Paul Allison's Posts - Urgent Evoke2024-03-29T14:18:27ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllisonhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2209185974?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=paulallison&xn_auth=noThe East-West Corner in Kissena Corridor Park Gardenstag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-05-04:4871302:BlogPost:1378202010-05-04T01:30:00.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
In 3010, maybe they will remember that we started a garden in the Southeast corner (bottom left in this photograph) of the Kissena Corridor Park Gardens. They will have a big celebration to mark the 100th year of gardening there.<br></br><br></br><p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2097511012?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" style="width: 545px; height: 229px;"></img></p>
<br></br>Take a look at our videos from the first weeks of this effort:…<a href="../../video/video/listForContributor?screenName=paulallison"><br></br></a><br></br>
In 3010, maybe they will remember that we started a garden in the Southeast corner (bottom left in this photograph) of the Kissena Corridor Park Gardens. They will have a big celebration to mark the 100th year of gardening there.<br/><br/><p style="text-align: left;"><img style="width: 545px; height: 229px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2097511012?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" alt=""/></p>
<br/>Take a look at our videos from the first weeks of this effort:<a href="../../video/video/listForContributor?screenName=paulallison"><br/></a><br/><a href="../../video/video/listForContributor?screenName=paulallison">http://www.urgentevoke.com/video/video/listForContributor?screenName=paulallison</a><br/>
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This work has become such a passion this spring. Some of the other teachers at The East-West School of International Studies have wondered why. And it has to do with how many of the missions in Evoke can be answered in our garden. It's about Social Innovation, Food Security, Water Crisis, Urban Resilience, and Indigenous Knowledge. Because of Evoke, these words have a resonance that bounces from Africa to India to China and Cuba and back to our wonderful community garden in Flushing, Queens.<br/>
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It's also about local knowledge and nature writing. So much! Look at the assignments we are using to write about one gardener's plot <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/ewsis.org/Doc?docid=0ATFHU6ZixhoGZDR6Znc3ZF82MGRiZHNiZGQ4&hl=en">http://docs.google.com/View?id=d4zfw7d_60dbdsbdd8</a>Mass Transit in a Crisis in NYCtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-22:4871302:BlogPost:1005952010-04-22T16:46:30.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
No matter what crisis hits NYC the mass transit system will probably shut down. One of the memories I have from 9/11 is that of people walking everywhere. No matter what the crisis, it will stop mass transit. To be resilient, we need to learn to get places without subways and buses and cars. We need a system of bikes and walking paths and other alternatives.<br/>
No matter what crisis hits NYC the mass transit system will probably shut down. One of the memories I have from 9/11 is that of people walking everywhere. No matter what the crisis, it will stop mass transit. To be resilient, we need to learn to get places without subways and buses and cars. We need a system of bikes and walking paths and other alternatives.<br/>What would have to change if everybody rode their bikes to and from work?tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-22:4871302:BlogPost:1003492010-04-22T12:30:00.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
Here's a map of <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=101325793751382137306.000470319bc363f38c638&ll=40.803415,-73.899879&spn=0.117206,0.220757&t=h&z=12">my daily commute via bike</a>. It may seem a little crazy, and maybe it is just a coincidence of history, but I've been biking or running to and from work ever since 2002. I started running right after 9/11, slowly increasing my distance until I was able to bike or run quickly enough to…
Here's a map of <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=101325793751382137306.000470319bc363f38c638&ll=40.803415,-73.899879&spn=0.117206,0.220757&t=h&z=12">my daily commute via bike</a>. It may seem a little crazy, and maybe it is just a coincidence of history, but I've been biking or running to and from work ever since 2002. I started running right after 9/11, slowly increasing my distance until I was able to bike or run quickly enough to get to and/or from work either on foot or by pedal. Today I went my 13.3 miles in 1hour and 8 minutes, a new record for me.<br/><br/>I wonder how NYC would change if everybody biked.<br/><br/>What a way to start EARTH DAY!tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-21:4871302:BlogPost:985012010-04-21T02:54:02.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
<p>Where will you be when Earth Day starts at Zero Hour - <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/time/gmt-utc-time.html">Greenwich Mean Time</a> (also known as 9 p.m Eastern / 6 p.m. Pacific USA) ?<br></br><br></br>We'll be listening to the <a href="http://earthcast.posterous.com/announcing-the-earthcast-2010-keynote-speaker">2010 Keynote Earthcast speaker</a>, Jason Czarneki at <a href="http://earthbridges.net/live">http://earthbridges.net/live</a>.…</p>
