The Blessing of Memories
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:01I got home late, after stopping for a parent teacher conference at my daughter’s school. I have a few days left of the online classes I’m doing and am behind. Perhaps, I thought, I can catch up a little.
But first, I checked email to see if there was anything that needed a response. Nope. Next, on to social media and I see the word, “unexpectedly”. A friend wrote, “Early this morning, my father died very unexpectedly”.
I listen to Sting, How Fragile We are. I cue up Box of Rain by the Grateful Dead. No. I won’t get much studying done this evening. I won’t write a complicated blog post. Instead, I will think of the saying, “May his memories be a blessing to all of us.”
In a Facebook group I’m part of friends are pasting pictures of the town I grew up in. I look at pictures of Montgomery’s General Merchandise store that was across the street from the elementary school I went to. I look at pictures of Spring Street, where I hung out when I was in high school. Many great memories, all of which are blessings.
I have a list of songs on Spotify that I play when someone I know dies. I pause my writing to interact with folks a little on social media and Sarah McLachlen’s “I will remember you” comes on.
“Don’t let your life pass you by, weep not for the memories”
Vaccine Politics
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 02/03/2015 - 21:44Recently, several friends have posted comments on Facebook trying to make sense about the underlying issues around vaccines. It has become a much bigger discussion today after comments by Gov. Christie and Sen. Paul about whether or not vaccines should be required.
One friend on Facebook asked why Republicans were pandering to the anti-vaccine crowd. I suggested two reasons
1) Republicans seem to be focused on anti-science policies in general, e.g. Teaching creationism, climate change denial, anti-vax, etc.
2) Republicans seem to be focused on individual freedoms at the expense of the common good. This is another key aspect of the vaccination debate.
There’s not much that can be said about the anti-science position of too many Republicans. However, the struggle between individual freedoms and our responsibility to the common good is a big issue which muddies the discussion around vaccines. Large pharmaceutical companies are viewed with much suspicion. Many believe that heads of these companies lobby hard for their freedoms and the expense of the common good. They suggest that a better way of addressing concerns around vaccines might best be addressed by getting the large pharmaceutical companies under control. People presenting this argument of also talk about the proliferation of toxins in our environment.
There is also the issue that many people are stubborn. They will refuse to do what is in their best interest if they feel they are being forced to do it.
Another person on Facebook, perhaps recognizing this dynamic, questioned the utility of people posting pro-vaccine messages on Facebook. Those messages are very unlikely to change the opinion of people opposed to vaccines. I pointed out, however, that people who are opposed to vaccines might not be the intended audience of pro-vaccine messages. Instead, there is something important about getting a pro-vaccine message out for those who haven’t really thought about the issue. If all they hear is the anti-vaccine rhetoric, they might come get to a point of opposing vaccines, without ever hearing the flaws of the anti-vaccine position, or the vast support for vaccines.
I suspect there might also be some perfect enemy of the good thinking going on here. Yes, in rare cases vaccines can cause complications. Yes, in rare cases vaccines don’t protect the individual who has received the vaccine. It is frightening to look at the risks we all encounter, but it is important to compare relative risks and chose risks that are more likely to have a beneficial outcome, or less likely to have a negative outcome. We need to do this as individuals, and we need to do this as members of society.
So, I stay up to date on my vaccines because I believe it is the best thing to do for me as well as for the people around me.
#WhatIMake
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 02/02/2015 - 18:10Today, my daughter Miranda posted, Why I Ask People What They Make in response to Debbie Chacra’s article, “Why I Am Not A Maker.”
At one point, Miranda says,
I agree that Chacra is not a maker, that her role as an educator is just as important as that of makers, but I don’t see need to construct a dichotomy between making and teaching.
I reject the dichotomy between making and teaching, so I shared Taylor Mali on "What Teachers Make" as part of my response.
Chacra says,
Walk through a museum. Look around a city. Almost all the artifacts that we value as a society were made by or at the order of men.
Is what we see in a museum or walking around a city how we determine which artifacts are valued? I run my fingers over the scarf that Miranda made for me for Christmas. That is what I value. I think back to the wonderful dinner my wife made the other night. There are no artifacts left of that, but it is what I valued. A fleeting smile is not an artifact stored in a museum, but is of great value. What do I make? Sometimes, I make people smile.
