Mister Park

I've Moved

2010-06-09T20:16:00.001-07:00

I have moved my blog to http://xmisterparkx.org

Please update your bookmarks and feeds.

Thank you.

Education...There's an App for That

2010-06-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

Perhaps inspired by iTunes, New York City's Department of Education's School of One is customizing education so that, someday, each of New York's 1.1 million students will feel like they have 1.1 million teachers. How is this possible? Well, it starts with the question - how is a bad radio station like the public school system? Freakonomics co-author Steven Dubner answers this question in...

...the latest Freakonomics podcast.

As a teacher, I was immediately intrigued by this idea. One of the buzzwords in our School division these days is DI - Differentiated Instruction. The goal of DI is to accommode each student's learning modality. While this is clearly the ideal, is it ever possible in practice? Can one teacher really provide individualized instruction to 20-25 students? Probably not. Can a school provide customized education to each and every student? I don't know but the School of One seems to think so.

It goes back to the question--how is a bad radio station like the public school system? Basically, they are the same because as a user, you have no control over the content or delivery. If you've ever been on a long road trip and have been forced to listen local radio stations for entertainment, you will relate to this. For every song you enjoy and connect with, you have to suffer through ten that either bore you or aggravate you. And God help you if you don't even like music and so the radio does nothing for you. What then?

Students in the school system are in very much the same situation. Students who attend the public school system have limited choices when it comes to content and delivery. The model for education is still 1 teacher and 20-25 students in a box. The teacher instructs the students in the same traditional subjects. Same old radio, same old songs.

But according to School of One, there's a better way: Customizable education.

Have you ever listened to Pandora Radio? If you're in Canada, this isn't likely. So, maybe you're an iTunes user and you've made use of the Genius to customize your listening experience? For the initiated, Pandora and Genius are two examples of a not-so-new trend of customizable content provider. How do they work? Algorithms.

An algorithm, like I taught my 14 Psychology 20 students in my little box, is a method of finding a solution to a problem. Pandora and the iTunes Genius use algorithms to track your musical taste in order to customize your musical experience. The more you listen and make choices in your music, the more personalized your playlists will become. And so, School of One asks the question, "If we can customize playlists for music listeners, why can't we customize 'playlists' for students?"

The driving force behind School of One are algorithms that track students' learning and learning modalities and subsequently customize their learning on a daily basis. The more students learn and make choices, the more personalized their educational programming, or "playlist", becomes. On the surface, this sounds revolutionary. I'm all for it. I'd love to see a school where students arrive in the morning, log onto their workstations, check their customized learning schedule for the day and then work through the day in their most optimized modality (be it small group instruction, group projects and old-fashioned group direct instruction). But...

I don't know too much about the program, and it is only in the pilot stage (I believe they are piloting it with roughly 200 students and only one subject, math), but I am skeptical about a few things.

First, how do you customize the totality of the school experience? That is, today's technology makes it possible to customize most subjects, but how could School of One accommodate subjects like Phys.Ed, Drama, Art, Music, or Outdoor Education?

And what about role models? I realize that the job of the teacher is changing, and that learning should be and is becoming more and more student-centered but are you able to retain the presence of teachers and coaches as positive role models?

And finally, how accessible is this model? It might work in New York City Schools where they have access to an enormous budget and pervasive infrastructure. Perhaps their technology is sound and dependable. But my experience with technology has taught me that you always need to have a plan B once the power goes out or the network is interrupted.

Personally, I think School of One is a revolutionary idea. Imagine a school system that really and truly centers around the student, addressing his or her personal needs and learning styles. Where a student's educational programming gets fine-tuned with each and every class and test? Imagine how much we could affect achievement.

Finally, isn't it ironic that we've used technology to customize our personal entertainment with an accuracy that is almost eerie, but only now have we even begun to think about how to use it to customize the education of our children?

Well, maybe it's not so ironic.

Overheard in My Classroom

2010-03-23T21:06:00.001-07:00

"Mr. Park, what's your last name?"

