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The Concept/OK:Art in Oklahoma exhibition welcomes the public until February 16 at the new Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council’s Hardesty Arts Center. Admission is free of charge. See www.concept-ok.org for more information.
Through a partnership with the Charlotte Street Foundation, the Focus artists will also present their work at the La Esquina gallery in Kansas City in March 2013. The Focus OK-KC component includes four Oklahoma artists and five Kansas City, MO artists developing new work for the exhibitions in both Tulsa and Kansas City. Read more in this Art Focus Oklahoma magazine article about the Focus artists.
Watch Jason Carron's video profile. Jason Carron Kansas City, MOProject Statement: The command ”don’t think about it” is generally an inward command to ourselves. It is a popular coping mechanism we use to overcome many things. Giving ourselves the permission to ignore or overlook something can relieve internal conflicts and stresses. Although this mechanism is usually criticized, it is necessary because of the overwhelming amount of information available.This artwork provokes thought (as most artworks do), but at the same time it outwardly rejects thought. This puts the viewer in an ironic situation. The moving, monstrous heads create a facade which seems to discourage entry. The best thing is to turn back and do not think about it.Biography: Jason Carron is an emerging artist living and working in Kansas City, MO. The majority of his current work is in video format. His videos are minimal and repetitive, exploring intuitive humanistic expressions. While his work is quite literal and simple, the use of his body reflects the complex nature of the human condition.
25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi
Layne Inselman: Lifeless Theatre
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Layne Inselman, Norman
What is your concept and inspiration for this piece in Momentum?
Inselman: My photograph is of an abandoned and now-shabby movie theater in the panhandle of Oklahoma (the town of Keyes, to be precise). I spent a few years there as a kid and I traveled back there recently and explored some of the tarnished downtown area. All the chairs are gone from the auditorium, though it is still possible to make out the old screen used as a backdrop when they used to show movies there.
I personally love the shot because I think it has that "dying small town" feel to it, plus the angle is the same angle you would view if you were to walk into the theatre to look for a seat some 30 years ago.
Please explain the technique and/or process you used to create this work.
Inselman: The print is of a digital photograph. It has been edited to black and white for three important reasons:
1. Compositionally, the stark lines of the wood frame and its shadows create interesting positive/negative relationships within the photograph.
2. Conceptually, the monochromatic image evokes a sense of yesteryear, as most films that were shown in this theater were likely in black and white themselves.
3. The colorlessness adds bleak and almost sorrowful emotions, which I personally think enhances the idea that what once used to be a gathering place for happy moviegoers is now all but destroyed.
Where else can audiences see your artwork?
Inselman: I am in the process of creating a website, but in the meantime I will post photographs from time to time on my Facebook page: facebook.com/LayneInselmanPhotography
Maybe eventually you'll be able to see my work in other galleries too!
Momentum OKC opens March 1 & 2 at the 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City. View, experience and purchase art by Oklahoma emerging young artists. Learn more at www.MomentumOklahoma.org.
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| Layne Inselman, Auditorium, Long Theatre (Keyes, OK), Digital Photograph, 16 x 20 |
Inselman: My photograph is of an abandoned and now-shabby movie theater in the panhandle of Oklahoma (the town of Keyes, to be precise). I spent a few years there as a kid and I traveled back there recently and explored some of the tarnished downtown area. All the chairs are gone from the auditorium, though it is still possible to make out the old screen used as a backdrop when they used to show movies there.
I personally love the shot because I think it has that "dying small town" feel to it, plus the angle is the same angle you would view if you were to walk into the theatre to look for a seat some 30 years ago.
Please explain the technique and/or process you used to create this work.
Inselman: The print is of a digital photograph. It has been edited to black and white for three important reasons:
1. Compositionally, the stark lines of the wood frame and its shadows create interesting positive/negative relationships within the photograph.
2. Conceptually, the monochromatic image evokes a sense of yesteryear, as most films that were shown in this theater were likely in black and white themselves.
3. The colorlessness adds bleak and almost sorrowful emotions, which I personally think enhances the idea that what once used to be a gathering place for happy moviegoers is now all but destroyed.
Where else can audiences see your artwork?
Inselman: I am in the process of creating a website, but in the meantime I will post photographs from time to time on my Facebook page: facebook.com/LayneInselmanPhotography
Maybe eventually you'll be able to see my work in other galleries too!
Momentum OKC opens March 1 & 2 at the 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City. View, experience and purchase art by Oklahoma emerging young artists. Learn more at www.MomentumOklahoma.org.
EXCERPTS FROM SUPERINTENDENT LUNA'S DISCUSSION WITH REPORTERS MONDAY
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Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna hosted a reporter roundtable on Monday, November 12, 2012 to discuss the November 6 election and education going forward. Here are excerpts from his conversation with reporters:
Q: It’s been six days now. What is your assessment of the next step? What reforms might you look at with the Legislature?
Supt Luna: I think it’s important that education reform doesn’t stop. We just had a 22-month discussion about education in Idaho at a level of detail that we’ve never had before, and I think that that, if anything, has been very productive. People around the water cooler and the dinner table have had conversations about education reform, so I think the last thing that anyone wants to see is an end to education reform in Idaho. I think it’s critical that we work together and identify parts of the reform legislation that have support from all legislative stakeholders—ones that are easy to move forward in this next legislative session. What those are I don’t know just yet. I think you heard during the campaign that there were parts of these laws that were agreeable to both sides, but there were also parts that were disagreeable obviously to the “Vote No” campaign and to the electorate. Again, I think that we have to take advantage of the conversation we have had over the last two years in Idaho. We need to continue that conversation, and we need to make sure that conversation leads to meaningful reform in our schools.
