Chromebook-if cheap cannot be good by Penelope Swenson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Chromebook--If it is that cheap, it can’t be any good

Penelope Walters Swenson

Background:

If sales figures and Gartner reports are an indicator, the desktop is almost finished.

Laptops are the “big” computer, but the mobile devices are the lightweight ones.

Tablet computing is big and getting bigger.

Instant on or always on is necessary, thus smartphones, tablets, and similar are in demand.

Smartphones are getting larger and tablets smaller.

School computer labs are the dinosaurs of K-12, except in specialized situations.

K-12 testing is moving from bubble in to more complex systems that will be computer based and adaptive.

Data is in the cloud as is software.

WiFi is nearly ubiquitous.

(See related sites including Gartner reports below.)

Change for teachers, administrators, students, and even parents is huge, yet many do not hear the harbingers, or they turn a deaf ear.  I have even heard, “If it is that cheap, it can’t be any good” applied to Chromebooks, Nexus7s, and even some smartphones.  Sometimes I feel like the mother in that old commercial who says, with a smile, “Try it; you’ll like it.”

So where does the Chromebook fit?  

The Chromebook is a disruptive innovation if one applies Harvard Business School expert Dr. Clayton Christensen’s definition.

Disruptive innovation. . . describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors.  http://www.claytonchristensen.com/key-concepts/ 

See him discuss disruptive innovation further at www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5FxFfymI4g .

The Chromebook is a hit with teachers and administrators—or at least, some.  Inexpensive and highly mobile, the Chromebook may be a major answer to providing online testing stations and computer savvy for our students—IF. 

Is the Chromebook as versatile as a laptop?  No.  Will it perform well the essential functions needed in the K-12 market?  Yes.  Is it less expensive?  By far.  Is it displacing competitors?  Oh yes.  One need only to look at the teacher-oriented  grants pages such as DonorChoose.com.  Thousands of Chromebooks are being requested.   (A personal aside—I just gave away my much loved netbook in favor of the Chromebook.  I’ll deal with the limitations because for every limitation there is a positive and there are many cost savings.  )

Why?

	Chromebook	Laptop	Tablet
price	$199-249 (common) Class set under $8000	$800 and up Class set $24,000	$199, $329, $500 Class set $8 to 20,000
Speed to web	Instant	3 or more minutes	instant
Speed to software	30 seconds	2-3 minutes	30 seconds
Storage	May be 300gig on board or just flash memory  plus cloud	300 gig or so onboard	Limited flash memory + cloud
Software	Google Apps, other paid or free apps	Paid software	Apps paid and free
Camera	Front only	Front only	Front or front and back
Weight	2.4 lbs.	5-6 lbs.	8-16 oz
Size	thinner than laptop	generally thick	thin, smaller than laptop
Keyboard	Part of unit	Part of unit	virtual
Case	Opens like laptop	Standard	Must purchase protector
Screen size	12”	12” to 17”	7, 7.9, 10
Need wifi?	Generally although some offline options	Depends on task	Generally although some offline options
Ease of sharing	Individual login automatic	May setup individual virtual drives	Works if saving in the cloud
Maintenance costs	Very low * (see articles below)	Varies	Low
What else should be here?

·         http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en/us/intl/en/chrome/assets/education/pdf/IDC-WP-Quantifying.the.Economic.Value.of.Chromebooks.for.K-12.Education-082012.pdf

·         http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2012/12/why-schools-are-turning-google-chromebooks

Time for training on Google Apps as they are the major software?  I watched an experienced professional developer/teacher take a group of teachers through a fast paced training with many opportunities to create documents.  In about 75 minutes the teachers created, manipulated, and shared

• 1.       Google Document, like a standard Word doc, selecting fonts, highlights, etc. 
• 2.       Google Presentation, like PPT
• 3.       Google Form—Windows Office has no equivalent—this may be used for surveys, tests, worksheets, etc.  Data is saved in a spreadsheet automatically.  Teachers created one and shared it so they could see how the data was gathered.
• 4.       Started designing a Google Site—also without an equivalent in Office.  Within this they briefly explored the Google Calendar.

There are youtube videos for refreshers.  There are many Google Apps trainers.  Ours,  Stacey Stansberry, is excellent and she is part of the ed tech team at our county office of education.  Google Apps use fairly standard symbols and options familiar to users of the various office suites.  The only “radically new” items are Forms and Sites.  And those are simply wonderful.

