Audio Boo

I was asked to do a brief interview with my friend and colleague Dr. Clif Mims. We used Audioboo an app on the iPhone 3GS that will audio record and instantaneously post it online.

Enjoy the interview…

Technology and Literacy- great resources!

I dropped by Day 4 of a workshop for teachers on Digital Literacies taught by my colleague Dr. Bruce Taylor here at UNC Charlotte. His graduate students have facilitated 4 half-day sessions about integrating digital technologies into literacy instruction.

Here is the wiki with resources (PPT slides, videos, links). Enjoy!!

Principal search…creating the ideal Principal profile

One of our Professional Development Schools is going through another administrative change. Last week 16 teachers, administrators, parents and university folk gathered to create a “Principal profile” which describes the characteristics of an ideal school leader.

Of all the categories we were asked to comment on, leadership was the most hotly discussed, in terms of leadership style and relations to individuals.

What type of leadership style is best suited for a high-need urban elementary school? Do incoming Principals need to have experience as an AP or Principal in an elementary school? Do incoming Principals need experience in that demographic? Interesting conversation we started that I’m still working through.

Unemployed Teachers Facing Heavy Competition to find Jobs

From the Charlotte Observer today…

The 1,300 employees axed from the CMS payroll have plenty of company in the region.

Gaston, Union, and Cabarrus county schools are also bracing for hundreds of potential layoffs.

Schools in Lincoln County are planning for the loss of 63 teaching positions, according to the district’s website.

About 70 teaching assistant jobs may be eliminated in Iredell County, a spokesperson told NewsChannel 36.

Kannapolis City has experienced the loss of approximately 20 teachers…

When will this turn around?

Twitter for Teacher Professional Development

Here is a google docs spreadsheet sharing ideas about how teachers use twitter for professional development.

Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS)- why bother?

As we spent time in class this week unpacking the North Carolina standards in light of the revised Blooms taxonomy I was left with the question- “why do we care about students’ higher-level thinking skills?” I’m sure my students had the same question.

The last few years, articles, policy documents and experts (e.g., ISTE Standards, 21st Century Skills, and  Metiri Group) have talked about the need to prepare K-12 students to have 21st century skills. In some cases that means preparing our teachers and students to work in environments that don’t currently exist. Whether its virtual worlds, online classrooms, or face-to-face classrooms in which every student has a hand-held computing device, there is no doubt that in the next 2 decades, access to technology and the potential for schools will continue to shift for the better.

In that spirit, if we end up teaching students only content with no process or HOTS, then our students will eventually become the kings of weekday night trivia at the local pub, but expendable in the work force. Whether teachers are situated in a technology-rich environment or a rural school in Mbita, Kenya, teachers must stretch their students by designing complex activities, asking the how and why questions, and developing students’ reasoning skills. Sure, resources- curriculum, technology and other materials- matter, but it’s amazing what can happen even without those resources with a teacher willing to challenge their students and students with an elastic mentality, willing to be stretched.

Why we do what we do….

As I introduced my students to blogs last night, their first post was why they are interested in becoming a teacher. That and a few events in the past few weeks have caused me to reflect on my own experiences as well.

Facebook has led to a lot of connections with former students and soccer players that I have taught and coached in the past ten years. There are students I’ve worked with that have fought incredible obstacles- lack of home support, parent illnesses, divorces, low socio-economic status, disabilities. Hearing stories about their high school graduation, their pursuit of careers in college, and their ambitions to impact people in their life has been emotionally touching, to say the least.

I ended up falling into teaching- a pre-med/pre-phyiscal therapy student at William & Mary who had slacked off in some biology courses, was faced with a few options after my sophomore year- youth ministry or journalism. I went away to Kanakuk, a Christian sports camp, to serve two months, and got the call from my Mom in mid-June that my grades weren’t very good, and my parents were encouraging me to look at other career options. It just so happened that I was in week #2 of being a camp counselor for 5-6 yr old kids at an overnight camp, and while others seemed bothered by wet beds, crying campers and having to eat standing up while serving food to young kids, I had latched onto it.  Working with kids was fun, and more than that, it was rewarding to make an impact on their lives for only a short time.

Fast forward twelve years later, into a career where I currently get to impact students in a few classroom, work with lots of teachers, and impact those aspiring to be classroom teachers. We’re in a climate, where those that I work closely with in schools are facing layoffs, furloughs, budget crunches and tough times. Teacher morale is low in many places, as they are ready for the year to end and get a much needed summer break. But, the seed has been planted, and while the rewards of teaching isn’t necessarily tangible, it’s something that I’ve learned to appreciate. In some cases we never see the impact we have on those we teach and interact with. In some cases we are blessed to. EoG scores,while the gold standard according to the Dept of Ed, are only part of the puzzle. If you ask my former students a decade later what they remember about our time together, the test is nowhere near the top of the list. Rather, I would suspect, the fun projects, the discussions and community we had is more central in their memory.

Teaching is a joy. As a colleague of mine says, “I don’t go to work, I go to school.” Regardless of the trials and issues that we as educators face,  I count it nothing but pure joy to be blessed to be able to help and support those wanting to learn how to effectively teach the youth of tommorrow. Now back to work!

PDS Presentation: Technology Integration to enhance school collaboration

Oliver Dreon and Nanette Dietrich from Millersvile University provided a showcase of technology integration tools that could be used to foster collaboration and communication among PDS stakeholders- mainly K-12 faculty, teacher candidates and university faculty. Among the tools they showed:

Google Forms

Wikis- Wikispaces

Blogs- WordPress

Ning- social networks for specific topics

As more and more communication and collaboration tools permeate the world of education, I find it mission critical for people to identify tools that meet their specific needs and focus on a few. Especially with K-12 teachers and teacher candidates, I am finding it more and more difficult to keep them squared away on which tools are best suited for specific types of communication and collaboration.

This presentation was definitely useful for the PDS conference, as many teachers attended and were able to check out some of the tools that are commonly used in university settings and consider how they could be adapted to meet their own professional needs.

PDS Conference Friday Keynote: Author and educator LouAnne Johnson

Author and educator LouAnne Johnson talked on Friday morning about a few key issues that were entertaining, educational and informative.

1) meeting the needs of high-need stdents

2) test scores don’t equal success in life– her class feature in the movie Dangerous Minds- all of living above the poverty line and have had successful lives despite failing typical standardized tests.

3) health needs of Americans and students– the harsh impacts of sugar and diets

4) literacy and dyslexic issues with students

Resources are on her website

Budget creates potential layoffs with Charlotte teachers

While the budget problems continue to worsen across the country, we are beginning to see the situation directly impact teachers here in Charlotte. At an afterschool meeting yesterday at one of the elementary schools where I work, the Principal attempted to mitigate anxiety by explaining some of the logistics and details about our budget crisis.

In a nutshell, North Carolina public schools have had to revert (give back) money to the state, resulting in a need to cut positions and look at cutting positions for next year. In last night’s school board meeting, the Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools proposed a plan that was approved that could result in the layoff of as many as 456 teachers and 83 assistant principals. As the article cites- this is just a plan depending on state budgets. This article is much more accurate than the article printed Saturday about laying off teachers with less than 5 years of experience.

The new plan calls for decisions to be based on performance- those on action plan or with poor records of performance will be the first ones to be let go. Seniority is lower on the list, meaning that 1st and 2nd year teachers will be spared if there evaluations are strong.

As we approach the March 20 time where CMS Principals will receive various scenarios for teacher allotments my thoughts and prayers are with teachers. Keep on doing great work…this hopefully will take care of itself in the near fuutre.