<p>Where will you be when Earth Day starts at Zero Hour - <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/time/gmt-utc-time.html">Greenwich Mean Time</a> (also known as 9 p.m Eastern / 6 p.m. Pacific USA) ?<br/><br/>We'll be listening to the <a href="http://earthcast.posterous.com/announcing-the-earthcast-2010-keynote-speaker">2010 Keynote Earthcast speaker</a>, Jason Czarneki at <a href="http://earthbridges.net/live">http://earthbridges.net/live</a>.</p>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #cccccc; padding-left: 1ex;"><a href="http://www.vermontlaw.edu/x8651.xml">Jason Czarneki</a>, professor of environmental law at Vermont Law School, will be keynoting Earthcast 2010, a live, 24 hour webcastathon starting at 0 GMT on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 (<a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=4&day=22&year=2010&hour=0&min=0&sec=0&p1=0">click here</a> for a time zone conversion to your region of the globe). Jason <a href="http://earthbridges.net/earthcast09-hour1">keynoted Earthcast 2009</a> and will be back to jumpstart Earthcast 2010, this time speaking to the topic of, <span style="font-size: 10pt;">“Climate Policy and U.S.-China Relations.” The theme of the talk is particularly relevant as Jason is currently living and teaching in</span> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Guangzhou, China, north of Hong Kong, on a Fulbright Scholarship. Jason will give a 20-30 minute talk followed by 30 minutes of discussion and questions from the moderators and virtual participants.</span></blockquote>
<div><br/>That will be a tough act to follow, but we'll do our best! Teachers Teaching Teachers will be the second hour of Earthcast 2010:<br/><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #cccccc; padding-left: 1ex;">The Earthcast 2010 is excited to have the <a href="http://teachersteachingteachers.org/">Teachers Teaching Teachers</a> team from <a href="http://edtechtalk.com/TeachersTeachingTeachers">Edtechtalk</a> contribute to the project this coming Thursday at 1:00 GMT (9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific in the USA on Wednesday, April 21). Paul Allison, Susan Ettenheim and company will be talking about school gardens.</blockquote>
<p>And it doesn't end there right after Teachers Teaching Teachers, the <a href="http://gatorradioexperience.blogspot.com/">Gator Radio Experience</a> student broadcasts will take over! Check out the <a href="http://earthbridges.wikispaces.com/Earthcast+2010">Earthcast 2010 Program Guide and Schedule.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://teachersteachingteachers.org/?feed=rss2">Teachers Teaching Teachers</a> will broadcast over our normal channel as well <span class="event-description">at <a href="http://EdTechTalk.com/live">http://EdTechTalk.com/live</a> at 9:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm Pacific USA Wednesdays / 01:00 UTC Thursdays <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timeanddate.com%2Fworldclock%2Ffixedtime.html%3Fmonth%3D8%26amp%3Bday%3D16%26amp%3Byear%3D2007%26amp%3Bhour%3D01%26amp%3Bmin%3D0%26amp%3Bsec%3D0%26amp%3Bp1%3D0&ust=1271817378646000&usg=AFQjCNGd_s8crGuG8x1nmRlmxSuDQPiJYQ" target="_blank">World Times</a></span>.</p>
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<li>One of the things we will be talking about are school gardens! Paul Allison's students at the East-West School of International Studies, Flushing have been tilling the earth this spring. They've been inspired by their play in <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/live">Evoke</a> to change the world, one garden at at time. A couple of student-gardeners will be joining us.</li>
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<li>Susan Ettenheim will also welcome students from the Green Team at her school, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Manhattan.</li>
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<li>We've also invited a teacher who is new to Teachers Teaching Teachers, Elizabeth Kee, a teacher from Lower East Side Prep, also in Manhattan. Elizabeth has been teaching Paul Fleischman's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seedfolks-Joanna-Colter-Books-Fleischman/dp/0064472078">Seedfolks</a> to her mainly Chinese and other ELL students. They've been planting the seeds from this book, and are ready to move to a community garden.<br/> <br/></li>
<li>AND!! We will be joined by Evoke gardeners, <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MicheleBaron?xg_source=activity">Michele Baron</a> from Virginia, and <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PatricioBuenrostroGilhuys">Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuys</a> from Guadalajara, Mexico -- and more!</li>
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What a way to start an EARTH DAY!<br/><br/>Please join us <span class="event-description">at <a href="http://EdTechTalk/live">http://EdTechTalk/live</a> at 9:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm Pacific USA Wednesday / 01:00 UTC Thursday <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timeanddate.com%2Fworldclock%2Ffixedtime.html%3Fmonth%3D8%26amp%3Bday%3D16%26amp%3Byear%3D2007%26amp%3Bhour%3D01%26amp%3Bmin%3D0%26amp%3Bsec%3D0%26amp%3Bp1%3D0&ust=1271817378646000&usg=AFQjCNGd_s8crGuG8x1nmRlmxSuDQPiJYQ" target="_blank">World Times</a></span>.<br/> <br/></div>Day in the Park!tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-07:4871302:BlogPost:834332010-04-07T03:24:54.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
It could be any weekend morning. Everybody is gathered in the park, planting, tending, or harvesting from the community gardens. We are kicking soccer balls, riding bikes, and hitting baseballs, and with each play, a bit of electricity is gathered into thin, large capacity batteries. We take these batteries and put them into lights that allow us to continue playing, planting, and singing late into the night.<br/>
It could be any weekend morning. Everybody is gathered in the park, planting, tending, or harvesting from the community gardens. We are kicking soccer balls, riding bikes, and hitting baseballs, and with each play, a bit of electricity is gathered into thin, large capacity batteries. We take these batteries and put them into lights that allow us to continue playing, planting, and singing late into the night.<br/>Generate Power While Riding a Biketag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-07:4871302:BlogPost:833122010-04-07T00:30:00.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
