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April 30, 2007
April 23, 2007
Teaching is Learning
Go and read this post from Tisha.
It captured perfectly the spirit and idea behind Supercool School - Teaching is Learning. Enjoy!
April 22, 2007
Romanian blogger expelled from school!
Damn! I´m not supposed to blog anymore today. We have a big meeting here at Supercool Headquarters ( my small room) and working all day long on fixing some bugs for Supercool School´s website.
But then, for whom do we build this special kind of school? For kids like Ariel.
"Ariel Constantinof. He is 16 and he is a blogger. He lives in Romania and learns at the Lauder Reut Educational Complex. It would be more appropriate to say: he used to learn at this school (high school), before being expelled for… blogging!" Read the whole story here.
Please support Ariel. I think this is ridiculous - what kind of nonsense lesson do they try to teach him in his school? How to obey? It makes me so angry!
But we can help - support him by digging Ariel's story , posting a comment on his blog and spreading the word.
Writing a small post entry is the least I can do. I hope it helps - Ariel, I wishya much power! You´ll do fine son - the right people are on your side :)
Mihaela made me aware of Ariel ( I told ya she´s supercool) AND awarded me the thinking blogger award. Thankx! I’m honored and proud. Now, I have to give them to 5 bloggers who make me think so here you go...
- Steve for blogging about changing our thoughts
- Andy for helping me rethink blogging
- Lorelle for being Lorelle
- hj for being an advocate of free and open knowledge
- Ugotrade for writing such beautiful stories about technology in new environments
- Charan "CA" Atreya for making me think about "thinking"
- Florence Meichel for fighting for a better future in education
Well, I am not sure if I´m cheating but what can I say - I am not good at math ;) So now you guyz have to think about blogs who make you think and award them with the thinking blogger award.
Much power to you!
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On April 30th 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor towards the victims of Virginia. 33 died at the US college massacre.
We did our best. Now we need your help - Find out what to do.
April 21, 2007
Supercool Interview with Mihaela
I had the honor of giving an interview recently to Mihaela Lica from eWritings and Pamil Visions PR & Brand Development. Mihaela is one of the most warm-hearted, helpful & creative person I met whilst blogging and we really have become close friends. She is a great support for Supercool School and I cannot express how much I already learned from her. Read the Supercool Interview here if you are interested in this project and stay for a while to read more from Mihaela. It´s definitely worth it. Enjoy!
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On April 30th 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor towards the victims of Virginia. 33 died at the US college massacre.
We did our best. Now we need your help - Find out what to do.
April 20, 2007
April 19, 2007
Supercool Interview with Steve
I had the pleasure of giving an interview recently to Steve Aitchison from Change Your Thoughts Blog. He asked questions about Supercool School, the 7 Lessons You Learned Ebook and Blogging. You can find the Supercool Interview here. Enjoy!
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On April 30th 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor towards the victims of Virginia. 33 died at the US college massacre.
We did our best. Now we need your help - Find out what to do.
April 18, 2007
40 Hours Full of Ups & Downs.
First, to those of you who think that what we do is nonsense:
"For those of you who think this is stupid, let me say this. My friend and her family have lost their son due to this horrific shooting tragedy and we were discussing this campaign via phone this morning. Her family is very touched by this. So when you say this is stupid and serves no purpose, at least one family says you are wrong, people are touched by this. I am grateful to whomever created this and so is my friends family. Any tribute to these people at all is a way of reaching out and saying we care."
Dariana
That alone was worth it.
But then, I would like to support a blogger that don´t want to be silent on 30th of April. I want to support Plane Jane Mom with her initiative to those who want to post about Virginia Tech on the One Day Blog Silence.
That´s a great idea. The One Day Blog Silence was never against writting on 30th April. You can do whatever you want to - it is a way for those who choose, to stand together still for a moment of respect.
That´s it. So for those of you who want to blog on that day about the tragedy - go to this blog and join the initiative rather then flaming others who don´t.
What happened to respect and tolerance?
Let everyone be the way they choose - not the way you want them to choose.
The last 40 hours were emotionally a wild roller coaster drive for me. It´s weird but when we started the One Day Blog Silence campaign we did that from a impulse to help & do good. And we would have never believed that this would become such a controversy. Never!
We thought that people will either join or ignore it. Boy, that was so wrong. People who disliked the idea spoke up so loud I can´t believe it. From sending me messages to call me a "jerk", "idiot" and other things I won´t go into detail here, to forum posts about speculations that our intention was to make money and sell the website after the 30th April or that behind all this, there is a hidden big media company standing.
That was against us - ok. But when I started to read comments of hate & anger on other peoples blogs who wanted to support us it was one of the most terrible experiences I made as a blogger. I felt so sad and guilty - I didn´t wanted other bloggers to have to deal with hate - I wanted them to become a part of something filled with love.
