, I don’t get out more than once a week or so, but when I do, I can get the job done. I mean, why go out if you’re not going to make a big difference? Seems like a waste of time and energy to me.

Anyways, why is life less complicated? Well, for starters, I have an established routine. When I go out, I know exactly where I need to go, and what I need to do, and pretty much how long it’ll take me to do it. There isn’t much variation, really…I just try and make sure I don’t hit any rough patches along the way. I haven’t changed my habits for years. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Sure, I can’t always see too well, being 42 and all, but, I usually manage well enough. I’ve been doing this work for a long time, so I can adjust on the fly without too much trouble. Sometimes, it can also get a little bumpy out there, but, that’s just the way it goes. I roll with it. I may be at 42, but I’m still solid as a rock when I need to be.

I enjoy the patterns. I enjoy the predictability. I enjoy seeing the line ahead of me, and the change that is left behind after I pass. There’s no guesswork, so I can let my mind wander and just do what needs to be done. I guess if I really think about it, 19′s could do the same work, but it would be nearly as efficient. I’m proud of that.

When I’m not working, I can rest assured that I’ll be needed again. I’m always needed, which is comforting. I don’t have to worry about becoming irrelevant any time soon. I’m patient and I’ll be here, ready to go.

Life as a “42-er” is great.

42 an’t bad.

Wiggle Stereogram

Brian Bennett — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:30:23 +0000

I mentioned last night that I’m going to work along with UMW’s summer DS106 section beginning next Monday. In order to get ready, I’m cracking my GIF knuckles and getting my workflow down so I can spend more brain power on problem solving rather than just doing the work.

I went through the DS106 Assignment Bank, looking for something that would catch my eye. I came across the Wiggle Setereoscopy assignment. Mostly because it had a hilarious name, I took a look at it and tried it out.

I didn’t want to use an app to make the stereogram, because I felt like that would be cheating somehow. I wanted to take my own pictures and then use GIMP to make it dance. My first two attempts were terrible because my photos were too far apart. I learned after trying twice that the camera difference needs to be very small. Much smaller than you would assume…and that was the hardest part of the assignment.

I took a two photos of my AT2020 USB mic sitting on my bookshelf and then opened them as layers in GIMP.

The first thing I did was crop the photo down to a manageable size. With the original at over 3000px wide, it was a little overwhelming. The final version is 700px wide.

I really wanted to do something like Alan’s, where the object was nearly stationary in the middle. I dropped the opacity on the top layer and tried to line it up as best I could, but because of the way I moved the camera when I took the photo, there’s still a little wiggle.

Then, it was just a matter of bringing the opacity back up, tweaking the frame rate (I ended up with 75ms per frame), optimizing for a GIF, and exporting the file. All in all, it took me about 20 minutes to do (minus all the photography trial and error from throughout the day) and I’m pretty happy with the result.

Dance away, AT.

Bunching vs Wrapping

Brian Bennett — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:45:28 +0000

I’m thinking a lot about teaching lately. Maybe because it’s because I’ve been out of the classroom for over three months, or because I’m planning on taking a class at MSU this fall on technology in education (more on that in another post). Anyways, I got thinking about where I began as a teacher, where I was back in February when I stopped, and where I want to be some day.

I began as a buncher. I would group ideas together in the curriculum, we’d look at those ideas for a short time, and then we’d move on…usually leaving the old ideas behind. I was a first year teacher, and while trying to keep my head above water, it wasn’t the best way to help kids internalize chemistry. Hell, it isn’t a good way to even teach chemistry. I learned from my mistakes.

Around the time I flipped the learning process, I learned about “spiraling,” which is just one of a number of terms for looping content back around. Immediately, I recognized the value in bringing old content back to the front of the discussion as kids tried to learn new concepts. Forming ideas based on prior knowledge just made more sense. We do it all the time. But, for me at least, it wasn’t a natural part of my teaching. So, I made it natural. Now that I’m a wrapper, I can’t ever go back to true bunching.

Original video from the Internet Archive, CC by Public Domain

Moving forward, it’s still a struggle for me to think about how content is woven into a complete image, rather than blips on the radar. As I look forward to the fall semester, I’m thinking about ways technology can help us mitigate the effort it takes to spiral content. Is it good enough to remind kids via links on digital content to go back and look at old material? Or can we (should we?) do more to spiral for them?

I’d love some thoughts in the comments.

Where is all the time? #ds106 #4life

Brian Bennett — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:07:04 +0000

I saw a post this afternoon about a new section of #ds106 starting for a five-week summer course. I’ve dabbled in the Daily Creates from time to time, which included my very first-ever animated GIF,

My first animated GIF.

and I’ve enjoyed those a lot.

I’ve decided that I’m going to jump in these next five weeks as an Open Online Participant. Jim Groom is teaching the course, and he’s taking it on a Twilight Zone trip. I remember watching old episodes with my dad when the SciFi channel wasn’t spelled “Sy-fy,” and I was still young enough to be freaked out by “To Serve Man.”

Another episode stands out in my head…it had something to do with a stopwatch. A Google search later, I found what I was looking for. A man is given a stopwatch that can stop time. After becoming more confident in his new powers, well, let’s just say he ends up with a lot of time on his hands.

Do you have a second to spare?

