FUN PHOTOS FROM A WEIRDONDERFUL YEAR

JUDE & VANESSA

JUDE

BARBIE & VINCE

FAMILY

MISSED

ADVOCATE

NATURE ADVOCATE

ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW

MOM & DOG

AUNT HELEN, WE LOVE YOU

MOM & DAD

MOM AND DAD

PEACE OF THE SEA

SUNRISE

ALICE

MARK & ALICE

SENA

ROOF

PEACE OF THE SUN

TRINITY

PIGEON

DAD & MOM

SENA & DOGS

RAINBOW

WHO DAT?

OUR GARDEN

HOMMiE

FAIR USE: Used and Unconfused

Because I believe this is really about creativity and to get in the mood you might like this video clip: Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? (An excellent 20 minutes) 

FAIR USE: Used and Unconfused

     I believe fair use is the most important concept relating to intellectual property with which teachers and media specialists must contend.  In preparing and delivering instruction we are involved with this issue daily.  (At one point in preparation for this site I was intending to title it:Confessions of a Copyright Infringer.  I’ve been a public school teacher for over thirty  years.)  In looking to my future as a media specialist and librarian I have been trying to untangle the mass of laws, doctrine and court cases which surround copyright and fair use.  I’ve discovered I’ll probably never figure it out, but I will be informed.  Fair use is an intentionally unsettled issue.  The Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure report of 1995 (page 75) states:  “The most significant and perhaps, murky of the limitations on a copyright owner’s exclusive rights is the doctrine of fair use.”  My purpose then is to prepare/inform myself for my future as a librarian, to advise and inform others about copyright and fair use. 

     Copyright has a “loophole” called FAIR USE.  Paradoxically, the constitutional purpose in granting copyright protection in the first place, “to Promote the Progress of Science and Useful Arts,” needs a loophole to guarantee or provide for just that.

     The world’s first national copyright law, the Statute of Queen Anne took effect in England on April 10, 1710, as first told to me by Rick Falkvinge of the Swedish Pirate Party, Copyright regime vs. civil liberties at (about 16 minutes into his lecture).  [(See also: A Fair(y) Use Tale, an entertaining Disney parody on copyright and fair use at Stanford Copyright & Fair Use Center.  (And while you’re at it, also go to Lawrence Lessig, and especially, Larry Lessig: How creativity is being strangled by the law.)]

     In the United States Constitution, the copyright clause speaks of “securing for a limited time to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writing and discoveries.”

     In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court makes it clear how copyright promotes progress. “Sacrificial days devoted to such creative activities deserve rewards commensurate with the service rendered.” (page 22 footnote)

The Copyright Act of 1909 identified that copyright is the exclusive right to:
1.  print, reprint, publish, copy, and vend;
2.  translate or make other versions;
3.  deliver, read, or present in public, for profit of a lecture, sermon, address or similar production, or other nondramatic literary work;
4.  perform or present publicly a drama; and
5.  perform in public for profit if a musical composition.
(Copyright Office Basics, and a little information, Welcome to the U.S. Copyright Office)

The Copyright Act of 1976 included the judicially created doctrine of fair use.  Four factors are considered when judging fair use.
(A fifth has been found.)
1. The Transformative Factor.  The purpose and the character of the use.  While most sources mention whether the use is of a commercial or for nonprofit educational purpose, questioning whether the original work has been transformed by adding new meaning, information, aesthetics or understanding should be the essence of this factor.
2.  The Nature of the Copyrighted Work.  Nonfiction works get more leeway in fair use than fiction.  Because unpublished works may deserve more control over their first public appearance, fair use may be more difficult to defend.
3.  The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Taken.  In parody, shoot at the heart.  For other works, less is more, and don’t give away the ending.  Some schools have devised proportional formulas and this is evident in Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia.
4.  The Effect of the Use Upon the Potential Market.  Has the copy undermined the income or potential market of the work?  Except parody and criticism have the permission to destroy the value of the original.
5.  The “Fifth” Fair Use Factor:  Are You Good or Bad?  On reviewing cases, a judge or jury’s decision may be based on whether they were morally offended.
(Stanford Copyright & amp; Fair Use Center)

     Which brings us to 2 Live Crew’s parody of “Pretty Woman.”  In 1994, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of 2 Live Crew and stated that these four(5) factors should not be seen as a checklist.  The factors are a continuum and a balance of fairness is sought.  Confused? (Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.)

