Ethics in the Schoolhouse

     In education, we often speak of ethics in the profession.  The very word can create a charged atmosphere among teachers and administrators.  Where can we begin to frame the conversation?  I view the concept of ethics as a function of three core conditions: transparency, accountability, and trust.  When discerning the ethical ramifications of an action, we ask ourselves, “Am I comfortable with any and all persons involved having complete knowledge of my action and its consequences?”  We evaluate the decisions we make through the lens of the people our choices will affect.  We consider, “Am I comfortable with shouldering the responsibility for any outcomes that result from this action?”  As educators we live in a world of accountability, and no choice can be made simply for its own sake.  The decisions we make directly affect the lives of our students, and therefore the larger world:  we accept the burden when we enter the profession.  And finally, at the heart of all of our decisions, we ask, “Does this choice value the students to whom I have been entrusted?”  Educators are indeed custodians of the public trust.  We are the institution entrusted every day with the most valuable resource of our community, and that trust must be brought to bear on each and every decision. 

     An administrator is the face of the schoolhouse and acts as the north point on a campus’ ethical compass.  The decisions are not simple:  many opinions vie for attention, and the consequences of one action mix inextricably with the consequences of another.  There is also no question that the intersection of cultural value systems can create miscommunication and conflict.   Finding true acceptance that even some of our most cherished beliefs are not shared by all can be an enormous obstacle.  Morals by their very nature have a deeply emotional component:  they reside at the core of our character.  This makes conflicts in this arena all the more volatile and all the more challenging.  A leader cannot help but to fall back on their personal morality to discern appropriate action, and it would not be appropriate to ask them to do otherwise.  However, adherence to an accepted set of guidelines, such as board policies, creates a common language for dialogue and a standard that does not depend on emotional judgments.  And so administrators are called once again to strike a balance, between choices of value and policy, and between personal values and community norms. 

Building Leaders

     My district possesses its own leadership development program, entitled the Strand Program.  While I have always been aware of this program, I had not given it a serious investigation, as I never intended to pursue a principalship.  However, I was intrigued by the work mentioned in the article, “Bridging the Gap: Building Leadership Capacity” (Swinney, 2007), and I wanted to analyze the similarities and differences between the Strand Program and the program in Auburn City Schools.  The Auburn City school system recognized a human resource need evolving in their district regarding the retention of top level teachers and administrators and the development of leadership among the current staff within the district.  In response the district, in coordination with Auburn University, created a leadership academy available to teachers and administrators within the district.  This academy met on several occasions and worked with a variety of topics related to challenges and charges of administrators, from diversity to budgeting to site-based decision making.  The academy format built relationships and collaboration between teachers and administrators in attendance, and served the dual purpose of facilitating ongoing professional development for current administrators and encouraging the leadership potential of district teachers. 

     The main thrust of the reading involved a school system’s efforts to create collaboration between parties within the district and to facilitate growth and retention of quality educators and administrators through contextual, collaborative professional development.  This relates to the following State Board for Educator Certification’s (SBEC) principal competencies:

Competency 1: The Vision of Learner-Centered Leadership and Campus Culture

1:1 - implement strategies to ensure the development of collegial relationships and effective collaboration.

Competency 6:  Human Resources Leadership, Management, Professional Development and Appraisal

6:2 - facilitate the application of adult learning principles and motivation theory to all campus professional development activities, including the use of appropriate content, processes, and contexts.

6:4 - implement effective, appropriate, and legal strategies for the recruitment, screening, selection, assignment, induction, development, evaluation, promotion, discipline, and dismissal of campus staff.

6:7 - engage in ongoing professional development activities to enhance one’s own knowledge and skills and to model lifelong learning.

Competency 7:  Learner-Centered Organizational Leadership and Management

7:4 - use strategies for promoting collaborative decision making and problem solving, facilitating team building and developing consensus.

     The article speaks directly to the concerns that I stated in an earlier question:  professional development needs to have relevancy to its participants, and collaboration needs to happen at all levels within the organization.  This leadership academy could be a model for campus-level professional development as well, where campus administration does not merely sit in the back working on other projects during the presentation, or use professional development time merely as an avenue to further personal goals and objectives; rather, administration plays an active role in the learning and the dialogue, and uses feedback from the faculty to determine what specific concepts and subjects should be addressed in that forum.  This article prompts me to take a much more serious look at the Strand Program within my district.  Although I am still not inclined to actively pursue a principalship in my district, I recognize the need for all members of a school organization to be able to participate as faculty leaders.  The competencies addressed in this assignment are the rules of governance that all schools should be following, which means that any educational leader needs to have an awareness of the competencies and their application.  I would like to have any available resources in my toolkit to respond to situations in my classroom, on my campus, and out in the larger community.

