The 500 - #146 - Surrealistic Pillow - Jefferson Airplane

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #146
Album Title: Surrealistic Pillow

Artist: Jefferson Airplane

Genre: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Acid Rock

Recorded: RCA Victor Studios, Hollywood, California, USA

Released: February, 1967

My age at release: 1
How familiar was I with it before this week: Several Songs

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #471, dropping 324 places
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: White Rabbit

In 2004, the hottest show on television was Lost, a mystery-adventure drama about plane crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island. As they struggled to survive, each episode revealed their past through strategically placed flashback sequences, deepening the intrigue surrounding both the characters and the island’s secrets. By the winter break that year I, along with 35 million North American viewers, was hooked. In a time before streaming services, it was appointment viewing -- Wednesdays at 8 p.m.. When reruns began airing during the winter, I started recording episodes with the goal of building a multi-curricular unit around Season One for middle school children.

The following spring, I work-shopped my newly created Lost Unit with my Grade 8 class, and, as expected, they were riveted. Their enthusiasm carried into every reading, writing, math, science and discussion activity, creating a level of engagement unlike anything I’d seen in my first decade of teaching. I used their feedback to refine the unit, and later drew on that experience to complete my Master’s Degree in Education, which I began in the fall of 2006.

As the Lost Unit expanded in both scope and structure, I became increasingly fascinated by how deeply students connected with the series and its characters. They were captivated by the mysteries and hyper-focused on subtle details hidden throughout each episode, often referencing clues, debunking red herrings and reveling in plot twists with remarkable insight. This engagement translated into noticeable improvements in their writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills.

My Master’s research focused on student engagement, particularly among 12 - 14 year-olds. At the time, I believed I had stumbled upon something revolutionary and was feeling pretty confident that I would reveal groundbreaking revelations to the education community. However, I was quickly disabused of that notion when I discovered the work of Kieran Egan, a professor of education at Simon Fraser University. Egan had already articulated many of the ideas I was exploring, especially through his theory of Imaginative Education. His collection of essays, Children’s Minds, Talking Rabbits & Clockwork Oranges, became a cornerstone of my studies. I devoured Egan’s body of work, recognizing in his writing the theoretical foundation for what I had observed in my classroom.

In summary, Lost fits many of the touchstones of imaginative learning highlighted in his essays. The show was rich in the things pre-teen and teen learners are cognitively designed to connect with, including:

• Compelling Storytelling
• Mystery and Wonder
• Emotionally Engaging Characters
• Symbolism and Metaphor
• Cross Curricular Connections
• Philosophical and Ironic Thinking

Unravelling the mysteries in each episode of Lost could even begin with the episode titles, which I used to prompt discussion and prediction. One of my favourites was Episode 4, White Rabbit, which is also the title of the tenth track on this week’s record, Surrealistic Pillow, by Jefferson Airplane -- a psychedelic-folk rock band from San Francisco whom I discussed in my April, 2021 post. White Rabbit is one of Jefferson Airplane’s biggest hits and is ranked at #455 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2021) as well as their song Somebody To Love from the same album. The latter sits at #274.

Airplane and the episode of Lost borrowed the term White Rabbit from the well known novel Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, published in 1865 by author Charles Dodgson (under the pen name Lewis Carroll), The “children’s book” follows the title character, Alice, who chases a white rabbit into an imaginative world filled with whimsical characters, unpredictable adventure and playful language. However, it is also filled with philosophical ideas, puzzles (logical and illogical) and satirical commentary on Victorian society.

The episode of Lost, with the same name, centers on a key protagonist, Jack, who is haunted by visions of his deceased father. He chases visions through the jungle, much like Alice chasing the rabbit. The title and theme reflect Jack’s internal struggle with leadership, grief, and identity, and also mark the beginning of his heroic journey in the series.

In White Rabbit, a physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, Jack discusses
leadership and the pursuit of "ghosts" with fellow castaway, John Locke.

A psychedelic classic, this week’s playlist selection, White Rabbit, uses imagery from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to explore themes of curiosity, altered perception and rebellion against conformity. As you might imagine, the exploration of the episode title from Lost can lead down a a veritable "rabbit hole" of discussion topics. This provides a teacher with plenty of options to connect students with classic literature, poetry, and literary devices -- including symbolism and metaphor. It is also a perfect place to discuss the pitfalls and risks of recreational drug use from the Ontario Health Curriculum.

