A needed change of perspective

I was digging through the piles on my desk (aka my filing system) and came across resources that I received when I went to a training with the PBIS network on working out a Functional Behavior Analysis. The basis of the FBA is founded in understanding the ABC of the student behavior that we would like to see corrected.

• A = Antecedent. This is what happens before the behavior occurs.
• B = Behavior. This is the "problem" behavior that we would like to eventually see changed.
• C = Consequence. This is what happens as a result of the behavior.

One more important piece is the Function, which is the "why" the student might exhibit this behavior. Most likely the function is avoidance/escape of something in the class. For more information on an FBA you can look here.

One of the things I remember most vividly from the training is that while we will have a desired behavior in mind, it will be a long time before we can get the student to modify their problem behavior to the desired behavior. The fact is that we need to help the student modify the problem behavior to an alternate behavior that still accomplishes their function. Over time, and a lot of patience, we can work with the classroom settings and the student to attempt to change the antecedent to make the problem behavior irrelevant and make the consequences change to make the problem behavior ineffective. Throughout this entire process, we work with the student to come to their own realization that the desired behavior is more favorable than the problem behavior.

As I stumbled across this resource again, it got me thinking. Throughout the FBA process, we are attempting to modify behavior, but supporting the student throughout the entire process. When we make attempts to change behavior, we might tend to focus on increasing the consequences and making them increasingly dire in an attempt to "threaten" the student into compliance. A traditional approach does not take into account the function or why the student is performing this behavior. The traditional approach tends to focus on trying to move a student to a desired behavior by focusing on the student's deficit.

What struck me with this newer (at least to me) approach to helping student arrive at a desired behavior is that this approach actually focuses on potential student strengths. If we want students to be successful, we need to help them see how they are growing and changing in positive ways. We need to have these check-in conversations with students to help them recognize that they are making progress on their long journey in education. It is often difficult to for students to see the finish line, but teachers and students might be ignoring the distance from the starting line that students have traveled.

Don't live in the 10 seconds

Welcome back to another school year. I am sure that there have been changes all over the place. Change can be a wonderful thing, but very difficult to accept and deal with in the moment. We become very comfortable with the status quo, sometimes even when we know there are things that can be improved.

For students, change occurs all of the time causing them to have to continually adapt to new situations. Over the summer, when discussing how to help students express themselves better, about their academic, emotion, physical, psychological, etc. needs, a teacher told me that kids today tend to "live in the 10 seconds". They react before they think about the larger picture, understand the root of the issue, what is the real cause, and what some of the effective solutions could be. When this happens, sometimes students will yell and scream, hit, withdraw from communicating, and other non-effective actions to help remedy the issue. If we, as educators, accept that we must educate the whole child, then we must educate them on social emotional needs, conflict resolution, goal setting and achieving, in addition to their academic needs. But we know this...

As we open the school year, we, the adults, need to keep the big picture in perspective. Teachers might not like having to switch classrooms, when their planning period is, classes are full, teaching assignments change, etc. With the excitement and hiccups that always accompany the opening of school, we need to NOT live in the 10 seconds. We need to look at the larger picture to solve the immediate issues and once things have settled down and reached equilibrium, then we need to reflect on the system and look for improvement. Changes that happen will disrupt equilibrium and that is uncomfortable. Adults need to discern the difference between the discomfort of change and an actual problem. If it is discomfort, give it a chance to work and know that reflection and evaluation will occur to make improvements. If it is an actual problem, we need to develop a solution and then monitor if that is the best scenario for the big picture.

As leaders, we need to exercise our listening abilities to help teachers discern those differences and identify them ourselves. We need to effectively communicate with teachers about the big picture and prioritizing how issues will be handled.

Change is never easy. But when the need for change is communicated, team members listen to one another, and the change is understood to help the system improve, it can be an easier pill to swallow and might allow people to see the 11th second and beyond.

Have a great start to the year!

Why is it different in school?

