No way it's only Wednesday!

Oh. My. God.
This is really the only way I can describe my day: INSANITY!
It's been busy this week, and that's fine. I work as a school administrator, and know it gets busy. Beyond that, I've chosen to work in middle school, which comes with it's own set of issues. But today was just incredible.
I'll summarize quickly:
Suspensions (out of school): 12
Suspensions (in school): 15
1 fight. 2 kids throwing stuff into traffic. 9 kids with gunpowder-based noisemakers ("poppers"). 1 kid cursed at a custodian, then accused him of grabbing him. One kid lighting matches in class. Then there's the soccer games after school, the pep rally during lunch, the evening basketball games, the call to Child Protective Services, and the metal comb with the pointed handle (in the possession of a kid who was nearly expelled earlier this year!)
And it's only Wednesday.
Friday cannot come soon enough.

Give the man a chance, please.

Tomorrow is inauguration day, and odds are you are view this event with either a) great joy or b) serious apprehension.
If you are in group b, I'll ask you one thing: give the man a chance, please.

We've all heard the reasons why people would be concerned about what's going to happen to the country under our next President (we heard them all summer during the campaign!):

• It's the end of our capitalist system! The man's a Socialist!
  
• He's a corrupt crony-ist! (What President hasn't surrounded himself with friends and allies?)
  
• Taxes, taxes, taxes!
• Inexperience: he's never been a player on the world stage.
  
• He's not a born American citizen! He's a Muslim! He's a serial killer who will murder us in our sleep and eat our livers!

Ok, maybe I made up that last bit, but these political topics get kind of heavy sometimes, and I felt the need for some levity!
I'm not going to argue these points; time will tell. It wouldn't be the first time that the American people have put their faith into a political leader, only to be disappointed. (Polk, Hoover, Nixon, and Clinton come to mind as examples.)

But, no matter how you feel about President Obama, I defy you to prove to me that things should remain the same, that we are not desperately in need of changes. 8 years ago, after all, we had a similar event. Since then,

• We've fought a (unnecessary) war resulting in thousands of deaths
• We've seen a huge increase in the cost of living as a result of that war (Gas prices, people, impact the cost of everything, from postage to potatoes).
  
• We are perhaps at the onset of next great depression
• We are in the middle of a housing crisis brought on by both political parties, Liberals trying to allow more people to own homes, Conservatives failing to reign in run-away corporate greed.
  
• Unemployment on the rise as a result of all of the above.
  

Not all of this is the fault of President Bush. The Constitution's authors were wise enough to create a system of government where it takes a whole bunch of people working together to really screw things up, after all. But when the ship sinks, it's generally the guy at the helm who gets the blame. I respect President Bush, and believe he's done what he's done with a genuine belief that he was doing the best for the nation, but I'm glad his time is over.

We are about to experience the peaceful transition of power from one chief executive to another for the 44th time in our nation's history. This is truly an amazing thing, and there are many places around the world where it simply doesn't happen. Sometimes the results have been good, others not-so-good, but we, as a nation, have survived them all. We have entered each presidents' administration with the same 2 outlooks, never knowing what is to come and either hoping for the best or fearing the worst. I don't know on which side you fall, dear reader, but realize one thing: we have never, in the history of this great country, made progress by working against one another. Never.

Let us keep our discourse civil, our minds open, and our focus on our common goal no matter the label we attach to ourselves, liberal or conservative, libertarian or socialist. We, all of us, want the same thing: a prosperous and secure country to call home, one we can point to with pride and say, out loud, "I am an American!" We may measure these things differently, and we may vehemently disagree on the path we take in pursuit of our goals, but it is our diversity that makes us great, and at the end of the day we are really less different than we are similar.

Give him a chance. He's got the job now, whether you like it our not. Give him a chance to prove you wrong. You may be surprised, or you may be right, but either way, he is the lawfully elected President of the United States, and deserves the opportunity.

I'd have given Senator Mc Cain the same.

A Quickie!

