September 2009 Archives

September 29, 2009

Got Conflict?

Do you ever have those days where you wonder if there is a sign on your forehead that says "Bring Conflict Here" because it keeps coming up and getting in your face? I've had a couple of those days lately. They can be wearing, can't they?

I've heard some administrators say that they avoid conflict. That statement intrigues me. Now, let me clarify. I'm not the type of person who wakes up every morning hoping for some conflict nor am I someone who likes to stir up the pot to get some conflict brewing. I can enjoy a conflict-free day, like anyone else. But I don't think I avoid it. Unless I'm misunderstanding something. To me, avoiding something would mean you go around it, take a detour, ignore it, or pretend it doesn't exist. And if we are the administrator, isn't that part of our job to resolve the conflict? If we don't deal with it, who will?

I think conflict comes with the job, because there are so many situations that we are involved in where conflict can occur. I'm not saying it will, but the conditions are ripe for it to occur. Such as when you want to change the way things have been done in your building or you need to talk to someone about their job performance or you have to disagree with something a parent says or wants. I could easily name twenty more instances and so could you. And I'm not talking about conflict where it gets loud or ugly or physical. I'm talking about those meetings with people (can be staff or parents or colleagues or board members) where people don't agree or don't understand or don't listen and it gets a bit heated and there is no easy solution.

As stressful as conflict can be, I try to learn from the situation. Especially in those times where the conflict is not resolved and you have to meet several more times. Could I listen more and talk less? Could I make more eye contact? What does my body language say? What is it the other person wants? How can I compromise? These are things I ask myself so that I am more aware and in a better position to resolve the conflict.

So, if you are someone who avoids conflict in a leadership role - how do you do it? What does that look like? Is it effective?

Reggie Engebritson

September 28, 2009

Video Killed the Radio Star

Last week, the latest version of "Did You Know" was released. Like the previous versions, it was filled with stats that were surprising and also thought provoking. The statistics are there to jolt us to action and to make us, as educators, realize the world in which we live and teach. One statistic that really shocked me was the fact that in the last 2 months, more hours of video have been uploaded to YouTube than all the broadcast hours of TV of the four major networks since 1948 combined! This is an astounding statistic because it has so many different layers of impact.

One impact in particular is that today's students are visual learners, but they are also visual creators and consumers. This means that the old film strip with the beep to tell you to move to the next picture is really not going to cut it. In some cases, your students could probably do a better job of cinematography and explaining the content than the Betamax video that you have in your closet!

Our students have grown up on the visual medium and are used to having things explained to them in this way. They are also astute creators of it. Once again, however, this is where we hit a roadblock due to teacher reluctance to switch to this medium because they believe it to be too time consuming, while the administrators fear the cost involved. To the teachers, I say, put trust in your students. Most of them know more about technology than we do, and they can be excellent teachers of how to use technology. When students are the creators of a video, for example, they learn more about whatever their topic is--they are the researchers, writers, editors, actors, and producers. Whatever the content is of the video is not lost in the creation of it. Instead, it becomes ingrained in their minds because it has meaning to them.

To the administrators who fear the cost involved, for about $80 you can get a Flip camera that allows students to create and edit videos. If Flip cameras are not in the budget, why not allow the students to use the technology they bring with them to school every day? With the new I-phone, you can take video and edit on the camera itself.

The fact remains that our students are digital creators and digital learners. They are comfortable with and know how to use technology. They are ready to change they way they learn. The question remains, When will their administrators and teachers be ready?
James Yap and Teresa Ivey

September 26, 2009

We or Us v. Them

I recently returned from a state-wide teacher education conference, NC-ACTE. This is a local conference and thus tends to deal with local issues....yet I was glad to see some major issues introduced. One was brought up by our Teacher of the Year. Being a foreign language teacher, it is only natural that her luncheon talk dealt broadly with intercultural communication, embracing technological change, and the need for cultural exchange. These are points I advocate every day. The one point however that made me scratch my head is this idea of 'competition.' We often hear rhetoric such as "America is loosing its competitive edge" and "we need to understand others so we can compete against them' and my favorite is the sports analogy, "we need to understand the other team so we can beat them in the global marketplace."

