In the 21st century, what is the role of an Educator?

This past weekend I spent time with friends Caleb and Carrie who live in Winston Salem. Caleb is currently a divinity student at Wake Forest University and Carrie is a classroom teacher. As typical with them we asked big questions and had engaging discussions. Caleb, based on some discussion with his sister, posed the query: In this current reality where technology and information is so accessible (at least in the western world) via the internet, cell phones, etc, What is the role of the Educator?

Both Caleb's sister and Carrie are classroom teachers and have experienced that kids in school no longer really get their information from their teachers. In this day and age, anyone can simply jump on the internet and within seconds or minutes have the answers to any school curriculum related questions. "Oh just google it" has become a natural respond to finding out about what you don't already know for both adults and kids alike. Now with the advent of cell phones like the iPhone, you don't even need a computer station or laptop to get on the internet and start googling away. Information is much easier to come by these days and it is simple with the internet to find the most updated, most current information out there. Given that this reality growing is in every school and community across North America, what then will be the role of that Educator? If we as educators are no longer needed to provide our students with information and knowledge, what the heck are we there for? What is the future of education?

In our discussion several thoughts came up: Perhaps, as Carrie believes, the role of the educator in the classroom becomes solely a care-giver and behavior manager as kids begin to find and google information on their own. This in one way is already happening on the college level with on-line classes, where the physical presence of the "professor" is gone and they simply post expectations, assignments and quizzes online for students to complete in their own time. In this model the educator is not even a care-giver or behavior manager and they become more of a collector of assignments and tests that students complete and an assessor of whether the student meet the requirements to pass the "class". Strange huh? Already the educator is becoming stripped of the need to actually impart knowledge. The imparter of the knowledge is the assignments, the internet and the tests.

In the ancient greek world Pedagogue was the slave that took the student (males) to school, meaning they literally walked and traveled with the student to the place of knowledge and might carry their belongings. They were not the giver of knowledge, they were the vehicle for which the student got to the knowledge place and looked after them. In modern English, pedagogy (derived from Latin and Greek) means the art or profession of teaching, preparatory training and instruction; pedagogue refers to a schoolteacher or educator. Therefore our modern notions of pedagogy go beyond, the etymology and define the pedagogue as the source of learning and knowledge for the students.

Perhaps the introduction of and access to information technology in both society and schools is going to lead to a new pedagogy. Technology has already and will further change the role of the educator and force them to use new methods of instruction. Technology will also continue to change the role and needs of the learner. What impact has our fast paced, audio-visually stimulating, video gaming, googling culture had on our societies children? And how does that affect their learning abilities?

Perhaps the modern pedagogy will make a slight return to the ancient Greek definition, where the educator's role is once again to bring the child to the learning but not to be the source of it. To look after and care for the child, whom developmentally can not attend yet to their needs entirely on their own. I suspect that the new role of the educator, in fact the true need for the educator in the 21st century will not be to giver of knowledge, but will be to mentor and facilitate the students character and ethics. Children today have access to a wonderful yet scary amount of knownledge via the internet - they can study about any subject possible, including how to make homemade bombs. Kids today are smart and with technology at their fingertips it is not a huge leap for them to go from making a prank stink bomb to creating something more dangerous. I know that is a dramatic example, but my point is - the new role of the educator may have always been to development character, judgement and a sense of ethics in their students, but going forward into this next decade I think that role is even more critical than before. With knowledge comes power and what principles and values are the foundation of that power? The mind of a child and adolescent is under constant development and they have access to information but do they know how to use that information and power for good and not evil? Okay I know dramatic again, but hopefully you understand my point.

I want to wrap this up with a plug for the world of outdoor education and experiential methods. The photo at the beginning of my post is a picture of the the outdoor classroom and of instruction and learning in action. In the realm of experiential education the educator introduces challenges that the student has to meet and those challenges are very real,  authentic and relevant. The more real the challenge the more the student becomes an invested learner and seeks to solve it. After the student has tackled the challenge, the educator then gives an opportunity for reflection so the student can evaluate how they did and helps them to identify areas of strength and how they might better meet the challenge the next time or a similiar challenge. In the photo the instructor is leading a backpacking trip and is teaching the students how to set up a backcountry kitchen and how to cook their food. This is a relevant lesson - if the students do not engage in the learning then they won't eat dinner or they may not cook it well. The character building aspect of this exercise comes in the fact that the group must figure out how to feed everyone, they have to experience cooking for someone else or having someone cook for them. They choose how to serve out portions and who gets seconds, they have to clean up their dishes and kitchen, in essence they have to engage in community with others and learn an intricate dance with others and experience how their actions either positively or negatively impact other group members. If the one whom is serving and dividing portions does not give equal shares, there will be natural consequences to the group that they will have to address and work through to make the experience positive for everyone. Character development is at the heart of outdoor and experiential education -  where is it in the 21st century classroom and what is the role of the educator in our increasingly technological world?

