Teachers Teaching Teachers #239 - Bringing the crises in Japan into our classes: Dave Mammen, Kim Cofino, and Scott Lo -03.16.11

Post-Show description: 

Teaching about the crises in Japan is the focus of this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers. What relevance does the earthquake/ tsunami/ nuclear power catastrophe unfolding in Japan have to our students lives and our curriculum? We suspect that there are many “teachable moments” in the stories coming to us from Japan. But what are they?  What are the lessons we might be learning alongside our students?

Many teachers contributed their thoughts and links in the chat (see below), and four guest joined us in the Skype conversation:

  • To help us answer some of our questions, we invited Dave Mammen to join us. Dave is an urban planner who has worked on disaster recovery efforts in Kobe, Japan and Aceh, Indonesia. He was a Visiting Professor at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI) at Kyoto University and has directed many joint research projects with Japanese government agencies, universities and thinktanks. His research on ten years of recovery efforts in New York after 9/11 will be published later this year in Japanese and English by Fuji Technology Press. Recently Dave answered question on a CNN blog: Lessons from 9/11 will apply to helping earthquake victims in Japan – In the Arena - CNN.com Blogs http://t.co/030uvui.

  • We were also joined by Martha, a senior where Paul Allison teaches, East-West School of International Studies. Martha is not shy about her love of all things Japanese, an affection that only grew after she was able to visit Tokyo on a school trip in the summer of 2009. This was the podcast we did with Martha her Japanese teacher and another student upon their return in the summer of 2009: Teachers Teaching Teachers #161 - 07.29.09 - Summer Special: Submitting Your Own Docs Templates, Japan, and Digital Storytelling.

  • Kim Cofino gave us her perspectives as well. Kim is currently the Technology and Learning Coach at Yokohama International School in Japan. On her blog, Always Learning, Kim writes, "As in all my previous schools, I enjoy working with my colleagues to design authentic and engaging international projects incorporating social networking, blogs, wikis, and podcasts, and whatever comes next!" On the podcast, Kim talked about how difficult it was to write about this crisis, but she found a way. Kim was able to develop some of her thoughts in a post well worth checking out, Two Crises, Many Connections.

  • Our fourth guest, Scott Lo also has a few wonderful places where you can continue to hear his perspectives. It's often a treat to check out Scott's Radio Tokyo, especially these days. Scott's plan "is to make the live recordings of these podcasts on Friday evenings on ds106 Radio." We were delighted to learn from Scott on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers as well!
As is often true in crises like this, a great source for teachers is the Learning Network at the New York Times. On Friday, March 18, 2011, Shannon Doyne and Katherine Schulten collected teaching ideas in a post, Teachers Respond to the Crisis in Japan. What a service they continue to provide!

We encourage you to share your teaching and learning ideas and your questions!

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.