Rationalizing international exchange under the guise of competition creates a dangerous space. This creates an us versus them mentality - this is negative, counterproductive, Fordist mentatlity. I would rather hear this exchange take place under the umbrella of cooperation. This may then create a we mentality. This is a positive space. I take students overseas, teach comparative education, and prepare educators to be technologically savvy school leaders by stressing reciprocal relationships and a focusing on a marketplace that is driven by working with others to create solutions for everyone. I feel my students leave me better prepared to create this new space.

Are we socializing and thus preparing our k-16 students through the lens of cooperation, collaboration, and intercultural understanding or are we holding tight to a paradigm where they are taking our jobs and we must win? The difference is not so subtle and the results may be huge!

Jayson Richardson
University of North Carolina Wilmington

September 22, 2009

Scrapbooking Academic Touchdowns

I recently spent a morning at our youth football stadium watching our primary elementary students battle it out on the gridiron. As the boys fought for the "W" and the girls cheered I noticed one consistent thing about the parents... They all had cameras. Creating scrapbooks has become a national pastime. In fact my own wife spends entire weekends with hundreds of other moms, wives, and grandmas creating these life novels into the early hours of the morning. She records the hobbies, family events, and little growing up moments of our children that we always want to remember. As I sat on the bleachers I wandered how many of those scrapbooks record academic accomplishments like that first A on a spelling test, reading that first level 3 book, or being that student that reads the morning announcements. Like most school administrators our wheels are always turning trying to discover that new way to engage learners and parents in our schools. As I sat on the 50 yard line waving at the students and sharing small talk with parents I realized something.
How could we better share with parents their child's academic accomplishments? Up until a few years ago those "scrapbookable" moments mounted to report cards, the occasional note home, and maybe a test with a large "A" on the front page. It's time to take a leap forward. We recently started using a video website called Eyejot, (eyejot.com). This website allows you to use your computers video camera to record a 60 second message via the web and email it directly to the person of your choice. This allows us to email mom and dad with in seconds a video link of their child proclaiming their academic touchdowns. The beauty is that mom and dad can then forward that on to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family members. The goal is intrinsic motivation to continue to grow academically while also giving the parents that "scrapbookable" moment.

Gary Kandel

September 20, 2009

1000 Origami Cranes... An International Day of Peace

logo.jpgMonday, September 21st, is the United Nation's 27th annual attempt to promote an International Day of Peace. We are asked to pause and reflect. Or perhaps set aside our personal or political anger. To cease fire. For one day.

We are asked to inspire our students to celebrate this day of peace in their own way. And perhaps we should. Maybe the adults ought to all just chill for 24 hours. Maybe we just take a break from spewing venomous hate speech at Town Hall Meetings or calling the President a fascist or the second coming of Pol Pot. Maybe we ought to quit shouting across the great divide: "You Liar!" You racist!

Maybe on International Peace Day we stay in our seats when we might otherwise rush the stage and yank the microphone out of some 19-year old entertainer's hands to promote Beyonce. Maybe we accept the line judge's call instead of threatening to shove the "f-ing tennis ball down her throat". Maybe we disarm. Maybe we turn down the volume on our talk radio stations. Maybe we have a civil discussion without a deer rifle slung over our shoulder.

Maybe we make this International Day of Peace about our kids. Before someone gets hurt.

Last week the House Speaker warned that the climate of hatred towards the President is starting to feel very much like that of San Francisco in the late 70's-- when Dan White's voices urged him to murder city councilman Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist. She was immediately vilified. Her political adversaries accused her of encouraging Americans to assassinate the President. But all week long cable news pundits were saying the same thing: that we are witnessing a zeitgeist with potentially frightening consequences if some nut gets too close to those in power who were elected by the "people".

