Here are some resources I prepared for a practice project to help students contextually learn Audacity tools.
The project brief is and narration script is here:
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Newest Professions, Growing Salaries
This article really got me thinking about how education is preparing students for these...
by Larry Buhl, for Yahoo! HotJobs
11 October 2009
The latest directory of job titles from Occupational Information Network (O*Net) features a variety of new entries that many people have never heard before.
Some of these jobs -- at least the duties -- have been around in some form for a while. What's new is a "professional pathway" for these careers, according to employment expert and author Laurence Shatkin. "O*Net officially recognizes job titles once there is a critical mass of workers in those jobs and a clear road map for attaining the positions," he says.
Green Energy
There are many new green-collar job titles on O*Net, which is developed for the U.S. Department of Labor. The number of new green jobs is not surprising, given the federal government's active role in building a green economy.
Even before the federal stimulus dollars kicked in, wind energy was big and growing. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reports that the wind industry grew by 45 percent in 2007 alone. Civil engineers who work on various aspects of the wind farm now have their own job category: wind farm engineers. These engineers work on performance of turbines and the overall performance of the wind farm and also oversee aspects of construction and mechanical development. They usually have a B.S. in engineering with a focus in construction or civil or structural engineering. Some technical colleges now offer degrees in wind farm engineering. AWEA pegs the average salary at $80,000.
Solar thermal technicians design, develop, install, and maintain solar thermal systems used to heat water and produce energy. Renewable energy plants, companies that install solar panels for domestic use, construction companies, consulting firms, and hotel chains use these technicians. A degree (2- or 4-year) in mechanical engineering or electronics is helpful, but some apprenticeship programs exist as well.
Salaries vary widely and will increase if demand continues to outstrip supply. Solar thermal technicians can expect to start at around $40,000 a year or $20 an hour, according to Red Rocks Community College in Colorado. The upper salary limit is a moving target, as the job category is emerging so quickly.
Health Care
Nursing informatics is a nursing specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice. Informatics nurse specialists are registered nurses trained in graduate level informatics. Salaries start at $60,000 but can more than double after a few years' experience.
"Most often they are liaisons between clinicians and information and computer science people. These jobs are growing because information technology is now becoming a major tool in health-care settings," says Stacey Prince of the American Nurses Association.
Anesthesiologist assistants work under the direction of a licensed and qualified anesthesiologist in hospitals. They perform preoperative tasks, support therapy, recovery room care, and intensive care support. They do well money-wise: around $90,000 to start and more than double that with 10 years of experience, according to the American Medical Association. A master's degree in nursing and certification by the National Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist Assistants are required.
Business and Management
The roles of IT professionals continue to splinter and become more specialized as new technologies dominate businesses. Business continuity planners are responsible for developing plans to recover from cyber attacks, terrorism, or natural disasters. They also may be responsible for scaling IT as a company grows (from regional to national, for example), duties that used to be handled by information systems managers. A bachelor's degree in business, management, or disaster management is the minimum requirement. The median salary for disaster recovery managers, who have a similar job description, is $100,000, according to salary.com.
America's interest in getting healthy has led to a growing business specialization of spa managers, who are employed by resorts, health clubs, and other facilities offering sports and wellness activities. The median income for spa managers in the U.S. is $56,000. A college degree is not mandatory, but a high school diploma or GED and at least five years experience in the managing a related area are usually required.
Education
Distance learning, which provides instruction to students who are not on-site, is booming. O*Net now recognizes distance learning coordinators, who prepare and run online courses at colleges, trade schools and secondary schools. A master's degree in instructional design, curriculum design, curriculum development is usually required, as is a strong understanding of Web-based technologies.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't yet recognize distance learning coordinators as a job category, but an analysis of job openings shows a range from the upper $30s to the low $60s for a coordinator with at least two years' experience.
Entertainment and Media
Video game designers have been around for a while, but as the $9 billion interactive entertainment industry matures, new specialties are emerging, such as user experience designer, which focuses solely on improving the user interaction. Designers can also move up to be creative directors as well. A college degree is still not mandatory everywhere, however, strong skills in computer programming, computer engineering, software development, computer animation, graphic design, and computer graphics -- or all of them -- are helpful.
Big employers like Microsoft and Electronic Arts snag a large chunk of new designers, but smaller companies are starting to offer competitive wages and career tracks as well. Designers earn $50,000 and $80,000 annually, and the highest reported salary was $200,000, according to the International Game Developers Association.
