April 2024 Newsletter
For North American educators, April and May tend to be months that are, let’s just say, a long way from boring. With the end of the school year in sight, kids get restless for the summer, any number of testing schema get inflicted on the schools, and parents start asking what kids might do to make up work not done in September.
For those moments when you need a good story or idea to infuse some positive into your day, though, we’ve got you covered. Enjoy what you find below!
Powerful Prompts
Given the late sending of the March newsletter, there’s only been three weeks since, and if you have time to give the prompt postings below a look, my guess is you’ll go three-for-three enjoying them!
The first was Creativity from Constraints, featuring a video introducing the winners of an architecture contest in which low-cost housing made using giant 3D printers is the focus.
Next up was From Trickle to Cascade, which uses a video about butterflies (with footage from a fake hummingbird), but seeks to make a point about positive momentum.
Most recently we posted What Weighs Us Down, with prompts about a stunningly cool project in Europe to give young people with learning differences the chance to experience zero gravity. This will bring a smile to your face, and possibly a tear to your eye.
Wildfire Learning
This month’s shout-out goes to Pangasinan National High School in the Philippines, where Marianne Soriano’s students used the prompts in the Wildfire Science and Prevention Project to create some brilliant videos. We’ll feature some of those in upcoming newsletters, so stay tuned!
If you’re up for having students interpret some boring prompts (with great content) in order to produce videos that could be powerful for helping others their age learn about the many things related to wildfire, just let us know.
image by Tengyart from Unsplash (license)
Super Sips
We decided to give away two caffeine cards for the March drawing, and jittery congrats go to Mary Jude Doerpinghaus and Kim Caise for the good karma of having their names drawn!
Like last month, you can enter our monthly drawing by letting us know which of the NVIV videos described above you liked best, and why. Alternatively, you can tell us which of the Worth the Watch videos below inspired you! Do this by going to our Contact Us page, which is a great way to connect with us to share ideas, and perhaps win a $6 Starbucks gift card for having taken the time.
image by Fahmi Fakhrudin from Unsplash (license)
Good Gigs
Late June includes one of the biggest edtech conferences in the world, ISTE, which this year is set to enliven Denver, Colorado. Whether you are attending or not, you might take a look at the Global Impact Virtual Conference sponsored by the ISTE Community Leaders group and including folks and sessions from more than twenty countries! Find the info here.
Cool Quotes
This one is from an email signature of one of the winners of last month’s drawing!
What we have before us are some breathtaking opportunities disguised as insoluble problems.
– John W. Gardner
Great stuff. Interestingly, he was a Republican in Lyndon Johnson’s cabinet. So you know!
First Finish
For those whose academic years end in May or June, you’re getting close! Now’s a great time to draw upon those last ounces of energy and send a positive message to a student who has proven challenging this year. It may be the most important message he or she gets in 2024.
As I finish the first half every month, I wish you this: May you inspire, and be inspired, each and every day!
In service,
Rushton and the Next Vista team
Muchas Freebies
We love sharing cool free stuff, and invite you to help us out. You can find the best of what we’ve gathered over the years on the Next Vista Resources pages, but if there is something free and powerful you love that you don’t find there, let us know about it using our resources submission form.
Images in the freebies section are screenshots from videos or web pages unless otherwise noted.
Worth the Watch
* There’s something quite fascinating about watching all sorts of wildlife cross a log bridge. A guy in Pennsylvania set up a webcam that captures footage day and night of bears, ducks, deer, raccoons, and more hanging out, stepping across, arguing with each other, or swimming by. Great stuff!
* ETH Zürich is a company that builds robots, and their unit called ANYmal can move quickly across all sorts of challenging surfaces. Like many powerful technologies, it calls to mind all sorts of use cases, both beneficial and threatening. (0:59)
* It’s a science fest in the cool videos section this month! This one from a company called CorPower Ocean is about a technology that converts ocean wave energy into electricity. This might be a good discussion prompt for a physics class. (2:17)
* The Great Horned Owl Cam is a cool glimpse into the life of Athena. Who is Athena? From the YouTube description: “For more than a decade, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, has been home to a nesting pair of great horned owls. The female, who they have affectionately named Athena, nests right above the entrance to the courtyard in a sotol planter. When conditions are right and her eggs hatch into owlets, she provides a rare opportunity to view a wild great horned owl rearing her young.”
* Finally, there is this 2018 video from the International Committee of the Red Cross. It is a deeply powerful (and completely fictional) piece about healthcare in times of conflict. CONSIDER CAREFULLY before showing this to students; it might trigger any number of feelings or experiences for some who see it. With honest, thoughtful preparation, though, it could be an important learning moment. Thanks to Murata Shinjiro of Doctors Without Borders Japan for sharing this with the Google group I spoke to in Tokyo in March. (1:48)
Worth the Read
* What might you learn about students’ experiences at your school if you had AI students taking part alongside the humans? This is an experiment happening at Ferris State University (Michigan), and covered in EdSurge in the Jeff Young post, When Bots Go to Class. Thanks to Dallas Turner for recommending this one!
* An educator in Spain, Jordi Pérez Colomé, requires his students to use ChatGPT. This article from El País explores it well, and thanks go to Tom Sullivan for the share.
* This is more a look than a read, but for those trying to get a sense of how large language models work, take a look at this visualization shared by Fix the News (excellent source of content from around the world). Depending on your machine, you might need to give it several moments to load.
* One of the hazards of being a school leader is that your schedule is constantly being savaged by issues that need addressing. In this thoughtful Edutopia post, however, Joshua Depoe offers another perspective on the tattered planning: “Every interruption provides an opportunity to engage, support, and connect with all stakeholders on a deeper level. These students, teachers, or parents seek direction, encouragement, or a listening ear.” This is one I wish I’d read before I became a principal.
Recent Newsletters
Missed a recent issue? Here you go:
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Last Bit
On our way to May flowers, I chose this image by Santiago Martin celebrating April showers. The shot reminds me of parts of Arkansas, where I did much of my growing up.
May inspiration rain down on you all month!
photo by Santiago Martin
from Unsplash
(license)
See you next month!
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