School Days.

I would have liked to have had a much more fresh take on the the 2010-2011 school year, but sometimes it is necessary to work with the material you have.

The year was good. In terms personal intellectual growth, it was a very superior year. I learned the basics of programming, have become somewhat adept at web design, and I am very confident in my abilities with image manipulation utilities. I really enjoyed teaching material that I was previously unfamiliar with. My main objective was to impart knowledge, but it was very satisfactory to conduct seminars for myself throughout the year. Some subjects were more challenging than others.

Problems

I found much more enjoyment in the teaching/learning of HTML and GIMP compared to the operation of a Video Editing / Audio Editing / Computer Science classroom. The video/audio classes were messy. Video tech required me to allow students to leave the classroom in search of a good shooting location, and many times they took far too long and came back with unsatisfactory results. Audio editing had its moments, but when it came to the recording of the pupil’s voices, far too many students were content to take a “0″ for the assignment rather than record a few seconds of their voice. And computer science? Well. Even my most intelligent pupils found themselves lost when it came to even simple programming objectives using the very simple interfaces provided by SCRATCH and ALICE.

Solutions then.

For video tech, a solution has been put into my hands. I will be in a different part of the building this year, which I think will provide more places to shoot and most importantly more supervision. I imagine that there will be times where I have to say “Here is a pass. You have 15 minutes to get your shots.” but I plan on adjusting how my groups are set up. In the past, I knew only knew a select number of pupils, mostly clustered in the middle school. Now though, as a veteran “Mighty Ant” I have a good handle on the personalities and abilities of almost every student I will be coming into contact with. So, I plan on adjusting the way I form the shooting crews and developing stricter objectives for an “off-site” shoot. Last, and most important, in my grad classes I have come across a much better method of developing and teaching what a storyboard is and what it can do. So, the ticket out the door will take the form of a story board.

Audio editing. I believe this will have to become a matter of discipline rather than one of assignment format or setup. I will just have to set the class up just as if I was teaching Speech or Debate, that participation is not an option. Big words for the beginning of August, but I believe that if I can maintain a certain level of firmness, the world will spin much more smoothly.

Computer Science. I take the blame for this one. My mastery of the subject matter was very limited at the start of last year. I was learning both GIMP and the basics of computer science at the same time last year, and my concentration fell on the easier of the two. Granted, it was good to get the perspective of the student when it came to learning the subject, but I was making mistakes with how I taught it and the assignments. Instead of scaffolding work, I threw big projects into their laps, this will not occur in the coming year.

The Craft Itself

Moodle. Moodle. Moodle. I love you. I really want to continue the process of creating videos for all of my assignments. It allows me to concentrate on one student at a time, instead of trying to steer 21 minds at once. However, when it comes to grading, I need to tweak the system. Students learned at their own pace, which was great for them, but made grading fairly and effectively difficult. I think with my more “open” classes I will need to set weekly objectives. Pacing will need to be determined by the classroom makeup, and I am expecting to tweak and adjust many times throughout the year.

But as far as fostering a good classroom. I believe that I am on my way. Things get done, kids stay in the classroom, and I rarely have to discipline. If a 1st year teacher does not admit that he is scared to be alone and utterly responsible for an entire classroom, he is lying. It is natural and normal to hold fear, just as long as the excitement in your heart is greater still. My 2nd year, I taught high school students for the first time and taught a completely different subject, so it was like starting over again. Year 3 though, I knew many of the pupils, I was excited about the material, and I held no fear.

Now was this a good thing? Yes and no.

A fearful teacher constantly strives for improvement. There were occasions where I felt like I had lost control of the classroom and that I was not worthy to be a teacherman. That kind of feeling propels one to read a classroom management blog at 2 oclock in the morning, to read books on the weekends, to email old professors. A new teacher is given the challenge to improve or die, and for the greater part of these new professionals they decide to grow.Vets get cocky. This past year there were times that I felt over confident at times. My classroom worked, I was happy, the kids were good, and admin liked what I was doing. But it is at that point where things start to slip. If a philosophy of continuous innovation and improvement starts to slip away, complacency and inertia takes over. In this upcoming year, I must find the will and ways to foster improvement and improve the classroom.

Writing this now, with a lot of time since my last lesson, I see a lot of hope. Last year I tended to loseWeight Exercise my big picture thinking while lost in a forest of details. Between the new classes, videos, and content I had to myself master, I did not give due diligence to the pursuit of the ideal. Probably a common thing with teachermen and teacherwomen.

Golds Golds Golds.

Today marks my 9th month anniversary with Golds Gym. I have maintained a pretty decent schedule of 4 lifts a week with times ranging from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours.

Here are the results:

Football Strength

I am now able to bench, squat, and leg press my usual Lose Weight Exercises during my prime condition as a high school football player.