20:38:45 SusanEttenheim: hi martha
20:39:41 Martha: Hi :)
20:42:37 Paul Allison: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/3888518657/open-meeting-to-discuss-te...
20:42:56 Paul Allison: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/teaching-ideas-the-earthqua...
20:43:02 Paul Allison: http://kimcofino.com/
20:43:36 Paul Allison: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/03/13/some-perspective-on-the-japan-earthq...
20:45:03 Martha: Hey Mr. Allison
20:45:18 Paul Allison: http://inthearena.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/12/dave-mammen-lessons-from-911-...
20:45:23 Paul Allison: Hi!
20:46:09 Paul Allison: I'm still getting my coffee together... nervous about all of the different relatievely unfamiliar people who might be coming on tonight. Glad you are here!
20:47:03 Martha: No prob. I have my caffeine too ^____^. lol
20:48:49 Chris Sloan: Hello all.
20:49:03 Martha: Hi
20:54:57 Martha: So... Where is everyone?
21:01:06 SusanEttenheim: let's twitter it
21:05:52 SusanEttenheim: hi gerry welcome!
21:05:59 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:06:11 Gerry: Hi Susan
21:06:12 SusanEttenheim: hi idelia welcome!
21:06:18 SusanEttenheim: what and where do you teach?
21:06:52 ldelia: Hello! I can't stay long. Was just checking in to see what the conversation was about. I'm an elementary school librarian :)
21:07:31 Gerry: I'm actually retired as of Sept 2010, but I spent the last 16 years or so in online education. Teaching online and do instructional design for online
21:07:48 SusanEttenheim: hi gail welcome! please introduce yourself!
21:07:52 SusanEttenheim: welcome gerry
21:07:57 Gerry: I am also a Canadian ADE
21:08:06 SusanEttenheim: glad you came by idelia
21:08:13 SusanEttenheim: feel free to join in!
21:08:18 Gail Desler: Hello. I'm from Calif- teaching in the Elk Grove school dist
21:10:01 Gail Desler: Have been following Kim on Twitter and reading her blog for a long time. Guess I'm not surprized that she was in Japan during the earthquake
21:10:24 SusanEttenheim: gerry - what were you doing in online ed?
21:10:48 Kim Cofino: @Gail Hi Gail
21:11:06 SusanEttenheim: idelia - what state?
21:11:06 Gail Desler: Martha - who also designs comics?
21:11:07 Gerry: Well, I designed courses and taught things like chemistry and info tech
21:11:10 Gail Desler: HI Kim
21:11:19 SusanEttenheim: ah I asked because I'm teaching online with VHS now
21:11:28 Gail Desler: I meant anime,Martha
21:11:40 Gerry: VHS?
21:11:45 SusanEttenheim: Virtual High School
21:11:57 Gerry: Ah, but which one?
21:11:57 SusanEttenheim: were you associated with one school?
21:12:20 Gerry: With the Northern BC Dis Ed School
21:12:35 Gerry: and mostly with the Open Learning Agency and Open School
21:13:51 Gerry: I was also involved in starting TLITE in BC
21:13:52 Gail Desler: Hello Renee
21:14:02 Gail Desler: Hi Andrea
21:14:04 SusanEttenheim: hi renee and andrea welcome!
21:14:11 SusanEttenheim: please introduce yourselves!
21:14:22 Renee: hello
21:14:22 Andrea Zellner: Hello: I'm Andrea from Michigan :)
21:14:39 Gail Desler: Still a lot of concern about the nuclear meltdown!
21:14:47 Renee: I am an elementary teacher in the Bronx. I teach fifth grade.
21:15:06 Renee: I am watching it now on cnn.
21:15:33 SusanEttenheim: hi scottlo! can I skype you in?
21:15:39 Gail Desler: Renee, what are you doing in class right now to address the disaster?
21:15:47 scottlo: skype in to whom?
21:15:58 SusanEttenheim: I will skype you into the call
21:16:06 scottlo: ready
21:16:40 SusanEttenheim: my skype failed
21:16:46 SusanEttenheim: what's your user name?
21:16:59 scottlo: scottloradio on skype
21:17:04 Renee: Well I started by breaking students into different groups, we previewed pictures of the aftermath of the earthquake.
21:18:03 Renee: Then we had a brainstorming and the students wrote what they kew in relation to human loss, hitory and culture, etc.