What I'm Reading - The Lovely Bones

2010-03-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

After numerous recommendations over the years, I'm finally getting around to reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. This book has been on my 'to-read' list since it was first recommended to me in University many years ago. However, it wasn't until a good friend of mine, Mack, literally placed it in right into my hands that I'm finally getting around to it. I'm about 50 pages into it and already I'm...

hooked. The narrative approach is fresh, original, yet haunting. Alice Sebold writes with a poet's hand--the likes of which I haven't read since Amy Hempel and Denis Johnson. Each sentence isn't just well-crafted, it's tortured over until it is rendered as beautifully as any English sentence I've ever read. I'm torn between wanting to finish it and wanting to savor the language for as long as I can.

Fighting Through the Objective

2010-03-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight I found myself back at CrossFit Regina after a bit of a hiatus. I'd been dragging my ass for the last two weeks and hadn't done much in the way of anything physical.

Basically, it started after Shae and I did the workout known as "Stephen" two weeks ago and it did some damage to my core--my abs, my obliques and my hip flexors were ruined. I was in rough shape for days. In fact, we did the workout on Monday and I didn't even attempt anything until Saturday. And even then, I ...
DNF'ed on that WOD because of my core and my wrist. Following that, I did nothing all this last week. On top of everything else, I've let my paleo diet slide and have been stuffing my gob with chips and pastries and all kinks of other garbage. All of this made me dread the WOD tonight which was:

OPT Chipper (from OPT’s blog 100219)
30 Wall Ball – 20/14lb to 10 feet
80 Double-Unders
20 Bell Swings – 70/55lb
30 Toes to Bar
50 Walking Lunges
50 Pull-ups
20 Burpees

I went into this WOD with low expectations--especially after I discovered that I was going up against BrianB--a real firebreather and one of the fittest guys I know. To my surprise, I actually had the lead for the first half of the WOD (once we got to the pull-up bar, he ran away with it and never looked back).

But what surprised me even more was how hard I worked. I was coming off of a break, still feeling some aches and twinges, living off a diet of garbage and yet I fought my through that WOD like my life depended on it. I can't remember the last time I worked that hard. After I cranked out my last burpee, I felt like I was going to die. I was shaking and panting. I was light-headed and nauseous. My first instinct was to just fall on my back.

But I didn't.

Which brings me to my point. I watched a video a few weeks ago that featured Jason Khalipa in which he says he no longer falls onto his back after WODs like so many CrossFitters do. Indeed, the "crossfit post-wod pose" is not just common, it's almost mandatory. Khalipa explains that he was inspired by Mikko Salo who says in his documentary that he refuses to take to his back after a WOD because it is a sign of defeat.

This really spoke to me and I was totally inspired. I thought, that was a great mental challenge. What a display of mental strength it would be to fight through the urge to sprawl onto the floor after a killer WOD, panting and heaving. What mental toughness it would take to stay on your feet and not get beaten down by the WOD.

Even more than the gung-ho mental toughness this shows, I was actually more drawn to the practicality of this approach. As a soldier, I occasionally find myself enduring some intense physical challenges. And because these physical challenges are often in a tactical situation where there is an enemy, I realistically don't have the option of falling down after it's over and looking at the sky, trying to catch my breath. I have to remain alert because the threat doesn't go away simply because the hard part is over. The enemy doesn't care that I've just ran 400 meters in full fighting order and taken one of their trenches. I have to be able to "fight through the objective" and maintain my presence of mind so that I can secure the area after the fighting is done. I still have to cover my arcs, no matter how messed up I am.

So for me, this toughman-mumbo-jumbo actually has a real-life application. And I'm willing to bet it does for you, too. Maybe you're a soldier like me, or a police officer or a firefighter, who must be prepared to fight through physical adversity but still maintain clarity even after the ordeal is over. Or maybe you play a sports team and you need to be focused and alert as your game goes into overtime. Or maybe you just a mother or father or wife or husband who needs to be awake and available for your family after a long, hard day.

Anyways, these were the thoughts that went through my head as I stumbled around CFR tonight after that beast of a WOD.

My time: 15:53.

Social Media

2010-02-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

Like most people, I belong to a social media landscape, I text, blog, twitter, search youtube, use wikipedia, shop online, etc but I haven't really delved into it as deeply as I could have. Lately, however, I have been reflecting on it more and more. My deepening interest might be because it's becoming more pervasive as technology becomes more and more prevalent. Or it might be because I started teaching a senior level computer class this semester and I've been guiding them through the world of social media. Either way, I've found myself swimming (almost drowning sometimes) in social media.

