Intrepid Classroom is a place where students of all ages from around the world visit, meet each other, share ideas, and decide what they want to learn from each other. The goal is to focus on the following topics: conflict resolution, global sustainability, peace activism, music and art as agent for social change, technology as a tool for social justice causes, but we are open to any other topics the readers of this blog suggest.We can discuss any topic we feel important here at the Intrepid Classroom. The hope is to create a fluid, organic curriculum that engages all participants.

*Please leave a comment if you wish to be a guest writer for Intrepid Classroom. Students who show a consistent passion ad talent will be asked to be regular presenters.

Anyway, details coming soon on how the Intrepid Classroom will work. In the meantime, this quick note is for my former students: What happened to the labor art poems? We worked so hard on them and I haven’t seen any of the final drafts. The wiki page has a fancy new table and is waiting for your poetry. So pass the word and get your poems posted. I have finished my song, as promised, and will post an mp3 very soon. If you forgot the password it is: truth

Mr.R

What does this photograph make you think of? Write your thoughts, ideas, poems…..

sometimes your screams
manifest into tiny whispers
inaudible even to your self

where once your yelps and barks
filled  empty rooms
now only silence weighs down  your thoughts

it is in this stillness,
where the truth you so heart fully sought
appears.

the darkness may appear all encompassing
but with enough time and patience
even in these shadows
your eyes will once again see,

and your murmurings will
once again
sound like the voice you felt you had lost.

I hope you guys are adjusting and being fair to your new teacher. You have a lot of work to do and this episode shouldn’t stop you from completing the Islam simulation, The Wave, and the independent projects for reading class. I hope to read your final labor poems and watch the progress of your projects in reading. Remember the wiki is still there waiting for the final product. If you truly learned what I have taught you then you will know how important it is that you finish this year on a high note and get the most out of all your classes. My song is done by the way, and I am practicing it everyday. It is the first decent song I have ever written. Stay tuned; it may be posted here soon.

I also want to thank you guys for the maturity you have shown with your comments. I am so proud that you are aware enough to know that what you say and do online is public and has consequences. Just so you know, I am aware of some online chatter about the why and how all of this happened. The details are not important; just know that everything related to this episode has been removed so there is no point in guessing or discussing what it was. Please focus on what is important- your learning. Keep the support coming and deal with you frustration and anger in positive artistic manner.

I think that teachers and students are like mirrors. We constantly face each other and reflect back and forth each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Apparently some of the things I tried to teach you have stuck, as is obvious by your comments. I have taken a list of what you have said to me and now I want to reflect it back to you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can’t express how much your support means to me. I may not be able to comment to you personally, but the Intrepid Classroom is always open.

• You are the best teacher we have ever had.
• You made me look forward to Social Studies and Language Arts, the latter of which I have hated since I moved here.
• I hope that you continue teaching and opening up the minds of other students all over the world
• the only teacher that got me to think.
• u tought us how to think and feel for ourselves u taught us how to look at the world around us and care!
• teacher who taught us with your heart and soul.
• teaching isn’t just your job, it’s your life.
• you taught us about skills that will really help us in the future.
• Language arts was our favorite class
• It was really the only class we had to really think. We didn’t just sit and read text books and memorize useless information.
• Usually I hate LA and SS, but since you came I like LA and SS. You make me love to read and write.
• Now the blog is like one of my life. I love to write on that.
• Mr. R you’ve open my eyes to literature. I really happy that you came in my life as my teacher.
• I just wanted you to know that I enjoyed every second of Humanities..and that’s basically because you were there teaching us. It was new, fun and at the same time..educational.
• Humanities was a class I really looked forward to in the beginning of the day. Global Issues Club was something I became very passionate in. Everything you taught was something new and interesting to learn.
• In my heart..you will always be the inspiring, kind, caring and fun teacher
• i was thinking about how much i love your class, and how i love doing this blogging stuff
• You made Language Arts class more fun, and more interesting. We didnt sit there and read text books, or memorize vocabulary… you taught us about life. And how to educating ourselves is the most important thing. I want you to know that you have taught me alot. And even though you are not teaching at our school anymore, i will always think of you as my teacher
• You even have taught us to teach ourselves. So, yeah, you gave extremely long speeches. But you gave them in a way that really got to us.
• Out of all of my language arts classes ever, I truly and sincerely think I learned the most from yours. You didn’t teach us about grammar and puncuation. You taught us something more important, how to learn, and how to be a better person.
• I’m proud to have been your student and I always boast about how good a teacher you were.
• you always brightened up my day with not so much of english, but more of perceptions of life through art. Although I never liked writing alot, you made me see a different side of writing as to where I could let my thoughts spill out onto a piece of paper and then suddenly you made my thoughts turn into a huge lively botanical garden.
• I thought that you were the best, easy going, fun, expressive teacher I have ever had.
• I look at you as a man who didn’t care about grades but on how we could succeed throughout life, a man who encourages growing awareness on all the world, someone who knows that everyone is ignorant including himself but tries his very best to find out more, a person that strives for cooperation, not competition, and last but not least a man that knows exactly who he wants to influence people
  

