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A computing conundrum

I have a decision to make. I don't want to make it. I already know what I'll end up doing in the end. Think you can figure it out?

The situation

My new school has two laptop carts per floor. That works out to two classroom sets of laptops for every 20-22 teachers or so. They're brand new and not many teachers realize that they're working perfectly fine (98% of the time at least).

There's no check-out or check-in system. When I wanted them, I went to the teacher's workroom and rolled them on down to my room. I had no way of telling if they would actually be available until I opened the door to the teacher's workroom. I have no way of telling when other teachers would like to use them.

The options

1. Do nothing.

  • Pros: I could (in theory) just keep the laptop cart in my room unless people ask for it. I'd definitely be able to use the laptops multiple times during the week. With my seeming inability to accurately plan how long things will take, I wouldn't have to worry about not getting to that online activity on time.
  • Cons: (1) I'd be monopolizing 50% of the available computers to regular classroom teachers. (2) I'd have no idea how long other teachers would be using the laptops when they did take them (if they ever found out where I was stashing them, of course!).

2. Do something (i.e. set up a shared Google Calendar or the like for teachers to sign out the laptops)

  • Pros: (1) I'd know when and for how long other teachers would be using the laptops. (2) There would be the opportunity for more equitable use of the laptop carts for all teachers.
  • Cons: I'd lose my potential monopoly of the carts, and would more thank likely have to reduce the number of activities in my classroom that would require the use of laptops. Boo.

The laptop cart: currently hiding in my room

The real problem

We don't have enough laptops.

I wrote about a very similar topic in March while I was at Whitmore Lake in Michigan. Back then we had four laptop carts and a media center lab available for use between 22-25 teachers. Here I'm down to two laptop carts and essentially zero dedicated computer labs available for use for the same number of teachers.

I sometimes chuckle to myself when my vice-principal talks about how much technology is available to students this year.

So, take a guess:
What am I going to do? Something, or nothing? 😉

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Week 1 = Done

Week one of my new job is done! We only had students on Thursday and Friday (today), but the rest of the week was jammed full of "professional development" and meetings. This semester I have mainly upper level freshman classes, which means the last couple days has involved lots of wide eyes and not a lot of conversation. The students were just starting to open up a little bit today.

Observations on my new school and job so far:

  • They've done an excellent job keeping class sizes down. Science classs are capped at 24. If it's a lower level class, they're capped at 15. It's not just a "desired-but-not-implemented" goal either.
  • Technology-wise, the perception within the school is that they're ahead of the curve. They have LCD projectors, a few interactive whiteboards, and six laptop carts (for 1400-1500 students). From my perception they're behind the curve. I miss networked copiers, dual-screen LCD/computers, and four laptop carts for 400 students.¹
  • I'm bugged that no staff meetings, professional development, or other teacher events seem to start on time. They've all actually started between 10-15 minutes after the scheduled time.
  • I'm clueless on a lot of school policies and procedures, and I'm not sure who to go to for information. They need a cheat sheet of some sort for this stuff.

Overall, I'm definitely glad I'm here. It seems like it'll be a good fit, though there's some culture shock coming from a small school in Michigan to a large school in Connecticut. I feel like I'm subbing for someone else. It doesn't feel like my school, or my classes, or my classroom yet. I guess it takes a bit for 6 years of growing accustomed to a certain environment to wear off.

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¹ Though interestingly enough, most staff and students at my old district seemed to feel as if we were behind most schools in the tech department.

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The new kid at school

Do you remember your first day in high school? Perhaps you were in a new building- more likely than not surrounded by many new, unfamiliar, and large faces? I vaguely remember being excited, yet apprehensive and anxious. Would I be able to hack it? Would I make some good friends? Would it be a fun experience or drudgery?

Waiting for the bus

Today is my first official day to report for my job teaching at a new school in a new state, surrounded by new teachers (and soon enough new students). I feel very similar to how I felt nearly 15 years ago on my first day of high school. Will I fit in to the existing school culture? Will the district and school be supportive of my desire to try out new projects, teaching methods, and technologies with students? Will I find a good group of teachers to collaborate with?

This feels very different than my first day teaching ever. Back then, I was scared. I was scared because I really didn't know what I was doing. In retrospect, I really didn't have a clue. Through some very long hours and watching and listening to well-respected teachers from all over (plus several years of practice), I've reached a place where I'm confident in my abilities. Not complacent- I feel it's very important to constantly strive to improve even if you're already the best (I'm not)- but confident that I'm able to engage students in learning instead of "forcing" them to learn. However, if I was teaching back in Michigan again this year, students coming into my class would already know me somewhat. They would at least know of me, and know what I was basically about. Now I'm in a situation where I have to earn my respect from students, teachers, and administrators alike. Will it initially mean more disruptive students testing the boundaries? Less flexibility from other teachers and administrators?

I'm again anxious and apprehensive heading into a new high school. Though this time, I bring so much more with me than I did 15 years ago- or even 6 years ago. I also bring with me the confidence that my anxiety and apprehension will be my drive to constantly improve the learning experience for my students.

I'm ready. Let's go!

