Tag Archives: Blogging

Follow Up on GSA

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Previously, I posted about a student group in G-Town who is interested in starting a Gay/Straight Alliance. At that time, I had a lot of questions and I was looking for some clarity in my own thinking. Blogging about it brought several comments, and G-Town Readers helped me process the whole thing.  

Our students interested in starting the Gay/Straight Alliance met again today and I would guess there were about 30 students present, along with three adults. They were a great group of kids, positive in nature–the kind of kids you want to be around on a regular basis.

We are proceeding as we would with any other new group. The kids have two options. One, they can petition the board to be a school club just like Student Council, NHS, or the Spanish Club. Along with that option will come school rules, rights and responsibilities. Two, they can use the school under open access and meet without becoming a GHS Club. This option only affords them the use of the building for their meetings, nothing more. It’s really up to the students to determine their purpose and identify what will help them get there.

Me? I’ll support the kids either way. It’s just not a question of understanding for me any more. It’s something our students are showing up for and we’ll see how committed they are. I already admire the way they are supporting one another and moving forward. I can approach it just like any other endeavor our students are involved in, due largely to the on-line conversations here that helped me process the whole thing. We can even conclude that this blog and the connections made here, made me a better principal on this one. Thanks to the G-Town readers who took the time to comment.

It’s Nice to Be Noticed

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So I get this phone call this morning from my old friend and college roommate, Lisa. This is unprecedented for two reasons. One, we only call a couple of times per year and two, it was at work, during the workday. The purpose of her call? She wanted to be sure that I’m okay, that nothing tragic has happened, that all is well with our family. Why? Because I haven’t posted to my blog in a week!

As a relatively new blogger, blogging since July, this is the longest I’ve actually gone without a post. I also received an email from a parent with a similar inquiry this morning. While it’s nice to see that anyone noticed, it also drives home how much of a connection blogging can be professionally and personally. It’s just that, a connection that readers come to depend on, a way to stay connected to what’s happening in G-Town.

It was a typically busy week at G-Town with evaluations and meetings and Rachel’s Challenge assemblies on Friday. When I reflect on my absence, it’s actually not because it was any busier last week than other week.

Quite honestly, my husband and I have been remodeling our main living space since the end of October and last week brought the push to finish applying stain and poly-acrylic to the wood for the ceilings, painting the entire room, washing windows and carpets. Instead of the usual G-Town thoughts swimming through my head that result in a blog post, I had paint colors and wood swirling around in there. In other words, life got in the way. I was drop dead tired every night from remodeling and didn’t have the energy to read or write anything.

Which makes me realize I can’t really separate this blogging from my personal life, keeping it primarily G-Town centered. Do we owe our readership an explanation when we’re gone from the blog for a short time? I think so, as we develop those on-line relationships, it seems appropriate to also mention the personal occasionally. If we’re lucky, professional life and personal life can spill over into one another and it’s probably totally okay to share that here.

G-Town’s clicking along and I’ll make sure the readers of G-Town Talks know what’s what around here, even when my head shifts elsewhere. (Which probably isn’t a bad thing from time to time.)

My English 12 Blog Assignment

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Mr. Goss, our English 12 teacher, posted an assignment on his class blog that asked each student in the class to read classmates’ posts, find a topic about which they’re interested, quote them, and write about it. Sounds like he’s teaching them how to read, reflect, and respond. Thought I’d help out by participating in the assignment here.

Meg writes, “So our next assignment was to read a letter from a Marine who’s over in Iraq. I feel so bad for this man and what he has to go through each and every day. I’ve read some war books before and I felt sorry for that person or persons but not as much as I do for this guy. I’m not sure why but maybe it’s because this war is going on right now and now that I’m older I can feel for the person more. The way he writes makes me never want to ever go to war and it makes me wonder how anyone can bear it because I know I would absolutely hate it and probably would go crazy. I wonder how this guy will be able to function in society when or if he comes home.”

I also wonder how the men and women serving in a war (that I find extremely difficult to believe in and to support) will function when they come home. Someone close to me served for many years and I realize how difficult it was for him to receive recognition and support from the branch he served. After seventeen years of service, the military found it difficult to assume responsibility for any post-traumatic stuff he was dealing with–as if it could possibly be from anything else after 17 years of service. Our young men and women, who don’t know the system or are too young to fight for their rights, deserve treatment and care when they return, not just a presidential pat on the back (if even).

Several years ago, my husband and I went to see Saving Private Ryan. I found it excrutiating to watch because I was teaching young men and women who in a different day would have been involved in that war instead of celebrating their latest basketball victory.

Every statistic and soldier mentioned in the news, so briefly and without enough pause, is someone’s student, son, sister, friend, grandchild, spouse, or parent. Our decision makers MUST NOT take those lives for granted, or de-humanize them. Those men and women are working hard, every day, to do their best–we must do the same for them.

