Blogging on a Thursday afternoon (I think I need a drink)!!!!!
July 1, 2004

     We came together as individals with our own ideas, thoughts, and visions for education. Then we evolved and exchanged our ideas until we started to form groups of people with similar viewpoints. Each group recognized the need for change and worked together to form an area that they would like to explore together.  Individually it seemed confusing at first but when the group came together everything started to become clear. My thoughts were very simple in the beginning but then things started to become more complex as time went on throughout the course. Everything seemed so disjointed at first but then each group evolved as time went along. 
     I think that engines of change could be accomplished in my school district. People would have to be motivated and discussions would have to take place. Everyone needs to remember that change can be good and that it takes time to implement. I think it would take a year for true engines of change to evolve in my district. We moved very quickly in our course and there wasn't really enough time to reflect on everything. Trying to do this in our school district over a period of time with discussion and reflection would certainly help.
     The thinking in our group has slowly started to change throughout these past six weeks. Initially, we talked about trying to implement a special type of program during senior year in high school. Now our discussions have delt more with the need to make the curriculum seamless whenever possible. Trying to go across the borders of each classroom to bring learning together in a more authentic way. We are all enthusiastic and anxious to fine tune our ideas in the weeks and months to come.We hope that our thoughts and ideas can really become a reality in more and more schools in the future. We will probably survey teachers, principals and even students to gain as much input as possible before and after our research. It is also our intent to share this information with the school community in hopes that this will help to bring about change in the future.
    

Cooperative Learning
June 28, 2004

     Where would we be in our daily lives if we could never interact with other people to ask questions, discuss concerns, debate, or just casually interact with each other.We would feel so isolated, alone and shut out from the outside world. Now imagine how a child feels in a classroom when student interaction is viewed as a negative thing and children are only expected to talk in class when they have an anwer to a question. This sounds like an extreme situation but one that existed in many schools in the past and perhaps some schools in the present.
      Fortunately, many of us have now recognized the fact that children learn better when they are working cooperatively with their peers. They have an opportunity to brainstorm and discuss ideas together. Socially they develop the ability to interact with one another and refine those interpersonal skills that are so needed in the outside world. Intellectually they feed off each other, refine each others ideas and often work together as peer teachers.What once might have appeared like cheating to some is now recognized as a more sophisticated way to learn. Working together challenges each student to improve and in the process allows for greater achievement. Alfie Kohn in his book entitled "The schools our kids deserve" said it best when he wrote "Teachers who provide activities that give students a sense of belonging and connection are creating a fertile environment for the free exchange of ideas and thus for learning. They do this not by exhorting children to "work together" or reminding them to share, but by structuring opportunities for them to meet as a class, to solve problems together, to collaborate with classmates on a regular basis"(Kohn,1999, p.155).

Image Source
www.chemistrycoach.com/page6.html
Sources

        Kohn, A.(1999).The Schools our Children Deserve.New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Traditional or Progressive Education: 
And the answer is ?
June 24, 2004

     Aministrators need to make decisions in education everyday. Sometimes these decisions need to be made quickly and sometimes an administrator can take time to reflect before making a decision. One of the major decisions that an educator needs to think about is their vision of what type of education our schools should provide.
     We often hear people complaining about our schools and how we need to get back to the basics.  My question to them is this; Have we ever really left the basics? Alfie Kohn, a well known modern educational theorist even goes as far as to say that "As we slip into a new century , traditional education is alive and well and - as I see it - damaging a whole new genertion of students (Kohn,1999,p.6). I don't know if I would go that far in my thinking but I do agree that we are not without problems.
     Many of our classrooms are still set up the same way as they were in the past. The teacher still stands in front of the class transmitting information to the students usually in the form of lecture and the students are the passive listeners who are recieving the information. Most students pay attention, learn the information by studying and many are ultimately successful with this process.  However, does anyone ever consider the students that gave up on school or those who failed to see the connection between what they were learning and their lives? The point of view of student in this process and their feelings on what they should learn or for that matter how they should learn is also seldom considered. Not to mention that we just automatically just assume that they will be enthusiastic and interested in what they are learning.  
     We delude ourselves into thinking that if we cluster students into groups of four instead of rows we are being progressive.  Do we really think that changing the physical makeup of the room is all we need to do to be progressive? We need to recognize that the students role in learning is vital and that they need to be active participants in the process.  That learning facts and the figures are important but they are not the end of the learning process.
     Purists of traditional or progressive education would suggest that their way exclusively is the way to go. I suggest at first they maybe we start with a blending of the two forms.Maybe we need to learn somethings like begining math in a traditional way. Ultimately, we need to recognize that a classroom is a democratic community of learners that need to be actively engaged in discovery, problem solving, and reflection before true authentic learning can occur.