I have been in the workforce since the age of 15 and a half. When I first began, it was part time work as a cashier and stock boy in a local pharmacy. If there was a large project that needed to be completed, especially in a short amount of time, a few of us working that day would work together, divide the tasks, and, at the end of the day, report out what was completed and what still needed to be done. The people working the next day would pick up where we left off until the project was complete.

This process continues in my work as an administrator. When a large project comes in, we will sit down, discuss the goals and expected outcomes, divide up the tasks, assign realistic deadlines, and provide progress reports. If one of us runs into an issue or has a question, we ask our colleagues for their expertise, guidance, and ideas. When complete, it is OUR project. While individuals might be recognized for a specific contribution, it is the work of the whole that gets evaluated. We stand or fall together.

As a child, I participated in multiple team sports and learned the skills of cooperation, teamwork, problem solving, settling disputes, providing guidance, accepting assistance. These skills were mirrored at home because I have a sister and we would have to get along. When disputes arose, we had to figure out how to co-exist peacefully.

But, as I grew up, I also received conflicting training and information. For 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 36 weeks a year, I was told that I needed to work only by myself. I could not confer with others, share ideas, or seek out advice from someone with more experience. In the rare instance that I was able to work with someone else, when it came time for the task completion, I had to complete my own and the credit or fault was all mine. The same was true for anyone with whom I may have worked. Work was duplicated and it was evaluated on an individual basis.

Why the two different systems? Why is it different in school than out in the "real world"?

I understand that in the early grades it is a matter of ensuring that each student has assimilated essential skills in order to effectively participate in a team structure and share in the problem solving. It is even essential to do so in the upper grades as new information is introduced in newer, more complex content areas. But if we focus on skill development, once the basics have been introduced, should we, in the educational world, model the skills and project completion models that the business world is asking for?

Having been a part of our career and college readiness, I have heard from many local business leaders that they would prefer a generalist, who has good communication, teamwork, and problem solving skills, and the business can provide them more job-specific training. That models what Thomas Friedman discusses in The World is Flat. Schools will need to meet the flexibility that the working world has discovered the need for.

Why do schools force isolation, in both practice and assessment? Why does the federal government mandate it...without funding.

Let's try something different! Flip the class, PBL, cooperative assessments...something has to give. Leaders need to be supportive as they push instruction out of the standard comfort zone of the adults to move the learning into the comfort zone of the students!

Make the gloom go away

I believe it was Gandhi who said "Be the change you wish to see in the world". It is in that light that I would like to share some low-cost and/or free things that can be done to make the gloom of rainy mornings go away to help improve the school climate within your buildings.

Last night, the #iledchat (9pm CST every Monday) discussed school climate. We had a great turn-out and the moderating/development team of Kathy Melton, Kevin Rubenstein, Jill Maraldo, and I are ecstatic about the increasing involvement of people across the world coming to participate in the weekly chat. If you would like to see the archive of the chat, please check out the storify link.

The discussion began with what can you do as a teacher or leader to create a positive school climate and went from there. It was refreshing to see that so many educators, both classroom teachers and building leaders, saw it was their responsibility to contribute to a positive school climate. They really lived the Gandhi quote. As Mr Z (Josh) stated: "[I] tell myself every day I decided how my day starts".

During the chat we asked the question about what programs/activities did you do that have added to a positive learning environment. There were some great ideas. Below, some of those ideas are included with some of my ideas that were low cost or free that can help improve school climate. While my high school economics teacher would remind me, "Nothing in life is free. There is cost associated with everything". I am focusing on ideas that have low monetary costs.