With most of the apps, very little training is needed although it is fun to do this together.  It also gives a jumpstart to the process of getting familiar and having buddies who are becoming comfortable with this great array of free tools.  Most users of Word and PPT just dive in without looking back.  (It is no wonder that many schools are giving up Office in favor of these free options.)

I recently saw a situation play out where some decided to forgo having a class set of Chromebooks in favor of having fewer than 10 laptops.  Familiarity with old technology often constrains people from moving forward.  It really is too bad.  The students suffer and the new assessment programs will be nearly impossible to administer.  The individuals who did the research were ready to go, but the proposal was derailed.  So seldom do schools have the opportunity to take a giant step forward in technology.  But, for many, it is scary. 

It would seem that being able to mount a class project on one platform at one time would outweigh trying to do the same project three times while keeping the other 20 students doing meaningful reading or seatwork.  Not all caught that vision. 

Chromebooks are a disruptive technology.  For the price of one laptop plus software, three or four Chromebooks can be in the hands of kids.  Seems like a great idea whose time has come in many schools, while others stay on the sidelines holding on to yesterdays.   Will there be something better tomorrow?  Undoubtedly, but today, the “hot” less expensive but highly functional option is Chromebooks for the entire class. 

(I really like my iPad and my Nexus 7 too, but for ease of use, test taking, and general student use, the Chromebook is a bargain!)

Years ago, I was hesitating to upgrade to a new version of my wonderful word processing program.  My visionary secretary just did the upgrade for me while I was out of the office.  After 10 minutes of grumbling, I was on my way.  She pushed me a bit and I learned a great lesson.  Tech is moving.  We need to also. 

  

Change in marketplace and use of devices plus new testing processes:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9232800/Gartner_s_Top_10_tech_trends_for_2013

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240176063/Gartner-predicts-the-demise-of-the-desktop-PC-refresh-cycle

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sa/documents/suptrecrpt2013.pdf   (see particularly pgs. 29-30 re “adaptive” or computer-based)

http://www.edsource.org/today/2012/parents-teachers-can-now-sample-common-core-test-questions/21651#.UP1_Eyd9J8E

http://toped.svefoundation.org/2011/03/11/big-promises-for-new-tests/

Disclaimer—I do not work for Google, Asus, or any other manufacturer of Chromebooks.  Initially, I too was skeptical, but bought one from my personal resources to be more conversant as they are gaining popularity.

Gun for the Teacher

Gun for the Teacher by Penelope Walters Swenson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Many people are suggesting a solution to the problem of school violence is to arm teachers and other school personnel.  The story below is fiction (although the characters are based on people I know), but it could be if several things proposed did happen.  I really do not think they will when cooler heads prevail.  I’m hoping for reasonable gun control limitation, perhaps limits on large clips/magazines and some sort of slowdown on the large numbers of semi-automatic "sporting" rifles and a new, realistic look at mental illness or even simply kids and others who are struggling with problems.  Having over 40 years experience as a teacher and administrator, I obviously have some strong feelings on this subject.

   

Gun for the Teacher                          
Penelope Walters Swenson

 Millbrook High School, November 27, 2015

It has been several months since the administration requested that department chairs be armed.  I resisted, but, since the legislature repealed the prohibition on guns being carried in schools, I was pushed to comply.  Being chair used to mean dealing with how much of our very small budget could be spent on tradebooks or an occasional magazine in addition to being sure we were following the district curriculum and were meeting our improvement goals.  Now I am to carry a gun and be ready to defend. Defend what?  Defend how? I cannot say that the three poorly organized sessions of training (one hour each time) and the sessions at the range gave me any confidence that I could sort out who should be shot and how to avoid collateral damage in the concrete areas like hallways if I ever were called upon to draw my gun.  (How would I ever forgive myself if a bullet went astray and injured or even killed a student or colleague?)

Making things more complicated was the passage of an “open carry” law.  A parent can come on campus with a gun strapped to her flank (or his flank as this is an equal opportunity law).  One of our 18 year olds is challenging this new open carry law as it specifies he cannot carry his gun at school, even though he can elsewhere.  The case will not have a hearing until after he graduates, if he graduates, but it creates a ripple of concern through the faculty.