It reminded me of a horrible event in childhood. Once, a older boy in school wanted to have my launch box. I refused to give it to him and as he started to push me around, an older boy came to help me. Suddenly, my hero was surrounded by 3 other kids who started to beat him hard. It was so horrible. I felt guilty and sad.
I had moments where I felt the same guilt again. I received messages like this:
"Hey Steli. Noticed you visited my site. I just wrote another long reply to someone about your idea and I am completely drained. Been doing it all day. I don't understand the anger some people have for something so simple and unselfish. Sorry but I had to vent for a moment, it's got me in a very bad mood. Cheers"
I thought about stopping the initiative.
BUT WE WON´T! WE REFUSE TO!
The positive response was and continues to be much higher then those who disliked the idea - and the number of people discussing this in a good and respectful manner is too. No matter if they like it or not - most bloggers are tolerant and express their opinion wonderfully.
And I am grateful for that.
Just to name a few: Lorelle, Liz, Mihaela and Andy wrote some of the most touching and beautiful things about this event. I can´t thank you enough for your support.
And to all of the countless people who emailed me to support the idea I say THANK YOU! You are wonderful.
Some made new graphics about the One Day Blog Silence event. How nice from you!
And even MTV News.com supported us with a link? How weird and funny :)
( I thought about 2 minutes if it is ok for me to put a smilie on this post. Isn´t that sick?)
And finally I have to end with a email I received from someone very special that just came in the right moment and made me decide to write this post:
"I wanted to personally thank you. As you have seen on my two blog posts about the day of silence, there have been a lot of people in favor, but a huge vocal group against it. I'm sure you are being assaulted with such posts and comments.
I think what you are doing is huge and rise up above all of the small minds on the web. Thank you so much for your decision to bring this issue to the fore.
What is even more amazing is how much people are missing the point, and I wanted to make sure you knew that someone out in the fuss got it. I did.
By promoting such a day, you have encouraged discussion. Instead of gossiping and rumor mongering over the incident in Virginia and other tragedies in the world, people are talking. They are talking loudly, voicing an opinion against such violence, whether they know it or not.
The silence isn't about shutting up. It is definitely about talking. Talking before, after and around the issue. Exploring individual feelings and beliefs, taking a stand and possibly using their voice and their blogs to express it. That is SO exciting and I honor you for starting the conversation with your moment of silence.
Stand tall against those who do not want to do this because they have the narrow thought about silence equaling denial of speech. They are talking more than they ever would have otherwise. Thank you for that gift."
How great that this campaign for silence has already created so much positive noise.
Much power to you!
Steli Efti
UPDATE: The wonderful Florence Meichel created this blog for all the french bloggers who want to participate at the One Day Blog Silence event. Merci beaucoup!
On April 30th 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor towards the victims of Virginia. 33 died at the US college massacre.
We did our best. Now we need your help - Find out what to do.
April 17, 2007
One Day Blog Silence In Honor Of The Victims Of Virginia Tech
I can´t believe it. I was at dinner when two good friends and I heard the news on television. Hours later I was sitting on my laptop not able to formulate any words, thoughts...anything.
BLACKSBURG, Va. — A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and warn students. The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33 and stamping the campus in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains with unspeakable tragedy, perhaps forever.
I felt like I had to write something. Anything. But I didn´t know how. I felt like there is nothing I can write to describe what I feel.
So I called my two friends Euripidis and Halil to talk about this tragedy and we decided that we had to do something.
So we started the One Day Blog Silence Initiative tonite in honor towards the victims of Virginia.
Silence can say more then a thousand words.
On April 30th 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor towards the victims of Virginia. 33 died at the US college massacre.
***UPDATE: I just read this and it put tears in my eyes. Please Read Silence is a Memoriam, Not a Reason to Stop Blogging ***
We did our best. Now we need your help - Find out what to do.
April 16, 2007
A Journey Through the Corridors of Education
Guest Author: Peter Haslam
This post was written to discuss my perceptions on the 7Lessons You Learned @School That Could Possibly Ruin Your Life
You can read, download and share the post as a pdf file here:
1
Be Afraid of Failure
The Education system works on the basis of penalties for failure. If we step outside the rules or do something in a different way than what was being taught then we were penalized through detentions, failing marks and parent meetings. This would continue until we toed the line. This assembly line approach produces people that are afraid of being labeled a failure and will do almost anything to avoid that stigma. Education then is reduced to something that is restrictive, boring and something to get over.
The penalty we get from this legacy is an inability to see failure as a stepping stone
towards success. We need to see a certainty of result before we are prepared to act. Creativity is restricted to the 'Arts' or leisure pursuits instead of a way of life.
To be successful in a world of constant change, exponential growth in knowledge, and an explosion of new tools for managing and utilizing that knowledge requires working with an uncertain future. The need to take actions with less than perfect knowledge of results makes learning by failure a prerequisite for surviving in the new global environment.