• 15 minute meetings - Teacher share successes and challenges in a 1:1 meeting.
• Surveys of staff mood with a report out and solution generating sessions
• Surprising a group with treats (homemade or store bought)
• Administrators sub for teachers to let them go home early
• Administrators go out an start cars/scrape ice on snowy, icy days
• Meet teachers in the parking lot with an umbrella on a rainy day
• Hold a staff talent-show for the kids. The experience will bring many people together.
• Know when to listen and when to try and solve a problem, but provide TIME and OPPORTUNITY for this
• Send a quick birthday email
• 'Atta Boy notes when someone does something of note...you decide what is something of note
• Staff friendly competitions (athletic, artistic, trivia)
• Community service projects

These are some ideas. Obviously, there are MANY MORE. Start here to improve your school climate. A principal of mine worked to build a climate around the Fish Philosophy: Be there, Make their day, Play, and Choose your attitude. http://www.charthouse.com/content.aspx?nodeid=22610 How often do you feel you are playing at work? You made the CHOICE to be there? A local (self) change in attitude can permeate throughout the building.

Overall, find a way to make sure EVERYONE get recognized. Everyone is special in some manner.

Change your perspective

I just got back from a training seminar on how to be a support coach for the Rising Star program. For those unaware, Rising Star is the new school improvement accountability system for the state of Illinois. The whole point of the Rising Star system is for schools and districts to look at the past and current conditions of their systems in order to make appropriate changes (backed by research) to positively impact student achievement. During this training, we discussed monitoring and sustainability of programs.

Part of the emphasis of the training is to look at the programs and steps of implementation and ask the harder questions about what is not working and why. Part of the challenge to making these changes is the dreaded phrase of "we have always done it this way". My quick response would be "Look where that got you", but that is not supportive to the change process. The entire point of Rising Star is to make changes in our past practices to make vast improvements in our schools.

Whenever we are looking to do something different, why do we often start at what we currently do. We must have made the choices to our current location because they seemed to be the best option at the time. (Sometimes it is a best option for a teacher and not necessarily the students, but that is a different conversation). If that is the case, when we look at the choices to do something different, how would we ever arrive at a different conclusion?

Sometimes it takes standing on your head or flipping your frame of reference. Case in point can be seen here:

Deeper thinking can happen when the status quo is challenged and we look for new perspectives. How's this for a change in perspective: If we want students to be more engaged in the learning process, ask them about their passions! Students can provide the adults with all sorts of ways they want to learn and it will be authentic for them. (And, teachers will get more engaged because they won't be able to pass out the same worksheet they have done for the past umpteen years...)

Deeper thinking can be activated and even framed with aspects of the common core and the next generation science standards. We learn science by doing, not by memorizing! We need to have the credo in our classes and schools that FAIL means First Attempt In Learning!

Go back to basics and when you look at the path you used to take, when you took that right before, this time, jump off of the path and go exploring!

Here are some other ways to consider flipping: http://misterabrams.blogspot.com/2012/10/flip-ordinary.html

What do you think the blocks represent?

I have recently gotten on the bandwagon of the importance of the instructional coach to improve both the teaching and learning in the classroom. As I search for ways to improve my coaching skills and time available to coach, I have begun to recognize challenges that have been presented in the book Taking the Lead.

Before I delve into the challenges, people new to the concept of instructional coaches might have some basic questions. Michelle Russell posted a quick introduction resource to coaching. She found the resource from Larry Ferlazzo and Elena Aguilar . This 4 minute video describes some of the key components of the coaching relationship.

As I have explored and learned more about coaching, it is very important to understand that it is a relationship that is being cultivated between the coach and the teacher. It is a very different relationship than than of the administrator/teacher and also different than the relationship between mentor and mentee.

Because it is all based on the relationship and expectation between the teacher and the coach, both participants need to know and establish the expectations with the administration to the former does not get violated.

I found the video to have some quality symbolism, some overt and some more covert. The safety net is one of the overt examples. A teacher and coach learning together should be able to fall in front of one another and know that they will not get hurt. The covert symbolism is in the vagary of the blocks. I think the blocks represent resources, pedagogy, data and the deeper understanding within each and how they build upon one another.

What do you think the blocks represent?

