Lead by Example

As I was trying to virtually attend conferences (no money), I found some of Wesley Fryer’s info and he pointed me to this great pool on Flickr.  Enjoy

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Some of the things I liked about the State of the Union:

• Students should not be limited in their potential because of where they live
• Loan forgiveness after 10 years for service professionals
• Colleges and Universities need to cut costs
• High school degree won’t cut it in the future job world
• Doubling child care tax credit

I hope that St. Clair County Schools are able to get some funding because we are just above the line drawn for school systems in need.  Our students deserve the best education we can give them, but with our low tax base, it is hard to compete with other school districts spending more money per pupil.  Whether it is Race to the Top funding, i3 grants, or something else, I hope that we get our fair share of funds.

Good luck Mr. President… reform NCLB and put the money where it is necessary.

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Well we were hoping for some snow here in Alabama.  We got a dusting, but that was about it.  As the St. Clair County School District and superintendent made decisions about closing school or delaying start, I was wondering if social networks would have helped word travel faster.  What if our district had a Twitter account that parents followed?  Would that benefit our district?  What if we had a Facebook page that did status updates?

Teachers, would social networks help you in your classroom?  Is there a place for these in the classrooms?

My own soon-to-be 10 year old is fanatical about Club Penguin.  He and his friend are at different computers at our house right now playing on it.  I hear them say, “Go to the Alpine server.  I will meet you at the Dojo.”  They are having a blast in a safe environment.  I am also investigating sites like Totspot.com and Poptropica.com.  Social networks for kids are everywhere.  I don’t want to deny the existence of these sites, rather I want to investigate them and make wise decisions with my family.  It opens conversations about the importance of password security and good digital citizenship.

If we are ever snowed in with a whole inch of snow again, we will have lots of fun sites to visit online.

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Do you remember when you were little and you learned to swim? 

Just Keep Swimming

Keeping with last post’s swimming metaphor, I think that is the way true technology integration is.  By nature I am the kid that plunges into the water and comes up spitting water and realizing I don’t know how to swim back to the edge.  Sometimes I get lucky and dog paddle my way back and call it an achievement, but sometimes I end up drowning!  That is what I have to remember about technology integration.  Some people are willing to take risks and move beyond their comfort zone.  It is my job to hold their hand and guide them based on my experience, expertise, and even my past mistakes (to help them prevent repeating those).  There are others that need floaties.  They are not willing to take risks and feel overwhelmed already by the amount they are asked to do on a daily basis.  Finally, there is a group that will never go in the water.  Even worse there are some that will sit around and make fun of/tease/ ridicule those who try. 

In all cases, I have to remember to celebrate the growth from those “small ripples” of change.  The advanced, risk-taking user will grow and develop into a tech teacher leader in his/her school and can be a leader when it comes to the vision of our school system.  The beginner, low-comfort level user will appreciate the help and test the water in small steps in his/her class.  That achievement should be celebrated as well.  Finally, that last group will never change and it is not “my job” to change them.  They are satisfied with where they are.  That is what is not “attainable” and I cannot blame myself for that group.

Our superintendent sent a great letter (visit her blog http://stclaircountyschools.edublogs.org ) to the employees of St. Clair County Schools.  It reminded me that I should see “the ramifications of what I do today rippling throughout the future.”  There are those small ripples I was moaning about before that can become tidal waves of change if I just give them time. 

I think it is best summed up with lines from one of my favorite movies, “Finding Nemo”.  Listen to the clip and read along.  This what I have to do in my job… just keep swimming!

Just Keep Swimming

Dory:“Hey Mr. Grumpy Gills… When life gets you down do you wanna know what you gotta do?”
Marlin:“I don’t wanna know what you gotta do.”
Dory:“Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.”
Marlin:“Dory, no singing.”
Dory:“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ho. I love to swim. When you want to swim you want to swim.”
Marlin:“See I’m gonna get stuck now with that song… Now it’s in my head!”
Dory:“Sorry.”

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Have you ever felt like you were swimming in circles at your job? There are days when I feel that way for sure. Although we have a clear vision and mission for St. Clair County Schools, there are times when my role is unclear.  Better yet my role is clear but not attainable.  Technology Integration is different that just technology “usage”.  I have to remember the mantra, “Baby Steps”, although I am a giant ELEPHANT kinda girl, myself.  I am trying to make change when it may only be possible in small ripples.  That is discouraging because I want to see broad, sweeping changes right now.  I found this great animation through my PLN in Twitter.  Check it out and test yourself:

http://www.schlechtycenter.org/

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Well, I am now a mom of three.