Swinney, A. (2007, May/June/July). Bridging the Gap: Building Leadership Capacity. Best Practices , pp. 14-15.

Campus Culture in Transition

It is interesting that in this first step of my coursework's new management and leadership direction, the week’s discussion involves an analysis of school culture.  That very concept has been much on the minds of my faculty recently.  My school thrived for many years under a leadership team that had a unique sensitivity to balance:  balance between faculty and other stakeholders, between various teams, between administration and staff.  Achieving this balance is somewhat of a rarity, and the benefits of it showed in the staff and parent commitment to the school community.  However, no situation can remain static indefinitely.  Change comes, and I believe any organizational culture can be defined by how it responds to the natural process of that change.  A  new leadership team took the reins on my campus last year, and we are still adapting to a new leadership style and vision.  Equally strong, capable leaders can present with very different skill sets and challenges, and such is the case at my school.  To our credit, we have strong relationships with each other and with our community, and I believe those relationships help us adapt and embrace new ideas.  I do believe that even positive change throws a system out of its former patterns, and that readjustment can produce some ‘growing pains’.  Even in a seemingly "perfect" school, there are areas of growth, and a new leader is called to find those opportunities to refine and enrich the  a campus.  One of the most pressing and complicated challenges of a new administration is to look closely at the systems and relationships that were most effective on campus, and to work at preserving those standards of excellence even while implementing a new leadership vision.   Conflict is inevitable, and the new leadership will make its mark through communication, collaboration, and modeling of best practices as it resolves these differences and guides the campus.  I have high hopes that my campus will weather the rough seas of change and emerge even stronger and more effective on the other side.

A New Day, A New Plan

I finished my previous course about a month ago and took a much-needed hiatus over the holidays.  I prepared to jump back into coursework with curriculum design, only to discover on the Friday before class was to begin that the university had restructured my degree plan.  The new slate of coursework would enable graduates to take not only the technology facilitator's certification exam, but also the principal's certification exam.  I must confess that I have never been interested in becoming a campus principal.  Both my skill set and my interests lie in a completely different direction.  However, the choice to transfer into the new degree plan was nonetheless a simple one.  We work in an environment where ever more qualified candidates are competing for what  at times seems to be a dwindling pool of opportunities.  Much of principal certification involves leadership and management, including the human resource management course that I will now be offered.  The skills of a leader serve candidates in any number of fields, and so it seems apparent to me that an opportunity to both hone those skills and attain a certification of mastery is one to be seized.  In short, I am taking my own road less traveled, and we shall see where it leads.

Building a Professional Newsletter

EDLD 5366 introduced me to a variety of graphic design options, but the centerpiece of the course was the professional newsletter.  Because I have had previous experience with Microsoft Publisher, I believed that this assignment would be essentially a review of previously acquired skills.  While I certainly did use my prior experiences, much of this assignment called for a completely new understanding of both design concepts and available applications.  To begin, the introduction into design principles drove me to rethink how I utilized visual impact in my work.  I realized how the concept of ‘less is more’ drove my designs into cleaner, more professional lines.   In the words of graphic designer Roger Parker, “Cluttered, hard to read newsletters, however, discourage readership -- no matter how good the ideas contained inside.” (Parker)   

     Included in the newsletter is a link to the animations that I created as another part of the coursework.  The animation was a fascinating, enjoyable project, but it actually brought me to one of my first hesitations in how I would utilize applications in the classroom.  In my weekly discussion, I described my ambivalence in this way: 

     Similarly, my own efforts at animation and other multimedia projects yield    

     widely varying results based on all manner of factors, including the

     subject matter, my experience with the content, my experience with the  

     software, and the appropriate integration of the technology in the lesson. I

     had a wonderful time plunking around on Scratch, but without a more

     functional working knowledge of trigonometry and operators, I am

     relegated to fairly elementary work at best. It is fun and interactive for me

     and for my fifth-graders, and as such I could work at making it fit into my

     lessons. And yet, at what point am I not truly supporting my curriculum,

     but rather tinkering with technology merely for its own sake? (online course  

     discussion thread) 

I kept these concerns present in my mind as I created my newsletter, in the hopes that I would develop a product that enhanced learning, which is in support of ISTE Standard V. C: “Design, develop, evaluate, and model products created using technology resources to improve and enhance their productivity and professional practice.” (Williamson & Redish, 2009)  While I had a variety of choices, I opted to create a newsletter that would serve a professional audience versus a parent/community stakeholder audience in order to take the assignment in a new direction from my classroom experiences.  I considered my professional audience as I created the various articles and features that would be available in the newsletter with an eye for future editions of the newsletter.  I hope to create at least one newsletter per semester as an exercise in building continuity between issues and in order to offer an ongoing, responsive resource to my faculty.  In that spirit, I plan to offer a survey to my faculty as mentioned by Annette Lamb in her guides to developing and maintaining effective newsletters. (Lamb, 2005)

