Think Locally, Act Locally

Though not out of New Years Resolution, I plan to write 500ish word entries as much as possible. Why 500? I dunno. But it's about a page of A4 or Letter paper something, so I figure it would be about right. For reference, this part is 49 words long. Some will be rants, some will be random, some will just be me airing out my brain. This one will be me letting out some brain vomit.

Working at an international school, it's no surprise to see posters that declare "think globally, act locally". Though the concept is fairly old in community of expats and mixed culture communities, the entire idea of globalism and internationalism has become increasingly popular and mainstream with the rise of the Internet and the age of instant information. We're all encouraged to think about the Earth when we throw out our trash; think about the forests when we print; think about the kids in Darfur, Haiti and anywhere else there's trouble; think about the farmers when we get our coffee; think about the sweatshops when we get our Nikes. We're all thinking together as one big family!

Yet, over my Kim Chee Cheese Cup Noodles, it didn't really click. We can keep that all in mind, but what can really be done? If you asked all of those who walk around talking about fair trade coffee and refugees in developing countries to throw away everything they own, go to Somethingistan and help out, few would seriously consider it. Conversely, we don't really know what the heck people in Somewhereaguay are thinking, let alone if they want our 'help'.

Now, I don't claim to be a genius or even well informed. But I think I'm in the ballpark when I say that the Earth and its citizenry is incomprehensibly complex. The moment there was more than one of us monkeys wandering around the Serengeti, it all hit the fan and it got a lot tougher than when one guy was deciding to eat meat or boiled grass. Hell, we fight over chocolate and vanilla ice cream nowadays. 

And that's not all of it! When we drill down to it, people are fickle and downright selfish. With some things you can assemble an army relatively quickly, others you'll just end up ruining the party. Globalization itself is one of those words that cut like a razor, sometimes to the point of it becoming polarizing. 

So I propose an alternate. Think locally, act locally. Maybe if you're nice to everyone and everything around you, and in turn everyone and everything around you is nice, the world would be a much nice place. Maybe we're confusing the hell out of everyone by saying we're part of a much larger world, making things hard to perceive and get a hold on.

There is no doubt that keeping the world in mind isn't a bad thing. But there is only so much we can do as an individual. Perhaps maximizing the 'niceness' of our individual is what can lead to better things.

Thoroughly Musical

The last two weeks have been a sort of personal hell, but it's all my fault anyways. Part of it was the YIS' annual Bridging the Gap conference, which I wrote about a bit back.

But more time was consumed by my participation in the high school production of Throughly Modern Millie, a musical.

Have I ever mentioned I hate musicals?

Regardless, it was an opportunity for me to try to pick up the alto sax and clarinet again. The last time I played anything remotely challenging was in the first trimester of my senior year at Woodinville High School. After the marching band season, I ditched and moved on to ASB Student Council.

So, seven years out of the pond and it's time to play. Yep. I sucked. To boot, our pit orchestra was all of six people. I've always had the weakness of being an ear player, relying way too much on the rest of the band to play. That's tough when you're the only one playing your instrument.

At first, it was horribly hard, but when the pianist arrived, things got better. And a little easier. It was fun.

But I'm not going to spend all day talking about my clarinet skills. I'll thank Aili, one of my students, for lending me her Yamaha custom for the show, but to move on...

The vocals for the musical, especially the lead, was simply amazing. MJ, as she's known, was simply stunning as the lead, Millie Dillmount. Where the original Broadway production featured a frail sounding broad of the Roaring Twenties, MJ brought a much deeper, soulful performance. Her performance was also buttressed by a strong assortment of supporting cast (though our production had all of three male actors, leading to girls taking on some of the male roles too).

And that led me to appreciate how amazing the talent we've had go through our school recently. The last two years, the musical talent has been simply good. Last year was highlighted by an amazingly talented jazz/blues combo. This year, pure vocal strength.

Which is amazing. I went to a lot of concerts and the like when I was in high school, but none were nearly as interesting as our schools'. And I'm a tough, tough grader when it comes to what I listen to (with regard to amateurs, I've heard exactly one street band in Japan I've liked so far), but this stuff is pretty damn good.

With that, I leave you with some samples from a concert last year to judge for yourselves. Round Midnight features our Millie Dillmount, MJ. Cry Me A River features Hiroko, while At Last and Georgia On My Mind are sung by Mits Iwasawa, both with the aforementioned talented Jazz Combo.

Yokohama International School 2009 HS Spring Concert by Genki U.

(This post is also a sad excuse for me to try Soundcloud :P)

Traditional Meets Progressive: BarCamp at Old School

On Saturday, November 21st, 2009, Yokohama International School, a school of 85 years, hosted BarCamp Yokohama, with the theme of 21st Century Learning.

First thing I noticed was the fact that November 21st lined up nicely with 21st Century Learning.

