Standards - O Captain!

Wow! It has been a long time since I wrote on this wall but tonight I felt compelled to chat!

I was following my Twitter feeds and came across a reference to the new national standards proposal. You know that very rarely have I been out of the educational initiative loop, but this took me aback. I have known that this was coming but I thought that it was farther in the future. How very interesting these standards are and they could be coming directly to us soon!

Have a look! The reports are in PDF format. I am listing the link to the CCSSI site. They are looking for feedback. Anyone interested?

I was just thinking about the guys who are taking course work now with the PSU/Workforce Ed peeps. What would the discussion be in class about these tentative standards? Would these standards even be a topic for discussion? Would anyone question the validity of the need for these particular standards on a national basis?

Just where would we stand when these are the mandated standards? Would it affect our curricula? Hmmm . . . Or would it . . .

The Common Core State Standards Initiative
http://www.corestandards.org/

And they used one of my very fav poems by Walt Whitman as an example and it is only on page 10 of the following document! I am liking this!

College and Career Readiness Standards for Reading, Writing, and Speaking and Listening
http://www.corestandards.org/Files/ELAStandardsSources.pdf

And that is how I feel today!

I did ok! It is all about "Standards"!

"The Speech" and Me

Tomorrow, Tuesday, 8 september 2009, will be a day for me to remember long into the future. It is the day that President Barak Obama will address the children of the United States of America about their responsibilities toward their own education. The alarm was sounded on Friday before I left the building when I was asked about "The Speech" by an administrator. What did I know about it and what was the staff discussion about "The Speech". Yes, I knew about the speech. and, yes, I had heard other staff members discussing "The Speech". Some were concerned that the President was going to press his agenda on the kids of America!

Alarm bells should have begun to ring then but I must have been in another time zone. After all it was Friday afternoon and I was on my way to a movie with my nine year old granddaughter. I was looking forward to a weekend with the family. As I was leaving the building, I was stopped by another staff member asking about the Obama speech on Tuesday. Another set of bells.

When I got home I quickly Googled the topic of "The Speech" and found the overview, lesson plans, and the contest that would capstone the whole event. It was easy to deduce what "The Speech" would entail - education, responsibility, goals. . . Some wonderful thought provoking questions and activities. I wasn't worried. There would be nothing subversive in "The Speech". Alarm bells! I should have paid more attention to the whispers - propaganda, subversive material, socialism, Hitler, social state, mind control, brainwash, etc.

The Sunday News was a real shock to me! Front page, above the fold! How were the schools of York County going to handle such a critical speech from the President of the Uniter States. I can't remember a time when I have felt so very distressed about my personal belief that the President would never attempt to brain wash the children of this country, a general shame for the citizenry of this country. The article was definitely an eye opener. And I became curious about the comments that were attached to this article and those alarm bells rang with a clarity that would have frightened even the faintest of heart. I have kept a watch on these comments as they have grown from less than 20 to more than 160.

Those comments rang of fear, racism, facism, and a host of other ideologies, epithets, untruths and threats.

"The Speech" will be watched by myself in my Media Center and I will record it so that it is part of the collection for all to watch, dissect, and perhaps applaud! It is refreshing that someone is going to address the children of this country and ask them to be the best, do better, be responsible, learn, be respectful, do a good job, have educational and life goals, work hard, become educated citizens, not burdens on this society. The comments have warned me to be very circumspect about "The Speech".

"The Speech", I am thinking that it just may be a catalyst for US children to do better. I remember another time in the history of education in these United States and Sputnik was a menace that only education could resolve. Were we really a second rate country then? Are we one now?

What can "The Speech" do for education tomorrow? Will the alarm bells continue to ring? What will the alarm bells fortell? Is my country that fractured?

"The Speech"

And that is how I feel today! Alarmed!

Ps Today was about the Speech!

How Does My PLN Work?

Ok! Thursday was the pits! But, I'm back to being me!

I was perusing my twitter and I came across an interesting tweet about the blahs of first day activities. I followed the bread crumb trail to the blog and then to the activity itself. I do this regularly. It always is fascinating to me where these things lead. So I felt that this would be a subtle teachable moment for the staff on how I make use of my PLN (just in case you don't know what that is - Professional Learning Network). I emailed the staff the following email to demonstrate how this works.

* * * * *

Hey Youse Guys!

Are you tired of those First Day same-old same-old activities? I was reading a tweet by edteck (Peter Pappas) and was pointed to his blog about using a mystery to introduce the class to each other. Here are the links to this creative way to get the class and you to know one another. It sounds like it would be fun! If you try it, let me know how it turns out.

