leadership in high schools

This year, 2008-2009, two English teachers at the high school level, one Special Education, the other General Education have been elected to teach their English Literature students the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

This reading initiative is an extension of the Read Across America Project.  This is one of the premier novels in American Literature.  While the High School students are discovering this great work, I believe the rest of the faculty might want to get a glimpse into what students might be discovering about life through the novel,  in particular how adults react to stimuli in their lives.  Perhaps connections can be made in other subject areas example Social Studies, Theatre or Journalism.  How about Math and Science.  Science teachers who teach Criminal Science Investigation as an elective might want to read this book simultaneously and draw conclusions and debate the novel in this classroom setting. 

Access the link below to get a synopsis of the novel. 

http://www.slideshare.net/tranceking/to-kill-a-mockingbird-theme-motifs-symbols 

http://www.slideshare.net/nashworld/protecting-ocean-resources-from-missouri-

Our teacher Mr. Kim Minnier teaches classes on Marine Biology to grades 9-12 students as an elective.  He developed this class after receiving a grant worth U.S $5,000 in 2006, from the National Education Association in Washington, D.C.   The above slide is one I accessed from slideshare a wonderful resource for teachers and presenters which focusses on a variey of topics.  This slide explores all the interesting facts about fish from hatching, fish on our tables and the implications for this industry in the future.  I like the tie in this slide shows,  between what happens in Missouri, USA.,  how this impacts food choices in Japan and the cost of fish world wide.  

Mr. Minnier’s class began working on a wall mural last year which showed the progression of ocean life from bottom feeders to the big blue whale.  We hope to have this class grow with an incoming group of freshmen this year.  Thank you Kim for taking a love that you have for fish and aquariums and parlaying this into an area of study and interest for students. 

Can you begin to think of all the leisure time fun our students have when they learn how to cultivate an interest and learn skills associated with maintaining aquariums?   

Formal training of teachers is I believe, sorely lacking.  Universities that produce teachers for schools in Western New York - the catchment area being Western New York and Eastern Pennsylvania,  need to focus on the understanding and development of every aspect within the Individual Educational Plan (IEP).  This emphasis should include as examples, the difference between modifications and accommodations.  the difference between programs like 1:12:1 which is and educational service and a Need which would be a   a 1:1 aide, a braille machine, a lap top computer for word processing etc. 

 Good PLEP statements -Present Levels of Educational Performance, require refined thinking and written expression.  Practice does help but more importantly student teachers and teachers in the field need to understand that the student needs to be described in his or her own entirety in relationship to his/her peers and the general education curriculum.

Special Education teachers are managers of staff within their classroom.  In 1:8:1/1:12:1  classrooms, teachers are sometimes presented with 8 students and 8 individual aides not including the teacher and classroom aide.  How does the teacher manage all the adults in the room who have ideas and in-put that are valuable but not always cohesive?  Sometimes the lesson plan for the students may take second fiddle to the personal needs of aides.  How will the special education teacher manage complex human resource issues without being a supervisor?  This training piece should be tied to lesson planning and methodology, use of technology and IEP development. 

Another area of concern is Educational Technology.  Departments of Educational Technology and Communications within Schools of Education 20 or more years ago would focus on Student Teaching, Lesson Planning, Methodology, the use of and the development of instructional media.  Why are Universities not training teachers to embrace Web 2.0 technology?  Why are teachers not being trained to not invent the wheel but collaborate with others and use lesson plans that are freely published;  modify these plans to meet the needs of their current students?  See the post on the Lunch Box Project.  

Just like employers in the world of Business that we read about who have to train new employees to focus on different skill developments, schools have to work harder to train new teachers who are graduating from college still unprepared for the huge learning curves and divides that exist between theoretical knowledge taught and practical applications in schools.  Teachers whatever their background - general or special education must understand to varying degrees the impact of the cross over of knowledge required by the new demands of the digital learner. 

The focus of teacher interview panels is changing and Universties and Colleges preparing student teachers should pay attention! Prepare yout student teachers for a global, competitive school environment that has no borders. 

Yes, there is a special lonely place that is inhabited by school officials - teachers and administrators.  We do not like to talk about it much as if to say that by not admitting it, it does not exist.  The cost of team work takes a toll on all of us because not always does everything run so smoothly in our schools.  People do not agree, people feel insulted where no insult was intended, communications are misread and ill feelings are bred.  Every once in a while, I have days like this.  I need an aspirin on those days, quiet and zone out time.  Time to replenish my energy for the next day. 

Everyone needs a voice and to be heard.   Schools run on a mixture of bureaucratic chain of command and consensual team work.  Common Ground has to be found in order to move forward on projects that are student centered and long term.  This takes a toll on leaders who have to justify every and all action knowing full well that someone will not be happy at the end of the day.  The army calls it collateral damage. 

We at the Hewes Center, have been at the heart of cultural change for five years now.  More and more collisions will take place as two programs Alternative and Special Education come together to best serve the needs of students.  This cultural change takes a toll on people - all we can do is prepare for it, plan for it and know that there will be collateral damage.  This is the cost of change.  There will be “asprin” days for all of us who work within schools - whether this cultural change starts with web 2.0 skills introduction, digital technology spread throughout all grade levels or a simple difference in opinion in how to meet the needs of 21st century students.  

“Culture does not change because we desire to change it.  Culture changes when the organization is transformed;  the culture reflects the realities of people working together everyday.” 

 -  Frances Hesselbein,  The key to Cultural Transformation, Leader to Leader (Spring, 1999) 

This is a class project I read about  which currently involves three countries Australia, China and Turkey.  The object of this exercise using a power point presentation is to have students select their favorite foods.  I thought of the universal appeal to all students for this kind of input which is both gratifying and immediate.  Food and and the development of epicurean tastes!  In addtion the ability to bridge a global area of interest.  I see the value of this exercise across several subject areas and an experiment that can be introduced to students of all age groups.   On coming across the blog post I was surprised that America is not yet a part of this experiment, so in an effort to join our teaching colleagues in Australia and share our  students passion for food with their global counterparts please check out this slideshare presentation.   

This is a power point presentation contained in the blog http://hawkesdale.globalstudent.org.au. However it is not always accessible.  You may also go to the actual slideshare presentation at http://lunchboxproject.wikispaces.com and add your own uniques features to this classroom project.  Whereas it is listed Kindergarten through 3rd grade you can easily adapt this project to any grade level with your own teacher input and creativity. 

If we could all collaborate on this expeiment I believe we shall expand the horizons of our web 2.0 reach as well as teach our students a variety of skills.