We've been here before. We heard Bobby Kennedy's powerful speech on the Mindless Menace of Violence in America... just before he too became a victim of it.

On this International Day of Peace, a ceasefire in Afghanistan and Africa and Iraq and the West Bank and in the border towns of Juarez and Tijuana would be a blessing.

But I'll settle for a day in which our children are permitted a moment to lend their voices to the tumult-- their prayers for peace.

So at El Milagro we will commemorate this Day of Peace. And I'm sure we'll hear about it. We'll hear that we should be using our instructional time more wisely and preparing our kids for the standardized tests. Or that we are putting ideas into their heads. Or we are teaching them to be soft. Or to be socialists.

But the 7th and 8th grade students in Mr. Medina's class have already made 1000 origami cranes and inscribed them with a wish for peace. They will wear white to signify their solidarity. And they will lend their voices by vowing to keep a day of silence.

Each student will carry a Pledge Card that says:

•Today I am silent.
•Today I am silent... reflecting on peace within myself.
•Today I am silent... reflecting on peace within my family, my school, my community, and the world.
•Today I will walk in silence with my classmates and we will stand for peace.
•Today I am silent... for the last time!
•From this day forward, I will raise my voice in defense of others. I will be an advocate for peace, non-violence, and justice for all people.

By Tuesday the International Day of Peace will be over and we will not likely have effected any real change in the world. At least for now.

There are still 1000 origami cranes. The wishes they bear will be released to the universe. The prayers they carry will come from children.

By Kevin W. Riley
El Milagro Weblog

September 19, 2009

Overhauling Teacher Preparation

On August 25th, Dave Dimmet wrote about teacher quality and the future of the profession. He mentioned that training of teachers is dominated by universities who prepare pre-professional teachers to meet the licensure requirements of a given state, and asks what role post-secondary institutions play in identifying and preparing future leaders. He ends his essay acknowledging that in order to meet the needs of our savvy and sophisticated students, and to prepare them to thrive in the complex world in which they live, we must transform the K-12 learning environment and consistently identify, support, and incentivize high quality teaching.

As a testament to the urgency of this matter, the Bush Foundation (a private grantmaking foundation serving Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota dedicated to the human services) has committed to the development of highly effective new teachers in order to increase educational achievement for all students and close achievement gaps. Their goal is to increase by 50% the number of students in pre-kindergarten through grade twelve who are on track to earn a degree after high school, as well as eliminating the achievement gap. Their charge is to deliver 25,000 effective new teachers by 2018. Thus, the Bush Foundation has given 16 colleges and universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota the challenge to collaboratively come up with a completely out-of-the-box overhaul of the way the institutions recruit, prepare, place, and support the states’ teachers. The foundation has $675 million dollars to invest in various projects, and one of them is to engage higher education in the transformation of teacher preparation and support it through the year 2018.

After many long days of collaborative discussion among the various institutions of higher education, there are several proposals on the table for consideration. As a partner with St. Catherine University, I was fortunate enough to be part of the Private Urban College Collaborative, which is comprised of six private colleges located in Minneapolis and St.Paul, who worked together during the past several months to put together one of the proposals for consideration. This proposal includes actively recruiting highly qualified traditional and non-traditional students, a residency program modeled after the medical profession, a master teacher institute to train highly-effective classroom teachers to become highly-effective mentor teachers, and a support system that follows students through their probationary teaching period. There are twelve pages of details, which, if our proposal is accepted, I will outline in my next submission. The proposal will be presented, along with several others, at a teacher preparation partner summit later this month. It will be interesting to hear all of the proposals and then find out which of the ones submitted by the various groups representing the three states will be accepted and funded. Stay tuned for the updates on this very exciting opportunity.

September 17, 2009

Have We Been Banging our Heads Against the Desk for Nothing?

Post Cross Posted on Creative Tension.