     The Copyright Act of 1976 also recognized the need for exclusive rights for libraries. Libraries may make copies; but make sure there’s no commercial advantage; and allow everyone access, and put a copyright sticker on it. (Libraries might not be able to make copies because of “digital locks” devised by copyright holders.  This continues to be an issue in fair use.  FAIR USE Act of 2007 and Reps. Boucher and Doolittle Introduce the FAIR USE Act of 2007)

     Fair use embodies the spirit of copyright.  Because of fair use, copyright cannot become censorship.  It protects our First Amendment right of expression.  Supreme Court Justice Story is credited with formulating the original fair use factors for consideration in 1841.  And in 1845 Justice Story again identified a significant truth in the copyright debate.  “Every book in literature, science and art, borrows, and must necessarily borrow, and use much which was well known and used before.” (The Free Expression Policy)

     This is one truth upon which recent copyright reform is being fixed.  McKenzie Wark, author of A Hacker Manifesto, recognizes that “Information wants to be free but is everywhere in chains.” Can we shift from a commercial economy to a gift economy in order to free information?  Wark tells of the Creative Commons, the Open Source and Free Software Movement pitted against the vectoralist class, owners of copyrights and patents that control information flow. 

(A HACKER MANIFESTO [version 4.0] by McKenzie Wark)

     As a future librarian I turn to Fair Use in the Electronic Age: Serving the Public Interest (Association of Research Librarians), a document in progress from the library community.  It states that the lawful use of copyright material must be allowed without individual transaction fees.  Libraries should be able to preserve copyrighted works in their collection and avoid liability for the unsupervised actions of their users.  Licenses will not restrict fair use.  The right of authors and users must be balanced and retained in the changing electronic environment.

     If that doesn’t work, I’m becoming a Digger (Digging in the Epistemic Commons by Stephen Wright).

MAKE SURE to READ and WATCH:
The publication:  The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media LiteracyEducation.

The video clip:  FAIR USE FOR MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION.

The publication:  The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy.

Useful links #1: Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? (20 minutes) #3: Rick Falkvinge of the Swedish Pirate Party in a video, Copyright regime vs. civil liberties #4: A Fair(y) Use Tale, an entertaining Disney parody on copyright and fair use. #5: Stanford Copyright & Fair Use Center #6: Lawrence Lessig #7: Larry Lessig: How creativity is being strangled by the law #8: Digital Law Online #9: U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright.gov, page 22, footnote #10: U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright Office Basics #12: Stanford Copyright & Fair Use Center, B. Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors #13: Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia #14: FAIR USE Act of 2007: HR 1201 #15: Reps. Boucher and Doolittle Introduce the FAIR USE Act of 2007 #16: The Free Expression Policy #17: A HACKER MANIFESTO [version 4.0] by McKenzie Wark #18: Fair Use in the Electronic Age: Serving the Public Interest #20: The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education and FAIR USE FOR MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION #21: The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy

Technology: Leading Students

1. Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner: How tech-obsessed iKids would improve our schools by Marc Prensky

This article was also published in the June 2008 issue of Edutopia magazine. 
“Students universally tell us they prefer dealing with questions rather than answers, sharing their opinions, participating in group projects, working with real-world issues and people, and having teachers who talk to them as equals rather than as inferiors. Hopefully, this is useful information for teachers and other educators -- and it is important that educators realize just how universal these opinions are.” 
"If you (teachers) don't talk to us (students), you have no idea what we're thinking." (student-Hawaii) 

2. Students Teach Technology to Teachers: Children provide educators with tips about how they learn best by Sara Armstrong

This article originally published on 9/1/2001. 
“In a letter to his teachers at the end of the year, program grad Yogesh offered an explanation for such dedication: ‘You helped me a lot in technology but also improved my leadership skills.’ And he learned the power and joy that comes with collaborating to improve lessons created by veteran and prospective teachers.” 

3. Syncing Up with the iKid: Connecting to the Twenty-First-Century Student: Educators must work to understand and motivate a new kind of digital learner by Josh McHugh

This article was also published in the October 2005 issue of Edutopia magazine. 
"The key to teaching is keeping kids involved," says Ryan Ritz, the computer science teacher who first brought the DyKnow system to the Park Tudor School. "They like everything being electronic -- it's speaking their language." Ritz cites near-instant feedback during class as the most important feature of the system, allowing him to know which points the students have observed and which ones need to be revisited.  "You know immediately where they stand," he says. "This is a better way to learn." 

4. Extracurricular Learning: Media as a Medium in Education by Jenn Shreve

This article was also published in the October 2005 issue of Edutopia magazine. 
“Mizuko Ito was one of several researchers to receive a $3.3 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation to study children's use of digital media and its implications for education here in the United States. We spoke to Ito about her work and its implications for American classrooms.” 

