Noble Pursuits

iPad Day!

So, here it was 3:30 am this morning, and I was going back and forth about whether to preorder the Apple iPad. What I decided, ultimately, was to wait until the WiFi models come out, and to see whether the 3G iPad is worth it. Here is what is pushing me toward the 3G: You can order 3G service on a month-by-month basis; there is no contract. This means you can truly "pay-as-you go" and you will even receive notices when you are nearing your 250 MB limit, similar to the "You have 20% battery" notices we are already used to getting.

Also, the GPS features will be very useful, I think, in all of the Mapping apps that are sure to be released for the iPad. I believe the GPS will work even without the 3G package, so that's a bonus even if you don't spring for the monthly fee.

My mom actually preordered an iPad, though, which is a surprise since she's not particularly "techie", but she really does want to try one out! So I'll at least get to try her iPad out until the 3G versions come out a few weeks later.

Will I regret my decision to wait, come April 3? A few weeks will tell!

Senior Slump

I was just talking with another teacher who is having a terrible problem with senior apathy. The seniors just don't seem to want to do anything in class. Students who previously came to class on time, turned things in regularly, and volunteered in class are all of a sudden like different people.

I recently read Daniel Pink's new book Drive, and it's made me think a lot about how we motivate students. Pink asserts that for complex, open-ended  tasks, extrinsic motivation fails as an incentive. Intrinsic motivation ("for the love of the game") is much more effective, and of course as an institution we strive to foster intrinsic motivation in our kids. Yet, in a place where grades and class rank seem incredibly important, and we are surrounded by high achieving kids, one has to wonder if the tasks we are putting before our kids are, in fact, sufficiently complex.

So why do we have senioritis? I think the biggest problem is that for the first time, the main motivation for most students completely changes around this time of year. I do believe that most of our students are motivated by extrinsic factors such as grades, class rank, and college admissions. Now, most of our seniors are beyond that. For the first time, perhaps since middle school, grades don't matter. When you remove grades as a motivator, where does that leave you?

I try to involve seniors in project-based learning in the spring semester. I am purposely trying to replace the traditional motivations of grades and test scores with different motivators: pride in creating something, empowerment in the learning process, the drive to be a leader. My colleague remarked that trying to teach seniors is like pulling a steamship -- it's immensely heavy and difficult, and you wear yourself out.

I try to look at it this way. Why tire yourself out pulling the ship? Find out where it's going, and as long as it's not going somewhere dangerous or illegal, let it take you for a ride. You might both get somewhere you least expected to go. And the pull of creating something, inventing something, can be a wonderful, exciting draw. The structure of how we teach seniors doesn't have to be the same all year. We can acknowledge the change in motivation once college admissions are done, and change the structure of how we teach to accommodate that.