What is social media? Well, here's ...
a video that explains it much better than I ever could. Plus the music is really good.

I just thought I'd take this time to briefly describe some of the tools that I've been toying with lately and hopefully get some feedback from you, my loyal reader.

Twitter - The biggest and most well-known microblogging site, Twitter is a social networking service that allows you connect with others and share updates, ideas, thoughts through short, 140 word messages known as 'tweets'. I was skeptical at first--I thought it was trivial and shallow. I mean, do I really care what my co-workers had for breakfast?

And for the most part, tweets are mundane. However, you will just as often discover useful links to websites, tools, articles, etc. that you would never have been able to find using traditional means. For example, I sent out a tweet asking if anyone had any ideas for a social media project for my computer class and within a few minutes, I was directed to an amazing site that had over a hundred ideas for a project. Of course, this aspect can only become more and more powerful as my network gets bigger.

In any case, if you are already using Facebook, then you would still appreciate the frequent updates on the lives of people you know and care about. It can be interesting and you actually learn things about people that you never would have otherwise.

Delicious - Delicious is a social bookmarking site used to store, share, and discover websites. Basically, it's a means by which you can store your web bookmarks and access them from any computer that has a connection to the Internet.

To me, this was revolutionary. I was always frustrated with the fact that I had hundreds of bookmarks but they were saved on just as many computers (home, laptop, school, militia, my mom's, etc.). If I had bookmarked a really cool site while visiting my mom, for example, the only place I could find that bookmark would be on her computer. With delicious, however, I can simply sign in and add it to my delicious account. Now, it doesn't matter where I am, I can sign in to delicious and access all of my bookmarks. Plus, with tagging, I can organize them by topic and interest. AND, because it's a SOCIAL bookmarking service, you can build a network by following other people's bookmarks. This is useful because if you follow people with similar interests, you can share and discover bookmarks of interest to you that you may not have discovered otherwise.

StumbleUpon - StumbleUpon is similar to Delicious in that it is a service that allows you to store and share bookmarks. However, the primary purpose of StumbleUpon is discovery. That is, using the Stumble button, you are taken to a seemingly random website on the web. It is not so random, however, because StumbleUpon users rate websites and so you can expect quality websites. You have the option of 'liking' or 'not liking' the websites you stumbleupon and this information is tracked so that over time, StumbleUpon will focus on websites that it determines you might be interested in. You can filter by topic and interest as well. For this reason, Stumbling is not just a fun way to pass the time--it can be a great way to discover, store, and share quality web content.

Anyways, these are just a couple of social media tools that I have been using in the last few months. Are you using them? Are you thinking of trying them? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

http://twitter.com/xmisterparkx
http://delicious.com/xmisterparkx
http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/xmisterparkx/

The Worst Day Since Yesterday

2010-01-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow's WOD on CFR made me think of this song. Actually, most CrossFit WODs make me think of this song.

Overheard in My Classroom

2010-01-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

Student: "If you're in an airplane, and there's an earthquake, does the plane shake, too?"

Mr. Park: "...."

Box Lunch - Before and After

2010-01-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

Anyone who is trying to eat clean or paleo faces all sorts of challenges--situations where you have little or no control over what you can eat. This is one of mine.

I am a soldier so I often have to eat military food while I am on duty. This is a typical Canadian Forces box lunch. It's one of the many ways that the CF feeds its soldiers. It's based on the typical North American approach to "lunch". You can almost always count on ...
a couple of sandwiches, some sort of salad, a snack, a drink, some milk, a piece of fruit, and some sort of treat.

This particular one has most of those elements including a tuna salad sandwich, a ham sandwich, a potato salad, some pretzels, grape cocktail, 1% milk, and an orange. Luckily for me, there was no treat because it usually consists of some sort of baked good like a brownie or a nanaimo bar. Oh, and there was mustard.

Anyways, I stripped it down and I was only able to eat the ham (with the mustard), the lettuce, and the orange.

