Virtual Learning

We no longer use the abacus.  While the practical benefits of the abacus have never been questioned, we as a society have moved beyond using abacus.  Using an abacus is much more personal than using a calculator, you physically have to move the beads and there is something to be said for being that closely involved with your work.  Traditional schools and education as we know it are the abacus and the internet is a really nice calculator.

you can still be a part of BYOD

I think there will always, always be a place to the traditional classroom.  By no means am I taking the position here that we need to do away with the traditional class setting and move everything online.  Especially in the earlier grades, socialization is just as, or perhaps even more important than the subject matter being taught.  

I’ve got friends I don’t need to learn math

The fact of the matter is that by high school kids should be allowed to take whatever courses interest them.  If those courses happen to fall outside of the realm of what is offered at the school, using a virtual school to bridge that gap is a no brainer.  

finally I can pursue my love of UNDERWATER basket weaving

Does this scare me a bit as a high school teacher?  Yes it sure does, but I truly believe that what I offer in my class benefits students and gives them a unique experience they could not get online.  That may be the biggest change that teachers in the traditional classroom need to make.  We need to figure out how to make our classes more attractive so kids will continue to want to take them.

Thanks Ron!

Which brings me to my final point.  Students will continue to have access to more and more virtual classes.  They can go at their own pace in these classes, and get specific up to date feedback, along with resources which can enrich their experience.  As classroom teachers we have competition, personally I think that is a good thing because it forces us to take a hard look at our practices and how we can be more effective teachers.

Interview with a Techie

Full Disclosure

I have known Mr. B since elementary school and he was pivotal in helping me get my job, so we are friends.  I would not normally have so much fun during an interview.  Also, I used first initials of last names so this interview would not come up during a online search.

For this interview I sat down with Mr. B.  Mr. B is the band leader/music teacher at the high school, he is also the building technology integration specialist.  The T.I.S. for each building is new this year and even though it has only been a short time, Mr. B has already held many workshops designed to get teachers up to speed with technology.  Keep in mind that these answers only reflect what is going on in the high school, while I did some background on some of the overarching parts, I’m not sure about the day to day procedure in every building.

I brought him some butterflies to thank him for granting me the interview

The Interview

Me: Do you happen to know what student information system we use in the district?  

Mr. B:  Right now at the high school we use MMS, and also to come extent School Loop

Me: Do those two programs integrate well together?

Mr. B: No, not at all.  But we have found a way to make it work

Me: What do we have in the way of grade books for students?  Anything that revolves around tech?

Mr. B: Have you even checked your School Loop? *laughs at me* yes, teachers are able to do all or their grading online using School Loop.  By contract we only have to update grades twice a quarter but if you ask around I’m sure you’ll find most teachers update them much more than that.

Me: What about webpages dedicated to a teachers class?

Mr. B:  Those are available though School Loop but to be honest I don’t think a lot of people use them.  Many teachers though have gone out on their own to create some, they usually use a site builder like Weebly or Wordpress.

Me: This is an odd question because I don’t really know what this is, but do we have a curriculum warehouse?

Mr. B: Do you remember the NEASC review from 2 years ago?

Me: Yes

a (fake) picture from the interview

Mr. B: We used Atlas in our last NEASC review, that gave people a way to get their curriculum online and let them collaborate with others… essentially a curriculum warehouse.

Me: Ahhh I see … next question though how do we maintain our district website?

Mr. B:  Right now there is an update in the works but presently we have a cookie cutter site though School Loop.  The person primarily in charge of updating the site is the Tech-Ed teacher here at the high school Ms. K.

Me: What about our school website?

Mr. B: Again we have a pretty standard one though School Loop… want to guess who updates that one?

Me: Ms. K?

Mr. B: You got it!

Me: How about the facilities calendar?  You know like when you have to book the high school gym or auditorium.

Mr. B: We use School Dude for that.  So if you want to book a place for something like a concert you log in using your school username and password and fill out a form.  School Dude is actually maintained by the facilities director, Mr. H.

Me: Most impressive … anything else you want to add?