5. A Vision of Students Today by Michael Wesch - a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University. (time4:45 - ratings10,159 - stars4.5 - views3,178,685) 

Digital Ethnography:  explorations of mediated culture 
Project Coordinator - Dr. Michael Wesch 
Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Digital Ethnography 
a. Michael Wesch and the Digital Ethnography Working Group 
“Presentation at the Library of Congress, June 23rd 2008. This was tons of fun to present. I decided to forgo the PowerPoint and instead worked with students to prepare over 40 minutes of video for the 55 minute presentation.”  (Bet you can’t watch just the first 3 minutes.) 
6.a. UPDATED link: The Machine is Us/ing Us. 
by Michael Wesch 
First Released on January 31st 2007 
(MUST see, you probably already have.) 

On January 31st I released the 2nd draft of The Machine is Us/ing Us hoping to receive feedback from my colleagues. (The first draft was only seen by my Digital Ethnography class 2 days before the 2nd draft was released on YouTube.) I sent it to 10 people. Four days later it was the most blogged about video in the blogosphere and the wild ride had begun. It has been fun and amazing for the most part – sometimes overwhelming – but always exciting. It is hard to believe that a little video I created in my basement in St. George Kansas could be seen by over 1.7 million people, be translated into (at least) 5 languages, and be shown to large audiences at major conferences on 6 continents within just one month of its creation. In some ways, the journey of the video speaks volumes that the content of the video could only hint at. I know I could not have done this with the technology available 3 years ago – certainly not 13 years ago – so the world really is different and I’m just happy to be part of the mass of people trying to rethink how we can best live in this quickly changing environment. 

This new version is not a major revision. It is just cleaned up a bit – fixed a few typos and cleaned up some transitions. I’m reserving some of the new ideas that have come to me in the past month for future video projects. I considered releasing this as an “eternal beta” in true Web 2.0 style, but decided to let it stand as is and start working on future projects. Many of my future videos will address the last 30 seconds of this video (the “rethink …” part).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. So you are welcome to download it, share it, even change it, just as long as you give me some credit and you don’t sell it or use it to sell anything. I received many more positive comments than negative about the song choice (great work Deus!), but if you are one of those who does not like the song just download the video and change the audio track to your liking.

6.b. UPDATED link:  Information R/evolution 

by Michael Wesch October 12th 2007 “This video explores the changes in the way we find, store, create, critique, and share information. This video was created as a conversation starter, and works especially well when brainstorming with people about the near future and the skills needed in order to harness, evaluate, and create information effectively.”

7. Our class: on how we run our class
Apr 24th, 2009 by Prof Wesch 
About Us - a Kansas State University working group led by Dr. Michael Wesch dedicated to exploring and extending the possibilities of digital ethnography.  (text for students and teachers. video for mature audience.) 

8. A Vision of K-12 Students Today by B. Nesbitt
This project was created to inspire teachers to use technology in engaging ways to help students develop higher level thinking skills. Equally important, it serves to motivate district level leaders to provide teachers with the tools and training to do so. (time4:09 – ratings264 – stars4 – views344,395) 


9. Pay Attention by Darren Draper
**TeacherTube's Top 100 Most Viewed Video*** 
Since most of today's students can appropriately be labeled as "Digital Learners", why do so many teachers refuse to enter the digital age with their teaching practices?  This presentation was created in an effort to motivate teachers to more effectively use technology in their teaching. 
(time7:41 - ratings98 - stars4.5 - views69,868) 

10. What If? Technology in the 21st Century Classroom by Ontario Public School Boards’ Association

On Wednesday, April 29, 2009 the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) released a Discussion Paper entitled: What If? Technology in the 21st Century Classroom.  “As school trustees we want to engage the province in a meaningful focused discussion about classrooms of the 21st century. We want to be part of developing a provincial vision and strategies that will make all our classrooms connected and relevant.” Ontario Public School Boards’ Association News Release

11. Welcome to the Digital Generation by Edutopia (4.5 minute video) 
"Sync up with the new generation of connected learners. The Digital Generation Project presents video portraits of the lives of young students from around the country who are using digital media to learn, communicate, and socialize in new and exciting ways."

Useful links 1. Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner: How tech-obsessed iKids would improve our schools by Marc Prensky 2. Students Teach Technology to Teachers: Children provide educators with tips about how they learn best. by Sara Armstrong 3. Syncing Up with the iKid: Connecting to the Twenty-First-Century Student: Educators must work to understand and motivate a new kind of digital learner. by Josh McHugh 4. Extracurricular Learning: Media as a Medium in Education by Jenn Shreve 5. A Vision of Students Today by Michael Wesch 7. Our class: on how we run our class 8. A Vision of K-12 Students Today by B. Nesbitt 9. Pay Attention by Darren Draper 10. What If? Technology in the 21st Century Classroom by Ontario Public School Boards’ Association Ontario Public School Boards’ Association News Release 11. Welcome to the Digital Generation by edutopia

Math Website

Math Website
Mr. Schipani knows TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE.