Luckily, I knew what to expect so I had some foresight and packed some soup and some other paleo-friendly snacks. If I hadn't, I would've went hungry.

The lesson? If you think ahead and you know you're going to be in a situation where there are little or no paleo options, you can always prepare as long as its socially acceptable (I wouldn't advise packing a paleo-lunch if you're having dinner at your mother's--she might not appreciate what you're doing).

Next weekend, we will be spending a night or two in the field. Typically, we subsist on field rations which are heavy in carbs, starches, sugars and a whole host of other garbage. I'm already brainstorming my options.

I'll let you know how it goes.

One Week

2010-01-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

It's been one week eating paleo. And from what I've read and heard, I expected to feel lethargic, dizzy, unfocused, etc. until my body adjusted to the new diet of meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit. Actually, it was the dairy, grains, sugar, and caffeine that my body wasn't getting that I thought would cause me the most headaches.

But....
I feel great. I feel awake, alert, energetic, strong, and happy.

At first, I was surprised. I quit smoking almost ten years ago and it was an excruciating experience. That's what I was expecting this time. I equated the cessation of grains, dairy, and sugar with the cessation of nicotine. But it wasn't like that at all. I chalk this up to a few other factors.

First and foremost, in addition to eating like a caveman, I've been sleeping like a caveman. I crawl into my completely dark and slightly cool cave where I've been getting between 8 and 9 hours a night--basically an extra 3 hours a night. I think that alone has done wonders for my overall health and mood.

Furthermore, I've been supplementing my diet with fish oil (9g a day) and vitamin D (2,000 IU a day). I've been taking fish oil for quite a while now but I ramped it up after listening to Robb Wolf and I learned that the capsules I was taking didn't offer near enough omega-3s. I've never taken vitamin D before but the first day that I did, I notice a remarkable difference. Living where we do, we don't get enough vitamin D (because we get it from the sun). Our northern latitude and temperate climate deprives us of a good deal of it. But supplementing it has really boosted my mood. It says a lot about how important it is to get sun. I think it's the reason why we're in such better moods in the summer. I guess in a way, the vitamin D makes my body think that it's summer. Feels great.

But I think one of the other big reasons why the transitions hasn't been so hard is that overall, my diet over the last year or so wasn't all that bad. Sure, I have some vices--mainly coffee and the occasional pastry, not to mention my love of nacho chips and spinach dip--but overall, I was eating a paleo/zonish diet. Meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit have been the staples of my diet and I rarely had pasta, rice, or bread. So, in effect, I just had to cut out the coffee, the pastries, and the snacks.

All in all, I feel great. I don't know if I have enough adjectives to describe how it feels to live like a caveman. I've been getting tons of sleep, eating paleo, and hitting the CrossFit wods hard and I feel great.

Darkness there, and nothing more.

2010-01-04T21:21:00.001-08:00

This is a photo I took of my bedroom this afternoon.

No, really.

In the foreground, is my bed, neatly made. Just to the left is my laundry hamper. And on my nightstand, you will find a copy of Lights Out, the book that motivated me to ...
completely black out my room.

I've taken the lessons out of T.S. Wiley's book, as well as Robb Wolf's podcasts, and made my bedroom completely dark in the hopes that I can get a better night's sleep.

I used black duct tape and taped black bristleboard over the window (I'm lucky in that my bedroom window is actually quite small). Once the drape was back in place, you could hardly notice it.

I've also unplugged my alarm clock and instead I use my cell phone as my alarm. Further to that, I set it to 'airplane mode' so that I don't get unexpected and unwelcome texts in the middle of the night or early morning. Then, I close the door, and what you see is--in the words of Poe's "The Raven"--"darkness there, and nothing more."

I've slept one night in my newly darkened room and it was a near-perfect success. I slept more soundly than I have in recent memory and it would've been perfect...if my bladder hadn't woken me up at 3:30. Other than that, I got nearly nine hours sleep last night.

As an aside, I've also started taking vitamin D in addition to trying to get more sleep. Again, all of this is an effort to compensate for living in the northern hemisphere which robs of us sunlight and being a light bulb-and-electronics-loving society that robs us of sleep at night.

