Dealing With Loss in Your Community

I've taken a hiatus from writing to concentrate on some coursework in Administration, Supervision and Curriculum Development. This week's events have made me feel the need to write.

When young people die, there is no heart in a community that remains untouched.  Everyone experiences loss sooner or later, as that is how life works.  You are born, grow up, grow old and then die.  It is a cycle that we expect.  When the cycle isn't complete or happens in an other than expected manner, it is up to the adults in the community to help children cope.

Losses that are sudden and violent like this week's bombing in Boston, tend to really affect our youth, whether it is the catalyst that drives them into deep withdrawn depression or they are trying frenetically to make people smile. 

Below are some resources that I collected to help teens and parents cope with loss and mental health issues.

http://www.webmd.com/balance/helping-teens-who-are-grieving
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/emotions/someone_died.html
http://www.dougy.org/grief-resources/how-to-help-a-grieving-teen/
Stress Management for Teens
http://www2.aap.org/stress/teen1-a.cfm
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/Pages/Helping-Teens-Connect-With-Their-Community.aspx
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-home/Pages/Staying-Cool-When-Things-Heat-Up.aspx
Resources for Parents following Traumatic Events
http://www.ed.gov/blog/2012/12/resources-for-parents-following-traumatic-events/


No one can expect tragedies caused by terrorist events.  All we can do is cope and move forward.  One day at a time.  Today, I plan to hold my children a little closer and spend some time in a garden.

~AMA

Technology in Education

Building a network in the cloud sounds like a great idea, less overhead, better structure, easier access, right? The problems lie in making sure that the cloud is accessible for all children, that everyone has access to a device with broadband capability.

Along with access students and their teachers would need training in how to access all the programs needed for learning in their classroom, whether the class is in a physical space or out in the virtual world.

One suggestion I have heard is linking businesses with government programs that provide benefits for children who are living on or below the poverty line.  Putting aside the fact that no one is supposed to know who those children are, there is the real possibility of stigmatizing a child when they show up with a new tech toy from a "sponsor" that their friends know this student couldn't possibly buy. Can't you hear the conversation? Where did you get that? Who did you steal that from?

I've talked a bit about the technology divide that we currently experience in our country.  Tech gear is to our current generation as Calvin Klein jeans were to mine.  The only way to avoid that kind of attention is for schools to provide technology for their students, like businesses provide computers for their workers.  If we need to have "sponsors" they should be providing or underwriting gear for the whole district. 

Businesses should be looking to partner with schools.  This is where their next generation of workers are coming from, don't they want them to be ready to work when they apply? Many point to government saying they should provide for our students.  I don't believe that to be true.  Public education is a shared cost, it's an investment in our future.  Tax-payers, government agencies and businesses should be investing in education technology in equal shares. 

My two cents.
-AMA

Differentiated Instruction

We separate children and group them according to ability all the time.  Children who learn slowly or who need teachers to give them choices are often labeled as Learning Disabled or Emotionally Handicapped and taken to the Special Education Room for intense interventions.  On the other end of the spectrum are the children who learn quickly, they are labeled as bright or gifted and put into Honors Classes or Advanced Placement classes.  Then there are the children that learn neither quickly, nor slowly but just move through the paces.  They are put in the "regular" classes and rarely get opportunities to shine.

Everyone in education knows that children learn in different ways, at different times and need different forms of input in order to truly learn new material.  We know that, but we spend a great deal of time and money trying to fit everyone into one type of learning.  Children are not supposed to be one-size-fits-all and neither should our classrooms. So how do you differentiate?  Do you continue to separate children and stick labels on them?

Children need a blended learning model. No child should have to be separated from their peers because of learning disabilities or because of their ability to complete tasks quickly.  Educators need to move to an inclusive model with handheld devices powered by Classroom Management Systems.  With a well developed CMS one teacher can post lessons that are differentiated for all the children in their class.  Enrichment activities are available for a child who finishes first, but are also available to the child who needs more time.  Children who have trouble with an assignment can send a message to their teacher, who can respond privately to the child. Maintaining teacher and student privacy while giving the extra help needed, on an as needed basis. Teachers can monitor the time on task, create polls to see who understands the materials, adjust lessons for students and create portfolios of student work that show growth over time. 

This model of learning is the future of education. 

There are classes and schools that are doing this now.  Real schools and teachers who are using social networking and classroom management systems to enhance student learning.  In schools using this model, students are engaged and actually enjoy learning.  Say good-bye to apathy, get blended!

-AMA

"Why would anyone need instruction in digital literacy?"

One of my favorite Twitter Pals asked last week, "Why would anyone need instruction in digital literacy?"  Some people might think that Digital Natives, (defined here as anyone under 25) do not need instruction in digital tools or on gathering information when there is clearly so much available to them.  Which probably sounds like a really good idea to those people who think that we no longer need educators either.  While some digital tools are indeed intuitive and there is a vast amount of information available online, children still need someone to teach them application, theory and ethics.