Q: The “Vote No” campaign has said that it is willing to reach out and open a dialogue with you and other members of your administration. Has that happened?
Supt Luna: Yes, I’ve had a number of meetings with stakeholders. … There have been other conversations already with stakeholders in person and over the phone with the IEA (Idaho Education Association). We will sit down and meet with them. We did before, and we will continue to do that going forward. It’s important that we do that in a collaborative way, and we will.
Q: When you say that opponents focused on one or two things, are you suggesting that because of the campaign that was run, voters didn’t necessarily understand…?
Supt Luna: No, the same people who voted down these laws elected me to this position twice. So, I can’t criticize them for turning down these laws and then congratulate them for making the right choice when they elected me. I have full confidence in Idahoans educating themselves and then making a decision based on the information that they’ve gathered. … What I am saying is that if we knew this was going to a referendum, then maybe rather than three bills there should have been a couple dozen bills, and we should have treated each of these things separately so they could have been weighed on their own merits. And maybe that’s the process going forward. I don’t know because those conversations are still happening.
Q: I think we all know that the Students Come First laws, however affectionately or otherwise, were labeled the “Luna Laws.” With all due respect, you don’t introduce legislation into the legislature. You don’t vote on anything in the legislature. You don’t sign anything into law. I think more realistically they were as much the “Otter Laws” as they were anything. With that said, looking forward, have you communicated with the Governor? Where is Governor Otter in terms of looking forward in education?
Supt Luna: I’ve had a number of conversations with the Governor, and we both agree that we need to take advantage of this opportunity that has presented itself—this conversation that has been had about education reform. I never ran into one person who said they were voting “no” because they didn’t think we should reform our schools. They had specific issues with certain parts of the law. I ran into a lot of people who were splitting their votes. I ran into a lot of people who said, “I like this about Proposition 1, but I struggle with this part.” So, I didn’t hear from anyone who said, “Let’s go back to the system we had before.” We’ll get everybody around the table, have conversations to identify the things that we all agree on that were in the different propositions, move forward together with legislation that would restore those parts of the bill, and then work together to find common ground on areas where we do not agree.
Q: Do you anticipate the Governor being involved in that process?
Supt Luna: Yes, I do. I think the Governor will continue to play a lead role. If you look at other states that have gone through this process, it’s similar to what we are going through in Idaho. There are steps forward. There are bumps in the road. There are times when you have to have a process check and a reality check. But every one of those states has had a governor, whether it’s Tim Pawlenty or Jeb Bush, who continued to provide the leadership and really the expectation that we have to do these things and then used that pulpit to encourage the citizens and the legislature to respond.
Q: Do you think there is something to be learned from the outcome of the election in Washington and I think it was Georgia, where you had a very red, Republican-leaning state that went overwhelmingly for Mitt Romney in Georgia and a very blue-leaning state that went overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in Washington both vote to approve the expansion of charter schools. There seems to be a general appreciation and approval for charter school expansion, but reforming conventional schools has been uncomfortable for people. Is there any lesson in that, as far as you’re concerned?
Supt Luna: I think you’ll see that education reform across the country is not just limited to red states. It’s happening in red states and blue states. It’s happening in inner cities and rural areas. The opposition to reform is the same, but those who support reform are Democrats, Republicans, etc. I believe education reform is a bipartisan effort, and it will continue to be.
Q: Some folks have suggested that emotions were perhaps so raw on both sides that finding some agreement during the 2013 session might be a little bit premature, so this should go to some kind of interim committee of the legislature over the summer.
Supt Luna: Well, I can name you any number of blue-ribbon committees and interim committees that have been tasked to deal with very, very important issues that require real leadership to deal with, and lacking leadership, then you appoint a blue-ribbon committee or an interim committee to kick the can down the road. I agree with you that this has been a very emotional time, but I would remind everybody that it has been very emotional for the adults. Our kids and our students have to have an education system that is moving forward to meet their needs. Our state has a goal that by the year 2020, 60% of our population will have some kind of postsecondary degree or certificate. Today that number is 34%. So, if we’re thinking about 2020, those students are 8th graders today. We are not going to hit that goal if we continue with a system that achieves only 34%.
So we can’t wait. Our kids can’t wait for adults to figure this out. So we are going to have to set aside our emotions and our egos and, as adults, work together to do what is best for our children. Waiting is not what’s best for our children. We are not going to go to the legislature and propose legislation that is so controversial that it’s going to drive the same kind of emotion that we have seen the last couple of years, but there are things that we have all agreed are good parts of the Students Come First legislation, and there is no reason that we wouldn’t move forward to bring those back.
Q: There are some people who perceive education reform as nothing more than an effort to try and limit the power of the teachers’ union or somehow organized labor. How would you respond to that?
Supt Luna: Again, this is hindsight. You’re asking me to play Monday-morning quarterback. All I can do is give you the history, and then you can decide what to do with it. When we were putting together education reform, what we referred to as Students Come First, there were some who thought that what you found in Proposition 1 was enough. I never believed that just dealing with tenure, dealing with collective bargaining, dealing with open negotiations, eliminating seniority. Those are an important part of education reform, but just Proposition 1 in and of itself is not going to get the job done. It’s not the silver bullet. You have reform the way you compensate teachers. You also have to reform the way that we deliver education, create opportunities through the proper use of technology, give all students equal opportunity for college credit, etc.