Social media is a specialty field of public relations that uses the growing social networking technologies, including RSS, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. A few years ago, social media duties were performed by marketing managers or communications directors. Now there is a social media career track.
An entry-level company blogger can earn less than $20 per hour (and many blogging jobs are part-time). A director of social media, the top of the social media chain, can pull in $70,000 or more. In the middle, a social media manager, can expect to earn around $50,000. A bachelor's degree is usually required, and job seekers should possess strong writing abilities and a keen understanding of online marketing, public relations, and new media.
Newest Professions, Growing Salaries
12 Jobs That Didn't Exist Until Recently
by Larry Buhl, for Yahoo! HotJobs
11 October 2009
The latest directory of job titles from Occupational Information Network (O*Net) features a variety of new entries that many people have never heard before.
Some of these jobs -- at least the duties -- have been around in some form for a while. What's new is a "professional pathway" for these careers, according to employment expert and author Laurence Shatkin. "O*Net officially recognizes job titles once there is a critical mass of workers in those jobs and a clear road map for attaining the positions," he says.
Green Energy
There are many new green-collar job titles on O*Net, which is developed for the U.S. Department of Labor. The number of new green jobs is not surprising, given the federal government's active role in building a green economy.
Even before the federal stimulus dollars kicked in, wind energy was big and growing. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reports that the wind industry grew by 45 percent in 2007 alone. Civil engineers who work on various aspects of the wind farm now have their own job category: wind farm engineers. These engineers work on performance of turbines and the overall performance of the wind farm and also oversee aspects of construction and mechanical development. They usually have a B.S. in engineering with a focus in construction or civil or structural engineering. Some technical colleges now offer degrees in wind farm engineering. AWEA pegs the average salary at $80,000.
Solar thermal technicians design, develop, install, and maintain solar thermal systems used to heat water and produce energy. Renewable energy plants, companies that install solar panels for domestic use, construction companies, consulting firms, and hotel chains use these technicians. A degree (2- or 4-year) in mechanical engineering or electronics is helpful, but some apprenticeship programs exist as well.
Salaries vary widely and will increase if demand continues to outstrip supply. Solar thermal technicians can expect to start at around $40,000 a year or $20 an hour, according to Red Rocks Community College in Colorado. The upper salary limit is a moving target, as the job category is emerging so quickly.
Health Care
Nursing informatics is a nursing specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice. Informatics nurse specialists are registered nurses trained in graduate level informatics. Salaries start at $60,000 but can more than double after a few years' experience.
"Most often they are liaisons between clinicians and information and computer science people. These jobs are growing because information technology is now becoming a major tool in health-care settings," says Stacey Prince of the American Nurses Association.
Anesthesiologist assistants work under the direction of a licensed and qualified anesthesiologist in hospitals. They perform preoperative tasks, support therapy, recovery room care, and intensive care support. They do well money-wise: around $90,000 to start and more than double that with 10 years of experience, according to the American Medical Association. A master's degree in nursing and certification by the National Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist Assistants are required.
Business and Management
The roles of IT professionals continue to splinter and become more specialized as new technologies dominate businesses. Business continuity planners are responsible for developing plans to recover from cyber attacks, terrorism, or natural disasters. They also may be responsible for scaling IT as a company grows (from regional to national, for example), duties that used to be handled by information systems managers. A bachelor's degree in business, management, or disaster management is the minimum requirement. The median salary for disaster recovery managers, who have a similar job description, is $100,000, according to salary.com.
America's interest in getting healthy has led to a growing business specialization of spa managers, who are employed by resorts, health clubs, and other facilities offering sports and wellness activities. The median income for spa managers in the U.S. is $56,000. A college degree is not mandatory, but a high school diploma or GED and at least five years experience in the managing a related area are usually required.
Education
Distance learning, which provides instruction to students who are not on-site, is booming. O*Net now recognizes distance learning coordinators, who prepare and run online courses at colleges, trade schools and secondary schools. A master's degree in instructional design, curriculum design, curriculum development is usually required, as is a strong understanding of Web-based technologies.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't yet recognize distance learning coordinators as a job category, but an analysis of job openings shows a range from the upper $30s to the low $60s for a coordinator with at least two years' experience.
Entertainment and Media
Video game designers have been around for a while, but as the $9 billion interactive entertainment industry matures, new specialties are emerging, such as user experience designer, which focuses solely on improving the user interaction. Designers can also move up to be creative directors as well. A college degree is still not mandatory everywhere, however, strong skills in computer programming, computer engineering, software development, computer animation, graphic design, and computer graphics -- or all of them -- are helpful.
