In full disclosure, I was blessed at my last school with having a great Principal, Assistant Principal and department chair who developed a team which had no ego just thought about what is best for kids. This group worked as a team as nobody really made decisions without consulting each other and at least getting feedback from the team. While, the teachers on the team, realized that we were not final decision makers we always felt valued and an important part of the decision making process.
That being said, I was terribly spoiled by this great leadership who cared passionately about student success in the classroom. That leads me to this present situation in which our administration scheduled a 5K race to raise money for cancer and our schools fitness race, the day before our AP exams. I realize that you need a spring or fall day to do this race but it leaves a lot of Sundays available. So why would they schedule it that day? Why would they not ask the AP teachers what they felt about scheduling the race on that day? Why would they at least when it was pointed out to them say "sorry we will not do that next year" Why were they so defensive about the entire situation?
While most students will be fine if they run the race, help out during the race etc, is it worth it if it causes one student to possibly fail the exam. For some students this is an exam that they have worked hard for all year and now they are faced with helping the school or studying for themselves? Is this fair of our school to do this to the students? Should we putting more pressure on them or taking the stress off of them?
Monday, March 25, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
The Perfect Storm
The other day I went to do a psych review at Western High School. I was very excited since there are a couple of people at the school who I have worked with and have great respect for. Still I had the touch of nervousness, as I always have on the first day of school.
Once the review started however, it seemed that I had been teaching these kids for years. They had great knowledge of the subject which is a tribute to their regular teacher. It was great to see how focused they were on the subject, how they participated in class, and how they took down notes on important points. When you see a class work like that you know that the teacher has done a great job instilling good habits in them.
One of the things that we are trying to do with Western is Skype our reviews and review on chat boards. This allows two schools to collaborate to make each other better which is very exciting. This is when technology can really be useful as students from two different schools combine to make each other better.
Now, what to do with my classes when I was at Western. We have an activity called graphing weds. in economics which we practice the key graphs of the year. It is neat in that we compete against each other as teams to make sure that we have mastered the graphs.
Once a month, our department chair comes in to observe our classes. I suggested to him that my observation this month should be on graphing weds when I am not in the class. I think the fact that I actually suggested this shows how much faith I have in both my department chair and in my students. My department chair is not the type of person looking to catch bad things, a matter of fact quite the opposite.
When I came back from my visit to Western I ran into one of my economics students. The first words out of her mouth was wow, the student in charge was amazing, she knew everything. So a new idea came into my head to allow a different student each week to be in charge of graphing weds. It would force them to master the material and give them a great experience in front of the class.
A great day of education. I learned a better way to teach, saw a teacher whose class had mastered many skills, and connected with old friends.
Once the review started however, it seemed that I had been teaching these kids for years. They had great knowledge of the subject which is a tribute to their regular teacher. It was great to see how focused they were on the subject, how they participated in class, and how they took down notes on important points. When you see a class work like that you know that the teacher has done a great job instilling good habits in them.
One of the things that we are trying to do with Western is Skype our reviews and review on chat boards. This allows two schools to collaborate to make each other better which is very exciting. This is when technology can really be useful as students from two different schools combine to make each other better.
Now, what to do with my classes when I was at Western. We have an activity called graphing weds. in economics which we practice the key graphs of the year. It is neat in that we compete against each other as teams to make sure that we have mastered the graphs.
Once a month, our department chair comes in to observe our classes. I suggested to him that my observation this month should be on graphing weds when I am not in the class. I think the fact that I actually suggested this shows how much faith I have in both my department chair and in my students. My department chair is not the type of person looking to catch bad things, a matter of fact quite the opposite.
When I came back from my visit to Western I ran into one of my economics students. The first words out of her mouth was wow, the student in charge was amazing, she knew everything. So a new idea came into my head to allow a different student each week to be in charge of graphing weds. It would force them to master the material and give them a great experience in front of the class.
A great day of education. I learned a better way to teach, saw a teacher whose class had mastered many skills, and connected with old friends.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Why we need our best and brightest
Lately, I have been asking many of our brightest students to consider teaching as a career. It has become evident to me that people like myself are not the ones that are going to change education. The truth is that anyone who has been in the profession for a while is part of the problem. It is hard for any of us, most with the best intentions, to admit that we need to re-examine the way we are doing things.