Photo, Repeatedly, by OsakaBen

This summer I am working on getting through my list of books to read. It's a good thing that my summer has been extended because I was way behind. Fortunately I was in the middle of Disrupting Class by Christenson, Horn and Johnson when I saw Scott McLeod's presentation at NECC. Scott's presentation got my into the spirit and the book really pushed my thinking on the role of technology in education. For years I have promoted the integration of technology into the classroom while the authors of Disrupting Class are now telling me that, "Teachers have implemented computers in the most common-sense way- to sustain their existing practices and pedogogies rather than displace them." and that the real disruption will be with software-delivered instruction. There's even a section entitled, "Cramming Computers in Schools".

Sure, I've complained that too many educators "don't get it", "that it's not happening fast enough, that the majority of uses of technology in the classroom is lame, and that we have to keep pushing this change in instructional tools. What has kept me going is that I have witnessed classrooms where the tools are making a difference in student learning. My vision for schools was soundly based on the integration model and I truly believed that progress was essential and possible.

Christensen, Horn and Johnson are now laying out a new paradigm that is forcing me to step outside my comfort zone. They describe an educational system where...

- the classrooms are virtual and students are guided by software that is tailored to learning styles.
- the feedback to students will be immediate and they will not move ahead unless they have mastered the topic.
- the pace will be determined by the student's needs
- the role of teachers will be to coach their students (many more students) during the various stages of learning.
- schools are organized, not geographically, but by students' individual learning styles.

Can this really be true? Are companies like leArnin3.com and ALEKS on the cutting edge? Do I need to stop chanting the integration model mantra and start plugging software options?

I am going to seriously begin looking at how I can use their suggestions for school leaders.

"Use the right tools to introduce change....negotiation toward radical change simply won't work."

"Solve it (problems) by facilitating disruption."

"each school should have one person - whose sole job is to implement online courses."

"Don't place artificial limits on what students can take online or what teachers can build online either..."

September 15, 2009

Did You Know? 4.0

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is the Did You Know? 4.0 video that was released yesterday. Is your school preparing students for a world of media convergence and transformation?



Scott McLeod
Dangerously Irrelevant

September 14, 2009

New Relationships with Content

As we begin focusing on 21st Century Content Reading and Writing strategies and examine content area reading and writing strategies to prepare for the conversations this school year, I asked students to describe what reading and writing is like in various content areas.

The most immediate answers center around "facts to be memorized," "vocabulary to be defined," and strategies to "remember EVERYTHING to pass the test!"

In school, content reading and writing instruction revolve around consuming and remembering - what I call Hear It and Hold It - what someone else has produced.

In stark contrast, outside of the classroom, "content" is positioned in a drastically different way. We are simultaneously filters, producers, and co-creators of content. Successful producers of content must do more than simply churn out meaningless facts and ideas.  

9ways Successful online writers use their creative and curious spirit to generate content not only to inform, but will inspire, even transform the lives of their audience. Success on this age of read/write web is not determined by how much you know, how many pages of content your produce, or how long you have been "expert" in your content area. Success is determined by how your audience responds. If your readers are not impacted by your message, then how much you know matters little.

We must prepare our students for a very different relationship with content. Perfect penmanship, knowledge of participles, and the perfect 5-paragraph essay will not be enough to adequately prepare students for the content that will be mediated and vetted by a global audience that demands consideration.

Our students must leave our classrooms understanding how to communicate what they know and beleive in a way that considers, honors, and believes in their audience. Author and Entrepreneur Rajesh Setty writes a brilliant piece on how audiences respond to content.