Just wanted to make a quick observation, one that was beyond the 140 character limits of Twitter:
I've been participating in a 365 Photo challenge, in which one takes, and posts to a blog or to Flickr, a photo per day every day of the year. This is my first time doing so, and I'm really enjoying it!
Once upon a time, back when photographers used film, I fancied myself a bit of a photographer. When I was in 7th grade, I won an Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles County Fair for a picture I'd taken. We even had photo as an elective at my middle school, and I took several years of photo classes through high school and into college.
In the end, though, it was never destined to be more than a hobby for me. And that is completely OK.
Now, though, as I participate in this project, I find myself looking at the world a little differently. I look around, at school, at home, during my commute, and wonder what would make a good picture. I've taken to snapping pictures from time to time, just for the fun of it, and look forward to time when I think there will be cool photo opportunities.
I have to admit, it's fun!
I'm not sure where this will lead, but for the moment I'm enjoying this medium of creative expression for the sake of creation, and encourage you, gentle reader, to participate yourself.

Go ahead. It's fun!

7 Things

I've been tagged by Chris Bell with the 7 Things Meme that's circulating of late, and far be it from me to decline such an invitation!
So, here's how it goes:

The Rules:

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog. Or how about Tweeting them to break the rules?
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter and/or Plurk.

And all about me:
1. I've run 2 marathons, several 1/2 marathons, and more 5- and 10K races than I can count. I'm not fast, not by a long shot, but I do like to run. Unfortunately I don't have the time to dedicate to training (my expanding waistline can attest to that!), so I don't run nearly enough any more. Always trying to get back to it, though.

2. I am a pretty good cook. I can usually manage to create a decent meal from pretty much anything we have in the fridge, and if given time and ingredients I am even fairly creative in the kitchen. Alas, this is another thing I have too little time to do as much as I'd like.

3. My wife and I met via the Internet. Not that big a deal these days, but this was back in 1996! We met via Net Girl on AOL and have been together for 13 years, married for 11 in May. Funny thing about this? When we met we lived about 8 miles apart, but found out that 1) she had done temp work at the same company my mom worked for while in college; 2) had gone on a ski club trip with my sister in high school; and 3) we had both lived in San Diego for a time. Obviously we were destined to meet!

4. I am allergic to cats. Nothing against them, but can't be around them for too long. My wife, being a cat person, has borne this cross for me, and I admire her strength!

5. My first job out of college, once I quit my waiter/bartender job, was as manager of a coffeehouse (NOT the one with the green mermaid!). There I cultivated my tastes in expensive, fully-flavored products; good coffees, red wines, big beers, and cigars.

6. Yes, I enjoy the occasional cigar. Not my proudest vice, but not a bad as some. Between my first teaching job and the aforementioned coffeehouse job, I worked at a tobacco shop, and it's probably for the best that I don't any longer! Way too easy access to temptation!

7. I am one of 6 educators in my extended family: Myself, my wife, my sister, her husband, my sister-in-law, and my mother-in-law are all in education. Not so odd, particularly, but this is given the fact that neither of my (or my sister's) parents went much beyond a high school diploma. While they are not highly educated themselves, they produced children who between them hold 3 masters degrees and a National Board Certification. I am very proud of them!

Now, to whom do I pass along this honor?
Tom Haughton
David Feliciano
Ms Cornelius
Scott Elias
Diane Main
Ken Shelton
Mark Wagner

Ok, I've done my part! Enjoy!

What they didn't teach me in my admin program

I'm nearly 1/2 of the way through my third year as a school administrator, and still love what I do. Lately, though, I've been thinking about the details of my job and wondering where I've learned how to do what I do.
For the uninitiated, becoming a school administrator is a similar process to becoming a teacher: a specialized training program where you are taught the theories and legal specifics of school leadership, and perform fieldwork to familiarize you with the day-to-day aspects of the job. Upon completion, you are certified by the state to work in an administrative capacity, deemed fully capable to manage a school.
I assume the majority of my readers have been through teacher credentialing programs, and direct this question towards them: How ready were you, your first day in the classroom, for actual teaching?
Yeah, that's what I thought. I hope you didn't spew coffee all over your monitor while you laughed at that.
Admin programs, at least the one I went through, do an admirable job of providing the theoretical foundation for school administration, but fall short of really getting one ready for the day-to-day dirty work, in much the same way that teaching programs fail to get teachers ready to actually run a classroom.
Some of the things I wish my program could have taught me:
1) How to interview a naughty kid
This sounds like it should be easy, but it isn't. Some kids will break down in tears at the first questions, others will look you right in the eyes and lie/blame others/deny knowledge of anything related to what you're asking about. To get to the bottom of things, you need to have a variety of questioning techniques at your disposal- the "I'm just here to help you out" technique, the "in-your-face-'you'd-better-come-clean-now'" approach, the "long, uncomfortable, staring silence" approach to name just a few. None of these were taught in my admin program- I had to learn them on-the-job.
2) When to give in to a parent demand and when to hold firm
This is a tough one, and it varies from situation to situation. There are easy ones, like "Little Timmy chose Home Ec as his preferred elective, but all his friends are in Band. I want you to switch his elective, even though it will whack out his entire schedule!" (No, sorry, but electives don't drive the master schedule. I'll be happy to make that change at the semester, though.) Some are much harder, like "Timmy is having trouble with one of his teachers. I don't want to talk to the teacher about the issue, but I want him moved to another class, and if you don't I'm going to the school board!"
3) When to give into a teacher demand and when to hold firm
Same as the situation above, but substitute "I'll go to the union!" for "I'm going to the school board!"
4) Student A is having a conflict with Student B, and Students C through R all have something to say about it.
Sometimes your office is just WAY too small for everyone you need to see.