I feel a bit uncomfortable carrying heat.  Sure, as a kid I hunted.  I shot on a NRA team.  My police officer dad would make bets with unsuspecting out-of-town cops that his kid (me) could beat them shooting his service pistol and generally he won.  (We would go to the Blue Feather for a lemon ice cream cone when we won.)  But still, this is different.  I’m not firing a gun to kill a pheasant.  I’m not carrying a gun into the range for practice or a competition or even to win a few bucks for my dad.  The purpose of my gun is to make the school safer.

I’m not convinced.

Three days ago, I came upon a fight in the hall.  I shouted at the guys to break it up.  The hallway was filled with students watching.  I moved in closer.  It was uncomfortable as I knew my gun was slipping along against the pressing students.  I called to the guys again, using their names.  “Samuel, go with Mr. Douglas.”  Fortunately, Mr. Douglas was just coming out of his classroom.  He nodded.  “Jacob, come with me.”  The fight was a halfhearted bit of pushing and shoving.  Neither combatant was engaged to the point of being really dangerous, despite encouragement from some in the group, begging for escalation.

A student behind me shouted, “Hey teach, why didn’t you draw on ‘em?”  I did not respond, but underneath I was shaken.  What if it had been one of those serious fights?  What if the two did not break it up?  The gun was useless as a threat. 

In class, a bit later, Damien asked, “You know how to use that thing? Pull it out of the holster, I want to see what it looks like.” 

“Sorry Damien, I don’t unholster the gun.  It is just fine where it is.”

“Bet you can’t use it.  Bet you don’t even know how to load it.  Bet you don’t even know what kind of gun it is.”

I gave Damien THE LOOK and told him to pick up his text and start reading.  (Gun vs. THE look, I’ll take THE look as my weapon of choice!)

I knew it was a Glock.  I knew how to load it, having one extra magazine on my belt to supplement the 10 in the limited magazine already in the gun.  I did not know how to use it in a crowded hallway with many surfaces where ricochet could occur.  Further, unless I had a very clear shot and extreme clarity on why I should shoot, I would not be able to.  Threaten me?  I could not kill.  Threaten Damien or Jacob or Samuel or Marta—maybe.  But not in that ricochet-prone hallway filled with kids.  Better for me to run at the intruder and hope the kids could escape.

I’ve always been the type who would wade into a situation and talk it down to a rational level or, at least, get the kids to a place where they could chill for a few minutes and get calm.  I feel comfortable doing that.  Can I do it with a Glock strapped to my hip? 

Am I just an older woman, a heck of a teacher, but not a law enforcement officer, waiting for someone to push me over and steal the gun?  I’ve read about trained, strong, young law enforcement officers being overpowered and having their weapons taken.  Me?  I was pretty strong three decades ago, but even then one or two sturdy kids could have taken me down.  And attacking a teacher does not carry as serious a penalty as attacking a police officer.

I’m still a good shot.  I actually find target practice sort of fun, probably because I beat the guys—city boys who never hunted and were not in the military.  Being a country girl did give me an advantage.

Ramon comes in the door, stopping my reflection.  He stands there, eyeing the pistol over my jeans.  “I came to say goodbye.”  He looks very nervous.  “I’m on the run from the cops for something they think—for something I did.”  He pauses.  “That gun just does not fit you Ms. Teach.  You are not the Glock type.  I’ll remember you trying to help me write my ideas on a paper—not with a gun.”  He started toward me as if to give me a hug.  There were tears, or I thought there were.  “I won’t forget you.  I thought I owed it to you to say goodbye.”  He turned away, hastening toward the door. He shouted back to me as he dashed out, “I know you’ll call the cops—you must, but lose the gun Teach.  You couldn’t ever use it.  I promise I’ll go to college someday.”  The door slammed.  I called the police.  They asked where Ramon was going.  I did not know; I had not asked. 

I’m a teacher, not a police officer.  I respect the police.  My Dad was an officer.  But it is not for me. 

Wearing the gun makes me less confident in those things I do well with kids.  I’m good at establishing relationships, helping them set standards for themselves, probing ideas more deeply.  Ramon knows the gun is not for me.  I ponder, is Ramon one of my failures?  Right now it seems like it, but, I don’t think so.   Time will tell.  He knows he has much good inside and so do I.