Weight

Dropped from 194 to 180. Not too concerned about that number though. I am more happy to report that I have halved my body fat percentage.

Lastly. Chocolate Mint protein powder is the best thing in the world.

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Quick post. I’ll be putting up an End of the Year post soon. Here is a paper I wrote for my film class. 2001 VS The Sentinel short story. We were tasked with comparing the themes presented in the movie 2001: A space odyssey and the short story that is supposed to have inspired it.

Domestication of Space.
“There is nothing hazardous or even particularly exciting about lunar exploration….”

“Then one of us would prepare breakfast, there would be a great buzzing of electric razors, and someone would switch on the short-wave radio from Earth. Indeed, when the smell of frying sausages began to fill the cabin, it was sometimes hard to believe that we were not back on our own world – everything was so normal and homely….”

In both the short story and “The Sentinel” journeys into space are for essentially mundane affairs. In the movie version, those that venture into space are served by stewardess and have access to food and drink that is a lot more luxurious than Tang.

One difference however. While plausible in “The Sentinel’s” universe (but not mentioned), is the role of private enterprise in the form of Pan-Am, Whirlpool, Hilton, and IBM. This again supports the idea of the normalization of space travel, as up until recently, space flight has been a matter of government funded enterprise.

In the short story and movie, the “heroic” age of space flight has clearly expired and has been replaced by an epoch that treats spaceflight as we treat airplane flights today.

The Duality of Technology

“It is a double challenge, for it depends in turn upon the conquest of atomic energy and the last choice between life and death.”

This selection from “The Sentinel” is so very rich with meaning, and Kubrick did an excellent job exploiting this theme.

First though, an explanation of the selection. In the short story, the only way the Sentinel’s shields can be breached (or even travel to the Moon made possible) is through the discovery and exploitation of atomic power. Atomic power leads to atomic weapons though, making the conquest the atom a choice between our species “life” among the stars or it’s ultimate “death” in a nuclear holocaust.

In the movie, this theme is explored to the utmost. In the opening scene of the movie that features primitive man discovering tools, technology is quickly shown to be a force that brings both life and death. The group that encounters the monolith invents tool use and quickly learns to hunt instead of just gathering and additionally learns how to wage war instead of just posture when it comes to rival groups. Technology is not a simply benevolent force, it invests it’s users with great power to kill and to bring life.

The ultimate expression of this theme is HAL. HAL is a super computer that is an extension of the technological evolution that first started with an ape-man picking up a bone. HAL, is another technology that holds great promise, but it (just as all other technologies) can bring both life or death.

Evolution as Conflict and with Purpose

“Everywhere there would be worlds, but they would be empty or peopled with crawling, mindless things.”
“…The bleak shoreline over which the first amphibians must crawl to conquer the land”

Both the short story and the movie explore the idea of evolution as being fueled by conflict and strife. In the story, evolution is associated with words like “conquer” in addition to evolution having an ultimate progressive goal – the creation of intelligent beings.

Both film and story hold a specific view of evolution. First that evolution produces objectively better organisms through strife also known as “Survival of the Fittest”. This is a view commonly attributed to Darwin, but is more so reflective of the work of Herbert Spencer.

In the story, words like “conquer” are used to describe evolution. Additionally, the whole idea of intelligent creatures being the highest form and the ultimate goal of evolution is reflective of a certain school of evolutionary theory.

The movie expounds this idea of violent evolution. From the very beginning, those that carried intelligence found themselves in conflict with “less evolved” creatures. Even the battle between HAL and the human crew can be viewed in this evolutionary lens.

The Sentinel as HAL

A “Sentinel” is someone or something that watches or guards. In both the story and the movie, the monolith is a watchman for intelligent life. I think a further development of this idea is with HAL. On the spaceship that HAL is entrusted with, he has unblinking eyes everywhere. No one can escape HAL’s eyes.

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Ah. May is here.

It has been another interesting year as a teacher. My classes are going well and extra curricular activities are progressing nicely (i.e. project Manimal).

I have finally approached what I have been working towards, a more free form classroom. More of a workshop and less of a formal class. I look back at what some of my best educational experiences were like. The key aspects: autonomy, interest, and hands off guidance. All three were united in my senior year.

When I was a senior, I had the opportunity to participate in the Cisco CCNA program at the local Vo-Tech. There I was taught by Mr. Litz an amazingly talented and interesting dude. He drove a van we affectionately called the Captain America Van, as it had a large bald eagle in an awesome patriotic pose. He was a Vietnam vet who would tell us stories about getting blown up by land mines. But most of all he ran a class with an optimum environment for self-guided learning and discovery.

The CCNA program was in many respects a self-taught curriculum. We would be assigned a section of the text to read, some labs to perform, and then were tested at the end of the week. Mr. Litz was engaged with us the whole time, but he did not run a classroom in the formal sense. We got on the computers, managed our own time, and learned an incredible amount. When I switched over to the technical teaching field, his classroom was my guide.