These, among others, are the challenges of the job I don't feel were really addressed during my professional preparation, despite an otherwise excellent administrative credentialing program. Over the last 2 1/2 years I've developed some proficiency in dealing with these situations, but it would have been nice to have had some advance preparation before I started the job.

Other school administrators, what do you think? School admin wanna-bes, what do you think you need to know before you join the "dark side?"

It's not against the law to be old!

I'm pretty sure our students look at us like this sometimes...

School reform is...

...like building airplanes in the sky!

Find more videos like this on The League Learning Network

I love this video, especially the orange juice part.

What is our motivation?

I attended the California League of Middle Schools (CLMS) technology conference in Monterey, California this weekend. This was an awesome experience, an opportunity to learn and mingle with some really cool people, and I enjoyed myself enormously.

The conference, however, is not the subject of this post.
The real subject of this post is a realization I had on the flight home.
As the plane approached Los Angeles, I was looking out the window at the landscape below. I don't live in LA, but being a Southern Californian the scene was at least somewhat familiar- rows of orderly streets, houses neatly laid out in blocks, swimming pools in many of the yards.
As we flew over the LA River, however, I noticed something. Well, it's not completely accurate to say I "noticed" it at this time, because it's something I've seen hundreds of times in the past: graffiti painted on the concrete walls of the river channel. Nothing terribly offensive, true, but still my first thought was, "[Expletive] taggers! Why do they have to do this? Are they so arrogant that they think everyone needs to see their names?"
Then it hit me: taggers have the same motivation for what they do as bloggers!
"Wait a minute!" I can hear you say. "Taggers are vandals, they destroy public and private property! It's against the law! Bloggers don't do that!"
True, and I certainly didn't mean to imply that bloggers are equilivant to taggers. I only meant that they have the same fundamental motivation behind their actions- a belief that they have something worth while to say and a desire to let that voice be heard.
While we have decidedly different approaches to realizing this desire to be heard, the essential motivating factor is the same. I would much rather see taggers utilizing a less-criminal outlet for their expressive desires, but understand now what it is they are trying to accomplish, which is the same thing I am trying to accomplish right now; make my voice heard. I don't agree with (or, quite frankly, understand) most of what taggers "put up," but neither do I agree with, or understand, a lot of what other bloggers post, but I now believe that we are all engaged in the same basic activity, and I think, the next time I see tagging, I'll be less likely to respond the same way I did today. I'll understand the intention, and complain about the execution.

Star-struck!

I had a training session today.
As part of my ongoing professional growth, I'm taking a series of classes known here in California as AB 430 training, in order to "clear" my administrative credential. These classes are at the the Los Angeles County office of Education, and the curriculum is mandated by the state legislature.
I have no objection to any of this- I'm a big fan of professional development, and realize that, as a professional in the employ of the state government, there are certain hoops through which I must jump.
But the point of this post is this: during one of my sessions today, I was provided with a list of resources in the area of educational technology, and on that list were the names Kathy Schrock, David Warlick, and Bernie Dodge.
Many of you are, no doubt, familiar with the work of these individuals. As a matter of fact, I've been followers of theirs since before I even considered going for an administrative credential.
When I finished my training for the day, I posted on Twitter that their names were included in the list of resources I'd received, and that, as I was a follower of theirs on Twitter and had even corresponded with them directly on occasion, I felt kind of special that they were already parts of my Personal Learning Network.
But the part that made me blush like a 12-year-old girl meeting the Jonas Brothers was the fact that within a few minutes of my Tweet, Bernie Dodge responded, with a direct message, that the honor was his.
Wow.
I've said this before: the blogosphere, and by extension the twitterverse, is a place where the run-of-the-mill-Joe like me can rub shoulders with the celebrities of the educational technology universe.
Gotta say, that makes me feel pretty good.

