Final Blog - The Blog About Blogging

I see a  lot of potential with blogging.  The fact that someone is able to engage in a virtual conversation with another human being is truly exciting.  Through a virtual learning network, teachers/administrators are able to connect with others with whom they have never met and with others potentially on the other side of the world.  This is exciting, yet overwhelming at the same time.  I struggled to keep up with the 35 other classmates' posts and was unable to stay current with their blogs. By the time I was able to read their posts, there were often other comments that were already made which were similar to my viewpoints.  So, rather than making a redundant comment, I never made a comment.  This is with approximately 35 classmates.  How would one manage 6 billion classmates?  I know that there is merit, but I struggle with how to make it manageable especially with the everyday operations and interactions that I am expected to do with real human beings. I hear regularly from my staff and students that an administrator's presence in the building is essential.  My staff and students want to see me - see my body, hear my voice, and feel my presence.  I know that I am able to connect with others worldwide and their viewpoints are able to help me in my job as an instructional leader but time is always the tough one for me.  Maybe someone out there is able to help me manage my time better as an administrator, coach, father, husband, and student.
However, if time was not an issue and one was looking to connect with others, blogging is the answer.  It allows one to reflect on their own experiences while at the same time reflecting on others' experiences.  We learn so much from each other and by blogging, our resources (each other) are never limited other than by who is on the internet.

Digital Citizenship

Saw this article on Facebook and just thought of our conversations about digital citizenship and the dangers or cautions of anything online.  I realize that many of you probably have already seen this, but if not, have a read. It is extremely interesting.

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2013/11/teacher-goes-viral-with-lesson-about-dangers-of-posting-online.html

Connecting Parents

I sat in a meeting this morning and one of the topics discussed was how to connect parents to schools.  I realize at the elementary level, this is fairly easy to do.  Parents come to Christmas concerts (are they still called that?), parent-teacher interviews, and any and all events that occur at the school (literacy nights, BBQ's, etc.).  How do we keep parents connected at the high school level?  In my experience, parents who are connected are the parents of the children who are doing excellently (on the sports teams, in the drama production, etc.) in school.  However, the parents who we need to connect with are the parents of the disengaged students.  They don't come to parent-teacher interviews.  They don't come to SCC meetings.  They don't come to extra-curricular activities.  In some/many instances, they don't even come with their child to register at the school.  How do kids see the value in a high school education when the support from home is such? 

I believe in many situations, the parents of these kids were disengaged in high school and/or dropped out of high school.  This is the "status quo" for high school education.   How do we break that cycle?  According to Putting Faces on the Data: What Great Leaders Do!, there are 14 parameters to successful change initiatives in schools.  One of these areas is connecting parents. 

If anyone has any great ideas to connect disengaged parents, I would love to hear it!

Knowledge

I'm intrigued by the slide tonight, "What is knowledge?".  Historically, I think knowledge was something that was acquired through some sort of mentor.  People learned from a knowledge giver, so to speak.  Knowledge was passed down from generation to generation through story and through experience.  Once the introduction of ink (in whatever form), stories could be told - and captured- through pictures.  Eventually, stories could be told, captured, and saved through permanent ink.  This allowed knowledge to be saved for longer periods of time; thus, stories can be told with some degree of consistency.  Of course, as I describe these first few steps of story-telling and acquiring knowledge, I realize that this took an incredible amount of time.  Frankly, this is where the capturing of knowledge was only a few short years ago (pre-digital age).  Capturing of knowledge has exponentially increased over the past 20 years.  Now, this is how knowledge was captured.  The digital age has allowed knowledge to be captured and stored in a completely different way.  But still, what is knowledge?

I believe the concept of knowledge has changed.  Once upon a time, it was "Who could acquire the greatest amount of knowledge?"  He who could capture the greatest amount was considered to have the most knowledge - and also was considered the 'smartest'.  Given the ease of finding knowledge in the digital age, I believe knowledge and intelligence are drastically different now. Knowledge is a click of the button but intelligence is what one can do with the knowledge which is easily obtained.  And, I believe knowledge and intelligence are things that ought to be shared.  Because they can be shared so easily now, truly, an intelligent person will share their knowledge. 