As I have written before, the majority of my classes are self-guided now. I tape the lessons, put the assignments online, and then float around the classroom troubleshooting and giving help when needed. The learning is still broken up into small pieces though. I am happy to report that I have taken things to the next level with some of my more mature and motivated students.

With a small group of seniors and juniors (6 in total) I have been able to solve quite a few problems.

1. Our school is not getting a year book this year
2. Our first class of seniors to graduate does not have anything to commemorate their time at New Hope
3. We need an end of the year video

What is great is that I have now have pupils who have cycled through my different media and technical courses. I approached them about helping out and they seemed extremely motivated and excited about the prospect about putting something together.

So here is what we are doing:

1. Digital Yearbook – Web site hosted at NHACSonline will serve as a yearbook
2. End of the Year Video – Video and pictures of 2010-2011 school year
3. Senior Video – Memories from the seniors entire school career

What is fun about this series of projects is that it feels more like the Rescom days then anything related to teaching. I identified my the kids who I wanted on each project, divided the responsibilities, put a manager on each project and designated an overall manager for the whole enterprise.

It’s so very fine to see them work.  I don’t have to nag or expect that they will be off-task, instead I get to treat them like talented individuals and not bored kids stuck in a classroom. Everybody wins in this arrangement.

It’s great. The girl who is a whiz at web design works on the yearbook during class. The gentleman who is amazing at graphic design is working on graphics. The video kid edits for an hour a half non stop. So much fun to see kids just working on something they actually care about.

So there have been a number of successes this year. There is much for me to improve on (music during work time, a definite mistake…) but for the most part I am continuing to explore the possible and it is quite exciting.

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New Semester. New Classes.

I now teach three new courses. Web Design, Digital Media, and Video Technology.

Each are pretty legit.

My Web Design classes are sharp and so very focused. For the first time I am actually using a textbook for the course. In just over two weeks we have already covered 80 pages of material. There are some really talented pupils who devour the lessons. I have utilized the same method of instruction as I had done with Digital Graphics. The video tutorials are shorter, but there are quite a few more. I find myself having to record these at least twice a day as the students are moving so quickly. On a selfish note, this has also forced me to learn HTML once and for all, which is of great benefit for me.

Video Tech. This course is fun for now, but I am nervous about the upcoming projects. Group work can be difficult, and this class is going to be a quite collaborative . For now every project is an individual Lose Weight Exercise, but soon we will be forming up groups and creating videos. When a pupil is tasked with something they must produce by themselves, it is easy to set milestones and to hold someone accountable, but make a group project, and suddenly there a million reasons why no work can be done and assessment gets messy and somewhat subjective. But, sometimes the best projects, projects that surprise and enliven this teaching business are produced. Hopefully this will be the norm.

Digital Media. This class is outside my comfort zone, but again, it is a good opportunity for self teaching. I am teaching music. I am tone deaf and do not dance. But, here I am teaching people how to make music. I am lucky enough to have a student teacher who is studying to become a music teacher, so all is not lost, but this course presents certain difficulties. So far I have been concentrating on the human voice, having the kids record stories, create myths, make a podcast, all pretty academic stuff. But, as with the video tech class, I will be shifting gears soon, into the meat of the class. Right now I need to find my compass for this class, as I am not sure where I am going quite yet. But hope springs eternal.

Movie Time.

I had the pleasure of viewing the film Blue Valentine last week with a good friend. This proved to be a good thing, as the movie would be very difficult to watch alone.

Synopsis.

This is the story of a couple’s apex and nadir. Two time periods are explored, the beginning and end of a relationship, and both are weaved together. It is a bleak film. I was reminded of Revolutionary Road while viewing it, but the similarities only extend to the subject matter, the tone in each film is completely different.

Dean and Cindy, the focus of the film, meet and fall in love. Cindy is an ambitious, but wounded woman. When she meets Dean she is low, and also with child. The courtship is brief. Both need each other. Both are lovesick and suffering all the symptoms that go with it. In an act, that some reviewers call “heroic”, Dean stays with Cindy after she is unable to terminate the child she conceived with another man.

6 years later.  Dean and Cindy have been married for 6 years. Dean is a doting father, but essentially a crude loseWeight Exerciser. Cindy is a nurse, with a chance of advancement.  The movie opens up with the present day. The family dog is missing. Cindy had forgotten to latch the gate, and later finds the dog dead. She sobs as Dean berates her. Dean and Cindy then drop Frankie (Cindy’s daughter) off with Cindy’s father. They go on journey to a hotel, Dean intending to respark what once was. It fails. Cindy abandons Dean in order to go to work. It fails, and Dean shows up at the office drunk and combative. The film ends with Cindy requesting a divorce and Dean walking towards fireworks.