Works Cited:
Lamb, A. (2005, June). Desktop publishing: evaluating newsletters. Retrieved December 9, 2010, from Eduscapes: http://eduscapes.com/sessions/publishing/evaluating.htm
Parker, R. (n.d.). 12 Most Common Newsletter Design Mistakes. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from Graphic Design & Publishing Center: http://www.graphic-design.com/DTG/Design/newsletter_mistakes/index.html
Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do. Washington: International Society for Technology in Education.

Blazing the Oregon Trail: Gaming in Education

Do you remember Oregon Trail?  Oh, how we loved Oregon Trail.  In my childhood, the Oregon Trail software was no less than revolutionary.  Teachers and students alike hailed it as one of the bright spots of educational technology.  When my younger brother was in elementary school, fifth graders across the district competed in an Oregon Trail tournament.  As late as 2001, when I would take my students for some “down time” in the computer lab (code for not keyboarding software or typing a paper on word processing), they would clamor for Oregon Trail.  But here was the dirty little secret of Oregon Trail:  no one was learning anything about the history of the Oregon Trail from the game.  I conducted some VERY informal studies on Oregon Trail during my time teaching fourth grade in the late nineties and early 2000’s to determine how much historical content students gleaned from playing the game.  I administered a pre- and post-test on the material that might have been learned from game play, and my results were quite definitive:  students scored no better as a whole after playing the game for six weeks than they had prior to doing so.  Now, this could have been attributed to design flaws in the game format, a lack of support for the content in my classroom, a mindset of students that the game had no educational value, or a combination of the three.   However, the fact remains that simply offering a gaming environment for curriculum content is inadequate.  Halverson frames the challenge in this way:
      

Simply manipulating the game model to simultaneously develop resources, trade, and defense involves impressive dexterity and cognitive complexity. However, from a schooling perspective, learning to play the game successfully is a different question than what can be learned from the game. Here the question arises about the "real-world" conclusions players can draw from gameplay. Can recognizing the modeled relationships among game variables transfer to insights about theories of socio-cultural interaction?
                

Gaming has come a very long way since the time of Oregon Trail, both in and out of the classroom.  The variety of options is enormous, and the sophistication of the games has increased exponentially.  And yet, the challenges remain the same:  are we picking games that include both engaging format and sound pedagogical standards?  Are we utilizing the game as a part of overall best practices in the classroom?  Are we showing students the curriculum connections?  Can we offer the gaming in a way that is accessible and practical to all students and classrooms?  Without real answers to these real questions gaming, like animation, will continue to be relegated to style over substance in the eyes of many.

Halverson, R. (2005). What can K-12 school leaders learn from video games and gaming? Retrieved from http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=81

The Oregon Trail (1971-1985).  Produced by MECC and distributed by Broderbund

Looking With New Eyes

I should start by informing you that I am not a Kindle person.  I love technology:  I think my choice of master’s degree speaks for itself in that regard.  However, I am addicted to the visceral experience of reading a cherished book:  the whisper of turning pages, the smell of a thousand hands before mine cradling the cover, the vibrancy of illustrations leaping out of imagination.  My computer, my books, and I are locked in a sort of sordid love triangle between love for the old and the new.  What a joy it was to me to find that my graduate coursework, a symbol of embracing the future of media, has asked me to return to the great media of the past to find inspiration.    I had the great pleasure of viewing some of the most spectacular pieces of our history on the British Library’s website, whose “Turning the Pages” program shines by honoring our past through a utilization of the tools of today.  I reviewed three texts: two ancient holy works and one beloved childhood memory. 

My first glimpse into graphic design of the past came in the form of the Lisbon Bible.  Dating from 1482 AD, it incorporates much of what we consider the four principles of design: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity.  This classically illuminated Hebrew text features clear, delineated margins and outlines of the textual material highlighted by frontispieces.  Much of the commentary notations are written in what is known as micography, where minute text is used to create graphic designs.  This contrast of text highlights the differences in their purposes while adding visual interest.  The spectacular filigree work done in various colors and even gold work adds even more visual depth to the work.