Big employers like Microsoft and Electronic Arts snag a large chunk of new designers, but smaller companies are starting to offer competitive wages and career tracks as well. Designers earn $50,000 and $80,000 annually, and the highest reported salary was $200,000, according to the International Game Developers Association.
Social media is a specialty field of public relations that uses the growing social networking technologies, including RSS, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. A few years ago, social media duties were performed by marketing managers or communications directors. Now there is a social media career track.
An entry-level company blogger can earn less than $20 per hour (and many blogging jobs are part-time). A director of social media, the top of the social media chain, can pull in $70,000 or more. In the middle, a social media manager, can expect to earn around $50,000. A bachelor's degree is usually required, and job seekers should possess strong writing abilities and a keen understanding of online marketing, public relations, and new media.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Never say these outdated tech words...
Ha - apparently if you utter these words, you will have 'relic' stamped across your forehead.
Carolyn Duffy Marsan lists 12 in her article publisehd by Business Week on 25 August 2009.
Carolyn Duffy Marsan lists 12 in her article publisehd by Business Week on 25 August 2009.
1. Intranet
Popular in the mid-90s, the term "intranet" referred to a private network running the Internet Protocol and other Internet standards such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It was also used to describe an internal Web site that was hosted behind a firewall and was accessible only to employees. Today, every private network runs IP. So you can just use the term virtual private network or VPN to describe a private IP-based network.
2. Extranet
An "extranet" referred to private network connections based on Internet standards such as IP and HTTP that extended outside an organization, such as between business partners. Extranets often replaced point-to-point electronic data interchange (EDI) connections that used standards such as X12. Today, companies provide suppliers, resellers and other members of their supply chain with access to their VPNs.
3. Web Surfing
When is the last time you heard someone talk about surfing the Web? You know the term is out of date when your kids don't know what it means. To teens and tweens, the Internet and the World Wide Web are one and the same thing. So it's better to use the term "browsing" the Web if you want to be understood.
4. Push Technology
The debate over the merits of "push" versus "pull" technology came to a head in 1996 with the release of the PointCast Network, a Web service that sent a steady stream of news to subscribers. However, PointCast and other push technology services required too much network bandwidth. Eventually, push technology evolved into RSS feeds, which remain the preferred method for publishing information to subscribers of the Internet. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.
5. Application Service Provider (ASP)
During this decade, the term "Application Service Provider" evolved into "Software-as-a-Service." Both terms refer to a vendor hosting a software application and providing access to it over the Web. Customers buy the software on a subscription basis, rather than having to own and operate it themselves. ASP was a hot term prior to the dot-com bust. Then it was replaced by "SaaS." Now it's cool to talk about "cloud computing."
6. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
Coined by former Apple CEO John Sculley back in 1992 when he unveiled the Apple Newton, the term "personal digital assistant" referred to a handheld computer. PDA was still in use in 1996, when the Palm Pilot was the hottest handheld in corporate America. Today, the preferred generic term for a handheld like a Blackberry or an iPhone is a "smartphone".
7. Internet Telephony
You need to purge the term "Internet telephony" from your vocabulary and switch to VoIP, for Voice over IP. Even the term VoIP is getting old-fashioned because pretty soon all telephone calls will be routed over the Internet rather than the Public Switched Telephone Network. It's probably time to stop referring to the PSTN, too, because it is headed for the history books as all voice, data and video traffic is carried on the Internet.
8. Weblog
A blog is a shortened version of "Weblog," a term that emerged in the late 1990s to describe commentary that an individual publishes online. It spawned many words still in use such as "blogger" and "blogosphere." Nowadays, few people have time to blog so they are "microblogging," which is another word that's heading out the door as people turn Twitter into a generic term for blasting out 140-character observations or opinions.
9. Thin Client
You have to give Larry Ellison credit for seeing many of the flaws in the client/server computing architecture and for popularizing the term "thin client" to refer to Oracle's alternative terminal-like approach. In 1993, Ellison was touting thin clients as a way for large organizations to improve network security and manageability. Although thin clients never replaced PCs, the concept is similar to "virtual desktops" that are gaining popularity today as a way of supporting mobile workers.
