Kimberly Moritz BlogPosts

Tomorrow is December 1 and I’ll be three weeks from starting at Randolph. I can’t sleep with everything that’s running through my head. It’s starting to shift from everything I’m summarizing/passing on/leaving at Gowanda to everything that needs to be done at Randolph. There’s so much to wrap my head around quickly.

I’m thinking about the building project that they’re smack dab in the middle of and getting a thorough handle on it, from financials to plans to projected end dates. The budget season is starting, well, yesterday. I want to be in every classroom, just to have a clearer picture of who our teachers and students are and of our instructional program. I’m thinking about all of the visibility opportunities, just to get to know members of our community and to hear what’s on their minds. I’m thinking about the contract negotiations, the financial picture given the state of the state, the facilities/bus garage/cafeteria program.

And then I’m thinking about getting my BOE agendas right, forming relationships with the secretary to the superintendent and business office personnel, the managers, the union representatives, the administrative team and the teachers/support staff. Well, with everyone. I have so much to learn. I need time with the BOE members to hear what’s most important to them and to our community. And then I’m thinking about everything that I might be missing that I should be thinking about.  I’m thinking about everything that everyone is sitting there waiting to tell me, to ask me, to hope for, to act on.

I just really need to get there and to get to work. I am so aware of the incredible opportunity that I have to make a real and positive difference in this school district. The opportunity to listen and to learn and to make decisions that impact our students in wonderful ways. The opportunity to lead and to problem solve, to make things better. The opportunity to make new connections, to rekindle old ones, and to form relationships that lead to a better education and the very best school system we can be, together.

I’m writing this blog post, quite frankly, to distract myself right now. My husband, son, and daughter just left for Buffalo and I’ve got about an hour and a half before I leave to join them. My sixteen year old son, Tallon, is fighting in his first amateur full contact kickboxing fight tonight. It’s televised, we have about 80-100 people going to watch, I’m having trouble keeping my lunch down.

Why? I know how much my son has into this fight. It’s not just another athletic event for him. Heck, we’ve watched him win and lose at everything from wrestling to hockey to track to football. He even ran cross country and played lacrosse for a while. He’s good at some, better at others and well, some are clearly for fun. But this. This is different.

My husband teaches karate, has since 1979. Not a big commercial, “pay your money, get your belt” kind of school. Only the dedicated with heart and perseverance need apply because it will take many years to achieve a black belt. In all of those years and 1000+ students, only 11 have achieved the rank of black belt. Serious stuff here. My son has taken karate from him practically since he was born. My daughter is the first and one of only two female black belts.

So the kid has something to prove tonight. To himself first. To his dad, sister and sparring partner who will be in his corner. To his relatives, friends, and teachers who will come to see a sport they may or may not understand for the first time. There’s no school recognition for the sport so he never gets to prove what he can do. Until now. I think he’s got a lot of dreams wrapped up in this fight. Let’s face it, all that’s ever on TV in my house is the UFC. He’s got to wonder what he’s made of. His dream career would be (at least at this age) climbing into–the octagon– that cage to fight. Not a mother’s dream by any stretch, but my dream definitely doesn’t have to be his dream.

So I sit here worrying about everything from ‘will the opponent show up?’, ‘will he be a chump that can’t stay with it?’ to ‘is he going to hurt my kid?’ and ‘will Tal rise to the challenge?’ AND, everyone we know will either be there or will be watching on television. No pressure.

One thing I know from experience is that the kid’s got heart, he won’t quit no matter what the other guy brings. No doubt about that. In this family, heart means more than anything, he’s heard that every day of his young life. But will he win? Will he realize his dream? Will he get to show everyone what he’s got after 12+ years of dedication, hard work and practice? Will he be proud of himself when he steps out of the ring? Will my fight to say college is his only option be even harder because he loves it that much?

He can’t wait for it to start and I can’t wait for the night to be over.

