Written on 4:33 PM by Unknown
When we returned from Spring Break, six of our teachers were ready to embark on a learning journey with their students. These teachers were piloting our District's Bring Your Own Technology program and we were very excited about what learning this would leads us to experience with our students.
When I chose the teachers to work as our pilot team, I wanted people who would take a few risks, trust their students to focus on learning and were not afraid to make some mistakes. One thing I wanted to avoid was having all six be the most tech savvy teachers in the building. I wanted to have a balance of teachers with tech expertise and those without it. One of the best things to happen so far has been seeing these teachers excitedly sharing activities and obstacles with each other. Even though two of them are the only teachers on their grade level team working with the pilot, they all are working together.
I visited a few of these classrooms during their first BYOT-related activities. Seeing students collaborating in @Socrative's Space Race and enthusiastically answering questions to move their ships was a great start to our plan. I've also seen classes using a variety of devices to research for class activities.
We're only in the second week, but I can already tell that students are engaged and beginning to see great learning opportunities. I'm very excited to see where it will go as the quarter continued. I know this has already affected my view of teaching and this will be evident in tomorrow's School Improvement Planning activities. Though I may find some pitfalls along the way, I'm excited to use some of the instructional practices with my teachers that they can immediately translate into their work in their classrooms.
Posted in
Learning
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Written on 12:42 PM by Unknown
With all due respect to Paul Harvey for his famous phrase, I believe it fits this situation too. Over the last few days, I've been seeing several of the wonderful educators I follow on Twitter commenting on the bus bullying situation in New York. One blog I read regularly belongs to @pernilleripp and here's her well written view on our need to provide services to change behaviors like this. I am proud to say we have many interventions we use at Owen to address bullying behavior and I believe our efforts at the elementary level help our district avoid situations like this on our buses. It is important that we dig deeply into the situation to identify the right remedy to help change student behaviors whenever bullying issues arise.
However, all the Twitter and blog comments I've read have talked about how the school district may have given an excessive penalty by removing those students from their bus and home school for an entire year. Now, this is also where I think we need to look beyond the superficial headlines and bombastic reactions. Here's a link to that school district's news announcement about the consequences given to those students. In reading a bit more information, I learned the students will not be denied access to education for a school year, but rather they will be assigned to the district's alternative education center to receive education and perform their community service requirements. The article also mentions that the students will receive support services to teach them about behavior. I certainly don't know very much about the district involved or the discussions behind the actual consequences given, nor do I feel that I know enough to offer commentary on that decision . I just know that there is more to the story and I hope everyone takes a minute to look a little deeper into a story before assuming they know the whole story. As I write that, I am also thinking this is true for all news stories. It's hard to make any assumptions with only the initial and possible superficial information that comes out as a story breaks. I know our news outlets try to break stories as they happen and that does not afford the opportunity for reflection. That's part of the nature of news, I think. However, the rest of us have the option to not jump to conclusions and I hope that's how everyone sees it.
Posted in
#edchat
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Written on 7:55 PM by Unknown
World Kaleidoscope Day was a wonderful celebration of a truly great part of our school- the families. It was not just a celebration of the cultures that make up our school, but it was also a chance for our students to learn about themselves and about others. Parents came to school with clothing and artifacts to show, stories of growing up themselves and opportunities for our students to see similarities in life that crossed nationalities and cultures. Every parent volunteer with whom I spoke was very happy with the reception they received from the students and staff. By going into classrooms, parent presenters were in a comfortable group size. This also allowed our students to ask more individual questions. Our staff received a special treat from our parents- delicious foods from around the world including samosas, hummus, and apple pie to name just a few.
Students received "passports" that included information about two nations, classes during their LMC time did research about types of government, natural resources, population numbers and other facts for use in making posters for the event and larger flags were hung in the second floor windows. While it did not alter our regular day schedule, it was an event I am certain they will not soon forget. I thank all of the parents who came in to organize the event, present information about a country or to help decorate the hallways prior to the event. Our staff did a great job of supporting this event, especially Mr. Martin and his hats of the world collection. This was one of our best events this year and I look forward to continuing our work next year.
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Written on 5:42 PM by Unknown
Coffee, computers and collaboration (picture by @j_bednar)
This was my second year attending #EdCampChicago and it was again an inspiration for the way I continue to view staff development. One change from last year was the way we opened the day. Last year, we used half sheets of brightly colored paper to write ideas on before taping them to the portable white board. This year, we jumped to using a Google document as @dendari, @irishteach, @mrsebiology and @jmarkeyAP explained the day for new and returning EdCampers. It was great to see so many people I met last year and to feel a bit more familiar with things this year. I was even encouraged by @klhellerman to co-propose a topic, which was exciting for me. Whether it was that topic or someone else's topic, I learned so much from the conversations we had. People freely shared their experiences, their knowledge, their skills and their friendship. I tried to keep up with all of the new things people were sharing, such as the great tools shared by @mrsebiology, the great conversation about digital citizenship and related challenges with @mskbordner and @classroomsooth and the many conversations I missed in person but followed via Twitter.