10. Rboc
In 1984, the U.S. government forced AT&T to split up into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies [RBOCs] also known as Baby Bells. Customers bought local service from RBOCs and long-distance service from carriers such as AT&T. Telecom industry mergers over the last 15 years have formed integrated local- and long-distance carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and Qwest. This makes not only the term RBOC obsolete, but also the terms ILEC for Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier [i.e., GTE] and CLEC for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier [i.e., MFS].
11. Long-Distance Call
Thanks to flat-rate calling plans available from carriers for at least five years, nobody needs to distinguish between local and long-distance calls anymore. Similarly, you don't need to distinguish between terrestrial and wireless calls because so many people use only wireless services. Like pay phones, long-distance calls -- and their premium prices -- are relics of a past without national and unlimited calling plans.
12. World Wide Web
Nobody talks about the "World Wide Web" anymore, or the "Information Superhighway," for that matter. It's just the Internet. It's a distinction that Steve Czaban, the popular Fox Sports Radio talk show host, likes to mock when he refers to the "Worldwide Interweb." Nothing dates you more than pulling out one of those old-fashioned ways of referring to the Internet such as "infobahn" or "electronic highway."
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Pensiangan Salinatan Visit
Selamat datang adik-adik semua!
Hari ini, kita akan melihat bagaimana kita boleh memberi sumbangan kepada semua pengguna Internet.
Kita boleh memberi sumbangan melalui pemberian seperti gambar-gambar, video, musik dan lain-lain bahan yang dihasilkan oleh kita sendiri.
Marilah kita mengajar orang lain menari "Chicken Dance"
Marilah kita menyumbang sekeping gambar.
Marilah kita menyumbang sebuah lagu.
Hari ini, kita akan melihat bagaimana kita boleh memberi sumbangan kepada semua pengguna Internet.
Kita boleh memberi sumbangan melalui pemberian seperti gambar-gambar, video, musik dan lain-lain bahan yang dihasilkan oleh kita sendiri.
Marilah kita mengajar orang lain menari "Chicken Dance"
Marilah kita menyumbang sekeping gambar.
Marilah kita menyumbang sebuah lagu.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Facebook's Shadow Culture
Here is an article which articulates my sense of unease about participating in Facebook.
Brookville, N.Y. – I remember the day I became blood sisters with my friend Kristine. We planned for weeks; but in the end, nobody noticed us steal into the cornfield, prick our prepubescent palms, and press them firmly together.
Kris is now on Facebook and she's pestering me to join. She's one of the 200 million Facebook users who tend networks of friends online. I am among a dwindling number who don't.
A common criticism of such social-networking sites is that they cheapen friendship. But they're doing more than reducing its value: They're creating a shadow culture of friendship that spins cosmic sympathy into crowd sourcing.
With greater connectedness has come the ability for people to influence one another with more speed and efficiency. Social-networking sites – spurred by a resurgent "Secret" interpretation of the ancient Greek doctrine "like attracts like" – have become a potent medium for mass persuasion.
The age-old law of attraction is manifest and multiplied to the nth degree in social-media realms. Facebook's exponential success lies in its ability to get its users to do the work for them – friends persuading friends to join, comment, and feed. Twitterers compete to attract followers – 140 characters at a time. On sites like eHarmony, affinity is an algorithmic compatibility coefficient.
Friendship, like marriage, is a big attraction – a deep commitment to a nonblood relation. It is a relationship predicated on trust and nurtured, over time, through physical and metaphysical connection.
Critics consider the phenomena of chronic "friending" to be a kind of memetic narcissism, and excessive self-regard is surely part of its appeal. But these ever-widening concentric circles of congeniality are subtly turning the desire for friendship into sinister temptations for power or profit.
In these labyrinths of mutuality, the pulls and pokes of influence are embedded in Facebook's highly targeted Groups and Notes. New "apps" are turning Facebook into a colossal interpersonal ploy that, ever-so-subtly, blurs the distinction between community and commodity. On Kris's page, I can browse her lemonade stand – a widget that pays her when people buy items from her list of favorite things. I can link to her brother and buy his garage band's music. Or I can help out Afghan refugees by purchasing "gifts," such as a virtual United Nations tent for $10.
Influence is the elephant in the chat room. Self-promoting and moneymaking apps are deceptively displacing the gold standard of trust with a fiat currency of clout.
As I watch our kids acquire the habit of thinking and experiencing on behalf of an audience, I worry that they won't develop the wherewithal to effectively relate one-on-one, or to appreciate people as people and not as payoff. I see their Ponzified friend-building schemes and resent the ephemera of new-age amity. To them, friend is a technical term – a time suck.
