Links & Resources from Always On w/ Rob Williams

http://happylearners.info/The%20Triune%20Brain.jpg

Rob Williams Media 

Media Smarts – Canadian Media Literacy Resources

21^st Century Media Culture – 8 Shifts (downloadable pdf)

EdCamp Maine – a Place to teach and learn about web 2.0 and the classroom

EduBlogs – blogging for teachers

Screen Free Week

The Mediatrician

The Touch Screen Generation – Hanna Rosin in the Atlantic

ACLU on Internet Privacy

Awareness Test – how many passes does the team wearing white make/ ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ahg6qcgoay4

What is Emergent Media?  Rob Williams & Class

The Machine is Us Video by Michael Wesch (“the explainer”)

(Also see Wesch’s Ted Talks :  From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able & Learning in New Media Environments)

Rob Williams Rocked The House!

We had over 75 people attend Always On : Raising Families in the Digital Age and Rob Williams did a great job sharing new information and allowing a rich interchange to emerge.

Friends School of Portland stresses "Inquiry, Reflection, Action" as our educational mission.  In that spirit, here's some of the feedback from the event --  resources following.

Please use comments to add more of your thinking!!!

Inquiry :  I wonder

·      What will the social media (peers) expect from my children when they reach adolescence?

·      If there are other parents interested in resisting certain technologies for our own kids and just not buying what they’re selling?  We could us a supportive culture of resistance.

·      If there could be a strong enough movement to lobby against advertising?

·      Can I choose not to participate in social media?

·      About the actual changes in brain structrure from always being on (not to mention health risks)

·      If the next step beyond google glass is the google post-natal cortical implant?

·      What is the right trade-off between “privacy” and  “sharing”

Reflection :  The 1 thing I’ll tell others

·      Google Eyewear – Beware!

·      We must all learn to disconnect – and allow others to do so as well!

·      Production vs. Consumption of media – different kinds of screen time

·      Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood

·      We have NO privacy in the digital age

·      My 14yr old has a reptilian brain

• Internet /  Privacy -- no overlap

Action :  Action Idea

·      Media Diet – Share ideas with families of students

·      Read The Machine Stops & Blackberry’s Hamlet

·      Use the library!

·      Quit Facebook!

·      Don’t make your kids compete with your phone.

·      I will get a book out on the brain and interpreting reality.

·      Remind people that while we worry about our expensive toys/tools, many people in Maine and in the world don’t have enough to eat, and send my check to org’s that serve these folks.

·      Bring the “mindfulness project” into schools to teach students the importance of not (always) being “on”

·      Retire to the bathroom every once in a while.

·      Figure out ways to have these conversations in schools / among parents / ongoing

Parenting for Peace, NY style

The renown 92nd St Y is putting on a parenting conference, and 2 of the 5 experts have spoken in Maine via our Parenting for Peace events!

"Parents: if you constantly worry your kid isn’t safe, you will make the world a fearful place. -- Michael Thompson, #92YParenting"

Watch the Live Stream here or learn more at the official site.

Or follow along on twitter

"Summer camp is Hogwarts." - Dr. Michael Thompson

"Some children come into the world with just a touch of Eyore. Trying to get them to be happy all the time WILL exhaust you."  -- MT

"iPads, iPhones light up pleasure centers of the brain like cocaine" -Joanne Deak #92YParenting http://huff.to/12EHhNr

 @DrGailSaltz, good enough parenting better than perfect parenting, prepares children reality of external world #92YParenting

Book Awards

Today is a big day for Children's Literature... The American Library Association announces it's Youth Media Awards... including the Caldecott and Newbery Awards but also many more.

On facebook & Web 

Recognition for Maine Author/illustrators includes Phil Hoose's Moonbirds, Toni Buzzeo's One Cool Friend and Daniel Minter's illustrations in Ellen's Broom !

