Only In New York?

In a recent Op-Ed piece in The New York Times (http://nyti.ms/edN8oj), Susan Engel describes eight high school students who took responsibility for designing their own school within a school for a semester. With the advice of a guidance counselor they were able to determine what they wanted to learn, how they would go about learning it, and how they would evaluate what they had accomplished.  When studying math, for example, “They sought the help of full-time math teachers, consulted books and online sources and, whenever possible, taught one another.” I couldn’t help but wonder whether any of these students made use of Khan Academy, an excellent online resource for math.  (For more about Khan Academy go here: http://bit.ly/fNuTcZ or here: http://vimeo.com/11731351).

Engel notes, “The students in the Independent Project are remarkable but not because they are exceptionally motivated or unusually talented.  They are remarkable because they demonstrate the kinds of learning and personal growth that are possible when teenagers feel ownership of their high school experience, when they learn together.  In such a setting, school capitalizes on rather than thwarts the intensity and engagement that teenagers usually reserve for sports, protest or friendship.”

I was thinking about the Independent Project while working with some students in a New York City public high school recently.  I’d suggested students should take a look at Khan Academy.  It’s a quick and easy way to get help on any discrete math topic, factoring quadratic equations or the Quotient Rule in calculus, for example. We went to school computers, found the Khan Academy website and tried to open a lesson.  Oops.  Not in New York.  The Board of Education website blocks all those wonderful lessons.  So too, I discovered, with free courses, lessons and lectures from MIT, Stanford, and iTunes University.  If students want to use these resources and others like them, they have to do so from home, provided they have a computer with an Internet connection.  I have no idea how many other potential resources I'm not even aware of are blocked.

I understand that in a large city system there are risks involved with Internet usage.  As students already seem to know and quickly explained to me, essentially anything that involves a YouTube video will be blocked via the Board of Ed connection. However, I noticed kids engaged on other websites through the Board of Ed system.  I asked them to show me a few.  It is possible to view movie trailers on Yahoo without any problem.  I saw a girl who aspires to becoming a doctor spend quite a bit of time going from trailer to trailer.  A bright fellow who plans on a career in engineering spends lots of time following basketball on the NBA website.  If students want to download music to have something to listen to while they write an essay, easy.  They can just go to mp3skull.com for their listening pleasure.  Finally, I asked a pair of girls if they knew of any way they could get on a social networking site via the Board of Ed connection.  In a flash they’d called up a Twitter account.

I am NOT suggesting that the Board of Ed cut off access to any of the sites I’ve just mentioned.  I do come back to Susan Engel’s statement that schools thwart the intensity and engagement teenagers are capable of.  I’m no tech guru.  Far from it.  But I have to believe there is a way for the Board of Ed to make it possible for students curious and eager to learn to have access to sites where they can learn.  Assuming, of course, that the Board believes in the value of having students take responsibility for their own learning.  Or, as Engel puts it, allowing students “to be the authors of their own education.”

  

Let Kids Rule The School

Susan Engel  wrote this in the March 15 New York Times.  http://nyti.ms/edN8oj  I'd be curious to know more about what the kids she describes did.  What books did they read?  Did any of them use Kahn Academy for math help?  We need a Part B to help spread the word, to give other kids the confidence to try to learn this way, to help educators overcome the apprehension about letting kids do something on their own.  Kudos to a school willing to empower young people.

Sal Kahn & Kahn Academy

Many of my friends in education know about Sal Khan and Khan Academy.  Yet there are many more who don’t.  He’s quite an amazing guy.  I believe his work will change education in important ways, even more than it already has.  Here are links to two videos about him.  One is a recent TED talk.  The other is from a GEL conference. 

I tell kids I work with in New York City public schools about him.  His site is such an easy way to work on discrete topics at one’s own pace.  Of course, in my experience, the computers in the city schools can’t connect with his site. Kids try to connect from school but nothing happens.  They have to go home to reach his site.  We worry about test scores.  Then when something comes up that truly might help kids, can’t seem to find a way to make it available.  I don’t know if this is true citywide, but in my experience kids working through city school computers can’t utilize a terrific opportunity that provides them with autonomy and some control over their learning. Sadly, maybe that’s the point.  We’re afraid to give kids autonomy.      

But this site isn’t just for educators.  Everyone should know about this work. Help spread the word.  I would love to have this post be the most widespread of any I’ve ever put out there.  Move it along people.    

Here’s the TED piece:  http://bit.ly/dE093t

Here’s the GEL piece:  http://vimeo.com/11731351

Williams vs. Watson?