But I don’t feel good inside with the gun on my flank.  I’m a teacher.  We are caring, compassionate, and sometimes relentless.  Our relentlessness has to do with our belief that all kids can learn, that education means something for the kids and the future of this nation.  The Glock holds me back from my professional goals.  In many ways, the Glock stands between me and my kids.  For some, I am a reason for them to stay straight--avoiding trouble.  They know I care.  They know I want their success and am there for them, whether it is attending games or consoling after a teenage breakup or helping with an application.

I head to the principal’s office.  “Mr. Thomas, I cannot do this.”  I take off the belt and the Glock, unload it, and hand the belt, holster, magazine, and Glock to him.  “Wearing this is antithetical to being the teacher I must be.  If it is required, I will find a way out of it.”  I’m almost skipping as I leave the office. 

Would I put my life on the line like Victoria Soto and the others at Sandy Hook?  Yes, I would do that as did Shannon Wright, Dave Sanders, and others in earlier school shootings.  They put the safety of their students above their own.  Would I try to tackle an assailant?  Of course I would try.  Do I want to carry a gun?  No thanks, I’m a teacher. 

 =========================

An afterthought—As a teacher or administrator, I need to exhibit the behaviors I want kids to emulate.  I must strive to be my best self—honorable and ethical, patient, life-long learner, courageous without arrogance, all those values and qualities that make us good citizens and learners.  Wearing that gun on my hip suggests there are problems I cannot solve with my personal efforts. 

I remember facing a girl who had been doing graffiti all over the school.  She was not our student.  I asked her to go to my office.  She was big and strong, I could tell that by how she carried herself she was tough.  She was about 8 to 10 feet in front of me and behind me was a wall of windows—not of tempered glass.  She said, “Who’s gonna make me?”  I took a step toward her.  She started toward my office.  Yes, I was scared inside, but I had a job to do.  I knew she could have taken me in an instant, but that half step toward her communicated that I was not intimidated.  She walked into my office, sat down, and began to give excuses.  After figuring out who her parents were, I called her mom.  Problem solved.  Mom came and assessed the situation.  She took the young lady home and administered punishment.   (The girl also returned and helped me paint over the markings.  She was very polite.)  The next day most of the kids at the school knew what happened.  There was a new respect for me, the assistant principal.  Would a gun have helped?  Not at all.  It would have been a crutch, negating my personal skills, undermining my integrity in the process, and making me ineffective.  Keep the gun Mr. Thomas, I don’t need it; I’m a teacher.

 There are many oped pieces and letters about this topic.  I've read more than I listed, but these got me started.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/the-freedom-of-an-armed-society/

http://www.bedrugfree.net/Terror.pdf

Trust & Relationship by Penelope Walters Swenson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

This paper is the basis of a talk I gave at the hooding ceremony for graduates of the CSUB Educational Administration Program, Hanford Cohort on August 18, 2012.  The group is outstanding in their scholarship and ability, but, most of all, they are striving to be outstanding people, honorable people. 

TRUST  and  RELATIONSHIPS--"round 2"

What do we want most in life?

Money?  Successful  careers?  Solid, caring families?

The first one is tangentially related to the topic of trust and relationships as so many financial empires are brought down due to a lack of trust and honest, honorable relationships, yet the career path you have chosen is not one of great bankrolls or wealth.

You have selected to serve.  You have chosen a path where many of the rewards are not in that pay envelope—the smiles, the achievements of others, the myriads of good citizens you have helped to shape.  This is richness beyond the paycheck, based on trust and relationships. 

Megan Tschannen-Moran wrote an intriguing, research-based book—TRUST MATTERS: Leadership for Successful Schools.  She begins her book with a simple statement, “Without trust, it is unlikely that schools can be successful in their efforts to improve.”  

Her research findings support this bold statement.  

She dissects trust into five facets—

benevolence, 

honesty, 

openness, 

reliability, and 

competence.  

Without any one of these, the school leader cannot build the continuously improving school.

Let me tell a cautionary tale about a very able young man.  He was bright, articulate, hardworking, even good looking.  He held multiple subject and single subject credentials and was completing an administrative credential. He was easy to like and always offering to assist.  He could coach and teach in a variety of areas.  As he moved into a teacher on special assignment position, changes started to occur.  He was friendly to the site administrator, while undermining him at every turn with the district administration.  Later he was at another site doing the same thing—friendly yet undermining.  When he became a principal, the faculty knew his mode of operation and they just did not trust him.