An Open Letter to my Teachers

I sent this as an email to my 6th grade team today.

I'm still pretty new at my school, and we're in the "getting to know you" stage of our professional relationship. During one of the goal-setting conferences I conducted this year, one teacher mentioned some concerns/confusion she had regarding the discipline I'd handed out to a student she'd referred to me, and said it would be a good idea if I spoke to the grade level to bring them into the loop, as it were, with regards to how I planned to handle things. I couldn't make it to their meeting today, but still wanted to address this teacher's concerns, realizing that they were likely shared by others in the grade level.

Here's what I came up with, my disciplinary philosophy in a nutshell. I'm still going to meet with them, but I wanted to get this out there sooner rather than later.

What do all y'all think?

______

I don’t have a behavior/consequence checklist to follow, where “If student exhibits behavior A, he/she is issued consequence B.” In each student contact, I take into account several things, in no particular order:

• What is the student’s past disciplinary history?
• How much information has the referring teacher provided me?
• How has the referring teacher dealt with this student’s behavior in the past?
• Has this particular behavior been an issue in the past?
• Was the behavior provoked by another student?
• What was the motivation for the behavior?
• Is the student one with a disability?
• Does that disability have an impact on their behavior?
• Does the student seem honest?
• Are they remorseful for their behavior?
• What impact has the behavior had on the others in the classroom, including the teacher?

Balanced with these, among other factors, are my overall goals in any student disciplinary situation: to assist students in stopping an undesired behavior and to support teachers as they perform their jobs. While attempting to reach these interrelated goals, I have to decide:

• Does the behavior require a consequence?
• How much of a consequence is appropriate?
• What does the teacher who referred this student want to see happen?
• Will this consequence have the desired impact on the student’s behavior?

Obviously, many of these require a judgment call on my part, and while I feel confident in my abilities and my experience with middle school kids, I will, on occasion, make an error. I may misjudge the impact of a particular behavior on your classroom, or I may be unaware of a student’s behavioral history in your class. These errors or misjudgments on my part may leave you feeling that I’m “too soft on the bad kids,” or “taking their side against us.”

I believe you will agree that allowing this sort of feeling to go unresolved is poisonous for the working relationship we need, but I have a cure to suggest: Come talk to me. Ask me why I responded to the situation the way I did, and I will be happy to tell you. Let me know when you think I dropped the ball, and I will either tell you why I don’t think I dropped it, or I will correct the situation. Either way, I want you to bring your concerns to me before you start trashing me in the lounge (There will be plenty of time for trashing me in the lounge after!) I don’t guarantee that you’ll like my response, any more than I promise I’ll like what you have to say, but open communication is vital.

Thanks very much for what you do for kids, and for allowing me the opportunity to support you while you do it.

It's a great day for teachin', Bob!

I was watching the Red Sox get pounded by the Rays yesterday, and at the end of the game the usual expert panel post-game show came on. Cal Ripkin was one of the commentators, and I was reminded of all the retired pro athletes who do the color commentary and post-event analysis of sporting events.
Then the thought struck me: Wouldn't it be cool if retired teachers did running commentary and post-lesson analysis for current teachers? Imagine this scenario:
"We're joined in the studio by Mrs. Johnson, former 4th grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, to help us analyze Mr. Simmons' math lesson for today. Welcome, Mrs. Johnson."
"Thanks, Bob, I'm glad to be here. Mr. Simmons did an admirable job today in the math trenches. Let's go to the tape... Here we can see him introducing 2 column multiplication to his students. Watch as he goes to the whiteboard..."
"But what about here, Mrs. Johnson, when Simmons obviously missed little Timmy sneaking a peek at the answers in the back of the book before he raised his hand to answer?"
"Well, Bob, Mr. Simmons is only a 2nd year teacher, and Timmy's been pulling that same trick since 1st grade. Fortunately, Simmons has Suzie in his class, and we all know what a great undercover agent she is. Watch here, she's raising her hand and pointing at Timmy and his book! He's totally caught!"
You get the idea.
ESPN, I'm waiting for your call offering me the executive producer job for this one.