Fun from Springfield

Once again, I made the trek down Interstate 55 to beautiful Springfield, IL for a Race to the Top meeting. At the meeting, we were able to interact and connect with other school districts who are participating in the program. There were breakout sessions on the Common Core, Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), the 5 Essentials Survey of Learning Conditions, and the Illinois Shared Learning Environment (ISLE). Because we had a team attending the meeting, I went to the common core session, just to see if there was anything that we were missing. My notes can be found here.

Some interesting things from the session included the idea of presenting your community members, BOE, local business leaders, and parents with examples of the work that the students will be doing on the state assessments. It can lead to a great discussion of what work at home needs to be done to support learning, what work is being done at school and the connections that can be made/reinforced between the home and school, and clearly demonstrate the work that teachers are doing with students every day.

The math examples provided are definitely challenging for students, especially under timed conditions. Take a look:

Conceptual understanding
1. Write four fractions that are all equal to 5.
2. Write a number that is greater that 1/5 and less than 1/4.
3. What are two different equations with the same solution as 3(y-1)=8?

Fluency
Mark each of the following as True or False

8*9=80-8
54/8=24/6
7*5=25
8*3=4*6
49/7=56/8

Application
A plate of cookies:

• There were 28 cookies on a plate
• Five children each at one cookie
• Two children each at 3 cookies
• One child ate 5 cookies
• The rest of the children each ate 2 cookies
• Then the plate was empty,

How many children ate two cookies? Show your work.

Given an unlimited amount of time, the above tasks are solvable. Under a timed testing condition, these tasks become more challenging.

A nice resource provided by ISBE is their professional development series that is available on their website. http://www.isbe.net/common_core/pls/default.htm There are differentiated resources available, depending on your foundational knowledge and level of implementation.

Another resource shared is the monthly Common Core News Letter. The series is called Capture the Core and is differentiated by grade level. http://www.isbe.net/common_core/htmls/news.htm

The activity that we did during the session was a modified role playing activity where we were divided into different constituent groups and asked to look at some framing questions through that group's lens. The groups were District Level, School Level, Classroom Level, and Community Level. Below are the main shared points from each group:

1. District Level: Communication is key with all stakeholders. Discuss planning and implementation, what the changes will look like, and demonstrate how instruction will be different for teachers, students, and parents.
2. School Level: Ensure that there is horizontal and vertical alignment within a school and between districts (feeder schools).
3. Classroom Level: Provide immediate feedback to students on their learning. (Was in reference to different diagnostic and assessment tools)
4. Community Level: Design specific times to involve parents (i.e. Open House, P/T conferences). Other suggestions included doing home visits to discuss curriculum changes at key transitions (5th to 6th, 8th to 9th grade) and provide an informative video about the necessary shifts. (e.g. from Bensenville http://vimeo.com/51718107)

Overall, I feel very comfortable with how we have been implementing common core. There are some big changes that some districts will have to make. We are also awaiting guidance from the state to determine what sequence of math and science courses will become the official recommendation (i.e. Traditional vs Integrated).

Convert from consumer to producer

This post is a commentary on the shifts that are needed in schools in order to make the role of a data coach more effective.

The shift that I will comment on is this:

• Adults need to focus less on the teaching and more on the learning

In earlier days, I was a teacher of biology. One of my favorite units to teach was on Ecology. I loved to see the surprise in my students' faces when they learned that the study of ecology and the environment was so much more than a recycling program that gets discussed at the middle school level. One of the most dynamic parts of ecology is the study of energy transfer.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturewise/5060452732/sizes/m/in/photostream/

 

 



My reason for bringing up the food web is to discuss the concept of producers and consumer. A producer, or autotroph, is an organism that can create its own food within its cell via a chemical process (i.e. photosynthesis or chemosynthesis), whereas a consumer, or heterotroph, is an organism that much eat another organism in order to sustain its existence. In the classroom, I would discuss the current carrying capacity of the Earth and how the that could be increased if we all acted as lower order consumers instead of the tertiary or higher consumers in the food web (i.e. top consumer).