Marge

First Day of School? Don't Pass Out Books - Problem Solve!

http://peterpappas.blogs.com/copy_paste/2009/08/first-day-school-pass-out-books-problem-solve.html

The Detective Game

http://www.edteck.com/rigor/lessons/detective/index.htm

* * * * *

I hoped that I modeled this strategy for my staff so that they too can do the bread crumb thing for their students! I hope that I am leading the staff in their quest to use technology in a way that will flow down to the kids. This is certainly a way to search for further information - a 21st Century Skill.

And that is how I feel today!

PS It was really about the staff today!

OMG! What A Day!

Today was a travesty of a day! In one fell swoop, I was told thank you very much for a wonderful job over the past three years as the Technology Coach in the Classrooms for the Future program but with the demise of the program your personal services are no longer needed in that capacity and someone else has been assigned to do the job! That wasn't bad enough! This was said in front of the entire staff (perhaps 150 people including teachers, ancillary staff, and office personnel) during an inservice faculty meeting to talk about building changes.

It would have been nice to have been told prior to the event so that shock and dismay was not evident in my demeanor throughout the rest of the day! Above all things, I try to remain a professional. I had a real hard time with this today!

When I was getting Chemo Therapy, my husband would say every time as I was leaving for a treatment - "Play nice." I will certainly have to play nice with that happening in the back of my mind! But first I will beat the dickens out of the poor pillow into which I have been crying! "Bad word! Bad word! Bad word!"

Life is not fair and I clearly understand that. I still have a wonderful job with an extraordinary group of people! But that doesn't help the hurt.

And that is how I feel today!


PS Yep! Just as I thought! It was a very bad day!

My PLN and Vacation

While I was on vacation, I neglected to take care of my Google Reader. I left almost all things technology in the cloud! Now, I am making an attempt to catch up on all things technology! I am currently following about 80+ blogs. That is certainly a huge amount but because Google Reader allows me to scan and peruse a brief portion of the blog itself, I can dispense with the blogs effectively and efficiently. Take my favs first and then the prolific! I have discovered that I have become very "up-to-date" on the happenings within the educational arena! YAY!

These are my PLN friends. From 2¢ Worth to Dangerously Irrelevant to Tipline-Gate's Computer Tips to Weblogg-ed, I discovered these bloggers in interesting ways. I looked first of all for people that I had heard at conferences. Those were the "no brainers"! It is interesting that the rest of the family was gained via recommends within these blogs to Twitter microbloggers! Sure, I follow some fun stuff on Twitter but I am also following an eclectic group of educators from around the world who have made me aware that because of them, I know more about my craft than before I was part of the cloud! How very lucky I am.

I wonder how many of my colleagues can say the same?

And that's how I feel today!

PS Looks like today was about blogs!

Going to LFS for today

This is the posting area for the LFS Training at York Tech.

Back to School!

Today was my first official day back! The Cabinet met today and I was on the agenda! My responsibility was to give an overview of the Graduation Project Rubrics that had been developed by the Career Teachers. The staff did a GREAT job on the Presentation Rubrics but did not develop the rubrics for the projects themselves. This will be a challenge for the career staff because there is no model for them to use and they will be individualized and program specific. Big job!

I shared a three wonderful sites with different departments today.

Grammar Ninja - A wonderful grammar game that can be used to warm up the class. It is interactive and can be used with the Promethean Board.

Geosense - A marvelous game place to practice geography - US or World!

SpanishEnglish Beta Database - practice for the Spanish Students.

Today ws a very busy day! I am not looking forward to tomorrow - Learning Focused Schools training - LONG DAY! I hope that we backchannel! It will help keep me focused!

And that is how I feel today!

PS It WAS all about today!

I'm Back!

I've been doing some family stuff! You know the drill - contact family, set up picnic date and time, shop for stuff, clean, and PARTY! My brother Joe came from Oregon and the family get-together was a BLAST! My house because I have the most room for an event of large family proportions! That was last weekend.

Then, last Sunday, my granddaughter and I, went to the beach (OBX) and to see a castle (Biltmore)! The time was fun and way too short! I tried to stay away from my computer and all of the distractions that it causes! I gave a cursory glance at my Google Reader and it is in overload mode! I now have a gazillion blogs to read! I tried to keep my cell phone usage to pictures and texts to family and friends letting everyone know what fun we had, while away, and that worked until I was in traffic! Then I resorted to my internet access on my phone and Twitter! I am such a pushover!

