Oppose PA House Bill 855

Franklin Roosevelt said, "We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." This captures so much of what we hope to do as teachers and yet simultaneously absolved us of venturing into matters beyond the classroom. The great lesson of history is that groups endure the most severe injustices when good people fail to rise up or speak out.

PA House Bill 855 is not directly about reducing deficit/debt. This is about power. About taking power from workers, from the people, and placing it even more staunchly in the hands of politicians and corporations. This is not an assault on teacher unions - this is an assault on labor, on the workers who built this country, on the middle-class. It is part of a larger effort to reduce the expectations all Americans have for pensions, health care, and security.

Without seniority, a school that is trying to resolve financial issues could furlough one experienced teacher for every two novice teachers and save nearly equally in financial terms. In turn, schools are able to preserve moderate class sizes and programs which reduces resistance from parents. Governors and lawmakers argue that schools need to be able to adopt business-like policies to be more fiscally responsible. If we believe that assertion, then furloughing experienced teachers - regardless of their effectiveness, is the most cost effective solution with minimal impact on other metrics like class size and program availability. Furloughing any teacher is devastating, but without the security of seniority, experienced teachers will be the first to go and with them goes wisdom, influence, and stability.

We cannot guarantee what the future is like for our youth - but if we don't take action, if we don't cry out in protest, we bear the responsibility for the loss of the future that generations before us have fought so hard to build. This is not just about the loss of your job. This is about the extraction of power from the hands of the people and the coalescing of power in the hands of a few.

We can no longer resign ourselves to only preparing our youth for the future; we must also insure that the future is not stolen from our youth.

Please take action against House Bill #855.

Google Voice: A New Approach to the Suggestion Box

Many student councils utilize suggestion boxes to collect feedback and ideas from the student body. The effectiveness of physical suggestion boxes, often located in libraries or other common areas, can vary greatly. One way to potentially increase the amount and timeliness of feedback collected by a “suggestion box” is to replace the physical box with Google Voice.

Google Voice is a powerful tool that blends phone and texting capabilities with voice transcription and message archiving.  Your student council could set up a Google Account and then set up Google Voice that will give your council its own telephone number. You have a lot of choice with this number so that you could potentially create a number that spells out some word or phrase that is easy to market and remember. Once the student body has the number, they can leave suggestions by calling or texting the number. Google Voice will transcribe the phone calls so that you can scan them quickly and keep a text archive along with text messages. You can collect student’s cell phone numbers via Google Voice and even attempt to provide direct responses to their suggestions while maintaining a level of anonymity.

You will want to check with your school’s administration to make sure they are agreeable with the idea of using Google Voice. Also, you will want to make sure that the Google Account that you use to set up Google Voice is a common account for student council rather than someone’s personal Google account.  For more information on Google Voice check out www.google.com/voice. 

Doing Good: Socialbrite.org

December can be a month where we feel more compelled to “do good”. Perhaps it’s residual concerns about Santa’s naughty-or-nice list or more likely it’s a natural extension of the positive feelings that emerge as we take stock of our good fortunes during this holiday season. Whatever motivates us, sometimes simply doing good isn’t so simple.

One web-based resource that is attempting to support our desire to make a difference is Socialbrite.org:

“Socialbrite is a learning hub & sharing community that brings together top experts in social media, causes and online philanthropy. We're here to share insights about tools and best practices that advance the social good. This is an ad-free community learning center.” [ www.socialbrite.org ]

If you use Twitter, follow @socialbrite or check out www.facebook.com/socialbrite in addition to their own website. There’s a wealth of resources and information that channels through Socialbrite, most of which is in support of non-profit organizations’ endeavors to create positive change. Some of the material is also ideal for Student Councils that are interested in increasing their civic engagement and social responsibility. Along the way, students will learn about how technology is changing the landscape of awareness and activism.

Sample of resources available on Socialbrite.org:

12 Steps to Mobilize Your Cause [printable PDF]
http://bit.ly/12steps-flyer

10 Mobile Apps for Social Good [printable PDF]
http://bit.ly/10mobileapps

40 Hashtags for Social Good [printable PDF]
http://bit.ly/40hashtags

9 Web Platforms to Help You Change the World
http://bit.ly/c7utbo

15 Social Tools for Local Impact
http://bit.ly/baiQts

So check out some of the resources listed above and give one or two a spin. If you find something that works particularly well, post a comment.