Sump Hole

As promised here is my first post about home projects. Glenn and I bought our house in last year in 2009, which turned out to be a record breaking year for precipitation in Asheville - let's just say that the drought of '07 and '08 is over. We got to experience this very intimately with our basement, which when we bought our house was bone dry, however with heavy rains and heavy snow fall this past year filled with water. We are by no means professional or even amatuer home repair hobbists! We are merely and simply "weekend warriors" in the realm of home projects and aspire to be competent "do-it-yourselfers".

We "fixed" 95% of the issue by simply re-grading our driveway and the land around the house so that water no longer rushing toward the house foundation and spilling into the basement. We also installed a "french drain" system this past summer which helped tremendously and made a huge improvement. Now the water in heavy rains runs off in the street where it is supposed to and not in our basement! Yeah! We both felt so great at our success of having a dry basement.

And then came more rain...the ground across WNC has become so saturated that this past fall and winter of '09-'10 we began to get water seeping up through the floor of our concrete basement. Bummer we still had a water issue. Although water seeping in is much more manageable than water rushing in like before our re-grading and french drain project. Glenn still insisted on addressing this new seepage issue so that our basement could continue to be bone dry and so that we would not have to continue shop-vacuuming the seepage. This would require he thought...A Sump Hole.

The previous owners had installed a sump hole system and left us there sump pump and float, but that sump hole is in one of the driest corners of our basement...hum. We needed a new one placed to collect the seeping water from the saturated ground. Thus begins our search for a jack hammer.



Luckily a good friend and great guy who works construction was able to lend us a handheld jack hammer, yes! The rather large Makita jack hammer arrived at our house late thursday night, we had it for the weekend. Glenn of course wanted to start as soon as possible and made a run to Lowe's for some extra items we needed. Another friend of ours let us borrow his Skil saw, which we needed to make the initial cut into the concrete (in the shape of a square so as to avoid splintering cracks in the concrete). All we needed other than the Skil saw, and jack hammer was a concrete blade for Skil saw ($3), a respirator ($29.87 the priciest item), a kit that included safety googles and ear plugs ($6.87 ), a glass cutter ($3.98 ), a bag of quick-crete ($3.85) and a PVC collar to line the hole. It turned out that the diameter of the hole needed to be 10 inches so that our sump pump and float could fit and switch on automatically. Well Lowe's does not carry 10 inch PVC pipe so we callled the plumbers in the phone book to see if any of them had some PVC scrapes (all we needed was about 12-14 inches long of 10 inch diameter PVC). Well no one had any 10 inch so we decided to fashion a 5 gallon bucket as the sleeve for the hole. And oddly enough a 5 gallon bucket on the inside measures exactly 10 inches in diameter! I know this is getting really geeky! Please don't feel bad about not continuing to read the rest of this post - I don't blame you (I promise I will try to post something more interesting soon!)

At this point all Glenn had to do was cut off the bottom of the bucket with the skil saw and viola we had a sleeve to line the hole! Incidentally, we just happened to have about 6 spare 5 gallon buckets sitting around for odd projects such as these, so we did not factor the cost of the bucket into our project budget.




Next step - measuring and cutting the square and 10 inch diameter circle inside it with the skil saw.

Next step - Out comes the Jack Hammer! Bust up the concrete and get going on our hole. Well it turned out that the concrete floor of our basement is only about 2 inches deep (it should be more I think?) and under than is the gound, which here in WNC is red compacted clay earth. This meant the the jack hammering would go faster than anticipated. The jack hammer was extremely helpful though in breaking up the harded clay earth and soon enough we had our hole, dug down about 14 inches or so.





Next step - place the bucket sleeve inside the square hole and back fill the corners with dirt then concrete over the top.



Next step - which didn't go as planned, was to cut a hole in the glass window near the sump hole through which we can run the sump pump hose. This hose will carry the water outside into the yard, which will then run into the street drain. The $3.98 glass cutting tool cut a hole but it wasn't pretty. I guess you get what you pay for! Instead of a circle hole in the window it's more like a pentagon shape and has splintering cracks. We may try and silicone the edges and glue the cracks.

Time - it took from about 3pm in the afternoon until about 6pm, not too bad. Total cost was about - $50.

Now we shall see if it all works out. What would be classic is that if we have a dry year and don't get any rain to test it out!

Once again sorry for this boring and geeky post, but Home Projects can be fun and satisfying when they work out!

Get your running shoes on!

I want to begin promoting the River Bound trail run race series that is taking place this year at the Charlotte Whitewater Center, which besides the paddling has 14 miles of trail for running and mountain biking.

The series is a partnership of the Whitewater Center (where many Olympic paddlers and aspiring team members train) and the non-profit organization that I work for, The North Carolina Outward Bound School. This is a fund-raising event that will help North Carolina youth get scholarships to go on an Outward Bound course. Plus it offers a great way to train for a half marathon.

The series includes 4 races:

March 13th is a 5K
May 22nd is a 10k
July 17th is a 15k
September 25th is a Half Marathon

You can participate in one or all of the races. I think if you register to do all 4 you get a discounted rate.