Newbery 2013: “The One and Only Ivan,” written by Katherine Applegate

Caldecott 2013: “This Is Not My Hat,” illustrated and written by Jon Klassen, published by Candlewick Press

Coretta Scott King : CSK Illustrator 2013: Bryan Collier, “I, Too, Am America,”; 
CSK Author 2013: Andrea Davis Pinkney, “Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America,” illustrated by Brian Pinkney,

Stonewall 2013: “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz 

I think we should find a way to get as many of these books as we can for the FSP library... use comments for ideas!

Also, check out this great resource for learning how to pronounce authors' names and then to dig in about them and their books... and check out #alayma  #alamw13 #titletalk  #kidlit on twitter for conversations about reading and teaching these books.

Climate Activism

FSP 7th and 8th graders are learning about Climate Science at the same time that climate activists are moving forward with protests against drilling for Tar Sands Oil and the building of a pipeline that would move that oil from Canada through the U.S. to be sold internationally.  And, the 350.Org project on divestment from fossil fuels is growing...

For me, mothering provides the impetus and courage to not look away.  Still, this video is a bit heart-wrenching.



There are so many opportunities for action right now.

Learn more about 350.Org Maine and actions planned for Wednesday January 23

See Chasing Ice at SPACE on Friday January 25th

Attend the super-big rally and march on January 26th

Learn more about Idle No More and their January 28th World Day of Action

Ask some 7th & 8th graders about what they've learned

Share your ideas in comments!

Ideas (that don’t require cleaning your house) for Winter Fun as a Group 


Book a pool party or just meet for “open swim” at a community pool (we’ve had good luck @ Cape Elizabeth’s pool - there’s a hot tub and it costs $5.00 for non residents (or book a music or bowling or gymnastics party and share the cost.) 


Bring some board games to the top of the Portland Public Market

Meet for Friday Night Open Gymnastics, or at the Children’s Museum (1st Fri $1.00) 


Take a winter hike / snowshoe @ Pineland and have cocoa in the visitor’s center. 


Gather at a WinterKids Winter Festival or the Portland Flower Show (preshow essay contest here – maybe a writing party at school one afternoon? 


Families with younger children – hire some eighth graders to entertain your kids; they need to raise $ for their trip to D.C. – and try Parent’s Night Out ideas from Maine.Today

Share more ideas at http://www.fspparents.blogspot.com

MLK Day Events

Curious City is planning MLK day events for kids, (as part of the larger Portland NAACP breakfast) which is so lucky for kids! 

I'm also reminded, at this time, of the wisdom imparted by Annie Sibley O'Brien and Krista Aronson during last year's "Books As Bridges" program... as much as this is a time to engage around questions of race and racism, poverty and economic inequality, and our capacity for justice, it is an opportunity to create new connections and relationships that honor ways we are similar to those different from us and ways we differ from those who seem just like us.

Scroll through some old posts for lots of links to book sites...

Improv

This comes from David LeGraffe, who helped bring Portland Playback to FSP for the arts intensive last fall... Playbacks happen during First Friday each month - it could be a great parent outing!

Commentary: Best-kept secret to creating social change is… improv 
 http://www.good.is/posts/best-kept-secret-to-creating-social-change-take-an-improv-class
Marc Evan Jackson, Good blog, 9/22/12

I hold the secret to the fastest, widest ranging, longest lasting, and certainly most fun path to positive, global social change: Everyone in the world should take an improv class. I have never been more serious about anything in my life. If more people improvised, there would be no war.
Improvisation is the art of making it up. Winging it. Often used in theatre, it is the creation of a scene or tiny play that arises from a suggestion from the audience, a tiny play for which the script is made up on the spot. If all you can think about right now is "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," then please allow me to elaborate. In order to be good at improv, you must adhere to a few pretty stringent rules. You must listen to others. You must agree with what's going on, and respect those you're working with. You must: Get along. Work together. Be fearless. Show up with energy. Be willing to look silly and even fail. Your job, while improvising, is to put yourself in the other person's shoes, and make them look good, and more than anything you must learn to obey the precept: Don't be a dork. As a result, a completely delightful by-product of improv is a set of unbelievably great skills for citizenship. Those who improvise become nicer, more informed, more interesting, more interested people. Full disclosure: There is a down side. Improv will make you realize how awful we humans are to one another. It will point that out to you every time someone begins speaking while someone else is already speaking, and make vivid who in your life is or is not listening. You will see the fear-driven, selfish, self-aggrandizing motivations behind what everyone is saying and doing as they interrupt one another. Once you are exposed to improv, Thanksgiving dinner with your family will become more unbearable than it has ever been.  I am an actor. I make my living improvising. But improvisation's beneficial impacts can and will help anyone, in any profession, of any age, in any circumstance. Seriously. We've taught this to prisoners - prisoners in prison - and they have raved about the good it's done in their lives. Surely it can help you too.
David La Graffe
www.lightsupimprov.com