This movie is tough. I struggle to tag Cindy or Dean as the “bad guy”. Unlike in Revolutionary Road, where it is easy to see how the Leonardo Dicaprio destroys his world with lies, Blue Valentine is much more squishy and real.

Cindy and Dean during the courtship phase are beautiful. I really do get it. Loves takes you places. Love strikes you down, takes you places you have never been (spatially, emotionally, physically, etc) and changes your world in an instant. For all the bleakness of the movie, the director really got this right.

Here is the darkside though. Love also makes you stupid. So many things are excused by invoking the name of love. Decisions that would not last a second if examined in sober light multiply under the brilliant light of love. There is nothing more blindingly brilliant or tremendously stupid as two people fearlessly in love.

And here is where I make judgment.

Dean is a stupid man, but Dean is able to sacrifice for the ideal. Cindy is an intelligent woman who is laid low by circumstance. She meets Dean and falls in love. I think that she is able to grasp that love makes you stupid, and she falsely believes that Dean is afflicted with the same disease that she has – head over heels love.

However. Dean never changes. He is a man that really never changes. For love, though noble, cannot conquer all. The euphoric first stage of a relationship must always erode away into a relationship between two people, not just two people in love. Dean does good. He sacrifices. He tries. But he is not good enough.

Dean’s trick throughout the years was to do the right thing. As Cindy is a creature that feels, she is dragged along with him.

I believe, that at the end of all things, Cindy is the bad guy. She lets her vulnerabilities and poor decisions drag her down. She could have been somebody, but she ends up as a nothing. If she would have been stronger, would have been more focused on what is good for her, she could have seen Dean for what he is – a good hearted fool, and nothing more.

Great flick. Thought provoking.

Spartacus.

This series is awesome. If you ever wanted testosterone converted into video, you need to watch this show. I love watching this program when I am feeling down, as it reconnects me with the 80s action movies that I grew up watching. If you are looking for lowbrow entertainment and high excitement, check this program out!

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So an update.

School has gone quite well this year. Instead of teaching the fine art of PowerPoint and MS Word to Middle School pupils, I am now playing around with basic Computer Science and Digital Graphics.

There are two elements that are really quite awesome.

The first. Self-teaching.

Today on Reddit there was a link that said basically “Hey, use a lazy Sunday to learn Python!“. If you follow the link it will take you to a nice step by step video series. In the past, I imagine I would have skipped the link completely and went on to look at a random Courage Wolf meme. However. Things are different now. For the first time I am actually taking advantage of the magical nature of the internet. MIT Opencourseware. College textbooks. Youtube tutorials.

My knowledge of Computer Science and programming in general was quite limited. I knew some basic jargon and had a basic understanding at the conceptual level, but I had never programmed a line of code in my life prior to this summer. And as far as using Photoshop or Photoshop-esque programs, my only formal training was in 9th grade. So with a combination of resources – online and otherwise – I have been daily gaining in competence.

The second. Methods of teaching.

My two courses this year started out being quite difficult. I would demonstrate a skill to the class, have them perform that skill as a group, and then have the pupils individually create a project. It was a mess. Students were missing instructions. Advanced pupils were bored and other pupils were hopelessly lost. So I turned to method that instructed me. Video.

NHACStv is a Youtube channel that I had created last year to display student projects from my video class. I have now expanded the types of material that I include there.

Each lesson has a corresponding video tutorial that takes each pupil step by step through a different process. I combine these videos with Moodle (an online course management system) so that the course is organized and students have a way to submit their work for peers and for grading.

What are the benefits?

The tedious job of direct instruction is now an efficient task. Instead of having to deliver a lesson every day to a whole group, I can actually be a teacher. During actual classes my time is spent going around the room and teaching students individually – I can focus on teaching 1 student at a time instead of spreading my attention around the room.

Additionally. Students that do not physically attend my class can now join in. If a pupil wishes to take my course, but cannot afford to schedule it, they are welcome to join my class. The software I use is open source (GIMP, Blender, Scratch, Alice, Greenfoot, Bluejay). Pupils who take this route obviously do not get their work graded, but there products are shared with the class.

You are welcome to join my course. Or just check out the videos. The link is here.

School. Well school is going well.

Now for some personal philosophy.

“There is, in fact, an element of sour grapes in Stoicism. We can’t be happy, but we can be good; let us therefore pretend that, so long as we are good, it doesn’t matter being unhappy. This doctrine is heroic, and, in a bad world, useful; but it is neither quite true nor, in a fundamental sense, quite sincere.” Bertrand Russel – History of Western Philosophy

Over the summer I explored the Stoic viewpoint. Seneca. Marcus Aurelius. Epictetus. I still deeply believe in them. Russel is a greater mind than mine, but I must disagree with him. In my life, the Stoic influence has been completely positive. In my recent history I came across a situation that gave me pause. I had to make a decision between what was right (but painful) and what was pleasurable (and easy).  Marcus Aurelius wrote a long time ago, but it was his thoughts that made me find the necessary discipline of character.