Q: You said that you will not be bringing forth legislation this session that will drive the kind of emotions that we saw over the Students Come First package. Is there anything in this package that you’re going to stay away from?
Supt Luna: We’ll hear from the stakeholders. We’ll come together and identify what we all agree on, and then we’ll move forward. So it would be premature for me to assume that I know what is agreeable to all of the different stakeholders.
Q: Were you surprised when, just before the election, as the word went out to school districts as to who would and wouldn’t get bonuses under the plan, the concern was expressed in many areas of the state that the schools whose teachers didn’t get bonuses were perhaps the ones who were dealing with more disadvantaged kids. Was there a flaw in this plan?
Supt Luna: Well, it wasn’t a perfect plan. The only way it’s going to be perfected is if we can implement it, learn from it, adjust it, and keep going forward. If we never start, we’re never going to be able to identify the areas that need to change and be improved.
Q: Do you anticipate having a package by the start of the legislative session, or will it emerge sometime within the session?
Supt Luna: I don’t know. What I do know is that we’re going to lead. I think people are elected to lead, and sometimes that means that you get into areas that maybe aren’t all that popular, but it’s very easy to lead when things are going well. Everybody wants to lead a parade when everybody likes the music. The fact is, if you’re going to bring about education reform that is good for students, somebody has to lead. That’s what I’m attempting to do. That’s what this legislation was about. We’re going to continue. This is a bump in the road, but we’re going to continue to work toward bringing about the reform that our schools have to have.
Q: You said that voters understood what they were voting on, but you keep saying things like, “The voters didn’t understand.”
Supt Luna: No. So there’s two separate things. Students Come First has many, many components in it, and it’s not reasonable for me to expect that voters would know every piece that was in the law. But when they do become aware of the fact that students can earn college credit, I think that’s something that they all support that would be easy to go forward to the legislature with. But, I’m not claiming that the electorate was deceived or uneducated or that they didn’t know what they are doing because, like I said, the same people elected me and re-elected me. So if they were wise in the use of their vote when they elected me, I’m assuming they used that same wisdom when they passed judgment on these laws.
Q: You had teachers during the whole election process saying, “We weren’t involved.” What do you say to that? Were they not involved? How do we correct that going forward?
Supt Luna: Well, I’ll address going forward. We’ve had the ‘tis and ‘taint over whether there was involvement or enough involvement, but, going forward, I think you’ll find that all our meetings with all stakeholders will be very transparent and open meetings so the press can see who was actually there and not there, what comments were made, who was involved and who wasn’t, so that then we no longer have this disagreement as to whether there was involvement or enough involvement.
Q: You’ve talked about those public meetings. Do you think that by having all sides in a public meeting, ground floor up, going forward that both sides will be more willing to compromise on things that they maybe hold sacred or that they weren’t willing to give up before?
Supt Luna: Yes, and we are going to stream these live on the web so parents and everyone can participate. We have learned through the past two years as all the negotiations at the local level have happened in open, public meetings that what you have described is true. The conversations are more open and more civil and more productive, and what happens in the meeting is very transparent and neither side can claim something that isn’t accurate. People will be able to judge for themselves as to whether one group or another group had equal access and equal opportunity to participate. So we’ll make it a very transparent process.
Q: Do you think that this outcome has affected your effectiveness as a leader, or will the test of that be seen in the future?
Supt Luna: I think we’ll know more going forward, but I will tell you that I am committed, as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, to make sure that all 280,000 students have equal access and opportunity to succeed in the 21st Century. If there has to be a loser, if this has to be a win-lose, then let it be me. Not the students, not public education, not the teachers. If the press and the public have to blame somebody and identify a loser in this process, then it’s me. But public education, our students, our teachers, our parents, our taxpayers cannot take the brunt of what happened last Tuesday. If people have to find somebody to blame, let them blame me.
Q: You have been very committed to these over the last two years and, as you have indicated, the last 15 years. After last Tuesday’s results, did it ever cross your mind to step down?
Supt Luna: No, I’m not a quitter. I mean, if I was a quitter, there have been many times in my life when I would have folded up the tent and gone home. I have had many setbacks, but never defeats. So, I am not a quitter. I willingly went into this process. I left the private sector to get into education. I have never run for any other public office that wasn’t involved in education, and I’m still committed to making this work. In the end, this is about the future of the children. Not my future, not your future, not really about the adults' future in Idaho. It’s about the future of the children, and that’s what I’ll continue to focus on. And I’m confident that adults can figure this out, and we’ll do what’s best for our children. I think Winston Churchill said that Americans always do the right thing after they’ve tried everything else. I am convinced we will do the right thing. If that means I have to do things differently, then so be it. But we will do the right things.
The full audio from the reporter roundtable is available online.
Q: It’s been six days now. What is your assessment of the next step? What reforms might you look at with the Legislature?
Supt Luna: I think it’s important that education reform doesn’t stop. We just had a 22-month discussion about education in Idaho at a level of detail that we’ve never had before, and I think that that, if anything, has been very productive. People around the water cooler and the dinner table have had conversations about education reform, so I think the last thing that anyone wants to see is an end to education reform in Idaho. I think it’s critical that we work together and identify parts of the reform legislation that have support from all legislative stakeholders—ones that are easy to move forward in this next legislative session. What those are I don’t know just yet. I think you heard during the campaign that there were parts of these laws that were agreeable to both sides, but there were also parts that were disagreeable obviously to the “Vote No” campaign and to the electorate. Again, I think that we have to take advantage of the conversation we have had over the last two years in Idaho. We need to continue that conversation, and we need to make sure that conversation leads to meaningful reform in our schools.
