My Blog Moleskine.

My blogging practices have evolved a lot lately, especially now that my entire life is structured differently (being in college and all). i’ve been thinking a lot about the purpose of my blog, especially since I made several design improvements over the past few weeks. I thought I’d give a brief outline of how I blog and my thoughts and ideas for the future of the blog, content wise.

How I Blog

During the 3 week intensive workshop in Language and Thinking I took in August as part of my matriculation into Bard College, my instructor had us write, by hand, for five minutes each morning – a free write, no limits, no directions, just write. I enjoyed putting pen to paper, I have never enjoyed it so much in my life. I hand write almost everything these days, from essays to blog posts. I urge you all to try writing freely for five minutes each morning – it helped connect my thoughts with my pen. I have a Moleskine dedicated to blog posts. Not every post I write in the notebook makes it to the blog. Hand writing gives me the opportunity to get all of my ideas out freely, and hand writing makes a great first draft – it is, in my opinoin, much easier to edit my own writing when going from pen and paper to the computer. After I hand-write a rough draft, I type it up directly in Wordpress, and modify specific words, add subsections and images, and check the overall spelling and grammar of the post. When I hand-write, my honest opinion comes out, my exact thoughts. I also try to write my first draft away from the computer, so the post contains my true, honest thoughts (the computer is also really distracting). Whereas when I write on the computer, it feels detached. Blogging has greatly improved my own writing (in and out of school), and I’m willing to bet that it will have the same effect on your writing too.

Future of the Blog

THis is a personal blog, it’s not for tech news and reviews (that’s what my podcast, Nerd News Radio, is for), but it is for content relating to my life. At times, a review of some sort may pop up, only if it has a direct impact on the way I conduct my life. In the future, I see myself writing more about technological philosophy and politics. Now that I am separated from the EduTech program I created in high school, I will probably write less about academic technology, but we’ll see. I also added Skribit, a “blog topic suggestion application,” to the blog, so please, make suggestions!

Conclusion

Now that I started writing by hand, I find it much easier to sit down and focus on writing a blog post without the distractions of the Internet (don’t worry, I still love the Internet, but at times, it needs to be quiet!). I used to hate writing with pen and paper, but today I love it, so give it a try. Please give me suggestions, I want to hear what you think about the blog and what you would like me to write about.

How do you blog?

I’ve been at Bard College for a month now; the Workshop in Language and Thinking is over, and I began my “real” courses last Monday. I went home last weekend to see family, pick up my bike, tennis rackets, and relax. It feels very different having upperclassmen on campus now(they arrived last weekend), Language and Thinking was a lot like high school, everyone had (almost) the same schedule, and studied similar material, but now that courses have started, everyone seems a lot more independent.

L&T was truly amazing – now that the workshop has ended, I appreciate what I learned even more. My teacher was fantastic, and I’m happy to have him as my First Year Seminar teacher, too. He helped me most with my writing and development of ideas. He is also the reason I’m now taking Ancient Greek. During L&T, we read such amazing texts; Hannah Arendt, Aristotle, Samuel Beckett, Susan Sontag, Franz Kafka, Charles Darwin, Prigogine and Stengers, and more. My final essay was surrounded around the question, “Why do we speak?” It was a political analysis of communication and media throughout history. I talked about the idea that speech makes us human, and humans are, by nature, “political animals,” in reference to Aristotle and Arendt. I also talked about Internet Censorship in china, and the importance of sharing our opinions using free new media tools available on the Internet. I touched upon sousveillance, or inverse-surveillance, surveillance as a means of speaking. You can read my essay, but please don’t steal it or use parts of it without my permission. Download it as a PDF.

My class schedule.

I started courses on Monday, Labor Day. Here’s what I’m taking: First Year Seminar, Media and Society, Intro to Philosophy: Philosophical Classics, and Ancient Greek. All of my courses have been great so far, though I have spent a fortune on books, 22 in total. To me, it is strange having most classes only twice a week.

My side of the room.

College has been an overwhelming positive experience, so far. On Friday night, I attended Shabbat services at Beit Shalom Salaam – twenty people showed up, in contrast to the two or three who would show up last year, the upperclassmen tell me. The school just got a new Rabbi, who really wants to reinvigorate Jewish life at Bard. I helped cook dinner, too – we made Challah, lasagna, and salad. I have not yet recorded a new episode of Nerd News Radio, but hopefully I’ll get around to that next weekend.

What was your college experience like?

I’m in college. A little early, but that’s the way Bard College does it. All freshman take a three-week workshop called “Language and Thinking.” So far, being at Bard has been an amazing experience. I love being in such an intellectually stimulating environment. I have an excellent teacher, Thomas Bartscherer, and a great class – everyone seemed to get along, right out of the box. L&T moves fast, and the course started in “the deep end;” no introductions or family histories. The class works, as Thomas said today, no one is sitting it out, everyone is involved.

