Google Teachers' Academy Video

I've been working on a way to show motivation and learning into a one minute video that is reality based and personal to me as an applicant to the upcoming Google Teachers Academy.  Here is the draft I have shaved to EXACTLY ONE minute!

Kelly and Ken (not Barbies)

Take a look at the video below!

Mahalo to Kelly Tenkely for posting this animated version of Sir Ken Robinson's thoughts on her "Dreams of Education" blog, way back in October! I am probably behind the times, having just seen this, but at least ahead of my teenage son, for a change!  I just showed it to my 16 year old, who at first reluctantly humored me by watching it but by the end thought he would suggest that it be shown at his high school assembly. This was inspiring, as all Sir Ken talks are but even more so with the visuals.  

However, after watching this I have a similar, albeit more uplifted, sense of hopelessness, which I call the "Alfie Kohn Effect," that oozes into my euphoria of agreement.  "yes, yes, yes... OMG I am an instrument of the educational axis of evil!"  I then begin to go through the options for maintaining integrity and not adding to the problem...

After a quick scan of options I spend a few moments with the final option of working for the local grocery store and smiling as much as possible as being my most sure fire way of impacting people positively.  But then I think, I really like being a part of learning and teaching, in fact, I think I am in love with it!  So what then...

Where do I go with calls for educational reform that light my fire but seem like they leave me "all fired up with no place to go."  And, I am not even dealing with a public school system that is testing kids every two minutes and industrializing at every turn, often against the energies and professional judgement of teachers and many teacher leaders.  

I contribute to the "enlightened" course of the current educational gene-pool.  I work to support divergent thinking opportunities and find that I do not have enough time and confident support to keep myself inspired, to keep from puttering out with self-doubt and the pressure to "cover" curriculum. Running two paradigms simultaneously is exhausting and questionable, yet what are the choices?  And I mean, what are the realistic, in the classroom, right now choices?  

I suppose I will doggedly keep learning and playing with teaching innovations and hope that future generations of policy makers and educators will find a foothold in these ideologies.

What could help? Well, educational amnesia for starters, for us teachers, administrators, policy makers, and parents!  As "Nunavut_teacher" puts forth as the headliner for his blog, Against the Wind, ""The biggest obstacle to school change is our memories." Allen Glenn