  They say that all you need to know you learn when you are young,
  But I believe that thats not true because of all you’ve done
  You’re more than just a teacher, you’re a companion, a friend,
  And the list of all we’ve learned from you never never ends
  You said that when united, accomplish anything, we would,
  You believed in us, you said that with a will, we could
  We’re so glad we got to know you, for however short it was,
  You made a difference in all our lives, like no one ever does
  Intrepid you were, and intrepid we’ll remember you,
  And hope, that maybe, someday, we’ll be intrepid too

This has been an unfortunate experience for us all, but I hope things will settle down and we can get back to the process of learning soon enough.

Here are my closing words:

Since I first met you, in August of last year, there have been several recurring themes that I have tried to teach you. Now that I am not longer there, I hope that you will recall what those ideas were, and try to apply them to your learning. They are not complicated ideas or difficult skills, although people often assume they are. So here is my, “if you only learned a few things from me, this is what I hope you have learned” speech:

1. Education, your education, your learning is not about textbooks, or grades, or these four walls, or GPAs, or honor rolls. It is not about getting into a good college, to get a good job, to have a good life; and it cannot be measured with concepts like success or wealth. Your education is about your curiosity to grow and learn as a human being. It is about finding things you love and nurturing them in everything you do. It is about eradicating ignorance, first from your life, and then from the world around you. Education is about a more sustainable planet, a place that resolves conflicts with reason and logic and love. Education is the light in the darkness and the voice of reason in the face of fear-based ignorance. Education is standing up to the mob and being an individual. Education is not being afraid to be challenged. It is an open and flexible mind- A mind that seeks and explores possibilities with childlike curiosity and passion. A mind that is not satisfied with answers, but only rendering more questions. Education is never bored; it is constantly looking for new experiences from which to learn. Education goes beyond culture, religion, and race. Education is was what true freedom looks like.

2. Words and images are powerful. They have the power to raise awareness; the power to open closed minds. They have the power to demand change and resist oppression. Words and images in poetry, songs, film, novels, comics, and spray painted on subway walls have the power to make people think and act. Words and images are the manifestation of your dreams. Your ideas. Your feelings. Your thoughts all have a role to play in the world. You matter. Coupled with an educated mind, words and images are the only things that will ever change the world. Sometimes words and the ideas they represent will be all you have. They say idealism is a form of stubbornness, but I say idealism is faith in yourself and a better world.

3. Respect, Compassion, Honesty, Responsibility, are not just four words to be ignored and typed up and placed in frames in classrooms around the world. They are the very core of who we should be. No amount of wealth or financial success will ever bring about peace to the world or to yourself. You must learn to see yourself as a part of a bigger whole. You are not the greatest. You are not the best. You are not entitled to things because of your class, nationality, or religion. You are one member of a much larger global community. A world that is rapidly being destroyed by people who think they are entitled to more than their share. Respect, Compassion, Honesty, Responsibility…simple. Can you incorporate those traits into everything you do?

There you have it. I know your young adolescent attention spans are wavering. So let me sum up: Educate yourself. Express yourself. Be kind.

