Drape's Takes

I’ve been tagged to participate in the latest meme. This time around we’re to identify a photo that best illustrates what we most hope that our students are able to learn.

First, a parable.

Several times every summer, our neighborhood gathers together for a little socializing and a lot of eating in the form of a community barbecue. At times these gatherings come at inopportune times, but most members of the community cheerfully participate, regardless of how busy they think they are or how long they’ve been members of our neighborhood. Why, even little ol’ Mrs. Caulkins shows up every time, ever anxious to share her favorite salad or a homemade peach pie, made especially for such an occasion. In fact, there are many times when she even hosts the barbecue – and we love her for it – because even though she’s been a part of our community for probably the longest, she loves to participate and socialize and engage in friendly conversation with fellow community members. Furthermore, when Mrs. Caulkins participates in our barbecues, many of the newcomers to our neighborhood greatly benefit from her perspective on the conversation - given that she has a wealth of experience and wisdom to offer, conveying an exciting and highly educational dimension to every conversation.

Which brings me to the concept that I wish all of my students could/would learn.


I hope that all of my students, adult and youth alike, learn that it’s important to participate in their community, even when it’s not convenient. Participating in online and face-to-face community efforts is important, not only because you might just gain something out of participating, but also because others might equally do the same – because of your participation.

Which likewise brings me to our community’s latest barbecue: The Passion Quilt meme.

The Passion Quilt meme’s rules are:

• Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
• Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
• Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.
• Echoing Sue Water's helpful request, please include your name within the photo and post it to Flickr with the passionquilt08 tag. Doing this extra step should greatly help to pull the entire meme together.

• Ian Jukes
• Stephen Downes
• Marc Prensky

• Barack Obama
• Hillary Clinton