I would like to invent a power generator that would collect into an electric battery some of the energy produced while riding a bike. It would have to be extremely light-weight, easy to attach to the back tire, and aerodynamic. There are a couple of places to start with this idea.<br></br><br></br>Look closely at this image. This solution has a stationary bike.<br></br><br></br><img src="http://pedalpowergenerator.com/images/ethiopia-dera-pedal-power-generator-humanitarian.gif" style="float: left;"></img> <br></br><br></br>The Pedal Power Generator is <span style="font-style: italic;">almost</span> what I'm envisioning. I would love to…
I would like to invent a power generator that would collect into an electric battery some of the energy produced while riding a bike. It would have to be extremely light-weight, easy to attach to the back tire, and aerodynamic. There are a couple of places to start with this idea.<br/><br/>Look closely at this image. This solution has a stationary bike.<br/><br/><img style="float: left;" src="http://pedalpowergenerator.com/images/ethiopia-dera-pedal-power-generator-humanitarian.gif"/><br/><br/>The Pedal Power Generator is <span style="font-style: italic;">almost</span> what I'm envisioning. I would love to work with a student of in the next couple of weeks to build this and use my bike for it each day. I ride my bike to work each day (see below), and (right now) we could follow the directions on this site, <a href="http://pedalpowergenerator.com/#FREE">PedalPowerGenerator.com</a>, which offers:<br/><blockquote>free videos and plans to make your own pedal power bicycle generator station. Good for powering up your television while watching your favorite show. (Or your radio, cell phone, blender, or laptop, or wheat grinder!)<br/><br/> This power generating system is also great for emergency survival backup generator power. Pedal Power is one of the more reliable and consistent forms of alternative energy because solar panels can get blown away in a storm and only work during the day, and wind turbines only spin when there is wind....</blockquote>
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From this, you can see the parts that we would need to have. The trick would be to get an extra belt to come off of the back wheel, and this belt -- somehow -- would have to connect to a generator that (perhaps?) could be carried in the biker's backpack? There's plenty to work out here.<br/><br/>Other ideas might come from looking at how electricity gets generated in non-battery bike lights like these two different examples: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reelight-Flashing-Compact-Generator-Headlight/dp/B0017GA09W/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i">Reelight SL100 Flashing Compact Generator Bicycle Headlight and Tail Light Set</a> (left) and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Generator-Bicycle-Light-Set/dp/B000AAYBV4">Bell Generator Bicycle Light Set</a> (right).
<br/> <img style="float: right;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41C587WNE3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg"/><br/>
<img style="float: left;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410YZyqcCxL._SL500_AA300_.jpg"/><br/>
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<p>There are many other places for us to find information once we start this journey. Here are two: <a href="http://pilom.com/BicycleElectronics/PedalGen.htm">Pedal Generator Projects</a> and <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Bike-Generator/">Bike Generator</a>. (But everything looks so heavy and stationary.)</p>
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<p>I wonder when this idea will be practical, in that, I'll still be able to get enough speed on my bike AND be able to store electricity in a battery.<br/></p>
<p></p>Students and Teachers Finding our Missions on Evoke: Rachel Smith and Robin - Teachers Teaching Teachers #192 - 03.17.10tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-05:4871302:BlogPost:805372010-04-05T00:47:21.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
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<br></br><a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/RobinClarkjr" target="_blank"><strong>Robin</strong></a> is playing Evoke, and on this podcast he tells us why. Robin is in Paul Allison's English class. He's a tenth Grader at the East-West School for International Studies, and on this episode of <a href="http://teachersteachingteachers.org/?feed=rss2" target="_blank">Teachers Teaching Teachers</a>, Robin talks about his experiences in the first couple of weeks of playing…
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<br/><a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/RobinClarkjr" target="_blank"><strong>Robin</strong></a> is playing Evoke, and on this podcast he tells us why. Robin is in Paul Allison's English class. He's a tenth Grader at the East-West School for International Studies, and on this episode of <a href="http://teachersteachingteachers.org/?feed=rss2" target="_blank">Teachers Teaching Teachers</a>, Robin talks about his experiences in the first couple of weeks of playing <a href="http://blog.urgentevoke.net/2010/01/27/about-the-evoke-game/" target="_blank">Evoke</a>.<br/>
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We are also joined by <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/ChrisWood" target="_blank"><strong>Chris Wood</strong></a>, a student teacher from Queens College, CUNY who is working with Paul this semester.<br/>
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<a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/ninmah" class="fn url"><strong>Ninmah!<br/>