Students would then ask if they could be a producer, instead of a consumer. This would indicate to me that we needed to discuss some cellular concepts a little more...

But, when we move from an ecological discussion to one of educational preparation, the environment of the classroom takes on a new look in the terms of producers and consumers. For anyone who has been through a teacher preparation program up through and including the past few years, was taught to have their students be consumers of knowledge in the class.

Teachers, classically, have been taught and prepared to be the smartest person in the room and provide all of the information to students. Even older teacher evaluation models focus on how well the teacher can impart knowledge upon the class and create a sense of order and control of the young people in their room. The focus has been completely on the teaching in the room and had very little do with the learning that is happening by the students. (Take a look at how student grades are entered -- mentioned in my last post).

Recently, there has been a (needed) change in education that teachers need to guide and facilitate the learning of the students instead of directing it. (The biggest challenge to this is that Federal laws and tests that are required.) If this change can be realized in the classroom, then the students will be able to make the change from the consumers of knowledge to the producers of their own learning. This would allow focus to shift from the teaching to the learning.

Pluto strikes again

If you do not watch The Big Bang Theory, I highly recommend it. Any time 3 physicists with PhDs and an engineer, with only a Master's Degree from MIT, get together, hilarity must ensue...

On a re-run of an episode, they had a great physics joke about one of the simple machines. The set up for this punchline is that Sheldon's (green shirt) friend who is a girl wants him to meet her mother. Leonard (red shirt with purple hoodie and brown coat) has explained that there is no way to avoid the girl changing from a friend who is a girl to a girlfriend. Sheldon doesn't understand so Leonard puts it into physics terms:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpnvS7kM4Fs

It got me thinking about the basic machines that have been studied in classical history. From Wikipedia, there are 6 simple machines listed:

• Lever
• Wheel and axle
• Pulley
• Inclined plane
• Wedge
• Screw

Based on the definition provided, the simple machines are the building blocks that can be combined into more complex arrangements that with the aid of the combined specific movements will provide a mechanical advantage allowing more work to be performed with the same amount of energy put into the system without the machine.

When I look at the six simple machines listed, I think that the list can be condensed to three. The pulley is really a wheel and axle with a groove to provide a channel for a rope or belt. The lever is an inclined plane placed on a fulcrum (which in a simple model is a wedge). And, as seen described in the video clip above, a screw is an incline plane wrapped helically around an axis. The pulley, lever, and screw are all combinations of simple machines, this making them more complex. (We have not included a bicycle or automobile in the list because they are complex combinations, although they are the first of their respective kinds of transportation. Even as my mind wandered to the idea of the airplane and the wing, the wing is merely a modified wedge.) Thus, in my humble opinion, there are three simple machines: inclined plane, wedge, and wheel and axle.

But, in the modern age, I think that the list of simple machines (3 or 6) is incomplete. When we examine what I am using to write this blog post, we come to the computer. As a coincidence of today, as we consider what components the computer can be simplified to, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge today's Google Doodle:



http://www.google.com/doodles/ada-lovelaces-197th-birthday

 

The doodle of the day depicts Ada Lovelace and her contributions to Charles Babbage's computation machine. So, what simple machine can we take away from the computer? Would it be the monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive? Simplify it all down and we get to the microprocessor as the driving engine of the computer.

But even the microprocessor had predecessors: the microchip, the transistor, and the vacuum tube. Do any of these make the list? I would argue that they should not because each can be simplified down even more to the most base components. I would contend that the addition to the list of simple machines should be the circuit.

If you clicked on the link above for circuit, you would see that there are many machinations of the circuit and there certainly is an advantage when they are put to work (may not specifically be a mechanical advantage, but I do not think it would be a hard argument to make to fit the above definition).

So here we are, a historical list of 6 machines that can be argued into 4. Just as in the case of Pluto, what used to be historically accepted as fact should be modified in the modern age.