First one of the year

I suspended my first student of the year today, in fact the first student at our school to be suspended this year.
I report this with no particular happiness- I take no joy in suspending kids, but simply as a fact. It happened.
Now, do I think suspending this particular student is going to have any positive impact on him or his desire to reform his behavior? Not particularly. But I'm not sure how many other options I had available to me.
Allow me to explain:
After school on Friday, this young man made, in front of me, a teacher, and a parent, what appeared to me to be an obscene gesture towards another student. I asked him to come over to me to discuss the issue, and was met with typical early-teen attitude and denial. My intention at the time was to give a brief "don't-do-that-here-again" lecture, but he continued with the attitude and started to walk away. I followed and told him to come back, but he continued to walk off. I said, "I'm not going to chase you, but I will see you on Monday," giving him a last chance to return without any serious consequence, but to no avail. I tracked the student down through a little detective work and found he had a history last year of similar behaviors.
Now, the question is, did I do the right thing to suspend him from school? (1 day, for those who are wondering).
My situation, I feel, limited me a bit:
1) I'm new at the school this year, so I am establishing my credibility with students, teachers, and parents alike at this point.
2) This incident took place in public, in front of parents and other students.
3) The student had a history of similar behaviors.

Number 3, more than the other 2, made up my mind for me. Had this been a first-time kind of thing, I would have chosen another consequence, but didn't feel like I could under the circumstances.

What would you have done?

Where to find the time?

It isn't that I haven't had anything to say for a while, it's more that I haven't had the time, or the energy, or the time when I've had the energy, or the energy when I've had the time.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Now, though, I've got both energy and time, but no coherent thoughts to put down. That, however, is no obstacle to an intrepid blogger, so I shall press onward and upward, like Sir Edmund and his Sherpa.

Good Lord, what am I talking about? "Sir Edmund and his Sherpa?" Did I really say that? God, I am such a dork.

So here, then, are a few random thoughts from the last few weeks:
Geez, now I've abandoned the whole grand literary style for an Andy Rooney-type thing? Do I have an original thought left in my head? And speaking of Rooney, what's the deal with this external-italicized-internal-dialogue crap I'm doing here? I must have completely lost it.

• The RNC. One word: Scary. Republicans have run out of ideas on how to improve the country, so they are reduced to attacking others. Nothing original, just bash the other guy.
• Gas prices. Lower, which is good. Still way too high, and likely never to return to the $2 range (which, coincidentally, seemed outrageously high not too long ago.) We're used to paying more, and the oil companies will NEVER drop them that low again.
• Cub Scouts. I spent 4 days with my 8-year-old son on Catalina Island at Scout camp. We had a lot of fun, but the best part was building the next phase of our relationship, one that's open and sharing. That's not easy for me, but I liked it.
• My new job. I like it. A lot! I liked my old job, too, and I don't want to disparage my old district at all, but I'm really enjoying my new assignment. Especially now the kids are back at school. For a while I was spinning my wheels without much to really do. Lots to learn, but little to do. That's all changed now!

OK, better now, but still kind of weird. I mean, is this blog about education, politics, economics, or parenthood? What is the audience you're trying to reach here, anyway. And, seriously, this dialogue thing is getting old. Knock it off.

• Blogging/blog reading. Haven't done much of either lately. I've spent some time on Twitter, mainly reading other's tweets and posting my own occasional update, but I have not spent much time reading other blogs or working on this one. I skim the titles in the RSS feeds occasionally, but don't do much reading beyond that. And unfortunately, I don't think that's going to change much soon.
• I'm considering EdD programs in my area. Suggestions? I'd love to do USC or UCLA, but I don't want to drive into LA every week for the next three years. CSUF, APU, UCI, maybe even an online program. I want one with a good reputation that provides a vaild experience, but at the same time respects my time as someone with a demanding full-time job.

That's about all for now- I think that takes care of most of the mini-ideas that have been floating around in my head.
Hope you've enjoyed reading!

Still around...

Been busy lately, and no time to blog. I'll be back soon, I promise!
If you truly miss me, follow me on Twitter (see the sidebar).

Club Two-Oh

I'm in!
Classroom visits are, without a doubt, one of the key responsibilities of a school site administrator. Why, then, is it that we make them so infrequently?
Yeah, it's easy to say, "Oh, I had to do [trivial BS-du-jour], and didn't have time!" but let's face it: if you're not in classrooms, you're not doing your job. Simple as that.
I'm as guilty as any other busy AP of relegating this critical, but easily postponed, aspect of my job to the bottom of my to-do list, but no longer. I am, here before God and the Blogosphere, committing myself to visiting 20 classrooms per week, thanks to Scott Elias' example.
I'll post updates here and via Tweets as the school year progresses. I make no promises of success, but certainly promise to try!

iPhone?