</strong></a> <a href="http://www.nmc.org/user/6778" target="_blank"><strong>Rachel Smith</strong></a> is also playing <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/" target="_blank">Evoke</a> and she joined us to talk about this Alternate-Reality Game (ARG) as well. Rachel Smith is the Vice President, NMC Services <a href="http://www.nmc.org/" target="_blank">the New Media Consortium</a>. In addition to being the lead writer on the Horizon Report, Rachel writes on her <a href="http://ninmah.be/about/" target="_blank">blog</a> that she has<br/>
<blockquote>a hard time explaining what I actually do. Some of it is <a href="http://www.nmc.org/publications" target="_blank">writing</a> (a lot of it, lately, which is not a bad thing). Some of it is drawing, which is pretty cool. I used to doodle in high school and get detention. Now I <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/newmediaconsortium/sets/72157613119672167/" target="_blank">doodle at work</a> and get kudos. Go figure. I also organize things and direct projects and try to be generally helpful.</blockquote>
Rachel wrote an wonderful introduction to Evoke on her blog, "<a href="http://ninmah.be/2010/03/05/urgent-evoke-agent/" title="Permalink to Urgent EVOKE: Agent Ninmah is Born" rel="bookmark" target="_blank">Urgent EVOKE: Agent Ninmah is Born</a>," and she started a Discussion on Evoke, in which she is “<a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/calling-all-teachers" target="_blank">calling all teachers!</a>” to find ways to collaborate:<br/>
<blockquote>There have been many posts in other threads about getting a group of teachers together here on EVOKE. I’d like to pull us together. Here’s my suggestion: 1. In this thread, post who you are <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://edtechtalk.com/sites/edtechtalk.com/files/alchemyjpg.jpg" vspace="10" align="left" hspace="10"/></a>and what you teach — or, if you’re a teacher-type but not actually a teacher, like me, tell us what you do. Tell us also where you’re from! 2. Check out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AfJ0U5QmxNOdZGY4Nms4djhfNjFnaHQ4ZzdnYw&hl=en" target="_blank">google doc</a> that <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topic/listForContributor?user=0k21m6waelahz" target="_blank">happyseaurcin</a> started — it has ideas about how to engage teachers in EVOKE.<br/> 3. Take a look at the wiki (<a href="http://urgentevoke.wikia.com/" target="_blank">http://urgentevoke.wikia.com/</a>) and visit the Calling All Teachers page. Add your name (and a link back to your EVOKE profile, if you like) if you’d like to collaborate. If you have an idea for a project, add it to the brainstorming section.<br/>
Let’s see if we can get traction over the next couple of weeks and maybe pick an idea or two to develop more fully!</blockquote>
<strong>How did we get here?</strong><br/>
At Educon 2.2 in January, Paul Allison had a conversation with Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss shortly after Suzie had interviewed Jane McGonigal for <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010949.html" target="_blank">WorldChanging</a>. It was Suzie’s excited comments that led him to begin to follow her McGonigal’s work and end up at Evoke. In March, several of us in the New York City Writing Project introduced Evoke in our English, Art, and Technology classrooms.<br/>
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We are working together to become mentors for our students as they also play Evoke. We’re all very excited about it, so much so that on a Saturday morning last month, Susan Ettenheim, Chris Wood, Paul Allison and a few others traveled though a cold, rainy wind storm in NYC to meet for three hours, just to play Evoke together, and talk about which parts our students would need more support on and which they could do on their own. It was a lot of fun on that Saturday morning to share some of the stories of a couple of our students who had managed to push themselves onto the <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/page/top-agents" target="_blank">Leaders</a> board already (e.g. <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/0l127n7djz6tw">Hannah Kohn</a>).<br/>
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Our students and we have already learned a lot with Evoke. We love the project prompts and the overall structure of Evoke! Our ultimate goal this semester is to look at other games, and to have students build prototypes of games, as well as mess around with some game building. (Oh, and we’ll be <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/planning-to-plant-a-garden" target="_blank">planting gardens</a> and volunteering for City Harvest too!)<br/>
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Please join us in this ongoing conversation!</strong><br/>
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We want to invite any teachers and students who are playing Evoke themselves and/or using it with their students to listen to this episode (and the next one, TTT #193, which is also about Evoke). We want to get your voice on a future episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers. We do these conversations on Skype. Please let us know when you can join us to talk about Evoke on a Wednesday in April (4/7, 4/14, 4/21 or 4/28) at 9:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm Pacific USA / 01:00 UTC Thursdays World Times. Plan to join us at <a href="http://edtechtalk.com/live" target="_blank">http://edtechtalk.com/live</a> if you want to find our more about Evoke and what were up to this Spring!<br/>
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<p class="rtecenter" align="center">Go to <a href="http://edtechtalk.com/node/4724" target="_blank">EdTechTalk</a> to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.</p>A city teacher learns to eat from local, organic farmstag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-04:4871302:BlogPost:803852010-04-04T20:14:26.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
