Kids Are Making Huge Contributions: The Best Thing About the 21st Century

Last year, my 9 year old decided that she did not want gifts at her birthday party. She had heard about other kids who had used their birthday party as a way to give back to a cause they cared about. She knew she wanted to do something, but she wasn't sure what. I happened upon the organization THE READING VILLAGE and shared the site and mission with my daughter. Since Guatemala and literacy are two things that we care deeply about, we knew that this was the right fit. For Ana's birthday, she asked her friends to bring books written in Spanish, instead of a gift for her, to the party. After the games and crafts, Ana opened the presents which came wrapped. Kids loved watching as each book was opened. The variety of books we received was amazing. Kids often chose books that they loved when they were younger to share with the children in Guatemala. These books were sent to Linda at THE READING VILLAGE and Ana plans to do things like this for all of her upcoming birthdays.

As a parent, this birthday party was perfect. Since presents were not the highlight as they often are, the kids enjoyed each other and being together. They also enjoyed the fact that they were celebrating a birthday by giving something to others. Such a different kind of a party.

Ana recently attended party and the little girl collected things for the Humane Society at her birthday party. I love to see kids who find causes they believe in. I often worry about what service learning will turn into in schools if whole schools or whole classrooms take on projects that do not mean much for each student. When the teacher or the school chooses a cause, we take away students' role in finding and contributing to causes they care about. I think it is so important for kids to find causes that matter to them, personally, and to find ways to make a difference.

If you have not had a chance to hear Dr. Tim Tyson or to visit his blog, it is inspiring for educators. His goal: Using Technology to Empower Meaningful, Global, Student Contribution. Spend some time on MabryOnline looking at the contributions these students are making and it is happening in school.

Kids have always been amazing in the way they work to make the world a better place.  But, I think the tools of the 21st Century have made it easier for them.  The tools make it possible for everyone to know about issues that concern them and to make global contributions--no matter how old they are. Our children have learned to use these tools in powerful ways. I am amazed that children so young are so selfless and have been finding so many ways that children are making such a difference in the world.  Not surprised, but always amazed by children.  And inspired. So, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share all of the amazing things I have found lately--where kids are making a difference. I know there are others and so many more that are never made public, but here are a few that I've found recently, that I thought might inspire others. Enjoy and be inspired!

This blog, A YEAR OF CHARITABLE DEEDS shares a year in the life of a family who is committed to 365 Days/365 Charitable Deeds.  This blog began on December 31, 2008 and began like this:

How difficult is it to do a little something helpful now and again? Is it really that tough to pick up an errant piece of trash and dispose of it properly? Does it really cramp our style to hold the door open for someone? To improve some one's day by offering a simple smile?

In this age of jam-packed schedules, never-ending technological distractions, and rush-rush-rush attitudes, are we really so busy that we can't lend a hand now and again?

I love following them and their mission. So many ways to do good in the world.

This Public Service Announcement was produced by Noah Gray, a 16 year old, WE NEED A NEW "R" WORD. It is a very powerful video and will definitely make a difference in people's perceptions. Created for the Special Olympics.

Following this first video, youth delegates created this video in the reaction to the use of the "R" word in Bill O'Reilly's show airing February 9. This clip is as powerful, if not more powerful than the first one.

A video created to answer the question, "What does Special Olympics mean to you?"


Zach is the creator of LITTLE RED WAGON. The number of projects that this 5th grader has already done is amazing. He has done many many things in the past few years to support different causes. His site is inspirational and the videos he has included add to the understanding of his mission. A boy who is making a huge difference in the world.


Laura's Blog 25 Days to Make a Difference was started for this reason:
In December of 2007, I decided that the best way to remember my grandpa during the holiday season would be by living my life like he did, by making a difference and being a leader. I decided to honor my grandfather’s memory by trying to make a difference every day for twenty five days. I wanted to be able to do little things, like kids my age typically do, instead of HUGE things that are sometimes hard for kids like me. I decided to write about my adventures here, and I also created a challenge.

How about Capucine who I learned about from Stella at Mi World-Mi Mundo. Capucine, a four year old, is helping to make sure that her friends in Mongolia have books. She would like to open a library for them.  Capucine already understands the power of her words, the Internet, and making a difference.The new book 10 THINGS I CAN DO TO HELP MY WORLD by Melanie Walsh is a great one to start conversations with kids on contribution. I also think they would be inspired by seeing some of the things other kids are doing. I know I am.

