Veteran's Day

I can remember school assemblies when I was in grade school about Veteran's Day. They were really special because every year we were able to see the same veterans and they told us intriguing stories about their experiences. One of the veterans that came to speak to us year after year was a very old gentleman that was a veteran of WWI. I can distinctively remember the gleam in his eye and the way he whistled, snapped his feet and fingers as he came to attention. To a kid of eight years of age he seemed really cool and very "with it" for an octogenarian. Sadly, he died shortly before Veteran's Day when I was in the fifth grade. That year we got to hear the real story behind his service during WWI. With tears in his eyes and breaks in his voice, the post commander told us of the old vet's experience in the Argonne Forest in 1918. I do not remember all of the detail of the stories he told us that day, but I do remember watching a grown man in uniform cry before an entire school of children. After that Veteran's Day I think I was better able to relate to sense of loss that many Americans deal with every day because of either their service to the country or someone close to them sacrificed their life serving this great country of ours. I had an uncle that I never met who died in the Korean War. The family had a hard time dealing with the loss of their brother. His loss created a wound that left a large visible scar. He and another brother, Bill, were both in Korea when Bob was killed in action. My Uncle Bill escorted Bob’s coffin home from Korea. As a non veteran, I have no way of knowing the true sacrifice made by those who have served this country both in wartime and in peace. I do know this; I am thankful and know that there is no way for me to individually pay back all those I owe a debt of gratitude to. I am determined to “pay forward” and try my best to do all I can to honor today’s veterans as well as do what I can to make America a better place. I implore our students to talk to their families about their history of serving this nation in the armed forces. You may find out things you never knew about your family and make connections that were never there before. You will also get a chance to say thank you!

2009 Halloween Math Class v2

via youtube.com

Posted via web from phsprincipal's posterous

An unpublished draft....Why do I (continue to) Blog?

I found this blog while look at some of my old posts.  Even though I wrote this nearly two years ago, I think it still states clearly why I took up the practice of blogging and continue to do so!

Why do I blog?

1. I have found that the practice of putting my thoughts together about our school, how we impact our students, involve parents, incorporate technology, and attempt to change in what I consider to be revolutionary times (in education) allows me clarify where I stand on many issues. It is as much about self examination and professional growth as it is trying to move our institution forward.....if those two things can be seperated. I will have to admit when Ms. Hill challenged our faculty to examine the aspects of Web 2.0 and she told us many teachers as well as administrators were blogging, I was very apprehensive about it and even thought putting my thoughts into words for public consumption could be dangerous (how I do not know, but it sounded like a good excuse!), but now that I have tried it, I must say I really like it!

2. It is a great way to communicate. As many of you know, I am not the greatest communicator. (I heard that!) By forcing myself to "address" our staff, students and community stakeholders I do believe I have been able communicate more effectively. I know I still have a long ways to go, but blogging is allowing me to grow in this area.

3. I am hoping to encourage our staff to use this medium to engage students, parents and the community. We have seen a few examples in this school how blogs can be used. We have only scratched the surface. If you are truly interested in seeing how a blog can be used as a "virtual" extension of your classroom, see me. There are some great examples. Blogging is the first step in moving towards what I believe is a shift educators must make in order to reach students. Teenagers are spending lots of time online on social networking sites sharing thoughts, ideas and creating some fantastic stuff (and some not so great stuff too!) on places like Facebook and MySpace. They will naturally gravitate and become engaged if we incorporate the best features of the everchanging information age in how we engage our students!

4. I have become aware of one of our greatest shortcomings. We do not communicate well enough or often enough with parents. Right or wrong, many of our parents perceive us as not wanting their involvement, that we do not welcome their input, thoughts or ideas. I think our web presence can go a long way to ameliorate our communication "gap" with parents. In a recent poll, (on this blog) a majority of readers identified Classroll.com as our best innovation in recent years. Classroll has greatly increased the amount of information we provide parents and it leaves them wanting more. We need to view parents as our best ally in motivating and reaching our students. I think a classroom blog that is kept up to date with student input will only increase our "visablity" in the community (We are no longer using Classroll.com, we have begun to use the MMS teacher a parent portals this school year).

Please realize that although I talk a lot about change and the need to do things differently, by doing so I am not saying that teachers have been doing it wrong or that I do not value the way you teach your students. I think the mediums by which students communicate and are entertained have advanced to the point where we must consider those influences and change our pedagogy accordingly!

What Makes Us Effective?

To be effective we need to continue to work to be:
•Professionals who care about students first, student growth second, and our subject matter with the time we have left.
•Professionals that are willing to take risks, willing to admit we do not have all the answers and never lose the yearning to keep learning.
•Professionals who are willing to look in the mirror when there is a problem as opposed to out the window.

Our school will need to continue to strive to:
•Consider each student individually and help each student find their PASSION.
•Build an educational plan and career plan for each student based on their needs and their PASSION.
•Throw away conventional methodology when it no longer works and do what it takes to affect, engage, and change students to meet individual and societal needs.

To continue to make our school community more effective we will:
•Reach out to parents to help them keep their student(s) engaged in and ready for school.
•Seek resources and start conversations to affect change in the community that will bring about more support for education.
•Continually seek out best practices, use current research, and always believe that education can get better.

Please share your ideas!......"We get what we will settle for!"

What is it we are doing here anyway?

As I observe students and teachers go about the business of school on daily basis, I am quite aware of how hard both groups are working to get a lot of different goals accomplished. Many times people who have not been in school since they have graduated will look at what goes on and ask what exactly is going on here? What are they working towards? Does what appears to be chaos really have a function that is driving towards some greater goal? People judge schools on many things: Where do the graduates go? How do the test scores look? How did the (insert one of various sports teams here) do in the game the other night? How many students look like they are up to no good standing around the school before it starts? In other words, people use various ways of judging a school based upon their frame of reference. The real outcomes of what a school sets out to accomplish are sometimes difficult to measure. It is my hope that all students will learn to:
•communicate well, read well, and have good number sense

•be ready to take risks

•be able to find, use and distribute accurate information for problem solving purposes

•offer service to their community and have a spirit of giving

•build endurance to do the things that need to get done despite their difficulty

•look at things differently

•have integrity, self respect and respect for others

•be lifelong learners

To me, these are the most important things for our students take from their educational experience!

What would you add to the list?