Efficiency Tip - "When is Good"

Need to know the best time for a meeting so you get the highest attendance possible? Then check out “When is Good” at http://whenisgood.net.

Whenisgood.net is a powerful yet simple to use online tool to send out a calendar of dates to your group, have them indicate on a website when is good for them to meet, and then you can quickly analyze the results to pick the best date. There really isn’t a more efficient way to schedule a meeting and maximize attendance. Plus, it’s free!
The best way to get started is to watch the short video on their website http://whenisgood.net/Videos

There are two free ways to use the website. The first is to just simply create an event, color in the days or times that work for you, send out a link via email and copy down a secret code so you can access your event later. People respond, you type in your code and there you are – a visual calendar of “when is good”. The second way is to create an account where you can store multiple events and access them all at one time (rather than needing a separate code for each like the first method). This is the best option if you plan on using the service frequently. The power is in the analysis: click on a respondent’s name to see which days are good just for him or her, click on a day and see the names of the respondents who can make it, or you can simply choose the day with the most respondents.

However you use WhenisGood.net, you’ll be more efficient at scheduling meetings and events.

Art of Choosing - Sheena Lyengar

The concept of choice is a core component of what defines my approach to life. If I have a life motto, it is that life is a series of choices and consequences - that we are in control of our choices alone, nothing else. There have been a number of books (like Blink) that examine our ability to make choices and the subtle factors that influence our decision making. Recently someone reminded me of some psychological research done on how authority can influence, even control, the hardest choices we would have to make.

But something I hadn't thought about much was the idea that sometimes it might be better to have fewer choices or to have things decided for us in order to produce a more harmonious experience. The American view of choice is a culturally entrenched idea that almost defines America itself. In America, we believe that having more choices is better than having fewer choices and that the power to choose should be primarily in the hands of the individual (provided those choices don't impinge on the rights of others to choose).

This TED talk questions some of the assumptions we make about choice and considers some ideas when limited choice or no choice at all, might result in better outcomes.

Sheena Iyengar on the art of choosing | Video on TED.com

Google Apps & Online Voting

Use Google Apps for Education to conduct online voting for school groups and events.

Our school has Google Apps for Education. With that, each student has an email account that they can use along with Google Docs, Calendar, and Sites. Most of this works the same as a regular private Google Account - except for something I came across today.

We want to run elections "online" for Student Council & Class Officer, Homecoming Queen & Prom Court, etc. Google Forms has the potential to make this happen for free, especially the Google Forms within Google Apps for Education.

When you create a form in Google Docs using your Google Apps account, there is an options to require respondents to sign in with their personalize Google Apps account login:


By having each student log in, you can be sure that only HS students are completing the form and that each student only votes one time. And as with regular Google Forms, you can turn forms on and off at specific times, require specific questions to be completed, and view all of the results in a nice spreadsheet.

I haven't used this approach with Google Apps yet (I did with my personal Google Account). Once I get it up and running, I'll share more insight.

Failure: The Secret to Success

I know nothing about racing, but this video captures the concept that we seem to be struggling with... failure leads to success when we choose to risk, when we push the limits. The theme of risk and failure applies to systems and to the individual.

A Legacy of Excellence

There are people we meet, people we come to know, that inspire us through their commitment to excellence. Some organizations are able to design their entire culture around that simple concept... excellence in all endeavors, from personal to professional. You can feel it when you're around people like that; feel an energy, enthusiasm, optimism. They are people and organizations that not only respond well to challenges but more importantly seek out challenges in order to better themselves and those they serve. A commitment to excellence requires an ability to take risks - to risk failure, ridicule, and judgement. A commitment to excellence requires the wisdom to make the right choices - to choose long-term gains over short-term rewards.

Questions:

What tangible steps need to be taken to move a group towards a legacy of excellence?

How do leaders support risk? creativity? 

Will efforts to make institutional decision making more transparent to the group, allow for more effective personal decision making?

Learning Something New

I have an independent study student this semester who is researching the relationship between physics, math, and music. He has been uncovering some interesting patterns as well as some intriguing historical perspectives. For a summary of that research, check out his blog.

One of the things that is enjoyable about this process is how much I've been learning about music, which is a huge deficit for me in terms of understanding. I have a general appreciation for music but really no intuition or talent for the production of music. My student has been patiently trying to catch me up on the foundations of music theory.