SHARING
June 20, 2004

     One of the most important lessons that children learn when they are growing up is to share.  Sharing gives an individual the warm feeling that you get when you give something or receive something.  Unfortunately, not everyone is very good at sharing ideas especially in a school environment.
     Sometimes this is by personal choice because a person may want all of the glory that comes from a good idea that they developed.  Perhaps circumstances prohibit the opportunity for sharing.  School schedules are usually very structured and allow little time for collegial communication between colleagues.  It really is a shame when teachers do not share ideas with each other.  Working together creates an opportunity to discuss ideas  and develop thoughts that blossom into great learning moments.  If one of the goals of an educator is to create meaningful lessons for students then why wouldn't every teacher welcome a chance to share and develop ideas with a colleague.  Why wouldn't every administrator include this opportunity into each teachers schedule and encourge sharing among the staff. The sharing shouldn't be a weekly meeting when a teaching team makes sure that they are all working on the same material at the same time.  It should be discussions that take place between teachers that want to share with others the benefits of their life long learning experiences.  Sharing can also include discussions between teachers and administrators,teachers and parents, and even teachers and students.  Whatever it takes to improve the learning environment for students in our schools.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LEARNING?
June 19, 2004

      Years ago I remember having an intellectual discussion about learning with a Professor.  He posed this question to me; "Do we learn for the purpose of learning or do we learn to get a job?"  I remember thinking that learning in itself should be the ultimate goal.  We shouldn't learn things just for the test, or to get a good grade or for that matter to obtain a job.  However, isn't that what most of us do in our lives.  Parents often ask a teacher about the grades that their child will receive but do they ever ask if the child has really learned something?  It seems to me that at some point we've become more interested in the end product and not in the product itself. 
     If one of our goals as educators is to make children life long learners then how can we achieve this if they are looking at the time when school is over for them? They don't look at the clock to see when playtime is over because its fun and it has meaning in their lives.  To achieve this same idea in education learning has to be fun and have meaning and relevance in children's lives.  We need to make every effort to be less concerned with how schools did on testing and more concerned with ways to develop true authentic learning situations.  Hopefully this will make children more enthusiastic about learning at an early age. Ideally this will then lead to children wanting to learn for the rest of their lives.


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT?
June 13, 2004

     Educational leaders have a responsibility to provide programs of professional development for their teachers.  When school philosophies include statements about making students life long learners doesn't this also apply to the school staff. The question really is what constitutes true professional development?  The presentations that are offered once or twice a year by school districts on school inservice days?  Perhaps it is the one or two workshops that a teacher finds out about in a professional publication that deals with an area that they are interested in. 
     What is the one thing that either makes these events a success or a failure?  Perhaps it is including teachers in the process and providing programs that they will buy into for their classrooms.  Professional development goals and objectives need to be developed by administrators and teachers.  Topics need to be chosen that really seem to be worthwhile to teachers.  I realize that not everyone will always be in agreement about the selections but whenever possible topics should be chosen to benefit the greatest number of faculty. Continued implimentation and assessment also needs to be included as a component of professional development. 
     We need to work toward creating professional development that truly is worthwhile for our teachers.  Including them in the process can only be the first positive step toward achieving this goal. We need to remember as well that good teachers may be one of our greatest resources and sharing ideas with each other in a collegial atmostphere might be an area of professional development that has been underutilized as well.