Q: The “Vote No” campaign has said that it is willing to reach out and open a dialogue with you and other members of your administration. Has that happened?
Supt Luna: Yes, I’ve had a number of meetings with stakeholders. … There have been other conversations already with stakeholders in person and over the phone with the IEA (Idaho Education Association). We will sit down and meet with them. We did before, and we will continue to do that going forward. It’s important that we do that in a collaborative way, and we will.
Q: When you say that opponents focused on one or two things, are you suggesting that because of the campaign that was run, voters didn’t necessarily understand…?
Supt Luna: No, the same people who voted down these laws elected me to this position twice. So, I can’t criticize them for turning down these laws and then congratulate them for making the right choice when they elected me. I have full confidence in Idahoans educating themselves and then making a decision based on the information that they’ve gathered. … What I am saying is that if we knew this was going to a referendum, then maybe rather than three bills there should have been a couple dozen bills, and we should have treated each of these things separately so they could have been weighed on their own merits. And maybe that’s the process going forward. I don’t know because those conversations are still happening.
Q: I think we all know that the Students Come First laws, however affectionately or otherwise, were labeled the “Luna Laws.” With all due respect, you don’t introduce legislation into the legislature. You don’t vote on anything in the legislature. You don’t sign anything into law. I think more realistically they were as much the “Otter Laws” as they were anything. With that said, looking forward, have you communicated with the Governor? Where is Governor Otter in terms of looking forward in education?
Supt Luna: I’ve had a number of conversations with the Governor, and we both agree that we need to take advantage of this opportunity that has presented itself—this conversation that has been had about education reform. I never ran into one person who said they were voting “no” because they didn’t think we should reform our schools. They had specific issues with certain parts of the law. I ran into a lot of people who were splitting their votes. I ran into a lot of people who said, “I like this about Proposition 1, but I struggle with this part.” So, I didn’t hear from anyone who said, “Let’s go back to the system we had before.” We’ll get everybody around the table, have conversations to identify the things that we all agree on that were in the different propositions, move forward together with legislation that would restore those parts of the bill, and then work together to find common ground on areas where we do not agree.
Q: Do you anticipate the Governor being involved in that process?
Supt Luna: Yes, I do. I think the Governor will continue to play a lead role. If you look at other states that have gone through this process, it’s similar to what we are going through in Idaho. There are steps forward. There are bumps in the road. There are times when you have to have a process check and a reality check. But every one of those states has had a governor, whether it’s Tim Pawlenty or Jeb Bush, who continued to provide the leadership and really the expectation that we have to do these things and then used that pulpit to encourage the citizens and the legislature to respond.
Q: Do you think there is something to be learned from the outcome of the election in Washington and I think it was Georgia, where you had a very red, Republican-leaning state that went overwhelmingly for Mitt Romney in Georgia and a very blue-leaning state that went overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in Washington both vote to approve the expansion of charter schools. There seems to be a general appreciation and approval for charter school expansion, but reforming conventional schools has been uncomfortable for people. Is there any lesson in that, as far as you’re concerned?
Supt Luna: I think you’ll see that education reform across the country is not just limited to red states. It’s happening in red states and blue states. It’s happening in inner cities and rural areas. The opposition to reform is the same, but those who support reform are Democrats, Republicans, etc. I believe education reform is a bipartisan effort, and it will continue to be.
Q: Some folks have suggested that emotions were perhaps so raw on both sides that finding some agreement during the 2013 session might be a little bit premature, so this should go to some kind of interim committee of the legislature over the summer.
Supt Luna: Well, I can name you any number of blue-ribbon committees and interim committees that have been tasked to deal with very, very important issues that require real leadership to deal with, and lacking leadership, then you appoint a blue-ribbon committee or an interim committee to kick the can down the road. I agree with you that this has been a very emotional time, but I would remind everybody that it has been very emotional for the adults. Our kids and our students have to have an education system that is moving forward to meet their needs. Our state has a goal that by the year 2020, 60% of our population will have some kind of postsecondary degree or certificate. Today that number is 34%. So, if we’re thinking about 2020, those students are 8th graders today. We are not going to hit that goal if we continue with a system that achieves only 34%.
So we can’t wait. Our kids can’t wait for adults to figure this out. So we are going to have to set aside our emotions and our egos and, as adults, work together to do what is best for our children. Waiting is not what’s best for our children. We are not going to go to the legislature and propose legislation that is so controversial that it’s going to drive the same kind of emotion that we have seen the last couple of years, but there are things that we have all agreed are good parts of the Students Come First legislation, and there is no reason that we wouldn’t move forward to bring those back.
Q: There are some people who perceive education reform as nothing more than an effort to try and limit the power of the teachers’ union or somehow organized labor. How would you respond to that?
Supt Luna: Again, this is hindsight. You’re asking me to play Monday-morning quarterback. All I can do is give you the history, and then you can decide what to do with it. When we were putting together education reform, what we referred to as Students Come First, there were some who thought that what you found in Proposition 1 was enough. I never believed that just dealing with tenure, dealing with collective bargaining, dealing with open negotiations, eliminating seniority. Those are an important part of education reform, but just Proposition 1 in and of itself is not going to get the job done. It’s not the silver bullet. You have reform the way you compensate teachers. You also have to reform the way that we deliver education, create opportunities through the proper use of technology, give all students equal opportunity for college credit, etc.