<blockquote>In order to imagine a meal from the future, I'm going to refer to a list presented by two NYC environmental activists, Anhthu Hoang and James Suvudhi, from <a href="http://www.weact.org/">WE ACT</a>. In the <a href="http://www.manhattantimesnews.com/en/green-times/green-matters/215-green-times/1118-foodnyc-a-blueprint-for-the-citys-food-system.html">March 24, 2010 Green Times (NYC)</a>, they describe their "Top 10" ways for NYC "to reduce GHGs [Green House Gases] and improve the…</blockquote>
<blockquote>In order to imagine a meal from the future, I'm going to refer to a list presented by two NYC environmental activists, Anhthu Hoang and James Suvudhi, from <a href="http://www.weact.org/">WE ACT</a>. In the <a href="http://www.manhattantimesnews.com/en/green-times/green-matters/215-green-times/1118-foodnyc-a-blueprint-for-the-citys-food-system.html">March
24, 2010 Green Times (NYC)</a>, they describe their "Top 10" ways for NYC "to reduce GHGs [Green House Gases] and improve the quality of food for all New Yorkers to combat the growing obesity and diabetes epidemics." Essentially their recommendations "coalesce into knowing your farmer, being fresh, going organic."<br/></blockquote>
<br/>In 2020 I'm still living in Washington Heights on the northern tip of Manhattan, a neighborhood where there are three easily accessed <a href="http://www.manhattantimesnews.com/en/may-7-2009/212-05-07-09-two-new-greenmarkets-may-come-to-washington-heights.html">Green Markets</a><br/><ul>
<li>On Friday mornings in front of Ft. Washington Collegiate Church on the corner of Ft. Washington Avenue and W. 181st Street</li>
<li>On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in the W. 168th Street area, sponsored by the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.</li>
<li>And on Saturdays and Sundays, there's the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/inwood-greenmarket-new-york">Inwood Greenmarket</a> on Isham Street, near where my boys used to play baseball.</li>
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My wife and I enjoy shopping at these markets, and it's more than shopping. We meet our friends there and with the farmers, we keep abreast of the latest local and global environmental news. And what's best to eat at any given time. Over the years the farmers at these markets have become our friends, and they help us to find the freshest organic fruits and vegetables. It's become pretty obvious when it's good to buy particular things from these folks.<br/><br/>Most Sundays after the greenmarkets close, our farming friends and others join us for community dinners. We all pitch in something and we enjoy together. When my sons visit with their children, they say our Sunday dinners remind them of when we used to do this when they were children. But the food is much fresher and tastier than it was back then.<br/>Inspiring things I'm following up ontag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-04:4871302:BlogPost:799422010-04-04T15:08:23.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
<ul>
<li><span class="answer" id="A_23_61281_1">I'm inspired by this challenge because it's a small, but important way to suggest to my students how they can take more ownership of their space on Evoke! -- and that's a<br></br> lesson they can take into other social networking spaces online.<br></br> <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/challenge-the-network-your">http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/challenge-the-network-your…</a></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span id="A_23_61281_1" class="answer">I'm inspired by this challenge because it's a small, but important way to suggest to my students how they can take more ownership of their space on Evoke! -- and that's a<br/> lesson they can take into other social networking spaces online.<br/>
<a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/challenge-the-network-your">http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/challenge-the-network-your</a></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span id="A_23_61282_2" class="answer">There's an important local government (NYC) document in a PDF that linked here: <a href="http://www.manhattantimesnews.com/en/green-times/green-matters/215-green-times/1118-foodnyc-a-blueprint-for-the-citys-food-system.html">http://www.manhattantimesnews.com/en/green-times/green-matters/215-green-times/1118-foodnyc-a-blueprint-for-the-citys-food-system.html</a></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">Just realized that you would need to register to get to the PDF, so here's the paragraph from that article that has the link in it:<br/><br/>Much like clean air or water, access to good food should not be limited to a privileged few. With this fundamental principle in mind, last month
I <img src="http://www.manhattantimesnews.com/images/GreenImages/FoodNYCapple.jpg" alt="Green Apple" style="float: right;" width="171" border="0" height="187"/>released “<a href="http://www.mbpo.org/uploads/foodnyc.pdf">FoodNYC:<br />
A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System</a>,” a single, comprehensive<br />
vision for food policy in our city. The report lays out concrete,<br />
achievable ways to make the city’s food system more sustainable, which,<br />
in the process, can lead to significant improvements in public health<br />
and job creation.<br/><br/><br/></div>
<span id="A_23_61282_2" class="answer"></span><ul>
<li><span id="A_23_61283_3" class="answer">I want to find out more about the theory behind the Safari 7 project: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/happenability/4448538490">http://www.flickr.com/photos/happenability/4448538490</a> and<br/> <a href="http://www.safari7.org">http://www.safari7.org</a></span></li>
</ul>Permission to Propose a Garden - More Research Neededtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-04-02:4871302:BlogPost:695062010-04-02T22:16:08.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