21:18:41 Renee: Then the groups rotated. Then we read an article. We ahve been keeping track of events using a timeline.
21:18:42 Martha: @Gail, I've always been more drawn to the anime style cartoons than I was to the western styled ones. When I say 'anime' I mean the animated shows that come from Japan like Dragonball Z (My first and always a classic for me), Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, etc. I've always thought those were cooler and more interesting while the american styled ones seemed kind of more random. I hope that kind of answered your question. ^.^
21:18:54 Gail Desler: Am trying to encourage teachers to put aside test prep and scripted lessons and bring this event into the school day.
21:19:43 Dave Mammen: Martha, have you read "Wrong about Japan" by Peter Carey.  It's a wonderful account of a writer-father and his son's visit to Japan.  Highly recommended if you haven't read it yet.
21:19:43 SusanEttenheim: hi suzie - are you available to skype?
21:19:54 Gail Desler: Thanks, Martha. I heard you speak a few months ago - and was - and am still - very impressed with your vision and task commitment
21:20:06 Suzie Boss: Hi Susan--I'm just here for a few minutes--better stick to chat tonight!
21:20:12 SusanEttenheim: ok!
21:20:12 Suzie Boss: but thanks
21:20:16 Gail Desler: Hi Suzie
21:20:24 Suzie Boss: Hi Gail
21:21:15 Renee: I just took a one week course at the Japan Society last summer. We were also learning about cancer. I thought that we could compare and contrast the effects of radiation on Japan form WWII with the current effects of radiation.
21:22:15 Gerry: @susane You are from VHS Florida?
21:22:28 SusanEttenheim: no VHS run out of Mass
21:22:33 SusanEttenheim: but I teach high school in NYC
21:22:42 Gerry: OK
21:23:08 Gail Desler: @Renee, a sad reality that devastating disasters provide so much content for authentic learning.
21:23:12 Gerry: What are you teaching online?
21:23:15 SusanEttenheim: my background is in online community - before teaching
21:23:20 SusanEttenheim: Caribbean Art :)
21:23:34 SusanEttenheim: was your program a district program?
21:23:48 Gerry: No provincial
21:23:52 Renee: Yes. I can hear the discussion now.
21:24:13 Renee: I love to incorporate current events.
21:24:15 SusanEttenheim: ah
21:24:38 Gail Desler: The "transcontinental thing" is pretty amazing, though, no?!
21:27:03 Suzie Boss: Some media literacy resources here: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/media-digital-literacy-essential-all-citize...
21:27:03 SusanEttenheim: what staggering numbers!
21:27:28 SusanEttenheim: hi rachaelb welcome!
21:27:36 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:27:38 Renee: There are also a lot of resources at NYT.
21:28:07 Paul Allison: http://inthearena.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/12/dave-mammen-lessons-from-911-...
21:28:46 Suzie Boss: have to run but look forward to hearing recording later--great topic
21:28:47 RachaelB: Hi all its Rachael in Adelaide, Australia here.
21:29:04 Gail Desler: @suzie boss - I read Renee's white paper following last week's TTT - and keep thinking about the need for teachers to bring current events back into classrooms
21:29:39 SusanEttenheim: welcome rachael!
21:29:40 Gail Desler: Hello Rachel B - Rachel Boyd?
21:29:49 RachaelB: Rachael Bath
21:30:06 Gail Desler: Are you a teacher, Rachel?
21:30:12 Paul Allison: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/03/13/some-perspective-on-the-japan-earthq...
21:30:23 Paul Allison: Hi Rachel.
21:30:47 RachaelB: yes teacher of primary & middle school for 11 years
21:31:05 RachaelB: is there any sound? i dont have anything
21:31:19 SusanEttenheim: yes! edtechtalk A
21:31:27 SusanEttenheim: click on the volume icon
21:32:13 Martha: @Dave I requested the book already. I hope it gets to my library soon. It sounds really interesting.
21:32:59 RachaelB: I'm Back with sound thanks
21:33:09 SusanEttenheim: great
