pathways | an educator's notebook

Despite the fact that trees reproduce, transform energy, absorb water and nutrients, and communicate via chemical signals, humans tend to overlook them as interesting or important subjects for wonder or instruction.

Nalini Nadkarni presents an engaging approach to foster interest and awareness of tree species and a means for initiating discussion about plant ecology.

I've been meaning to put together some links on this topic for a while. I've mentioned Merlin Mann's 43Folders site in passing before, but for those of you new to, or curious about, GTD as a approach to personal productivity, here are a few sites of interest.

• What is GTD?: Straight from David Allen himself.

• 43Folders: All of Merlin Mann's posts by GTD category. Lots of useful information and discussion here. Probably best to start here, then go here.

• The Inbox Makeover: A useful post from Merlin on the specifics of email filtering. Users of Entourage can find some additional inspiration here.

• Productivity Whitepaper: A summary of Patrick Rhone's various hi- and lo-tech approaches to incorporate GTD into his life.

• GTD on a Macintosh: Mac users discuss their approaches on MetaFilter.

• Using Omnioutliner: Additional suggestions from Litwack.org using Mac software and... paper.

• Palm Implementations of GTD: Useful discussions of how to incorporate the approach for those of you with a handheld. Want (or need) something a little more lo-tech? Try the Hipster.

So, is it true? Zappa seemed to think so. Will Richardson has commented that, although a college education still has its place, with the read/write web come alternative pathways to learning:
 

Instead of the piece of paper on the wall that says you are an expert, you will have an array of products and experiences, reflections and conversations that show your expertise, show what you know, make it transparent. It will be comprised of a body of work and a network of learners that you will continually turn to over time, that will evolve as you evolve, and will capture your most important learning.

[...] depending on what you end up wanting to do, college might still be the best answer. But it might not. And I want to remind you that in my own experience, all of the “learning” I did in all of the college classrooms I’ve spent time in does not come close to the learning that I’ve done on my own for the simple reason that now I am learning with people who are just as (if not more) passionate to “know” as I am.

Food for thought, certainly. Steve Olson helps stimulate further discussion on this (and other) issues with his 10 Things I Wish I Had Never Believed post. Go check it out.

Update: For an entirely different take on what a college education may fail to provide, be sure to read this recent article in the New York Times concerned with students graduating from colleges in India. Thanks to George Siemens for the link.

From Chris' Parking Lot blog:
 

I think first of all that there is a false dichotomy between talk and action. To be more precise I should say that there is a symbiotic relationship between talk and action. We can act any way we choose, and that is just fine, but when we want to take action that is wise, we need to be in conversation with others. We may also be in conversation with context as well, which looks like a literature review, a market study, an environmental scan and so on. Regardless, wisdom follows from being with the insights of others. Wise action is what we do after we have talked well together.

—Chris Corrigan

George Siemens presents an informative overview (as a PowerPoint presentation and audio commentary) of the use of Web 2.0 technologies in schools and universities. He also comments that social networking tools can help organizations become more "self-aware"; at least, when not hindered by restrictive business practices. An "8-week workshop" on the uses of Web 2.0 technologies can be found here.

As a useful complement, Dave Pollard offers a summary and critique of the rapidly expanding suite of social networking applications and presents his reasons why many of these powerful social networking tools remain underutilized.

I briefly touched on this in a previous post, but if you haven't already checked out the archive of presentations and discussions made during the K12 Online Conference earlier this month, then you owe to yourself to do so. It's a wonderful resource with all you need to whet your appetite, get started, and further develop your and your students' skills.

And... I haven't had a chance to try this out much, but it looks promising. Will Richardson has already set up a page on Darfur/Sudan which:
 

is built on tag feeds from YouTube for videos, Flickr for photos, the New York Times AND the Sudan Tribune for news, del.icio.us for what people are bookmarking, and Google Blogsearch for, well, blogs. What you get is a dynamic, constantly updated page of content about what’s happening in that part of the world and what’s happening in other parts of the world in response.

PageFlakes is also building in student-specific templates, which include:
 

among other things a grade tracker, message board, to do list, and contact list. Again, since the student has the ability to keep these portals private, there are all sorts of ways that we can start introducing RSS and content management types of skills.

Mac users beware, though. Safari is currently not supported. Time for Firefox...

Yoko Ono's letter to John Lennon today, the 27th anniversary of his shooting death in New York City.
 

December 8, 2007

I miss you, John. 27 years later, I still wish I could turn back the clock to the Summer of 1980. I remember everything - sharing our morning coffee, walking in the park together on a beautiful day, and seeing your hand stretched to mine - holding it, reassuring me that I shouldn't worry about anything because our life was good.

I had no idea that life was about to teach me the toughest lesson of all. I learned the intense pain of losing a loved one suddenly, without warning, and without having the time for a final hug and the chance to say, "I love you," for the last time. The pain and shock of that sudden loss is with me every moment of every day. When I touched John's side of our bed on the night of December 8th, 1980, I realized that it was still warm. That moment has haunted me for the past 27 years - and will stay with me forever.