Most recently he showed me a video which demonstrates the use of a series of cords in 36 contemporary songs. I've included the video in this post.

This type of collaboration in our learning is very productive. We plan to showcase his research to our gifted teacher as well as some other key players to expose the potential for a shift in instructional methods.

4Chords... 36 Songs [WARNING: Contains Explicit Lyrics/Language]

Watch more BREAK.COM videos on AOL Video

Measuring success?

This was my intro paragraph for a paper I wrote last year... recent events have me thinking about this topic again. What does success look like for today's students? How do we measure this success?

"Teaching and learning for the 21st century represents a significant shift in the paradigms associated with what constitutes success in the educational system. Often, it is those individuals who were successful within the system that go on to work and lead within the system. This creates a massive inertial presence that maintains status quo, even amidst powerful forces driving for change. Any visionary who strives to move the mountains of accumulated organizational press will need to fundamentally alter the tools used in measuring success in our school systems. Changes to curriculum or instruction to prepare students for 21st century success will fail to sustain themselves if measured by the assessment tools of a previous century that valued information above wisdom. Further more, there are unique challenges to the assessment of 21st century skills (DiMartino & Castaneda, 2007; Sternberg, 2008). It is then paramount to any other initiative that teachers, administrators, and the community expose the limitations of the current assessment system, build capacity to begin improvement, use evidence as a foundation for all assessment decisions, and continually support quality assessment through professional development and policy."

More Powerful Than Words

This is an incredible song. Period.

This video is powerful. The faces in the choral group - the real America.

Vision, Character, and Change in 2008

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

-Helen Keller

A better way

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.
–M. Scott Peck

It seems as if so much of what we want is designed to limit how uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled we are. The commercials on television sell products and procedures to bring comfort, happiness, and fulfillment (at least temporarily). It reminds me of "soma" from Brave New World.

But it is that persistent, undeniable unrest that is so important to forming a life worth living. Poverty has been fertile ground for growing leaders of change. Those who would prefer the status quo would seek to placate those in poverty, those hungry for change. Alcohol, drugs, mindless entertainment, and credit keep things as they are.

I see it elsewhere... a failing school is acceptable as long as the athletic teams are successful, students avoid challenging courses and get the same grades, and tradition trumps progress when progress takes too much effort.

So here's to never being satisfied, to always feeling unsettled, and to always finding a better way.

What does change mean?

In describing today's accelerating changes, the media fire blips of unrelated information at us. Experts bury us under mountains of narrowly specialized monographs. Popular forecasters present lists of unrelated trends, without any model to show us their interconnections or the forces likely to reverse them. As a result, change itself comes to be seen as anarchic, even lunatic.
–Alvin Toffler


This quote, forwarded to me my a dear friend, captures my concern for this new generation of leaders. There is so much isolated information, poured nonstop upon the public, that they are drowning yet thirsty for something more. Context, connection, purpose... we need to make meaning from the bits and bytes.

Education here again could play such a vital role. History provides the backstory, Literature provides context, and Science provides critical analysis of cause and effect... but only when we see the grander purpose in education. Life is a series of choices and consequences - karma's cause and effect. When we teach in isolated bits and bytes, we hide the nature of life. Our ability to change is our greatest strength.

I continue to be amazed at the writing of Paul Hawken in Blessed Unrest. It's a new view of system, of collective action, of forest for the trees. In the end, we cannot wait for others to make sense of it for us, we must be the makers of meaning.

Trust

So, here I am... falling into the arms of my student council. Honestly, I wasn't feeling this at the start. Basically, I'm a big guy and I know the laws of physics... so the concept of falling off a table at 1am during a lock-in is a bit, perplexing. But the idea is that this is an issue of trust and I truly trusted this group. Eventually, I moved to the table-top and the rest is told in the video...

This is part of what makes teaching such a powerful experience: learning to trust teenagers. Beyond the classroom, beyond the curriculum, there is something critical to the relationship between teachers and students. Teachers are the link between the past and the future, between the status quo and change, between wisdom and hope. Trust is essential to this relationship.

Advisor University - PASC

30 advisors, mostly student government, converged at Penn State Ramada Inn for 24 hours of professional development. Sponsored by PASC, the training program occurs every other year. Advisors from around the state (PA) are hoping to return to their schools with knowledge and skills to improve student leadership programs.