It's a small step, but we are making a proposal to the Community Board in which our school is located to plant a garden in the Community Gardens across the street from our school. I'm doing research into it, but I also have to get the proposal written. Here's what I'm studying now:<br></br>
<a href="http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/partners/greenthumb/school_garden_resource_guide.pdf">A Guide to Resources</a>.<br></br>
<br></br>
I'm also reading, and re-reading Jonathan B. Wallach's and Mariano J.…
It's a small step, but we are making a proposal to the Community Board in which our school is located to plant a garden in the Community Gardens across the street from our school. I'm doing research into it, but I also have to get the proposal written. Here's what I'm studying now:<br/>
<a href="http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/partners/greenthumb/school_garden_resource_guide.pdf">A Guide to Resources</a>.<br/>
<br/>
I'm also reading, and re-reading Jonathan B. Wallach's and Mariano J. Rey's article, "A social economic Analysis of Obesity and Diabetes in New York City," from <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jul/08_0215.htm">Preventing Chronic Disease: July 2009: 08_0215</a>. This article makes me think that "diabesity" (or the path of obesity to diabetes) is an issue that I, as a teacher of many Asian, black, and Hispanic youths can and should be dealing with as part of the question of "food security" in my local community. This is a problem of poverty and a poor food distribution system -- of poor education -- of poverty itself in NYC.<br/>
<br/>
Here are some of my notes on this article:<br/>
<br/>
<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jul/08_0215.htm">Preventing Chronic Disease: July 2009: 08_0215</a><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jul/08_0215.htm"><br/>
</a> <br/>
I'm not sure that obesity fits the issue of "food security," but obesity causes diabetes, which means that this disease is directly related to how people are getting and eating their food, and it is a special problem in New York City as this article makes clear. And diabetes is no minor disease. It is causing a health crisis in our city:<br/>
<blockquote>"The somatic consequences of diabetes — including a greatly increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, blindness, renal failure, and amputations — are well-known and documented. Researchers are now also focusing on its devastating effects on mental health, as diabetic New Yorkers are 1.9 times more likely than nondiabetic residents to suffer from depression, anxiety, and other psychological disorders (6).<br/></blockquote>
<blockquote>"Poorer people are more likely to become obese because of factors such as less healthy nutritional habits (healthy foods tend to be more expensive) and lack of time to exercise."<br/></blockquote>
<br/>
What a clear description this is of of how "diabecitiy" results from the food system that we have in the United States in general, and specifically in NYC.<br/>
<blockquote>"Although the entire city’s adult population has a diabetes prevalence of 12.5%, it is highest among Asians (16.0%), followed by blacks (14.3%), Hispanics (12.3%), and whites (10.8%)."<br/></blockquote>
This is odd, isn't it? So is there something in the genetic code that makes Asians and blacks more likely to get diabetes? Even asking that question is uncomfortable, makes me worried that someone will consider me racists. How can we talk about race and genes?<br/>
<blockquote>"The 31% obesity rate among Hispanic schoolchildren is likely to cause the current 12.3% diabetes prevalence among Hispanic adults to rise in coming years (5,7)."<br/></blockquote>
This is a surprising prediction. Hispanic males are most at risk because the are already more obese than girls and because Hispanics students are getting obese faster than any other group. The problem is bad and getting worse.<br/>
<blockquote>"Because nearly 15% of Asian schoolchildren are obese (3 times the current adult obesity rate), the diabetes rate among Asian adults can be expected to increase as these obese children become adults."<br/></blockquote>
Here, again, the numbers predict a dim future for a particular group of people who are children now. Adult Asians have a 5% obesity rate and a 16% diabetes rate. So when Asian children, who have a 15% obesity rate, does that mean that they will have a 39% rate of diabetes?<br/><br/>Wallach and Rey's article made me eager to read an article in that I might have otherwise passed up in the Manhattan Times, a local, weekly newspaper. At the beginning of March, they started publishing a full, double-page insert called the "Green Times," and in the March 24th issue, there's an short article by a couple of local Upper Manhattan environmental activists (<a href="http://www.weact.org/Home/tabid/162/Default.aspx">WE ACT</a>), Auhthu Hoang and James Suvudhi, "10 Ways to Improve New york City's Food System."<br/><br/>Haong and Suvudhi make the connections between food, disease and the environment very clear in their first sentence: "New York City is eating itself into an obese, diabetic and dangerously hot future." Further, they explain that because New Yorkers eat fast food and highly processed food products we have a "runaway epidemic of obesity and diet-related diseases, such as diabetes and coronary heart disease." <br/><br/>If I hadn't just read the statistical details provided in the Wallach and Rey article, I might have glanced over this and thought that it's just yet another problem that we face in this city. Instead, I'm primed to pay attention to this one health crisis that is getting worse each year, and which we can change if we change our behavior. And change our food system.<br/><br/>I like the way Hoang and Suvudhi break the food system down "into stages of production, processing/packaging, distribution, consumption, and disposal of food." I think this make it obvious why we need more green markets where we can get to know and to buy food from local farmers. There are many other recommendations in the article (which I will link to when it comes online at the <a href="http://www.manhattantimesnews.com/green-times/green-matters.html#">Manhattan Times</a>.) I think we can all do things like: "Purchase locally grown seasonal foods when possible and when it makes sense." Some of the other recommendations are policy proposals, like: "Preserve farmland upstate to produce food for schools."<br/><br/>These articles give me confidence that we can find rich links between health issues, food distribution, and gardening!<br/>