21:34:07 Renee: They probably designed it for the worst case scenario that they could ever imagine. Who could have imagined this??
21:34:36 SusanEttenheim: this all sounds so familiar to what we heard in nyc in 2001
21:35:30 Renee: aboutjapan.society.org there is an interesting article on natural disasters in Japan.
21:35:54 SusanEttenheim: renee can I skype you in?
21:36:02 SusanEttenheim: can you tell us about it?
21:36:51 SusanEttenheim: hi tech_dawn welcome!
21:37:34 Paul Allison: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/teaching-ideas-the-earthqua...
21:38:17 Renee: @ Susan I don't have my headset.
21:38:26 SusanEttenheim: ah ok :)
21:38:31 SusanEttenheim: hi  cstanley
21:38:32 SusanEttenheim: welcome
21:38:36 SusanEttenheim: talking about japan
21:39:15 cstanley: hi-saw your tweet-interesting conversation
21:39:34 SusanEttenheim: hi jessternrays welcome!
21:39:40 SusanEttenheim: hi litnlearn welcome
21:39:50 Kim Cofino: Here's my Japan twitter list: http://twitter.com/#!/mscofino/japan
21:39:52 SusanEttenheim: please introduce yourself! where and what do you teach?
21:39:58 SusanEttenheim: thank you kim!
21:40:01 Gerry: I heard 25%
21:41:18 jessternrays: Hi SusanEttenheim and everyone, I'm a technology trainer teaching secondary 1 and 2 (grades 7 and 8) students.
21:41:32 SusanEttenheim: where jessternrays?
21:41:42 jessternrays: From Singapore.
21:42:00 SusanEttenheim: welcome!
21:42:11 SusanEttenheim: would you like to join in the skype conference?
21:42:14 SusanEttenheim: can I call you in?
21:42:37 cstanley: @jessternrays - welcome-I do the same at a middle school in CT
21:42:58 jessternrays: Japan's Prime Minister's Office official Twitter page (English translation) @JPN_PMO
21:42:59 cstanley: Oh, my, Kim - my heart goes out to you and them.
21:43:22 litnlearn: Hi there. I teach Gr. 4 in Central British Columbia.
21:43:37 jessternrays: Oh, I don't have Skype installed in my school computers. :(
21:43:47 SusanEttenheim: welcome litnlearn
21:43:57 Gerry: @litnlearn I'm from BC as well - FS John
21:44:16 litnlearn: I'm FSJ too - but Fort St. James
21:44:23 Gerry: Ah
21:44:27 SusanEttenheim: phone? can I call you on phone?
21:44:37 jessternrays: Sure.
21:44:46 jessternrays: How do we do that/
21:44:49 SusanEttenheim: you can private messag a number to me
21:45:26 Paul Allison: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/teaching-ideas-the-earthqua...
21:46:50 Renee: Tv Japan is also free on Optimum until Thursday.
21:50:35 SusanEttenheim: hi peggy welcome!
21:51:00 PeggyG: thanks! I'm so sorry I'm late! I didn't want to miss this but had to skype with Australia tonight.
21:51:04 SusanEttenheim: do have connections/have been talking to people in Japan?
21:51:17 SusanEttenheim: glad you could join us!
21:51:26 PeggyG: me too!
21:51:37 Renee: We forget tooo soon!!!
21:51:38 PeggyG: have you shared any links I should know about?
21:52:28 PeggyG: literature can be so therapeutic!
21:53:35 cstanley: I remember a story from years ago by Pearl S. Buck - "The Big Wave." I remember it was a moving story. We used it with our 7th graders, but I can't recall much else.
21:53:57 Gerry: 1906 in San Francisco - should be lots of writings and resources related to that as well
21:53:59 SusanEttenheim: wow that was a classic cstanley - we all read that!
21:54:11 SusanEttenheim: how true gerry!
21:54:28 Paul Allison: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/teaching-ideas-the-earthqua...
21:54:45 Gail Desler: The 4th grade Open Court Reading Series has an excerpt from Pearl Buck's The Big Wave. That has served as an instant unit of practice for a number of teachers this week
21:54:47 cstanley: @Gerry and Susan - some good writing from Jack London about that earthquake, I think.
21:55:15 SusanEttenheim: hi litnlearn - did you get knocked out of the chatroom?
21:55:51 litnlearn: Yes I did.
21:55:59 SusanEttenheim: glad you're back :)
21:56:03 litnlearn: I seem to be having trouble getting audio
21:56:12 SusanEttenheim: click on edtechtalk A