I have never seen an entire class get along so well, so soon. In fact, the class began by writing for five minutes. Over the past few days, I’ve grown to love free-writing with a pen and paper. It’s nice to be unplugged. In middle and high school, free-writes never had a purpose, they were a filler, and if anything, they were too structured. The campus is so beautiful. Today with some people from my dorm, we went walking around the campus, hiking around, I forgot my camera, but I’ll be sure to make the walk again and take some photos.

My pen. On my paper.

My dorm room is almost all set up, only a few small details to tend to. Bard is great, I’ve been having a good time. I’m happy to have an actual break this weekend, though, I’ve been in “meet new people” mode for 7 days now, need some time for myself (you know, I’m a very quiet almost anti-social person). I’ll keep blogging. Podcast next week Sunday, I hope.

My desk.

Here is the video from my capstone presentation. It’s about 35 minutes, and the audio isn’t great (I was only using the built-in microphone of the video camera). Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Here are the materials associated with my capstone:

• Presentation in PDF Format
• Reflection in PDF Format
• Recommended Technologies Wiki

The Video

Capstone Presentation from Kabren Levinson on Vimeo.

This is a video about a final project for a class I’m taking, “Search for Meaning.” It’s about my soul and how I think the soul creates lenses – it alters my perspective of the world. My vision of my soul, is a falling stream of shards of glass, mirror, and other material. As these shards fall, they form together to create a lens. As you age, you loose and gain shards. Just an idea.

Search for Meaning: Final Project from Kabren Levinson on Vimeo.

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post – and that doesn’t mean that nothing has been happening. In fact, a lot has been happening, in life, in technology, in everything. I’ve been accepted to two colleges in the past week! It’s reassuring, you know, to get into a school or two.

To start this off, spring is right around the corner. I love spring, it’s my favorite season, fall comes next, and summer and winter can fight it out. Everything just feels fresh in spring, metaphorically and literally. But spring isn’t all new beginnings, because, as a student, you’ve still got about a quarter of the year to finish up. So, spring is the earth refreshing itself, but it doesn’t forget what went on. Damn.

My technology program has been going well. I successfully deployed my technology survey around the school – now I am beginning the process of evaluation, going through each one and extracting the data we want right now. What we’re most interested in is laptop ownership around the school, and whether students thought computers were a vital educational resource. The main aspect of my project I’m focusing on now, is a Student Tech Fellows program, which would allow for students to work one-on-one with faculty and staff members on technology, whether it be designing course curricula that employs technology successfully, or simply learning how to set up a projector. Students would be able to get School Service credit for participating in the program, and they’d also have an official title, “Technology Fellow,” they could put on resumes and college applications. I’m designing the “rigorous” selection process for the program, because if it’s too easy to get in, or become a member, it won’t be as successful – we need to make sure people feel like they need to work to accomplish the title of “Technology Fellow.” Things have been going well, I think.

I got accepted to the beta of Aviary, “a suite of web-based applications (RIAs) for people who create. From image editing to typography to music to 3D to video, we have a tool for artists of all genres.” So far I’m impressed that this is all happening on the web. A few weeks ago, when I applied for the beta, I thought that this was like Adobe Creative Suite. So far, these seem to be amazing web applications that are taking the web in another direction. Expect a full review soon. The one bad thing: it seems to be based off M$ .NET ASP architecture junk. Eek.

I’ve missed blogging. I’ll do more.

Photo Credits:
Kabren Levinson
Aviary
visbeek

At my high school, The Cambridge School of Weston, I am creating a technology program for my senior project. Quite a project, eh? At school, I see this initiative more than necessary. The school has been left behind technologically; for example, the main line for Internet is a T1 (1MB up, 1MB down), servicing over 300 people, including 80 boarding students.

Late last month, Dan Coleman, the assistant head of the school, approached me asking if we wanted to talk about technology in the school. Before Dan and I spoke, a teacher had said “Hey, has Dan talked to you yet?,” and a good friend said that Dan would be talking to me to create a technology committee. Well, we started talking. I spoke about how the school is falling behind – it’s so progressive in its academics and the arts, but what happened to technology? I came to the idea that there should be a student-led/created curriculum and a student technology committee. And that’s where it started.

So, this mod, I started working with him in “School Service” on these courses and the committee. But I realized, this should be a whole program, not just a few courses, but an entire program. Since I started working with him, I’ve turned this venture into my Capstone senior project. I am now creating a technology program at my school.

The program is called “tech@csw” . This program will have four components; a Student Information Technology Strategy Team (the ITST), a student-led and created curriculum on technology, partnerships, and special student technology initiatives. Right now I am writing a main proposal (vision, mission, and description) for the project, and several “mini proposals” for the components. The ITST has already met twice and has a Facebook group. Right now I’m designing a website for the program and the team.