Next I turned through the virtual pages of the Sultan Baybars’ Magnificent Qur’an, finished in 1306 AD, is an exquisitely lovely manuscript with breathtaking illustrations.  Even at such an early stage, the principles of design are evident in the embedding of text within the frontispiece work and the alignment of text on the pages.  The contrasting colors are used to guide the reader through pronunciation and syntax, and the vibrant illustrations contain repeating patterns which draw the eye. 

Finally, I reviewed one of my favorite stories from childhood, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, known in this original manuscript as “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground” by Lewis Carroll.  While not as vibrant in its style, this manuscript in my mind captures much of what I perceive as intuitive, sophisticated design.  Carroll’s ink illustrations give life to the images of his written words:  words and graphics collaborate, instead of compete as we so often see in modern print and digital media.  In the story of the mouse’s “tail”, Carroll uses a variation of the micography seen in the Lisbon text to create the “bends” and turns that Alice attempts, unsuccessfully, to follow.  Also, as with the other texts, despite having the text hand written, the margins on the text are justified to an astonishing degree of accuracy. 

Thanks to EDLD 5366 and the British Library, I am reminded again of the pure joy of a beautifully created text.  While the Library's application provides unbelievable access to otherwise untouchable artifacts of the past, I found myself craving the pleasure of turning those precious pages and feeling the draw of history.  I’m sorry, e-books:  I’ve fallen in love all over again.

Works Cited:

Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.  Written by Lewis Carroll, England, 1864

Lisbon Hebrew Bible. Calligraphy by Samuel ben Samuel Ibn Musa, Lisbon, Portugal, 1482

Sultan Baybars' Qur'an. Calligraphy by Muhammad ibn al-Wahid, illumination by Muhammad ibn Mubadir and Aydughdi ibn 'Abd Allah al-Badri, Cairo, 1304

A Case for the Unbalanced

There is a debate going on in my graduate school discussion board. I'm a strong proponent of debate, so this is thrilling to me. What leaves me much less than enthusiastic is the nature of the debate: a call for 'striking a balance' between the idea of 'value inculcation' and the 'marketplace of ideas'. I posted previously on this topic, only to find that I may have not stated my position as clearly I had previously thought. So to be perfectly clear: as unpopular as it may be, I do not subsribe to balance in this instance. I identify with one side of this debate much more strongly than the other. In his lecture, Dr. Michael Hopson outlines the idea of ‘value inculcation’: “To paraphrase Justice Black, students attend school to learn, not to teach. It is not the time or place for them to exercise their expression rights and to comment on issues of public concern or interest.” (personal communication, November 1, 2010) I find the idea that school is not the time or place for commentary on public concerns to be shockingly short-sighted. If our goal is to educate students in higher-order and critical thinking skills, how can we exclude exchange of ideas that might possibly even be uncomfortable for students? One of my colleagues mentions the idea of “bringing accountability to their [students’] ‘free’ speech.” (personal communication, November 3, 2010) This is the litmus test that elevates exchange of ideas, not just in a classroom, but in society.

Throughout the posts this week there is much talk of imparting students with ‘our values’. While I am not at all opposed to modeling to my students how I live my life through the lens of my own ethical compass, I shy from the idea that somehow I have a monopoly on appropriate “values”. Another colleague uses an expression in her post, “socially appropriate behavior”, which I believe to be an excellent guiding principle for educators. While there are societal norms that we all accept, norms that enable civil discourse, societal values can be a much murkier area, colored by political affiliation, embedded theology, and cultural mores. We can recognize that there are students who come into the schoolhouse doors with a woeful lack of experience in societal norms without making an assumption that, because their value systems do not reflect our own, they do not exist at all.

The Classroom Marketplace: Ideas Welcome

Since my original years in college, studying for a dual major in political science and American history with a minor in education, I have looked to Tinker v. DesMoines (1969) as a reflection of my educational philosophy. This week my school law professor speaks eloquently to how the majority decision in this case supports the idea of the schoolhouse as a ‘marketplace of ideas’: “In this view, it could be easily argued that the school’s squelching of John and Mary Beth Tinker’s free speech rights was actually detrimental to the fundamental mission of the public school – to teach students to think and express themselves independently.” (personal communication, Hopson, M., October 31, 2010) I could not possibly state my position more accurately than this. The most formative portions of my education have historically come, and continue to come, through hearing opposing viewpoints expressed in a thoughtful, reasoned manner. This very blog gives life to lectures, readings, and endless pages of case law because others share ideas and perspectives that I would not have access to in my own narrow history of experience. In last week’s discussion board, a colleague discussed the value of dynamic exchange of differing ideas when she writes, “An open forum is what teaches our children how to navigate through the waters of citizenship. To be able to speak their minds with tact and still be friends in the end is a necessary skill that I want my children to have.” (personal communication, Kelly, J., October 26, 2010) Again, I could not possibly improve on her words or her sentiment. I can only add that I do recognize how working to balance ideology and reality is a legitimate challenge for leaders in all areas of governance, including in education. Part of educating a citizenry includes teaching the rules and mores of their society: civil exchange of ideas cannot occur without such knowledge. So, in my mind, the boundary between holding dear the value of discourse and teaching children the appropriate mechanism for that exchange is the thin line on which campus leaders walk. For me, my right and responsibility to expression of ideas and my responsibility to foster exchange of ideas remains at the heart of my call to teach.