In closing, remember that no matter how much grief I have given you, or how many, “I am disappointed in you lectures” I have spouted off, I am proud of you all and the work you have done. Your blogs are things of beauty; your poetry has made me cry. I am only sad that I will not be able to hear you perform them. To see your growth from children into young adults in a matter of months has been inspiring.

I tell all of my students one thing and I will tell you now- I teach because in your faces I see the  confused fourteen year old that was me, who was simply looking for an adult to trust. I guess as an adult, I am still looking for that person. When really I should understand that there is more to learn from youth than anyplace else. It has been a pleasure learning from you. I miss you already. Remember it doesn’t matter who your teacher is as long as you want to learn.

I wish you all the best. Do me a favor and look up the word intrepid and remember me as such. The school and I have decided that it would be best if I didn’t correspond with you until things settle down a bit. So I will not be commenting on your blogs, (but I will be reading them)  nor will I be involved in the “conversations” that may develop here on Intrepid Classroom. Just know that I will be reading what you have to say. I have given you the tools, now go on- educate yourself…

With regret and sadness. Your friend and teacher,

Jabiz Raisdana

School writing: Assignments by teachers who don’t want to read them, to students who don’t want to write them; a perpetual and unnecessary misery upon which hinges the student’s future, and the teacher’s present, livelihood.

I am curious. What do you think about his idea? How can we teachers teach students to write without resorting to what he calls School Writing?

Tips for Leaving a Good Blog Comment:

The best blogs are truly interactive—with users listening and responding to one another. They are super interesting digital conversations! Highly accomplished commenters are constantly thinking while interacting with others who are leaving comments. They come to the conversation with an open mind, willing to reconsider their own positions—and willing to challenge the notions of others.

Blog commenting requires users to develop the skills that active thinkers bring to any learning experience. Some of the best tips about active thinking have been developed over time by teachers like Kelly Gallagher and Matt Copeland—who have each written books about reading and writing in middle and high schools. They’ve also been developed by an organization called Project CRISS—Creating Independence through Student Owned Strategies.

The following tips for blog commenters are adapted from the collective work of Gallagher, Copeland and Project CRISS:

To be an active blog commenter, start by carefully working your way through the comments that have been left by others. While viewing the comments that have been added by other users, you should:

Gather facts:  Jot down things that are interesting and new to you.

Make Connections:  Relate and compare things you are hearing to things you already know

Ask Questions:  What about the comments that have already been made is confusing to you?  What don’t you understand?  How will you find the answer?  Remember that there will ALWAYS be questions in an active thinker’s mind.

Give Opinions:  Make judgments about what you are viewing and hearing.  Do you agree?  Do you disagree?  Like?  Dislike?  Do you support or oppose anything that you have heard or seen?  Why?

Use the following sentence starters to shape your thoughts and comments while viewing or participating in blog conversations. Comments based on these kinds of statements make blog conversations interactive and engaging.

• This reminds me of…
• This is similar to…
• I wonder…
• I realized…
• I noticed…
• You can relate this to…
• I’d like to know…
• I’m surprised that…
• If I were ________, I would ______________
• If __________ then ___________
• Although it seems…
• I’m not sure that…

While commenting, try to respond directly to other readers. Begin by quoting some part of the comment that you are responding to help other listeners know what it is that has caught your attention. Then, explain your own thinking in a few short sentences. Elaboration is important when you’re trying to make a point. Finally, finish your comment with a question that other listeners can reply to.

Questions help to keep digital conversations going!

When responding to another reader, don’t be afraid to disagree with something that they have said. Challenging the thinking of another reader will help them to reconsider their own thinking—and will force you to explain yours! Just be sure to disagree agreeably—impolite people are rarely influential.

If your thinking gets challenged by another reader in a blog conversation, don’t be offended. Listen to your peers, consider their positions and decide whether or not you agree with them. You might discover that they’ve got good ideas you hadn’t thought about. Either way, be sure to respond—let your challengers know how their ideas have influenced you.

(This post is also a test of our RSS connectivity. If you received this post in your RSS feeder, please stop by and leave a quick note informing me that you have read the post.  I am curious how long it takes from the time I post to the time you read.)