Teachers Teaching Teachers #203 - Visualizing information and Envisioning New Schools - 06.02.10

Post-Show description: 

For this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers, we asked Suzie Boss to come on to help us have a conversation with:

  • an amazing young high school student who has developed his own project-based learning by creating info-graphics.
  • a dynamic teacher who has been working all year to help open a new public school in East Brooklyn.

We learned a lot, both about visualizing information and about integrating technology into a new, alternative school.

Michael, Amazing Student
Chris Sloan joined us with one of his amazing students, Michael, from Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City. Michael has a blog called Graph the Info.

Click on this image to see a recent post where Michael explains his creative process:

Ski-Utah-Graphic-Small.jpg


Charlie, Dynamic Teacher

We were also joined by Charlie Freij a teacher we meet in the New York City Writing Project’s Advanced Summer Institute last year. Charlie has been working this year to create a new school, East Brooklyn Community High School, in Canarsie. And his students have been using Youth Voices.

East Brooklyn Community High School is a small, academically rigorous high school that is committed to preparing students for college, meaningful employment, healthy personal and family relationships and participation in the life of their communities. East Brooklyn Community High School is a transfer school that is designed to help students who have fallen behind in credit accumulation get back on track and earn a high school diploma. East Brooklyn Community HS is a collaboration between the DOE and SCO Family Services; our curriculum and programs build on SCO’s comprehensive range of neighborhood and community based services that sustain families and children. The academic program will utilize innovative and project based instructional strategies that prepare students to pass Regents exams and develop the skills needed for post secondary options.

We hope you enjoy this podcast, and that you will join us each Wednesday this summer as we develop curriculum together that will address the BP Gulf Oil Atrocity.

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

(We had technical difficulties with the chat room during this episode.)

20:55:55 suzieboss 1: Hi everyone
21:02:22 Paul Allison 1: hi Michael
21:02:41 suzieboss 1: Michael, your blog about how you make these visualizations is fascinating
21:11:31 MIGreenberg 1: For any of those who are on the twitter bandwagon, I have an account @MIGreenberg.
21:12:25 MIGreenberg 1: However, I should say that there isn't anything ground breaking there.
21:20:16 Chris Sloan 1: I lost Skype connection.  Did everybody else too?
21:22:46 MIGreenberg 1: We still appear to be here.
21:22:52 MIGreenberg 1: Do you need a reinvite.
21:27:09 Paul Allison 1: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/655189433/visualizing-information-and...
21:27:12 Chris Sloan 1: http://graphthe.info/
21:39:19 chris sloan 1: Here's a link to a podcast Michael and his classmates did last week.  They covered a lot of ground: gaming, socialization, the nature of art...   http://youthvoices.net/period-one-discusses-video-games-and-art/40871
21:45:30 suzieboss 1: Michael--Dan Meyer is a math teacher/blogger/visual thinker I think you'd like: http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?cat=70
21:58:38 chris sloan 1: Where are you from Tim? Are you a teacher?
22:03:28 SusanEttenheim 1: welcome tim!
22:04:00 SusanEttenheim 1: suzie I'm searching for grace's blog - do you have the address?
22:06:12 SusanEttenheim 1: found it! http://www.edutopia.org/blog/games-for-change-festival
22:07:27 tim 1: hi guys
22:07:36 tim 1: sorry - was away from machine
22:07:45 tim 1: yep - am a teacher in wellington, nz
22:07:55 tim 1: hmm. i should turn the stream on
22:08:12 suzieboss 1: what time is it there, Tim?
22:08:27 tim 1: 2:10pm on Thursday
22:09:18 chris sloan 1: What do you teach, Tim?
22:09:29 tim 1: everytimezone.com is handy
22:09:44 tim 1: I'm a primary teacher - 9-10 year olds
22:10:26 tim 1: teach most everything - also lead teacher for ICT - so manage that for our school
22:11:22 MIGreenberg 1: Where are you originally? Have you any basis for comparison for how teaching in New Zealand differs from other areas of the world?
22:12:00 tim 1: No. I've only ever taught in NZ
22:12:15 tim 1: grew up in Asia - so was taught by americans and brits
22:12:22 tim 1: in expat schools
22:13:54 chris sloan 1: Do your students in NZ collaborate/communicate with students from other areas of NZ and other countries?
22:15:16 tim 1: Mine don't ... yet!
22:15:38 tim 1: as a school we're just getting into wikis - it's quite a struggle with some of our senior management
22:16:09 tim 1: we use ICT for lots of publishing and one-way communication - not so much on the communicating/collaboration side
22:16:14 tim 1: we have a lot to do
22:17:45 MIGreenberg 1: It is pretty amazing that you are using that technology for students for so young.
22:18:32 chris sloan 1: What's the most interesting ways you're using ICT in your school?
22:20:20 MIGreenberg 1: Then again, I said I would stay at my traditional school, but finals are next week, followed by grades...
22:20:40 chris sloan 1: Oh yeah.  Grades...
22:21:16 MIGreenberg 1: I am sure we could find a plane out east pretty quickly Mr. Sloan.
22:21:54 chris sloan 1: Rest assured Michael.  I think you'll pass!
22:22:52 suzieboss 1: thanks, everyone--great conversation
22:23:04 MIGreenberg 1: Thanks again for having me on.
22:23:11 chris sloan 1: Thank you too.  Great conversation as usual.