  1. Spam: If your content does not provide a reasonable ROII (return-on-investment for an interaction) for the reader or is self-serving or simply useless, the reader will mark it as spam. Posting something that may be assessed, as “spam” is the fastest way to losing credibility.
  2. Skip: The reader makes an assessment that he or she won’t lose much by reading it. In this case, the reader has not written you off yet but if you consistently create content that is worth “skipping,” the reader might write you off.
  3. Scan: The reader thinks there are only a few parts that are of relevance and wants to get right to the core of the content and skip the rest.
  4. Stop: The reader is touched by the article and stops to think about the article, it’s relevance and what it means to him or her personally and professionally.
  5. Save: The content is so good that the reader might want to re-visit this multiple times.
  6. Shift: The article is transformational. The reader is so deeply affected (in a positive way) by the article that it shifts some of their values and beliefs. In other words, this piece of writing will transform the reader and make him or her grow.
  7. Send: The content is not only useful to the reader but also to one or more people in the reader’s network. The reader simply emails the article or a link to it to people that he or she cares.
  8. Spread: The reader finds the article fascinating enough to spread it to anyone and everyone via a blog, twitter or the social networks that he or she belongs.
  9. Subscribe: This is the ultimate expression of engagement and a vote of confidence that you will continue to provide great content. When the reader wants to continue listening to your thoughts, he or she will subscribe. 

I might suggest SCAMPER as a 10th 

The article also uncovers four things every content producer (writer) should think about before writers hit "send."

 What would instruction be like if THIS was our new 21st Century writing rubric?

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September 12, 2009

When does having an answer become counterproductive?

If you are a tech savvy leader, which you probably are since you read blogs, do you find yourself constantly running across tools and ideas that would be great for your teachers? Do you get excited, like I do, about new discoveries that you find in networking with other educators through twitter and other sites? Do you occasionally feel that the information flow is so fast and furious you can't keep up let alone pass all the pertinent information along. I am always on the lookout for subject specific ideas that I think the teachers can use or that would encourage good conversations. A great example of the latter is the recent LeaderTalk post about at "Mathematics: The Language of Life"- What a great resource for the math department and what a great discussion starter! There are enough links and good questions in that post to keep me thinking for quite a while. All of this keeps my perspective fresh and makes the work of school administration exciting.

However, as this new year gets underway, I have been thinking about my role as a conduit of what is happening in the world of technology integration and innovations in teaching and learning. It is important that as a leader we help build a vision for technology integration. It is important that we initiate discussions about revamping teaching and learning. It is also important that we provide support by having a go to person for just in time learning for new tools. However, in doing all of this it is also possible to create a dependency that undermines the personal responsibility of the staff. It seems that as we embrace change that it is important for the staff to own the process and the learning involved in redefining teaching and learning in a connected environment.

So what will be different this year? I am hoping to create a sense of empowerment by taking a more constructivist approach with the staff. An approach that encourages them to build knowledge and seek answers rather than having me supply those answers. It seems that taking the initial step of personal discovery is critical to building a sustainable program. For us, that will mean, that before I make a suggestion I will encourage the teachers to take their questions to the online educational community through an interface like Classroom2.0 or twitter to gather ideas. Then we will discuss what will work for our community.

( Barbara Barreda)

September 05, 2009

Re-Humanize Yourself

It happens every year at the beginning of school. A parent will bring his child over to meet me or say hi to me, and he will make the inevitable comment, "Now Billy, I don't ever want you to go to Mr. Sherman's office." Like it's the place where a child will catch leprosy (or worse, swine flu).

The principal's office has traditionally been the one place in the school where children were afraid to go. I remember the threat of "getting sent to the principal's office" when I was a youngster as if this room, set way back in the deepest part of the office, was some black hole where naughty children disappeared, never to be seen again.

The media certainly has not helped to make principals your "pal." Think of some of the movies and television shows where the principal (or school administrator) was portrayed as a complete nincompoop or a total jerk. There is Edward R. Rooney (played by Jeffrey Jones) in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason) in The Breakfast Club. How about Mr. Strickland (James Tolkan) in Back to the Future?

On Television shows set in schools, which character is the antagonist in almost every school? The principal, of course. Remember Principal Lazarus and Mr. Woodman from Welcome Back, Kotter? Principal Belding in Saved By the Bell? Or Principal Seymour Skinner in The Simpsons? They all were nut jobs.