I have recently learned that my new school district has iPhone 3Gs for issue to administrators. Cool, no?
When the iPhone first came out last year, and with all the hype of the 3G's release in July, my initial reaction was, "Nah, I'm happy with my Palm and my current cell provider." Yeah, the iPhone did a lot of really cool things, and its "WOW!" factor is undeniable, but I really didn't feel the need for one. I even took pride that my usual "Gotta-have-the-bitchin'-new-toy" reaction was supressed. After all, my Palm was still new and functioning just fine, I didn't need access to the 'Net while out-and-about all the time, and I had no problems with Verizon, so I really couldn't justify to myself (let alone the Mrs.!) spending $400 on a new cell phone.
Then, last week, I heard about the iPhones from the district. Other administrators had already received theirs, and took great pleasure in flashing them around at a meeting we attended. My covetous urges started to emerge, and, all of a sudden, I WANTED ONE! My fellow AP and I felt left out, excluded from the party all the cool kids got to go to, and we wanted in.
That particular feeling hasn't gone away yet, and I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on one of these things, but I'm starting to ask myself, "What's the big deal? How is this going to change my day-to-day existence as a middle school administrator?" I realize that potential exists with this tool, but I need some guidance and direction. How do I use the iPhone to make my life easier? Why do I need this, above and beyond wanting it?

Digitally fluent, but I still have an accent.

I was reading through my blogroll recently and saw a title that piqued my interest, David Warlick’s 2-cents worth post, “r u Reading Across a Generation Gap?” It was an interesting look at the current debate over what really constitutes literacy in the digital age, but what I noticed most was the title, specifically the “r u” part of it.

I’m sure everyone immediately identifies this as text messaging shorthand, ubiquitous among teens and young adults as they txt, IM, even comment on one another’s MySpace pages. Now, I’m not getting involved in the debate over the decline in the adherence to grammatical conventions by students or the value of this type of communication; I’m just acknowledging its prevalence and confessing that I can’t bring myself to use it. Maybe I’m old-fashioned with regards to my written expression, but I have to use capital letters, correct punctuation, and spell complete words when I text or Tweet. I know, it sets me apart from many others using this technology, but I can’t lose my digital “accent,” at least not without conscious effort. Oh, I may drop in a “where r u” or a “do u want me 2” every now and then, but to me it feels, I don’t know, just wrong.
Fortunately for me, I don’t correspond with students over txt or IM too frequently, so my awkwardness with this new language isn’t too apparent. (It has been commented on, though. “Wow, Mr. C, you write so formally! Yes, child, I know.) And, while it may take me a few extra seconds to send a message, I don’t feel like this malady has really impacted me in any negative way. Hey, maybe it’s not a bad thing, after all. Maybe I can be the spearhead of a new, Luddite-esque linguistic movement, in the same vein as an older family member of mine who refuses to surrender her rotary telephone!
Seriously, I don’t think my digital accent is really a bad thing. What would be a bad thing is if I didn’t use these tools, if I refused to make the attempt to learn this new language, even if I never learn to speak like a native.

Now for something completely different.

A teacher asks her students if they're Yankees fans. All of the hands go up except for one student.
"Okay, Bobby. What team are you a fan of?"
"The Red Sox."
"Why's that?"
"Well, my parents are both Red Sox fans, so I'm a Red Sox fan too."
"That's not a good answer, Bobby. If your parents were both morons, would you be a moron too?"
"No, that would make me a Yankees fan!"