Even harder for me is watching what was taken away from our beautiful boy, Sean. He lives in silent anger over not having his Dad, whom he loved so much, around to share his life with. I know we are not alone. Our pain is one shared by many other families who are suffering as the victims of senseless violence. This pain has to stop.

Let's not waste the lives of those we have lost. Let's, together, make the world a place of love and joy and not a place of fear and anger. This day of John's passing has become more and more important for so many people around the world as the day to remember his message of Peace and Love and to do what each of us can to work on healing this planet we cherish.

Let's: Think Peace, Act Peace, and Spread Peace. John worked for it all his life. He said, "there's no problem, only solutions." Remember, we are all together. We can do it, we must. I love you!

Yoko Ono Lennon

Redux | November 21, 2006: I've been very busy recently, due to work in its various guises (be sure to check out that last link for a wealth of resources and discussions of Web 2.0 technologies in school environments), and have been neglecting the blog a little. I hope to add some quick updates over the next few days though, so stay tuned!

First up is some additional footage from the Canaan-Washademoak documentary. I recently completed the edits of all the aerial footage that I shot. This has been split into "regions" — Washademoak Lake, Lower Canaan River, Upper Canaan River — and can now be viewed (featuring the complete "Canaan" soundtrack) on the ESDRC website, right about here, along with a higher-res (albeit smaller and longer to load) online version of the movie. Thanks, Reid!

Redux | September 15, 2006: This weekend sees the Terry Fox Run in Fredericton, the route of which runs past the native plant demonstration site. As the event attracts both runners and spectators alike, I thought it appropriate to produce a couple of quick posters/flyers (illustrated below) explaining the reasoning behind CityScapes in general and the wildflower demonstration site in particular to those present. These are now displayed on the wooden posts at the entrance to the garden.

The design and content follow the format of the documentation I am currently working on to educate private landowners on the benefits of planting native species and their contribution to healthy riparian zones.

Eventually, permanent interpretative signage will be installed at the site: one recognizing the contributions of each of our partners to the project, and a second providing a species map of the site along with a summary of the purpose of and social/ecological benefits provided by the garden.

Redux | September 14, 2006: This morning, Stephanie Merrill joined David Smith and myself to plant our first batch of native vegetation at the site. Steph planted the first tree, a serviceberry, donated by Green Village, who also contributed four wintergreens and an additional two serviceberries to the project.

In total, 23 different species were planted, listed below; these will be added to in the spring. With time, the plants will self-propagate and fill out the area, keying in to the wetland.

In the coming weeks we hope to add a few rocks, some weathered wood for shade (and for the wild grape we'd like to plant in the spring), a bird or bat box, and a natural structure—possibly made from stone—that will collect water and attract a few more birds to the area. In the near future, I will post an updated site map showing the location of the species just planted.

Our current list of native species includes the following:

Potentilla simplex (Old-field cinquefoil)
Maianthemum racemosum (False Solomon's seal)
Diervilla lonicera (Northern bush-honeysuckle)
Thuja occidentalis (Eastern white cedar)
Prunus pumila (Sand cherry)
Aster acuminatus (Whorled wood aster)
Anemone canadensis (Canada anemone)
Allium schoenoprasum (Rush-leek)
Lysimachia ciliata (Fringed loosestrife)
Lonicera canadensis (Fly honeysuckle)
Onoclea sensibilis (Sensitive fern)
Rubus allegheniensis (Common blackberry)
Aronia melanocarpa (Black chokeberry)
Antennaria parlinii (Plaintain-leaved pussytoes)
Daphne mezereum (Daphne)
Rhododendron canadense (Rhodora)
Tiarella cordifolia (Foamflower)
Amelanchier arborea (Shadbush)
Iris versicolor (Blue flag)
Carex sp. (Sedge)
Aster juncifomis (Rush aster)
Verbena hastata (Blue vervain)
Gaultheria procumbens (Wintergreen)

Redux | September 11, 2006: Today, after raking to remove evidence of a single bicycle track through the site, we covered the soil located within the berms with a layer of cardboard. As mentioned before, the City of Fredericton had already hydroseeded the soil and the work we completed a couple of days ago resulted in a layer of soil too shallow to suppress weed growth. Covering the soil with cardboard ("solarizing", which can also be achieved with plastic sheeting, but which is not biodegradable) prevents further growth of weeds, which then die, returning their nutrients to the soil.

The City of Fredericton delivered a further 12 tonnes of soil which we used to further build up the berms and spread soil over the laid cardboard to a depth of 6–8 cm. Over time, the cardboard will rot allowing the root systems of the native plants to penetrate deeper into the soil.

The site now looks more contoured, and the mulched path better delineated. Next, we begin planting!