That leads me to my biggest take-away from spending a Saturday at East Leyden HS. It's not just one tool or instructional strategy that any teacher or administrator can learn that will fuel them for an entire career. The key is the continuous learning that is available in an ever-moving world. The connections made here will sustain continued sharing, conversing and collaborating. It's collaboration that allows great ideas for exciting and engaging lessons to go beyond a single classroom. It's collaboration that allows us to respond to an instantaneous news cycle where everything is so 17 seconds ago. Maybe most importantly, it's those relationships and collaboration that will allow schools to continuously adapt and respond to our students needs. I can't do it all by myself and connecting with other teachers and administrators in a self-driven learning situation strengthens each of us in ways traditional professional development never has. For that, I am thankful for all the people with whom I had conversations and shared learning on Saturday.
Posted in
#edcampchicago,
professional development
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Written on 2:21 PM by Unknown
I'm getting a bit of a late start on my 2012 blogs, but I'm also enjoying the company of my kids who are still on winter break with me. I have been marveling at how different the world is for my children than it was for my childhood. Earlier, I was having a conversation about how much has changed since I started my teaching career. In those 14 years, I have gone from not wanting or having a cell phone to being dependent upon my iPhone to keep me organized. It feels like these things are chaning faster now than when I was a kid. I started out buying music on albums and tapes. I missed the 8-track era and started before CDs. Now, we've got all sorts of digital music available for download and this can be done right on a phone. I've seen an increase in our students who have smart phones at school. It's possible that none of our students even 6 years ago would have had a smart phone of their own and now, it's fairly frequently that I see or hear of one in our building. It's important for me as principal to be aware of that so we can find ways to benefit rather than solely detract from our school experiences with these devices. It's also important for me to know this as a dad since my daughter is in 4th grade now and already has friends who have things like a tablet or smart phone. I see so much potential for how these tools can be used in support of our students' learning, but only if we create purposeful and engaging opportunities where these things are not the end themselves. Just before winter break, my daughter was able to use an app on my wife's iPad that allowed her to create a mini-movie showing her work in a math problem and including her spoken explanation that she then emailed to her teacher. Done at home with parental supervision, this is where both where I work and where I live seem to be comfortable as school systems. I don't know how quickly that will change, but I am sure it will in time. In the meantime, I know this coming year will have more opportunities like this for my children and I hope also for my students.
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Written on 9:57 AM by Unknown
Today is the day before Thanksgiving and our staff and students are not in attendance. Everyone is beginning whatever preparations they have for tomorrow's holiday and this is a good chance for me to share some of the things for which I am thankful.
I am thankful for the joyful faces and unique personalities of each student who attends Owen. The high fives, the hugs and the smiles I receive make me look forward to every single day. No matter how chilly it is during bus duty, having a kindergarten student smile as they say hello or give me a hug as they pass makes it feel just a little warmer.
I'm thankful for the support the parents give their children and our school. Every day, we have volunteers in classrooms or the LMC and I get to see not only their additional support for the school but also the joy they have in seeing their child or friends of their child in a context different than home.
I'm also thankful for the consistent effort and positive culture each staff member brings to our work. I know teaching is not an easy job and I am thankful for the effort every staff member puts forth every day.
I'm thankful for our District community. Just last week, Mr. Folley and Mrs. Handy received a grant from the Indian Prairie Education Foundation. I appreciate the support the community gives and I'm very thankful that Owen Wavrinek is our liaison to the IPEF. I am always thankful for his energy and devotion on behalf of not just Owen students, but all students.
I hope everyone has a great, family Thanksgiving and takes a moment to share who matters to them. It's not enough to just keep that in our hearts, we and they need to say it aloud.
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Written on 9:38 AM by Unknown
from MNPS2010 wiki
As promised at last night's PTA meeting, I'm posting links to a few places parents interested in learning more about the new Illinois State Standards Incorporating the Common Core can go to get that information. I'd also like to share some of the key points I mentioned.
- In 2006, ACT, Inc released a report called Reading Between the Lines that included an analysis showing that of the students reaching the benchmark achievement score in Reading on the ACT, which only 51% of all test takers achieved, had a 75% probability of a C or better in an introductory college class in US History or Psychology and had only a 50% probability of a B or better in that course.
- The clearest differentiator of what separated the benchmark achievers from those who did not make it was the students' ability to answer questions associated with complex texts. Text complexity is a very important part of the new English/Language Arts standards.
- This led to my sharing Figure 3 from Appendix A of the Common Core standards showing that for students in grades 2-3 the old Lexile ranges were 450-725. The new Lexile ranges alinged to the College and Career Readiness standards is 450-790.
- That's not a huge bump at grades 2-3, but carried forward to grades 11-CCR the old range of 1070-1220 becomes 1215-1355. Please note the old high end is now the new low end of the range.
- We can't make this a situation only high school has to address and that's why the more rigorous standards start in Kindergarten.
Our District has committees currently working with revising curricula to support these new standards. They have been working since spring and will continue to work through the coming year to prepare for our K-8 Math curricular roll out in the fall 2012 and the ELA curricular roll out in the fall 2013. Our building is currently working to understand and wrap our heads around the new standards. We're working on this to make sure we know the targets for our students' learning. The curricula that become the resources we use to reach those targets will come later. Here are those links.
Common Core Standards
Resources for PTA and Parents at Illinois State Board of Education
Though this is just the beginning, I hope it gives parents some ideas about how we are moving forward and towards what we are moving.
Posted in
Common Core,
professional development
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