Jack, middle, is pressed to make a leadership decision about the
dwindling water supply in the fourth episode of Lost; White Rabbit

Eventually, I built the Lost Unit into an eight-week syllabus and presented it to educators in my board and Ontario. It has been used by dozens of teachers and has been delivered to thousands of Grade 7 & 8 students. In fact, it has spread so far that I sometimes meet educators who, while we are discussing lesson plans, excitedly tell me about it -- not realizing that I am the author.

I’ve taken a break from the unit over the past two years. I was getting a little tired of delivering some of the lessons and my best teaching happens when I am deeply engaged in the material. However, I am debating a reworking of the lessons and activities for the upcoming school year. If there is an educator reading this post and is interested in the unit, feel free to reach out – tv14101@tvdsb.ca . It is fun to present the unit at the same time as another class so that students can share their writing in the same way I share this blog -- to an authentic audience.

The Power of the Six Word Story

In my previous post I highlighted the activities that I introduce to "front-load" the launch of a 10+ week unit using the first season of "Lost".

The Six Word Story Lesson is not my idea originally. Like most great ideas I have, I adapted it after attending a free workshop presented by my Board called "LitCon".  I would love to give credit to the presenter, but I have lost the original slideshow and can not remember her name.

This is an activity I would encourage all teachers - Grade 4 and up - to introduce to their students at the start of the year. There are so many positives to this exercise because it seems deceptively easy at first. Share an idea using only 6 words. Students love the idea that they "won't have to write much" but; they quickly realize that, "a parsimonious narrative cleverly taxes intellect."

The creator is forced to tinker with language and explore the thesaurus in an effort to maximize the impact of 6 words. To make things a little easier, I introduce the activity using a Collaborative Google Slide. This serves a few purposes...

• It allows students to use backgrounds, fonts, images and gifs to help support their story.
• It lets them see what their friends are doing in order to help inspire them.
• It allows them to share skills (like using .png images or uploading a .gif) without the necessity of a lesson on each.
• It provides me with a way to give feedback during the activity - by using the comment feature on the side.

I have presented this lesson about ten times and the following slide always generates an interesting phenomenon.

Some of the students will sigh sadly and even utter an "oh no."

Immediately, an other group will say ..."What?"

"The baby...died." 

"No it didn't. They just didn't use the shoes and they are selling them."  

I love this moment because I always get to say... "You can have either story. That's up to you. But, let's look at the punctuation and see if it adds to the tone of this text." 

This is a great opportunity to talk about the power of punctuation. It is a way of showing the impact the colon, comma, quotation marks and period have in this sentence. I have joked that many new writer's use of punctuation looks as if they have sprinkled pepper on their page. This is a great activity to help them see the impact it can have.

We will revisit this activity later in this unit. However, if it was introduced in September, it could be used throughout the year.

1. To demonstrate understanding of a new math concept or as an exit ticket in math class.
2. To summarize a chapter from their independent reading or from the class read aloud.
3. To share their feelings at the end of a gym class, a school assembly, their weekend or to recap the school week.
4. To pose a question about a topic in Science or Social Studies.

Have you got any ideas? Share them with me and I'll gladly add them to this list and give you credit. If you happen to know who presented this at TVDSB LitCon 2017, I'd love to give her credit.

Lost - Front Loading the Experience

In my last post I talked about launching a cross-curricular unit through subterfuge. I intentional build anticipation by telling students that I am in the process of "getting permission" from the Principal/Superintendent in order to do run a "Mystery Unit". Immediately after March Break, the teachers and I are revealing that the unit is built around the first season of the 2005 television series "Lost". The genesis behind using this unit, and relaunching it as a coach, is in this post from 2018.

I do need to justify over 20 hours of television watching. Consequently, I am keenly aware of the need to make tangible curriculum connections. I often suggest to colleagues that it is treated more like an interactive read aloud - full of intentional stops for discussion, debate and writing challenges.

This year, most of the students are in Grade 7, so I have detailed all of the expectations (over 25) from the Language Curriculum and have detailed them in this table.

The goal in the weeks leading up to the reveal is to front-load information that will maximize the viewing experience. The following activities are in the process of being completed. I'll expand on each in future posts.

• Six Word Stories
• Multiple Intelligences are explored through a series of quizzes from the Smart Options Workbook. Introduction Here
• Lightning Talks using important terms from the series - eventually building a Fluid Word Wall on Padlet with a 6 Word Story GIF made on Giphy.
• The True Colours Quiz. (This one is optional - but really well received if there is time to do it.)
• An introduction to Blogging with Blogger.
• An introduction to Edmodo as a social media platform for sharing ideas. 