So far, so good. I feel well rested today, more so than I have in months. And I was able to make it through work today without feeling drowsy.

But now it's time for bed. Good night.

What I'm Reading - Lights Out

2010-01-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working my way through Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival by T.S. Wiley. I was turned onto the book via Robb Wolf's blog and I was interested immediately. Partly because I've heard some chattering around CFR among those training for the games about getting more sleep and I know the crossfit literature that says that sleep is one of the most important 'inputs' (along with food and water) that goes into your body that ensures quality 'output'. But mainly because I'm chronically sleep deprived--I'm lucky to get 6 hours a night, on average--I really wanted to read up on sleep.

Anyways, in my ongoing attempt to improve my lifestyle, I marched (well, drove) down the Moose Jaw Public Library and checked it out. I wanted to learn more about sleep. According to the jacket description, our sleep patterns are tied to the daily and yearly rhythm between the earth and the sun and we've gone and messed that up by discovering fire and inventing the light bulb. Who knew?

Anyways, I'm about half way through it and despite being a little put off by the overt feminism and the apocalyptic preachiness, I'm finding it very interesting and insightful. I'll hold off until I've finished to write up my complete reaction but just in a nutshell, the book has taught me that not getting enough sleep is likely the main cause of our systemic ill-health, more so than diet and inactivity.

It's quite the eye-opener.

Going Caveman

2010-01-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

Most of you, or should I say both or you, that read this will already know that I belong to a little gym called CrossFit Regina where I am both a member as well as a part-time trainer. CFR is promoting a New Year's Challenge of sorts. They are challenging their members to make a change in their lifestyle for the month of January. I thought I would take advantage of this and attempt my own challenge--the Caveman Challenge. In other words, I'm going to go "caveman" for the month of January.

What does this mean? Well, it simply means that I'm going to align my lifestyle with that of paleolithic man. I'm going eat, sleep, and move like my paleolithic ancestors did.

EAT -I'm going to follow the paleolithic diet according to Robb Wolf as closely as I can. This means lots of meat and fish, vegetables, some fruit as well as some nuts and seeds. I'm going to cut out grains, dairy, sugar, and all of the other non-paleo foods out of my diet. This also means taking fish oil each day. I'm going to make sure I drink more water each day. I may also engage in some intermittent fasting once I learn more about it.

SLEEP - I'm going to attempt to get 9+ hours of sleep a night. Now, this might be the hardest part for me as I am something of a night owl. I rarely get to sleep before midnight even on school nights. But I'm halfway through Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival and I'm already convinced that getting more sleep just might be the most important factor in improving my overall health. I'm definitely going to try and put myself to bed earlier. Paleolithic man rose and slept according to the sun and so will I.

MOVE -I'm going to engage in intermittent, intense physical activity much like my hunting and gathering forefathers did thousands of years ago. For cavemen, this meant long walks foraging for food interspersed with intense hunts and frantic fleeing from predators. For me, this means CrossFit. Traditionally, I followed the 3-on, 1-off cycle recommended by Crossfit.com. However, I might experiment with a more random, intermittent cycle.

Of course, I can't really call this a challenge or an experiment without some measurements or benchmarks. I've taken a cue from Robb Wolf (again) and his recommendations for a "Spring Leaning" challenge as well as CFR's paleo challenge from last fall.

PERFORMANCE - First, either today or tomorrow, I am going to do a CrossFit benchmark of some sort. This idea I'm taking from CFR. After 30 days, I will do it again and see if there is a significant change in performance. This is the real determining factor for me because that's where it really counts. I will never be an underwear model--I am a soldier. So for me, my physical fitness, my work capacity, and my ability to perform when it counts is what counts. However...

APPEARANCE - Second, taking a cue from Robb Wolf, my girlfriend and I took some before pictures of each other from the front, rear, and profile. I was wearing my swim trunks and she was wearing shorts and sports bra. After 30 days, we will take some after pictures and see if there are any changes in our body composition and appearance. I like this approach because that's the real reason most engage in lifestyle changes--to look better. So, while my main interest is in physical fitness and work capacity, there is that vain side of me that just wants to look good in board shorts.