Mr. B: Yes just that we are a Google school.  And the google tools integrate well with School Loop.  Any student here can enter their school issued email and password to log on to the majority of the google suite of tech tools.

Me: Thanks!

Mr. B: Anytime.

Creating the Committee

I can say that before this project I had never even remotely considered how to create a committee.  I know that pubic schools are led by l committees and I have been to many of those meetings but those folks are holding an elected position.  As teachers we are asked on a fairly regular basis to join committees.  I have volunteered to join these committees a few times, the most recent being our district determined measures initiative (it is mentioned in the 6th paragraph).  So before being challenged to set up my own committee and knowing it was not an election process my only real background was, ask everyone and take all who volunteer.  So what did I find out? Well let’s just say that there is a whole lot more to it than I thought.

not true Mr. Solo, not true

Do we need a committee?

One of the first things that I read was a sidebar on mycommittee;  “A committee is not always the best solution… Ask yourself if your purpose can be accomplished by one or two people (without a group). If so, then do it that way.”  This was under the subheading of how to start up a committee and while this may seem blatantly obvious it is something I didn’t really think of.  The first step is really looking at (as the quote puts it) purpose and deeming if we need more than a couple points of view.  Looking back on my personal experience the initiatives which I see invitations for are never for anything that is not going to have some impact on the district.  To put it simply if there are a lot of shareholders involved and it is going to be something that effects many people, a committee is the best answer because you are going to (hopefully) have a more diverse point of view than a team of two people.

oh hi! …would you like to be on my committee?

Who do you select?

This was one I looked at extra carefully because the other part of this assignment is to create a table on who we would have on our committee.  Again my only real experience in this was being a part of a mass invitation to join a committee in my district.  But what I learned was that who you have as a part of your committee and their attitude really matters.  “They should be somewhat knowledgeable in the area of the committee’s responsibility. Members should be a diverse group without being incompatible. Try to recruit people with different perspectives”.  I can really see from a leadership point of view not wanting to have people just yes you along.  As a teacher I can see students will a lot of the time just kind of pander to what they think you want to hear rather than what they really think.  Choosing from a broad base and having people that are not going to be afraid to voice their point of view is a must.

something tells me there would be a lot of lasagna at our meetings

Who’s in charge matters

So we have our committee and it is full of people who have different points of view and are not afraid to share them.  We are going to need a strong leader.  Having a facilitator that will be able to ensure that everyone is heard is an invaluable part of having a committee that works.  Some of the tips offered by mycommittee for an effective chair;  “Know where you are going; review the meeting objectives and desired outcomes in your opening remarks” and “Ensure that committee members take ownership in desired outcomes by inviting them to do something to support the goals of the committee” among others.  I don’t think that you could just grab up anyone and have them lead a committee that is set up to have different points of view.  It takes someone that has a special talent  and that person can really be helped by purpose, policy, and procedures.  

we are going to figure out how that steel chair got in here!

Have a clear purpose and have policies/procedures

This may seem surprising to some but when you have a large group of people, sometimes you can get sidetracked by things that take you way off of your goal.  The first step under starting a committee was to have a clear purpose.  Again something that for me in hindsight seems blatantly obvious but coupling the purpose with committee policies and procedures is the best chance for success.  What I learned is that when you have these three things together in a way that is simple and easy to understand you are much more likely to stay focused on your goal.  You are also much less likely to get bogged down in conversations which simply waste the committees time.  This final tip is from the effective chairperson page but I really think it is reverent here; “Anyone who voices a problem must also offer a potential solution…committee meetings should not be a bitching session or a forum for complaining about everything and everyone"

In closing, the first step I think is necessary is to ask yourself is this a issue that is going to effect a lot of people, if so having a committee is a good way to have a balanced view and plan going forward.  Who you choose matters, you do not want to have people who are not going to be committed and are not going to share their own points of view.  You do not want to have yes people.  Having a strong facilitator who is backed up by a clear purpose with procedures and policies in place will lead to an effective committee that does not waste time, come up with incredibly relevant outcomes, and is a very efficient use of it’s members time.