Charlie Wilson

I'm so sad to learn that my friend and colleague at VITA-Learn, Charlie Wilson, passed away yesterday.

Over the last 25 years, I've admired Charlie's tireless advocacy for students, innovation, and creativity in schools.

Charlie's been a mentor to countless people in Vermont education over many decades. All Charlie's work was threaded with genuine compassion.

I found myself laughing, just once today, as I remembered...

Charlie joked with me a few years ago that not hiring me back in 1993 for a Network Administrator position at Shelburne Community School was one of the worst mistakes he ever made in education. I told him "if that's the worst mistake you ever made, you've done really well over the years." I'll never forget how he laughed that day, and how fun it was to listen to the stories that followed about his paths in education, the triumphs, the trials, and the ideas he was still hoping to work on.

I had another great conversation with Charlie this past November at VT Fest. As usual, he was full of ideas and bouncing new ones about what we could do to expand learning opportunities for kids.

Rest in peace, Charlie. Thanks for all your work here, kindness, friendship, and innovative spirit.

We're going to miss you here.

Student Voice and Real Publishing

I get often asked what blog platform is best for students, and why I chose Blogger for this website.

As for what blog/web platform is best for students... I think that depends on what age group we're talking about.

Evaluating what your schools 'Digital Policy,' whatever schools call it at your site, says is worthwhile. Many schools haven't updated these docs in a while, and quite a few others I've read are, well, insanely restrictive. 

Here's the rub, I think... promoting kids, especially high school kids, to publish their work to a real audience in blogs/websites.

In our work in the rLab from 2005 - 2013, students created 'real' blogs to showcase their work. It was a meaningful portfolio of their work, resume, professional website... and story. Publishing to a worldwide audience rather than creating a portfolio jammed with work they would throw away when they graduated always made sense to me... and to students. Students had platform choice in the lab, and most students chose WordPress.

'Real' blogging for students created natural interdisciplinary threads to explore. Theme/s, layout, visual, writing, featured content, audio, video... it's a long list all centered around design and finding a voice.

I read a post on this topic from Audrey Watters a couple years ago about called The Web We Need to Give to Students, and, like all of her writing, it's well worth a read. I wish more High Schools, Technical Centers, and Colleges / Universities would follow suit.

So... why did I choose Blogger for creativeStir?

Bluntly, it was a quick solution way back in the day.  For basic functions, post and make a page type stuff, it works well, but it certainly has limitations. Blogger shares it's login under the Google Apps umbrella which I still find convenient, and it's mobile app back in the day worked quite well. I've learned some workarounds to increase Blogger capability, but it still isn't pretty, or a modern publishing platform by any means. I used Blogger for the Vermont State Baseball Coaches Association for all the same reasons. WordPress and other platforms have always far outmatched Blogger capabilities. I loved helping students learn to support each other using WordPress.

WordPress was the ticket for work at VITA-Learn, conference websites for Dynamic Landscapes and VT Fest, and for Burlington Technical Center.

Here's an updated rundown of the basic differences between Blogger and WordPress rather than rehash it here.

I'll move creativeStir from Blogger to WordPress at some point. It's time. Actually, it's been the for a while, but I haven't made it a priority.

So back to that Ed portfolio discussion... 

What if schools revisited how they are asking students to 'present' their learning? What are your thoughts about each student could benefit from their own website/domain?

#vted #education

Tim Comolli

I received word yesterday that my dear friend, mentor, and educator extraordinaire, Tim Comolli, passed away.

Tim was an innovator, a pioneer in education and student mentorship. His work in the Imaging Lab at South Burlington High School here in Vermont, the awards and grant writing are all eloquently recapped here by Sandy Lathem far better than I could.

I've spent countless hours seeking Tim's council and friendship over the years. We spent a lot of time... laughed, cried, talked through our faults, and counseled each other on the difficulties of innovating in education, especially in public education.

Tim helped me immeasurably over my career and life. He encouraged me to follow my heart and teach full time. His jovial personality, hearty and infectious laugh and radio voice were only outmeasured by the genuine compassion that came through in every conversation. I gained strength and perspective from his insight, humor and generosity, endlessly.

I couldn't count the number of times I left Tim's office, lab, or home with my sides aching from laughing so much.

Since I got this news... I've been reading again the countless emails and handwritten thank you cards Tim has sent me over the last 20 years. It's a recipe to laugh, cry, and above all... I'm so profoundly sad that these times with Tim have now come to pass.

Tim used this footer at the end of every email he sent, and it speaks volumes I think about his life.

"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, 

Saw a vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be..." 

-Tennyson

I'll miss our talks about life, my old friend. I'll miss seeing the joy in your face when I tell you about my kids. I'll miss talking about education, the future, and how our past shaped our lives. I'll miss our debates on where the best pizza is these days in the area, and hearing what movies really taxed all the speakers in your house.

Rest in peace, Tim. Thanks for your friendship, kindness, and all your innovative work here.

We've all been so very fortunate to have you in our lives.