I conceive the idea of Stoicism to be the thoughtful application of mind over body. Every man carries a conception of who they are, their strengths, their weaknesses, and what they value. But then, there also exists the reality of what a person is and how they react to circumstance. The two, one existing in reality, and one being conceptual, do not always align, as even an evil man thinks himself good. The Stoic attempts to reconcile these in the most active sense. Through hardness of character and relentless pursuit of the ideal, the Stoic forges himself into the being he wants to be. The Stoic takes no refuge in accommodation to circumstance, he instead pursues his fixed path to the good.

I cannot see fault in this pursuit. Once upon a time I found common themes between the Stoic and those who try to attain Nirvana or study Xen. However. The Stoic is active in his quest for perfection, it is indeed heroic. The Eastern track is passive, sedate, and ultimately leads to the cowardly withdrawal from the world of Man.

I say. Long live the ideal, and most importantly, the pursuit of it.

Project Manimal.

Recently I have taken steps to get into shape. I had previously relied upon overly long walks (1.5 hrs 4 times per week) and lifting Lose Weight Exercises at home (I own a squat rack and a bench), which maintained a decent physique if I also maintained a somewhat light diet.

Now I am a member of Gold’s gym.

It was my intention to regain the strength I once had. Within 3 weeks I had bested my previous regular bench Lose Weight Exercise. I am now very curious as to how far I can go.

I had forgotten the feeling of physical exhaustion. Most nights after a lift I am in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9. However I am now reading (technically listening to) more material than I had previously been consuming. It is an excellent synergy.

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Another year stars at New Hope Academy.

It was another lost summer. I made it to Norway. Got to Minnesota to visit my little sister.

I returned to Red Lion for the summer in early July. Sometime around the 8th or so. A month remained, a solid month of pure hedonism and a complete lack of stress, strain, or structure.

I never posted an after action report after the end of this past school year. I was unable to sprint through the finish line, but I was certainly not limping across the line as I was after my first year. It was a successful year in the areas I wished to improve in – classroom management and time spent working on school work. I was actually able to have somewhat of a social life by the end of the year, something which had been neglected ever since I started to work as a teacher. Breaks and vacations no longer revealed a sharp and significant deficit of freedom. It was kind of a big deal when I went out for coffee on a school night for the first time. Strange, but a true story. Thankfully though, I have grown enough professionally that I can now afford the time and energy to do so.

Unlike the first year where it was akin to broken bones healing from June – August, I only had a few muscles to rest in 2010.

Every day there were distractions. Walks to take. Books to read. There was no “big” task to accomplish, as I had already made it to Norway early on. There was only the pleasant Lose Weight Exerciselessness that comes from waking up at 10 AM and not having missed anything.

I took a day or two to read about the sociology of South African prison gangs during and after Apartheid.

I read the New York Times obsessively. I would get excited for the days that certain columnists would write a new piece. Paul Krugman, I am looking at you….

So. Was it a wasted summer? I can understand the argument, even sympathize with it, but I cannot underestimate the amount happiness it brings to the rest of the year. School started and I feel truly excellent. The lack of structure and  tempo during the summer day’s has allowed me now to revel in the structure and pace of my school life.

It’s the start of a new work week tomorrow. I have my lunch pail packed and am ready to work. This is a good thing.

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In recent news Josh Fleming invaded Norway.

I spent 10 action packed days in a land that I love dearly.

Quick and dirty Summary.

Flew out of Dulles on Sunday June 13th to Denmark. Hit a connector to Trondheim. Arrived in Trondheim around noon on Monday June 14th.

Wandered around the city. Took naps in front of landmarks from my time there. Picked up by Unn Berit and spent the night at her house.

Woke up Tuesday and visited Charlottenlund Ungdomskole. Saw old pupils and fellow teachers. Took the Ferry to Hitra and was picked up by Audun and Bjorn.

Wednesday. Woke up at Bjorn’s house and visited Audun’s pupils at the school in Hitra. Was the umpire for a baseball game involving Hula Hoops and tennis balls.

Thursday. Walked to Audun’s school. Told about Summer Festival. Purchased provisions and tickets. Departed for festival at appox midnight.

Friday. Arrived at Selbu for the festival after many hours. Slept for 2 hours then we set up camp. Enjoyed festival.

Saturday. Tiempo de Fiesta part 2.

Sunday. Departed festival for Hitra. Arrived back at Bjorns at 8 PM.

Monday. Rested after an intense fest.

Tuesday. Ferry back to Trondheim. Have fun at another festival. Do not sleep and wander city until….

