Quotes from Bob Sprankle

From his keynote speech at a teacher conference in Maine...

“Why are they engaged?
I believe that now they have purpose to their work…
There is so much we do in school that’s for that moment, or maybe for that task, or for… who knows what purpose… and maybe the students don’t know… and it’s gone.
And this stuff is gold and we don’t want to lose it!”

"A blog or a podcast is an excellent portfolio."

A quote from George Lucas (through Bob Sprankle) "How do we get schools to mirror real life? We're doing things for unknown reasons as a kid."

Schools as a no-reality zone.

A concise review of Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat "In short: the world is flat, everybody can compete on a level playing field. Asia and India are gonna eat your kids lunch and we gotta prepare our kids at a higher level so that they can compete."

And our kids are not even near ready.

Back in the swing...

Today I went back through my iTunes and re-began listening to the "Bit by Bit" podcasts from Bob Sprankle. It is incredibly motivating to listen to him... even his keynote speeches that last an hour long... because it gives me a chance to hear the history... and hear a real story about how things worked and how I can start it up!
I have let this podcasting thing get out of hand in my brain. So much so that I haven't even begun to record myself on Audacity... but listening to Bob reminds me that I actually already have so much taken care of by the simple act of blogging (and reflecting) and that the recording is the quickest part of it all!
So I went on to his website (www.bobsprankle.com) and had already clicked on Bit-by-Bit, so I wanted to check back in on Room 208 because it might be beneficial for my students to hear what these kids could do. And I was there! An e-mail I had sent at the beginning of the summer when I began this project was posted on the page! Look here! (the Maria is me!) It (oddly enough) was an exhilirating experience to see my name and my words on his website! And then for him to answer me! How awesome is this... I feel like a superstar! Just think how I can do this with the students! I want them to feel like superstars!
One of the stories he tells is of the new teacher who is now teaching his former 3rd (now 4th) graders. Ms. Bush said that she thinks she should teach them everything with podcasting because she doesn't have to teach them anything! She said she has never seen them this motivated to learn anything!
Listening to his stories are so exciting and inspiring...

Have kids teach the world...
Give them purpose...
And they will come...