www.portlandplayback.com

http://healingmomentswebsite.webs.com

207-799-3489

Twitter for Teachers /parents ~ Wonderopolis

I am constantly swinging from my awe at all the internet brings us and my horror at our collective obsession with screens.  As the first generation of parents to really contend with mobile devices, we are left to use some knee-jerk judgement that often expresses itself, in my house, as total capriciousness.  I am really looking forward to the spring P4P event on "digital kids, digital families" as a space to ponder more deliberately and with you all!

I have a thing for twitter, despite the way it fragments my brain, because it provides such a deluge of interesting links and information.  Somehow I wandered onto the #1stchat which allows first grade teachers everywhere to gather once a week and share ideas.  One of the most popular apps/websites mentioned was Wonderopolis and it really is super-cool, even for adults.  Featuring a new "wonder" everyday, it provides a nudge for non-fiction reading and provides excellent content - noncommercial, as far as I can tell (screen shot of some wonders, below) -- would love to know others' favorite apps/sites for kids -- use comments!

Also on twitter, #kidlit where great books and literacy ideas are shared, #edchat where general education policy is discussed, #plpnetwork for conversations about digital learning,  and #meschools for issues relating to Maine education policy / opportunity  (you do not need a twitter account to read these threads, just to post). 

For general thinking about media and education, KQED's Mindshift Blog is excellent and provocative and Commonsense Media is good for some grounding.

Article Round-Up

People have sent me some lovely reading / links for the blog over the past week or 2... here's a collection:

• Jane Brody on treating kids as individuals

• NYT article exploring running programs and the effects of pushing kids really hard

• "Are You As Busy As You Think You Are?" Wall St. Journal/Daily Good piece

• Courage in Schools Blog -- Parker Palmer is a Quaker Ed Guru!

• YES! Magazine on the Hazards of Manhood

• Harvey Melnick on "Parenting:  My Life Is My Message"

and finally, Maine's own Zoe Weil on "Educating for Freedom" 

A VLOG (video blog) that desribes sexuality diversity

If you missed Jennifer Bryan's talk, this 3min take on sexuality and gender diversity provides the basic context :



For more in-depth information about sex diversity, check out the resources on the now defunct Intersex Society of North America site - the 12min online video is particularly poignant and useful.

This TED TALK by Alice Dreger  (Is Anatomy Destiny) opens up a bigger conversation about what it means to maintain or deconstruct sex categories, knowing that they are not actually fully inclusive, descriptive, or "real" but that they do serve social, political and personal purposes.

Post-Jennifer Bryan

Jennifer Bryan's workshop and public talk on gender and sexuality diversity raised so many questions  and provided a strong and clear mandate to adults that if we want our children to have the fullest possible humanity and to include all children in our schools and communities we must become more educated about our potential differences.  Bryan used modifications of Kinsey's spectrum of sexuality development to offer a schema that helps us understand that individual sex, gender and sexuality potentially changes over time and place and involves an infinite number of ways of being, not just 2.  Sharing interviews with kids, in the evening program, Bryan asked us to be more empathetic to the hurts that come with being forced into a sex/gender binary system and then to be more thoughtful about the stereotypes that describe each type.

Some follow up links :

Jennifer's web site is here --  many reported wishing for more time with her; perhaps a school district could organize a whole-day training?

