Thursday, November 3, 2011

bud hunt

responding to his on being still in motion

.. how do you track lurking or listening..
what about proof and comparison.

Bud writes:
It’s a space with ethos but little structure.  I’m building as I go.  And wondering, from time to time, if this course meets my general metric for success in all that I do as a teacher – is it useful?  Are people getting what they need from the course?


i think this is huge. i think tech is taking us back to things that matter vs things that can (or can not or can appear to) be proven. i believe transparency is the new currency.. and tech is allowing for that with such spaces. do we really have new quiet spaces.. or is tech showing us how quiet our spaces were before. perhaps the quietness was hidden in expected response (whether fake or real) or undesirable response. perhaps invisible is a better word than quiet.

is it useful.. huge again. but is that what we're really after when we measure.

my current thinking on proof and tracking:
1) how valid proof is...what is provable. we think we have tracked or know proficiency... but have we really. kids tell me they believe 75% either cheat or cram the night before tests.. then recall very little a week later. that to me is not the alarming part (in fact i think it would bode us well and would be much more interesting to find out how these kids are coping as well as they do with what we prescribe for them), the alarming part to me is that we are passing this 75% on as proficient, when actually it's more of a fake proficient. not statistically sound. and now our focus has become how to use that data to help us help them. how to use fake data. perpetuating the gathering of more fake data.
2) we're not comfortable with quiet, with self-reflection, because we're seeking reassurance. this comfort with irresolution (dmeyer) is what kids need us to model - perhaps more than anything. the ability to pause and self-reflect. if we are learning.. and doing what we love.. that confidence helps us chill more, relax more, be more comfortable with quiet, with irresolution. if we are learning.. and doing what we love.. that's alluring to kids/people.
3) personally - i have been a lurker for some time. some people have no idea how much they have influenced me. and it's not that i haven't thanked them, or participated, it's that there is so much noise.. they haven't heard or taken notice.

i'm thinking we can craft some ways to evaluate more things.. like tracking lurking, listening.. but i would question how real they would be.
so i don't think we should.
and i don't think we need to - if we're growing ourselves and doing what we love.
i think we compromise too much be seeking proof for things.
what if we experimented more with a culture of trust.
that people are good right now.
that you are fine today.... let's just start being/doing more of you.