Wednesday. Grab airport bus at 4:30 AM. Take plane to Oslo. Then Oslo to Denmark. Finally then I am on a plane back to Dulles.

That’s the dry summary. Let’s go ahead an inject some awesome.

Extended Edition

I departed for Norway on the heels of my 2nd year of teaching. Summer vacation is all about healing and getting away from the role that I play for the greater part of the year. Last year it took until July for me to finally “take my tie off” and become Josh instead of Mr. Fleming.

This year was different. As soon as I got through security I felt a tremendous change. All memory of trail and struggle were gone. I felt exactly as I should – excited and carefree. Only adventure and awesome awaited me and these feelings were soon proven correct.

One note before I actually get to the story. I was deliberate in the book I took with me. I came with my good friend Marcus Aurelius and his meditations. This book is a classic example of the Stoic philosophy and how it can improve and enrich a man’s life. It was such a good pick for this trip, though at times I think I was more of a Epicurean instead of a Stoic – ha. It was a great book to take, because it gave concrete steps on how to liberate the mind from fear or pain. Because of what I read, I was truly able to enjoy every moment of my trip, no anxiety about the past nor grimacing about the future – only a serious concentration at the wonderful situation at hand. Norway, I love you.

The flight over to Denmark was long but not disappointing. I sat next to a woman and her mother that were on a quest to visit all the places in Lithuania that her mother had known as a child. Kind of a Everything is Illuminated adventure. Not as interesting as sitting next to a beautiful Venezuelan woman studying economics in Amsterdam, but I will still happy to have the unique conversation.

I arrived in Trondheim after a connector from Denmark. I got out of the airport expecting to see Trondheim.  Instead I was literally in Hell. Yes it is real. Now this was the first of many situations of where normally I would have been nervous but instead felt a certain joy in not knowing exactly the road I was to follow. My life for the past 9 months had been planned and standardized. I ate the same thing for breakfast each day, visited the same websites every morning, and taught according to a schedule. As I type this on a Sunday, I still feel a certain itch in my brain that is telling me I should be preparing lesson plans. So to be outside of the ropes of schedule and habit, well it felt great. I quickly found the bus that left for the city and made my way to the streets that I used to love.

Once in Trondheim the memories started to cascade. Jet lagged as I was, I spent the whole day walking and breathing in lovely things. I went from place to place in the city and just listened. Some people are intimidated or even annoyed by being surrounded by people who do not speak a language they understand. The sound of Norwegian is of great comfort to me. Maybe one or two words I can put meaning to, but for the most part I just hear those euphonic words and feel relaxed and happy. Though two years had passed since my last time in Trondheim, I found every spot that needed to see in order to convince myself that I was in Norway again.

After a day of traveling and walking it was so excellent to have a friend to call. After an extended nap in front of the Nidaros Cathedral (built in 800 AD!) I gave Unn Berit a call. When I think of kindness and politeness I imagine Unn Berit. During both my times in Norway Unn Berit was a person that I could count on for assistance in any sort of matter. On yet another occasion Unn Berit opened her home to me and showed me a degree of kindness that convinces me of the general goodness that prevails in the Norwegian heart. Unn Berit and her husband prepared a wonderful dinner for me. Unsurprisingly though, the rich meal put me too sleep at 8 PM local time and I awoke 12 hours latter refreshed and feeling awesome.

When I awoke Unn Berit was in the process of preparing a wonderful breakfast. I am preparing a slideshow of this and other events of my travels which will be on Facebook and Youtube. After breakfast Unn Berit took me to Charlottenlund Ungdomskole – where I had completed my student teaching two years ago.

I love everything about Norwegian schools. I did not “buzz in” or sign a log book and obtain a visitor pass. I just walked in with my bags and started on my way through the hallways I will never forget.

I got to see almost all of my old friends. Kristi, Knut, Tora, Bjorta, Trond. All wonderful colleagues of the first degree of kindness and professionalism. My pupils though, man it was excellent to be with them again. To some degree there is a bit of romanticism in what I remember about them, but every day I teach I always compare myself to the man I was when I taught them. My Norwegian pupils brought out the best in me. I was a raw teaching recruit who knew a little bit about history and nothing about teaching. But it was the drive to please and educate that group of children that allowed me to develop as a teacher. They provided me with an atmosphere that was ideal – no classroom management was needed and every pupil was engaged by the novelty of just who I was. This type of teaching was as close to the theoretical classroom as reality can allow. Whenever I can I wear my Charlottenlund T-shirt, I am in love with what the school represents and will always be proud of the impact it has had upon my life.

Knut was awesome and gave me a lift to the train station. I wandered the city a little more and then began the next phase of my trip.