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Image Source: The Dreaded Yellow Thing by Frazzled Jen via Flickr

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Telling a Story

Rocks

If you poll my students on what they feel is the most boring subject matter in geology, you would almost certainly hear: "rocks." Let's face it, even for this teacher with a degree in geology, rocks aren't the most compelling of subjects. Now, let's imagine you need to cover a whole assortment of technical information¹ about rocks. It's not exactly a teacher's dream subject matter.

We (students, teachers, Homo sapiens) don't pay attention to boring things (Brain Rule #4). As an educator, it's my job to convey information to individuals that may not initially be interested in the material. Professionally, some of my favorite moments are when I can successfully connect students to material that is often considered above their heads or too "academic."

RadioLab

Earlier this week I was listening to the RadioLab podcast of Robert Krulwich's commencement speech at CalTech this spring. In the speech, Mr. Krulwich makes the argument that the new graduates shouldn't be afraid to explain to non-science people what they do with their lives. Not only that, he makes the case that these young scientists should use metaphors, examples, and basically explain the technical information through telling a story.

Mr. Pebbles

Mr. PebblesSo, how do you connect students to technical rock information? Why, through telling the saga of Mr. Pebbles², of course! Mr. Pebbles is a pebble (surprise!) who goes through a crazy journey of being melted, reformed, and then dragged through the rest of the rock cycle. I made a little (poorly drawn) comic strip³ depicting Mr. Pebbles' travel (and travail), which just happened to touch upon the required content. I worried it would be to "kiddie" for my high school sophomores, but they enjoyed it. They enjoyed it enough that I had them create their own comics later on in the unit.

Stories add emotion and connect listeners to the subject matter. Connecting content to students is something that educators, regardless of subject, are (hopefully) trying to do.
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¹ i.e. Fractional crystallization, partial melting

² Yes. I drew that.

³ Which I unfortunately don't currently have in a digital format

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In trouble for purposeful reflection

For the last several weeks I've been following the story of a student teacher who has been blogging his triumphs, failures, and frustrations of his credential program and of teaching in the classroom.

Recently a teacher from within his department confronted him on it with the ominous: "We, the department, know you're blogging.¹" The blog is anonymous to protect the innocent, though the confronting teacher noted he could recognize people mentioned in the blog.

I won't go through his whole story here (if interested, please read more at his blog), but needless to say, it could end with his removal from the credential program.

In my recent job hunt, I was asked by some if I was worried potential employers would see my blog. I wasn't. I'd like any place that hires me to know that I am an active participant in my own global learning community. I wanted to get hired by a district and school that is supportive of the use of technology for personal professional development. If a district has a serious problem with a teacher that blogs, then I'd have serious reservations with accepting a job at such an institution.

In an episode of David Warlick's Connect Learning podcast, Chris Lehmann of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia discusses what he looks for when he's interviewing for teaching positions. Instead of trying to determine whether teachers will be toadies of the system who'll turn their monthly lesson plans turned in on time, he specifically looks for teachers who are active learners in their own right², both in their personal and professional lives. What better way to actively participate in your own learning that utilize a blog to share and have conversations about ideas?

There are too many schools (and teachers) out there who seem afraid that someone will find out what we're actually doing in the schools. I understand there are real and important issues in protecting student privacy, but I don't feel the system should be afraid of the general public finding out there is a group of thoughtful, reflecting, constantly improving educators out there.

Recently I posted a portion of some student work. I didn't mention who the student was or really any details about the student whatsoever. Yet, if that student saw it posted he/she would obviously know it's their work. His/her parents and some of his/her friends would probably also recognize it. Was that "unprofessional?" Did it break an "unstated, implicit confidentiality" between teacher and student? I argue it didn't. Or was I wrong?³

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¹ Everytime I've read that I think of the movie Congo: "We. are. watching. you." It's probably an inappropriate association.

² Among many other things.

³ This may be the clearest instance of preaching to the choir. Evar. If you're reading this blog (especially commenting on it), you're probably not blog-o-phobic. Oh well. Your thoughts on the matter are still appreciated.

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That uncomfortable place

I've just wrapped up a class in which I was required to participate in online threaded discussions. I was hoping for some good discourse on curriculum theory and development. Instead it turned into a lot of, "Why, yes, I agree with you completely," and "I couldn't have said it better myself." I found myself becoming purposely oppositional in my responses. How can any really good thinking and learning happen if there isn't a healthy dose of differing viewpoints? And, pray tell, was the  response to my opposing viewpoints? Silence. Last time I recall so many people with similar thoughts was 1984¹.

My classmates were just trying to be nice, which is understandable. It can be awkward and uncomfortable to deal with conflict. However, it's that dissonance in opinion where real meaning is made; that hacking it out between differing opinions, that purposeful attempt to sway people with differing views while they try to sway you.

Recently, in response to a new "top edublogs" list posted on a well-read blog, Dan Meyer and Darren Draper have expressed differing opinions on (perceived) motivations for blogging, what constitutes quality in a blog, and even "proper" Twitter use. I've found this disagreement extremely interesting to follow. I subscribe to both their blogs and find them both to be excellent at starting good conversations through their posts. They both create dissonance and then ask for their audience to weigh in with their opinions. While Dan tends to stir the pot² and Darren tends to ask quite nicely, they're both doing essentially the same thing.