When I look across the room at many of my students I am convinced that if they were educators that they would make our system better. They have the creativity, energy, and leadership ability to bring major change to this profession. They are the type of people who have the proper combination of big heart and big ideas.
If you get by money, one of the biggest obstacles they face is that they do not think that they have the patience to deal with kids. The lack of patience might be a good thing. Maybe this would produce more teachers who would demand excellence from their students. Maybe it would create teachers with less patience from their bosses? Maybe it would develop teachers with less patience for mediocrity.
The lure of money sometimes is what keeps people from becoming a teacher. However, when you get that letter, e-mail or eventually tweet that tells you that you have made a difference in their life, you are hooked forever. You can not put a price tag on that feeling or what you have done for an individual.
So, even when I am extremely frustrated, i always realize that teaching is the only job that I want. There is no other job I would want at this stage of my life.
So these past couple of years I have been blessed to teach students who I know will make a difference in the world. They are the type of kids that will make the world a better place. My hopes however is that they decide to make the world a better place by fixing our education system.. That might be our biggest strategic advantage a great education system
When I look across the room at many of my students I am convinced that if they were educators that they would make our system better. They have the creativity, energy, and leadership ability to bring major change to this profession. They are the type of people who have the proper combination of big heart and big ideas.
If you get by money, one of the biggest obstacles they face is that they do not think that they have the patience to deal with kids. The lack of patience might be a good thing. Maybe this would produce more teachers who would demand excellence from their students. Maybe it would create teachers with less patience from their bosses? Maybe it would develop teachers with less patience for mediocrity.
The lure of money sometimes is what keeps people from becoming a teacher. However, when you get that letter, e-mail or eventually tweet that tells you that you have made a difference in their life, you are hooked forever. You can not put a price tag on that feeling or what you have done for an individual.
So, even when I am extremely frustrated, i always realize that teaching is the only job that I want. There is no other job I would want at this stage of my life.
So these past couple of years I have been blessed to teach students who I know will make a difference in the world. They are the type of kids that will make the world a better place. My hopes however is that they decide to make the world a better place by fixing our education system.. That might be our biggest strategic advantage a great education system
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Is technology the answer
I have not blogged for a while since I have been so frustrated with the educational system. My school has made me feel like a really old man who is totally out of touch with students needs and wants. I hope that we will have some students reply honestly to this blog so that I can get a better understanding of how they feel about technology.
One of the things that our administration does not seem to understand is that for every second you spend doing something that does not impact the class room it is a second you are not helping students in the classroom. This seemed to come to mind the other day when I found at we had a Twitter for our school. It seemed to me like a waste of time to tweet things about our school on Twitter.
So as a totally old fashioned person I use e-mail to communicate with my students. I was told that if I used Twitter it would make the communication with the students much better and more students would read my announcements. So trying not to be an angry old man I asked a couple of my classes how many students did not have a twitter account. To my total surprise about half my students did not have twitter. So this great communication tool that some of us were raving about does not connect to half the class. Am I missing something here?
As an older person I remember how TV (yes TV) was going to save education, then VCR's, computers etc. I have had students evaluate me for the last ten years and while they have offered very valuable information on how to get me better nobody has ever told me to use more technology. I think of our math teacher who is by one of the best teacher in the school and she does not use any thrills or technology. She just works harder than most to make sure that her students understand the information. There is not a student who has her who every walks away thinking anything but she is the most caring individual.
So I ask, what do students want from teachers? Do they want teachers who use the coolest technology? Or do they want teachers who worked their hardest to deliver the material in a way that students can learn. Do they want teachers who are open to suggestions or teachers who hide behind technology? Do they want teachers who care about them and support them?
I am listening and hoping I get honest feedback. What do students want?
One of the things that our administration does not seem to understand is that for every second you spend doing something that does not impact the class room it is a second you are not helping students in the classroom. This seemed to come to mind the other day when I found at we had a Twitter for our school. It seemed to me like a waste of time to tweet things about our school on Twitter.
So as a totally old fashioned person I use e-mail to communicate with my students. I was told that if I used Twitter it would make the communication with the students much better and more students would read my announcements. So trying not to be an angry old man I asked a couple of my classes how many students did not have a twitter account. To my total surprise about half my students did not have twitter. So this great communication tool that some of us were raving about does not connect to half the class. Am I missing something here?