Q: You said that you will not be bringing forth legislation this session that will drive the kind of emotions that we saw over the Students Come First package. Is there anything in this package that you’re going to stay away from?
Supt Luna: We’ll hear from the stakeholders. We’ll come together and identify what we all agree on, and then we’ll move forward. So it would be premature for me to assume that I know what is agreeable to all of the different stakeholders.
Q: Were you surprised when, just before the election, as the word went out to school districts as to who would and wouldn’t get bonuses under the plan, the concern was expressed in many areas of the state that the schools whose teachers didn’t get bonuses were perhaps the ones who were dealing with more disadvantaged kids. Was there a flaw in this plan?
Supt Luna: Well, it wasn’t a perfect plan. The only way it’s going to be perfected is if we can implement it, learn from it, adjust it, and keep going forward. If we never start, we’re never going to be able to identify the areas that need to change and be improved.
Q: Do you anticipate having a package by the start of the legislative session, or will it emerge sometime within the session?
Supt Luna: I don’t know. What I do know is that we’re going to lead. I think people are elected to lead, and sometimes that means that you get into areas that maybe aren’t all that popular, but it’s very easy to lead when things are going well. Everybody wants to lead a parade when everybody likes the music. The fact is, if you’re going to bring about education reform that is good for students, somebody has to lead. That’s what I’m attempting to do. That’s what this legislation was about. We’re going to continue. This is a bump in the road, but we’re going to continue to work toward bringing about the reform that our schools have to have.
Q: You said that voters understood what they were voting on, but you keep saying things like, “The voters didn’t understand.”
Supt Luna: No. So there’s two separate things. Students Come First has many, many components in it, and it’s not reasonable for me to expect that voters would know every piece that was in the law. But when they do become aware of the fact that students can earn college credit, I think that’s something that they all support that would be easy to go forward to the legislature with. But, I’m not claiming that the electorate was deceived or uneducated or that they didn’t know what they are doing because, like I said, the same people elected me and re-elected me. So if they were wise in the use of their vote when they elected me, I’m assuming they used that same wisdom when they passed judgment on these laws.
Q: You had teachers during the whole election process saying, “We weren’t involved.” What do you say to that? Were they not involved? How do we correct that going forward?
Supt Luna: Well, I’ll address going forward. We’ve had the ‘tis and ‘taint over whether there was involvement or enough involvement, but, going forward, I think you’ll find that all our meetings with all stakeholders will be very transparent and open meetings so the press can see who was actually there and not there, what comments were made, who was involved and who wasn’t, so that then we no longer have this disagreement as to whether there was involvement or enough involvement.
Q: You’ve talked about those public meetings. Do you think that by having all sides in a public meeting, ground floor up, going forward that both sides will be more willing to compromise on things that they maybe hold sacred or that they weren’t willing to give up before?
Supt Luna: Yes, and we are going to stream these live on the web so parents and everyone can participate. We have learned through the past two years as all the negotiations at the local level have happened in open, public meetings that what you have described is true. The conversations are more open and more civil and more productive, and what happens in the meeting is very transparent and neither side can claim something that isn’t accurate. People will be able to judge for themselves as to whether one group or another group had equal access and equal opportunity to participate. So we’ll make it a very transparent process.
Q: Do you think that this outcome has affected your effectiveness as a leader, or will the test of that be seen in the future?
Supt Luna: I think we’ll know more going forward, but I will tell you that I am committed, as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, to make sure that all 280,000 students have equal access and opportunity to succeed in the 21st Century. If there has to be a loser, if this has to be a win-lose, then let it be me. Not the students, not public education, not the teachers. If the press and the public have to blame somebody and identify a loser in this process, then it’s me. But public education, our students, our teachers, our parents, our taxpayers cannot take the brunt of what happened last Tuesday. If people have to find somebody to blame, let them blame me.
Q: You have been very committed to these over the last two years and, as you have indicated, the last 15 years. After last Tuesday’s results, did it ever cross your mind to step down?
Supt Luna: No, I’m not a quitter. I mean, if I was a quitter, there have been many times in my life when I would have folded up the tent and gone home. I have had many setbacks, but never defeats. So, I am not a quitter. I willingly went into this process. I left the private sector to get into education. I have never run for any other public office that wasn’t involved in education, and I’m still committed to making this work. In the end, this is about the future of the children. Not my future, not your future, not really about the adults' future in Idaho. It’s about the future of the children, and that’s what I’ll continue to focus on. And I’m confident that adults can figure this out, and we’ll do what’s best for our children. I think Winston Churchill said that Americans always do the right thing after they’ve tried everything else. I am convinced we will do the right thing. If that means I have to do things differently, then so be it. But we will do the right things.
The full audio from the reporter roundtable is available online.
Harold Jacobs' Geometry
To contact us Click HERE
I've been considering a new text for a course in Euclidean Geometry that I teach for middle school teachers. I've been using Essentials of Geometry for College Students by Lial et al. The students seem OK with it, but I find it very boring. I supplement it with lots of my own exercises using Geometer's Sketchpad, paper folding, MIRA(tm), etc. to keep things interesting.
