Can I have your attention?

Friday was a good old fashioned double session of EDUC 504 which pretty much blew my mind.  It covered two totally different topics, but both made me think.


So let's reflect!


We'd been given the past two weeks to mull over NYC's proposed soda ban (you know, that thing I talked about in my last post).  We were told to think about potential learning opportunities using the idea of the soda ban.  Being a social studies nerd, I went wild.  The possibilities were endless, really.  We had been given a scenario for what the class would be structured like a few days after the first class session, but we didn't get full details until the evening before.  We would be working with school librarians to develop a basic lesson plan.


Cool.


I should say there's two librarians in my immediate family, so I think librarians are pretty swell.  Anyway, our task was to utilize resources our librarian could give us to form our lesson plan.


My group was half of the social studies majors and an incredibly brave psych minor--Sarah was a great sport putting up with our constant debating and at times, circular thinking.  So we talked things out.  A lot.  I wouldn't say it was a heated debate because their wasn't really negativity going about, but it was lively to, say the least.  We tossed out at least half a dozen potential social studies lesson plans before deciding to talk about the soda ban in it's relationship to other nanny laws.


This was fun.  Way too fun.  How do you really determine if something is a law designed to protect others or protect you from yourself?  That was one of the questions we posed to our hypothetical students.  Over the course of the morning session, we learned that it's hard to put a specific label on whether a law is a nanny law or just a basic law.  We also had a pretty in depth discussion about the connotation of the phrase "nanny law."  Does using those words automatically make us perceive something as bad?  Do we see those words and automatically assume big brother is watching us?  


Think about that for a second.  Let's say we take a nanny law like seatbelt laws.  It's universally accepted that they're a good thing and save many, many lives everyday.  But call them a nanny law and we frown and think, "A nanny law?  That sounds bad!  It's probably infringing on my personal rights!"


Think about that seatbelt law again and call it a "public health law."  Sounds totally different now, doesn't it?  "A public health law?  Well, that can't be that bad!  It means the world is looking out for my best interest!"


Still the exact same law.  Totally different feeling when you change the wording of what can of law it is.
In the afternoon, we switched gears to a totally different direction.  Podcasting.  About as different as it gets from work with librarians.


I like podcasts.  It's how I catch up on my NPR nerd stuff or listen to people I like rant about things.  I know many educators use them--iTunes U exists just for that purpose--but I still don't know what role they would play in my classroom.  It's such a simple concept; they're really just recordings.  It would be a great way to share information, but would students respond to them?  How could I be sure my students would listen to a podcast on a topic unless I was watching over their shoulders?  I'm trying to just be realistic with this.  High school kids do what they want and if they can gloss over something or avoid it, they will.  I'm afraid podcasts would fall into that category.


I think they would had serious potential if I was doing a project that centered around something like a speech or announcement.  The kids could make their own podcasts of The Gettysburg Address and then dissects it's meaning.  Students studying WWII could remake one of FDR's fireside chats or his Infamy Speech to congress. Definite potential in that area.  It's allowing students to express their creativity while still being in the context of social studies.


And now, a video!  A dance I was assistant choreographer on.  Because of that, I got a trip to Disney World with a bunch of high school girls.  Really, it wasn't that bad.