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Blessings and Stressings

Caldwell — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:27:48 +0000

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:

If we really look at our lives, we are all blessed in many ways: family, friends, children, rewarding careers.

If we really look at our lives, sometimes the blessings are also stressings: family, friends, children, careers.

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.

An “AHA!” moment

Caldwell — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:57:33 +0000

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!

How do you get buy in?

Caldwell — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:56:53 +0000

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.”

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t, Page: 16

How do you get the buy-in necessary to achieve greatness? How do you get the right people on the bus and more importantly the wrong people off?

Frustrating but necessary questions

Technology Surveys

Caldwell — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:52:36 +0000

I would love to poll our faculties and find out two different bits of information. First, it is important to establish what each teacher’s technology competency is. According to this self assessment developed by the state of Massachusetts for their teachers, the levels of competency are early, developing, proficient, and advanced. It is important for our teachers and those training them to know where they are starting. Second, it is important to establish the comfort level of each teacher with using technology in the classroom and with the students. I really like this Florida Matrix that helps to evaluate that with teachers. I wondered if anyone else has developed any surveys that can be used online or with a CRS. I would be interested in any successes or data collected.

Technology in a rural school district

Caldwell — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:09:05 +0000

I know that all schools and districts have challenges. I believe that a rural school district has the biggest challenge. In a rural area, many times it is hard to convince the clientele that technology is an important entity in the the students’ hands. Many people want to see concrete substantial things such as buildings, books, and uniforms as proof that their tax dollars are working. Also, our particular district has a very low tax base. This is tough enough in a booming economy, but is particularly hard now. What tips and tricks can anyone give for those of us trying to keep teachers positive about tech integration when it is very low on the priority list for teachers and parents?

St. Clair County Leadership Class

Caldwell — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:11:03 +0000

Yesterday I had an opportunity to speak to Leadership St. Clair County at Jeff State’s Pell City campus. This class was filled with business men and women whose businesses are members of the St. Clair County Economic Development Council. They take the class one day a month and take an entire day to see how business works. This was school system day. They took a bus and toured several places. I spoke to them about tech in the classroom and 21st century learning. Finally, I got to quiz them using the Clickers from Inline. It was really cool to let the business world see what we are facing and how we are trying to change how we educate the future worker. I love the concept of this program and how we got to showcase our schools for the community.

Time… where does it go?

Caldwell — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:44:31 +0000

Ok, I admit it. I have allowed this blog to become stagnant. I am so sorry about that and hope to correct it. I have been reading lots of great things through my Diigo Educator’s group. I am addicted to that service. At the very least I will post my recent findings and share my Diigo bookmarks here. Happy reading.

The Daily Grind

Caldwell — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:49:11 +0000

So here I am in school again! We began last Thursday. It is hard to believe I was just in New Hampshire a week or so ago. I am sitting here trying to plan. It is so hard for me to plan when I want to just go with the flow. I know that many of the voices I heard at CMK08 were advocating student-centered classes. I am realizing how hard that is and how it is against so much that traditional education entails. Teachers are so accustomed to planning everything so far ahead, there is little time left for adaptation, flexibility, and regrouping. I cannot help but think of Andrew Church’s 21st Century Teacher description. I am trying to be that teacher. Only time will tell!

Why is training so hard?

Caldwell — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:24:17 +0000

I am anticipating doing more and more training with our teachers as the school year begins and gets into full swing. I always say that I feel like I walk into a hostile audience when I go to talk with teachers. For example, I recently did a session where a teacher who introduced himself to me as an acquaintance of my husband. As our conversation ended, he said,”Nice meeting you, now maybe you can get us outta here early!” Isn’t that always the case with teachers. We feel like any kind of professional training is wasting our time. Well, unfortunately that is because we have all had our share of pointless sessions that we left wishing we had that portion of our life back. Here is the bad thing. We should be seeking sessions that are important to us and that will strengthen our craft.

The sad thing is that I was just watching television and noticed a manager at HHGregg, a local electronics superstore, being interviewed about the digital switch scheduled for February 2009. He made this statement, “Our salespeople are very knowledgeable. All of them attended at least 200 hours of training just last year. Lots of that was dedicated to the topic of the switch.”

What if our school principals had to do an interview with a local station about how we are handling the major switch going on today with our students? How would they answer the question, “Are your teachers prepared and knowledgeable of how to handle these digital natives? Are they ready for the 21st Century Learner?” I would dare say that the HHGregg employees are better trained than our teachers are. Many teachers have barely had 20 hours much less 200 hours of training in anything since they left college.

How can we expect students to be lifelong learners if we as teachers dread any type of training and wish we could just get back to our life?

So many tasks, so little time…

Caldwell — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:38:54 +0000

I have been trying to blog more diligently, but I am very unfocused right now. Hey, it is summer! Anyway, as I prepare for school again (it feels like I never left) I am thinking of my classes this year. I am excited to have honors classes but will miss the inclusion students and my favorite special education teachers. I plan on trying some more constructivism and community in my classroom, so I hope these honors kids are up for the rocking of their comfort zone. I am looking forward to attending Gary Stager’s conference- Constructing Modern Knowledge. I would love to know if anyone out there is also attending. It is a long way from Alabama to New Hampshire. Two tools I want to use this year are Poll Everywhere and Wiziq. The first is a free tool for students and participants to answer polls live using internet or SMS. This will display on your graph in real time. Pretty cool. Also, you can embed the results or download them as a Ppt slide. Awesome. Wiziq seems to be Elluminate… but free. I have had a little exposure to it and plan to implement its new virtual classroom into mine.