Works Cited:
Tinker v. DesMoines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)

Cyberbullying is Not "Someone Else's Problem"

With online behavior, just as with mathematics or American history, we instruct students so that they can go out into the larger world armed with the tools of an educated citizenry. In the digital age, this area of instruction cannot be neglected. Cyberbullying has received little in the way of direct professional development focus in my school district. I think that this might prove to be a costly mistake if not rectified. Cases of cyberbullying pepper the news with stories of horror: in a case out of Massachusetts, several students have been indicted on a variety of criminal charges, including assault, in connection with the suicide of student Phoebe Prince. The allegations of vicious bullying against the student are shocking: “students said Phoebe was called ‘Irish slut’ and ‘whore’ on Twitter, Craigslist, Facebook, and Formspring”. Reports state that, in Phoebe’s case, instances of cyberbullying and more traditional bullying tactics went hand in hand. (Kennedy, 2010)

We swiftly and strictly respond to more traditional instances of bullying, and we work to be proactive in educating our staff and students in recognizing the signs and signals of bullying offenders and victims. Yet because electronic media is not a regular part of elementary instruction in our district, teachers on campus do not commit class time to education about cyberbullying and other online behaviors. HEB ISD’s Student Code of Conduct states that “cyber bullying will not be tolerated and is considered a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.” (Board of Trustees, Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD, 2010) This is an excellent start; however, without specific training on the nature of cyberbullying and techniques for incorporating a discussion about cyberbullying into the curriculum, teachers are left adrift when faced with classroom realities. Aimee Bissonette cautions against exactly this: “Well-crafted policy is important, but it alone will not remedy the cyberbullying problem. As Shariff and Johnny (2007) point out in their article Cyber-Libel and Cyber-Bullying: Can Schools Protect Student Reputations and Free-Expression in Virtual Environments?, policy alone ‘does not teach students to think about the impact of their actions; nor does it engage them in dialogue about how they can address the challenges that new technologies bring, in an informed, thoughtful and coherent manner.’” (Bissonette, 2009, p. 11) As I mentioned in an earlier post, I plan to develop online courseware via Moodle, which can include opportunities for online discussion between students. My school district takes this professional development opportunity to open a discussion with teacher about online behaviors, but because the course is optional, it is not adequate for informing all teachers. As I have opportunities to help guide professional development opportunities for my campus, I will campaign for professional development that gives my entire campus clear guidance in monitoring for and addressing cyberbullying.


Works Cited:
Bissonette, A. (2009). Cyber Law: Maximizing Saftey and Minimizing Risk in Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Board of Trustees, Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD. (2010). 2010-2011 Student Code of Conduct. Retrieved October 15, 2010, from HEB ISD district website: http://schoolctr.hebisd.edu/education/page/download.php?fileinfo=Q29kZV9vZl9Db25kdWN0Xy1fRW5nbGlzaF8tXzIwMTAtMjAxMS5wZGY6Ojovd3d3L3NjaG9vbHMvc2MvcmVtb3RlL2ltYWdlcy9kb2NtZ3IvNzA5Ml9maWxlXzY0Njk3X21vZF8xMjg2MjAzNTI4LnBkZg== Kennedy, H. (2010, March 29). Phoebe Prince, South Hadley High School's 'new girl,' driven to suicide by teenage cyber bullies. Retrieved October 29, 2010, from NY Daily News.com: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/29/2010-03-29_phoebe_prince_south_hadley_high_schools_new_girl_driven_to_suicide_by_teenage_cy.html