If nothing else, we should all pledge not to buy into the horror of super-sexy halloween costumes!

ABC did a story on the gendering of costumes / of kids in the choosing of costumes

 

"Feminist Frequency" examines the ways that legos' markets gender norms and sexism; Lyn Michel Brown's book "Packaging Girlhood" provides even more data on this and Hardy Girls, Healthy Women offers a lot of strategies for resistance including a Halloween tip sheet! 

Maine's Trans Youth Equality Foundation offers resources for families and supporters of kids whose gender expression doesn't "match" their assigned sex. Equality Maine offers political support and resources for safe schools.

Boys to Men offers trainings for schools interested in addressing gender stereotypes and the ways that they can support violence, and also support for parents wanting to help boys build a masculinity not centered on "Battle" (the biggest word in the "boy toy" word cloud).

SMILE / DRAMA

In Portland Saturday!

Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

The topic of technology and kids lives is a big one, and we had a great conversation about it last week at our middle school parents meeting.  Listening to Sherry Turkle, though, I was reminded that the topic of technology and adults is as much the story and that I should be more mindful and intentional about how I use my device.  Live-Tweeting the debate has advantages - advantages that outweigh the cons, for me -- but Live-Tweeting the x-country meet, not so much.  It is challenging to parent well about tech use, because we're almost all struggling to live well without collapsing under mountains of information and interaction or staying slightly Luddite about the whole enterprise.

We are excited to share this as the theme of our Spring (May 2012) Parenting for Peace event!  More details TBA.

In the meantime,  I thought the Fresh Air with Turkle was well worth a listen and more conversation among us!

And, as a bridge between our P4P events, check out this Common Sense Media Guide to exploring gender stereotypes online and these Hardy Girl webinars:

Beyond Media Literacy: Empowering Girls Through Media Activism
Emily Brostek, MPH, CHES
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Noon-1:30 pm Eastern Time
$29.95
Register Today!

Gender and Early Childhood: The World According to Marketers
Emily Brostek, MPH, CHES
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
4-5:30 pm Eastern Time
$29.95
Register Today!

Girlfighting Goes Online: Cyberbullying (and What We Can Do About It) 
Emily Brostek, MPH, CHES
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
4-5:30 pm Eastern Time
$29.95
Register Today!

Telling Room Events

FSP proud to support Paul Tough! 

 Super Famous Writer Series

Every year, the Telling Room organizes a series of events aimed at introducing students and the community at large to successful, working writers. Whether held in a school auditorium as a panel discussion or in the more intimate confines of our studio space, our Super Famous Writers Series offers burgeoning authors a chance to ask questions of a few successful scribes and to imagine themselves as a literary superhero.

Fall Schedule

Paul Tough

November 7th, USM's Hannaford Hall

The prevailing wisdom has it that success in life depends on getting the best grades in the best schools. Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character, offers another model, arguing that lasting achievements depend on character traits such as perseverance, self-discipline, and optimism, skills not necessarily measured on standardized tests. Join him for a lecture at USM's Hannaford Hall on November 7th at 7pm. He is the author of a series of acclaimed articles about character and childhood in the New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker and a regular contributor to the public-radio program This American Life. Seating for this free event requires an RSVP. Visit paultoughportlandme.eventbrite.com to register.
Sponsored by Portland Public Schools, Breakwater School's Parent and Professional Enrichment Program, USM Department of Teacher Education, Portland Education Foundation, Longfellow Books, Friends School of Portland, Olympia Companies and Hilton Garden Portland Downtown Waterfront. 

