Multi-faceted Refractions

Blogging is a very powerful tool. All of you who do it already know this. We have all heard of examples where this medium has made the world smaller, especially Will Richardson’s and his student’s experience with Sue Monk Kidd and Eric Langhorst’s experiences with Guerilla Season. 

I have my own experience to share. I am a new blogger. One of my earlier posts was my excitement being able to work with the juniors in my class on a service learning project after reading Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea. Over the winter holiday, a comment from Greg appeared on my blog. It read:

Jambo Rafiki wa Kilimanjaro,
Nimefurahi ku sikia blog wetu. Nidiyo kumsaida watoto kukwenda school ni mzuri sana. Labda nitaweza kusaidia school yetu. Sasa nina kaa Afghanistan, lakini nitarudi America karibu na January 10th. Also, nitarudi Moshi, Tanzania in August 2007 with bibi na mtoto yango kukwenda reunion of International School Moshi, which my mother Jerene Mortenson founded in 1969.

Nitafurahi ku onana Kilimanjaro English Nursery School katika my visit to Tanzania.

Asante sana kwa msaidia yako.
Please excuse the poor Swahili, I have not been able to speak it in over 35 years.
Greg Mortenson

I was excited, but skeptical, not sure if it was a hoax or whether it was real. You see, I don’t speak Swahili. I since emailed Greg back, but from what I was able to translate, he was going to be in Afghanistan until he returned to the US this week to begin a book tour. I know he is extremely busy working on his projects.

My skepticism disappeared Monday when Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, who cited my post in her blog, skype chatted me asking me for my email address. She forwarded a message from Greg’s sister, who stated that:

It is wonderful in the age of computers that we can all make global connections working towards peace. How great that you got connected to Greg. He really appreciates people that are inspired to make a difference in this world in their unique, individual way. … I know that Greg was really excited to see your project because he personally forwarded it to me.

…Yes, it is incredible Greg found your blog and he really does have a personal interest in your inspiration. It is very difficult to track him down sometimes. So many people are interested in his story now. He does give high priority to young people because he believes they are the hope for the future.

My Kiswahili is limited but I will translate the best I can. It is impossible for me to translate it literally because the words loose some meaning in translation. But this is my best guess at it.

Hello Friends of Kilimanjaro.

I was happy to see your blog. Yes, supporting children to go to school is very good. Maybe I can be of (am willing to) help to support your school. Now I am in Afghanistan, but will be returning to America on January 10th. Also, I will return to Moshi, Tanzania in August 2007 with my wife and children to go to the reunion of International School Moshi, which my mother Jerene Mortenson founded in 1969.

I would be happy to see Kilimanjaro English Nursery School during my visit to Tanzania.

Thank you very much for the work you do.

Please excuse the poor Swahili, I have not been able to speak it in over 35 years.

Greg Mortenson

I still do not know how he found my blog amongst all of the other content being created daily. But is has provided a powerful message to the students, faculty, and parents at the school about the power of the new publishing tools and the connections which can result from this.

I know that this will provide a springboard for all at my school as they begin to incorporate these tools into their professional and personal lives.

I have been reading the commentary from others about the ideas which have arisen from the conversation that Steve Hargadon’s conversation with Will Richardson about blogging. Of particular interest to me are the comments from an old friend, Andy Carvin on his learningnow.org about avoiding the usual pool of thoughts and Jeff Utecht’s posting which led me back to Bud the Teacher and David Jake’s comments on some of the complaints that it is difficult to reach a critical mass of readership in the thoughts that we choose to share.

While walking the dog this afternoon, in between catching the afternoon’s football games (thank goodness for TiVo, since I am a one television family with two teenage daughters. I can catch a game within 45 minutes), my thoughts were divided into two distinct ideas.

The first is that one of the motivators that have gotten me to recommit to blogging once again, with more gusto this time, was the k12 Online conference. Through the encouragement of the conference organizers and others who participated in this conference, the various post conference events, I was motivated to recommit to blogging. It corresponds with my belief that not only to students have to develop the technology and communication skills to raise themselves above the white noise and make themselves unique and distinctive, that we as educators have to raise ourselves above the white noise that our students experience in the course of the day. One of the ways that this has to occur is that an individual has to participate and work at the skill, whether it be blogging, podcasting, use of wikis, skype casts, or whatever collaborative medium that we determine will be most effective for spreading the message that we want to share. We should encourage all to participate and not be exclusive. As a teacher, I am trying to encourage my students to contribute and collaborate, because through sharing and sometimes disagreeing, our ideas become stronger.