In looking for a replacement, the best book I have found so far is Geometry: Seeing, Doing, Understanding by Harold R. Jacobs. The latest (3rd) edition was published in 2003. Although I will probably use this book, I will transform many of the problems I assign from pencil, paper, ruler, and protractor to Geometer's Sketchpad. I would love it if the publisher W. H. Freeman would commission an update.
This is a high school text, but it is more challenging than Lial. The applications to "real life" are the most realistic and compelling that I have seen anywhere. I keep finding things that I didn't know, and ways of looking at geometry problems that I hadn't considered.
In one example on page 503 Jacobs shows a closed smooth curve bounding a convex region and consisting of circular arcs. One student said that the sum of the arc measurements must be 360 degrees, and the other doubts it because the curve is not a circle. From the nature of Jacobs' construction, it is easy to show that the sum of the arc measures is indeed 360 degrees. A good teacher could connect this with the fact that the sum of the exterior angles of a convex polygon is 360 degrees.
In another example, Jacobs gives an "Area Puzzle" where he guides students to prove a curious fact about triangle areas. If each vertex of a triangle (ABC in the figure below) is connected to a point 1/3 of the way from the next vertex (in CCW order, say) to the following vertex, and the intersections of these 3 segments (Cevians) are connected, an inner triangle (DEF) is formed. The area of DEF turns out to be 1/7 of the area of ABC. I have known this for some years, and even published a paper (with my brother Marshall and my nephew Michael) generalizing it to quadrilaterals and to ratios other than 1/3. The proof I used involved using analytic geometry to establish the result for a right triangle with vertices (0, 0) (1, 0), and (0, 1) and then arguing that the area ratio is preserved by affine transformations, so the result holds for all triangles.
Jacobs presents a neat synthetic proof that clearly shows where the strange ratio 1:7 comes from. He constructs 6 more triangles, each a translate of the central triangle, and then guides the student to show that the triangles can be dissected and reassembled to fill the original triangle. See the diagram below.
In looking for a replacement, the best book I have found so far is Geometry: Seeing, Doing, Understanding by Harold R. Jacobs. The latest (3rd) edition was published in 2003. Although I will probably use this book, I will transform many of the problems I assign from pencil, paper, ruler, and protractor to Geometer's Sketchpad. I would love it if the publisher W. H. Freeman would commission an update.
This is a high school text, but it is more challenging than Lial. The applications to "real life" are the most realistic and compelling that I have seen anywhere. I keep finding things that I didn't know, and ways of looking at geometry problems that I hadn't considered.
In one example on page 503 Jacobs shows a closed smooth curve bounding a convex region and consisting of circular arcs. One student said that the sum of the arc measurements must be 360 degrees, and the other doubts it because the curve is not a circle. From the nature of Jacobs' construction, it is easy to show that the sum of the arc measures is indeed 360 degrees. A good teacher could connect this with the fact that the sum of the exterior angles of a convex polygon is 360 degrees.
In another example, Jacobs gives an "Area Puzzle" where he guides students to prove a curious fact about triangle areas. If each vertex of a triangle (ABC in the figure below) is connected to a point 1/3 of the way from the next vertex (in CCW order, say) to the following vertex, and the intersections of these 3 segments (Cevians) are connected, an inner triangle (DEF) is formed. The area of DEF turns out to be 1/7 of the area of ABC. I have known this for some years, and even published a paper (with my brother Marshall and my nephew Michael) generalizing it to quadrilaterals and to ratios other than 1/3. The proof I used involved using analytic geometry to establish the result for a right triangle with vertices (0, 0) (1, 0), and (0, 1) and then arguing that the area ratio is preserved by affine transformations, so the result holds for all triangles.
Jacobs presents a neat synthetic proof that clearly shows where the strange ratio 1:7 comes from. He constructs 6 more triangles, each a translate of the central triangle, and then guides the student to show that the triangles can be dissected and reassembled to fill the original triangle. See the diagram below.
The Power of Cryptograms
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When I was a boy, a relative bought me and my siblings a copy of a book about solving cryptograms, which described techniques for solving substitution cyphers and gave a lot of cryptograms of varying difficulty to play with. I really enjoyed the book. At the time, it seems like many newspapers would publish a daily cryptogram, though I don't see them very much any more. My local newspaper, the Boston Globe, publishes a daily crossword, a Sudoku, a Kenken, and a few other puzzles, but no cryptograms. I think that's a loss. The kind of thinking used to solve cryptograms is very similar to what is used in solving mathematical problems of all kinds, and cryptograms is something that can be enjoyed both by mathematically-oriented people and literature-oriented ones, since the quotations that are encrypted can be quite memorable. Also, an interest in simple cryptograms could lead to a long-term interest in cryptography, the importance of which in today's Internet-driven world can scarcely be overestimated.
I'd suggest anyone teaching math in the middle grades think about challenging their students with cryptograms. As a starting point, I found Simon Singh's web page at http://simonsingh.net/cryptography/cryptograms/ to be a nice introduction.
I'd suggest anyone teaching math in the middle grades think about challenging their students with cryptograms. As a starting point, I found Simon Singh's web page at http://simonsingh.net/cryptography/cryptograms/ to be a nice introduction.
24 Şubat 2013 Pazar
Tips for Teaching with Math Games
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Who doesn't love a game? In the math classroom, games offer an engaging alternative to worksheets, allowing students to work with others and have fun while learning. They’re perfect for practicing new skills or reviewing previously-learned content. Math games are extremely versatile and can be used in cooperative learning teams, in small group instruction, or in math centers.