New Baby Girl

When I married at 19, I knew I wanted a family (probably 1 kid), a house, and a job teaching high school English.  Little did I know what blessings God had in store for me.

Well, these blessings can also be stressings when you are trying to be all things to all people.

I found this fascinating quote today:

1. If we really look at our lives, we are all blessed in many ways: family, friends, children, rewarding careers.
2. If we really look at our lives, sometimes the blessings are also stressings:  family, friends, children, careers.
3. The Blessings and Stressings are Part of Life:  Get Over It, Get Up, Get Going and sometimes Get a Nap!

Cool Cat Teacher Online, Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Blessings and Stressings: Reflections from Home, Nov 2009

You should read the whole article.

This sums up what I need to recite to myself when I feel that I don’t measure up to expectations.

Thanks for that insight Vicki.

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Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age

This powerful video supplied by Edutopia is really an AHA moment for me.

Some of the most important parts to me include the fact that he relates the rules of Improv to the rules of collaboration.  Rule 1- Accept every offer.  I knew this in acting, but it makes so much sense in collaboration.  We tend to shut down ideas– we are critical by nature– rather than accept them and run with them.  Remember the alternative is deadend.  Rule 2- Make your partner look good.  Why do we have to be competitive and worry all the time who is looking better than someone else.  If we are always concerned about making our partner look good, it is win/win.

Second, I really loved the idea that collaboration is NOT a synonym for cooperation.  The illustration was that an assembly line is a series of individual tasks.  If needed, one person could walk down that line and do each task independently.  Collaboration relies on interconnectivity and amplification of other’s ideas and tasks.  I love that.

Awesome video!

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I found this fascinating quote today:

It is so hard for research studies to isolate the effect of technology because it is so unbelievably hard to isolate for the effect of the teacher. Often, technology may actually improve a classroom due to the research study because of the feeling of the classroom and teacher because they have been paid attention to — they are important.  Attitude, emotion, relationship — these are things that are important in teaching.Cool Cat Teacher Online, Cool Cat Teacher Blog: PreK Secret to Success: Give me relationship, Jun 2009

You should read the whole article.

I think it is so relevant not only to the buzzwords of RIGOR, RELEVANCE, AND RELATIONSHIP; but it also resonates to the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of technology in the classroom.  Some teachers turn on a Powerpoint full of notes or pop in a video and think “Boy am I using technology!”.  In reality they are creating a virtual babysitter.  The relationship is severed and the student feels disengaged.  Technology and the teaching that should be enhanced by it is no good.  I challenge all of us to find ways to be good teachers that care.  Once we seek to know our students then make our curriculum and methodology decisions based on that, we will finally reach the kids and be effective.

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We are in a school district that is going through growing pains.  We have a forward-thinking superintendant ready to bring our schools into the 21st century.  The problem is that we have many rural communities and seasoned teachers who do not see a need for change.  To sum up a quote from a community member in a local newspaper article… these schools have been teaching agriculture classes the same for years and it has been good, why should we change it now?

“That good is the enemy of great is not just a business problem. It is a human problem.”

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After reading a great blog entry from one of my favorite sites, The Principals Page, I have to say I agree with his creative take on professional development.  The post talks about his new dog that seems to own the place.  Buddy, the dog, use to be a show dog and now has to be “untrained” so he does some new tricks– like go to the bathroom when his owner takes him for a walk.  Just read the entry- it is great.  The main point is this.  We as teachers really struggle with untraining our minds to new and innovative practices. Change is hard and we are resistant to it!

I tell folks that often a room of high school teachers and administrators are a worse and less receptive audience than kindergarten kids after cupcakes. I can speak from experience.  For 12 years I have been a part of that audience!! First, many teachers don’t want to be there because they have “so many other better things to do with their time”. Second, many feel that their methods are good enough, so why fix it (especially in high school where we love our content!). Speaking as a high school English teacher who is leaving the classroom to do Professional Development full time. I have been in worthless PD workshops. My goal is to make the “Buddy’s” of the school world see two things- Change is good (and inevitable) AND The new classroom/student involves learning together and not teachers being the only keepers of information. Heck if the kids can Google the answer on their Smartphone, what do we have to offer.

Most professions require training and recertification procedures.  Teachers only have to recertify every 10 years.  Should we really wait that long to do meaningful restructuring of our practice?  Considering how different today’s student is from even 5 years ago, shouldn’t we be a little different too?

Retrain, untrain, be flexible… it will save you lots of head ache with the digital learners!

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