More unintentional federal irony

This photo has been circulating through some of the education forums I belong to. It's a pretty accurate depiction of the true results of No Child Left Behind. Here's a question - is it also an accurate depiction of the true intent behind No Child Left Behind?

The Big Poets Anonymous K-Zoo Announcement

Poets Anonymous Kalamazoo is growing! Starting in November, PAKZOO will begin to produce up to SIX SHOWS EVERY MONTH in venues all across Kalamazoo and beyond. No longer will PAKZOO be confined to one venue, or one kind of show. PAKZOO is dedicating itself to providing a greater diversity in audiences, hosts, talent, and tastes than has ever been attempted before in Kalamazoo. Now whether you prefer the competitive, raucous circus of poetry that is poetry slam, the intimate, open community of an open mic, or something in between, you'll find a home in the PAKZOO event lineup. Get a taste of what's to come on Monday, October 29th, at Papa Pete's from 8:00 to 10:00 P.M. We are calling it a Halloween Dress Rehearsal, so bring out those costumes a couple days early and get your money's worth out of them. Upcoming Poets Anonymous K-Zoo Events:

• Tuesday, October 23 (8:00 to 11:00 P.M.) – Kraftbrau Brewery – Open Mic and Poetry Slam with special feature, Greg Bliss
• Monday, October 29 (8:00 to 10:00 P.M.) – Papa Pete's – Halloween Dress Rehearsal Poetry Slam and Open Mic
• Monday, November 5 (8:00 to 10:00 P.M.) – Papa Pete's – Open Mic Poetry Show hosted by Steve Ashby
• Wednesday, November 7 (8:00 to 10:00) – Dino's Coffee Lounge – Open Mic and Poetry Slam hosted by Todd Bannon
• Monday, November 12 (8:00 to 10:00 P.M.) – Papa Pete's – Open Mic Poetry Show (host TBA)
• Tuesday, November 13 (8:00 to 11:00 P.M.) – Kraftbrau Brewery – Open Mic and Poetry Slam with special feature, Rob C.
• Monday, November 19 (8:00 to 10:00 P.M.) – Papa Pete's – Open Mic Poetry Show (host TBA)
• Monday, November 26 (8:00 to 10:00 P.M.) – Papa Pete's – Open Mic Poetry Show (host TBA)
• Tuesday, November 27 (8:00 to 11:00 P.M.) – Kraftbrau Brewery – Closing the Bar Show – Free night of poetry and memories.
  

Don't forget to check out the PAKZOO website: www.pakzoo.org. We've just added a new calendar function, so you can keep up with our myriad events.

Campus Poetry Society

We are starting up a new WMU Registered Student Organization called Campus Poetry Society.If you're interested in performance poetry or slam poetry, you should check it out.

The official Campus Poetry Societry website is here: http://www.pakzoo.org/cps

If you are a WMU student and want to join, e-mail me at tabannon@gmail.com and I will register you. I will need your full name and your wmu e-mail address.

You may still join as a non-voting member even if you are not a WMU student. Please e-mail me with your contact information.

We are not officially recognized as an RSO yet, pending approval of our constitution. Eventually, you should be able to find us on the "Search Organizations" page of the Student Organization Administration Program. Search for us as Campus Poetry Society or CPS. You may access RSO functionality at the WMU Registered Student Organization page: www.rso.wmich.edu/.

Virtual Worlds and Teach Presentations and Workshops at WMU

Virtual Worlds and Teaching
Experiences, Results, and Possibilities
Presentations and workshops offered for the WMU community by participants in the Virtual Reality in Teaching and Learning Presidential Innovation Grant.

Presentations
Learn about the virtual world projects! WMU faculty and doctoral students will describe their experiences using virtual worlds in their teaching during the 2006-7 school year. Although presentations will focus on literature teaching, they will be of interest across disciplines.

