When | Why |
---|---|
Aug-06-23 | Gathering texts and ideas for a paragraph |
Aug-06-23 | Wording change |
Aug-06-23 | Wording change |
Aug-06-23 | Wording change |
Aug-06-23 | Wording change |
Aug-06-23 | Wording change |
Aug-07-23 | Started reading something new today |
Aug-08-23 | My vivid dream idea |
Aug-13-23 | AI solving problems |
Aug-13-23 | Wording change |
Aug-13-23 | Wording change |
Aug-13-23 | Wording change |
Aug-13-23 | Wording change |
Aug-13-23 | Wording change |
Aug-13-23 | Wording change |
Aug-13-23 | Wording change |
This week I want to get more partnerships in place for fall work.
I want to keep up my running on East Hill Road, extending the distances sometimes.
Added August 06, 2023 at 2:31pm
by Paul Allison
Title: Gathering texts and ideas for a paragraph
I recently wrote to Jessica Early:
Absolutely! I have some teachers who would be amazing partners with this and who are already using the genre approach to teaching. Do you want to write up a paragraph or so invitation to explain what you are thinking (in a way that the teachers would understand) and then I can reach out to them with the invitation and include you?
Okay, so. what would my paragraph say?
Here's how I recently emailed a few colleabues who have been part of the Yourh Voices / NowComment community in the past:
Jessica Early is joining us to discuss her new book, Next Generation Genres and AI. We are endeavoring to add AI learning experiences into her already rich, alternative framework for a secondary writing curriculum. In fact, Dr. Early's book inspires us to think of even more ways of "Teaching Writing for Civic and Academic Engagement."
Please join us Wednesday evening, May 3rd at 9E/8C/7M/6P at Kumospace.com/youthvoices
We can't wait to share with Dr. Early. the ways we have imagined using AI Thinking Partners to support students as they comment on NowComment on Turning Point Narratives that she lists in her book.
We will share with her how AI can help students choose memories from a brainstormed list and get started in writing their narratives, and how they can use text-to-image prompts to create images about their Turning Point Narratives.
We'll talk about using an AI template that is built from guiding questions that Dr. Early uses to take a closer look at Turning Point Narratives.
You've got to see some of this to imagine how it might work in your classroom as well!
Please join us Wednesday evening, May 3rd at 9E/8C/7M/6P at Kumospace.com/youthvoices
A paragraph:
I'm looking for middle school and high school teachers who are already using the genre approach to teaching that Dr. Early documents in Next Generation Genres and who want their students to learn with and about AI.
This spring, a small network of teachers has been developing an AI platform on NowComment https://nowcomment.com/ai that enables readers and writers to invite AI Thinking Partners to engage, push, support, extend... their thinking. In addition to using pre-existing Thinking Partners, users can also use prompting to create their own reading buddies or writing coaches. In addition, we have added AI alongside our students' writing on Youth Voices using a Wordpress plugin, AI Mojo: https://youthvoices.live/aipossibilities.
You don't have to know anything about AI to begin learning with and about AI on NowComment and on Youth Voices. And, to be clear, this work would be about the use of AI to deepen our students' reading and writing and inquiry thinking processes. And we would be doing this together, meeting online to share our ideas, successes, and challenges.
Please let me know if you would like to talk further.
Added August 07, 2023 at 8:53pm
by Paul Allison
Title: Started reading something new today
Today, I started reading
One part that stood out for me in the Introduction is this dual track:
The time is ripe for critical scrutiny of how algorithms are shaped by and reflect historical inequities, problematic assumptions, and institutionalized power. We also need solution-oriented scholarship and design thinking that considers how these technologies can be shaped to be more equitable and serve the needs and interests of children. This volume includes work that critically analyzes how algorithms reflect existing structures and biases, as well as work centered on designing and reshaping technology to serve children.