Do you agree?


Trying to enlarge the thimble...

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-12-04/

Once again, my daily Dilbert desk calendar is prophetic!

 

While it does not amaze me that all superintendents and assistant superintendents are not up to date on the most recent trends in instructional technology, it continues to baffle me when these leaders do not consult with the people within their organization that does keep up with the trends.

 

Too often we see grant dollars spent on technology equipment at the last minute without consulting educators who have used the equipment in the field or have at least had discussions with people using the equipment. Authorized signatures seem to always believe the technology sales rep who collects their check and leaves the bulk of the work to people who were not involved in the development of the project.

 

Case in point, I know of a district that is purchasing low-cost tablet laptops. Great idea...except with this new purchase, the director of IT was never consulted (about the purchase, the effect on the infrastructure and wireless network, manpower needed to physically ready and tag all of the machines...), nor did they talk to a neighboring district who went through this process and could describe the pitfalls they went through and how to avoid them. And guess who is going to be left holding the bag? Teachers who will get about one hour of PD on how to turn the machine on...

 

Now, part of the issue may be with the state and the fed. Grant notifications seems to always come with less than a 2 week turn around time. School districts do not want to look bad to their court of public opinion by denying an opportunity for funding, so they quickly put together a proposal and then heaven forbid the proposal gets approved! Now, comes the scramble of trying to make a pipe dream a reality.

 

But, I am not about pointing out problems. I want to try and fix them.

 

I am thrilled that I have had the opportunity to go to some wonderful conferences this year and I have learned a lot and connected with a lot of great people. The ISTE Leadership Forum was a wonderful event and I have made the recommendation for as many administrators attend this conference as possible next year. I informed my boss that I was approved to present at ICE with some great people (@stumpteacher, @principalkmelt, and @tomwhitby) and she told me to extend an invitation to some teachers to attend!

 

These are some good steps, but I have realized something...when technophiles attend a technology conference, we are the choir getting preached to. I presented some methods of immediate student feedback using mobile devices at a science teacher conference and this is where I may have added a new tenor or two to the choir...I think we need to expand our outlook and begin presenting at our content area conferences about technology. This might plant some seeds in maiden fields and really expand the 21st century learning pedagogies into more schools.

Fantasy Teaching

An interesting thing happened on Twitter today. Dr. Chris McGee (@cmcgee200) and Josh Stumpenhorst (@stumpteacher) had conversation starter of what teaching would look like it teachers were drafted like pro-athletes. The conversation had a root in the educational practices of Finland and their great successes.

As an aside, did you know that in Finland, students do not start school until the age of 7 and receive all post high school career training for free? Pre-service teachers in Finland go through extensive internships and training and receive salaries on par with other educated professionals in the country. The training is so extensive and challenging that only 10% of the participants complete the program! You can read more here.

Once the idea of a pro-draft was discussed, the conversation took a turn to how might a fantasy teaching league look and how would the "owner" of a league might score points. The conversation started with a few people and eventually had dozens of people contributing. The conversation started around 11 AM CST and within 2 hours had over 200 contributions.

The contributions ranged from serious to silly including:

• +2 points for giving borderline students an opportunity to publicly succeed (@wmchamberlain)
• DQ'd for using sarcasm to put a kid down (@jmarkeyAP)
• +2 points for admitting, out loud, in your class, that you just learned something from a kid, and being proud of it (@ktvee)
• +1 point per hit for playing Dodgeball with 200 kids and letting them hit you (@stumpteacher)
• -2 points for splling errrors (@jaymelinton)

The amazing thing about this conversation the contributions were all about what we want our learning environments and schools to be. These are some great tips and observations about small changes we can each make in our classrooms and schools to make it a better place for the students and the teachers. Why can't we make our fantasy a reality?

See the storyfi of the #fantasyteaching conversation below. If you want to contribute, please do by tweeting with the hashtag #fantasyteaching!