An Existential Crisis (Sort Of)

I had an interesting conversation with my wife the other day about "THE FUTURE."
Now, it wasn't the kind of conversation you might be thinking, where she confronts me, a la Twisted-Sister-video-adult-"what-do-you-want-to-do-with-your-life?" This was more of a, "So, what's next?"-type of thing, and it raised some questions within myself.
First, a little background: I was a classroom teacher for 9 years, and while my colleagues and administrators might have described me as excellent or outstanding, I never really felt like I was that great. Sure, I knew my subject matter, I like kids, and didn't have huge classroom management problems, but I always felt like I could do better. I don't know if that's a result of insecurity with my abilities, low self-esteem, or an awareness that one can always improve, but I never fully felt comfortable with the praise of others.
During my teaching career, I earned a master of arts degree in educational technology (from a school where I really felt like I worked for the degree and deserved it, not a pay-for-advancement-on the pay-scale kind of place), and started providing tech support and some staff development at my school site. I received a stipend for this service, as well as spots on school- and district-level leadership committees. I felt comfortable doing this, and thought this might be the direction in which my future lay, a "tech guy" at a district, or even county, office.
A few years passed, and my classroom teaching experience began to decline. I was getting burned out, and didn't have the mental energy to devote to innovation in my teaching. Fortunately, I recognized this condition before it was too late, and knew I had to make a change, to get out before I became toxic to the kids and to the school as a whole. I went back to school again, and earned a masters in educational leadership and administrative credential. I felt that I could still make a positive impact on the lives of kids without grinding myself down in the classroom, a place I was no longer happy. I hadn't given up on the idea of a "tech guy" position, and in fact felt I was becoming more qualified be getting site administrative experience.
The doubts began to creep in, though, as I followed edubloggers, people like Bud Hunt, Kathy Schrock, Eric Langhorst, and others, who were really doing ed tech, who were innovating in the classroom and teaching others how to do it. "Do I belong with these people?" I asked myself. "Is this something I am really capable of doing?"

"Is it where I belong?"

What do I really have to offer as a leader in educational technology? Well:

• I have a familiarity with what's "out there" because I keep up with trends and developments.
• I understand how schools work and what teachers need, because I've been there.
• I have a "big picture" point of view from my experience as an adminstrator (not to mention my experience as the husband of one!)
• I have, according to my wife, anyway, an ability to explain technology to non-tech-y people.
  

But, I haven't really done a lot of the things that are big in ed tech now. Web 2.0 wasn't really in existence when I got my first MA, and by the time it was around I was in the throes of burnout. I used a classroom blog as a communication tool for students and parents, and tried to teach some information literacy along with the social studies curriculum, but never wiki'd, moodle'd, or podcast'd. I know about these things, but can't talk about them first-hand, can't say, "Well, in my class..." I believe these are things that are good for kids, good for schools, good for education, but I don't know that I have the "street cred" necessary for the "tech guy" job.

So, where does that leave me? As I see it, I have a couple of options:

• Stick with site administration, and support my teachers as they use these tools in their classrooms. Encourage them to innovate where I did/could not. Hold them up as examples to others, and effect change that way.
• Personal professional development. Attend workshops, NECCs, CUE conferences, whatever I can in order to fill in the gaps I perceive in my knowledge base, then go after that "tech guy" job. Instead of "This worked for me," say, "I've seen this work in other classrooms."
• Become the leading Luddite in Southern California, fight against all technology in classrooms, and make sure my schools return to blackboards and paper-only assignments.
  

Honestly, I think some combination of the first 2 options is the way to go. I love what I'm doing now, and can see myself as a principal of a school in the next 3-5 years, but I don't think that's where I am destined to spend the remainder of my career. I still have 20-25 years or so left before retirement, after all, so it's way too early to settle in.
The question remains, though, "What next?" Right now, the answer is, "I'm not sure."
What do YOU think? I welcome your input.

New Job

So, I started my new job last week, and, so far, things are going very well. The summer school principal element is really not that big a deal, particularly since the school principal is still around (at least until tomorrow, then she goes on vacation), and summer school kids, while not necessarily the best and the brightest representatives of the student body, are pretty well-behaved.
I've only had to deal with 2 disciplinary situations so far, one an ADHD 7th grader who poked another kid with a pointy piece of plastic he found on the ground (he got a 20-minute detention and a lecture to behave himself), and an 8th grade girl who socked a boy sitting next to her in the groin, then lied to my face about what had happened (she's done for the summer). Pretty typical middle school stuff, and nothing I haven't done before.
I've spent some time getting to know the campus and some of the staff, and have enjoyed going out to lunch with the principal and the other AP as we begin the process of bonding our admin team, but otherwise haven't really had much to do. That, I know, will change, but I am taking advantage of the slower pace for now!
I will, gentle reader, keep you posted as things develop.
Assuming, that is, that there are any readers of this blog. Could you comment, just once? Say something like, "Hi!" or "Hey there!" just to let me know I'm not blathering off into Cyberspace for no good reason. Please?