So how do we break these stereotypes? We re-humanize ourselves, that's how. The time has come for school leaders to redefine the perception of principals in parents' and kids' minds. We have to redouble our efforts to show that we are caring, humane people who really do like kids and want them to succeed.

I am on a crusade in my school to be the principal that kids come to when they want to talk, instead of the guy they fear and avoid. To do this, I start the year reading picture books to classes. I choose fun, silly books that also have a message or teach a lesson, and I read the books with vigor. When I visit classes, I try not to sit in the back pretending to be invisible. Instead, I will get into groups with kids, or assist them with their work. Additionally, I spend a lot of time in the lunchroom and on the playground talking to kids, learning what their interests are, and tossing the ball around with them.

Activities like giving kids birthday cards and birthday books, having first graders come to the office to read to me, playing checkers or chess with kids who are struggling behaviorally, teaching human growth and development to the boys, and bringing my own family to school events are making a difference.

I want the students to see me as a "real person" and not just a mean disciplinarian. I am there to help them learn, adjust, cope, and grow. I am not there only to dole out punishments.

When the time comes to discipline, I focus on making better choices and using the moment to teach. I listen to all sides of the story, and I no longer raise my voice. Treating kids with respect, even when they are in trouble or have made bad decisions, is very important. That does not mean there are no consequences for inappropriate behavior. There must be consequences, but "the punishment must fit the crime." This is especially true when dealing with troubled, at-risk children who often come to school with a learned distrust of adults or authority figures (John Bender from The Breakfast Club comes to mind). Many years ago, I student taught in a school where the one and only punishment, regardless of the misbehavior, was for students to write sentences. The more serious the rule infraction, the more sentences the students were assigned to write. Yikes!

This belief that school principals need to become more human should not be based on some personal need for approval or ego-stroking. Conversely, it should be based on the need to create a positive climate in the school. The school leader sets the tone in the building, and a school where kids are happy, feel safe, and want to come every morning is a school where kids are learning.

So, what do you do to fight the negative perception of principals? How do you re-humanize yourself?

Dave Sherman - The Principal and Interest

September 05, 2009

Mathematics: The Language of Life?

Winnipeg%2C%20MB%2C%20Canada%20-%20Google%20Maps.jpg
As I thought about what I might write this month, I considered giving a shout out to some people I have been learning from lately; namely, Clay Shirky, Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, and Garr Reynolds. I also thought about re-posting here an innovation3 blog post I recently wrote on John Seely Brown that was interesting for the process and the product. Then I visited the A Difference blog of Darren Kuropatwa, a Winnipeg, Manitoba teacher who really knows how to challenge his students to think deeply about the mathematics they are learning. There I read his June 30, 2009 post, The Formula for Changing Math Education, and having suffered through the "math wars" during the last part of the 20th Century, I decided I would write this LeaderTalk post as a follow up to Darren's. The seven steps (follow them in order or pick the one you like and start there) I outline below will help carry your thinking on math education to a new level of understanding.
Changing%20Pattern.jpg

Step 1: Each of us has preconceptions we bring to the topic of mathematics. You have to surface your preconceptions before you can engage your mind with the topic and challenge your way of thinking. So here goes. Step 1 is for you to answer these preconception questions before moving ahead.

* How might you conceive of mathematics as the language of life?
* Assuming for a moment that it is the language of life, what are some educational reasons for acknowledging its presence in all subjects and all classes in school?
* Why might statistics and probability be a better long-term goal for the majority of students rather than calculus?
* When you get right down to it, what role should technology have in how we teach mathematics?
* What examples of successful models of teaching mathematics with Web 2.0 technology can you discuss?

Step 2: Watch this "activator" video to get you thinking about the topic.


Step 3: Contribute your thoughts to the discussion that followed in the comments on Darren's blog after the video. Add your comments there or here.