Watson, the supercomputer, just defeated two Jeopardy superstars. I know that Watson’s predecessors beat champion humans at chess and checkers.  What games are next?  As far as I’m concerned Watson is a one-trick-pony.  I challenge Watson at Blankety Blanks.  

Back in the mid-70’s I was a contestant on a new television game show called Blankety Blanks, hosted by Bill Cullen. I was paired with Anita Gillette against Soupy Sales and a female contestant.  Soupy and his partner won.  I left with a small Samsonite suitcase.  At its best, Watson would have done no better than I.  Even Watson can’t control chance.   The opportunity to answer a question was determined by the spin of a wheel.  The wheel never spun my way.   Soupy won for his partner.  Anita, my partner, got called on but couldn’t deliver the goods for our squad. She apologized to me as I, never having spoken a word, left the set. I resolved never to go on a show where chance played such a large part in one’s success.  Had I, or Watson for that matter, had the opportunity to play the game, we would have been trying to come up with punch lines to vaudeville-style one-liners.  “Where would Superman live if he lived in South Africa?”  Capetown.    “Why did the chess player keep his wife in the refrigerator?”  He didn’t want a stalemate.  “What would you call the Czech national trampoline champion?”  A bouncing check.   I have to think, if the show were still running, if chance were left out of the game, if Watson and I were to go mano a machino, that I’d win.  Maybe sometime in the future, Watson will develop a fuller sense of irony, a sense of humor, and a sense of play.  But for now, in these matters, Watson is, dare I say, elementary.  Alas, my tenure on Blankety Blanks was brief and Blankety Blanks’ tenure on the air wasn’t much longer, a mere ten weeks before they pulled the plug.  I doubt there is much pressure out there to deliver a Bill vs. Watson showdown on primetime anytime soon.  

Over the course of his career, Bill Cullen was the host of twenty-three different game shows.  Blankety Blanks, I’m sure, was not a highlight in that career.  How many of those shows would Watson do well on?  I concede I can see Watson as a real champ on The Price Is Right.  And we know Watson is terrific at Jeopardy.  In what ways would some of those other shows test Watson’s flexibility and imagination?  To my mind, the real test won’t be when smarty-pants Watson learns to get all the answers right on all the shows.  That’s going to take a lot of work on Watson’s part, with some help from his handlers.  When Watson dreams up a new show and devises a new game that can even match Blankety Blanks’ ten-week run, when Watson creates something, then we can marvel.  Until then, Watson remains a Big Blue idiot savant in my book.  I’m ready to take him on.  Are you listening Watson?    

FULL CIRCLE

Twenty-two years ago I wrote a college recommendation for an outstanding theater student of mine, Mark Shanahan.  I began by writing about his significant talent.  I continued by saying…"even though I begin by writing about talent, it is probably the thing I value least in working with young actors.  Talent can spoil and go to people’s heads.  It hasn’t with Mark.  I prefer workers.  Mark is a worker.”  Nothing changed over time.  He continued to work hard at his craft.  He’s appeared on Broadway.  He’s acted and directed at important regional theaters.  He continues to look for ways to grow and practice his craft.

There was more to what I wrote.  Mark had the ability to get others enthusiastic about theater.  He supported and encouraged others, even those who didn’t think they could act at all.  “Mark’s work ethic has rubbed off on other kids.  He has been a leader by example.  There are younger actors now (one sophomore especially comes to mind) who openly admire his skill and want to emulate him.  Part of this emulation is because they find Mark open, approachable, and easy to work with.  He is open and giving onstage and off.  Another part of their emulation is due to the sensitive, intelligent, and probing questions they hear Mark ask as he approaches a role.  His enthusiasm has attracted several of his senior friends to try theater for the first time.  One boy, who has suddenly found himself this year, began as a stage manager last year after Mark dragged him in to help paint.  The same boy has now acted in two productions.  The rise in self-esteem and general success this boy has experienced is due in part to Mark’s friendship and encouragement to get involved with theater.”

I’ve had the good fortune to remain friends with Mark. We’ve stayed in touch over time.  Being at his Broadway debut was one of several wonderful moments I’ve had in the theater while following his career.  The more he’s grown, the more he’s stayed the same: modest, hard-working, curious, sensitive, and generous. 

I lost my teaching job two years ago.  Mark was among the first to reassure me that losing the job did not mean I’d lost my talent.  He helped me clarify that I need not let school politics contaminate my sense of what I had to offer.  A few weeks ago Mark called and asked if I’d be interested in co-teaching a college acting class with him.  I jumped at the opportunity.  Last Friday I taught my first college class.  It was thrilling to be back in the classroom, working with students who were hungry for what I had to offer.