I’m trying Twitter  this week and I’m not sure it’s going to work for me. Who has a conversation like that? It’s random and quick. It feels disconnected instead of connected. If you don’t know much about Twitter, you’re going to have to go check it out because I certainly am not going to be able to explain something I don’t understand. And who are these people who sign up to “follow” me? Random people who I can’t imagine would really care what I write in 140 keystrokes or less.

When I’m writing for this blog, I have a purpose and an audience in mind at all times. I try to convey some idea or message about education, sometimes just to get it out of my head and other times to try to influence thinking. Instead this “twittering” feels schizophrenic. Maybe I’m too old to get it with this one. With blogging, I’m communicating, getting feedback, trying to get my thoughts across to a wider audience. With twitter, I’m not sure what the heck I’m trying to do. 

I am always amazed at how much easier it is for me to learn something by spending a few minutes with the IT support specialists. Spent about an hour to an hour and a half with Brian Smith and his colleague Tadge and managed to create my Twitter account, invite four friends and send my first “twits”–(is that the right vernacular?)

Also–here’s the super sweet part–I purchased my own domain names kimberlymoritz.com and kimberlymoritz.org that now link right to this blog! I spent about an hour by myself last night trying to understand the concept and wondering how to do it, while worrying that I’d get it wrong. Not with Brian and Tadge, they’ve got me all set now.

I’m feeling very tech savvy right now, thanks to the real tech experts. Thanks guys!

There is a ton of “stuff” here at the NYSCATE conference: gadgets, interactive whiteboards, clickers for student response, hardware, software, laptops, mini notebooks, document cameras, and on and on. Lots of ideas circulating about how to use it all, the need to take a stand on where we’re going as districts, the difference between what the kids are doing inside our walls and outside with technology.

The biggest idea I’m walking away from this conference with is the same one I’ve been reading about for the four years I’ve been reading/blogging now. I have to be a mom for a moment to explain it because I think many of my best decisions as a school leader are made when I consider, “what do I want for my own son?”

Our son Tallon is sixteen years old. He’s learning how to drive a car. We ride with him. I make suggestions that are sometimes more urgent than at other times. He listens, he adjusts. He’s learning to make good decisions behind the wheel. I’ve included conversation about how much we love him and how potentially dangerous his decisions can be and how important he is to us and therefore how important those decisions are to us. Follow? We’re taking at least six months, countless hours of practice, and further restrictions until he gains lots of experience even once he has the license.

I know that ultimately, he’s a sixteen year old boy and in the time of his life when he may make decisions that have consequences beyond his immediate consideration. I remember being fearless at his age, driving way too fast, getting pulled over and then the police officer/judge working to correct my behavior. I remember listening to my parents, I knew what was right or wrong, I made decisions for better or worse.

In my son’s use of technology, who’s doing all of the above? Many of his friends’ parents, my peers, know a lot less about technology than I do. Who’s talking to them, boys and girls, about the way they look on-line? About the social connections they’re making, the information about themselves that they’re giving away, the light in which they portray themselves, the bullying that’s taking place, the websites that expose them to content they don’t need to see, the future potential consequences of their decisions? Who’s helping him to understand this: “while you may not care now that your full name is on that YouTube video you created with your cousin, someday you might when a college admissions counselor says no, or a potential employer.”

See the point for me isn’t that we prohibit him from EVER doing anything wrong. I’m not delusional, I know that’s impossible. I just want him to know the consequences and to make a more informed decision. Even when our kids know the consequences, they still take risks. But right now, I’m fairly certain that our students don’t even understand the risks or long term implications of their on-line identity or of cyber bullying or of the importance of limiting what’s out there for others to see. Do they?

I know he’s going to figure out the how of using technology, in incredible ways that I couldn’t even imagine. I just want to be there to talk about it, to reason it through with him, to be a parent (and how many of our parents don’t have a clue on this topic?) and to help him understand. I totally want him to go for it with his creativity and connections–just want it to be in a smart, responsible way.