In school, we HELP OUR FELLOW CLASSMATES.  WORKING TOGETHER is the best solution to any problem.  I have picked four websites and A Maths Dictionary for Kids for the students and teachers to play and practice their mathematics skills.  

1. Welcome to Math Playground, an action-packed site for elementary and middle school students. Practice your math skills, play a logic game and have some fun! (Make sure to watch a Math Video!)

2.  FunBrain Math Arcade, A combination of 25 Math games in an arcade!  Can you beat all 25 games?

3.  Coolmath4kids is a colorful website that makes learning maths fun for kids. It has a number of online maths lessons, and activites and games that measure your progress.

4.  A Maths Dictionary for Kids, by Jenny Eather, is a site rich with math definitions, examples, and activities. The site is alphabetically arranged with a list of math terms for each letter. When you choose the term you want to learn about, it appears in a box on the right, usually along with working examples or activities to demonstrate the concept.

5.  SoftSchools provides free math worksheets, free math games, grammar quizzes and free phonics worksheets and games. Worksheets and games are organized by grades and topics. These printable math and phonics worksheets are auto generated.

FLOW 2 Project Based Learning

1.  On the Edge of Chaos Where Creativity Flourishes  

By Katrina Schwartz  May 6, 2014 

(http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/05/on-the-edge-of-chaos-where-creativity-flourishes/) 
“The ability to inhibit the first thing that comes to mind in order to get to the higher hanging fruit in the cognitive tree is one of the cornerstones of creative achievement,” said Bilder. The first idea is not usually the most novel one; pushing past the easy answer and reaching for a better one is a mark of creativity. 
To develop ideas that could be considered creative, the brain has to be both stable and flexible at the same time. Brains perform just this type of balancing act every second of every day. “The brain maintains a duality of systems that are constantly introducing flexibility into our thinking and then trying to stabilize our thinking,” Bilder said. The brain evaluates a new stimuli, compares it the plan originally set and then decides on the optimal degree of flexibility or stability to pursue. This cycle happens three times per second. (Do you think this really happens?) 
To reach that perfect state of brain balance it helps if the creator is feeling what Bilder refers to as “flow,” and what an athlete might call “playing in the zone.” It’s an automatic, effortless, but highly concentrated state when all the practice and knowledge leading up to that moment comes pouring out in perfect harmony. 

2.  CONTENTMENT IS HARD WORK  

By CAROL TAVRIS  March 18, 1990 
FLOW The Psychology of Optimal Experience. By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. 
(http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/18/books/contentment-is-hard-work.html) 
As an analysis of individual psychology, flow is important, for it illuminates the accuracy of what philosophers have been saying for centuries: that the way to happiness lies not in mindless hedonism but in mindful challenge, not in having unlimited opportunities but in focused possibilities, not in self-absorption but in absorption in the world, not in having it done for you but in doing it yourself. 

3.  The Power of Concentration  

By Richard Flaste  October 8, 1989 
(http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/08/magazine/the-power-of-concentration.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm) 
Put another way, he believes that the pleasure derived from meeting challenges of increasing complexity spurs human beings to engage the environment and succeed within it. 

4.  Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi:  Flow, The secret to happiness  

TED.com  Feb 2004 
(http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow) 
"What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow." 

5.  NYTimes:Over the Side With Old Scientific Tenets  

By Dennis Overbye  JAN. 14, 2014‏ 
(http://nyti.ms/1eEcQvi) 
In science, as in democracy, everything has to be up for grabs. When the scientists and other intellectuals stop squabbling, then we will know we are in trouble. 
Scientists, writers and other deep thinkers ponder a big question: What scientific idea is ready for retirement? 

6.  KQED Radio - npr  How 'Flow' Unlocks Heights of Human Performance  

Host: Dave Iverson  Mar 28, 2014 
The Rise of Superman: 17 Flow Triggers  by Steven Kotler 
(http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201403281000) 
Kotler argues that once we understand how flow works, we can use it to improve performance in all aspects of life. 