Tom Perrotta

November 15th, Space Gallery

Tom Perrotta, author of New York Times bestsellers The Leftovers and The Abstinence Teacher, will read at SPACE Gallery on November 15th at 7pm as part of The Telling Room’s 2012 Super Famous Writer Series, a slate of literary events that showcases the working lives of talented fiction, nonfiction, and student authors. His novels Election and Little Children were both made into acclaimed movies, and Perrotta received an Academy award nomination for the screenplay of Little Children, which he wrote with director Todd Field. He's currently adapting The Leftovers into an HBO series along with Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of Lost. Perrotta has taught writing at Yale and Harvard, and published essays and reviews in Rolling Stone, GQ, and The New York Times. He also edited the 2012 edition of Best American Short Stories. Seating for this free event is first come first serve.
Presented by The Telling Room in partnership with Space Gallery, Olympia Companies and Hilton Garden Portland Downtown Waterfront.

Eric Carle - Portland Ovations

FSP families have often enjoyed meeting at these events and then sharing lunch... 

 

New friends and classic characters come to life with the Family Series performance, Treasured Stories by Eric Carle on Saturday, October 20th at 11 am at Merrill Auditorium. This new work by Mermaid Theatre brings together old favorites from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and new friends drawn from the pages of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and the poignant story of a young girl's unusual quest, Papa, Please get the Moon for Me for a fantastical hour-long production that will entertain and educate the next generation of theatergoers. Featuring innovative puppetry, dazzling visual effects and evocative music Treasured Stories This performance is recommended for children ages 3 to 8 and tickets are only $10. Click here to get them today.

in the interest of children

 --  A Guide for Voters and Candidates, published by the Maine Children's Alliance is now available.

-- Today is the first International Day of the Girl :  If you're in Portland, join Hardy Girls / Healthy Women's Press Conference :  Stand with girls in Maine and around the world tomorrow at our Day of the Girl event.  Mayor Michael Brennan will join girl advocacy groups, teen girls, and supporters on Thursday at 10:00am on the steps of Portland City Hall to proclaim October 11th as Day of the Girl.

-- October 16th :  Debate moderated by Candy Crowley... it is hard to imagine wanting to watch this, but she is the first woman moderator since 1992 -- here's hoping some questions are asked about women's health, economic security, and children!

-- October 18th : Love Your Body Day

Blog neglecting

**** I apologize for neglecting the blog for a while... if any FSP parents are interested in contributing, it would be a more active and vibrant blog with more voices!  ******


Children's Theater of Maine Auditions on 10/25 - more info here!

Auditions

Little Red Riding Hood (or Grandmother Slyboots)
(summer 2011)

A Seussified Christmas Carol

Thursday, October 25 from 3-5pm

We're looking for talented young actors to join the cast of our holiday production, A Seussified Christmas Carol. No experience is required, and newcomers are welcome! Please arrive between 3pm and 5pm with a one-minute monologue prepared.

Subscribe to our email list to receive the audition notice, which will contain a tentative rehearsal calendar, detailed audition information and tips for a great audition.

Maine Senate Candidate Debate on October 4th

Several organizations are coming together to sponsor a Senate Candidates Debate on October 4th, with a focus on issues especially effecting women and girls... More info and RSVP link here!

And, on October 16th, Candy Crowly will serve as the first woman to moderate a Presidential debate in the past 20 years!  This came about because of some activism of HS girls... inspiring when I think about what our kids might make happen! 

Be Here Now...

This is the kind of conversation we'd love to sponsor with FSP's spring P4P series :

"Where is there a meeting point between being connected, and being well?"  (from DML Research Hub)

The Presence Project

Be Here Now Box:  "In a time of continuous partial focus, the attention–and intentions–of millions of young people who will be shaping tomorrow’s world deserves addressing. We’ve created this tacklebox-like toolkit to help families reconnect around their passion projects:"

from presence-project.com

"This project is all about inviting families to find alternate ways of interacting in a time when all of us are very apt to jump on our computers or our
phones during shared family time..."

Their web site offers some wonderful prompts and resources...

Also : Geek Dad's take

And where I learned about it : the DML Research Hub blog post / video 




------------------------
What items would you add to your own Be Here Now box? Share your
thoughts with others by:
(1) Leaving a comment on the blog post at http://bit.ly/Qx6xvD, or
(2) Adding a comment to DML Facebook Page at
http://www.facebook.com/DMLResearchHub