The key to using math games effectively in the classroom is to develop clear and specific management systems and procedures. Students need to know when they can play the games, where to go to play them, how to choose a partner, and a host of other procedures.
I've shared some tips below, and you can download the entire set of tips as a PDF file by clicking the Tips for Teaching with Math Games link or the cover above.
Using Math Games in Cooperative Learning Teams
Math games work well in cooperative learning teams during whole group instruction. After you introduce a skill, demonstrate it, and check for understanding, you can have students play a game to practice the skill. When you use games in cooperative learning teams, each team will need a copy of the game materials, and all teams will be engaged in playing the games while you serve as a facilitator. This gives you the opportunity to walk around and work with individual students who may need extra help. Another way to use games in cooperative learning teams is for reviewing several different skills the day before a test. If you choose to use games this way, you’ll need a different game for each skill and rotate the games from team to team every 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes you can use the same game but simply create different problem cards or task cards for each skill.
Using Math Games in Learning Centers
Using math game centers is a way to help students keep skills sharp throughout the year. You may want to set aside 15 to 20 minutes a day for students to work in math centers. Having them play the games first thing in the morning as other students arrive can keep them on task and energize them for the day. You can also encourage students to use these activities when they have completed other assignments or while you are working with a small group. To learn more about how to use games in centers, watch my free webinar, Motivating Math Stations, on Teaching Resources. In that webinar I explain how to choose and develop games for math centers.
Where to Find Math Games
You can create your own math games quite easily, or you can find them by searching online. I've created quite a few math games that are appropriate for grades 3 through 5, and most of those can be adapted for younger or older students by changing the problem cards. Many of my games are free on my online Math Centers page and in my TeachersPayTeachers store, and others are priced reasonably considering the amount of time and energy you save by not having to create them yourself. The games shown here include complete directions, student printables, and answer keys if needed. You can also find math games in my ebook, Math Stations for Middle Grades, available in my TeachersPayTeachers.com store.
Using Games to Teach Social Skills
The younger your students, the more help they will need with developing social skills for games. However, even older students may need to review these skills. Remind your students that although they might not win every game, they are all winners because they are having fun while they learning. One way to work on social skills is to teach a mini-lesson on what “sportsmanship” means. Display this chart, which you can find in the Tips for Teaching Math Games packet, or create a similar chart on chart paper. Ask students what it means to be a “good sport” versus a “poor sport” when playing games. During the class brainstorming session, remind them not to name specific people or incidents that have happened in class. Just list behaviors such as bragging, taking turns, congratulating the winner, smiling, grabbing the materials, not following the rules, pouting, etc. Remind students that it’s no fun to play with a poor sport! Also, be sure that students have strategies for common game tasks such as deciding who goes first. Rather than arguing, they can flip a coin, play Rock-Paper-Scissors, or toss a die. After you address these issues with mini-lessons, you’ll find that your students enjoy playing games more and get along better with their peers.
How do you use math games in your classroom? Do you have any tips of your own to share?
Who doesn't love a game? In the math classroom, games offer an engaging alternative to worksheets, allowing students to work with others and have fun while learning. They’re perfect for practicing new skills or reviewing previously-learned content. Math games are extremely versatile and can be used in cooperative learning teams, in small group instruction, or in math centers.The key to using math games effectively in the classroom is to develop clear and specific management systems and procedures. Students need to know when they can play the games, where to go to play them, how to choose a partner, and a host of other procedures.
I've shared some tips below, and you can download the entire set of tips as a PDF file by clicking the Tips for Teaching with Math Games link or the cover above.
Using Math Games in Cooperative Learning Teams
Math games work well in cooperative learning teams during whole group instruction. After you introduce a skill, demonstrate it, and check for understanding, you can have students play a game to practice the skill. When you use games in cooperative learning teams, each team will need a copy of the game materials, and all teams will be engaged in playing the games while you serve as a facilitator. This gives you the opportunity to walk around and work with individual students who may need extra help. Another way to use games in cooperative learning teams is for reviewing several different skills the day before a test. If you choose to use games this way, you’ll need a different game for each skill and rotate the games from team to team every 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes you can use the same game but simply create different problem cards or task cards for each skill.
Using Math Games in Learning CentersUsing math game centers is a way to help students keep skills sharp throughout the year. You may want to set aside 15 to 20 minutes a day for students to work in math centers. Having them play the games first thing in the morning as other students arrive can keep them on task and energize them for the day. You can also encourage students to use these activities when they have completed other assignments or while you are working with a small group. To learn more about how to use games in centers, watch my free webinar, Motivating Math Stations, on Teaching Resources. In that webinar I explain how to choose and develop games for math centers.
Where to Find Math GamesYou can create your own math games quite easily, or you can find them by searching online. I've created quite a few math games that are appropriate for grades 3 through 5, and most of those can be adapted for younger or older students by changing the problem cards. Many of my games are free on my online Math Centers page and in my TeachersPayTeachers store, and others are priced reasonably considering the amount of time and energy you save by not having to create them yourself. The games shown here include complete directions, student printables, and answer keys if needed. You can also find math games in my ebook, Math Stations for Middle Grades, available in my TeachersPayTeachers.com store.