Connected Administrators

I think I have an idea for my major project (thanks to Alec).  I have been struggling with how administrators can get connected based on the number of unique situations we deal with on a daily basis.  I have learned that administration can be a very lonely role.  Many of these situations involve a level of privacy that we are just not at liberty to discuss with colleagues.  However, upon looking up connectedprincipals.com, I see that I was looking to narrowly when trying to see how I might be able to connect to my colleagues around the world.  As administrators, we are continually changing our role to that or instructional leader rather than school-based manager.  Although we still deal with a number of managerial tasks, we are increasingly being asked to lead our colleagues in the area of instruction.  When I looked through connectedprincipals.com, I saw that this is where the the connected principal truly lives.  Multiple opportunities to read about leadership from others, many stories of developing collegiality amongst a staff, many ideas about how to facilitate change in a profession that, at times, looks very similar to how it did 50 years ago.  This is where I can developed my connectedness. 

Not only am I learning about the value of connectedness, I am also learning the value in a story.  George Couros' TEDTalk found here, discusses this importance.  This has been a bit of a struggle for me as so much of graduate work is framed around peer-reviewed resources.  While writing a formal paper, your resources cannot simply be a "story" you heard, your own experiences, or an experience from someone else found on a social media website.  This has also been something I have struggled with and am now beginning to accept - Connected principals/teachers are about learning from others' stories (not peer-reviewed resources).  We learn so much from the power in a story.

Privacy Act - Legal Ramifications

I had the opportunity to attend a law session through my employer this past week.  I was intrigued by the presentation; in particular, when the lawyer indicated that the sharing of any information, digital or other, without the consent of the individual captured is considered a violation of the Privacy Act and is a chargeable offense.  It made me wonder, and question, the number of images/videos posted online that do not have the consent of all parties.  Is this violation of the Privacy Act similar to the violation of the law whereby one cannot spit in public?  It is considered a law but will never be enforced.  If so, why is it a law?  Or, if consent is needed, what does consent look like? Does it have to be written or is verbal enough?  And, how would one prove 'verbal consent'?  With the use of video cameras being so simple that a young child could use it and the ease of uploading images to the internet, it only seems obvious that images will be uploaded without consent of the captured individuals.  How will this be monitored?

This lends itself to the question of digital citizenship that we spoke of during class this week.  I believe it is so important for us to start teaching digital citizenship to our students as soon as they enter our school system.  Kids that are not in school already have the ability to use the technology.  I believe curricula need to reflect this ability and digital citizenship should be addressed as soon as they enter our schools.  We are doing kids an injustice if we expect them to simply "know" what is appropriate and what is not.  Additionally, we cannot expect parents to teach this because many parents have no idea of the power of technology.  It is our job to stay current with technology.

Teaching as a Metaphor in the 21st Century

Given that tomorrow, we are voting on a tentative agreement on our provincial contract, I often hear teaching consider themselves "professionals".  I, 100%, agree with this statement.  Often, the argument continues with comparing teachers to doctors and lawyers, as other professionals.  Yet again, I do not disagree.  However, I am going to draw the comparisons between teacher and the medical profession for the sake of this blog.

1.  Our health care system is a PUBLIC health care system.  This means that everyone has a RIGHT to access health care.  This became very apparent to me this summer as I was waiting in the emergency room to get my stitches and an inmate came in to the hospital.  The triage nurse asked this individual the exact same questions of him as she did to me.  He was provided the same care as I was.  So, in education (at least in a PUBLIC education system), everyone has a RIGHT to an education.  We do not have the ability to "kick students out" that are underperforming.  We cannot refuse entry into our schools for any reason and cannot send them to another school (imagine hospitals doing that?????). Even if the student has really struggled with school, we must attempt to provide the necessary care to allow this student to be successful. If we cannot provide the necessary program for a particular student and another school can, that is a different story.  This comparison is just like the labour and delivery unit is at the General Hospital and not the Pasqua Hospital.  Also, if a student is a threat to the school (either staff or students), this also is a different story.

2.  Doctors diagnose problems and attempt to help fix them.  Teachers do the exact same.  Doctors do not prescribe the same medication or prescribe the same recovery routines for everyone based on age, condition, etc.  Every patient is different - but all with the same goal.....to be healthy.  Every student is different - but all have the same goal....to graduate.  With that being said, we cannot expect every student to learn in the exact same way, be tested in the exact same way, and perform along the same time lines as everyone else. The days of having students conform to our box are no longer there. 