February Mosaic

I love it that this month started with snow and ended with blue sky in the desert. So much can change in just one month...

I made this mosaic on fd's Flickr Toys.

21st Century Thinking-My Blog Visits

So, I've been busy learning lots through blogs and more. So much good thinking out there.  I just thought I'd share some of the interesting things I found while exploring issues related to 21st Century Literacy.  

A brilliant new piece by Kathleen Blake Yancey--A Report from NCTE on Writing in the 21st  Century.  The report was just posted and has already gotten lots of buzz.  It is a great document that gives many many reasons for supporting 21st Century Writing. A great report to share with colleagues, parents, politicians, etc.

Lots of great stuff going on in preparation for the Parkway Film Festival.  The district is hosting a film festival for all interested K-12 students. Their site has great clips describing the process and event. I was most excited about the student samples.  There are several samples that show the variety of things students can create. I can see using these to share with my students as samples of good projects.

I am learning so much from all of the TED talks that are posted on their site.  I recently discovered the site so I am catching up. One of my favorites is the talk by Ken Robinson "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" I am anxious to get his new book which I learned about here.

Loved this article about a 9 year old boy who created a program for the iPhone. A very cool program, that I am pretty sure I will need to buy.  

Connectivism Revisited is a great post about all of these tools and the way they connect us and our thinking.  So much changing in the way we are able to do things in such a short time.

If you spend any time watching Youtube, you have most likely seen a recent video called "David at the Dentist".  A very cute clip of a young boy, taken by his father, on his way home from the dentist.  But the reality of putting something out there and having people play with it is changing.  Alec Couros shares several remixes of the original as well as his thoughts. Wonder what this means for David.  Wonder how he is responding to all of the remixes. You just never know where things will go when you put them out there. Or what they will become.  This is a great example of that.

The idea of remixing is pretty interesting to me.  Lots of creative thinking and fun.  Play at its best!

Abby at Authentic Leaner shares a great story about one of her students  and their thinking about The Apple Store.

In his post "Passionate Voices", Ryan Bretag shares a discussion he had with students around 2 questions

What does it mean to be well educated in the 21st Century 

and

What should teaching and learning look like in the 21st Century to help develop said person?

Ryan reflects by saying one of my favorite lines of the month, "Days like this remind me that to continue creating the types of learners that will be successful, we must think past yesterday and beyond today by leveraging the voices of students! "

Barbara Barreda has a great post on LeaderTalk called "How Do We Help Stakeholders Move Beyond Window Dressings?"  She asks, "How do we create an understanding among the stakeholders in the educational community that effective technology integration is not measured by the amount of time students are using computers but rather by the framework and context of learning?"

Angela Stockman shares the story of her own children who skipped school to be part of the Special Olympics World Games Global Youth Summit.  She reflects on what they accomplished and in turn asks some very hard questions about schools.  She says, "I’ve heard plenty of excuses, but in the end, if each of us were stranded on an island with a class of one hundred kids and nothing in the way of resources, I’ve gotta believe we could still do a good job of making meaningful learning happen. So the fact that most of us are provided plenty more than that and accomplish less than what we should makes it hard for me to put the blame on NCLB, class sizes, limited funding, big bad administrators, or unsupportive parents...It's time we stopped pointing fingers and start pitching in.

Poetry Friday -- No Words To Describe

There are no words to describe
what I failed to capture
in 119 photographs

The sky was so blue
The cactus were so surprising and alien
The art was such a contrast

It was 85 degrees and crystal clear on Ash Wednesday
The blooms and bees and hummingbirds were filled with exuberance,
not mourning

I needed sunscreen, a hat,

shade, and water;
the desert did not need me at all

The round up this week is at Mommy's Favorite Children's Books.

Share a Story - Shape a Future Literacy Blog Tour

Jen Robinson announced it here.

The blog that was created to showcase the tour and the movement is here.

And on day two, one of the stops will be HERE, at A Year of Reading!

Amazing Speakers at IRA in Phoenix

The Two Sisters -- Joan Boushey and Gail Moser
I missed hearing them at the Dublin Literacy Conference on Saturday, so I went to their session on Monday morning! (I was completely absorbed in their talk -- and glad to even have a seat!! -- and I forget to take a picture. I borrowed this one from their Daily 5 website.)