Using Games to Teach Social SkillsThe younger your students, the more help they will need with developing social skills for games. However, even older students may need to review these skills. Remind your students that although they might not win every game, they are all winners because they are having fun while they learning. One way to work on social skills is to teach a mini-lesson on what “sportsmanship” means. Display this chart, which you can find in the Tips for Teaching Math Games packet, or create a similar chart on chart paper. Ask students what it means to be a “good sport” versus a “poor sport” when playing games. During the class brainstorming session, remind them not to name specific people or incidents that have happened in class. Just list behaviors such as bragging, taking turns, congratulating the winner, smiling, grabbing the materials, not following the rules, pouting, etc. Remind students that it’s no fun to play with a poor sport! Also, be sure that students have strategies for common game tasks such as deciding who goes first. Rather than arguing, they can flip a coin, play Rock-Paper-Scissors, or toss a die. After you address these issues with mini-lessons, you’ll find that your students enjoy playing games more and get along better with their peers.
How do you use math games in your classroom? Do you have any tips of your own to share?
Laura Candler's Teaching Resources on TpT
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It’s hard to believe that 2013 is right around the corner! The new year will bring many changes, but one that I wanted to share with you has to do with my Teaching Resources website. It’s actually not going to be much of a change, but it’s definitely worth a mention.
As you probably know, in addition to offering hundreds of resources for free on LauraCandler.com, I also sell digital resources and print books. Starting on January 1st, I'm going to be directing sales of digital resources to my TeachersPayTeachers store for payment processing. It won’t seem like much of a change from your perspective because my website will look exactly the same. The main difference will be that when you click the Buy Now button to purchase a digital item, you will click through to my TpT store to make that purchase there. Here's an overview of what will change and what will stay the same.
What WILL Change
What WON’T Change
This change will mean that you will be making your purchases from TpT instead of from my website, but there are actually a number of benefits to doing so. Here are some of the reasons I think you’ll enjoy using TpT:
If you don't already use TeachersPayTeachers, the first thing you need to do is to sign up for a free account. Then visit my TpT store and click the Follow Me link at the top to be sure you are notified of any new freebies or products that I add to my store. As a way of showing appreciation to my TpT followers, I'm planning to offer 50% off all items I add to my store for the first 24 hours they are on the site. The only way you'll know that I've added these items is to follow me there to receive notification by email.
One thing that won't change in 2013 is that I plan to continue creating loads of new freebies and other teaching resources, just as I've done for over 10 years on LauraCandler.com. I still love to share resources with teachers, whether it's through my own website or TeachersPayTeachers.
It’s hard to believe that 2013 is right around the corner! The new year will bring many changes, but one that I wanted to share with you has to do with my Teaching Resources website. It’s actually not going to be much of a change, but it’s definitely worth a mention.As you probably know, in addition to offering hundreds of resources for free on LauraCandler.com, I also sell digital resources and print books. Starting on January 1st, I'm going to be directing sales of digital resources to my TeachersPayTeachers store for payment processing. It won’t seem like much of a change from your perspective because my website will look exactly the same. The main difference will be that when you click the Buy Now button to purchase a digital item, you will click through to my TpT store to make that purchase there. Here's an overview of what will change and what will stay the same.
What WILL Change- When you purchase a digital item, the Buy Now button with take you to my TpT store to process the payment.
- After January 1st, you will not be able to purchase my Literacy, Math, or Super Mini Pack Combos. Because of this, I’m offering special discounts on those items from now until January 1st when they are removed from my website. If you use the discount code COMBO at checkout, you’ll get $5 off the Literacy or Math pack and $10 off the Super Mini Pack Combo. Visit my Mini Pack page to find those items.
What WON’T Change- Teaching Resources will look the same and will still have hundreds of freebies in the online file cabinet and on the strategies pages.
- You will still be able to view previews of my products directly from Teaching Resources.
- You can still purchase hard copies of my print books and even the digital/print combos of Power Reading Workshop and Graphic Organizers for Reading directly from my website. My Classroom Book Clubs DVD will still be available through my website.
- I will still accept checks and purchase orders myself. You can download the appropriate order forms from my Ordering Page.
- Your school can still purchase site licenses directly from my website.
- My prices on TpT are the same as prices on my website, and you can continue to expect reasonable prices for these time-saving materials.
This change will mean that you will be making your purchases from TpT instead of from my website, but there are actually a number of benefits to doing so. Here are some of the reasons I think you’ll enjoy using TpT:- The TpT site is well-organized and easy to navigate.
- You can follow your favorite sellers there to be notified when they add new freebies and products.
- You can quickly see preview images of products, and you can still download complete previews of my books from TpT.
- Everything you purchase will be available in your TpT account so that you can download it again in the event of a computer crash.
- On TpT, you can purchase single copy items for yourself as well as add additional licenses for coworkers at greatly reduced prices.
- You can earn credits for leaving feedback on your purchases, and you can spend these credits on anywhere on TpT.
- TpT has many different payment options including credit cards, PayPal, and purchase orders.
If you don't already use TeachersPayTeachers, the first thing you need to do is to sign up for a free account. Then visit my TpT store and click the Follow Me link at the top to be sure you are notified of any new freebies or products that I add to my store. As a way of showing appreciation to my TpT followers, I'm planning to offer 50% off all items I add to my store for the first 24 hours they are on the site. The only way you'll know that I've added these items is to follow me there to receive notification by email.
One thing that won't change in 2013 is that I plan to continue creating loads of new freebies and other teaching resources, just as I've done for over 10 years on LauraCandler.com. I still love to share resources with teachers, whether it's through my own website or TeachersPayTeachers.
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