<br/>We're looking to learn about gardening - Any mentors want to help?tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-24:4871302:BlogPost:604382010-03-24T04:00:00.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
<embed allowscriptaccess="never" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="playerMode=embedded" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://youthvoices.net/audio/download/36394/AcademyRants65.mp3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="opaque"></embed>
<p><strong>Questions for our gardening project</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>What's good to grow in Flushing, Queens?</li>
<li>How deep does the soil need to be? How deep is our plot of land?</li>
<li>How long does each item that we want to plant take to grow?</li>
<li>How do we control pests?</li>
<li>What tools do we need? Who can we get them from and where?</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Possible sources for answers</strong></p>
<p>We can interview or do research with or…</p>
<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://youthvoices.net/audio/download/36394/AcademyRants65.mp3" allowscriptaccess="never" quality="best" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" wmode="window" flashvars="playerMode=embedded" width="400" height="27"></embed>
<p><strong>Questions for our gardening project</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>What's good to grow in Flushing, Queens?</li>
<li>How deep does the soil need to be? How deep is our plot of land?</li>
<li>How long does each item that we want to plant take to grow?</li>
<li>How do we control pests?</li>
<li>What tools do we need? Who can we get them from and where?</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Possible sources for answers</strong></p>
<p>We can interview or do research with or at:</p>
<ol>
<li>Parents and relatives who have or have had gardens.</li>
<li>Neighbors or friends who have gardens.</li>
<li>The people who seem to mainly speak Korean in the "Korean Gardens."</li>
<li>The Internet -- and on <a href="../../" title="http://www.urgentevoke.com">http://www.urgentevoke.com</a> (Perhaps we can get a gardening mentor there)</li>
<li>The Queens Library - books and other resources.</li>
</ol>Planning to plant a garden near our schooltag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-23:4871302:BlogPost:572892010-03-23T02:30:00.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
<embed allowscriptaccess="never" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="playerMode=embedded" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://youthvoices.net/audio/download/36318/AcademyRants64.mp3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="opaque"></embed>
<br></br>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4456330314_8f82c8eee1.jpg"></img> <br></br></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br></br></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4456329916_bf549128df.jpg"></img></p>
<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://youthvoices.net/audio/download/36318/AcademyRants64.mp3" allowscriptaccess="never" quality="best" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" wmode="window" flashvars="playerMode=embedded" width="400" height="27"></embed>
<br/>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4456330314_8f82c8eee1.jpg"/> <br/></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br/></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4456329916_bf549128df.jpg"/></p>Still Teaching, Still Learningtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-16:4871302:BlogPost:379022010-03-16T02:00:00.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
When I get Alchemy's call, I'll be working with students at the East-West School of International Studies in Flushing, Queens, where I will have been teaching for the past dozen years. I love this place, especially after the state gave us that waiver from testing, and we eliminated subject areas and age divisions between students. When the call comes in my students, ages 11 - 18, will be working on wall-sized multi-touch screens, the kind that <a href="http://www.perceptivepixel.com/">Jeff…</a>
When I get Alchemy's call, I'll be working with students at the East-West School of International Studies in Flushing, Queens, where I will have been teaching for the past dozen years. I love this place, especially after the state gave us that waiver from testing, and we eliminated subject areas and age divisions between students. When the call comes in my students, ages 11 - 18, will be working on wall-sized multi-touch screens, the kind that <a href="http://www.perceptivepixel.com/">Jeff Han</a> had developed a fifteen or so years before, and that CNN's John King had popularized in the 2008 campaign that brought Barack Obama to the presidency.<br/><br/>I think of the Obama years as I take Alchemy's call on a corner of the wall-sized screen where my students are building a game that controls devices in the community gardens that they maintain all over Queens and into Brooklyn. Obama's administration was when we finally understood that change wouldn't come from the top down, that we would have to work for it community-by-community, almost block-by-block.<br/><br/>"Of course," I answer, "and can I bring twenty or students with me as well?"<br/><br/>"As long a they remain invisible."<br/><br/>"No problem, they are experts at keeping a low profile. The people here in Queens have no idea that the crazy-quilt of community gardens here are maintained by our students."<br/><br/>"Sound like a plan. We could use their help, on rooftops, in abandoned lots, and behind one of those Han screens."<br/><br/>"I see the tickets! We'll ride over to LaGuardia in no time and jump on the jet you've reserved."<br/><br/>"Bring those bikes! You'll need them here." <br/>I spent my whole Saturday morning, today (3/13/2010) working with 5 of the