Since I began writing this post about a week ago, new things have happened. Instead of overplanning the program, I want to jump into action and get things moving. One of the teachers at the last ITST meeting (yesterday), gave me the idea of leading a faculty seminar on something about technology (probably recording a podcast or setting up a blog, or both). That will (hopefully) happen within the next few weeks. After that, starting sometime in February, I will (hopefully) be teaching my first course, giving the program more credibility and momentum.

I want to hear what you all think. I want your input. This is huge for me. I never thought I’d be doing something like this… Here’s my email address: kabren@kabrenlevinson.com. Please don’t hesitate.

Well, I’m a few days late, but what the hell.

This month is going to be intense, to say the least. My application to Brown University (the only school that doesn’t use the Common App) is due November 1st, which means a lot of things. Currently, I’m working on doing well in school because this “Mod” (like a semester…) ends on Friday. Lots of final projects. Three, to be precise. The next thing I need to do is prepare for the SAT2’s (those are on November 3rd), and write the few essays Brown requires. Then, I’m working on my portfolio which will be comprised of photography, music (I’m getting professionally recorded!), and technology. Usually I love October; the air is fresh and clear. But this year, it’s stressful. In a week, I’ll be less stressed, and in a month, I’ll be even less stressed. After November 3rd or so. Once I get the portfolio done, it’s done. All I need to do for the other colleges is do the essays…

Oh, and I’m speaking at PodCamp Boston 2 this month. Gah. It should be fun, but it’s so much to do…

I’ll keep you up to date.

Kabren

I know…

College applications are tough. Still have a few crucial things I need to do – design my portfolio, and choose what I want in it; write the main essay, the short answer question (for both the Common App, and Brown University’s application), and all the supplemental writing pieces; and get recommendations from teachers.

At school, today is what we call “mid mod”. It is what it sounds like, the middle of the module. Remember, my school breaks the year in to 7 modules that last 4.5 weeks each? Mid mod is actually pretty big, it’s where teachers evaluate your performance, and if you’re not doing well, you’ll get a mid mod (which isn’t so fun). Classes have been good, but stressful. Next mod should be a little bit lighter, but we’ll see. I’m finally getting good ideas out for my senior project, or the Capstone Project. I’m thinking abouto developing a device that fits in with Kelly Dobson’s idea “machine therapy”. Another idea I have is do work with the Holocaust and obtaining Austrian citizenship.

I’ve also fallen behind in podcasting. I completely forgot how demanding school was, and how much more tiresome everything is when you pile college and my capstone project on top of it all. Not to mention that this weekend is the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, which will occupy a lot of my time.

Maybe I’ll try to be around a little more…

Kabren
Email me if you like.

Well, half week actually. Been a while since I posted, and it’s all due to school!

I’ve got interesting classes; Caribbean Writers (an English class), Dimensions of Time (a history, art, science class), and Discrete Math (you take a guess what this one is). So far, I have to say, that Dimensions of Time has been the most engaging class – it’s not boring to sit through, for an hour and a half. Also, the homework assignments are more on the wild side. The first assignment was to design a clock, that could run for 2 minutes in 30 second increments.

The other 2 classes are good, but they’re not the most stimulating classes I’ve taken. Discrete Math is fairly easy to me (or at least for now it is), and Caribbean Writers appears to be a fairly simple English class, we read 2 books and write 2 major papers.

School is very demanding though. Espicially when I also want to keep up with blogging, Powncing, and Podcasting, it gets tough. I find myself on the Internet whenever I can salvage some time. I got too used to being on the Internet too much during the summer.

Well, it’s about time I get ready for school. I hope you all enjoy your day!

Kabren

Well folks, tomorrow I start school again. Senior year. Last year of High School. That year when I apply to college. That year when I do my Capstone Project (Senior Project). That year. Oh boy.

I’m excited for school this year. I have signed up for some great classes, like Dimensions of Time, an arts, history and science class examining, you guessed it, time. (I’ve uploaded my schedule for viewing here. There are some mistakes, but I’ll keep you posted)

Some of you may be asking, “What kind of high school offers classes like Dimensions of Time?” Well, it’s a very progressive school (as you can see from the schedule). We call our teachers by their first names, and instead of semesters or quarters, we have modules. 7 mods a year, so we only take 2 or 3 academic classes at a time. Instead of basing everything off text books and tests, the school really tries to relate with students. The website is www.csw.org, if you’re interested to learn more about it, or email me, I’d love to talk more about it with you.

I don’t really think I need to do anything for school, except finish up summer reading, and continue to work on college applications. I think I’m going to try to clean my room and do all of that “fun” stuff.

Oh, and the website switch is finished! This site is proudly hosted by Media Temple Grid-Service. I’ve had an excellent experience so far, for more, listen to the next episode of Nerd News Radio!

Kabren