[MWForum]Hello

Jeff Knope mwforum@lists.mathcats.com
Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:06:09 -0800


This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_0004_01C5259B.D6467EF0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Oh, Harvey!!!  Where have you been?  How I've missed your magnificent =
flights of verbal acrobatics!

Nietzsche said, "We hear strange music badly."  I suspect something =
similar going on with respect to EX's backpacks.  We have long =
experience with having just the procedures tab available.  It's at first =
unsettling to have procedures running around in other places.  Seems =
downright untidy.

But as a real-world model, it's an improvement.  It's like being able to =
give each turtle is own DNA, governing it's behavior.  And when one of =
them isn't behaving the way we'd prefer, it's often easier to find where =
the problem lives.

Jeff
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: earlyfire@earthlink.net=20
  To: mwforum@lists.mathcats.com=20
  Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 5:05 PM
  Subject: Re: [MWForum]Hello


  The EX backpacks are so elegant, and are perfect for publishing =
perfected and polished procedures abroad of the classroom and of =
continents! But before one purchases a Stradivarius, and goes to =
Juilliard, one has to earn their way through middle school. Which is a =
roundabout way of saying the overhead required to employ the backpack =
orchestration does indeed detract from the spontaniety, from the =
improvisatorial elasticity of interactive trial-and-error which, after =
all, is the strongest learning opportunity inherent in constructionism. =
In America, where packaging and outer appearance hase become a religion, =
we perceive invariably that far too much effort seems spent on =
engineering a perfect book-cover at the expense of the substance and the =
learning required to refine the thoughts........... =20

  Why not defer allowing the use backpacks until a student's work, =
whether individual or collaborative is brought to high degree of =
finalization, and no more (or few more) experimental revisions are =
necessary.=20

  The good news though, is that I robustly suspect that before long, as =
many of us who are experienced MW teachers, programmers and =
adventurists, cross the river over into the use of the EX platform, that =
this forum will no doubt construct and host a large and elegant library =
of backpackable routines to share in eleven languages and dozens of =
countries.=20

  Stay tune and anticipate such exciting collaborative module authoring. =
It's going to happen!

  Harvey=20



  -----Original Message-----=20
  From: "Burke, Bridget -CKJH"=20
  Sent: Mar 10, 2005 3:53 PM=20
  To: mwforum@lists.mathcats.com=20
  Subject: [MWForum]Hello=20


  I teach junior high MW. I am having a bit of discussion with my =
students on when and how to use the backpacks. I would rather they use =
the procedures tab because the backpack are so time consuming when you =
need to debug a program.

  _______________________________________________ MWForum mailing list =
MWForum@lists.mathcats.com =
http://lists.mathcats.com/mailman/listinfo/mwforum Attachments archived =
at: http://www.mathcats.com/mwforum/attachments.html To unsubscribe or =
for administrative questions contact =
mailto:mwforum-admin@lists.mathcats.com 
------=_NextPart_000_0004_01C5259B.D6467EF0
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2900.2604" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Oh, Harvey!!!&nbsp; Where have you =
been?&nbsp; How=20
I've missed your magnificent&nbsp;flights of verbal =
acrobatics!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Nietzsche said, "We hear strange music=20
badly."&nbsp; I suspect something similar going on with respect to EX's=20
backpacks.&nbsp; We have long experience with having just the procedures =
tab=20
available.&nbsp; It's at first unsettling to have procedures running =
around in=20
other places.&nbsp; Seems downright untidy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>But as a real-world model, it's an=20
improvement.&nbsp; It's like being able to give each turtle is own DNA,=20
governing it's behavior.&nbsp; And when one of them isn't behaving the =
way we'd=20
prefer, it's often&nbsp;easier to find where the problem =
lives.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Jeff</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
  <DIV=20
  style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
  <A title=3Dearlyfire@earthlink.net=20
  href=3D"mailto:earlyfire@earthlink.net">earlyfire@earthlink.net</A> =
</DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=3Dmwforum@lists.mathcats.com=20
  =
href=3D"mailto:mwforum@lists.mathcats.com">mwforum@lists.mathcats.com</A>=
 </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 10, 2005 =
5:05=20
  PM</DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: =
[MWForum]Hello</DIV>
  <DIV><BR></DIV>
  <DIV>The EX backpacks are so elegant, and are perfect for publishing =
perfected=20
  and polished procedures abroad of the classroom and of =
continents!&nbsp;But=20
  before one purchases a Stradivarius, and goes to Juilliard,&nbsp;one =
has to=20
  earn&nbsp;their way&nbsp;through middle school. Which is a roundabout =
way of=20
  saying the overhead required to employ the backpack orchestration does =

  indeed&nbsp;detract from the spontaniety, from the improvisatorial=20
  elasticity&nbsp;of interactive trial-and-error which, after =
all,&nbsp;is the=20
  strongest learning opportunity inherent in constructionism. In =
America, where=20
  packaging and outer appearance hase become a religion,&nbsp;we =
perceive=20
  invariably that&nbsp;far too much effort&nbsp;seems spent on=20
  engineering&nbsp;a perfect&nbsp;book-cover at the expense of&nbsp;the=20
  substance and the learning required to refine the=20
  thoughts...........&nbsp;&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV>Why not&nbsp;defer allowing the use&nbsp;backpacks until a =
student's=20
  work, whether individual or collaborative&nbsp;is brought to high =
degree of=20
  finalization, and&nbsp;no more (or few more)&nbsp;experimental =
revisions are=20
  necessary. </DIV>
  <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV>The good news though, is that I robustly suspect that before =
long, as=20
  many of us who are experienced MW teachers, programmers and =
adventurists,=20
  cross the river over into the use of the EX&nbsp;platform, that this =
forum=20
  will no doubt construct and host a large and elegant&nbsp;library of=20
  backpackable routines to share&nbsp;in&nbsp;eleven languages and =
dozens of=20
  countries. </DIV>
  <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV>Stay tune&nbsp;and anticipate such exciting collaborative module=20
  authoring. It's going to happen!</DIV>
  <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV>Harvey&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV><BR><BR>-----Original Message----- <BR>From: "Burke, Bridget =
-CKJH"=20
  <BRIDGETBU@CKSD.WEDNET.EDU><BR>Sent: Mar 10, 2005 3:53 PM <BR>To:=20
  mwforum@lists.mathcats.com <BR>Subject: [MWForum]Hello=20
  <BR><BR></DIV><ZZZHTML><ZZZHEAD><ZZZMETA http-equiv=3D"Content-Type"=20
  content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dus-ascii"><ZZZMETA content=3D"MSHTML =
6.00.2800.1400"=20
  name=3D"GENERATOR"></ZZZHEAD><ZZZBODY>
  <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><SPAN class=3D302535122-10032005>I =
teach junior=20
  high MW. I am having a bit of discussion with my students on when and =
how to=20
  use the backpacks. I would rather they use the procedures tab because =
the=20
  backpack are so time consuming when you need to debug a=20
  program.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
  <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><SPAN=20
  =
class=3D302535122-10032005></SPAN></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV></ZZZBODY></ZZZHTML>=
_______________________________________________=20
  MWForum mailing list MWForum@lists.mathcats.com=20
  http://lists.mathcats.com/mailman/listinfo/mwforum Attachments =
archived at:=20
  http://www.mathcats.com/mwforum/attachments.html To unsubscribe or for =

  administrative questions contact =
mailto:mwforum-admin@lists.mathcats.com=20
</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_0004_01C5259B.D6467EF0--