Thanks for adding your honest thoughts for our consideration, Meg!

Physical Education Teachers Get Wiki

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Our physical education teachers worked with a staff development specialist from BOCES, Theresa Grey, on wikis, blogs, and YouTube today. They were excited about learning, engaged, and working together to figure out ways to use the technology. They developed a wiki together and overcame any technology snafus that came their way. I can imagine them using this for their own learning, to improve lesson planning, and with our students.

I’m most proud of their department leader, Amy Cassidy, for being the kind of leader who pushed me to teach them something new. It’s already a cracker jack department with fantastic participation rates and wonderful instruction. Encore subjects too often get left out in staff development and I’m delighted that Theresa offered them meaningful instruction that was all about their own learning, in their content. I’m hoping Theresa links in a comment to this post so that we can see what our physical education teachers created today (hint, hint). Thanks for being great learners.

Agenda Item #4

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At this month’s faculty meeting, I finally explained to my teachers what I’m doing with blogging. I talked about my own professional learning through reading, reflecting, and writing. I did my best to explain succinctly how it’s influencing me professionally and what I think it can do for teachers. I talked briefly about a couple of teachers in our school who’ve been using it. I told my faculty that I believe our best teachers are those who are curious and who never stop wanting to learn.

I offered to hold a session after school for teachers who are interested in learning how to give it a try and asked that anyone who’s interested just email me to let me know. That was Wednesday. Today, I have seven teachers who have volunteered to stay after school to learn more about how to learn more.

Seven plus the three in the building already blogging. I’ll take it.

Dear Diary: This is not what blogging is about.

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I was reading a post on Theresa’s blog, Grand Rounds, and after reflecting on her topic, I would like to respond in writing here.  I’m detailing the process because I’m reminded in her post that often times teachers, parents, and students don’t understand blogging and we’re not doing a good enough job of explaining it’s uses.

Theresa writes about her experience as a staff development specialist and the reluctance she encounters from her participants about the uses of blogs,

So why aren’t more teachers using them? Why aren’t they a part of each and every classroom across this globe?

Lots of reasons, or at least I am told. Here are some I have heard:
1. They are not safe – don’t you watch Dateline?
2. My school blocks all social networking sites.
3. Real life requires pen and pencil, not just a computer. Sure they can type – but they can’t type their state assessment.
4. I don’t have the time to have kids blog when I have content to cover.
5. I don’t have time to learn how to blog so I can teach my students.
6. I don’t blog because I don’t have anything to say – why should I have my kids blog? (Followed by – It’s just an on-line journal!)
7. Blogging doesn’t create real relationships – I want my students to discuss things in class.
8. Blogs are another fad in education– don’t you remember whole language and the damage THAT did?

So often when someone hears about blogging, they quickly categorize it as an on-line journal, or another MySpace, or a different way to IM. I guess it can be those things, but that’s not at all how I’m using it.  

I continue to spend about 85% of my on-line time READING what others have to say about education. I don’t walk around thinking about what I want to write about. It’s not the same as when I think about something that’s happened in our lives and then want to remember to tell my husband or my mom about it later.

It’s professional reading, reflecting, and responding. It’s thinking about my audience and what I want to say that potentially can influence thinking or serve a purpose to another educator, student, or parent. It’s about learning. My time spent “blogging”, and by “blogging” I mean reading on-line sources including blogs, writing, and reading comments left on my posts, is all about my own learning. It’s free, it’s accessible 24/7, and it’s what I choose.

That’s what we need to plug into with our students. Not the same old assignments posted on a blog.  We can add it to enhance learning or we can just keep doing the same old, same old. The reason I don’t worry about the educators who believe they are the source of all knowledge in the classroom is that our students already have it figured out. Any teacher, or principal for that matter, who thinks she knows everything  students need to know, is kidding herself. And no one else. I’m just hoping a few teachers will help guide our students to meaningful learning. When they leave G-Town, students are going to learn about what they choose, not what NYS tells them they have to learn. I hope we do an adequate job of showing them how to learn whatever it is they need to know, not how to receive information and then spit it back out. Who wants an employee who can only do that?

Curiosity Killed the Cat

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Let’s just say that my fourteen-year-old son isn’t all that excited about blogging, podcasts, on-line learning, or technology. He loves his ipod and xbox. He’s  great at managing the TV/stereo system.  The computer and going on-line just isn’t very interesting to him.

The plus to that is he’s not on IM or any other social networking site when I want to use the computer. The minus is that I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about the learning that’s available to us and my own son is completely uninterested. I’ve tried to suck him in by searching for others who have read the Mario Puzo novels he loves or about any of his other interests. Nothing. So I’m leaving it alone and hoping he’ll eventually be curious enough about something to go looking for more information.

