words are worlds I sailed upon: 9/1/06

Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival

Today I took a professional day to attend the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival at Historic Waterloo Village, NJ. Mark it- a national poetry festival held right here in the Garden State, every other year.

This is a three-day affair, with a general mission towards the celebration and education of the written word. The first day caters to high school students; the second to teachers; leaving the third day for general sessions.

As you can imagine, an event like this attracts a certain type of crowd: a motley mix of NPR / PBS subscribing, literary liberals, denim-intellectuals. College professors. English teachers. The lit. mag. And zine kids. The type to take residence at the local bookstore or coffee shop on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

This morning was overcast, with intermittent cloud-bursts of rain. Secondly, there is no direct route from Central Jersey to the Skylands. Therefore I made plans to arrive around noon (thus avoiding rush hour traffic and sloppy weather).

I arrived just in time for the Poetry Sampler: two hours of poetry recitals; each poet getting about 5 minutes to present. Mimicking art, the poetry ranged from traditional to cutting edge, from solemn to irreverent. All thought provoking.

There is no way that I can give a brief review of all the poetry; though, there were dome definite highlights.

Taha Muhammad Ali presented in Arabic, translator by his side, a rousing poem about the power of revenge. This was the only poem to receive a standing ovation.

Ko Un, a Korean poet, also spoke in his native tongue with a translator giving their rendition. Ko Un had a remarkable knack to encapsulate power and beauty of language in two lines of poetry.

Kurtis Lamkin and Sekou Sundiata melded traditional forms of African oration with American culture and written word. I'd eventually like to purchase their CD's to drop to my ever expanding and ecclectic collection of MP3's for the iPod.

Mark Doty, Tony Hoagland, and Andrew Motion had the audience rolling in their seats.

All in all, the day turned out to be perfect weather for autumn- sunny, cool, and damp. Elsewhere there were open mics, various conversations and debates on the state of poetry and the arts in America, and discussion of craft.

What was scheduled as “professional development” took form of a "mental health" day, giving me renewed appreciation for the art of language.

Wiki Update

The district technology administrator replied to my inquiries about lifting the filter ban on my class wiki. He was agreeable to the idea of the student wiki hosted through WikiSpaces; however, he would not left the ban.

I have to follow procedure- which entails getting permission from both the building principal and district superintendent. This means that my wiki project will be sidelined until I obtain the necessary approval.

I could moan, groan, and shake a pointed finger toward educational bureaucracy. And, to be perfectly honest, this was my knee-jerk reaction. Though, the more I thought about the implications, the more settled I became.

Basically, no one at the middle school has attempted to create an online learning space to supplement the physical classroom. By "online learning space" I would include such technologies such as WikiSpaces, Web CT, NiceNet, PHP Bulletin Boards, Oracle's Think, or Sakai. Basically, I’m the first to give it a try.

I am fully prepared to state my reasoning in writing; though I’ll make a simple request to save myself the hassle. I hope that by obtaining the permission of the administration that I would also have their backing in the event of a parent inquiry.

Time will tell. And, my fingers are crossed...

iPod 30 gig says, "Feed me, Seymore!"

Some while ago, my brother and I marveled at the latest advanced in iPods- the sleek 30 gig. Once again, Steve Jobs and company pushed the frontier of multimedia technology. Was it even possible to fill the iPod with 30 gigs of music? What was the point of releasing video technology before the market could supply the demand? That was a rather bold move, or so we thought at the time.

My father scoffed at us. “Why would you ever need to carry so much music at one time? I just don’t get it. I mean… I have 12 of my favorite CD’s set for my drive to work. That is all I ever need. I just don’t see the point.” No matter how much we pleaded our case, there was just no converting my father to the point that we own exponentially more than 12 CD’s.

Well, for all my love of all that is music and technology, I just acquired my first iPod several days ago. It came as an accessory to my first Mac laptop- a Powerbook. So, there came the challenge of filling those 30 gigs to my satisfaction.

It started out simple enough- drop a CD to iTunes, and sync my iPod to update. One at a time? It took me hours just to break my first gig. This baby had another 29 just waiting to be filled! Those first few days stayed away into the late hours of night; waking at the first hint of sunlight just to keep my iPod well fed.

That wasn’t fast enough.

So, my wife figured out a way to network the PC and Powerbook. The effort became a coordination of dropping music to iTunes on both computers, moving the files over to the Mac.

That wasn’t fast enough.

I then began to transfer files over from my wife’s laptop to the Mac.

There wasn’t enough music to keep my iPod fed.

So, I began rooting out various demo CD’s I’ve amassed over the years. I started leeching off various FTP sites. I subscribed to podcasts.

That wasn’t enough.

I’m tired. Physically tired. This iPod feeding frenzy is out of control. I’m at the verge of breaking 8 gigs five days later. There are nearly 1600 songs on my iPod- all of which I would consider essential albums.

There is something gluttonous about all of this.

It’s like inviting hundreds of your most intimate friends and family to your wedding. How do you give them all equal attention? How do you not let some go unnoticed?

Mark this: I have 4.5 days worth of music on my iPod. They don’t make a battery that lasts as long lest I should ever wind up on a deserted isle with nothing by my iPod and earphones. Perhaps they should invent an iSolar Charger for the occasion.

Yet the feeding continues…

Have I become a slave to the device? Is this my soma, my lotus flower? Haven’t enough Sci-Fi authors warned us of this very technological apocalypse?

Maybe I just need some sleep.