It's been enjoyable to see these two heavyweights (they're 23 & 35 on the best edublogs list of all time, after all) discuss whose method is superior. While I don't think they're going to change each other's mind, they're laying some excellent framework for the edubloggers of the future. These types of public disagreements are important- perhaps necessary³- for hashing out what exactly it is to blog about educational matters. Think of it as a modern, blogging version of the Continental Congress.

Anyone care to disagree?

¹ "Why, yes, Big Brother certainly is a great leader!"
² or "[Dan's] just shaking the bee’s nest while covered in powdered sugar, a big ol’ grin on [his] face and [a] buddy taping the whole thing for some sort of amateur Jackass production."
³ As long as you jerkfaces don't turn it into nastiness and namecalling.
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When the hugeness hits me

I'm a pretty laid back dude. I don't get too worked up about major life changes. It's not that I don't appreciate the hugeness of the changes, it's just that I'm okay with change, and look forward to the new opportunities that result. I'm currently in the middle of some pretty huge life changes (i.e. moving from Michigan to Connecticut). However, I haven't had much time to reflect on their hugeness due to my crazy grad classes and end of the year school craziness among other things.

Today I received my first batch of exam projects from my 1st hour, and set right to grading them during my 2nd hour prep period. The first exam I opened looked like this:

Exam Cover

Needless to say, this looked like a pretty good exam. I was excited to go through it. Then I got to the first page (as seen below):

Exam1

The hugeness of the changes going on in my life became a little more real to me after reading that.

I'm going to miss this place. 🙁

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Career numbers

My attempt at a sentimental "goodbye" to my students at Whitmore Lake:

My career stats

(I had students guess what each stat was for)

8

The number of different courses I've taught here.

8 courses

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34

The number of teachers I've worked alongside for the past 6 years.

34 teacher names

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822

The number of students I've had in my classes.

822 Smiling Faces

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1062

The number of school days I've taught.

1062 Days

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749

Miles away my new school is from Whitmore Lake High School.

Around the lake 163 times

Which is equal to running around Whitmore Lake 163 times.

From WL to CT

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0.18%

The percentage of my career to date I have left at Whitmore Lake

0.18% Chart

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At this point I launched into a sentimental moment of which I'll save you the details. I really will miss this job. I'll miss this school. I'll miss the staff. I'll miss the community. I'll miss the students. I wouldn't be the teacher I am without the opportunities and challenges this position has given me. I will always look back at this position fondly. It served as a personal proving ground, a testing ground for new ideas, and a sounding board for concerns. I've made some excellent friends that I'll miss horribly and it's helped me successfully transition from newbie to knowledgeable.

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Image credits (all via Flickr):
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Found on Flickr (by my students)

I have a Flickr account. I post most pictures I take to the account, and most are accessible to the public (Under a CC-BY-SA 2.0 license, no less). I've knew by doing this it was likely that my students would eventually find my photos (and I take that into account when posting).

Well...it's happened. Actually, a student found it several months ago, but searching through Mr. W's Flickr page has just recently hit the mainstream. While I don't have any compromising pictures to worry about, I do take goofy pictures of myself now and then. Students seem to take great pleasure in seeing goofy pictures of me (this surprises me...they see me being goofy live and in person 70 minutes a day).

To clear the air (and show I have nothing to hide), here is a collection of many of the goofy pics I have of myself on Flickr:
Goofy Flickr Pics
I took these for a little slideshow I put on a digital picture frame I bought my wife this Christmas.

Some reflections on this recent development:

  • It feels a little weird to have students looking at personal pictures. I knew going in that it was possible, and I don't have a problem with them seeing the pics, but it still feels weird. I guess I've been used to compartmentalizing my life between school & not-school, and when they come together it feels odd.
  • Your students are checking you out. Whether searching for information about you online or offline, many students want to know more about you.
    • This can be a good thing. They may be able to see I'm a real person, learn about my interests, see places I've visited, etc. It may be a relationship building experience.
    • This can be a bad thing. It depends what you have online and accessible to students. If I had pictures of myself in more compromising situations, the effect may have been much more negative.

The overriding message I've gotten from my students: "We are watching you. We want to see if You-the-Teacher is the same as You-the-Person. We'll be disappointed in you if you've been putting on masks."

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Getting to the Point (#2)

When I started this blog, I intended to use it to communicate two things:

  1. My thoughts and and reflections on technology in the classroom
  2. Lessons and examples from classes I've taught

In reviewing my posts, I realized I haven't really done much of #2. My posts have all been #1's. So starting today, I'm going to try to add at least one post a week of actual examples direct from my class.

I want to share this information because: 1) Maybe you'll find it useful for classes you're teaching, or 2) I'd like feedback on extensions & ways to improve what I'm doing.

Don't be afraid to leave (constructive) criticisms in the comments. You're always welcome to leave comments that tell me how wonderful I am.
(isn't that the point?)
Image by Placbo, via Flickr

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