Facebook and the Court of Public Opinion: Lessons Learned from School Law

I have thoroughly enjoyed, thus far, the experience of graduate school, in large part because I have had the privilege of focusing on topics that were of direct interest and benefit to my future career. While I can say that my current course has been incredibly informative, its practical application has been at times less clear. This is particularly true in terms of teacher evaluation and remediation. Because it has never been my intention to pursue a position as a campus principal, my focus has not been on how to develop such particular skills of personnel management as evaluation and remediation of staff. Rather, as a peer leader, I see the knowledge gained as a responsibility to lead by example. This course has, more than anything else, changed how I conduct my online personal life, and thereby the guidance that I give to others. For the 2010-2011 school year my district implemented new policies for employees regarding social networking sites. Prior to my investigation of the coursework and current case law in this area, the new policies gave me little pause. That has all changed. I now cast a much wider net as I consider the implications of any item that is posted not only on my site, but on other’s sites that reference me by name. While in certain circumstances I still maintain my rights to constitutionally protected free speech, U.S. Courts have given school districts broad discretion in governing the public perception a teacher presents. This line is generally drawn along two fronts: one, is the public speech a matter of public concern (Pickering v. Board of Education, 1968); and two, have I shown competence and professionalism in other areas of my position? (Mt. Healthy v. Doyle, 1977) The implications for me are then twofold. On the one hand, a Facebook post announcing my support of the Rally to Restore Sanity is protected as a pronouncement of public concern, so long as my job performance has not otherwise be compromised. On the other hand, a tagged photo of me wearing a risqué Halloween costume will not be protected regardless of my other work circumstances. Where I falter is in the gray area of off-campus activities. (Bissonette, 2009, p. 31) Generally the advice for teachers is that for any person living in the public eye: the appearance of impropriety is as damaging as the fact of it. Much of teacher’s life is lived in the court of public opinion, and the discrepancy between what ought to be allowable conduct and what is in fact allowable conduct is a foggy hollow.
Works Cited:
Bissonette, A. (2009). Cyber Law: Maximizing Saftey and Minimizing Risk in Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Mt. Healthy Independent School District v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563 (1968)

Student Speech in Discussion Groups: The Safety Net of the Limited Forum

Recently I completed a second round of professional development for use of the Moodle online course platform, which included a segment on developing discussion forums as part of the coursework. It is an amazing interface between teacher and students where students can receive resources, submit assignments, and share ideas with their peers. Throughout the training, however, I found myself considering issues of student speech and of my role in balancing student rights and an appropriate student learning environment. Prior to my coursework in school law, I would not have given such issues more than brief consideration. Now I realize that this area is still a battleground for determining boundaries for school accountability and student freedom, and those of us who jump into the breach must keep our eyes on that constantly moving target. In particular, the concept of ‘open’ vs. ‘limited’ forum is a vital one, addressed in the Supreme Court decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988). As I work to develop discussion groups in my coursework, this decision guides me in framing the expectations for my students in this limited classroom forum. In her book, Cyber Law, Aimee Bissonette underscores the need for proactive steps to alleviate problems with inappropriate student online conduct before it starts: “Schools need to draft and enforce school policies regarding appropriate conduct on campus. In fact, such policies are critical for schools that do not want to be held liable for inappropriate use of the school Internet system.” (Bissonette, 2009, p. 25) I realize that because my campus has not previously utilized online discussion forums with students, I will be trailblazing this new area of technology integration. My successes, and failures, in maintaining a healthy, respectful online classroom environment will set the path for many of my colleagues.

Works Cited:
Bissonette, A. (2009). Cyber law: maximizing saftey and minimizing risk in classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988)

Weighing In on Boobies, Wristbands, and Symbolic Speech

School districts all over the country are banning "I Love Boobies" wristbands. Students all over the country are howling in outrage. Many of my colleagues both a school and in my graduate course are firmly on the side of the school districts. Well . . .
At the risk of showing my stripes a bit, I’m afraid I’m going to have to side largely with students on this issue. While some might believe the word ‘boobies’ is not in the best possible taste, I think that as educators we are crossing a thin but civilly important line. I talked with my mother, who recalls in detail the controversy surrounding the black armbands of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, who reminded me that, like any other distinctive clothing statement, some students wore the armbands for more superficial reasons than higher ethical or moral ones. This did not in any way diminish the intention of many to speak a cherished truth, and it did not diminish the rights of students to express their belief systems as such.
These bracelets have a clear message to those who subscribe to it, and the simple wearing of a band, whose font is approximately 14 point, on the wrist is not of itself disruptive to learning. I also believe that within the bounds of our society, this statement does not qualify as ‘lewd’ or ‘vulgar’, regardless of whether we think the wording is ideal. In my mind, the wearing of these bands by students passes both prongs of the Tinker test. I think that there are moments when the disruption to learning is caused not by students, but by us.
Works Cited:
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969).