The chance to play creatively, the challenge to observe carefully in order to offer constructive advice, the collaboration in finding solutions to problems, and the reward of seeing students grasp something.  And yes, being appreciated for it.     

Twenty-two years down the line and Mark is still bringing people into the theater world.  He didn’t have to drag me, just offer an opportunity.  I’d been an outsider for too long.  I’m grateful and fortunate to be his friend.  And just like his high school buddy, “…the rise in self-esteem and general success (I’ve) experienced this year are due in part to Mark’s friendship and encouragement to get involved with theater.”   

SCRANTON SUNDAY

I went to the theater recently.  The show was charming and engaging, an original commedia dell’arte piece that included some very clever use of puppets of all shapes and sizes.  I was taken in by the silliness and the artistry behind the silliness, and quite literally taken into the production when some audience participation was employed.  The child in me (and the adult) was enthralled with the entire production. 

There were, alas, plenty of empty seats in the theater.  It was Sunday.  There were football playoffs going on.  It was a frigid January day in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  None of these elements help attract people to see commedia dell’arte, even if they know what Commedia is.  At another time, or in other times perhaps, the intrepid performers might have ventured to the nearby town square or some similar venue to perform.  Taken the theater to the people. Returned Commedia to its street origins.  But for now, in January, in Scranton, best to perform in the relative warmth of the theater.

There were two little girls seated several rows behind me in the audience.  From time to time I could hear them giggling and laughing in response to the show.   They happened to be the only children at this particular performance.  The show is most aptly billed as “A Show For The Whole Family”.  Nonetheless, these girls were the only bona fide children in the audience.  I found no way to count the “inner children” who accepted the performers’ invitation to play.  Mine was there.  My wife’s was there.  I was too preoccupied with what was in front of me to conduct an accurate “inner child” census of the entire house. 

I saw those two little girls in the lobby after the show.  I asked if they enjoyed the show, knowing full well what their reply would be.  I was most happy to volunteer (some late, but nonetheless full, disclosure) that my grown-up “little” girl was one of the three performers they’d just seen. 

But there in the quickly emptying lobby, not for the first time, I was saddened that performers were giving the gift of their art to empty seats. Sunday it happened to be Scranton.  I’ve had the same feeling at Lincoln Center. It immediately occurred to me that there ought to be plenty of children in those seats.  Schoolchildren.  Theater management, I fear, has lost some of the necessary drive to engage schools and children.  One can appreciate a producer’s frustration. In Scranton I was told a story about a teacher who had gotten the required permission slips signed, made transportation arrangements with a bus company, and ordered the tickets, only to be told by a principal that it was School Spirit Day and that the kids had to stay in school to cheer for athletic teams or attend a pep rally.  Sure kids need schools with spirit.  Kids also need to experience live theater.

 I refuse to believe that there isn’t a way through the thicket of frustration, bureaucracy, ambivalence, ignorance, and even prejudice that keeps kids from experiencing something so vital and inspirational. This particular show was based on the Wizard of Oz.  The familiar lessons of the Oz story are there again for all to see and be reminded of.  Equally evident are the heart, the brains, and the courage of the performers.  The immediacy of the Commedia style, the improvisation involved in the performance, is a most valuable lesson for children.  Plus, an important stimulus to exercise their own capacity to play.  Play, is something not understood, valued, and encouraged enough in schools and diminished outside school, in part due to time spent in front of screens of all sizes.

Maybe the theater should take a risk and offer a free performance for administrators, teachers, bus drivers, librarians, parents, newspaper editors, politicians, and just about anybody.  Maybe the adults would be reminded of the power of improvisation, of the ability to say YES.  Reminded of the capacity to take a given circumstance and make something positive out of it.  Filling an empty theater with children would be a good place to start.   

 

     

WHO KNEW?

Forty years ago Peg Sawyer, a teaching colleague of mine at a small school in rural New Hampshire, and I got the idea to direct some plays by children for children in the summer.  We got the support of some local friends, and thus was Andy's Summer Playhouse born.  We weren't thinking beyond our first summer, we had no mission beyond having fun doing theater with kids.  In that we succeeded.  We were invited back, the baton was eventually passed, and this year Andy's prepares for its 41st season.  Here is a promo video from YouTube.  Forty years of Andy's were about as far from our imagination as YouTube and devices we watch it on were.  Go here to enjoy this year's promotional video:  http://bit.ly/egFEQN