Wiki Policy

This year I hope to successfully implement a class wiki to supplement / enrich my middle school reading classes. The first few hurdles are clear: created a WikiSpaces account, introduced the idea to parents at Back To School Night, had my students read an Internet Safety Pledge and take an Internet Safety Quiz.

The parents were pleased. The students are anxious. It would seem that I have my ducks lined up in a row… That would be if the district’s filtering software didn’t block my private WikiSpaces HTTPS address. Go figure.

I’ve placed a work order to request they configure the filter to make an exception to WikiSpaces. Haven’t heard back from the tech. department yet; the first week of school is a madhouse after all.

Though, my cynical side wonders if they will accommodate to my situation. I’ve heard dozens of stories where the administrations pushes and pushes for the use of technology, but then falls through to order / maintain the network, or shoot down teacher initiatives because they want to avoid the murky waters of internet policy.

This is a battle worth fighting. I’ll cross that bridge when and if the time comes. For now, I hope to receive support from those powers-that-be.

I wrote the following wiki guidelines for my middle school students. I took into account COPA, CIPA, policies regarding student use of the Internet, measures to prevent cyber-bullying, and my own common sense. I’m publishing here, on my blog, in hopes that other educators will borrow and adapt as needed.

Wiki Policy

This wiki is purely intended for educational purposes of Mr. Conroy’s language arts / literacy class. This site will allow you to collaborate on assignments, upload files to a central space, and participate in an academic online discussion. The wiki is not a social networking site.

I understand that not every student has access to a personal computer at home. Therefore, you should complete wiki assignments during class or flex. A word of wisdom: Use your time and resources wisely.

Look at the web address: the “s” at the end of https stands for secure. This is a private wiki- only members can login. In order to become a member, I sent you an invite. Even though this site is private and secure, never post personal information. This includes pictures of you or your friends, full name, home address, etc. Safety and security comes before anything else.

Please note that most wikis track a history of changes. Click on the “history” tab to view previous versions of that page. This isn’t meant to scare or intimidate you from participation. Rather, consider it a rather stern warning against those that might vandalize or bully others on this wiki. I will find out...

All policies that govern your behavior in the classroom also extend to behavior online. Even though you may access the wiki from home, you are expected to act as if you were in the classroom. This includes the things you say, pages created, file attachments, images uploaded / linked to this site.

Should any student violate a policy, stated here or otherwise, I will take quick and approparite action:

First offense is a stern warning. Parents may be contacted depending on severity / intention.
Second offense will result in a discipline report, parent contact, and possible account suspension.
Third Offense will result in a discipline report, parent contact, and definite account termination. An alternate assignment will be provided.

Goodbye Windows

Hi,

I’ve been a Windows users for, oh, over ten years now.

The relationship hasn’t always been… Well, let’s be honest now.

The relationship was great in the beginning. I mean, what a step up from my first- Tandy. What a looker Windows was in comparison…

Though, things started to sour as of late.

Our interests waned. Windows was more into databases and spreadsheets. Word processing. Things of that sort.

I was starting to get more into music recording, starting a audio digital library, image editing. PC just couldn’t keep up. I guess you could say that we grew apart.

Windows was always contracting some social virus or another. What an embarrassment. We tried some free clinics by word of mouth. No matter how much prescriptive or proscriptive treatment, these viruses would not leave Windows alone.

Every now and again our relationship crashed. It went as far as the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH. Not a pretty sight. Had to get some serious counseling to get over that one.

So…

Visited some matchmaking sites online… explored some options... I’ve turned a new leaf- My new Powerbook just arrived Fed Ex.

To be honest, I’ve been out of it so long, I feel a bit awkward starting all over again. Ten years is a long time after all. This may not come easy; in fact, I may have to seriously work at this new relationship business.

It's like starting from square one... a blank slate. Aesthetically summarized by the sleek white shell of that brand new Mac.

There is a future together.

Show Me the Money!

Friday, after school, my wife demanded, “Show me your pay stub!”

O.K. Seriously- I get it. We’ve both taught the same amount of years… but this is her first year as a full-time public school teacher. I don’t know about your state, but NJ has a highly competitive teacher job market.

Perhaps its because the state boasts so many top notch teachers’ prep schools such as Rutgers, Ramapo, Rowan, Rider, The College of New Jersey, etc. Or that we are a stone’s throw from Columbia, Penn State, and the like.

No.

Perhaps its because NJ farmlands are under attack by an onslaught of developers such as the Toll Brothers or K-Hov that build cookie-cutter suburban developments faster than schools can build matching facilities equip with staff, technology, and textbooks.

No.

Perhaps its because NJ’s is experiencing a budget crisis. Even thought have the highest population per capita, and that residents pay one of the highest property taxes, our treasury is in the red. So, we cut funding to the schools that already can’t keep up with the suburban sprawl machine. Cure? Budget freeze for education.

Maybe it’s a combination- all of the above.

So, I knew , “Show me your pay stub,” was her moment to shine. This check represented more than the first two weeks worth of pay- it was five years in the making. Congratulations! Getting a public school job without the “who you know” is quite a feat in this state.

Though… did you have to rub it in my face that you make more step one than I do as a sixth year teacher having almost obtained my Masters degree?

7 Days in September

Tuesday - "Welcome Back" teacherl in-service.

Wednesday - start my fall graduate course.

Thursday - students first day of class.

Friday - happy hour!!!

Monday - first day coaching cross-country.

Tuesday - Back to School Night.

The clock's second hand moves at even intervals. That old ornament can't deceive me- I know better. Time moves in spurts and lulls. Next I know, it'll b e the middle of November.

Well, here is to another academic new year. Have a happy 06-07!