Let's just start with the tools themselves.  In the last five years alone we have gone from desktops to laptops and then handheld devices.  The devices are not only getting smaller, but lighter and more compact.  Also more powerful.  You can now access online tools and games from almost anywhere you can get a signal. Teaching students to integrate new tools into their learning is essential for continued growth and development as learners.  Helping them to apply those tools into learning situations will teach them to be adaptive in real work situations when they graduate.

Since students can receive information anywhere, this means that learning doesn't have to begin and end with a school day.  Most students I know are becoming hybrid learners.  They don't just learn in the classroom, part of their learning is done online.  Secondary schools and Universities are putting their lectures online as podcasts.  Students can watch these podcasts from some of the best teachers in the world about subjects they are interested in, but when it comes time for them to explain what they have heard, most will not be able to.  Why?  Because just hearing and seeing is not enough.  Students need to interract with a teacher in discussions, enforce content of an online lecture through reading and apply new learning to a product so that it can be synthesized into their experience. In theory students can get all the information they need to create something, but without instruction will they?

Finally let's talk ethics.  Children are dying in our country because we underestimated the power of Internet Communications.  Sexting, Social Networking, Cyberbullying...All of these opportunities for students who have not been told that something is wrong to get themselves in deep trouble.  So my question is, "Why wouldn't anyone need instruction in digital literacy?"

-AMA

Why Librarians Don't Want To Be In Charge Of Educational Technology

A friend of mine recently posted a blog entry on why librarians should be in charge of technology in schools. In larger school districts I believe that Doug Johnson is right there needs to be a Chief Information Officer and that should be Librarian, with an Information Technology background. 

Knowing that I've been bitten by the tech-bug you would think that I would agree with his assessment of the situation.  While this may work in big school districts, I don't think it will work out well in the smaller school districts for three reasons. 

#1 In a small school district the librarian's focus should be on 21st Century Skills.

While this includes digitial communication and the ethical use of information resources, a librarian needs to be able to focus on literacy.  Literacy in this case in not just technology lingo.  Literacy can mean the difference between students becoming skilled thinkers or Luddites. 

#2 Technology demands need to be the center of someone's attention in the smaller school district.

If the librarian is attempting to teach, collaborate with other teachers on their curriculum needs or work on a special project with school administration while having to fix or fulfill all the technology needs in a school, their focus cannot be student centered.    Technology is a demanding discipline that requires serious maintenance.

#3 Being a model for 21st Century Skills in a small district requires a certain amount of glamour.

Implementing and developing professional training for colleagues regarding new technology is a big part of being a role model.  Running ethernet cables, setting up equipment, fixing fried motherboards, cleaning spilled coffee out of a keyboard is not glamorous nor does it provide people with a positive view of 21st Century Technology. Not to say that in a pinch, we can't do that.  I have and will continue to pitch in when our tech department needs assistance.   

Though I agree with my friend that this is where our bigger school districts need to go, I think the smaller school districts need to forge working partnerships with their technology oriented cohorts. Modeling student technology needs for the Information Technology department and helping them understand our pedagogical reasons for implementation of technology in education.    

My two cents.
-AMA

Librarians and Cataloging

Today I met with an aspiring school librarian.  We talked about cataloging because that is her next class, and the importance of being able to find information in your library.

Long ago in the dark ages, when I took cataloging, doing it yourself by hand was the only way to make sure that information in your library had a proper location.  Cataloging and classification of materials used to be the center of a librarian's universe.  A librarian would spend hours examining books for subject headings, measuring and precisely recording the size and shape of a book so that other librarians could find and retrieve information for patrons.  Theory and relationships factored into how a book was finally classified. When your librarian had finished with the book it was ready to be shelved, sometimes never to move again during it's entire stay in the library. 

Books and librarians have changed.  While being able to catalog a book properly is still important (thank you to my cataloging teacher) there is nothing more important in your library than the students these materials are intended to help.  Cataloging can still take me away to a quiet place where I achieve a certain Zen Oneness with the library universe, but most of the time, I admit to not having time to catalog.  There I said it, go ahead call me a blasphemer, but I don't believe that using the Library of Congress or OCLC as a source for records is wrong. 

Cataloging as we knew it 20 years ago should not happen in small libraries.  We do not have the resources to spend an hour cataloging 10 books by hand, most of us don't have the resources we had even five years ago.  Clearly there will be exceptions i.e. libraries without Internet access, special books that don't have records in the big libraries, ephemera (still my favorite to classify) and self published items, just to name a few.  If you want to be a cataloger there are libraries out there that are looking for you...

But, if you want to be a library media specialist ask yourself the following questions: What is the real reason you wanted to work in a library?  Did you think it would be a quiet place where you could read and not be disturbed?  Where you would look at books all day long and never be bothered?  Or did you want to help people find information, learn how to distinguish the good stuff from bad?  Do you like helping people? Libraries today are not bastions of silence.  At least not my library and not any of the others that I have visited.  Libraries if done right, are the center of a school or community.  A library is where the heart of learning and culture in your building should exist.  If your library is a quiet place where people are afraid to ask questions, you need to find a real librarian. 