10 things I have learned in my short time at ISTE's inaugural Leadership Forum

Here we go for about the 4th time of getting started in blogging.

Here 10 things I have learned in my short time at ISTE's inaugural Leadership Forum:

From the address by the board of ISTE:

• Intelligent people who truly love to learn surround themselves with people from whom they want to learn.
• Intelligent people also correctly say "inaugural" instead of "1st annual".
• "True leadership begins with a commitment to students" -- Brian Lewis, ISTE President

From @chrislehmann's keynote address:

• Students have the ability today to create profound artifacts of learning.
• Students should have the opportunity to reflect on and direct their learning.
• "We NEED kids to be better than we are".
• The three major design influences for schools were factories, prisons, and churches.
• We cannot replace schools with Wall Street. High-stakes, one-shot testing does not meet the original vision of schools. Schools need to represent our Democratic ideals, not those of capitalism.
• Rube Goldberg has a larger influence in schools than imagined. Why do we keep trying to build a better multiple choice test or filmstrip?
• We have several challenges facing us to change schools:
• Leaders need to change the way teachers talk and model this talk. Students should never be the implied object of education.
• We need to ask questions that we do not know that answers to. That is the link between inquiry and care. In the same vane, we need to care about students, not care for them.
• Technology should be used to optimize person to person time. It should unite and connect...not isolate.
• Administrators, in particular, should understand this and remove themselves from their office for an entire day each week. Remember why we got into education in the first place. (See Brian Lewis quote)
• Schools need to be great places of passion: For teachers in guiding the learning and for students being an active participant in the learning.
• Students need to be synthesizers of information. Were current educators trained how to make this happen for students?
• Schools cannot be depositors of information. Learning needs to matter to students.
• True change happens when leadership develops a vision, models that vision for all, and sustains that vision with systems and structures. If you lead by majority rule, it is the best way to build 49% opposition.
• Leaders need to stop trying to fix the broken...we need to evolve.
• And above all, be one school. Don't have a 1 set of rules for students, one for teachers, one for parents, etc.

If the keynote is any indication, all administrators need to attend this conference as a team to remember what schools can be.

Getting settled in

Change is a challenge...that must be why they share so many letters.

I am starting to feeling like I am getting my sea legs in my new office, position, and school. Our IT guys got me a desktop computer. The phone jack for my desk is now operational. I am starting to learn people's names and quirks, as they are me. All in all, not so bad for week number 2 after starting in semester 2.

The "funny" thing is that I just went through the computer set up about 4 weeks ago in my old office. I was using a machine with what could not have been more than a Pentium 2 processor and after enough begging and pleading, I was given a new machine....after my assistant principal got one...and she didn't ask! But, all that is bygones. I spent the after noon at my old office getting all of the programs reinstalled on my computer, going back and forth with IT about my permissions, printer set-ups, scanners, downloads, etc. Finally got the computer running the way I like it and then I was given the new position at a new school. GREAT OPPORTUNITY, no doubt about that. Since I am staying in the same district, I asked if I would be able to merely move my computer to my new building and office. Since I have spent the morning setting up my new, new computer, that answer was no.

Now, with the newly working phone jack, I no longer have to do a 12 yard dash every time my phone rings. In my old position my phone did not ring that much. Now, it rings constantly and 90 times out of 100, it is because the person on the other end is not happy with something I or someone else did. That is the job and that is part of the change and challenge.

Coming into the new school at the beginning of the 2nd semester is the biggest challenge. Sure my office now has boxes all over the place, papers strewn, half-completed projects from my predecessor that need immediate attention from all sorts of people, but that is part of the fun. The hard part is learning who all of those people are. I feel fortunate that there are some people that I know and know me. There are others who want to tell me how things get done and the way that "we have always done them". It is a tough balance between tradition and stagnation.