Not Good Enough

While I believe that the idea that 100% of students will meet a particular level of proficiency regardless of LEP or special education status is statistically unsound, I believe wholeheartedly in the idea that all children can make significant gains, and that education can, and should, have accountability to student success. I think that at times in the dialogue and even legistatively, we confuse the idea of achievement to standard with one of closing the achievement gap that exists in US education. A study conducted by research fellows at John Hopkins University revealed shocking, sobering results: “There are currently between 900 and 1,000 high schools in the country in which graduating is at best a 50/50 proposition. In 2,000 high schools, a typical freshman class shrinks by 40% or more by the time the students reach their senior year. This represents nearly one in five regular or vocational high schools in the U.S. that enroll 300 or more students.” (Balfanz & Legters, 2004) As a nation, we are failing these students. Student populations will always have a percentage that are not achieving to the level of their peer group, but the idea that outside factors determine this is, to me, fatalistic. Certainly home situations are immensely challenging for some of our students, but this cannot be the hill upon which education dies. In a report out of Columbia University, authors highlight this distinction: “'Proficiency for all,' which implies the elimination of variation within socioeconomic groups, is inconceivable. Closing the achievement gap, which implies elimination of variation between socioeconomic groups, is extraordinarily difficult, but worth striving for.” (Rothstein, Jacobsen, & Wilder, 2006) While it may be true that doctors, lawyers, and CEO's cannot achieve perfection, this continues to be the standard for which they strive. A doctor endeavors his career, not to settle for acceptable losses, but to preserve the health and quality of life for every patient. A CEO is expected to maximize his results using every available resource, and is not rewarded for mediocrity. Newark mayor Cory Booker stated that, “We cannot have a superior democracy with an inferior education system.” (Salata, 2010) Will I have 100% of my students every year achieve to state standards? Mostly likely I will not. But as educators, none of us can shy away from the goal of student success in every case. I am not ever going to be the educator that says to a parent, “I’m so sorry, but your child’s life up to this moment has just been too difficult. His failure to meet standards is guaranteed.”

Works Cited:
Balfanz, R., & Legters, N. (2004). Locating the Dropout Crisis. Baltimore: Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk, Johns Hopkins University.
Rothstein, R., Jacobsen, R., & Wilder, T. (2006). Proficiency for All - an Oxymoron. New York: Campaign for Educational Equity, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Salata, S. (Executive Producer). (2010, September 24). The Oprah Winfrey Show [Television broadcast]. Chicago: Harpo Studios.

Measure of Success

I believe that the alignment to standards that lies at the heart of NCLB has great value. I believe that every child deserves academic rigor in their grade-level content areas, suited to their particular strengths and weaknesses. As a teacher committed to my craft and to the mission of academic success for all students, I do not quail at the idea of student, teacher, and school accountability. As a parent of a special-needs child, I see every day an academic world available to my son that would have been unthinkable ten years ago. And yet, I also see a system that fails the individual by focusing on the group. Year after year I am frustrated by the basic statistical flaws of our standards-based accountability. We speak to our stakeholders about growth, about adequate yearly progress; yet, we base the public assessment of school success on a “snapshot” that is not only inconsistent statistically from one year to the next, but lacks the vital growth component that assesses true academic progress at a student level:

Current state accountability systems rely heavily upon performance standards to make judgments about the quality of education. Specifically, accountability systems constructed according to federal adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirements use annual “snap-shots” of student achievement relative to state performance standards to make judgments about education quality. . . Though appropriate for making judgments about the achievement level of students, they are inappropriate for judgments about educational effectiveness. (Betebrenner, 2009)

I teach fifth grade math and science, and few places feel the real-time stressors of NCLB as acutely as teachers in my position. I do worry about whether or not we sacrifice depth for breadth in content, and I do worry about reaching the many at the sacrifice of truly teaching the one: the one who needs the most pulling or the one who needs the most pushing. Mostly, however, I worry about how the accountability system might be self-defeating - for schools, teachers, students - that strive year after year against unbelievable obstacles. If a student improves 150 points on an assessment scale score, how do we in good conscience tell that child, that parent, that teacher, that it is simply not enough? Who, really, has failed?

Works Cited:
Betebrenner, D. W. (2009, April 6). Growth, Standards, and Accountability. Retrieved October 6, 2010, from The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment: http://www.nciea.org/publications/growthandStandard_DB09.pdf

On the agenda this week in EDLD 5344: School Law - IDEA 2005: ARD and IEP. Please take a moment and add your thoughts to the mix!