3.  Although students and teachers should not be judged based on standardized tests (doctors do not receive merit pay or penalized pay if their patients don't recover based on patient choices - and nor should teachers), there is a place for standardized tests.  When I go to the doctor, I want to know what my blood pressure, cholesterol, pulse, hemoglobin, etc. is based on an accepted, standardized, level.  I think there is a place for standardized tests.  However, if my doctor prescribes medication or a physical routine that I am supposed to be following, and do not, this is not a reflection on my doctor.  This is a reflection on the patient.

These are just three comparisons between the medical profession and the teaching profession.  I'm sure there are many more.  I would be interested to hear if others out there can add to my list of comparisons between education and medicine.

Schools of the 21st Century

There has been a great deal of discussion (in this class and others as well as at the Ministry level and beyond) about how education must change.  Our government wants a higher graduation rate, our kids are stimulated in drastically different ways now than in years previous (see article on children and technology), and teachers are caught in the middle between teaching the basics (on a traditional level) or keeping with the times and teaching kids with technology at the forefront (see article on pros and cons of using technology in the classroom).  Education clearly becomes a juggling act for many schools and teachers.

Sir Ken Robinson suggests what schools ought to look like in his 19 minute Ted Talk.  I would be interested to hear others thoughts on this presentation.  In particular, I appreciated his comments on teaching vs. learning.  I agree that many times, we see "teaching" occurring but limited "learning" to match.  How do we ensure these match?  Are standardized tests a way to help measure this?  The comment regarding Finland (Sahlberg's article supporting Sir Ken Robinson's claims) is an interesting one.  We often aspire to be like Finland, in terms of their achievement (as measured on a standardized test, by the way) but seem to have a number of barriers preventing us from doing so.

Do you think an education system, as Sir Ken Robinson has described, can exist?

The Importance of Relationships

I think it seems rather obvious.  As adults, we tend to surround ourselves with those whom we enjoy their company, those that make us feel good about ourselves, and those who challenge us (respectfully) to improve ourselves daily.  So why do we think kids are different?

This video was liked by a number of my friends on Facebook so I thought it was worth a watch.  It certainly does motivate us to invest in children and stresses the importance of relationships.  Additionally, I wonder if high school teachers got into the education profession for different reasons (love of a subject area) than did elementary teachers (love of children).

Digital Citzenship

As you may know, I am the vice-principal of a Regina high school.  I want to share two stories of technology and how it impacted my life this week.  One story is unfortunate and the other is great - both were an eye-opener for the power of technology and how technology can be used and abused.
The unfortunate story - I receive a call from a concerned citizen in Saskatoon indicating that she has viewed a Facebook page that shows an incredibly ugly video.  This Facebook page, she indicates, belongs to one of our students (which, indeed, it did).  There is also a picture of a colleague who appears to be videoing/capturing something from her classroom window pointing outside.  In the caption, the author states something to the effect that "my cool teacher is videoing two guys fighting" - followed by comments indicating what school and what subject the teacher taught.  In this conversation with the citizen of Saskatoon, she questions the integrity of the school and integrity of the teacher.  After all, if a teacher is videoing a fight, are they not part of the problem as well?  So, my investigation starts. First off, I do find out who the Facebook page belongs to (albeit under a different name).  Secondly, the awful video is not even a video from our school (although clearly, the author was there).  Thirdly, after talking to the teacher (which is obviously a completely different situation), she indicates she saw a couple of guys horsing around, didn't know who they were, took a picture, went out to address the situation, and it turns out that the two boys are buddies and there was no animosity at all.  This is why nothing was brought to our attention.  Nevertheless, the caption above the picture is a false statement (or a partial truth at best).  This gets me thinking about the negative implications technology can have.  On a side note, this awful video was posted three hours prior to me viewing the page and there was already 185 likes and 154 comments.  This video had gone viral(ish).  When I spoke to my colleague the following day, he had received phone calls from the United States indicating this video was on Facebook.  I guess another point of conversation had to be privacy settings of this user and why she allowed anyone to see her posts.
My second story of the week was more uplifting.  I happened to be standing in front of my school this afternoon and looked back at my school.  It is such an incredible building with so much history and tradition captured in its walls.   Just the way the light was hitting it made for an incredible picture (although I might be a bit biased).  So, I took a picture on my phone.  Luckily, someone had showed me how to Tweet the picture right from my phone (I'm' still learning.....).  By the time I made it back inside, I had already received an email indicating someone had retweeted my picture.  Upon further investigation, there were two retweets almost immediately and these two people had a combined 424 followers who were seeing my picture.  This got me thinking about the positive impacts that technology can have.
This leads me to my thought on digital citizenship.  With such tremendous potential, we ought to be teaching our students about digital citizenship.  The social media world can have such positive or negative impacts on so many people in such a short time, we must help our students realize the power they have at their finger tips.  But with power comes responsibility.  These kids have tremendous power but unfortunately, they have not been taught about their role in properly using this tool.  I believe we must go down this path of helping students use this tool effectively or we may end up with a great deal more unfortunate stories.  And not only do we need to teach students about properly producing digital media but we also must teach students to be good consumers of digital media as well.  Not everything we see on the internet (teacher picture) must be taken as gospel.  We must teach kids how to critically analyze what they see online and be able to formulate an accurate opinion based on what they have observed.