Anyways, BarCamp Yokohama was constructed to coincide with YIS' annual Bridging The Gap Conference. In the past, people like Steven Heppell and Alex Kerr headlined the two-day conference as keynote speakers. But this year, the controlling committee decided to try to overhaul the conference with a much more casual, but academically relevant, feel. Instead of anchoring the first day of the conference with long, dragging keynotes in our auditorium, the format moved to workshop-style modules with guests Chris Toy and Kim Cofino. Additionally, teachers also presented topics regarding the matter.

(I presented on Learning in Motion/Questioning the Cutting Edge to all of four people, but the session was productive with a nice conversation with some colleagues. I think we came up with some good ideas, which I will recap in a later post.)

Day two of Bridging The Gap was typically required for all staff to attend, but the requirement was waived this year in the spirit of BarCamp. And this was one key point. Instead of gathering all teachers and staff, all of whom may not have been exceptionally excited to sacrifice half a weekend for a conference at work, the conference naturally gathered motivated, energetic teachers that participated energetically with a large crowd from the learning community that participated at BarCamp Tokyo in May.

The resulting unconference was an amazing confluence of knowledge, discourse and energy. For the first time in my three BTGs, the second day felt relevant. The content felt genuine and relevant to the entire conversation of the school, the 21st Century and education. It was also the first time since Learning 2.0 that I felt totally overwhelmed by what I came out with.

Although I hate resorting to writing with bullet points, the fragmented nature of being part participant/incendiary bomb, part photographer drives it that way...

• I hosted one session called "The Design Process: It's Everywhere! Why Differentiate?". The idea? In school, we basically learn variants of the same process of trial & error, similar to the design process. Science calls it the scientific method. English has a basic writing cycle of drafts and edits. The Arts, especially visual art, use it in its most recognizable form. Engineering, computer science, they all use similar processes, but it's never really touched on. I think we all agreed that this was true, but it was interesting how it also turned into an analysis of teaching, learning and school as well. The conversation weaved in and out, but it was very interesting to hear.
• It was quite interesting to see some discourse over education systems, including our own. This was yet another first, as from my window, I had never seen it be discussed at our school so openly. Though we (obviously) didn't find the Holy Grail, we were able to weigh the various types of education systems and have a conversation about the strains of our current system of a compulsory IB Diploma Program.
• I particularly enjoyed the debate over what exactly the youth of the world need to learn in schools.
• I am sad I wasn't able to participate in the more technological conversations this time.
• Lunch of Thanksgiving turkey, roast lamb and the full fixings was amazing!
• Probably thanks to the theme at hand, this BarCamp involved a lot of intellectual discourse over the raw technology at the last one. It was also much more political. From liberalism, centrism and conservatism, it was all covered and debated. Internationalism and globalism were also questioned. And it never got messy!
• Colin Campbell's workshop on learning & technology was fun, as was Roger's workshop on the IB being a refined sausage machine. It was also great to have a workshop on juggling, hosted by Tara Ohta, a parent at the school. There were also some great workshops by Kyle Hasegawa too.
• Dinner in Chinatown with Lhuga, Ohta-san, Stuart and a mix of others was good times too.

Overall, it was great. Though we ended a bit earlier than the last BarCamp, I was just as tired.

Over the next few days, I'll try to post my BTG reflections too. And of course, links to the pile of photos I took.

Hello. Again.

Just trying my new Squarespace Blog...!

Too Many Elements...?

I've been plowing through books again and right now, I'm on Sir Ken Robinson's The Element. Well rooted in this TED video...


Now, this video has virtually become one of the borderline cliché videos in the education forefront. Everyone knows about it or has seen it.
But the book is a much more deeper analysis of many, many stories regarding Robinson's proposal of the Element, an interphase of desire, senses, creativity, and intelligences that converge to create a happiness and productive super-state.
Concurrently, Robinson also critiques and comments on the current social structures, particularly education, that appear to stifle and disrupt the achievement of the Element.

In essence, Robinson proposes that there is a sweet-spot in the human adventure and life is about finding that.
It's also similar to Dan Pink's Johnny Bunko, which I wrote about here.

Right now, I'm somewhere in chapter three, and it's been a good read.
But for me, I feel as if this is something I've always believed in.
Okay, always is probably exaggerating, but I have been in lockstep with Robinson's argument.

But right now, I wonder... What of multiple Elements?
Robinson argues that there are 'mediums' that people enjoy their Elements.
Whether that's Richard Feynman, Matt Groening, or Paul McCartney, each has found their zones.
But they've found them in physics, animation and music.

Except, bringing it to a much more egotistical venue,  I tend to find myself in many mediums.

I love music.
I love photography.
I love teaching (though I will rarely, if ever, admit it).
I love to write.
I love to work on computers.
I love to read.
I love leading & planning.
I love analytics.
I love free expression.

I can find myself working in many areas and enjoying every moment of it.
Yet, I also get stuck in zones.
And I also get bored too.

What is my Element?

I guess I'll have to read on.