I Need My Teachers To Learn - lyrics, video

My friend, and amazing educational technology integration guru, Kevin Honeycutt wrote and recorded a song titled, "I Need My Teachers To Learn."  I have posted about the song before.  As the song has grown in circulation and popularity, one question I am asked often is: "Can we see the lyrics??"  So, I took some time and jotted them down for you:

"I Need My Teachers to Learn" writeen by Kevin Honeycutt

In the 27th Row of her college class,
She was working real hard trying to pass.
She studied all night for the test she took.
But she couldn't use the notes on her own MacBook.
He told them that notecards were the things they needed,
And he wouldn't change his mind, though she begged and pleaded.
The dark red "F" was no surprise as the tears formed in her eyes.
She said,

"Kids are changing, any fool can tell
And the ways that you teach them have to change as well.
You might not like it 'cause we grow up fast,
But prepare us for the future and not your past.
There's not one minute to burn.
I need my teachers to learn."

In detention hall, there's a quiet young man
With his head hung low, phone in his hand.
He's asking his Dad to feed his dog,
'Cause he tried to post a story on his own blog.
He was hoping that people could read his words
'Cause an audience of one seemed a bit absurd.
What ever happened to compromise?
He said, "The school should realize -"

"Kids are changing, any fool can tell
And the ways that you teach them have to change as well.
You might not like it 'cause they grow up fast,
But prepare them for the future and not your past.
There's not one minute to burn.
They need their teachers to learn."

In a third grade room in a tiny town,
There's a blue-eyes girl who's feeling down.
She tried to bring her daddy into show-and-tell.
He was gonna Skype 'em, wish them well.
She showed them all the camera on her mom's netbook
But they wouldn't let her do it on a school network.
The man in camo never called,
He was blocked by a firewall.

"Things are changing, any fool can tell
And the ways that you teach them have to change as well.
You might not like it 'cause they grow up fast,
But prepare them for the future and not your past.
There's not one minute to burn.
They need their teachers to learn.
They need their teachers to learn."

And, if you haven't seen the video:

(tumbleweed)

The wind blows across the dusty road causing dirt to lift from the ground in a cloud.  The cloud rises and falls, swirls and fades off to the left. A solitary figure stands silhouetted against the mountains in the background.  He moseys a few steps forward.  A ray of sunlight falls across his face.  He is... The Blogger! 

I've been away for a few days, hoping I'd transfer pictures to go along with the post.  As it turns out, I don't have the pictures downloaded yet, so you get the text version.

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Last Wednesday and Thursday, I spent the days with Kevin Honeycutt (kevinhoneycutt.org) teaching us about the "wired learner" and about his project called "ArtSnacks" (www.artsnacks.org).  ArtSnacks is a social network for students - to post artwork, writing, music, videos, etc.  It was cool having my mother in the first session and my wife in the second one.

After the first session was over, Shan and the kids and I went to supper at Texas Roadhouse with Lindy, Phoebe, Kevin and Dr. Faber.  We had a great time!  After supper, we had to run to Target and Kevin rode with us back to his hotel room.  He lent his iPad to Emily and Tyler to play with for the night!  He is a VERY cool guy.  Top that off with making me an iPad convert.  I never saw any reason to get an iPod XL, er, iPad.  But, after watching it in the kids' hands, I'm convinced the larger format is actually worth checking out.

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Then, this weekend, Emily had her birthday slumber party.  We had six girls here.  There was laughter, giggling, whispers, and fun.  The girls played games, played with various Barbie dolls, and ate pizza and cupcakes with ice cream.  I was a bad husband and went to bed at midnight, leaving Shan to watch over the late-night shenanigans.  The girls stayed up until about 2am or so, then were wide awake again at 7:30!  They had donuts for breakfast then played some more.  We bought 'fairy princess' craft kits for the girls so they could make their own princesses. 

Had this been a boy's party, the kids would have just glued things on to match the picture.  Since it was girls, they only used certain pieces and parts and then they used markers to color the foam characters any way they wanted.  It was incredibly creative!  I will post pictures eventually, I'm sure! :-)

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Daily Photo (They're Here!)

They're here! Kevin's plays!

Kevin Honeycutt has two plays available on LuLu.com (http://stores.lulu.com/kevinh).  He ordered my book and I wanted to return the favor, plus I've never read a play (that I can remember), so I thought this would be a great way to do both!  Well, they arrived today and I cannot wait to dig into them while riding the exercise bike!

Rockin (er, blues-in') on the iPod

I met Kevin Honeycutt (http://kevinhoneycutt.org) at the TIE (http://tie.k12.ar.us) conference earlier this year.  He is a wild, enthusiastic educator who loves to have fun bringing technology into schools, SHOWING how to use it.

Last night (Thursday), Bob (from Western Co-op in Branch, AR) and I met up with Kevin at a nearby Waffle House.  Kevin had never been to one before and he decided that was where we would eat supper.  The night started out like this:

And when things start out like that, they can only get nuttier.  After supper, we headed back to Kevin's room where he had several iPod Touches, a guitar, amp, and wiring to hook it all together.  Using the "Band" app on the Touch, along with other apps we tried, we managed to pull together a bluesy song and our own rendition of "Wipeout" (appropriate, given how it sounded!)

Kevin is a fan of streaming anything and everything, so he recorded us practicing last night.  Here are the two videos:

The Blues: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2901293

Wipeout: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2900344

We started the night out just trying to figure things out.  We played different songs, letting ourselves get a feel for the software and trying to help Bob and me find rhythm.  It was not easy.  Eventually, though, we were so goofy that we kind of forgot about what we were doing, and things (sorta) came together.  I am hoping to do something similar in a workshop for teachers next summer!  It is going to be a blast!!