21:56:25 cstanley: @Gail -so glad that the kids were introduced to Pearl S. Buck - moving, compassionate writer. We also used to read "The Frill" -too bad that many of the old classics are falling into oblivion
21:56:26 litnlearn: Tried that. Tried many buttons
21:57:27 Gerry: Shaw in Canada is providing Japanese TV for no charge right now as well.
21:57:52 cstanley: @Peggy -[Kim Cofino] Here's my Japan twitter list: http://twitter.com/#!/ms ¬?¬?¬? no/japan
21:58:05 PeggyG: @litnlearn Try this link and click on Listen in the top menu http://64.94.100.216:8000/
21:58:07 cstanley: That was from Kim Cofino
21:58:19 litnlearn: Thanks
21:58:19 PeggyG: thanks cstanley! you are always on top of things!
22:00:03 PeggyG: is this Scott talking?
22:01:07 SusanEttenheim: scott had to go
22:01:12 PeggyG: ok
22:01:28 SusanEttenheim: i think ;)
22:01:55 cstanley: @Kim - I saw on your twitter feed that they are actually dumping water on the reactors - is that true? When I listened to NPR around 6:00 pm, they were saying it was too dangerous.
22:01:55 PeggyG: I thought I recognized his voice from his radio show this week--very deep and mellow
22:02:19 SusanEttenheim: yes it's dave speaking
22:02:36 Renee: Yes. I have seen video on the news of them dumping water on the reactor. They claim its a last ditch effort.
22:02:44 Gerry: Japan TV was showing either helicopters or planes dumping water on the reactors.
22:02:48 cstanley: Would we in USA do that via the Red Cross here?
22:02:49 Gail Desler: Good luck to you, Kim, as you head back
22:02:56 PeggyG: it seems to futile to give a small donation when billions are needed!! such a helpless feeling!
22:03:23 cstanley: @Peggy G - remember, every little bit helps - stone soup
22:03:31 Renee: Every little you give counts and adds up.
22:03:34 PeggyG: I keep reminding myself about that
22:03:36 SusanEttenheim: hi cgermano24 welcome
22:04:20 cstanley: Please, I missed it. Where is Martha?
22:04:21 PeggyG: good for you Martha!
22:04:31 PeggyG: Paul Allison's student
22:04:47 Paul Allison: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/teaching-ideas-the-earthqua...
22:04:56 cstanley: Martha is still here in NY?
22:05:25 PeggyG: so great to hear from you Kim!! I can't wait to hear the recording to catch what I missed!
22:05:28 Renee: nyt
22:05:29 cgermano24: Thank you sorry I wanted to get home earlier
22:05:55 SusanEttenheim: glad you could stop in and this will be up as a podcast
22:06:04 Kim Cofino: Google Google Japan Crisis Response to find how to donate
22:06:15 cstanley: @Kim - thanks.
22:06:19 Gail Desler: Thank you, everyone. Such an important discussion to continue
22:06:21 PeggyG: thanks so much for hosting this valuable conversation! the personal stories are so important!
22:06:23 Gerry: Thanks folks - Take care Kim, Scott
22:06:24 Renee: Good discussion. Great resources and points of view.
22:06:30 Kim Cofino: Trying to copy and paste the link, but it's not letting me
22:06:38 Renee: good night.
22:06:41 Kim Cofino: But Google has organized a very easy way to donate
22:06:47 PeggyG: you have to click and drag it in Kim
22:06:51 SusanEttenheim: I'm having trouble with that too tonight kim
22:06:52 Paul Allison: @Kim can you put it in a tool bar and drag it in?
22:07:04 SusanEttenheim: peggy it's not dragging tonight for me!
22:07:23 PeggyG: it worked for me earlier
22:07:30 SusanEttenheim: goodnight all and thank you!
22:07:49 PeggyG: thank you all! Susan, maybe you can add the URL to the chat log when you post it?
22:07:51 Martha: It was great talking to you guys. ^.^
22:07:53 Paul Allison: Thanks Kim, Dave, Martha and Scott! All of the different perspectives have me thinking and feeling!
22:07:56 PeggyG: bye Martha
22:08:02 Martha: godd night
22:08:18 PeggyG: http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html
22:08:43 PeggyG: hope that's the right link
22:09:00 Kim Cofino: @PeggyG Yep, that's it, thanks!
22:09:04 Kim Cofino: Why couldn't I do that?
22:09:06 PeggyG: great! thanks!