Now, I am back and school starts on Monday. Where did my summer go? There are headsets waiting to be opened and grouped for staff use, flat screen TV's to be mounted, books to be processed, the Media Center Wiki needs to be updated for the Learning Focused Schools training on Tuesday and Wednesday, and, perhaps I really do need another vacation!

Overwhelmed!

And that is how I feel today!

PS Today was obviously about FAMILY!

I Do Believe

This summer has been an interesting summer. I haven't been in the building all that much and therefore have only seen people who have asked for help for course work or projects. One of my colleagues took a course in technology use in the classroom and we had a wonderful time talking tools and methods. The one thing that struck me was the uncertainty of the ability of her summer school students to participate in and complete some complex projects. She didn't know if her students would be able to do the things that she wanted them to do. Although she was teaching summer school students, she wanted to try out some assignments using some new tools. We discussed the tools, reviewed how they worked, and discussed the educational projects themselves. She said that she felt more comfortable trying out the strategies in the smaller group than during the hustle and bustle of full day teaching. She was so successful that she laughed at how easy she thought that it will be to replicate the asssignments in her classes in the fall.

She considered herself lucky to be able to try out something new in a very non-threatening environment - small class size, few interruptions of the daily life during the regular school year, and hands-on-help if needed. The biggest thing that I noticed is the real belief that when school starts in a few weeks her students have the ability to do these projects. Her belief system has grown. And that is one of the bases of good teaching practices - the sincere belief that students have the ability to succeed! How successful can a teacher be if they do not have a belief in their students?

My question to the rest of my staff is what are your expectations for your students in the fall. Do YOU believe?

The following came to me in one of my blog readings yesterday!

And that is how I feel today!

PS Here is the Wordle of the day - Students is the winner!

Distractions!

I have the attention span of an Irish Setter! And I am off and running and never in a straight line!

Started the day off with Twitter! Shared a voice app for Twitter called Chirps. This Twitter tool is for all core subjects. Can't ya hear a Math chirp about FOIL posted to the class tweets!

Next on the list was blog reading made easy via Google Reader! Will Richardson has become my first of the day! He is an eclectic reader and consumate professional! I have decided that geekdom comes with the peril of technoslavery! Yes, I have become attached to all of my cloud accoutrements - hardware and software! When I was finished with the blogs for the day, I had probably weeded through 80 plus entries! That was pretty simple using the Reader - take a peek - read/not read - move on! Attention span was taken care of. How will this work when school starts. . . hmmm?

Throughout the day, I track my Twitter account and discovered that there are people that I am following who are conducting class on Twitter, recommending blog reads, sharing kool stuff, just plain adding to my professionalism. This is really distracting (?) because I am pulled to where ever the tweeter points. I guess that is because I have chosen to follow people that have been recommended by my PLN! I have been careful when add to those I follow on Twitter. That is the secret choose wisely!

I added a gazillion new entries to my Delicious account too! As I read, I may not want to forget something that was significant in some way to me, the kids, my colleagues, the school. This is my job - to keep abreast of the world of education and that which affects it! What do ya think tomorrow will bring?

Check out the new additions to my Delicious! Interesting! Is there something there for you?

And that's what I think today.

PS Today's wordle review! It was all about Twitter!

Mind Boggles

Where to begin? I find myself checking my Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader occassionally throughout the day! I decided to do that regularly because I never know when something really GREAT will appear. I found myself making a notepad full of thoughts, ideas, and website addresses that I think will be interesting to others as well as to me.

Hmmm . . . (note to self: need followers because no one is listening!?)

My day really started with helping a good friend with his new web page. Pictures say more than words sometimes . . . nope! Always! Never place your back to the words. It makes them seem invisible or unworthy or just not noteable!

My very first blog read note today was to say something about Will Richardson who had an interesting encounter with an apparant luddite! His chat today was about Technoslavery. Yes, I too have a handheld device that keeps me in touch with the cloud universe. Yes, it has presented some interesting comments by onlookers, who, I am sure wished that they could use the time standing in the grocery line - laughing over a friend's Twitter comment or reading an interesting comment in a blog! Rock on, Will!