As an older person I remember how TV (yes TV) was going to save education, then VCR's, computers etc. I have had students evaluate me for the last ten years and while they have offered very valuable information on how to get me better nobody has ever told me to use more technology. I think of our math teacher who is by one of the best teacher in the school and she does not use any thrills or technology. She just works harder than most to make sure that her students understand the information. There is not a student who has her who every walks away thinking anything but she is the most caring individual.
So I ask, what do students want from teachers? Do they want teachers who use the coolest technology? Or do they want teachers who worked their hardest to deliver the material in a way that students can learn. Do they want teachers who are open to suggestions or teachers who hide behind technology? Do they want teachers who care about them and support them?
I am listening and hoping I get honest feedback. What do students want?
Monday, February 25, 2013
Student forums
My colleague Beth Benzinger, has organized two student forums. These forums tackle difficult issues that are important to students but do not happen to come up inside the classroom. The format reminds me of Oprah, in that you have four student panelist who each talk about five minutes on the topic. When they are done talking they then open up the microphone for questions from the audience. After about fifteen minutes of questions and answers we then breakout into classrooms for more discussions.
What is great about these forums besides Beth's upfront organization, (which is tremendous), the forum is really run by the students. They are the expert panelist, they ask the questions and then finally we have students leading the discussions in the classroom breakout sessions.
What has impressed me so far is the maturity of the questions and the discussion on these controversial topics. In our breakout groups we literally have to ask students to leave at 4:00. They are putting in 90 minutes of extra time for no grade, to discuss issues that are important to them.
It demonstrates that they have a spark within them we as teachers need to know how to start it and keep the flame on fire. In a school of 1800 students we had 330 attend our forum on race and 135 attend our forum on gender.
What is great about these forums besides Beth's upfront organization, (which is tremendous), the forum is really run by the students. They are the expert panelist, they ask the questions and then finally we have students leading the discussions in the classroom breakout sessions.
What has impressed me so far is the maturity of the questions and the discussion on these controversial topics. In our breakout groups we literally have to ask students to leave at 4:00. They are putting in 90 minutes of extra time for no grade, to discuss issues that are important to them.
It demonstrates that they have a spark within them we as teachers need to know how to start it and keep the flame on fire. In a school of 1800 students we had 330 attend our forum on race and 135 attend our forum on gender.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Can we bring Buck into the classroom
Here is a post from Roch Kubatko;s blog. What continues to amaze me is how Buck has set an environment that self regulates. The veterans sit to the front of the meeting. While in school teacher's usually assign seats would our best students pick the ones up front? Secondly, again he talks about self-regulating. Do our best students regulate the behavior of other students? Would they say we do not write on the bathroom walls? We do not cheat? Is this possible to get us all working together to make the school house the best it can be? Do teachers try to cultivate this climate in their classrooms? or should they? Finally, do we as teachers want to be challenged? Do students feel free to question our motives and what we assign? Let's have an honest discussion
.
RASOTA, Fla. - You probably figured out a long time ago that manager Buck Showalter is on top of everything. Nothing gets past him, including the little things that mean more in the big picture.
A few days ago, Showalter noticed how the first row of seats for a team meeting was occupied by guys like Matt Wieters, Jason Hammel, Darren O'Day, Jim Johnson and Pedro Strop. That's leadership.
Here's another example:
Kevin Gausman, taking part in his first major league camp after being the fourth-overall pick in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, stepped off the mound during a drill last week on one of the back fields at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Apparently, that's the way Gausman did it at LSU. Apparently, that's not how the Orioles do it, and Johnson immediately pointed out the mistake to him.
"J.J. said, 'No, get back up there. We don't do that. You've got to do it this way.' Matter of factly, nothing mean," Showalter recalled.
"Believe me, Gausman doesn't need much adjustment. But it's good-natured. It's not hazing. It's 'Hey, you're wearing our uniform. Let's go.'
"This isn't the kind of team that sits in the back row much. When you say, 'Does anybody have any ideas or any questions,' they're going to put a hand up, and I appreciate that environment, that they feel comfortable talking. I invite 'Why?'