-AMA

Assessment

How many of you have dragged yourself into yet another workshop on assessment and wondered why am I here?  Go ahead raise your hands.  You know you all have.  45 minutes of canned presentation that your school district thinks will invigorate rigor in your classroom.  Most of it is mind numbing garbage.  You dutifully take a handout and make notes, but you already do most of what the presenter is talking about and you can see that it's not really working for your students.  Now ask yourself the big question. Why?

Assessment requires you to make a judgement on what your student is learning.  The reason why those canned assessments don't really work is because they don't measure what a student knows.  In our school we do a lot of project based learning.  Students are given a rubric that defines what learning is for them.  Most students work toward an A on their rubric. Rubrics are a useful tool and project based learning can help your students become strong work-ready people.  But they do not really measure what a student knows, just what the student can do.  Frustrating isn't it? Even when you think you have a foolproof measure of student learning, you don't. 

As a society we need to make a paradigm shift from our old industry geared education to learning that requires students to be active participants. We need to assess learning by measuring the formation of thought.  When a student is capable of forming an opinion on your subject that is a true assessment of learning in your classroom.  Therefore the best form of assessment is still Socratic. When you guide student learning without giving them the answers you provide them with a gateway to learning, that paper tests and projects can not measure. So spend some time brushing up on guided questioning in your classroom.  Teach your children to think.

-AMA

How Does Your School Handle Snow Days, Long Term Illness, etc..?

Not long ago, people in the United States were worried about a possible pandemic of Swine Flu.  Children and parents were told to stay home if they exhibited symptoms of influenza.  School Superintendents discussed the possibility of shutting down their schools due to illness if an outbreak occurred.  In the north we've experienced frequent snow days, three so far this January.  So how do you keep children focused on learning with these kinds of disruptions? 

With the advent of electronic information exchange, it's possible for schools to create extended learning networks. Teachers prepare work ahead of time for days when students cannot get to school.  In the Kearsarge School District, students can make up work using their Blizzard Bags.  There are lessons to be done with or without power.  Teachers agree to be available to students through Skype or Moodle on these days and if 90% of students turn in the work within a week, it counts as a school day.  Reducing the number of overall days that students and teachers have to make up at the end of the year.  The Kearsarge area is mountainous and prone to heavy snowfall and response to this program has been very positive. 

That's not to say that this will work with all children.  Some children really need the structure of a school day in order to focus.  Our public school systems were designed to create students who were ready to work in factories during the industrial revolution.  As schools and learning adapt to changing learning patterns and differentiate instruction for all learners it's important to be open to new ideas.  Kearsarge I think you are onto something!

-AMA

Closing Down the Digital Divide

When computers were first introduced in schools a lot of educator's thought that this is the tool that will level the playing field for most students.  Computers have allowed students to gain access to more information resources, help children with poor motor control to write legibly and even allow schools strapped for cash to do virtual field trips.  Sounds wonderful doesn't it?

When you work in public schools today, it's easy to see which family has money and who doesn't.  It used to be harder to tell, but technology has widened our social divide in most places.  I'm talking about gear.  Not shoes, or special backpacks, but mp3 players, computers, ebook readers and phones.  Students bring these items to school and show off their prowess using the latest tools. Creating what I call gear envy.  Students who see these new tools want to use them too, and don't understand why their school doesn't have access to these tools.

Schools unfortunately, find themselves falling farther and farther behind in integrating new technologies into lessons and assignments.  Part of this comes from funding problems.  One of the first places that school boards look to when reallocating funds are libraries and technology departments.  These departments support student learning, so school boards and some administrators don't see their direct value to students.  Especially if your library and technology department have flexible teaching schedules. So how do you improve your student's access to new technologies?

First you have to give your teachers and support staff access to new technology and professional development on the use of these technologies.  Applying for technology grants (Title IID, private foundations and some corporate entities) can sometimes help with funding issues, but grants are usually limited to gear or service providers.  Grants for infrastructure upgrades, additional personnel or professional development are few and far between.  These things have to come from your community.   How do you get your community to see the value of investment in technology? A simple solution is to involve them in your decision making process.

People who are involved in decision making processes will be more invested in the outcome.  How?  There are several ways really.  Are there evening programs coming up in your school? Use these programs to showcase new technology.  When people ask how it was done and they will, explain the tool and it's value to education.

Keep it simple, but advertise.  Write to your paper and showcase new technologies being used by students.  Show off student projects on local cable channels or on the web.  Encourage student participation in local technology contests. Emphasize the positive with web brags on student achievement to your community.

Invite community members to participate in strategic planning for your school.  Make a school technology plan part of the strategic plan for your district.  This kind of comprehensive planning is essential for infrastructure building and professional development.  Keep your focus on student needs.  Don't let people make it negative or turn the spotlight away from student learning.   What every community wants and needs is for their children to become productive members of society.  By keeping the focus on student needs, you deliberately remove road blocks and close down your digital divide.

-AMA