"A friend to all," said Aristotle, "is a friend to none." We need a renaissance of intimacy and commitment. Now is the time to renew, in our hearts and in our souls and in our First Life experience, the perennial sense that friendship is both miracle and magic, and treat it less as cohort and more as covenant.
Emily Walshe is a librarian and professor at Long Island University in New York.
Facebook's Shadow Culture
By Emily Walshe
Christian Science Monitor, published in Yahoo News, Thu Jun 11, 2009
Brookville, N.Y. – I remember the day I became blood sisters with my friend Kristine. We planned for weeks; but in the end, nobody noticed us steal into the cornfield, prick our prepubescent palms, and press them firmly together.
Kris is now on Facebook and she's pestering me to join. She's one of the 200 million Facebook users who tend networks of friends online. I am among a dwindling number who don't.
A common criticism of such social-networking sites is that they cheapen friendship. But they're doing more than reducing its value: They're creating a shadow culture of friendship that spins cosmic sympathy into crowd sourcing.
With greater connectedness has come the ability for people to influence one another with more speed and efficiency. Social-networking sites – spurred by a resurgent "Secret" interpretation of the ancient Greek doctrine "like attracts like" – have become a potent medium for mass persuasion.
The age-old law of attraction is manifest and multiplied to the nth degree in social-media realms. Facebook's exponential success lies in its ability to get its users to do the work for them – friends persuading friends to join, comment, and feed. Twitterers compete to attract followers – 140 characters at a time. On sites like eHarmony, affinity is an algorithmic compatibility coefficient.
Friendship, like marriage, is a big attraction – a deep commitment to a nonblood relation. It is a relationship predicated on trust and nurtured, over time, through physical and metaphysical connection.
Critics consider the phenomena of chronic "friending" to be a kind of memetic narcissism, and excessive self-regard is surely part of its appeal. But these ever-widening concentric circles of congeniality are subtly turning the desire for friendship into sinister temptations for power or profit.
In these labyrinths of mutuality, the pulls and pokes of influence are embedded in Facebook's highly targeted Groups and Notes. New "apps" are turning Facebook into a colossal interpersonal ploy that, ever-so-subtly, blurs the distinction between community and commodity. On Kris's page, I can browse her lemonade stand – a widget that pays her when people buy items from her list of favorite things. I can link to her brother and buy his garage band's music. Or I can help out Afghan refugees by purchasing "gifts," such as a virtual United Nations tent for $10.
Influence is the elephant in the chat room. Self-promoting and moneymaking apps are deceptively displacing the gold standard of trust with a fiat currency of clout.
As I watch our kids acquire the habit of thinking and experiencing on behalf of an audience, I worry that they won't develop the wherewithal to effectively relate one-on-one, or to appreciate people as people and not as payoff. I see their Ponzified friend-building schemes and resent the ephemera of new-age amity. To them, friend is a technical term – a time suck.
"A friend to all," said Aristotle, "is a friend to none." We need a renaissance of intimacy and commitment. Now is the time to renew, in our hearts and in our souls and in our First Life experience, the perennial sense that friendship is both miracle and magic, and treat it less as cohort and more as covenant.
Emily Walshe is a librarian and professor at Long Island University in New York.
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Little Boy by Helen Buckley
I was preparing a session on creativity for teachers when came across this poem. I thought this could be used to spark some discussion about principles underlying the creation of a creative climate in our schools.
Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.
One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.
But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at his teacher's flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.
On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.
But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at the teacher's dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.
And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.
Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.
When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the lttle boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make pink and orange and blue flowers.
He liked his new school,
Even if it didn't have a door
Right in from the outside!
Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.
One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.
But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at his teacher's flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.
On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.
But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at the teacher's dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.
And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.
Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.
When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the lttle boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make pink and orange and blue flowers.
He liked his new school,
Even if it didn't have a door
Right in from the outside!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Caged Bird by Maya Angelou
Here is a collage in response to Maya Angelou's poem "A Caged Bird" composed by my student. This project was developed to help students connect with poetry and to explore their own interpretations of poems through creative expression.
I have included the poem below and a podcast of it being read.
Excerpt from a poem byMaya Angelou
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I have included the poem below and a podcast of it being read.
The Caged Bird
Excerpt from a poem byMaya Angelou
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and its tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom…
Download this episode (right click and save)
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