The entrepreneurs we admire so much are successful because they have unlearned this mistake.
The choice is ours.
2
Focus on Doing It Right
Doing it right was whatever way the teacher wanted it. The worse part of starting a new grade, course or class was learning what was right. This was a skill we mastered as we progressed through our grades, through university and finally on the job. There was very little of doing it our way. The way best suited to our abilities. A way that allowed us freedom in developing our own sense making tools. The result is the viewpoint that we need outside opinion to tell us we are doing well. We have passes the power of judgment to others and therefore no longer in control of our lives. How sad.
The choice is ours.
3
Learn not to Learn
We learned by memorizing details just in time to pass a test or exam and then unless we needed it in the next class; we would simply let it fade from our mind. Our learning was not to answer the questions we wanted but to simply get to the next level. It had no value that we could see. It only interfered with what we wanted to know and be involved in.
Have you ever watched a 4yr old learn how to play a video game consisting of 45 levels. There is absolute focus and concentration, There is perseverance, failure, strategy, mini successes and consistent progress until the game is mastered. When the game is finished they are a little sad because there is no more challenge left and are immediately asking to get a harder game to start on. They don't learn to forget. They learn to take on bigger challenges that extends them even more. Learning is fun and it is done their way – no rules.
What obstacles do you think they would be able to overcome in their lifetime of learning their way? What would be the benefits to mankind of them expanding boundaries simply because they wanted to answer their own questions rather than forget about learning? Which world would you rather live in?
The choice is ours.
4
Intuition is not Important
The emphasis in the Education system is on rational thinking; our inheritance from the success of the scientific method. If we can not explain it then it is not valid information.
We are given someone else's logic to memorize until we can explain it. But, this does not mean that we understood it. The result. We learned not to trust ourselves.
We have the ability to make sense from combining all kinds of different inputs. An
intuitive leap from random information to an answer which makes sense when you track it backwards but not have reached by going forward from any single piece of
information.
Would Einstein have created the concept of without intuition (insight)? Yet our
Educational System does very little to nurture this valuable resource.
The choice is ours.
5
Our Imagination is Unimportant
As children we explored the world utterly fascinated with a butterfly, puppies, and
empty cardboard castles. An excursion anywhere was an adventure of trolls and knights in shining armor. We were invincible and totally unafraid of trying new things and sharing them with our imaginary friends. We dreamed of flying carpets and genies.
Then we went to school.
We learned to stay in the box. Don't explore because no one is interested in whether you know how to think or not. Only if you can repeat the facts you are given. Don't try and make sense of it. We will tell you what makes sense. Just repeat after me.
Look at the accomplishments of the people that were successful in unlearning living in a box and letting their imagination soar once again. People such as Walt Disney, George Lucas, Picasso, and J.K. Rowling. The universe charged with imagination seems far more appealing to all of us.
The choice is ours.
6
Don't Make Decisions for Yourself
The Education system has made all your decisions for you. Just follow the yellow brick road and you will obtain riches and rewards. It doesn't matter if the information is no longer valid. That there are new and better theories you should understand. That there are new technologies in use that you should be using. We know better what will prepare you before we allow you to make decisions about your life and your future. We will let you make decisions when we are finished with you and not before. That has been the way to success before so why won't it work again.
Who wants the headache of being responsible for your own future? Why make decisions that may not work? Lets follow everyone else even if life sucks; we can always say it was someone else's fault.
The choice is ours.
7
Don't Aim to High
The Education system has taught you to be satisfied with less than what you could be. Why strive for anything more than being satisfied. A passing grade is all we need; that's good enough. Accept what the world is telling you that you need to be satisfied. Buy toys and be happy. Go places and be happy. Drink and be happy. If you run out of things, don't worry, we will create more and show you how happy you will be when you have them.
This is a certain recipe to arrive at your death bed full of regrets for the opportunities you never even saw; let alone explored. If we want to live a quality life then we need to aim high and fully engage with life. We may never climb to the mountain top but we could certainly get above the clouds and be rewarded with stunning vistas and feelings that we would never had experienced without making the attempt.
The choice is ours.
This is where the teacher becomes a guide and joins you on an exploration of discovery. Jointly you discover the answers, sometimes going down wrong paths, sometimes taking the long way around, but always learning. Learning then becomes an adventure and you learn to trust yourself and failure is but a stepping stone to success. You learn that acquiring knowledge and seeing new connections and exploring them are natural uses of the mind. Nothing to fear and definitely a source of infinite delight and pleasure. Truly then your ideas will create your future. There is no box you need to stay in. The universe is yours. Take it and recreate it.
Do you want to learn more about Peter? Visit his Necessary Skills Blog
Do you want to learn more about the Ebook?
You can...
Download here
Vote for it here.
Send it to a friend.
See the previous discussion about the 7Lessons here.
April 15, 2007
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