How much personal information, in general, should you exchange with your students?

This is one aspect that I have struggled with over the course of my teaching career.  I truly believe that if teachers can make connections with students and develop a relationship, they are much more likely to engage the student in whatever topic/subject/activity they are delivering.  In developing a relationship and connection with students, I believe that they need to see and understand that you are a human being and not an immortal, larger-than-life teacher.  So, I feel as though teachers ought to be open and transparent with students because kids can see through phoniness.  Additionally, the research points to the likelihood of success with students (especially high school students) when they make a meaningful connection with a significant adult at the school.  Many students have tremendous issues that they may not feel comfortable going to their parents or counselor or other strange adult.  If there is an adult with whom a student has a connection, they are more likely to approach them to get the needed support. We teach in a profession where we thrive on helping people and I don't believe we have the ability to "turn off" caring for students in need.

HOWEVER, there is a proverbial line in the sand when it comes to sharing your information with students.  Ultimately, we are teachers and are held to a higher standard than many other people in the world.  We have an image to uphold and must strive daily to represent our profession with the utmost respect.  If individuals don't want to be held to a higher standard, I don't believe they should join the teaching profession.  For this reason, I believe teachers can give certain information out to students (possibly a cell number or a work-related Facebook/Twitter profile) where professional conversations can occur.  A teacher should never cross the professional line and the minute that a student crosses the line, the conversation must be documented with an authority (principal, superintendent, police - if necessary).  At the end of the day, we are still the professionals and our relationships with students - on social media and in person, must remain professional at all times.

Technology Overload????

How do people keep up with technology?  As soon as it is "the thing", it is already outdated.  Additionally, in this social media world, how does one possible keep up with all of the happenings of those around us?  There are days when I'm not sure I can keep up with my own life, wife, and 3 kids let alone everything that is happening around me as well.  I used to get in trouble from my father who was upset that I didn't watch the news so that I knew what was happening in the world - so, I try to watch the news a bit more.  However, the news is almost "old news" as well in the social media world.  I refer to Alec's post about the water discovery in Kenya.  We received the post informing us that a newscast would be "coming out tomorrow".  Newscasts are historical (even if they are the daily news).

How do people keep current with everything out there while still maintaining their own lives?  And, how do you "keep up in the world" without being stuck to your phone/computer/etc. like the "I Forgot My Phone" video suggested?  How does Alec keep following 26,500 people?  I can't follow my three boys!

Information overloaded,
Blair

First class....

I have always considered myself relatively literate when it comes to technology.  I love being on the computer and I am often consulted by colleagues regarding computer-type issues (software issues).  I signed up for this class thinking that I would be expanding my knowledge of the technological world slightly.  However, I could not have been further from the truth.  At the conclusion of the first class, I realized that although I may be technologically literate, I am a technologically social hermit.  I have a Facebook account (largely to see what everyone else is doing in the world) and have not embraced Twitter at all.  In fact, I was hoping to remain anonymous from Twitter on principle alone.....who needs Twitter, right?  (I guess signing up for this class ruined that idea!).  Anyhow, I am excited to see what some of these technology things can do for me and what they can do for education.  I plan to use this blog as a journal-type area where I can log my experiences with moving into the 21st century with technology (because apparently, I may have still been in the 90's).