TESTING & STANDARDS
June 10, 2004

          Sometimes I think that standards were introduced in states to create order out of chaos.  To act as a beacon in the murky world of education.  Research has shown that structure and order are important elements in our lives.  A guide for schools to follow so everyone is on the same course. Is the testing that goes hand in hand with the standards really benefiting our children?  Teachers, parents, and students are often stressed out about taking the test and the final outcome.  I wonder if they are really the best indicators of what are children are truly learning in schools.
      I accept the need for schools to be accountable. However, is it really realistic to force all children to produce the exact same results in the exact amount of time on the exact same day.  These action clearly don't imitate real life.  Do we really expect that one size fits all students in our schools. What about the different socio-economic backgrounds of children and how that factor can clearly influence the scores of tests.  
     The bottom line is that children are constantly being tested and often are suffering from the adverse affect of these tests. We as leaders need to try and reach the needs of our students and not just meet our quotas.

BLUE-COLLAR OR PROFESSIONAL ?
June 7, 2004

     Where do we want teachers to be in our schools?  Do we want a staff that just follows the leader or do we want a staff that collaborates together to solve problems, to build insights and move their profession forward in a creative way.  When the polices and the standards are formulated by outside forces is it really fair to blame everything on the teachers?  These are the questions that need to be asked and answered before a clear vision can be developed for a school.
      Teachers need to believe that what they have to offer a school is of value.  Treat teachers as professionals that have something to offer a school.  Test scores drive the bus but teachers maintain it.  When they don't feel important and moral is low then they won't believe that what they do makes a difference.
     Hopefully a new age will develop in education.  We have been waiting for forty years for this change to come.  Perhaps, if we had more confidence in our teachers and allowed them to have more imput as professionals we might see a change in the near future.

Interdisciplinary Teaching
June 2, 2004

      Walk into any classroom and invariably you will over hear a student say "why do we have to learn this"?  Unfortunately, students don't always understand what different subject areas have in common when they are taught in the abstract and in neat forty-two minute periods.  They know that they need to learn simple math for money or percentages.  However, they may not understand why they need to learn about geometry, algebra, or higher math if they don't intend to be a doctor,  a scientist, or  an engineer.
     The schools have any obligation to help draw these connections for students to help foster understanding.  One way that this can be achieved is through the use of interdisciplinary units.  Students don't just need to know that Columbus discovered America in 1492 in history class.  They need to know how he calculated for the amount of rations that would be needed in math class or how he navigated his ship. They need to know about the things that he saw on his journey so they could write a letter during language arts to his family back in Spain.  This type of involvment in learning helps them to be truly involved in the process.  We can't just do these units as a once a year project but they need to be incorporated in as much of the learning process as possible
    This type of learning doesn't just have to occur in the classroom.  It can also happen at home with parents.  When they read a story and come accross a word they don't understand they use a dictionary.  What if they are reading about a butterfly that has a wing span of 11 inches. That would be the perfect opportunity to use a ruler to show the child the actual measurement. Drawing the connections between subjects helps to build interest, imagination, curiosity and helps to promote true learning in children.

Participatory Leadership
May 31, 2004

    The basic design of leadership in our schools has existed in much the same form for decades.  The top-down style of management that starts with the Superintendent, then the Principal, the Vice-Principal and finally the teachers.  The problem with this is that authority leaders make the determinations and then dictate the policies.  Teachers feel alienated and as though what they think or suggest doesn't really matter to the administration.
  Current literature suggests that in order for schools to thrive we need to practice participating leadership.  A school environment that encourages shared authority and leadership betweeen administrators and teachers.  A place where articulation between teachers and administrators leads to the development of a shared vision. This will make everyone feel empowered and hopefully beliefs will be translated into action.
     The role of any school is to make students become successful learners and prepare them for the outside world.  To achieve this we need to have more articulation among parents, students, administrators and teachers.   Everyone needs to be involved and to have the opportunity to voice their concerns.  Redefining schools and changing the roles of its participants can only lead to the improvement of our schools.