TO HITRA WE GO

I took the ferry to Hitra. You can go up on the top deck and watch the land and water zip by and I love the experience each time. I arrived in Hitra to find two true friends there – Audun and Bjorn. We stopped at the grocery store we bought supplies for a grill fest at Bjorn’s. We made too much food and I enjoyed every bite. Me and Bjorn stayed up late into the night which is somewhat of an artificial term as the sun never really sets – even at 2 AM one can easily enjoy a book by the light that is provided.

The next day I woke up late and drove Bjorn’s vehicle down to Filian. There I picked up a bottle of contact solution for 40$ USD and then visited Audun’s classroom. It was a nice visit and great to see Audun in action.

What struck me most was the cafeteria. In Norway the children can be expected to do things like prepare their own lunch with a minimum of supervision. Let’s say a student wants to toast some bread – well a toaster is provided. Most amazingly though – the pupils are expected to clean up by themselves. I was shocked to see that no janitor was required to clean up random bits of trash thrown down by uncaring students. Instead there is the expectation that since the pupils use the cafeteria they should also be responsible for it’s maintenance. Another event illustrates these strange expectations. As a way to encourage students to not smoke there was a prize (ipod dock) for two students who did not smoke. The whole “smoker vs nonsmoker” was sorted out by self-reporting and the honor system. Again, this is a situation where students are expected to just do the right thing and to act honorably. I cannot get enough of this stuff.

I got back to Bjorns somewhat late and then made a pizza for the two of us. Least I could have done was cook a meal for a dude that opened his house to me. Again we stayed up late talking about life, the universe, and everything. Also I was exposed to an awesome array of music. Perhaps my pupils this fall will get to enjoy the RAAAARWRWRWRW of the music I heard there.

On Thursday it began to rain, so I figured that it was best to enjoy some nature. I walked to Filian and Audun’s school this time. It took about 2 hours and I arrived soaked. Though I was offered a ride 2 separate times on this walk – proving just how awesome the Norwegian soul is.

When I returned Bjorn had a proposition for me. A friend of his, Runar, had offered to take me to the festival. Now I had met Runar two years ago when on Hitra – so we had met once previously. So Runar is officially in my big book of awesome people who are awesome forever. I had to make a decision on if I would go – unfortunately Bjorn could not attend so I would be going on a 3 day journey with people I did not know and to a place I had never been. I hit the ignition button.

We went to the store and bought the necessary supplies and ticket. Bjorn then equipped me with his old army boots, a tent, a sleeping bag/pad, and some fatherly advice. He drove me to Runar’s place.

Then begins the next phase.

SUMMER FESTIVAL. SUMMER FESTIVAL.

I pack myself into a huge van. Think A-Team van. This thing, this monster, this battle hardened chariot of good stuff was to be my home for many many hours. I am also introduced to the rest of the crew – Marius, Reidar, and Simen. And then there was Josh, Josh from Pennsylvania.

This could have been an awkward ride, a ride where we talked about the weather in English and then the rest of the group quickly reverted back to Norwegian. But no. This instead of a wild and rollicking trek on some of the worst roads and having the best time. Lots of interesting things happened on the trip to Selbu where the festival was to be held. We chased a cow on the road with the battle van. We had an egg fight with our fellow travelers from Hitra. I acquired pink Miley Cyrus sunglasses.

I don’t know how long it took to get there but we made it to Summer Festival.

In your mind picture Woodstock. Now add Norwegian and 40 degree temperatures, no night, and more rain. Mix well. You now have Summer Festival 2010. The fellow travelers from Hitra  I had mentioned stepped into my picture at this point. Johnny, Linn, Bjorn, Tor,  and Thomas. Again, just as with my experience in the A-Team van I was welcomed with open arms.

We set a plastic sheet between the van and the camper. Prepared the tent. Put together the grill.

The weekend that followed was a fantastic journey. I hung out with the Hitra group for the majority of time, but many times I found myself wandering around just meeting and talking with people from the festival. All it took was a few words with an American accent and I was inside a party tent dancing with strangers and telling stories. I felt like a rock star and went about as if I was one. Everywhere I looked there were people having a good time and all it took for me to join them was a story.

For a part of me this was the highlight of the trip. I was a social animal drifting in and out of places and conversations. There were some hardships of course. I wore underarmor, an undershirt, long sleeved shirt, coat and rain jacket and still found myself shivering. Also, I had never encountered an outhouse before. But I have not been that carefree or social in a long long time. It was like being at your first party in college, everyone was happy and everyone wanted to meet people – and I was able to totally embrace this feeling.

It’s hard to describe that weekend, so I will have to let the forthcoming video show it better than I can explain it.

Final Phase. The Return.

We drove back from the Festival to Hitra. I slept for the majority of the time and remember little of it which is sad. Everytime I opened my eyes from sleep I would see some amazing natural feature. Cliffs. Waterfalls. Fjords. Epic scenery that begged to be taken in. But I really needed the sleep – ha.

