What do I want my kids to know (or be able to do) when they leave 6th grade?

I am thinking this particularly in terms of technology. I know what I want them to do in my Spanish and Latin classes.

But what about tech?

So I turn that question to you.

What should a 6th grader know and/or be able to do when they leave 6th grade?

I am staring down the barrel of a cool new opportunity for the next school year. So this is more than just theoretical, I need to be able to answer this question effectively. So help me out, eh?

Yesterday, my daughter came home interested in Australia. It turns out her teacher’s mother came in to talk about Australia. Evidently she has traveled there.

Being an American (and overly US-centric I admit) I had no answers to her questions. I suppose I had to options.

1. Find the answers myself and give them to her.

2. Let her ask someone who would know.

I reached out to Jason Hando, who lives in Sydney, Australia. Jason and I met a few years ago online as we were exploring the educational uses of Second Life. Jason ended up being a critical part of the building of Life Round Here.

Jason happened to be available so we Skyped. I recorded the interview and sent it to my daughter’s teacher. She was floored and plans to show it to her class and perhaps beyond. Here is the interview if you care to watch. It’s about 8 minutes.

Back in the Spring of 2009 the administration came to me and asked me if I would be willing to take on a class of students and teach them about media production, emerging technology and so on. You might recall I asked for your help in determining what I should teach them.

First and foremost, our goal has been to produce a morning news show, which they named Cougar KidKast.

As we finished up production of the eight episodes for which this class was responsible we found ourselves with a few extra class periods. The kids asked if we could make a movie.

I set them to start talking about it. Together, they determined that they wanted to make a video that would have a positive impact. As we talked further, my kids began to reveal to me the unpleasant underbelly of school culture. My kids feel pressured to conform to societal norms in a manner that seems to me different from when I was a student. Perhaps it is pure distance (having not say where they sit in 20 years) or my own ignorance, I was unaware that the social pressures are as tough as they are.

They wanted to flip the script.

I asked them to talk further about who would play what role and what shape this would take. During our time together, we have explored different types of video. We’ve talked about documentaries, interviews, B roll, and more. My kids decided out of all of them, they wanted to create a performance piece.

As they began the storyboarding process, I noticed that one student had misspelled the genre. Instead of performance piece, he had written:

Performance Peace

An accidental misspelling turned out to be the cornerstone of their idea. As they began to allow the title to dance in their minds, ideas turned into action. One student in particular took a keen interest in writing lyrics for the piece.  Shy-Kyra’s lyrics are posted below. I should note that they are unedited. I have made no changes to them and they remain in their original, pure form.

I am thoroughly impressed with my students. I am impressed not only with their effort, but their hearts. Please remember these students are 11 and 12 years old. I feel the work they have created is far beyond their ages.

They ask only that you consider sharing their work. Enjoy.

Here is the video. Click through to see it or click here to watch it in HD on YouTube. Lyrics follow the video.

Lyrics by Shy-Kyra:

PERFORMANCE PEACE

popularity comes and destroys our mind …
sometimes we can’t find that trend, that friend, that life
in life we can always lose our confidence or self-esteem because of what people tend to say behind your back
then our come back is violence or the old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me”
when the words hurt as much as the sticks and stones;
deep down this world has lost its mind with the trend of the year or should we say week
the schools has lost its mind with the trend setters or popularity we have started a DEMOCRACY and we
fought this war for months
played this game for years

IT’S TIME TO FLIP THE SCRIPT!!!

this is my life, my turn,
you’re not in my clothes
you don’t know my story
you haven’t taken the time to look me in my eyes
taken the time to see my pain
you’re not going to throw me around anymore
i’m going to stand on my two feet i’m going to hit a homerun
IT’S TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE ……
I’M GOING TO PAINT MY LIFE COLORFUL

BY: SHY-KYRA

This postcard appeared in my box some time yesterday and I grabbed it this morning (during “rounds”).

Thank you to the wonderful Jody Hayes (I used her name because it’s right on the top of their blog).

Palmerston North looks beautiful! Thanks so much!

The first is from Mr. Stacey in the UK! His postcard is of Swansea Bay… (click for larger)

The second is from Allanah King in New Zealand!

And the third is from Jen Wagner in Murietta California!

Thanks so much you all!

The first is from South Bend, Indiana. Thanks everyone in South Bend at St. Joseph!

Then there were three more from Cheryl Lykowski! Thanks so much Global Explorers! We’re going to listen to your podcast about Michigan!

I couldn’t believe there was a bridge that’s 5 miles long!

And I’ve always heard Michigan was shaped like a hand…

Thanks so much you all!

Chris

One is tough to see, but it’s of Long Island Beach, NY and the second os from Manhattan.

As some of you know, I’ll have my first ever visit to NY in March for AERA. I’ve flown into JFK but that doesn’t count.

Thanks, South Paris Collaborative!

Sad, just sad.

I tried to rescue the little fella, but folks looked at me like I was a little nuts while I was even taking this picture. I’ve resigned myself to taking him pictures of Lisa to keep him company and sneaking in some nourishment, like photos of the new chubby nano. That seems to make him happy and offers a newfound sense of purpose.