Until this weekend. I was reading one of his teacher’s posts and I read it to him. He listened, he reflected on the post, and he asked to respond. (!) I played it cool, I typed it for him as he dictated (because typing wouldn’t have been worth the effort to him), and I waited. Yesterday he wondered aloud if Ms. Geist had read his comment. Then he wondered if I could check while I was reading my bloglines. (!) She had not responded, but someone else had so he read that comment. I’m thinking if she continues to post topics that grab his interest, he might return again. And hey, I told him he had to at least open a blog if he wanted to comment. (It’s a start!)

I’m excited about his interest because I know he’s not always all that excited about what’s being taught in his classes. I never want him to “turn off” to learning. And I’d just about drive to the end of the earth to fuel his interest or passion in any subject. Knowing that I don’t have to drive there, that it’s available on-line if I can just lead him down that road, yeah, that makes me very happy.

Curiosity might have killed the cat, but in my world, it makes the kid.

Who’s blog is it, anyway?

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I had an interesting request this week. What do you think of guest authors on G-Town talks? I have colleagues who aren’t willing to start a blog because they don’t think they have enough to say. But they do think they have enough to say in a post or two.

I think they can bring something valuable to G-Town talks because I’m the only person who currently generates the topic of each post. I’m learning from all that I’m reading on bloglines and from the readers who post here, but I think we might be able to take it a step further if we allow others to generate the topics too.

This is something I’ve seen done in a couple of places and I generally don’t like it as well as when I clearly know who’s authoring the entire blog. I wonder about continuity of themes and ideas–generally, readers know what to expect when they come to G-Town talks. If they like it, they return and if not, they turn elsewhere. Still, it seems like a way to bring more to the conversation.

As you can see, I’m undecided on this one. Keep it just me or invite others to generate posts too?

Fringe benefits

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So I’m realizing this blogging gig has some fringe benefits that I didn’t expect. One of G-Town’s readers and a frequent commenter is Lisa, who happens to be my college roommate. Lisa and I graduated over twenty years ago. We’ve remained friends through a lot of life’s changes, seeing each other every couple of years. We are both busy working moms and we talk only once in a while. Blogging has given us a new way to connect.

Here’s the interesting thing about this blogging connection. Lisa isn’t an educator; she’s a human resource manager. Often she has commented about how similar a topic in one of my posts is to something she’s been thinking about. That makes sense because we both manage, and hopefully motivate, employees. The best part is that it’s inspired Lisa to create her own human resources blog, and now I get to go and read what’s on Lisa’s mind.

I’ve always thought of my audience as those in the school community, other principals, teachers, students, and community members. Now I realize it may also include other professionals, connecting us to a much broader audience, one with an important voice. I hope that what I’m writing reflects positively on public education.

Imagine if it actually could influence thinking about who we are as educators, what public school is really like, and what a tremendous profession it can be for young people making career choices. And if it can influence thinking in the private sector. Thanks for adding your voice to the conversation Lisa. I can’t wait to read you and see what I can learn.

This blog just isn’t getting it done.

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I just realized something major through a conversation with other educators in a session with Will Richardson about changing school to keep up with the learning available in School 2.0. We’re talking about the urgency to really get educators to LEARN about everything that’s available through connections on-line, to understand the LEARNING that’s vital, and to see themselves as LEARNERS.

In the conversation, I mentioned that when I was a teacher, I often attended a workshop or a conference, returned to my classroom and implemented the idea into my own best practice. It impacted the students in my room, but I honestly didn’t care what happened in the rest of the school. It worked for me, for my students, and that was enough for me.

As a principal, I have the responsibility for the learning in every classroom in my building. But I realize now, if I’m really honest, that I’m still doing the same thing as the principal that I did as a teacher. I learned about blogging, bloglines, wikis, and podcasts. I returned to my office (instead of my classroom) and I added it to my best practice. I found the couple of teachers in my building who were doing it too and sought them out for conversations about this best practice.

I’ve done NOTHING to influence thinking or best practice in the rest of those classrooms. That’s my job now and I’m still behaving as I did when I was a teacher. Just doing my thing, what works for me, finding huge learning gains for myself, and letting the world continue as it always has for everyone who hasn’t happened onto what I’m doing.

Gutless. Safe. Not a leader. I need to make a change in my own best practice. I need to gather those teachers who are taking a risk, who are curious, who are learning on the Web, and along with them, we need to take our learning to everyone else. I’ve shown on this blog what’s important to me, I’ve had a strong voice, and I haven’t done squat to share it with my teachers, my students, my BOE, and my community. Let’s go, I’m ready.