That's the gist of it. Quite simply, I'm going to eat, sleep, and move like a caveman for the next 30 days. I won't bore you with the details--at least now. When I have a few minutes, relaxing in my cave, I'll scrawl something on the wall and keep you posted.

Grrr...

Hunter-Gatherer

2009-12-31T12:34:00.001-08:00

What should I eat? Good question. Over the years, I've found the following answers…

A Low-Carb diet, a Low-fat diet the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, a liquid diet, the grapefruit diet, G.I. diet, Abs diet, lemonade diet, the cabbage soup diet, the amputation diet (no, really), Weight Watchers, The Master Cleanser, Fasting, and the Zone Diet. And these were just off the top of my head.

Shortly after getting into CrossFit a few years ago, I discovered another possible answer – the Caveman diet, sometimes known as the hunter-gatherer diet, the Neanderthal diet, but most commonly known as the Paleo Diet. Basically, it answers the question - what did cavemen eat? Well, they ate meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit.

Of all the possible diets or nutrition plans that I've read about over the years (and paid good money to do so), the paleo diet makes the most sense. The basic theory behind the paleo diet is our genetic make-up has not evolved quickly enough to handle our modern diet of agricultural, processed foods. Proponents of the paleo diet advise us to eat more like our cavemen ancestors – meat, fish, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit.

Basically, if you can't eat it in lest than an hour after killing it or picking it, then you shouldn't be eating it. In other words, if it doesn't grow, or eat things that grow, then don't eat it.

After years of scientists and nutritionists addling my brain with research and scientific jargon, the paleo diet is a refreshing dose of simple common sense. What is the best food for me to eat? How about the food that my caveman ancestors were eating after they dragged themselves out of the primordial oceans?

I think that's why it appeals to me. There is something beautifully primal about it. It's the diet that the wild man inside each of us wants to eat.

Grrr…

What I'm Reading - Under the Dome

2009-12-31T00:01:00.000-08:00

The last time I read a Stephen King book I was in high school, after which, I went to university to study English where my head swelled up and I became too good for King. Reading canonical poetry and fiction made me forget the sheer joy and excitement that a good King novel or short story brought me. And despite reading an article by Mordecai Richler that described King as "the most underrated writer in the world because he is so popular", I've shied away from King for almost twenty years.

Anyways, I haven't been reading as much as I'd like to be lately. "Lately" understates the time frame...I've been unhappy with my reading for years now. I blame the allure of the Internet. But I digress. The books on my "to read" shelf have been piling up for a while and the bigger the pile became, my motivation to read dwindled. I needed something to kickstart me. I needed something to rekindle my love of reading. So, remembering the thrill and connection that I had with some of King's epic novels of the 80s (The Stand, It), I thought his latest book would do the trick.

Under the Dome really spoke to me. The premise of a small town being suddenly and mysteriously trapped under a dome has so many possibilities, especially in the hands of a writer like King. I know from the outset that there will be a fast-paced plot with twists and turns, a large cast of interesting characters, tension, action, and, of course, terror. I know that King will explore the premise and take it to it's most unnerving conclusions.

I'll be back as soon as I can to write a review of Under the Dome but at over 1,000 pages, it might be a few weeks. Be patient.

I'll leave you with something new. Something that I've never seen before but I find interesting--a trailer...for a book. I find it interesting because it's no secret that the book industry is flailing and it seems they are making a monumental effort to promote books. I guess it was inevitable that they use youtube and viral marketing to its advantage. Whatever it is, it's actually kinda cool.

Watch:

Once again...

2009-12-30T20:27:00.001-08:00

It's time to get back down to business.

This is the latest in a long line of attempts to create and maintain a personal blog. I really struggled with the last one because I was paying for a domain name and using a platform that was way beyond my capabilities. I've decided to return to blogspot because it's free and user-friendly and it's all that a casual blogger like me needs.

Anyways, I'll be writing about anything that interests me and moves me to write. In that sense, it'll be a moving target in terms of content. I imagine most of it will be my thoughts on CrossFit which will include my daily workouts. However, the CrossFit will be interspersed with my thoughts on education and the military as well as books, movies, television, politics, and any one of my many interests.

Having said all of that, I hope you enjoy it and I hope you can leave a comment or two.