7.  What’s Your Learning Disposition? How to Foster Students’ Mindsets  

By Katrina Schwartz  March 25, 2014 
(http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/03/whats-your-learning-disposition-how-to-foster-students-mindsets/) 
To make assessment feel worthwhile to students, and progressive in nature, educators can allow students to show their learning in multiple ways and at multiple stages in the learning process. Allowing students to assess themselves as part of the process creates a thoughtful, recurring time for them to look at their own growth and set new goals. 
It also helps to give very specific feedback using behavior language. There’s a big difference between, “good job, you got the right answer,” and feedback that points out specific qualities in the work that were well done and how that connects to one of the academic mindsets being fostered or to the student’s stated learning goals. 

8.  The Power of Feedback  

By John Hattie and Helen Timperley  March 2007 
(http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/development/performance/resources/readings/power-feedback.pdf) 
This article provides a conceptual analysis of feedback and reviews the evidence related to its impact on learning and achievement. This evidence shows that although feedback is among the major influences, the type of feedback and the way it is given can be differentially effective. 

9.  Strategiesto Reach Every Student, Regardless of Language Barrier  

By Katrina Schwartz  March 19, 2014 
(http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/03/strategies-to-reach-every-student-regardless-of-language-barrier/) 
Reaching all learners successfully is a tough job and requires carefully thought-out structures. “There’s a misperception that deeper learning is unstructured,” Berger said. “It’s really just a question about what you’re going to be tight and loose about. In traditional classrooms they are tight about pacing and about kids being quiet. I’d rather be tight about kids being focused and courteous.” Changing the focus might make for a more chaotic classroom, but meaningful learning is often happening between students in that environment. “It’s an active peer-driven sense of working towards quality,” Berger said. “It’s not just sitting passively and letting someone tell you what to think.” 

10.  What Project Based Learning Is  

HIGH TECH HIGH  Upload date: 03-12-2011 (http://howtovideos.hightechhigh.org/video/268/What+Project+Based+Learning+Is) 

Art teacher and Renaissance man Jeff Robin describes project based learning. He reminds us of the importance of doing the project ourselves, first. 

11.  What’s the Best Way to Practice Project Based Learning?  

MindShift  July 19, 2012 
(http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/07/whats-the-best-way-to-practice-project-based-learning/) 
In order to create your own definition and practice, here are some parameters to consider. This diagram, enhanced by the critical eye of Brenda Sherry, can help you figure out what’s important to you and your students.  (Read the discussion.) 

12.  What Project-Based Learning Is — and What It Isn’t

By Katrina Schwartz  January 2, 2013 
(http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/01/what-project-based-learning-is-and-isnt/) 
“What would come of the studio space that used to be my classroom if students became the designers of their own space?” From the outset, the project mattered to the students and they took it seriously. 

13.  Why Project Based Learning (PBL)? 
(http://bie.org/) 
Project Based Learning’s time has come. The experience of thousands of teachers across all grade levels and subject areas, backed by research, confirms that PBL is an effective and enjoyable way to learn. Why are so many educators across the United States and around the world interested in this teaching method? The answer is a combination of timeless reasons and recent developments. 

14.  TechTools That Inspire PBL in High School  

By Dian Schaffhauser  05/21/14 
(Read more at http://thejournal.com/Articles/2014/05/21/Tech-Tools-That-Inspire-PBL-in-High-School.aspx?m=1&Page=1#pGItwEZLgt8AE3Eg.99) 
Whether you call it project- or problem-based learning, these technologies will help your students get authentic experience in a blended environment — and help your teachers to track their progress.

Useful links 1. On the Edge of Chaos Where Creativity Flourishes By Katrina Schwartz May 6, 2014 2. CONTENTMENT IS HARD WORK By CAROL TAVRIS March 18, 1990 - Flow The Psychology of Optimal Experience. By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 3. The Power of Concentration By Richard Flaste October 8, 1989 4. Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi: Flow, The secret to happiness TED.com Feb 2004 5. NYTimes: Over the Side With Old Scientific Tenets By Dennis Overbye JAN. 14, 2014‏ 6. KQED Radio - npr How 'Flow' Unlocks Heights of Human Performance Host: Dave Iverson Mar 28, 2014 7. What’s Your Learning Disposition? How to Foster Students’ Mindsets By Katrina Schwartz March 25, 2014 8. The Power of Feedback By John Hattie and Helen Timperley March 2007 9. Strategies to Reach Every Student, Regardless of Language Barrier By Katrina Schwartz March 19, 2014 10. What Project Based Learning Is HIGH TECH HIGH Upload date: 03-12-2011 11. What’s the Best Way to Practice Project Based Learning? MindShift July 19, 2012 12. What Project-Based Learning Is — and What It Isn’t By Katrina Schwartz January 2, 2013 13. Why Project Based Learning (PBL)? 14 Tech Tools That Inspire PBL in High School By Dian Schaffhauser