I am thinking that my reading in Bolman & Deal will come in handy as I navigate through the 4 frames to maximize the working structures that are in place, fully realize the potential in the human resources, CAREFULLY navigate the political waters, and honor the strong symbols of a good school. But like I said, I am just getting my sea legs. Let's hope that outcome is much better that that Italian cruise ship.

Change is neccesary for survival

As a biology teacher, I have discussed the concepts of evolution to high school students for year. I have discussed the scientific evidence for evolution, had very careful conversations with classes when they wanted to discuss religious beliefs and not scientific theory, presented the evolution of evolutionary theories over the past few centuries (my personal favorite is a newer "theory": The Flying Spaghetti Monster) and even discussed how equilibrium could occur within a population and how if it did, that population would be doomed, should there be a change to their environment. The one statement that I repeat over and over is that those species who fail to adapt are doomed for extinction. In other words, Change is necessary for survival!

People rarely look at it from the organism's perspective. What if they like what they do and where they are...and if you have ever talked to a teenager, they will be the first to tell you that you cannot tell them what to do or how to be. To quote Office Space, "Why should I change my name? He's the one who sucks!"

Change occurs to you and you can either adapt and flourish or cling to the olden days and be stuck in the past. So, let's take a look at the change that is happening to me:

1. Biggest Change: First baby is on the way
2. New Principal for my school
3. Friends and colleagues leaving for various new positions
4. Hiring of new teachers for my school

Many, many others that I cannot go into right now...So let's take a look at what we have to adapt to.

#1. The new baby

I have to say, while I am nervous, scared, and whatever other words that are out there to describe the malestrom (GRE word) of emotions that are occurring, my wife and I are EXTREMELY excited about this! We have been incredibly fortunate (knock on wood) with the pregnancy being easy.

Please note: I say we...I mean my wife; she is incredible. She is adapting to many more changes that I think I could handle at one time. Changes in body, emotions, hormones, sleep patterns etc. and yet she still does everything that she did before. Every day she impresses me over and over again.

I have the distinct pleasure of getting the nursery set up. I painted the ceiling 2 weeks ago and a buddy is coming over to help me finish painting the room. We are ging with a yellow and green classic Winnie the Pooh theme. I am excited to contribute in this process any way that can.

No matter how excited we are, we must examine how much change is going to arrive when the baby is born. We read books, friends and family tell about what to expect, but I think that this will be the biggest test of our ability to adapt.

#2 New Principal

I feel good about this one. I was a part of the focus and interview committee. The committee looked at all of the candidates and I feel that we selected the best one. Best of all, our opinion was listened to. The hard part about this is not referring back to the past.

When I made the transistion to my 2nd teaching position, it was pointed out to me that I would CONSTANTLY refer to my former school. I need to avoid making this mistake again. While history and tradition need to be recognized and upheld, I must not expect things to be the same. I must expect that there will be some differences and learn about my new principal.

#3 Friends and colleagues leaving for various new positions

Since we have a new principal, our old one, no wait...former prinicipal (he hates the old jokes), has moved on to a new opportunity. I know that we wish him the best of luck, but he leaves a vacancy (filled by #2) This seems to be a completely different type of change to adjust to. Of course, as the new school year starts, there are other colleagues of mine who have decided to persue opportunities elsewhere and for various reasons. I wish them all the best and hope to continue learning from them and talking to them. Hopefully, they will find things like twitter and plurk to stay in touch.

This leads to...

#4 Hiring of new teachers for my school

While I do not like to have to fill positions of valued colleagues, one of the favorite parts of my job is meeting new teachers and finding people who would make a valued new addition to our team. I had the opportunity to attend some job fairs in Central Illinois, representing my district. Although I had a fever of about 102, I enjoyed meeting a lot of candidates and many of them were hired by my district. I feel like I did a good job.

Overall, there is going to be a lot of change coming up in my life. I tend to be flexible and pretty well adaptable to new situation. I know that somethings will come easy and others will be more arduous (more GRE words).

I look forward to the challenge of adapting, changing, and evolving. The alternative is not so good. ;)