Of course, that points out other false dichotomies and constructs of Chacra. Making isn’t a male dominated activity set against female dominated caregiving. Caregiving is part of making. Making people smile. Making people comfortable. Making people think. Men can create feelings and women can create objects
Miranda looks at another aspect of maker culture, the relationship between making and consuming.
“The rise of the Maker Movement shouldn’t be simplified down to a glorification of consumerism…
In an age of unprecedented industrialization, globalization, and consumerism, the divide between creators and consumers has never been greater.
It is easy to create a dichotomy between the makers and the consumers. Yet I think that is also a false divide. Isn’t the maker of knitted scarves a consumer of yarn?
To me, a more useful dichotomy might be between those who seek quality and those who settle for lower quality mass produced items. And here, I should also not that mass production does not necessarily mean low quality.
This, then leads us to the question of what is quality? To that, I refer my readers to Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Perhaps Miranda appreciate red-winged blackbirds a little better now.
February
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 02/01/2015 - 09:34Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit. I’m busy, but back in the swing of things. I did manage to put up at least one blog post a day for all of January. A couple days were a little hard, as I face the blank page and didn’t have the energy to explore the topics percolating in my mind.
February is getting off to a good start. I feel like I’m behind in my Whitman class, but catching up. I expect a few more Whitman class inspired posts here soon. The Teaching in Moodle class is a lot of fun and I have several ideas from that class that I hope to post about soon. More on Connectivism. Moodle’s in politics.
I hope to spend a bit of time this afternoon on Whitman, on the Moodle practice courses, on Connectivism, and perhaps even on Moodles in Politics. Then, there will be football, snow, and probably communications about work tomorrow.
In terms of the predicted snow, the songs, Mortal City and February by Dar Williams come to mind. Perhaps I’ll listen to them this afternoon.
Kim and I watched “Dear White People” last night. Perhaps I’ll share some reflections on this later on as well. I’m interested in hearing whether other friends watched this and what their thoughts are
But first, shower and church.
Banks of Snow
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 01/31/2015 - 17:45Another winter storm watch is in effect for parts of New England, starting Sunday evening at 7 PM, shortly after kickoff for the Superbowl. I suspect many Patriots fans are hoping for a snow day on Monday, and also hoping, perhaps without the thought having yet crossed their mind, that we don’t lose power during the game. Others will hope that a travel ban doesn’t go into effect until after the game ends.
I am not a big football fan. I’ll watch the game at home with my family. No, we won’t be traveling during the storm. And throughout the storm, I expect that I’ll be working to get the message out about any closings or other considerations for my co-workers.
It is bitter cold outside today, at least by New England standards, with wind chill factors around zero. I did make the trip to the dump, not because there was a lot of trash, but in case I can’t go next week and the trash piles up.
I glance outside as I hear the latest gust and the creaking of the house. I see light snow blowing from roof to drift to driveway.
A child said What is the snow? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I’ve spent my day, besides the time I spent going to the dump, resting, and participating in online courses. This afternoon, I read section six of “Song of Myself” and watched a video of teachers talking about the poem. Leaves of Grass, Banks of Snow.
As I listen to the teachers speak, the words of Emerson come to mind:
Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views, which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote these books.
Are these teachers, critiquing Whitman as a teacher about grass forgetting Whitman’s educational experience, who ended his formal schooling at age eleven?
I made it further. I didn’t end my formal education until I was twenty, just shy of getting a college degree. Yet I find my thoughts about education closer to those of Emerson and Whitman, perhaps tinted with a little Piaget, Papert, and now, perhaps, George Siemens.
Besides the Whitman class that I’m taking online, I’m taking a course on Teaching with Moodle. As part of the class, I needed to set up my own course using Moodle, so I set up Moodle and Connectivism. The course, currently, has a link to Siemens’ paper, and a sample quiz and assignment; the parts of the course needed for the teaching course.
Of course, it is something that I’m constructing as I go, and learn more about Connectivism. It is also set up for other students to connect in, so that we can all learn together, and perhaps that is part of what Whitman is talking about anyway.
What do you think has become of the young and old men?
And what do you think has become of the women and children?
“All goes onward and outward…”