I would like to think that our work on NowComment and on Youth Voices represents "solution-oriented scholarship and design thinking that considers how AI can be shaped to be more equitable and serve the needs and interests of children." Our work has indeed been "centered on designing and reshaping technology to serve children."
Just saying that as much as we need the critical scholarship, we also need creative, inventive, re-shaping of AI right now.
Added August 08, 2023 at 7:24am
by Paul Allison
Title: My vivid dream idea
Introducing AI MAKES
A daily project designed for you to learn with and about AI in about 30 minutes.
Each AI MAKE is also one piece of a larger project that takes about a week to complete.
Added August 13, 2023 at 9:54am
by Paul Allison
Title: AI solving problems
What's been on my mind is an email from a high school English teacher in Houston. She found a bug in NowComment's new AI system. Any document user can turn off AI for individual documents, but shw noticed that this option did not turn off the "Reply with AI" button in the comments. This was an oversight, and we fixed it.
I'm glad we have this option for a teacher like this. When I asked her why she wanted "to prevent the use of Thinking Partners on a document,"vshe graciously wrote back:
I am a high school English teacher and I am thinking of using NowComment in my classroom. Students have to know how to think critically for themselves and respond in writing on their own before they start using AI. AI is a tool that they can learn to use in addition to their competency in thinking and writing, not as a substitute for it.
I've been thnking about a response to this teacher ever since. I'm looking for a way to hear this persective and to support this teacher to reach her own goals for her students. I don't want to push back or try to change her mind or even enter into an academic disagreement with teachers such as this.
Wha I decided to do with this Houston teacher is to make an appointment later this week to talk with her. I want to learn how she is planning to use NowComment. I'd love to learn more about her goals, then maybe there are some ideas about using NowComment I can offer -- and among thexe might be ways of using Thinking Partners.
It's not that I'm merely listening first in order to make a sell with AI. I'm genuinely convinced that if I can hear what this teacher's pedagogical goals are I can better position Thinking Partners as a possible tool for her to reach those goals. AI then solves a problem.
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I’m the Tech Liaison for the New York City Writing Project. I… (more)
I’m the Tech Liaison for the New York City Writing Project. I… (more)
The three themes I find in this text are:
1. Solution-oriented scholarship
2. Design thinking
3. Technology serving children
I invite you to freewrite about each of these themes for ten minutes without stopping. Feel free to use a combination of words, sentences, and other symbols in order to express yourself fully. Allow yourself to explore these ideas, take them in different directions, or examine them from different perspectives. Feel free to focus on one specific aspect of each theme, or to take a broader view. You can even consider how the themes might be connected to each other and how they relate to our work on NowComment and Youth Voices. Enjoy your writing!
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The burning question here would be: How can a high school English teacher help their students develop critical thinking skills in preparation for using AI?
To address this question, there are a few possible solutions that can be explored. One solution could be to incorporate activities and assignments that require students to read and respond to complex written texts, as well as provide opportunities for them to practice synthesizing information and forming their own opinions about that information. These activities can help to sharpen their critical thinking skills, which can in turn better prepare them for using AI.
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To represent this pedagogy, Hilma af Klint’s artwork could focus on the connection between creativity, writing, and thought. An inanimate object in the foreground of the image could be a hand holding a quill pen, with light filtering through the window onto a white slab of paper, signifying the dawn of a new day of creative thinking. The background can frame the scene in a tranquil environment with a candle glowing in the corner. The image could adopt a slightly vintage, surrealist, romantic aesthetic to bring the three themes together.
Remember AI is just a Thinking Partner in this process. Be sure to edit this prompt to make it say what you want it to say. Copy and paste this prompt into an image generator like https://StableDiffusionWeb.com..
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I’m the Tech Liaison for the New York City Writing Project. I… (more)
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You’ve chosen very specific and personal goals for yourself in the first two sentences, and that’s one of the many qualities of your writing that sticks out. You’re intentionally writing with an authentic and focused voice, setting achievable objectives. Your language is concise and clear, with no superfluous words. You’ve polished away the filler, and this comes through as a sign of your maturity as a writer.