He used relationships to get what he wanted, professional power and prestige.  He wanted it more than building trust and relationships at home and in the workplace.  

He set the pattern of 2-3 years here, 2-3 years there, never needing to show success.  Behind him he left shattered trusts, broken relationships.  He divorced and had little contact with his children.  

He sacrificed the really important things—trust and relationships that last and build—for temporary “successes.”  He once said winning was his high and all he wanted to do was win.  

What do we value?  What do we want most in life? How will we measure our successes?

Clayton Christensen, best known for his work on disruptive innovation, talks with his Harvard students about values and ethics extensively.  Recently he, with two former students, wrote a book How Will You Measure Your Life?  One of his insights is that measuring should start early!  

He suggests that understanding the parts that compose the purpose of one’s life “a likeness, a commitment, and a metric—is the most reliable way . . . to define for yourself what your purpose is, and to live it in your life every day.”  Christensen shared one from his 3 personal likeness of self—“a man who is dedicated to helping improve the lives of other people.” 

Commitment is a guide for daily moving toward that person you want to be.  What is your center—a commitment to a higher power, a philosophy, an ideal?

Metric is the means we use to measure how we are doing. Not surprising for a professor to suggest we do need to measure.  Will it using both formative and summative? (Well, maybe the summative will be the measure applied by others as they look upon our obits.)  Christensen suggests we all too often focus on one situation and do not assess ourselves in the aggregate.  Overall, reflect, not in terms of numbers of people we lead or the cash in our assets, but relative to our chosen likeness. 

Christensen goes back to his likeness of self to develop his metric and asks himself questions. Have I strengthened others; have I helped assuage discomfort of others; have I been a doer of good?

We can ask: How have I used my gifts and talents?  Am I on the road to being the likeness of self, the person I want to be?

Sometimes we think there is a huge gap between our home self and our public/professional self.  Actually trust and relationship is crucial in both places.  (Remember the Johari Window?)

Christensen did not divide professional likenesses, commitments, and metrics from those at home with family.  Christensen reminds us of the old standard Christmas season movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”?  Don’t we all want to feel like George Bailey did at the end?

You may also remember the story I shared in class about Don Penland—the best school leader I have ever known.  (http://www.acsa.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/Media/LeadershipMagazine/2009-archives/SeptemberOctober-2009/Best.aspx)

Don exemplified what he wanted to be (his likeness)  in all that he did—as a professional, as a community member, as a parent, as a husband, and as a friend.  Over 20 years as an assistant principal might be seen as a career failure by some, yet Don accomplished was a stellar success in all the areas of his life. 

He built TRUST and RELATIONSHIPS in all facets of his life.

Would that we each search ourselves; establish our likenesses, our commitments, our metrics—and go forward as builders in our profession, in our community, and in our homes.

References:

Christensen, Clayton M., Dillon, Karen & Allworth, James.  (2012). How Will You Measure Your Life?. New York: HarperBusiness.

Tschannen-Moran, M. (2004). Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Teachers--agents of change?

Teachers--agents of change? by http://runnerprof.blogspot.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Many years ago there was ferment within schools. The vital question for teachers who saw themselves as “agents of change” was “How can we help kids to learn?” Among these teachers was a strong sense that they could change the world—or at least their part of it—by being the best possible teachers.

OK, some of those teachers were sincere and hapless. They were idealists without means. Lacking insight or ability, these individuals faded into other jobs or they became mediocre teachers or worse.

Some of those teachers worked so hard they felt drained, and they left the profession permanently or for a time, despite their successes. (Sunny Decker, An Empty Spoon, 1969 is one example.)

And some of those teachers, perhaps a bit tempered by the waves of reform and other forces, still see themselves as “agents of change” seeking to bring others onto that path.

While reading an article in the Stockton Record this morning, I reflected on the importance of a reformer, Herb Kohl, on my teaching career. Kohl, I hasten to note, like so many others writing about reform during the late 1960s and early ‘70s were teachers and their writings came from their classroom experiences in addition to some research, albeit initially skimpy on the research. Kohl’s 36 Children (1967), despite being about elementary children while I was a high school teacher, moved me. He talked about the individual needs of each child and the ways to reach them. He discussed the open classroom, about which he would write more thoroughly later in The Open Classroom (1969). My copies of his books were well worn quickly.