Sent from my iPhone

"Life is a series of choices and consequences." -- KLK

Technology Vision

I have spent considerable time and effort lately, researching the concept of one-to-one computing and learning in schools. I talk with anyone who will listen and share about my concerns - and about my excitement. My concern is that the implementation of such a massive shift in instructional methods requires more focus and finesse than we will afford it. We seem increasingly divided between all of the expectations and obligations placed on a high school today, and one-to-one computing seems to be coming along at the wrong time. My vision for technology integration (adaption) is that we finally realize how little we expect of our students, how inflexible we have become, and how limiting so many of our reform efforts truly are.

Technology, adapted well, has the potential to raise our expectation of all students while allowing for even more success than under lower expectations. Our students are able to maneuver their way through high school avoiding classes that require thinking, problem solving, and reflective thought. Students have become outstanding information regurgitators, but that is rarely a desirable quality any longer. We need to grow outstanding communicators, thinkers, problem solvers and one-to-one computing has been shown to do just that (if adapted well). There needs to be less restriction on communication, more time to think creatively and critically, and students need to have opportunities to solve real problems. This leads to a vision of flexibility.

PA significantly changed graduation guidelines when it developed and adopted the Academic Standards. There are guidelines for days and hours, physical education and health class, and an expectation that whatever else occurs in the schools, students are demonstrating proficiencyon the Standards. Unfortunately, most schools never embraced this change and graduations requirements are almost entirely unchanged. It seems that to be successful, one-to-one needs to truly mean that; every student needs a machine that is theirs. March Prensky points out a similar notion that students need to embrace the one-to-one by personalizing the experience. We currently block email from all students, all social networking sites, and even block regular Google searches in the name of security. The concept of personalization of technology is a HUGE paradigm shift for high schools, especially those in charge of technology at the district level. This often leads to reform that promotes conformity.

Math is a perfect example of reform efforts that seek to control exactly what and when a student is exposed to information. Even at the high school level, technology in math departments is about control and management, not exploration and discovery. I would hope for technology adaption to occur that motivates students to solve real problems using skills developed "along the way". We then have the issue of assessment - which causes me to shudder when I think about integrating one-to-one computing. Even reform efforts related to assessment (ie common assessment and PLC) when implemented are more about control (of students and teachers) than of improving learning. One-to-one learning requires radically new ideas about the form of assessment, and clearly students will need to shake free of the limitations of previous reform attempts.

My vision for technology integration is simple: to always view instruction through my student's eyes. My students want to be challenged, they want to be creative, and they need to not be held down by policy and organizational structures of the status quo.

Les Miserables, part deux

One of my favorite stories is that of Valjean, Javert, and the Bishop Myriel from Les Miserables. When I describe it to my students, I like to simply say that it is a story about the interpretation of "doing the right thing". (of course, the musical Wicked is also a great backdrop for the same theme).

• The Bishop is "good" because he is forgiving, generous, accepting - almost too much so.
• Javert is "good" because he enforces society's rules; innocent or guilty with no in-between.
• Valjean is "good" because he responds to the needs of others, often casting aside the laws or norms of society.

Most of us accept that we cannot be good like the Bishop. We'd like to believe that we're more like Valjean - a champion for those who cannot rise up themselves. But honestly, we mostly behave as Javert... conforming and judging, trusting in the government structures and other protectors of status quo.

After watching Spike Lee's docu-drama on HBO, WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS, I'm again reminded of this pattern of docile obedience supplanting irritating activism. Years from now, history will be taught in classrooms that revises the devastation of Katrina, not as a natural disaster, but as a failure of government to serve its people. But, the history lesson will not stop there, instead it will continue on to point out how the rest of us stood by and watched it happen - satisfied that enough had changed, when in fact, nothing really has. Where is the outrage, the irritating activism that pushes us forward?

In Pennsylvania the lawmakers gave themselves a raise. The result was a tremendous burst of irritating activism that drove the electorate to vote for change. Most analysts will say that the results of the election following these events, were shaped by this force of change - out with the old, in with the new... and by the way, we're watching you!

AND YET, it seems as if two years after Katrina, little has changed for the better - especially at the federal level.


Javert, upon realizing that all of his years of judging and conforming had left him on the wrong side of being right, takes his life, having "fallen from grace". Let us work now to see the wisdom and power of irritating activism - before its too late.

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/
http://www.teachingthelevees.org/