Then I read about Learning Systems on the Committed Sardines Blog and thought about the statement that I had read in an early summer WR blog - "If we didn't have the schools we have today, would we create the schools we have today?" (2000, Tom Carroll) What do you think? Would we? I would hope not. I vote for the JG statement - "I demand a world class education for my kids!" which requires a teaching paradigm shift and an unprecidented committment to the amoebic like process that we now call education. I truly think that I certainly wouldn't create the walls, in a variety of formats, that I deal with today. And it isn't just the bricks and mortar that are a hinderance. I also think that fear of chaos, NCLB with its high stakes tests and legal ramifications are also walls with which to reckon. Moving on . . .

There are several issues that we are dealing with at Tech that made my blog reading really worthwhile for the staff at Tech:

Teach Paperless, now here is a blog with some real suggestions for assisting to make Tech a paperless environment. When Steve D said that we can do this; people said how? This can help!

How about cheating via computer? 6 Steps on how to reduce cheating on online tests had some good practical advice. Read it!

Are you a somewhat newbie to the tech in the classroom movement? If so this one is for you, Top 10 Web 2.0 Tools for Young Learners. Remember that I usually say take some baby steps. Here are some tools that are simple to use, easy to incorporate, and you won't look like a "newbie" to the kids. Remember, sometimes (?) they are smarter than we are. Introduce the lesson then the tool for the activity, maybe give an example of what it looks like almost done (you did this in the time that you really don't have, but you did it just the same), and let the kids go! Voila! Engaged kids! (Remember, the Media Center has equipment!)

Here are two for the English Department at Tech! (Nahhh! Everybody benefits!):
Daily Writing Tips has short explanations, examples, and two side bars filled with access to articles and categories.
The English Blog has many suggestions, assistance for grammar, spelling, punctuation. Just remember that it is from the UK and is slightly bent eastward. Otherwise, don't we speak the same language?

And finally something that Mr. Rogers and I discussed in the cloud. 2 Million Minutes, thats the time a freshman has until graduation. I will be getting the DVD and posters.

The following two videos demonstrate that failure is not a reason.

It is part of the journey!

Failure and Michael Jordan


and a companion to this video. . .

Famous Failures


And that's how I feel today!

Thoughts in a Wordle

I was reading my new ISTE copy of "Learning and Leading" tonight and came across an article called "Words in a Cloud" by Samantha Morra. She mentioned how using Wordle in conjuntion with her writing assignments has generated conversations about the language her students use when writing, prompting her students imperceptibly to revise what they say within their compostion. I thought that I would try it with my blog writing from yesterday, and, guess what? Voice was the biggest word in the lot!

What does that mean to me when I consider what I wrote yesterday? Well, I think that it simply means that I discovered that I have a presence in the cloud! Perhaps todays wordle would start with the word "I" - sort of a self-discovery thing. Wordle.net is another tool to use when writing. It can assist in developing your "voice" in a cloud! WOW!

And that's how I feel today!

PS Wordled todays blog and I was wrong! Today was about WRITING!

Today was Awesome!

I don't know what to say about today! Perhaps I could describe how elated I felt this week when I had some big names request to follow me on Twitter! Somewhere in the cloud, I have had a voice! How exciting it has been. Yes, I chose to follow the astronauts in space. In return, they are following me. Yes they have many followers and yes they are following many. It is just the thought that someone cares about my voice made me feel important! That is only one example. I can only imagine what kids feel like when someone in the cloud notices their work. WOW! In Jim Gates words, "That is powerful stuff!" Motivation to try again!

On the other hand, I had the opportunity to follow two conferences via CoverItLive this week. Not only that, I also participated in the conversation. I had a voice once again! I was part of the dialogue - part of the conversation!

I can only suggest how to use technologies in the classroom. Until the teachers themselves experience the elation of being a voice in the cloud will they understand my need to continue. I want to be part of the game - a player! What must a kid feel like when they "get in the game"?

And that's how I feel today!

PS I Wordled this blog to see what I thought was important. I guess voice, follow, feel, part, cloud, and conversation were important to me today. Question to self: How will that change? Or, will it?

My PLN and Me

It has come to my attention that I have become addicted to my PLN (Personal Learning Network). I find it fascinating that a simple tweet or a brief blog comment can send me on a very interesting quest! I have become more brave in the use of Twitter. I don't think that I am a "lurker" anymore. I think that I will try this blogging thing because my blog reads say that it will help in making me write more clearly since a blog should not be any longer than three or four paragraphs max!

I saw a media moment yesterday. It was a conversation between Tom Peters and Seth Godin. Their brief conversation very succinctly described a daily journaling in which I need to become very active! I feel that I need to get good at this so that I am a good example to my colleagues!

And that's how I feel today!