So if kids don’t know how to participate in a smart, responsible way and parents don’t know how, what the heck are we waiting for as teachers? Kids have the keys to a car that no one else in the family may know how to drive and we haven’t designed our driver’s ed programs yet. Or should I say “still”?

So I’m at the NYSCATE(NYS Association for Computers and Technologies in Education) conference in Rochester and I’m making all kinds of connections. First, I’m connecting with my colleagues from Gowanda, hearing what they think in extended conversations that we seldom have time to have at home. Second, I’m connecting with my future Randolph colleagues who are at the conference. Third, I’m connecting ideas to those I arrived with and arriving at some new conclusions that all focus on my responsibilities and commitment as a leader in this whole technology destination.

Fourth is this weird kind of cool connection that I’ve not had much chance to experience–with other bloggers and readers. I sort of have an identity out here. Not a big presence, but a couple of people. Maybe it’s my fifteen minutes of fame when I meet people who say they know me because of G-Town Talks.  It’s not so cool that they know me as the blogger who quit blogging for the most part, but hey, I’m working on it. True examples: An educator approached me last night to tell me she reads my blog and loves it. At lunch today in small talk at our table, a woman asked, “what is your name?” and knew me through the blog. And the presenter I’ve been following through the conference, Peter Reilly, is a fellow LeaderTalk contributor. That was the coolest connection of all because I realized at his first presentation that I’ve been reading him and without ever having a face to face conversation, knew we shared some thinking. My knowledge of his thinking (through reading his posts) gave him real credibility with me. Instant cool connection and easy conversation. I’m diggin’ this blog gig again and most of all, remembering how much I learn through the connections.

As many within G-Town may already know, it is with mixed regret and excitement that I announce my resignation from the position of assistant superintendent of Gowanda Central School. I have accepted the position of Superintendent of Schools for the Randolph Central School District. My last effective date at GCS will be December 21, 2008.

In the last four to five years, we have accomplished much here and I have taken pride in being a part of the Gowanda Central School system. It has been an honor to work alongside our BOE, Superintendent Rinaldi, my friends in administration Joelle, Janice, Veronica, David & Bob, our awesome faculty and staff. Our teachers are some of the most receptive and hard-working professionals I have ever known and our support staff has worked hard to make me look good (thanks Carol, Sue, Janene, Lori, and Jody!). 

The experience I have gained at GCS is invaluable and I leave here a much better administrator than I arrived. Mr. Rinaldi and our BOE members, past and present, have taken a principal and helped me to become a superintendent.

As many who have read this blog also know, I have truly missed the day to day problem solving and decision making aspects of building level administration. While my work has been important and rewarding, it’s not been the same for me at this level. I’m looking forward to getting back into the thick of the action and now is a good time for me to transition,especially given New York State’s current economic crisis. I’m confident that our current administrators, teacher leaders and faculty are fully capable of continuing on our current path of school improvement.

I will truly miss our faculty, staff and administrative team. Most of all, I will miss our GCS students and families. I simply love our students and treasure the opportunities that I have had to come to know many of them well. For the experience I have gained and the friendships formed, I am forever changed.

Thank you to the Gowanda community for the opportunity to be a part of the Gowanda family. Gowanda Central School is a district in terrific shape fiscally. Academically we are growing by leaps and bounds.  I know that our K-6 Reading Program, Curriculum Design and Thoughtful Classroom work leave our instructional program significantly improved. I expect to see great things from GCS in the future, continued success for our students and increases in our academic achievement.

Thank you also to the G-Town Talks readers who have surely learned much more about Gowanda and life in a small high school than you may have otherwise bargained for in the traditional media. It’s been a pleasure.

I’m really hoping that my writing starts to flow again, now that I can get back to the action of school management. We’ll see, but either way, what do I do about the blog name? I can’t write G-Town Talks from Randolph. Any ideas out there? Randolph Writes?