The students have been doing terrific work. They are eager to find out why we are doing all this stuff - but they are participating and completing tasks with a sincere effort. 

In my next post, I'll share more details on each of these activities.

Professional Wrestling and the Romantic Lie.

For the past four weeks, I have been working with four classes of Grade 7 & 8 students at 3 different schools. 

About 100 kids ... and I have been lying to them all.

I have been preparing them for a "Mystery Unit" about which "I am not at liberty to share information" because ... "I am in discussion with both the Principal and Superintendent in order to get permission to try this experiment". 

I do provide the following information...

• It is an incredible unit that they will find rewarding and engaging.
• It requires a high level of independent work and they get to be the stakeholders in their own education.
• Therefore, it requires a level of maturity (that I know they possess) but....
• the Superintendent and Principal are cautious - and need to see the evidence.
• So we are going to do some activities that show them how effectively we can work at a high-school level.
• All will be revealed after the March Break and ... fingers crossed...we get the Green Light! 

Almost everything I have told them is true. The three month, cross-curricular unit I have planned has always proven to be rewarding and engaging. It also provides students with multiple opportunities to share their voice and engage in rich debate through Class Discussions, Blog Writing & Flipgrid posts - shared between classes through the Social Media platform Edmodo.

My only fib is in the mystery I have intentionally created around the big reveal...truth be told...the unit has already been green lit, and will be launched when they return from March Break.

Even if you are not a fan of Professional Wrestling, you have likely heard of promoter Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Entertainment empire. He, and his team of writers, have perfected the tricks originally developed by promoter, huckster and eventual politician PT Barnum in the late 1800's. 

This formula in current wrestling parlance...

• Hint at possibility - Tease
• Create mystery - Create an Angle 
• Build suspense - Generate Heat
• Deliver - Get Pop & Put the Face Over
• Sustain through Surprise - Swerves, Heel Turns & Face in Peril 

Dress it up in the outlandish costumes & over-the-top pageantry and you've got a billion dollar empire.

There is a reason that this approach lands with kids. It's too much to get into here - but there is a lot to discover in the works of anthropologist & philospher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) and educational theorist Kieran Egan (1942- ), particularly his 1999 book Children's Minds, Talking Rabbits & Clockwork Oranges.

Herbert Spencer and Kieran Egan's 1999 Book

In a nutshell - early teens are typically in a state of Romanticism (just like the period) and both could be summarized as

• Showing delight in the exotic (especially the supernatural)
• Putting emphasis on individualism.
• Revolting against convention.
• Evidencing rich imagination.
• Having an intense interest in self-inquiry.
• Resisting order and reason.
• Celebrating transcendent human qualities (particularly redemption).

I guess this was a long explanation to justify my lie. I am a liar with a noble purpose (talk about a Romantic notion). I hope to set these students up for a highly engaging unit that they will find rewarding. I am also confident that they will become better thinkers and communicators by unit's end. I intend to document the journey here. Hope you can join me.

Updating a dated Unit - "Lost" Part Two

In a recent post, I talked about my efforts to re-launch a highly engaging, cross-curricular unit built around the first season of the television program "Lost". As I mentioned, at least four Transition Years (Grade 7 & 8) teachers were intrigued. However, to seal the deal, I would need to organize and present a massive unit to them in a way that was manageable. In order to do this, I would need to search my storage area (where all of my "teacher supplies" are currently housed, anxiously awaiting my return to the classroom) for a big box labeled: "Lost" Stuff. Additionally, I would need to collate dozens of computer files that contained the lessons that would build this unit. Fortunately, it was March Break.

The Roadblock

Here was the problem. I hadn't looked at the unit since leaving Grade 8 in 2011, to teach the Junior division (Grade 4-6) at another school. Additionally, our board had moved from the early 2K Corel Suite (WordPerfect, Excel, Quattro Pro) to Microsoft Office (Word, Powerpoint, Excel) to the Google Suite (Docs, Slides, Sheets). Consequently, any document I had saved needed to be converted...but...our school computers no longer supported the format in which it had been  saved.

The Detour

My old Dell laptop (circa 2007) had been gathering dust for about 4 years (coinciding with the time I got my first Chromebook). It still had Corel programs installed on it; so, I could access the files and convert them to .PDF which could be uploaded to my Google Drive. Unfortunately, none of the "Presentation" files could be converted to Google Slides - so that was frustrating. Consequently, this was a time consuming (albeit pleasurable) grind. It did, however, give me a chance to reflect on the type of educator I was in 2010 and the type I am learning to be now.