IRA has a special interest group that is similar to NCTE's CLA -- the Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group. They sponsored a session titled Multiple Pathways to Global Literacy: Breaking Boundaries with Literature.

One of the featured speakers was Kashmira Sheth, author of Blue Jasmine, Keeping Corner, and other books featuring Indian characters.

Kadir Nelson spoke about how he became an artist, and how, more recently, he has become an author as well. He told us about a mistake in the painting of Slim Jones on the title page of We Are The Ship, but he made us promise we wouldn't tell, so I'm going to keep my word!




Nikki Grimes was inspiring, mesmerizing, passionate, and (not surprising) poetic. She has a new series of early chapter books coming out in May that looks really fun -- Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel.





Astronaut/Teacher Barbara Morgan did her best to describe for us what it's like to travel 5 miles per second, to see the earth from space (we should call our planet Ocean, not Earth), and to wrap our minds around the wonder that is space: space is all that we don't know.




We ended inspired by Greg Mortenson, co-author of Three Cups of Tea. His story of fighting his publisher over the subtitle of his book really sums up his perspective. The publisher wanted Fighting Terrorism One School at a Time, but Greg wanted Promoting Peace One School at a Time. They compromised, and the publisher got their way for the hardback. In the event the hardback didn't do well, they agreed to change the subtitle for the paperback version. The hardback did not do well; the paperback made it to the NYT Bestseller list. It's about perspective, and he understands the importance of focusing on the goal he wants to ultimately achieve -- it's about the schools and it's about the possibility for peace that comes when we educated the children of the world...especially the girls.

The other exciting thing that happened at this conference was that the list of NCTE/CLA Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts for 2009 (comprised of 30 2008 books) was chosen! Stay tuned for details!!

DUBLIN 20th Annual LITERACY CONFERENCE-Love how connected we are!

So, I went to hear Samantha Bennett talk about "Next Generation Workshop: Time for Students to Understand" on Saturday. The session was amazing. She helped me really think through the big understandings we want for our students. She talked about knowledge, skills/strategies and understandings. I worry that we have gotten away from planning for big understandings. I am thinking hard about what this means for the library and my own teaching. Planning for understanding is far different from planning for passing a test.

She said, "Understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one know."

I have heard this quote before but she set it in a context of workshop and teaching that gave me some new thinking.

Katie at Creative Literacy was also in the session. She blogged about it earlier this week, sharing another of my favorite quotes.

"There's no such thing as the perfect lesson, the perfect day in school or the perfect teacher. For teachers and students alike, the goal is not perfection but persistence in the pursuit of understanding important things." (Tomlinson and McTighe)

Here's the best part--Seems that Laura at Pictures, Words and Wisdom read Katie's post and did her own reflecting from Bennett's talk. I SOOOO love that the 21st century tools allow this kind of connectedness and collaborative thinking.

If you have not read THAT WORKSHOP BOOK by Samantha Bennett, it is AMAZING! I plan to reread it now that I have some different ways to think about it after hearing her talk.

20th Annual Dublin Literacy Conference -- Barbara O'Connor

What's almost as much fun as a group of bloggers who come to the same conference?


A group of bloggers who finally get to meet one of their favorite authors...who is also a blogger!


I'm not sure if we were more excited to meet Barbara O'Connor, or for Barbara O'Connor was more excited to meet us! Let me tell you, there was a lot of hugging and squealing whichever way you look at it!

I had the great honor of being Barbara's personal assistant for the day. I got to hear how the book MISSING MAY by Cynthia Rylant changed her life. I learned that Loretta is her favorite character in her own book GREETINGS FROM NOWHERE. And I was treated to her reading from all of her books, especially her work in progress, which features a frog in a pot of soup and something that falls off a train -- but she's not telling what!

Post Cards From Phoenix

Sometimes it's about the sights...

Phoenix Sunrise

Sometimes it's about the feel of the sun on your winter-pale midwestern skin...

Palm Trees and Sunshine

Sometimes it's about the heavenly scent of orange blossoms...

Orange Tree (With Functional Sundial in the Background)

And sometimes it's about the surprises...

Those Blooming Bushes are Rosemary!!

(...if only I could send you the smell of sunbaked rosemary accompanying you for an entire block of your walk back to the hotel...)

Thought for the Day

ART IS A GUARANTY OF SANITY
Phoenix Convention Center