Time is on my mind with this because of the time I’ll need to put into the class over the next month. And, with a house renovation starting Memorial Day weekend, I might be wishing I had a stopwatch of my own…

Flipped Learning and Control

Brian Bennett — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:49:20 +0000

I was able to join some fantastic educators ~~today~~ last Friday for a Flipped Learning workshop hosted by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. I was part of a group from TechSmith, while Dan Spencer, Laura Bell, Jonathan Palmer, Missy McCarthy, Delia Bush, David Fouch, and Greg Green were panelists for the workshop.

I’ve been acquainted with Greg since I heard about his plans to flip his entire high school. I met him in person this past fall, and I’ve been challenged by his thoughtfulness and questions ever since.

Last fall, Greg and I had a conversation about why he flipped Clintondale…he wanted more control.

Confession: I didn’t understand what he meant at all. I was actually a little put off by the discussion…why should we want to control the learning more? Don’t we (as teachers) want students to be in control of their own learning? Needless to say, I left feeling confused, but invigorated by the discussion.

Fast forward to this morning. Greg was sharing again about the control he wanted to regain, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. He didn’t flip to control student’s learning. He flipped to give teachers more control over the support for learning they give every day in the classroom. It made so much sense.

We are at a point where information and support are constantly in a power struggle. As teachers, we are faced with the decision to choose one or the other. Do we support students? Or do we give information? Up until recently, there has not been any other option besides choice because the teacher was the only source of information in the classroom.

Enter personal computing. Students today have access to any information they could want. As the teacher, we can now focus even more energy into supporting the student. The control Greg talked about was being able to control the support given during the school day. We know students (typically) ignore homework. Well, now we can eliminate it totally, and support practice in the classroom. We know students have a hard time engaging with science and math. Now, we can give access to information, and the support our students as they build new schema for understanding as they work through material.

The key to this is that we successfully blend the access to information and the support only a teacher can give. Flipped Learning does not eliminate the need for teachers. Flipped Learning accentuates the importance of a supportive, professional educator when working with students.

I’m still working through what this means for school reform, but I’m excited about it. This is a message that teachers can latch on to. It’s empowering, rather than discrediting. You’re more important than ever. Let’s make the choice to let information become on-demand and put the support of students back on top of the list of things to do to change schools.

Where Are the #Flipclass Chat Archives?

Brian Bennett — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:18:29 +0000

I had a minor site reorganization, and I wanted to make sure everyone who relies on the chat archive each week knows how to find it. There are a couple different ways:

1. This blog – The page hasn’t been updated in a long time, but there is a link the archives under the Flipclass Chat page in the header. The archive is now sorted by year to help keep everything straight.

2. The Twitters – I do my best to make sure the archive is out ASAP the following morning, so you can check the #flipclass hashtag search (you can do this even if you’re not on Twitter) and find the link there. If you are on Twitter, be sure to follow me to receive updates directly each week.

Last night’s #flipclass chat on writing is now available for reading/download: bit.ly/13ePFC6 #edchat

— Brian E. Bennett (@bennettscience) May 7, 2013

3. Right here – Just for good measure, here is another link to the folders, so you don’t have to go hunting.

Remember, the chat is every Monday night at 8PM EST, 5PM PST. You can also find more information over on the Flipped Learning Journal.

The Unanticipated Problem with Testing

Brian Bennett — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:47:11 +0000

If you live in Indiana, and if you have children (or have friends with children), you may have noticed some headlines yesterday:

ISTEP computer glitches boot out 27,000 students
Testing company’s problems worsen in third year of contract. Some educators question student results

Several Schools Suspend ISTEP+ For Day After Glitch Slows Online Tests

IPS asks schools to suspend ISTEP testing because of online problems

I can post more, but it would take too much time.

Now, there are a few things I would like to point out, but then I’m going to stop because I don’t want to get my blood pressure too high this early in the morning.

Problem 1: McGraw Hill, who has been contracted to provide the IN tests through June 2014 has had glitches every year since the contract began. 2011: 10,000 students booted from the test. 2012: 9,000 students. 2013: 27,000 students.

Long story short: in the last three years, 46,000 students have had their tests taken away from them in the middle of the session. And let’s remember, these are third through eighth graders.

Problem 2: Because of the immense pressure on states to perform under impossible requirements, officials can now skew data because of the glitches. This quote, from the IndyStar article, stood out in particular:

In 2011, when 10,000 students were booted out of the system, 215 scores were invalidated by the state because they were lower than expected. About 723 students with scores that were higher than expected saw no change.

Now, I know in the long run, 215 students is a drop in the bucket, but the precedent being set is absolutely inexcusable. This is opportunistic cheating and score buffering.

Problem 3: Let’s compare this to paper-and-pencil testing for a moment. Students were booted out of the test, at times in the middle of reading a passage, and not allowed to log back in. Officials are saying testing will resume as normal on Tuesday and Wednesday. How do you expect a child, who is already feeling immense anxiety over the test, to have valid results?

photo credit: albertogp123 via photopin cc

In essence, this would be like a teacher taking a testing booklet from students at random during testing, and then having them continue the next day. With no warning, with no explanation. This is a travesty.

McGraw Hill, on the other hand, has sanctions worked into the contract, but officials have not levied penalties at all in any of the three failures of service.

Travesty.