Spring Break was exceptionally rejuvenating for me this year because I worked so hard and so long and travelled so many miles across the United States speaking, signing books and the such in the weeks prior to my time off from Lynwood that the first few days were a virtual collapse of the mind, body, and spirit. And while the alarm clock was kinda jarring today (first buzz at 5:17 am) I drove to school feeling excited. Things to do, books to read, minds to stretch, and so on.

And then I was hit with the worksheets.

State standardized tests are coming and I was literally given hundreds of pages of worksheets to prepare for the days and days of bubble tests coming up in May less than 8 minutes into my first day back on campus.

I immediately became despondent, angry and frustrated. (Pretty much morphing into the stereotypical demeanor of most teachers in our country today, right?)

Then I looked at the worksheets. (Much to my credit, mind you. Usually, I just dump them in a cabinet til the year is over with before looking for a recycling bin. After all, hundreds of pages of material as taken straight from the website of the State Dept. of Ed is rarely, if ever, something worth taking notice of. True tree killing to the worst degree. Come to think of it, our school photocopier must have been groaning for hours to get all the English teachers in our department sets of this mess. No rest for the weary, Mr. Machine. We gotz bubbles to serve!)

Anyway, I looked at the worksheets to see with an open eye what they were all about. And what did I see, mind you? Was I wrong? Was I falsely assuming a reality which was not there? Nope. I saw absolutely what I expected to see, that using worksheets to teach any sort of material in this day and age is simply a terrible approach to education. The state wants us to teach dialogue so Worksheet A has practice bubbles on discerning the tone, meaning and impact of dialogue.

Mr. Alan has kids actually speaking to one another in different tones and tongues in order for everyone to see, live, breathe, hear, feel and taste how dialogue truly can impact the meaning of text.

Do you know how fun it is to do this with a group of kids?

Can you please pass the salt?
CAN YOU PLEASE PASS THE SALT?
Can you PLEASE pass the salt?

Do all three mean the same thing? With teens, it’s way more exciting, real, practical and academically effective to teach the impact of dialogue my way — so into the cabinet went the worksheets and out came the real art of teaching.

And until they put me in a cabinet, that’s the way it’s gonna be.

More and more attention is being paid to the notion of writing in the 21rst century. This report just came out and it’s got some stuff that is well worth reading. However, the irony that I am posting this on a digital thread on a ning, well… in a way, if you are already reading this, it’s like preaching to the choir.

Having said that, there is no doubt that the world is changing under our pens and keypads. The idea that students in the next era will have to be competent writers using 3,000 words, 300 words, 30 words, 3 words and no words to express their ideas is somewhat of a leaping off point for comprehending both the opportunities and challenges of the era ahead.

Yet, while writing changes, shifts and morphs I am not fearful because the importance of critical thinking rises with these new mediums — instead of diminishing. In my estimation, thinking seems to be more important than ever as weighing, evaluating, synthesizing and applying brain power appears to be more important than ever to the writers and readers of the 21rst century. I mean so many folks are bemoaning the demise of newspapers but it’s not the black ink which smudges on our fingers in a semi-hard to navigate linear, non-interactive transmittal of information in an environmentally unsound paper-wasting business model that people are decrying… what they really fear is the art of real journalism is being supplanted by bloggers who have no training in the art of effectively verifying information. If newspapers die, I am not sure we care. If journalism dies then democracy is at risk. Now on one hand, the first hand twitterers and bloggers who are on the scene at things like the Mumbai bombing provide some of the most insightful information into what happened at the scene of the disaster — so the bloggers and twitterers certainly have their place. On the other hand, if people don’t pay for their news, then the NY TImes, Washington Post and so on, do not pay real journalists to go investigate, illuminate, and communicate the salient facts (i.e. the perpetrators, their motives, the impact on a geo-political scale and so on). Twittering an analysis of the international complications which arise from destabilizing governments through attacking civilians seems as if it might be a bit lightweight. (Huh? 140 characters isn’t enough space to get Kissinger-style insight into the circumstances? You are just so old fashioned, Mr. Alan!)

Now I am not so quick to defend traditional journalism because they let a buffoon like George Dubya pull the wool over our eyes with the whole WMD farce which really cost America… well, I am not going to go there. But traditional, mainstream media drank the kool-aid for the neo-cons who were hell bent on invading Iraq under a cooked up WMD scenario so all the things which I fear traditional journalism is supposed to defend us against and represent is on shaky ground with me. However, if world news devolves to the point that a 15 year with a blog is on equal footing with a pulitzer prize winning Chicago Tribune reporter in terms of disseminating our news, I do feel there is some cause for concern.

So what does 21rst century writing look like? That’s easy — it looks like a lot of things… and it’s evolving. But how do we effectively think about writing — both while we are doing it and when we are reading it? These, seem to me, the real questions.

Midterm exams. The school year is halfway over. So much I still want to do yet still, so much that I know will not get done.

So far we have read 6 novels — I am a bit behind my typical pace. Usually, I like to tackle 14 books a year but we’ve been doing more intense Project Based Learning, 21rst century, collaborative, high level projects than ever before in my class and the learning curve for both myself and my students has been steep.

However, being that it’s always good to reflect and see where you are as a teacher at times like these (because it’s easy to lose the forest for the trees in the day-to-day barrage that teaching can be), I’d have to say I am quite happy with the way the year has gone thus far. Plus, as far as tackling the standards, they are coming more quickly than ever as a result of all the PBL. Truly, my kids are just drinking the knowledge down. My best guess is that since they are being forced to apply their learning in a tangible manner, they are commensurately being forced to learn more — and learn about these things more deeply and quickly — than most of them have ever been challenged to do.

And what have I found? That my kids have stepped up. I mean I have scores of kids who had never done any sort of projects in the world of digital literacy who are now virtual maestros on computers. Really, kids are just sponges and if you give them an opportunity they will reveal talents which many other educators who do not challenge their kids in this way never get to see.

American education is changing. I see it. And that’s a good thing. And while people moan about how complicated changing our schools can be, how difficult the challenges are and blah, blah, blah, what it really boils down to is a simple willingness to adapt. For educators who are open to learning, open to growing, open to realizing that they don’t always have to be the “holder of all wisdom” in the classroom, the world of schooling is a spectacular oyster: fun, surprising, innovative, challenging and supremely beneficial to the kids.

It’s a new world out there and any teacher who is still doing things they way that they did them even as recently as 5 years ago needs to, in my opinion, think about freshening up their approach and reflecting on the types of skills which have become more valuable for the next generation of learner. Spelling used to be so important. Nowadays, I think spelling is unquestionably trumped by the need for kids to be able to discern fact from opinion. (We have Spell Check — how long before google or Microsoft comes up with Fact Check and, with a click of a mouse, will highlight all the bullshit on the internet posing as credible information? Now that’s an invention society can really use!!)

Of course I’ve stumbled thus far this year as well. It’s inevitable. But I’ve also expanded my practice and tried new things which are steeped in educational value for 21rst century students. For this, I feel good.

However, being that I am pausing to reflect I realize, I do need to step it up. More reading. More reading. More reading. Considering that I have a chest full of tools at my disposal to elevate their reading comprehension as well as their academic performance — not to mention their writing skills — I need to step on the gas to make sure I get through a bunch more of it. The first half of the year has vanished in a blink of an eye and the second half will, I am sure, do the same.

Watch out kids! If you thought we were moving at a demanding pace first semester, it’s time for Mr. Alan to step on the gas!