This Stockton Record article is about a school established based on Kohl’s ideas. You might enjoy reading it and even looking at some of Kohl’s work. See the article at http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111210/A_OPINION08/112100313/-1/A_OPINION. The article caused me to look back at my efforts with the open classroom and how it influenced my thinking about teaching and learning. Perhaps the greatest “take away” for me was the conviction that I need to move students to accepting responsibility for their own learning while preparing like crazy behind the scenes for every class and every session.

I decided to try the open classroom at my school, a site with problems typical of lower to lower-middle SES schools with racial and ethnic tensions. I was teaching four sections of “American Minorities” and I presented the concept of the open classroom to the students, making sure they understood there was a very strong structure underpinning an open classroom and that they would be expected to work and succeed. Two classrooms voted to try the open classroom while two wanted to stay traditional.

(An aside about the course—There were two teachers in California who started such social science electives that year and I was one of them. Without the Web, we did not have contact with each other although the California Department of Education sent my syllabus to all districts in the state, so he may have seen my outline. I did not see his. Students had requested the course and my Honors English class and I developed a broad outline, based on research, of what the course might be. The course was set up as a single semester elective offering. It was accepted by the principal, curriculum committee, and then we had signups. Amazingly, four sections filled quickly and my classes had an average of 34-36 students in each. Students who were not universally known as good students did well even though there was a curriculum that expected reading, writing, and reporting. There were few discipline problems. It was an exciting time.)

Doing the open classroom with large classes is more work than teaching in a more traditional mode. From a range of opportunities and requirements, students set their goals, even to the grade they wanted to achieve. While rubrics were not popular at the time, I had a series of expectations for levels or quality that were shared with the students to help them understand the rigor required. I met with each student individually at least every two to three weeks. Students worked in groups and individually. Both the school and public libraries and librarians were part of my planning as the students needed resources. (Initially I had no text as there was no budget. Later I received one class set of an excellent book that was shared among the four sections.) I bought materials out of pocket too and received copy permission from several authors to make articles available for checkout. The infrastructure for any new course is complex. One with a great deal of freedom for students, at least on the surface, requires even more pre-planning and structure. Had the Web been available then, there still would have been a great deal of work, but the learning materials at our fingertips would have enriched the experience. Weekends, late nights, early mornings—all were dedicated at least partially to keeping the courses and students on track, but with the open classroom, it had to appear seamless and under the surface.

What about that freedom for students? There were requirements and expectations, yet the students were involved in determining how they would meet them. Students took responsibility for their own learning and, thus, their grades. Our frequent individual meetings began with the student giving me a progress report, asking question of me, sharing concerns, providing a sample of what he/she has accomplished. I could give feedback, of course, but the process was much more about how the student thought he or she was doing.

“Thanks for giving me the A.” I could honestly reply, “Carlos, you earned that A by your hard work. Congratulations.”

I still have student notes and some of my journals from those early years of teaching and learning.

Thanks to those students, and Herb Kohl, Sunny Decker, James Herndon, John Holt, and others who helped me internalize that teaching was much more about the learning journey and caring about students than preparing perfect lesson plans. As I try flipping part of a class or creating engaging, insightful learning objects, I think about how what I am doing assists students in being responsible for their own learning instead of seeing the classes I lead as just hoops to jump through en route to a salary increment, certification, grade, or completion of a degree.

What do we want in our schools?

What do we want in our schools? by Penelope Swenson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


Last Saturday I was visiting a local store. Christmas is coming and bells were ringing as I came to the door. Salvation Army bell ringers here are often people I know. This is a lovely thing about our small community. Service clubs take on the bell ringing shifts so all the money collected goes to serve right here in our town. The bell ringer is a teacher I have known for many years. (She does not teach in our hometown however.) She is an excellent teacher—one with that abiding concern for the children combined with a keen intellect, a personal sense of curiosity, and a continuing desire to learn more to serve the children even better. From her personal funds she buys materials to enrich the classroom; she attends even non-school events to see her students perform. She works preparing and often to tutoring beyond her contractual day. She is the type of teacher you hope your children and grandchildren have. She also is a bell ringer.

For a significant part of her career, she taught second grade. With the increasing insistence that external testing brings, she was less and less able to actually teach her students. Some of the kids, with this pull-out program and that, would be present for less than two hours of their school day, yet the teacher was increasingly considered the only force responsible for student learning. Many of the pull out programs were conducted by instructional paraprofessionals, not certificated teachers. She wondered how she could make a difference in student learning.