best educators I know. We're bringing gaming into the classroom. Once Suzie Boss pointed me to Jane McGonigal, I became a fo…tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-14:4871302:BlogPost:351512010-03-14T00:00:00.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
I spent my whole Saturday morning, today (3/13/2010) working with 5 of the<br></br>
best educators I know. We're bringing gaming into the classroom. Once Suzie Boss pointed me to Jane McGonigal, I became a follower. So yeah, can I follow McGonigal for Act1 in Evoke? Why not? After all she says things like this:<br></br><div><br></br><div style="margin-left: 40px;">"In "EVOKE," you're leveling up in world-changing superpowers like creativity and resourcefulness. You're unlocking achievements by completing…</div>
</div>
I spent my whole Saturday morning, today (3/13/2010) working with 5 of the<br/>
best educators I know. We're bringing gaming into the classroom. Once Suzie Boss pointed me to Jane McGonigal, I became a follower. So yeah, can I follow McGonigal for Act1 in Evoke? Why not? After all she says things like this:<br/><div><br/><div style="margin-left: 40px;">"In "EVOKE," you're leveling up in world-changing superpowers like creativity and resourcefulness. You're unlocking achievements by completing real social innovation missions. Even though much of the game material is real and important and serious, you get the motivational push of game dynamics and the rewards and satisfactions of making real progress. Plus, it's a social network, and once you start making friends with other players, there's all the social stickiness that involves."<br/><br/></div>
<a style="font-size: 16px;" href="http://www.asylum.com/2010/02/26/jane-mcgonigal-mmorpg-urgent-evoke-uses-gamers-to-change-the-world"><font size="1">Alternate Reality Game 'EVOKE' Uses Gamers to Change the World - Asylum.com</font></a><br/><br/>In this quote, you can see that
McGonigal is attempting to bring together the power connective powers of social network with the addictive and motivational mechanisms of games. Plus it's all about doing REAL missions, missions in real life.<br/><br/>I'm
still not sure that my students will see the connections between their addictions and the learning/doing/re-wiring that McGonigal is aiming for in Evoke. I'm not sure, but I've been VERY impressed so far with how Evoke feels, and I've been seeing that the gamers in my classroom are the first to "get" this game. I want to learn more about McGonigal now, because it gives me more confidence that she is up to something with Evoke, that it has the power of a massively multiplayer online game and the seriousness of a political action social network.</div>Must change always be rooted in what is known?tag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-07:4871302:BlogPost:213632010-03-07T19:16:51.000ZPaul Allisonhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PaulAllison
<p>I'm learning more about what it means to be a social innovator right now, and in particular what I'm wondering about is: Must change always be rooted in what is known? I was doing the first <a href="http://urgentevoke.com">Evoke</a> mission this blog post was part of my learning for that mission. Both the quote from Dave Tait below and an early "secret" for becoming an effective social innovator ("Innovate on existing platforms.") had me feeling frustrated about the slow wheels of…</p>
<p>I'm learning more about what it means to be a social innovator right now, and in particular what I'm wondering about is: Must change always be rooted in what is known? I was doing the first <a href="http://urgentevoke.com">Evoke</a> mission this blog post was part of my learning for that mission. Both the quote from Dave Tait below and an early "secret" for becoming an effective social innovator ("Innovate on existing platforms.") had me feeling frustrated about the slow wheels of change.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Increase user acceptance</strong>; build on existing platforms, lower costs and beware of radically different ways of doing things.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>David Tait, <a href="http://designinafrica.wordpress.com/">Design in Africa</a>, "<a href="http://designinafrica.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/innovation-in-africa-tips/">Innovation in Africa tips</a>" (10/23/2008)</p>
<p><strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>The quote I chose here is basically saying that you have to do things in ways that the people you are working with will understand and be able to do themselves. You have to embed new ideas and technologies into old patterns and ways of doing things.</p>
<p><br/></p>
<p>I think this is frustrating, because, as a U.S. educator, I think so much of our educational system is broken, unworthy of any attention. Isn't it more effective to make a clean break with the past? Or at least a clean break with the way people have been doing things in recent memory. I think it's possible, for example to attach radical changes in our schools with old traditions that educators are not familiar with, or at least not familiar enough with, like Dewey and other experiments that challenged separating the day into subject areas and dividing children up by age. These are the kinds of things that I would change if I were an effective social innovator in my chosen profession, teaching.</p>