The last day I spent packing and preparing for the journey back. I took the ferry back to Trondheim and had myself a long day of exploring and checking out the festival that they were having in Trondheim. There were amazing foods and unique baubles and other things to buy.

I walked the city all night and took the bus at 4:20 the next morning. Awesome. Then began  a somewhat hellish journey to Oslo, Denmark, Washington DC and then Palmyra.

So what did I learn from all of this. Well I learned that I still carry a deep love for Norway and Norwegians. I also learned that Josh Fleming is still alive and well and has survived the necessary role of Mr. Fleming. I have a summer left to enjoy my life and I plan to make full use of the time I have left.

I love travel. It strips away the routine in a person’s life and allows you to figure out the living and breathing person. It is not an exaggeration to say that I have been transformed yet again by the country that is Norway.

Finally. To all my Norwegian Duders. Thanks for being the wonderful people you are. I’ll be back again, I promise.

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Few scattered posts for folks.

1:Talking Points. This is something I am guilty of. When it comes to any complicated issue like Health Care Reform, Immigration reform, etc. most of the time people are flying in the dark. I was thinking about when it came to many issues, I simply looked up the talking points from each side and considered myself informed and ready to form an opinion on the issue. This is lazy. For many politicians  and average folks though, this dangerous division of intellectual labor is the norm.

Watch for this. When you see people at protests, for or against almost any issue, you get people reciting half remembered sound bites that they had heard from their media outlet of choice. Talking points are razor sharp pieces of rhetoric that are that are honed and sharpened from big dry issues. A talking point sacrifices much of ambiguity and complicated forms of an issue of real debate.

This trend is great from a marketing standpoint. A point of view on an issue is packaged in a way that is simple and convincing. Look at the term “Death Tax” it is a fully packaged talking point and rhetorical device packed into two words. Does this term invite honest debate though? Does it talk about the role of wealth in a society? Does it discuss the purpose of taxation? Not really.

I do not see why the  proliferation of talking points would go away. Politics is a game of mobilization and the marketing of policy. Using talking points, while irresponsible in a Democracy, are effective tools. While a politician might feel nuanced about an issue, it would be perilous for him to abandon the talking point arena to his enemies.

2: Radio Lab. Limits Episode. Excellent Stuff. Link Here.

Radio lab is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasts to listen to. Kind of like This American Life you do not know what part of the brain will be tickled next. This specific episode that I have linked dealt with the idea of limits. Limits of the body, limits of the mind, limits of science. Each section was interesting, but I think the 3rd act was a most excellent conclusion.

The idea goes like this. Our tools and science keep on getting better and better, but our brains have stayed pretty much the same.

Check it out. We now have instruments that can record the behavior of microscopic organisms. We can observe their behavior, right down to the smallest details of their organelles. We also have mighty computers that can crunch data at an amazing rate. So scientists fed all the data that they had gathered about a specific microorganism into a computer. The computer crunched the data and spit out an equation that explained the behavior.

Here is the problem though. While the equation did explain (and even predict) what the organism would do, scientists cannot really understand the answer. The equation did work, but the answer it gave was far too complicated for anyone to understand. It was too complex.

When it comes to figuring out patterns, the human brain is pretty good. Throughout the years our ability to solve problems has relied heavily on our ability to make sense out of things that seem random but are actually part of a pattern and follow logic. Edward Jenner and cowpox comes to mind. Pattern.  Jenner observed that people who had been afflicted with cowpox in the past would be unaffected by small pox. Understanding. Cowpox confers immunity to small pox.

This is an example of a pattern that a squishy human brain can create.

But when it comes to extremely complex patterns, ones where we need computers to comprehend and then to dumb down for us, we have reached a certain limit. Our brain can only handle a finite amount of information, we only have a certain number of neurons and so much space in our heads.

But what if we could augment ourselves? I think that this is a ripe example of a need for a way to augment our intelligence with computers. Right now we use round about ways of communicating with our various electronic devices. We use our fingers on keyboards or at best our voices. The gap between electronics and our brains has been bridged someone (monkeys controlling robotic limbs with their minds) but we are still only able to create outbound information. When the day comes that we can experience inbound communication, well I imagine that the limits on our intelligence will be blown away.

3: Clinton Bio.

A long read. I enjoyed reading about his days in the Whitehouse. I enjoyed reading many names that have since reappeared in the Obama Whitehouse and about their respective impact during the Clinton years. Clinton is a policy wonk, and I really love him for that. The section on the failure of Health Care Reform was really interesting as I read it while the current debate was coming to a climax. I also enjoyed reading about the Whitewater saga, I had never known how long and how damaging it was to the Clinton Whitehouse. A decent read.

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This is what I have been up to lately. A tour of the Martin Library. Good Stuff!

There should be an actual post up soon. Weather outside has kept me walking and thinking a lot – almost time to put it to paper.

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