• How could I upgrade these activities to reflect the technology that is available to me and students in 2018? Padlet, Flipgrid, Kahoot, Edmodo etc.
• How could I adapt these lessons to take full advantage of the Google Suite? Not just Slides - but Blogger and Google Sites.
• How could I connect these lessons to the  Rethink Secondary vision that we want, in order to prepare our Transition Year students to embrace Global Competencies - skills that will be invaluable in their future?
• If I get more than one class from more than one school to participate, how do I get them to share their writing and thinking with each other? How do I create an authentic (not just the teacher) audience for these students? 

The Finish Line

My goals are to ...

1. Update this unit for 21st Century utility - connecting it to meaningful (and engaging) technological approaches to learning.
2. Connect it intentionally to the (revised) Ontario Curriculum (particularly in Math & Language).
3. Get a group of teachers to embrace it - with my support (justifying my time in my current role).
4. Roll it out successfully to over 80 grade 7 & 8 students.

Then... I might have the makings of a blog series (perhaps book and updated workshop*) that could be presented to other educators.

In my next post - I will discuss my use of this unit to secure my Master's Degree - and the stats I wish I had gathered.

 *NB: I have presented this at day long ETFO workshops in the past (2008-2010) - but not with this new 21st Century direction.

Lost - The Pitch

In Medias Res

This is Part One to a series of posts I hope to complete about my journey to explore the first season of the television program "Lost" with Grade 7/8 teachers and their 12-14 year old students in the spring of 2018. Spoiler: I am in the middle of it as I write - and I am having some success. Hope you will join me on this journey....(cue "Lost" Intro Music)

I had a problem I needed to resolve.

I was in my 7th month as an Instructional Coach to four schools, and I was not getting into enough Transition Years (Grade 7 & 8) classrooms.  I had done some coding and a little math with a couple groups and two of the teachers had embraced my Football Pool approach to Data Management. However, there were several TY classes I had not worked with, and I knew it was important for me to make connections with these teachers - particularly if I was going to stay in this role for up to three more years. I realized that it was up to me to remedy this. I needed to make these connections.

I caught a break.

I was asked by two principals to present some professional development I had received on efficient decomposition strategies (for large numbers and fractions). The schedule gave me the chance to work directly with TY teachers, which allowed me to network. The sessions seemed to be well received and this gave me my opportunity to make a pitch.

Lead with a good story.

When I taught Grade 7 and/or 8 in the late aughts (2005-2010) I began to make use of the first season of the television show "Lost" as anchor for a multitude of cross-curricular expectations. I recognized, as I was watching it, that it had great utility as a vehicle for student engagement. My hunch was quickly supported: my students absolutely loved the series.

There were two clear byproducts of this success. 

• Improved attendance: I had been teaching at a school where punctuality & attendance (both physical and mental) was often an issue. This was particularly true in the more senior grades. Additionally, some students took great liberty with permissive parents who allowed them to leave early if they were "feeling sick" - even when they regularly had miraculous recoveries in time to meet their friends at dismissal. The "Lost" unit remedied this in a number of ways. First, absenteeism dropped and punctuality improved. Second, students began to engage more in class discussions and curriculum based activities. Finally, spontaneous departures due to unexpected illness, showed a steady decline. I began to get used to the question: "Mr. H. - are we doing some "Lost" stuff today?"  "Of course," I would confidently say and, over the course of the few years I ran the unit, I found more ways to connect the series to curriculum expectations in as many areas of study as I could.
• Improved performance: I would not say that the unit was a panacea to the academic malaise that infects many adolescent writers, readers, mathematicians & oral communicators. It did, however, help many show significant improvement. Students embraced new language and invested more meaningfully in heady discussions. They willingly engaged in purposeful and respectful deliberation around rich & mature topics that challenged a black & white reality they may have accepted for years. These moments were powerful and felt important. They were certainly rewarding to experience as an educator.

These realizations would also become the backbone for my Masters' research - but that is a discussion for a future blog.

So, I made my pitch.

Through conversation, and email, I began to sell my idea - with great enthusiasm. Four teachers expressed interest in hearing more. However, March Break was upon us. This was fortunate, because I had another hurdle to overcome.

More on that next time.

(Cue Cliffhanger "Lost" End Credit Card.)