"I'd like to have a good reason why I do things a certain way, and if you've got a better way, we tweak it. Most of it comes from players' suggestions, because they're the ones who have to play the game."
Adam Jones has emerged as the most vocal leader in the clubhouse, and if you read his tweets, you pretty much find daily examples. But there are quite a few guys who are taking on that responsibility, much to the delight of their skipper.
Asked whether there's a different vibe in camp this spring, Showalter replied, "It would be easy to say, 'Yeah,' but I told some of our people before that I had a good feeling with our guys last year at this time. I don't see anything to make me feel any different.
"I don't think anybody is that good to sit here in February to say this is happening, so that's going to happen for seven months. They're human beings, it's human nature. You just assume the position, see where it takes you.
"I trust them. It's a group that's very easy to trust
.
RASOTA, Fla. - You probably figured out a long time ago that manager Buck Showalter is on top of everything. Nothing gets past him, including the little things that mean more in the big picture.
A few days ago, Showalter noticed how the first row of seats for a team meeting was occupied by guys like Matt Wieters, Jason Hammel, Darren O'Day, Jim Johnson and Pedro Strop. That's leadership.
Here's another example:
Kevin Gausman, taking part in his first major league camp after being the fourth-overall pick in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, stepped off the mound during a drill last week on one of the back fields at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Apparently, that's the way Gausman did it at LSU. Apparently, that's not how the Orioles do it, and Johnson immediately pointed out the mistake to him.
"J.J. said, 'No, get back up there. We don't do that. You've got to do it this way.' Matter of factly, nothing mean," Showalter recalled.
"Believe me, Gausman doesn't need much adjustment. But it's good-natured. It's not hazing. It's 'Hey, you're wearing our uniform. Let's go.'
"This isn't the kind of team that sits in the back row much. When you say, 'Does anybody have any ideas or any questions,' they're going to put a hand up, and I appreciate that environment, that they feel comfortable talking. I invite 'Why?'
"I'd like to have a good reason why I do things a certain way, and if you've got a better way, we tweak it. Most of it comes from players' suggestions, because they're the ones who have to play the game."
Adam Jones has emerged as the most vocal leader in the clubhouse, and if you read his tweets, you pretty much find daily examples. But there are quite a few guys who are taking on that responsibility, much to the delight of their skipper.
Asked whether there's a different vibe in camp this spring, Showalter replied, "It would be easy to say, 'Yeah,' but I told some of our people before that I had a good feeling with our guys last year at this time. I don't see anything to make me feel any different.
"I don't think anybody is that good to sit here in February to say this is happening, so that's going to happen for seven months. They're human beings, it's human nature. You just assume the position, see where it takes you.
"I trust them. It's a group that's very easy to trust
Monday, February 11, 2013
One Stat
In education we are now filled with data. At the high school level we keep track of our state mandated testing, AP Scores, SAT scores, GPA etc. To me what we really need to do is focus on what percentage of our students are graduating college within six years. Who cares if you have SAT scores that a great if you did not graduate college.
Whenever, I have posed this to a colleague their first remarks are that they most students probably drop our due to financial reasons. While I am sure that this happens to some students we really have not statistics on what causes our students to not graduate college. Also should it not be part of our responsibility to help guide the student and their parent to an institution that they can afford.
In reading Paul Tough's book, "How Children Succeed" (a must for all educators) he talks about important non-cognitive factors such as GRIT. Students with a high GRIT score manage to work around the problems of lack of finance by finding scholarships, jobs or loans to keep their college dream alive. Our school which is probably one of the leaders in Baltimore County has about 48% of our graduating seniors finish college within years.
The challenge is how to we increase this number.
Whenever, I have posed this to a colleague their first remarks are that they most students probably drop our due to financial reasons. While I am sure that this happens to some students we really have not statistics on what causes our students to not graduate college. Also should it not be part of our responsibility to help guide the student and their parent to an institution that they can afford.
In reading Paul Tough's book, "How Children Succeed" (a must for all educators) he talks about important non-cognitive factors such as GRIT. Students with a high GRIT score manage to work around the problems of lack of finance by finding scholarships, jobs or loans to keep their college dream alive. Our school which is probably one of the leaders in Baltimore County has about 48% of our graduating seniors finish college within years.
The challenge is how to we increase this number.
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