what was the "Magic", and how can WE get some?

This past weekend I brought a friend to see Carole and Paula of the old children's TV series, "The Magic Garden" perform. For those of you who a) didn't grow up in the New York Tri-State area and b) weren't a child in the early 1970's, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. The Magic Garden was a children's show that aired on the independent local metro NY station WPIX-11 from 1972-1984, and hosted by two women (whom happened to be former NYC school teachers, as well as childhood friends) named Carole (Demas) and Paula (Janis).

From today's vantage point, it may seem like there was nothing spectacular about the show; the women sang little songs and played guitar, acted out stories from "the story box", told jokes from "the chuckle patch", and interacted with puppet characters like Sherlock the pink squirrel. However, the reaction of the 30- and 40- somethings who attended the show (both Carole and Paula are pushing 70, mind you) told a different story. In the ladies room, I overheard grown women talk of how they would cry when the shutters would close at the end of the show; while standing on a very long line to obtain autographs following the performance, a couple (who had driven from Connecticut for the show), gripping their new copies of the Carole & Paula DVD, commented to us that they were planning to see them again next month, not only because they always see them perform in the area, but that "Sherlock will be at that show". We then engaged in a discussion about what time slot the show aired in; a gentleman ahead of us insisted, "It was 2:30! 2:30 every day, except Friday, when that damn 'Time for Joya' was on!".

While standing on line so my friend could get her autograph, I wondered what it was about the show that had such a lasting effect on all of us. I consider myself very fortunate that I grew up during a time period when the producers of children's television shows really began to see their potential as a teaching tool, and sought to incorporate innovative ways to make learning fun (pardon that tired cliche) through the use of new media. I remember my mother adjusting the "rabbit ears" on a tiny black and white TV one day in 1969 so I could watch the very first episode of Sesame Street; to this very day, I still sing some of the songs from the series The Electric Company in my head when struggling to remember my times tables. Why do middle aged baby boomers like myself and my peers remember the joy we felt when the shutters opened to The Magic Garden, but can barely remember the facts we learned in school? What was the "magic"? Sure, some of it was the natural charisma of Carole and Paula, who, to me, seemed like those cool older sisters; but maybe it was the daring uniqueness of them, the resistance to condescend to children and indulge their creative spirit. It made me wonder: are we attempting to do the same thing today, with web 2.0? Maybe I'm just trying to fit and old square video peg into a round digital hole, but I see some connection. Maybe I just want to see it, because I miss that magic.

The Teacher Salary Project

I'm reposting this from Marthaq's tumblr (she's one of our profession's passionate, dynamic young teachers); an interesting video collaboration called The Teacher Salary Project.
From the website: "THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT is a feature-length documentary film, interactive online resource, and national outreach campaign that delves into the core of our educational crisis from the eyes and experiences of our nation's teachers...A good teacher has the power to change the course of a life. A teacher can move a child from poverty to promise by providing him or her with the skills and confidence necessary to be carried into adulthood—yet because teachers in the United States have historically had an average annual salary lower than their peers with similar educational backgrounds, 50 percent of our nation's best teachers must have second jobs outside of the classroom—like tutoring, mowing lawns, selling stereos, bartending—to be able to afford to teach."

Time to get out the Flip camera and start that teacher vlog you've been thinking about...?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Workflow- Social Media School Teacher

A fantastic "day in the life" (hypothetically? does it matter?) of a Social Web-centered teacher. A must read, especially for those of us bravely going "back to the trenches" this week!Workflow- Social Media School Teacher

Posted using ShareThis

By the way, if you care at all about the power of social media, in education or elsewhere, you need to subscribe to Chris Brogan's blog (RSS or email options available on his blog page). It's at the top of my daily feed reading list. Subscribe to his newsletter (it's a bit different) too.

For those of you going back to work this week in our public and private schools, I wish you a positive and fulfilling year.

From the New York Times: Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?

In this New York Times article by Motoko Rich, the author raises the question--and explores the answers via interviews with readers "old" and "young"--that asks, if your read it on your computer screen, are you a reader?

Now that we're half-way through the summer (at least I am; I can expect to return for my first day of meetings one month from today), perhaps you, like me, are already thinking about what our students will bring to us in terms of their willingness to agree on what we consider learning when they arrive in our classrooms in September.

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The Zen Master of Blog hosts

I hope that, by now, you are all beginning to enjoy the first blush of summer vacation. I, for one, will have to wait until Wednesday (as I am teaching a 2-day inservice on "Web 2.0 and Education" for my district...but I'm not complaining). So while you're doing some reflection on the year that's just past, why not check out something new and different in the way of blogging simplicity: Posterous, a new blog host that's even simpler than...dare I even say it here?...Blogger! It's certainly less onerous than the tyrannically embed-code-phobic Wordpress.com or Edublogs (come on, guys). With posterous, you just send an email to post@posterous.com and et voila', your post appears on a new blog just for you! You don't have to take my word for it, read the Techcrunch take:Posterous beats Tumblr in simplicity

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Technology and the reprogramming of our brains

Here's something to distract you during finals and state exams: an article by Nicholas Carr from The Atlantic that maybe you've already read (apparently it's made the rounds of the edublogosphere, but I'm only just now getting a hold of it) about how using technology may indeed affect the way even we (adults, not just our students) think...hopefully you have enough attention span to get through it!
Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Animoto in Education

I've recently fallen in love with a new way to make animated slideshow videos out of still images: Animoto.com. Standard users can make unlimited 30-second videos, and for a small fee you can upgrade to an "All-Access" pass, allowing you to make 60-second videos. What I just recently learned, however, is that they are offering classroom teachers a "Classroom Code" that'll give each of your students a free All-Access pass (unlimited full-length videos for a whole year) so they can make Animotos videos for classroom projects. A full description of the education offer(as well as links to some samples) can be found here.
Here's a sample video I made of some photos I took on my recent trip to the Cannes Film Festival: