How Big Should School Districts Be?

Lately, the question of "How big should a school district be?" has been on my mind as I reflect upon moving from a school that was 1700 students in size to one that is 2700+. The transition to this new, large building has been fairly smooth, but going from a place where I didn't know 10% of the staff to one in which I only know 10% has been weird. Increasingly, I had wondered if at 1700 the population of our school was too big and now with 2700 this question lingers.
Do school districts that have tens of thousands of students function at an optimal level given that there can be staggering differences (socio-economic, demographic, etc) between enrollment areas? If a school district has a common goal for all of its students wouldn't it be very difficult to allocate resources adequately if staggering differences exist?
It would be interesting to know what hurdles would have to be cleared if large school districts were to break up into more autonomous organizations that were able to focus and address the specific needs of its students and families. This approach might allow for enrollment/feeder areas to better align their educational programs and create better differentiated learning experiences. Not that this experience can't be replicated in a large scale organization, but how many students simply feel like a number or body in a class?
Obviously funding of such a model and a myriad of external challenges would exist, but imagine a system that would refocus the education on rigor, relevance, and relationships creating a better buy in from students and families who feel like humans rather than a number.

Teacher that coaches or Coach that teaches

My last post touched on the issue of academics vs athletics, questioning why we celebrate our athletes so much more than our academics. As an athlete and a coach, I have been praised for my prowess on the field of interscholastic sport, but now I look at this and question why we do not do a better job focusing on academics.
Recently, I have thought about what do I want my legacy to be. Will I be remembered as a Coach that happened to teach, or a Teacher that happened to coach? Being effective in both areas is possible, increasingly though in our hyper competitive athletics the time it takes to run a successful program has become a time consuming beast.
Though I love spending time with students outside the walls of the classroom working with them towards a common goal in a shared passion like sports, my first concern is about the work that they and I are doing between the first and last bell of the day. This fall my role as a Teacher-Coach has been solidified with my teaching in one building and coaching in another as the focus of my time and energy is toward what accounts for 98% of my salary. This perspective that I have gained has been useful in reflecting upon my career to date and where I want to take it.
The classroom has always taken precedence, however it feels like this shifted further by not being connected directly to players on a daily basis.

Academics vs Athletics

For the past while I have wrestled with the relationship between academics and athletics in our high schools today. As a coach of a sport (lacrosse) that is ever expanding on the national scene, gaining notoriety and seeing massive spikes in registered participants I wonder if we need sports in school. The overhyped, glamorization of prep athletes today has made me question whether academics truly remains the number one priority of our society.

Too often in my teaching career I have been approached by students and in some instances coaches about being able to help a student out to be eligible for a game that week. In recent years this pleading has increasingly annoyed me that an opportunity should be provided to a student who (often) was unwilling to take care of what should be their first priority...academics.

Instead of honoring those that win the big game, why don't we do a better job of celebrating those that perform well in their field of excellence, academics? I love sports and wouldn't be the same person without them, however it is my knowledge and skills that I acquired over the years that pays the majority of the bills!

Part Deux: Rebooting Digital Natives

The other week I lamented about the lack of technological "know how" demonstrated by my students when starting to integrate Google Drive into class along with Google Forms on top of Moodle. The frustrations experienced were based upon the assumption that students would have a better background then they did.

Reflecting upon where to go after this initial experience, I went back to the drawing board as the first problem based learning project was introduced this week. By ensuring that I better model and demonstrate the technological tools that are being pushed in class, it is hoped that students will become more comfortable using technology for academic purposes.
Thus this project will have students use Google Ed Apps for writing their annotated bibliographies and writing their argumentative paper, and building a site that will host their pieces of propaganda. In terms of research students will utilize the databases that are subscribed to through our library.
Despite the recalibration of how this was delivered there were still frustrations from my perspective in getting students to effectively use Google Ed Apps and perform formal research instead of simply "googling" it. My oft-repeated mantra is that this is a new experience for most of these students and that we are on a journey towards where they need to be at the end of the year. Having students solve "low hurdle" problems is part of this frustration, where if there isn't an answer/solution immediately then they give up.
After this initial first week, I am looking forward to seeing what they have come our first conferences this week and how this project continues to unfold.

Rebooting Digital Natives

The past few weeks I have been starting to further integrate technology into my classes of freshmen and sophomores in Social Studies as I have navigated what has been at my disposal in my new building. Most interesting to me has been the students' learning curve when it comes to accessing information on the internet, simple Google searches has been the general response provided when asking them about how they conduct research.

This didn't surprise me as much as how foreign these students were to how Google Drive aka Docs worked. As I had each class work on a collaborative document using Drive, the students were "amazed" by how we could type at the same time on the same document! Multiple students asked what they had to do to save this document so that they could work on it at home later/have a copy of it...
As I explained the concept of the cloud, many students were still perplexed about using a collaborative document and how to access the hyperlinks that were provided in the template that was provided to them. I have realized that I need to check for understanding on how to use some forms of technology that I had mistakingly assumed students knew how to use. Thus I will be looking to reboot my digital natives!

Changes...

“Fear, uncertainty and discomfort are your compasses toward growth.”

I am four weeks into a new teaching assignment away from the comforts of the past six years that I have enjoyed. In leaving the “nest”, I have reflected about where I have come as an educator since I took my second teaching position and helped to open a brand new school and establish some of the “traditions” associated with my former building. The individual that writes this today is much more polished, serious, and dedicated to his profession than in 2006. Having had the opportunity to develop as a teacher, work with great educators in other content areas and pursue a graduate degree the individual I am today has evolved greatly.

The decision to leave my old school and district is another post for a different day, the focus of this is to think about the past six weeks total (two for orientation, four with students).

The paradigm shift in beginning a new teaching job was culture shock to begin with, my orientation process was beneficial, but left me questioning my decision to leave the warm, familiarities of my last job. To steal an often mocked line from one of my last administrators, I had to learn about the new school’s “system and processes”. This introduction was overwhelming and challenging as my first thoughts:

1. Try to remember all of this!
2. Don’t screw it up!!
3. Don’t get fired in the first week!!!

The new environment appeared much more rigid and it worried me that I might now be able to “experiment” the way that my former “hetero-teaching partner for life” Michael and I had. Having enjoyed carte blanche to now being the “new guy”, I was concerned about making sure the waves I cause aren’t tsunamis that put me behind the proverbial eight-ball.

My reservations were put to rest once I was able to get into the classroom and work with students. There have been challenges though in the first four weeks from getting used to a new schedule (alternating block from straight block), sharing and having more than one classroom, and not having the same access to a wired classroom as before.

The new schedule is wonderful, not having to sprint through classes day to day has left me more relaxed and feeling prepared, teaching 5 of 8 classes over the course of two days is more manageable than 3 of 4 everyday. I feel better prepared to meet with my students and that my lessons are more thorough and complete.

The sharing of a new classroom and not being around the teachers from all content areas has been different. Working with multiple Social Studies teachers on a daily basis is great for discussions for content, but I do miss the cross-curricular conversations and ideas that develop from working in the academy model. With fewer wired machines at my disposal on a daily basis I am working on becoming better at having students use their own personal devices, while working within the parameters of the school policy regarding such use. The challenge is having students buy into what is/isn’t acceptable use and to have them model the right amount of etiquette.

Overall, the new building has been great and I am truly enjoying the opportunity. Working with new people and students though awkward at first is the same as any other situation, it takes time for all to adjust. The diverse population of the student body is a welcomed change from the homogenous one that I previously worked in.

Where do I go from here? The first challenge I have to continue pushing the envelope as an educator and find creative ways to create the student-centered learning environment that I had worked in the past year and a half.

Change is difficult, but as Michael and I have told our students numerous times, “if you aren’t uncomfortable then something is wrong”.

Should I pledge allegiance...

To the United States of America? This is a question that I have pondered many times over the past couple of years as I approached my eligibility to move my status from being a "Permanent Resident Alien" to a citizen of the country that I have essentially spent my entire adult life living in.
Having married an American and had my "anchor baby", I am not too worried about ever having my Green Card revoked, but do think about the idea of attaining my citizenship. Other then having to cut the checks for the required lawyer and processing fees, there really isn't anything that is an obstacle, having taught American history and civics during the past six years I am pretty sure that I can muster 6 correct answers out of the 10 that are asked!

In teaching civics to students, I am always encouraging them to exercise their constitutional right to participate in the democratic process once they are of age. Is it hypocritical for me to not participate as well? The scary/sad thing is that I am able to pass the citizenship test (all 100 questions), yet know many "natural born citizens" that would struggle to!

As we see the never ending campaign process ramp up with further rhetoric about the voting rolls and who should be allowed to vote in the upcoming election cycle, I continue to weigh the decision about if/when/why I should become an American citizen. Bumper stickers like the one I saw yesterday only makes me want to distance myself from the concept of being American, it read "Welcome to America! Now speak English! If only I could have pulled up next to him ala Wayne's World and made mention that the United States does not have an official language and explain that the ability to communicate effectively in English would be beneficial in this country, however it is not requisite!

All I know is that I if the day comes that I attain my citizenship we won't be playing Lee Greenwood, rather we'll be playing and watching this from my youth!