My friend is skilled in assessing student performance. Moving about the classroom and watching students work on assignments or problems, she can see where her various students need additional help. She does not need to wait for a benchmark test or the formal assessments. Between her keen observational skills and her reviewing student work, she is on top of providing support. Or, at least, she was before the class sizes skyrocketed and fewer parents were available to assist for an hour or two occasionally in the classroom.

“I saw what was happening and decided to teach kindergarten where I have more control over the curriculum and student learning.” She noted the supposedly proven curricular devices often were lacking, yet she was to use them. In kindergarten she has the freedom to meet the standards in ways she selects. While she comments that some children lack basic skills when they enter kindergarten, her ways of inspiring learning are working and the children are enjoying school. As she described the learning centers and activities along with their influence on student learning, she became animated and excited.

I asked her about her sense of professionalism was faring. Because of the change she made, she thought she was doing OK, but there was a strong sense of disillusionment, frustration, and sadness among her teacher colleagues generally. Without control over the curriculum and having students pulled out frequently, she reported that her colleagues saw their ability to reach those students compromised all the while facing the challenges of testing and more testing.

Many critics note that poor teachers slipped through the cracks and children were not learning before NCLB and RTT and these programs stress accountability. Today, the collaborative, hard working good teachers are feeling the pinch of constant testing, often on low level skills, and frequent threats that deviating from the curriculum is not appropriate, even when it is to take advantage of a teachable moment where the children really are interested. (Oh gee, it might help meet a standard from six weeks hence, but we just cannot do it now, even if the topic is on the news today and a child asked about it.)

I have heard calls for the “best and the brightest” to come into teaching, yet the impetus within No Child Left Behind and the current Race to the Top does not seem very welcoming to those best and brightest. With increasing class sizes and an emphasis on testing to the point of nearly eliminating science and social studies along with cutting music, art, and often cutting back on physical education (as the kids become more sedentary), the whole child and meaningful teaching and learning is in danger. The joy of teaching is supplanted by the fear of being judged almost exclusively on testing results over which the teacher may have little control.

One of those “best and brightest” did go into teaching and was very good. He became an administrator on that first rung of the path to being a principal. Some time ago he came to my class early, looking downcast. I asked him what was wrong. He quickly said, “Nothing,” then started to tell me his story. “You know I went to the school where I work. I had some of the teachers I’m evaluating now. They were so good to me, a little boy who spoke English haltingly.”

He continued, “Today I was to visit the fourth grade classes between 10:30 and 11:00 to see if all the teachers were on page 78 of the text. I had a checklist to mark who was there and who was not.”

“And?”

“Well, two were not. I’ve been in their classrooms many times. I know they are fine teachers. The kids do well on the testing too.”

“So what did you do?”

He hunched his shoulders a bit and whispered, “I marked the sheet that they were in compliance.”

Those kids actually were beyond page 78 and understood the material, yet their teachers were to be judged with a yes or no. Page 78 or not. Good teacher or not. This young administrator stepped out and marked what he thought was right, defying quietly the pressure to report 78 or not, as if that were the only important measure.

Is this what we want? Both of these experiences are replicated across districts, across schools. Pockets and whole schools pursue excellence exist with the teachers, and often their administrators, working collaboratively, yet, in this charged environment, it can be very difficult.

How did we get here? Are we doomed to continue the pursuit of the “flavor of the month” teaching process, often developed by someone who is far from the children? Could we please look at the 21st Century Skills? Few jobs we can define now will be waiting for today’s children when they graduate. Kids need a basis or the “3 Rs” or core knowledge plus the essentials for today and tomorrow of “4 Cs” also known as “Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation.” (For more on these ideas, please see http://www.p21.org/ ).

The essence of America, at least to me, has been creativity and innovative energy. Create a new nation with a dynamic Constitution? Sure. Provide schooling for all—even though it was only for the well-to-do in other countries? Sure. Span the continent with trails and then a rail system? Sure. Grow enough food for ourselves and millions of others? Sure. Put American feet on the Moon? Sure. Cure CML and other cancers? Sure—we are getting them one by one. That creative, innovative spirit must be nurtured. Teaching at the lowest level of the 3 Rs without meaningful context will not nurture innovation or encourage creativity.