This is a first time race series, so I can not personally vouch for how the run or trails will be since it hasn't been done before, but I can tell you that your participation will help make a difference in the lives of young people. Check out the link I have for more info on NC Outward Bound; we're good people!

Spread the word, get your friends involved and carpool your way out to Charlotte to participate.

Register Online at
www.usnwc.org

The paddling at the center is fun, kind of an amusement park-like experience. Some friends and I paddled there last summer in open canoes and got some funny looks from people (they mostly just see rafts and kayaks), but it was lots of fun. If you are interested in paddling there too, let me know. They also have nice climbing wall and a zip line.

Ben surfing


Keith, a lone open boater in a sea of kayaks and rafts


The "M" Wave


Video of a slalom team practice at whitewater center - check out the C1er, wish I was that smooth!

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Heartstrings 2010

This weekend I participated in an fund-raising event called Heartstrings. Money that gets raised goes to fund Project Access of the Buncombe County Medical Society Foundation. Specifically Project Access is a "physican-led, organized charity care system founded in Buncombe County. It is a dynamic partnership of physicians, community clinics, the local hospital, and pharmacies. Since it's inception in 1996, Project Access has helped to lower Emergency Room utilization and significantly increased the number of Buncombe County residents with access to primary care or specialty services."

Some Numbers:

Approximately 85 percent of practicing physicians in Buncombe County volunteer their time through Project Access.

Over $9 million in services are donated every year to help low-income uninsured patients recieve the care they need.

The Heartstrings event, an annual fundraiser, yesterday reached it goal to raise $14,000 for Project Access!

Thank you friends and family for your donation to this compassionate cause which helps my fellow residents of Buncombe County!

The Event:

In the past Heartstrings has traditionally been a bike riding fundraiser, however this year they decided to change it up a bit. Crossfit Asheville became a sponsor and they ran the event with a Crossfit workout. To gain public support and awareness this was held at the Asheville Mall with lots of people participating and watching. No prior knowledge or experience with Crossfit was necessary to participate - just willingness to raise funds and exercise.

The workout:

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of 75 single jump ropes and 10 burpees.

There were some alternative options for those that either needed less challenge or more challenge - for the off the couch folks it was 25 single jump ropes and 5 burpees and for the athletic aces it was 25 double under jump ropes and 10 burpees.

During the workout we had bumping music and lots of cheering from the crowd which was very inspiring. I got 7 rounds and was only 5 burpees short of having 8 rounds! We did the workout in small teams of about 10 people. The coaches from Crossfit Asheville were there all day to run and support the workouts.

It was a very fun and inspiring way to use Crossfit as a way to support something larger than just myself. As a way to uplift myself and participate in a healthy lifestyle which in turn uplifts the quality of life for others through Project Access. As you may read in other posts, Crossfit is awesome! I have been doing it 3 days a week and feel great. There are Crossfit affiliate gyms across the country - check it out if you are looking for a community of inspiring people who are getting/staying in shape.

Thanks again for the support!


Getting my jump rope on!


A burpee is a combination of a pushup and a jumping jack


Amanda and I working the burpees


The jumping jack at the end of a burpee

Paleo-ish Bacon Treat

Crossfit Asheville held a New Year's Day Paleo Potluck with a series of lectures on eating Paleo to kick off a 90 day Paleo challenge. Several people mentioned how yummy the bacon wrapped dates were and wanted the recipe. My friend Amanda made them from a recipe she found in the internet - unfortunately I did not get to taste one that day. Having some friends over for dinner recently gave me the excuse to make them as an appetizer- they are amazing and very easy to make. I came across several recipes on the internet for them and used one from the blog Paleo Mama, which goes something like this:

Ingredients:
Bacon - I was able to use Earthfare brand that is nitrate-free
Whole dates - either buy pitted ones or pit them
Almonds
Almond butter
Toothpicks
Baking pan that is lined with foil and a wire rack (this will make a place for the bacon drippings to go)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice raw bacon into about 2 inch sections, open the date length-wise and spread a small amount of almond butter and place a whole almond inside where the pit used to be. Wrap the bacon section around the date and secure it with a toothpick - place it on the wire rack inside backing pan. Make as many as you wish and bake for about 20 minutes or until the bacon is cooked. Let them cool and then enjoy the mixture of salty and sweet.


Stuffing the date


Wrapped and ready for baking

Eating Paleo is difficult to explain but it is basically comprised of eating whole foods and avoiding refined foods in the spirit of our paleolithic ancestors which predates agriculture. Essentially it says that you should eat mostly lean meat (hence the Paleo-like title for the bacon recipe), vegetables, nuts and seeds. Eat little starch, some fruit and no sugar. There are tons of great websites and blogs out there explaining it in detail if you are interested. I have been eating paleo about 70-80 percent I would guess since Jan 1 and it actually feels great. I hope to include future posts on the Paleo topic as well as some simple recipes.

Happy Eating!