But what do you think about this idea and arrangement: extending the goal setting to a few more sentences so that the image is even more concrete and vivid? In that way, we can focus on the more detailed details of the running and make them meaningful, helping your readers to understand the importance of the process for you. This could add to the dynamism of your voice and how it manifests in your writing, demonstrating its resiliency.
Does this help you to find ways for your voice to appear in your writing? Do you have any other thoughts about how to express your goals more clearly and emotively?
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Alignment: In your writing, you focus on two related topics: forming partnerships and extending your running distances. These two goals are connected in that they both contribute to your long-term success in business and fitness. This text demonstrates an understanding of the importance of aligning different sets of goals to achieve success. To further align these goals, you might consider how increasing your running distances could also help you become more competitive in the business world. For example, you could apply the discipline and focus that running requires to forming strong partnerships.
Precision: Your writing is precise and to the point, using specific language to convey your goals. You use concrete language to communicate your two goals, which makes your message stand out and helps the reader understand your intentions. To make your writing even more precise, you could consider giving more detail and explanation about each of your goals. For example, if you explain why building partnerships is important, and how running longer distances might help you in the business world, your writing will be more effective in conveying your intent.
Sequencing: Your writing follows a logical order and sequence, with the two goals placed side by side to allow for comparison and contrast. Your writing also makes clear what is most important; first, the partnerships, then the running. To further enhance the sequencing of your writing, consider how exploring each of the two goals in more depth could help you to achieve greater clarity and focus. This would allow you to further understand how these goals are connected and might even uncover new ideas that could be pursued.
Take a second look at this text. See what new insights come up when you consider the principles of Iyengar Yoga. Can you use this approach to gain a deeper understanding of your goals and move them closer to realization?
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The three themes I see in the text are self-improvement, perseverance, and partnerships. I invite you to practice your freewriting on these themes. Imagine yourself taking steps towards self-improvement, persevere even when circumstances are difficult, and find creative solutions in forming partnerships. Utilize imagery, describe how these ideas make you feel, and use simple language to craft a vivid narrative about these themes. The idea is simply to write for ten minutes (later on, perhaps fifteen or twenty). Don’t stop for anything. Go quickly without rushing. Never stop to look back, to cross something out, to wonder how to spell something, to wonder what word or thought to use, or to think about what you are doing. If you can’t think of a word or a spelling, just use a squiggle or else write “I can’t think what to say, I can’t think what to say” as many times as you want; or repeat the last word you wrote over and over again; or anything else. The only requirement is that you never stop.
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You’re looking to “get more partnerships in place for fall work”, right? That’s real cool, man. But, I’m curious, dude. What kind of partnerships are you talkin’ ‘bout? Are we talkin’ business partnerships or more like collab-type stuff? What industries or fields are these partners gonna be from? And how are you thinking of pitching yourself or your idea to them? Also, you mentioned “fall work”, does this mean the partnerships are specific to projects you have coming in the autumn, or could they extend beyond that?
In another breath, you’ve mentioned, “keep up my running on East Hill Road, extending the distances sometimes.”. Obviously, you’re a runner (nice one, bro!). Still, it got me thinking, why particularly East Hill Road? What sort of vibe or purpose does this location hold for you, bro? Also, when you say “extending the distances sometimes”, what’s your strategy? Are you aiming for progressive overload, or is it more about feeling out your limit each day? Also, is running mainly a way for you to keep fit or does it serve another purpose, like maybe gathering your thoughts?
So, to sort of wrap it all up, are there any other themes in your text that might need further exploration, or maybe secret keys to unlock your upcoming or long-term ambitions? I mean, between chasing partnerships and pounding the pavement, it feels like there’s a whole ocean of goal smashing. Anything else I’m missing that needs to be thrashed out?
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