I can personally attest to the fact it is through these baby steps and the encouragement of others who are in the “club”, Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach, Vicki Davis, Fred Bartels, and Arvind Grover to some of the thoughts that I have shared. It has also been extremely exciting to find out the author of a book that I have blogged about, Greg Mortenson, somehow found my post and commented on it, half-way around the world. The validation of “me” is important in fueling the ego and providing validation of the thoughts and ideas that I have been publishing. Without this feedback, we would get discouraged and eventually lose momentum or not be willing to share those thoughts and ideas.

My second thoughts are related to what David Jakes shared in his post:

Those of you that have read blogs for a while will recognize these names. Stephen. Will. Miguel. Wes. David, Clarence, Dean, Darren, Vicky, George, Bud. You know who they are without even me adding last names, don’t you? Would you consider these people a group?

Thinking about one of my first loves, baseball, or thinking about the football games that I was watching, it occurred to me that there will always be a set of superstar bloggers. What we have to remember is that they may not remain superstar bloggers forever. As they age, they may lose their ability to capture the audience. They may tire or burn out. The aspects of their life may change. Every year, there are new players who start their professional experience. In the case of baseball, it is a long journey through the minor leagues, where players have to experience in smaller markets, gaining experience and maturity. When they are ready, they get moved up to a larger audience who is more demanding. Some will wash out, some will be happy with that level of engagement. Eventually, they will make it to the “major leagues.” Even in the majors, there are maybe 40- 50 superstars, but there are also 700+ others who are just as important participating at that level. Some of those will become superstars in time, some will be like journeymen ballplayers, the left-handed relievers or a Julio Franco, who seem to be around forever who make solid contributions, each which are important, sometimes more important for all the the advancement of the sport. In baseball, first there was Honus, the Big 6, Nap, Ty, Tris. They were later replaced by the Babe, Lou, the Rajah, the Big Train. They have been replaced now by the Rocket, Cal, Big Mac, Sammy. Each of those players have now been replaced by Manny, Big Papi, Derek, A Rod. The perpetual hands of time will bring others into the lexicon and history.

I know that I at this point in time, I am a minor-league blogger. I am comfortable with that. Reaching superstar status is not important for me. For me, right now, it is important to share my ideas and have the time to reflect on my teaching and on the leadership that I can bring to the teachers not only in my school, but for those whom I will present for, and others who are starting whom I can mentor. Some may be better than me. I am comfortable with that. But I will keep trying, keep stretching myself to become better and more skilled. But I realize that it will take time, energy, and effort to achieve.

One of the joys of a break, especially Winter Break, is curling up with a good book or two or three. I got this love of reading over extended periods of time from my mother, whose first job when my sister and I went back to school full-time was as a part-time school librarian. I always looked forward to find out what books she brought home during extended breaks to catalog. I think that she was just letting me have access to the books before anyone else did. This is a memory that I will cherish forever.

This Winter Break was no different than any other. I immersed myself into three different books, each which I enjoyed immensely. The first was a book that I re-read, Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization by Lee Sproull and Sara Kiesler. This is a book, written in 1992, which I found out about in 1997. At the time, I found it fascinating, especially as it related at the time to the growth of email, mailing lists, and other forms of computer aided communication. In re-reading through the lens of the new web 2.0 tools, this work seems even more ground breaking as it relates how people begin to utilize these tools. A good read that presents neat background.

The second book that I have just started reading is Sir Ken Robinson’s Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative. I have just started this, but having watched the TED talk by Mr. Robinson and reading how others have been inspired others, I am looking forward to finishing this soon.

The last book that I have finished just today is Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Maps. It was a fascinating read about trying to determine the causes of cholera outbreaks in urban areas. The methods used and the establishment of new ideas was interesting.

For those of you who took the time to read something over the holiday, what did you choose?