What should we provide our kids? You might enjoy seeing a vision created by twin brothers, Peter and Paul Reynolds of Fablevision in concert with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Peter had a seventh grade math teacher who inspired him to make drawings that explain concepts and ideas. Check out this explanation of the 21st Century Skills view of what is needed, Above and Beyond: http://www.p21.org/tools-and-resources/above-aamp-beyond-animation OR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KMM387HNQk

There are many ways to improve what we are doing. Charters are not the only answer, but some charter schools are making contributions to what we know works in great teaching and learning. Brain research continues to enhance what we understand about learning. University researchers and think tanks are conducting studies into what works. Industry giants offer ideas too, but we come back to the bell ringers. They want a voice in how we are helping locals. Educators and other community members in cities, towns, and hamlets across the USA want that too. Who is closest to the children? Who knows the community? Is it those who cobble together political documents such as NCLB or RTT? Or is it at a more local and regional level with parents, business people, teachers, and others, even right here in our town? Others are thinking and writing about this too.

I could share a long bibliography, yet, for today, I suggest two articles, the first is an opinion piece by two writers who often disagree. How to Rescue Education Reform, by Hess and Darling-Hammond, a fine article on how the Federal Government can best help education is found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/opinion/how-to-rescue-education-reform.html?_r=1

The second article quite worthy of reading is by Judith Warner, Why Are the Rich so Interested in School Reform? See it at: http://ideas.time.com/2011/12/09/why-are-the-rich-so-interested-in-public-school-reform/

An endnote—What will be the effect of LAUSD’s new contract? “Teachers in Los Angeles have overwhelmingly approved an agreement that is expected to give instructors and administrators more control of their schools, while also holding them responsible for academic achievement.” Here is the LA Times article from which the forgoing quote comes: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/la-teachers-approve-local-control-deal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29

Principal-to blog or not to blog

Principal-to blog or not to blog by Penelope Swenson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Why might a principal want to blog, or NOT? Blogging is not for everyone. As a professor, I can do an occasional blog, but as a principal, you would want something more consistent. Do any of your teachers have class or “teacher blogs” that are on your school/district servers or using other systems? Some superintendents blog. Does yours?
Plus side:
• Timely information
• Promote the school
• Inform parents, community, press of calendar, activities, initiatives, successes
• Inexpensive means of communicating
• Keep focus on mission, vision
• Provide connections to articles, videos, etc. regarding developments in education

Minus side:
• Must keep it up
• Can say too much
• Some parents do not have access
• Legal issues regarding posting student names, photos
• Could be seen as political

Should you do a blog as a principal?
• Are you a good writer?
• Who is/would be your audience?
• Do parents have access to the Web?
• Do you have important information to share?
• Can you keep the blog up with posts at least monthly?
• What is your district policy regarding blogging? Must publications be approved by the D.O.?
• Could you use blogspot.com or one of the other sites set up for blogging or is that “off limits” for your district?
• Do you have the time? Will the blog save you time or be time/cost effective?

There are benefits to getting on the Web with your message. There are pitfalls. Read some of the blogs below to get an idea of what other principals are doing.

A very traditional, informative, support the school blog is from an elementary principal in Massachusetts. You will find it at http://pineglenprincipal.blogspot.com/ .

From a South Carolina middle school, this blog is similar in content to the one above but with a Twitter feed and podcast. See it at http://sullivanms.edublogs.org/ .

Patrick Larkin, high school principal, has a blog at http://burlingtonhigh.blogspot.com/ and his own Principal’s Page at http://cms.schooleffects.com/contentm/easy_pages/easy_page_view.php?sid=28&page_id=5 . Both have timely and useful information and links.

Check out this wonderful wide ranging and informative blog http://weprincipal.blogspot.com/ by Melinda Miller, an elementary principal with many interests.

Blogs, thinking, and academe

Some of the most interesting writing in academe is in blogs yet blogs are not recognized as credible academic work. A fine scholarly article below on blogs is found at http://www.thesacredpage.com/2010/11/sbl-paper-weblogs-and-academy.html .

I find blogs highly useful and would like to see them as a more full means of engaging others in pondering--maybe along the lines of the salons, etc. noted in the RSA "Where Good Ideas Come From" by Stephen Johnson

I’m in a pondering mode. My blog is an excellent way to extend a classroom discussion, share ideas, and think through a concept. How to make the blog more viable as a form of academic publishing is still out there on the horizon.