It's a Wrap

School Bonds Q & A is out in the cybersphere, and I feel proud of the product we created. My team members and I come from school districts of varying size throughout the state and have professional backgrounds that range from elementary science and math to secondary tech ed to district administration. This diversity of experiences brings depth and perspective to our work, but also presents challenges to collaboration. The professionalism of my colleagues overcame those obstacles in fine style. We used a variety of collaboration tools during our process, including Google Docs and a Google Site. We found that, although the real-time editing functions of Google Docs had their uses, the multi-level platform of the Google site was more in line with the variety of uses needed for project completion. Through the site, we compiled video footage and audio tracks, archived transcripts of online conferencing, collaborated on assignment and proposal documentation, and tracked tasks and timeline status. Please feel free to take a look at our process at the EDLD 5363 PSA Video Project Google Site. My primary responsibility was to work with another team member to complete research and background on our selected topic and to develop the voice-over script. This was a humbling process; one forgets after years of being accountable only to her own judgement and discretion that all roads do not end at one's own opinion. I tend to oververbalize, and collaborating with a peer helped me to make my point more succinctly. Each team member contributed either voice-over templates or video footage, or a combination of the two, to the project. In the end, I felt privileged to have a small piece of each in the final product.
Collaboration has not generally been my strength in the past, and I quailed at the idea of a majority of my course grade being dependent on the result of not only a collaborative effort, but a long-distance one. I simply cannot be more delighted to be proven wrong. This experience has shown me how fulfilling, enlightening, educational, and how fun a group project can be when a group of true collaborators work towards a common goal. My profound thanks to Lynne, Shannon, Russell, and Janet for time well spent and a job very well done.

The Tech Teacher's Corner: Windows Live Movie Maker Tutorial

My first foray into podcasting!  It was a great opportunity to learn about both Windows Live Movie Maker and Audacity.  My podcast is embedded on the blog, or you can follow the link:
The Tech Teacher's Corner: Windows Live Movie Maker Tutorial

Web Conference August 28-29: Quite Disappointing

The web conference experiences of this course have been short, largely uninformative, and immensely frustrating.  
The technology itself was a significant obstacle on the August 28 conference.  I logged onto the conference, but was unable to activate voice and camera.  As I attempted to use the help function through Adobe, the browser navigated away from the conference instead of opening a new window.  This disconnected me from the conference.  Although the conference had been closed when it reached a certain number of members, I expected to be able to log back on because the conference host can see the names of those who try to join, and my name had already been listed.  However, I was denied access for the remainder of the conference.
Although my conference host contacted me after the conference to tell me that I would receive credit for attendance, I logged onto the next day's conference in the hopes of gaining some insight into the next week's assignments.  That was not the case:  the course material for the next week was still being developed, and was not open for questions at that time.  The questions mostly revolved around using video for the PhotoStory assignment: the conference host seemed frustrated and mentioned that she was anxious to end the conference quickly.  
Because the Week Two assignment has been quite confusing, it is a disappointment indeed to have received so little information from the web conferences.  

What's In a Name? WMM versus WLMM

     I must confess, I have never used video editing software prior to this week.  I've always been a fan of still photos - I did not even have a wedding video made.  So it was with no small amount of panic that I began my first tentative steps, starting with the software closest:  in my case, Windows Live Movie Maker, which is installed on my Dell netbook.  I began importing video footage and trying out the various editing tools, building a basic storyboard that I saved on a flash drive in hopes of completing some more polishing during my lunch the following day.  Sure enough, about 12 minutes presented themselves and I blithely plugged in my flash drive, ready to continue the process.  Alas, it was not to be.  Here is what may be a little-known fact among those who are new to video editing:  Windows Live Movie Maker is a complete redesign of Windows Movie Maker software available with Windows XP and earlier.  For schoolteachers who are working with newer Microsoft operating systems in one location than another, this is a vital distinction.  In fact, the two applications have some fundamental differences.  Defenders of the earlier version cite that many of the features available in WMM are no longer present in WLMM, including many of the custom plug-ins for captions and titles. (Dolcourt, 2009)  However, from my perspective this is a small price to pay for a program that has a much more intuitive interface.  As a teacher, I found the WLMM editing tools much more user-friendly, which would support the idea that technology integration should not supercede curriculum in the classroom. (New, 2005)  In particular, WLMM features an "AutoMovie" function that allows users to go from clips to finish movie in literally minutes.  This could enable students to work with the software and come up with work product in a single class period.       Sadly, WLMM is not compatible with Windows XP, so my dreams of instant multimedia will have to be scaled back a bit.  However, the process has reminded me that experience is the best teacher when it comes to technology.  Students get as much out of process as they do out of product, and movie making with Movie Maker will be no exception.
Works Cited:
Dolcourt, J. (2009, August 24). Windows Live Movie Maker Verdict: So-So. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from cnet.com: http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10313682-12.html
New, J. (2005, 12 2). How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom. Retrieved August 24, 2010, from Edutopia.org: http://www.edutopia.org/use-digital-storytelling-classroom