If Donald Trump were a...

...character from Lord of the Flies, which would he be?

We--my 8th graders and I--are in the middle of the novel.  In case you forget (or haven't read it), a group of English schoolboys, ages 6-13ish, are stuck alone on an island...without any adults.  They elect Ralph as Chief, though nobody is quite sure why.  Piggy is the most sensible, but he's ostracized by the others because he's overweight.  Jack is the natural leader, but he's also overbearing...pushing for the authority he thinks is rightly his to have.  Simon seems weird (see below) because he's a sensitive introvert.

So, part way through (in the midst of chapter 6, if you know the novel that well), we talked about authority and character, and I asked for some thoughts on various aspects of governance.  One thing I asked was, which character most seems like President Trump and why.

Here are the answers (from those who gave them) of my 8th graders....

President Trump is like…

Jack, because he	Piggy, because he	Ralph, because he	Simon, because
·   only does what wants ·   is bad ·   may have some good ideas but he is somewhat stubborn and not the best listener ·   says what he wants to do ·   doesn’t care about other peoples’ opinions ·   makes decisions without really thinking about the consequences ·   is ambitious ·   isn’t very accepting or open-minded ·   is talking smack about everyone, with no fear ·   makes courageous and dangerous decisions, and will end terribly ·   biased ·   hard-headed and does everything his way ·   power hungry, rude and unethical ·   makes bold statements and doesn’t care what other people think ·   is demanding and does what he wants ·   does what he wants ·   he has to be in control of everything and blames others when he’s at fault ·   wants whatever whenever ·   has a huge ego ·   wants his way ·   likes to control people ·   is clear about what he wants ·   thinks he’s a better leader than he might actually be ·   he doesn’t listen ·   he wants to have power ·   he doesn’t care what he says as long as he gets to be in charge ·   he’s brash and aggressive ·   he doesn’t have a filter and he’s very argumentative ·   he’s confident and says what he wants ·   he’s demanding ·   he’s got a one-track mind (business) and he always disputes people ·   he’s selfish and demanding ·   he alienates people ·   he’s brash and headstrong ·   he is controlling ·   he does what he wants ·   he needs to make himself important ·   he gets savage toward those who disagree with him ·   he’s self-centered ·   he actually takes charge ·   he’s rash ·   he can be mean ·   he bullies	·   has good ideas but nobody sees it ·   is smart and an out of the box thinker ·   is trying to help; trying to control ·   can help ·   follows the rules and tries to make things right ·   thinks outside the box (and they both probably got beaten up at school)	·   Is a know-it-all and people are beginning to rebel ·   makes decisions and backs them up with evidence ·   smart, but demanding ·   is trying to maintain order but people keep ruining it ·   is trying to keep everything in order ·   is trying to maintain order ·   is the leader…and he’s demanding ·   has no idea what he’s doing ·   doesn’t know what he’s doing ·   thinks he’s the only who can be a leader ·   is demanding and straight up ·   is mean and influential ·   wants a lot of attention on himself ·   is not knowing what to do ·   doesn’t know what he’s doing	They’re both weird in some way

Wendell Berry

The complexity of our present trouble suggests as never before that we need to change our present concept of education. Education is not properly an industry, and its proper use is not to serve industries, either by job-training or by industry-subsidized research. It's proper use is to enable citizens to live lives that are economically, politically, socially, and culturally responsible. This cannot be done by gathering or "accessing" what we now call "information" - which is to say facts without context and therefore without priority. A proper education enables young people to put their lives in order, which means knowing what things are more important than other things; it means putting first things first.”

And done rightly--according to this approach, it is very difficult to numerate, measure, count and standardize teaching and learning, at least not in the way we endeavor to do with the Common Core and the attendant testing process.

Flies, Redux

It's that time again.  I've written before about how my colleague and I let our classes elect a chief, as the boys do in Lord of the Flies.  It's an interesting, if somewhat frustrating, pedagogical "moment."  Every year--indeed, every class period--is different, but we have always found benefit in doing this exercise.

It replicates some of the aspects of youngters living unsupervised, bringing some of the themes of the book more obviously to life.  This happens most clearly when you try to look at the story through a thematic lens of human nature--what people are like in difficult circumstances.

It's satisfying when you see confirmed before you your expectations of which students will hum along just fine without any real supervision...about as much as it is strangely compelling when those students you think will completely exploit the system and do absolutely nothing confirm your worst fears.

