Tinkerings

Last weekend I traveled to Nashville, TN, to see two rock legends, Elton John and Billy Joel, in their Face 2 Face tour. While I kept all my Twitter and Facebook friends updated on a nearly minute-by-minute basis before, during, and after the concert, it dawned on me that I had not posted a follow-up on my blog for those who are not connected to me there.

The concert was scheduled to begin at 7:30, so naturally I arrived around 6:30 to find my seat. Before going into the stadium, I walked down Broadway and found a hotdog vendor. For $3 I had one of the best brat dogs I’ve tasted in a long time. After eating, I went into the stadium to find that pesky seat.

I had a great location just 8 rows up from the main floor almost directly behind the sound booth. While other seats filled up all around me, my entire row remained empty until well into the concert. That meant, of course, I would be bobbing up and down several times during the concert to let these late comers in. But it was a small price to pay to sit on the aisle and be able to stretch my legs whenever I wanted.

The concert was everything I had hoped for and more. It was nearly 4 hours of non-stop ballads and rockers. There was nearly an hour of both men on stage. They began with just the two pianos rising from underneath the stage. Their first song was Yellow Brick Road. As the songs progressed, more and more band members came onto the stage. At one point the lights went out for about 30 seconds. When they came back up again, Billy Joel’s piano had disappeared and Elton was left on stage to do another hour by himself. One hit after another rolled off the stage. For all his early days of flamboyant stage craft, Elton still knows how to put on a show.

When we hit the 2 hour mark, the stage shifted again. Elton’s piano was gone and Billy was back on stage. Dressed in a suit and tie, Billy Joel was very business like. He cranked out one fantastic song after another. At one point he got up and played guitar. At another he was throwing and twirling his microphone stand around like a heavy metal rock god. After putting the crowd into a tizzy, the lights went black and Elton was back on stage in a matter of seconds.

The last hour saw the two of them crank out some of the biggest rock numbers of the night. Both Elton’s and Billy’s bands were on stage at the same time. Both men were improvising piano riffs like crazy. Songs that played for 4 or 5 minutes on the radio now took 10 or 12.

Like the end of a good cardio, the songs started to slow down a bit and band members began to leave the stage. At the end, it was just the two of them again. Their final song was Piano Man. It was like they had planned the night just for me. The two songs I really wanted to hear were played first and last.

The only song I missed that I really wanted to hear was Joel’s, “She’s Got a Way About Her.” It is one of his best love ballads. I can’t really complain though. With these two guys, they could have played for 4 days and something would have still been missing.

I took some pictures and put them to music. I hope you enjoy them.

It isn’t often that you can actually say something is the “chance of a lifetime.”  In fact, the average person might be able to capture all those chances on the fingers of one or two hands.  Well, today is one of those days for me.

Tonight I am going to Nashville to see Elton John and Billy Joel’s Face 2 Face concert at the Sommet Center.  You say, hey, Tim, its just a concert.  That may be true, but it is something more for me.  Let me explain.

When I was high school my big rock star brother, Steve (did I mention he was on American Bandstand and Solid Gold?), gave me an 8-track tape of Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.  Every single song on that tape was absolutely awesome.  I listened to it over and over and over.  It was my very first 8-track, and the last I threw away.

Later, my uncle Don started me listening to really good music.  Among those groups and solo stars was Elton John.  He turned me on to Honky Cat and other fantastic early albums.  On my own I discovered my absolute favorite: 11-17-70.  That album is just Elton and two others performing live in a radio studio.  I’ve never heard Take Me To The Captain performed any better.

I discovered Billy Joel in high school as well.  His first big hit was Piano Man.  It captivated my soul with its raw storytelling.  Sometimes it would make me think of my brother out there playing in bars and small venues, talking to the regulars, and playing requests all night.  I will never forget standing at Steve’s piano in a bar in Atlanta surrounded by people who were obviously a little too happy to drive.  Someone requested “I’ll Fly Away” from our church’s hymnal.  Everyone in the bar started singing.  It said a lot to me that these people would create their own church in this bar.  Perhaps the bar is a more forgiving, tolerant place.

But I digress.

While in high school, I would work nights alongside my dad molding little rubber parts for the machines used in the wire industry (my dad’s background).  We would turn on the radio to keep us company and he let me choose the station.  (Funny how I forgot that until just now.  How many times have I refused the same gesture to my own kids? Hmmm.)  The light rock station playing would do two songs every night.  One was Piano Man.  The other was Cat’s in the Cradle.  Both made dad and I think about Steve.

So, the opportunity to see these two performers on one stage is more than just a little exciting for me.  At 50, I find myself thinking a lot about high school days, family relationships, kids, marriage, divorce, settling down, and moving on.  I guess I hope Elton and Billy can give me some clarity.  If nothing else, they will give me a great show.  A once in a lifetime show for me.

Everyone has an idea of what the future holds for education.  Not all of them are in alignment with each other. Some see longer days (perhaps weeks) in the classroom, while others are claiming to have visions of shorter days and more asynchronous online learning.  Some see an expansion of state testing into national testing (can I get a show of hands?) while others foresee a time when standardized testing is scrapped for a more vigorous, and costly, project-based assessment.  Visions of the future run the gamut of ideas.

But there is one idea I believe will eventually happen.  I’ve looked into my own crystal ball for this one.  See if you agree.

I believe that textbook companies will eventually scrap the idea of paper books for online versions, and that schools will be required to give students the tools they need to utilize them both in and out of school.  These textbooks could be available on the Kindle, via a secure website, or even on an iPod.

Why do I believe this will happen?  Simple.  Printed textbooks are the worst books on the planet for ease of readability.  An online version could be made to be much more robust, engaging, and student oriented.

Follow me here.

Open any social studies, science, math, grammar, or reading textbook.  You see lots of words.  Lots and lots of words.  Some are bold.  Some are different colors. They are all spread out with pictures, charts, and tables interspersed to make it seem almost fun.  But it isn’t.  It is static.  It is boring.  Kids can’t follow the text patterns.  They get confused.

Now open my imaginary online textbook.  There are a lot of words on every page.  But, instead of a static picture in the middle of one, there is a link to a video clip.  The video clip might be a re-enactment of an historical event, a mini-teaching lesson from a trained instructor, a digital story created by an elementary school student, a step-by-step guide on finding the slope of a line.  Instant Instruction.

You see that static chart in the paper book?  It is now an interaactive chart with data that can be manipulated to see what would happen if certain perameters of an event changed over time.  Instant Engagement.

The questions in the back of the chapter are now an instantly graded pre-test.  Vocabulary is not only pronounced and defined, but a ahort 1 to 2 minute video clip shows the word being used in everyday conversation.  Instant Instruction.

Look again at the picture of Abraham Lincoln in the paper book.  Yep, it is the same old picture we’ve seen for the last 100 years of textbook printing.  But, in our online version, that picture is a link to an entire photo gallery of pictures that deal with Lincoln, the Civial War, the Emancipation Proclamation, and more.  Why you ask?  So kids can download them into Photo Story or iMovie and create their own instructional video based on the materail in the section and post it for the teacher to see how well the student comprehended the unit.  Instant Assessment.

Not only that, but the entire textbook can be embedded into the class wiki so students can work together on projects online.  Instant Collaboration.

And, the online book is user friendly.  That means that a teacher can create his or her own instruction video and embed it on page 76, or 152.  Or a Voicethread assignment.  Or a teacher-made online quiz.  Students have access to their own teacher 24/7.

Still think you want a class set of paper textbooks?

I didn’t think so.