May 29, Tuesday
10:00-11:30
Sangren Hall, Dean's Conference Room, 3rd Floor
Allen Webb, Introduction
Gwen Tarbox, Judith Ortiz Cofer
Linda Dick, Pied Piper
Todd Bannon, Charles Dickens
Joe Haughey, “Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Tim Heacock, “The Tempest”

June 6, Wednesday
3:00-5:00
Sprau Tower, 10th Floor
Allen Webb, Things Fall Apart
Cynthia Klekar, Moll Flanders
Todd Kuchta, Mrs. Dalloway
Steve Feffer, Angels in America
Casey Mckittrick, Native Son
Gretchen Voskuil, Of Mice and Men

Workshops
Design your own virtual world!
Experienced faculty as well as student technology support will be available to help you design and develop a virtual world you would like to use in your teaching and/or scholarship.

May 29, Tuesday
3:00-5:00
1215 Wood Hall

June 6, Wednesday
3:00-5:001215 Wood Hall

Questions: allen.webb@wmich.edu

TED | Talks | Richard Baraniuk: Goodbye, textbooks; hello, open-source learning (video)

I don't know if anyone from class will be keeping up on our blogs, but I plan to continue using this one for my thoughts on education.

My friend sent me a link to this video about the end of textbooks. I think this is pretty relevant to our conversations this semester. It's all about using open source tools to bring content from authors to students. I like the idea of on demand publishing that gets rid of the middleman. It brings cost down and significantly reduces the turn around time. I am most interested in how students could customize exactly what they're going to be reading.

It's an 18 minute video, so have some spare time if you want to watch it.

Richard Baraniuk: Goodbye, textbooks; hello, open-source learning

Your PAKZOO 2007 Poetry Slam Team

What a phenomenal night! Absolutely fabulous. We had a great open mic including two unexpected musical performances and two poems by Kinetic Affect. We had a great crowd, a high energy level, and pumped poets. In other words, the stage was set for a perfect slam tourney finals night.

The two rounds tonight were added to the two semifinal rounds. The poets themselves voted for the format prior to semis starting. I think they chose wisely. There were some surprise performances tonight, but ultimately the poets who were most consistent over the three weeks came out on top.

I've just gotten through double checking my spreadsheet math to make sure everyone's scores are in the right place and added correctly. The following scores are final and official.

1. Oliver Lewis: 28, 29.7, 27, 28.3 = 113
2. Mark Kopiwoda: 26.7, 25.3, 28.2, 29.8 = 110
3. Garrick Oxley: 26.8, 29.1, 27.3, 26.3 = 109.5
4. Leah Olson: 28, 29.4, 24.9, 25.7 = 108
5. Jonah Frick: 25.4, 26.6, 27.5, 25.9 = 105.4
6. Darren Ledbetter: 22, 23.4, 23.5, 23.1 = 92
7. Brandon Dellario: 20.9, 18.7, 19.5, 24.8 = 83.9
   

The team is: Oliver Lewis, Mark Kopiwoda, Garrick Oxley (non-competing*), Leah Olson, and Jonah Frick. Darren Ledbetter and Brandon Dellario are alternates.

*Unfortunately, Garrick is not old enough to attend NPS. He will still be an official team member, and will perform at all other events.

Once again, congratulations to all competing poets tonight. I was very impressed.

(Cross-posted from my blog at www.pakzoo.org.)

Help! I need to design a class

I have seven days to design a class and build a syllabus for it. My debate is exactly what the class will be about. Some ideas:

1. Poetry Slam: Writing and Performance.
2. Teaching Poetry Slam: Using poetry slam in the English classroom.
3. Encouraging Student Activism: Integrating activism into the secondary classroom.
4. Other ideas

Obviously, the first option is creative writing, whereas the other two are for future teachers. They have to be housed in the English Department, so I need to frame them as English classes.

The first two classes having to do with poetry slam would be fairly easy to build. I am very vague on what the third class would look like. However, this is tightly tied to my dissertation research, so it's pretty applicable.

Suggestions? Advice? Mild chiding?