I admit, it's also pleasantly affirming when the student chief stands before the class and explains his/her frustrations with what the students are doing.  We've heard more than one, "I have a new found respect for the teachers."

And then sometimes it's just fun.  Today, one class had a sit-in protest.  (We just did a unit on civil rights, and I think they got the idea from that.)  They succeeded in removing their interim chief (the regular chief is absent) for the remaining 9 minutes of the period.

I've lost track of how many coups we (my colleague and I) have had, sponsored or fomented.  Almost no classes make it more than 3 days without some sort of distress.  One year, one class finally got so annoyed with all that was happening that they held a new election...and I won, even though I wasn't running.  Like Sally Field, "I have to admit it...you like me.  Right now, you really really like me."

Ultimately, the exercise and the book are particularly worthwhile...and I'm sure they meet some Common Core Standard or other.

Spelling and Proofreading Matter!

I hope this student has a permit for that!

Our leadership class made encouraging/inspirational balloons for every locker in school.  I think they meant "I am caring," but you can see where they missed.  

New Year, Same Result

For about about 7 or 8 years now, I've been doing a week on Brains and Electronics with my 8th graders.  We cover material about how we really don't multitask...we sequentially task (Brain Rules), how blue light (smart phones, computer screens, LED lights, etc.) is bad for your health, how too much screen time is bad for your brain, and more.

Then we take an attention test, to which I add increasing electronic distraction.  Each year, the result is the same--their Baseline performance (before any distractions, like iPods, or other personal listening devices) was better than all the Distracted scores (and this year, the first test with multiple distractions was particularly bad).  Further, one last test, after one minute of a breathing and relaxation exercise (Relaxation), was demonstrably better than all other tests.  (Try the test.)

Here are the most significant findings:

• ALL Relaxation Scores went up, to the highest level of all tests in the sequence.
• iPods Plus (the first test with multiple distractions at the same time) all showed significant drop off.
• All “Distracted” scores were lower than the best Baseline score.

For more details, go here.

Ray Bradbury would worry about smart phones...?

Ray Bradbury on technology...an important technology issue today.

An uphill battle for schools....

On Thursday, October 20, I sent this email to a Mr. Marc Kaye, some sort of manager at the firm that runs Warm 106.9 in Seattle.

Mr. Kaye,

This morning I was surfing through stations and landed for a moment on 106.9.  I arrived in the middle of Allen and Ashley talking--apparently--about Ashley's child taking Ashley's cell phone to Ashley while she was in the shower.  The phone was--I gathered--in some sort of video chat mode, so Allen saw Ashley in the shower.  

Allen proceeded to make all manner of jokes--innuendo, nothing direct--about having gotten to see Ashley in some measure of undress.  The one comment I remember is that "the Sono Bello really worked."  

I'm a teacher at a middle school, where we routinely deal with the emotional, psychological and intellectual consequences of children digitally trading in inappropriate pictures of themselves and each other.  Let me assure you, those consequences are not pleasant.   And too often, the social ramifications for the children involved--primarily the girls--can be significant and enduring.

Since the fascination with their electronics is so great, though, we fight an uphill battle on this issue.  And to have a media figure make such lighthearted sport of digital voyeurism--even if unintentional--makes that hill even steeper.

In trying to coach and model self-discipline and respectful regard for their peers, we are working against substantial obstacles.  The satisfying pull of the digital life--especially its prurient elements-- is enticing to teenagers, so encouraging them to avoid that involves working against their very primal impulses.  It is very easy to imagine, for instance, a teenage boy--if he were to find himself in Allen's situation-- taking a screen shot and sending it to his friends.  (But one story about such episodes.)

So to have a media figure make light of something so similar as what we coach them to avoid is, frankly speaking, irresponsible.

I wish that this were the only instance of such public (mis)conduct.  Alas, it is not, but I heard this one, and I feel compelled to address it.  

I'd like to think that the station might reconsider such conduct, even perhaps undertake a concerted effort to raise awareness about the dangers of such digital conduct, and work to support children in refraining from participating in this.  Short of that, though, I'll "unselect" 106.9 from my saved stations.

Sincerely,

Andrew Milton

Two minutes later, I got this reply.

Thank you for your thoughts and comments.

This gives us another perspective and one we will need to consider.

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I doubt they will.