Step 4:
Here is another blog post for you to read from a different author, Dr. Jeff Goldstein, Center Director, National Center for Earth and Space Science, to help you consider the place of mathematics in our curriculum.

Detail_%20Starry%20Night_%20Pettable%20Cactus%20on%20flickr%20by%20cobalt123.jpg

The first part of "Weekly Challenge 3: What Can You Do With a Humongous Piece of Xerox Paper?"


Step 5:
The meat and potatoes is to study Darren's three class blogs.

Darren's Class Blogs

* AP Calculus AB: Without Bound ('08-'09)
* Applied Math 40S (Winter '09)
* Pre-Cal 40S (Winter '09)

A. What did Darren ask the students of his three classes to do on their blogs to learn?

B and C are optional, but worth the effort...

B. Have other teachers or your students analyze the learning that is evident in the class blogs.
C. Better yet, have the students use the student posts to learn mathematics and post their learning to your own class blog.

Black%20and%20White%20Science%20Museum%20on%20flickr%20by%20Paul%20Stevenson-2.jpg
Step 6: Please take time to reflect by writing in the comment section below what you have learned.

* Answer the preconception questions now. How has your thinking changed or not changed?
* Are there other important questions?
* What are your answers?

Step 7: Now, how will you apply what you learned? This is your opportunity to present (use any media vehicle) your "formula for changing math education." Add it as a comment below or link us to your creation.

Thanks for participating.

Dennis Richards
Superintendent
Retired, but still a Learning, Creating, Teaching
dennisar at gmail dot com
innovation3.edublogs.org

I will probably cross post this on innovation3.edublogs.org.

September 04, 2009

Representing More Than 20 Minutes

obch20

I'm deeply saddened by the reactions of many regarding the forthcoming address by the President of the United States to the students of this great nation because it represents much more than those 20 minutes.

Let me be clear. I did not vote for President Obama. I do not support a number of his agenda items. I still do not believe his actions can match his rhetoric. However, I have hope. I have hope because I believe in the United States. I believe in what we can do as one nation. I believe that all citizens should listen deeply to elected officials, engage critically with their ideas, and work diligently to ensure a better tomorrow.

It is why I cannot understand how we as a society can claim to want 21st Century students that are critical and creative thinkers that value civic responsibility, intellectual diversity, and global awareness yet fight against an opportunity to engage those habits and skills as a learning community.

We claim that we want students to be engaged citizens. We claim we want interdisciplinary thinkers. We claim we want lifelong learners that challenge ideas, work collaboratively to solve problems, and communicate effectively.

YET, we don't want our students exploring the idea of education simply because the President is the person starting the conversation and we fear the controversy.

Is this not an opportunity to engage in a unifying discussion? Is this not an opportunity for self and community reflection? Is this not an opportunity to think critically about a vital issue both locally and nationally? Is this not an opportunity to broaden awareness of issues for our students beyond their local community? Is this not an opportunity for respectfully debate, discourse, and growth?

We should be ashamed that our nation, our students, our schools have an opportunity to engage as a learning community but we would rather turn this into politics as usual. More importantly, we should be ashamed of what this moment represents: the great truth about the current US education system.

Given the reactions by communities and schools, it seems we still have too many across this country that do not want well-educated, 21st Century global citizens. Instead, we want sheltered individuals that only see what they are told to see, only hear what they are told to hear, and only do what they are told to do. We want factory-like schools producing narrow minded students built by prescribed curriculum centered on content, tests, textbooks, and singular sources of information. We want rigor in the form of more work and compliance. We want surface level thinkers that look at issues through a lens of fear and ignorance. We want a place for kids to be monitored.

That is why we are where we are with education. Our talks say one thing but our actions speak much louder about what we really want.

Today, I'm not proud to be an educator. I'm not proud to be a leader in education. Today, I'm deeply saddened for our students because they are the ones that suffer from our ignorance. They are the ones that pay for our inability to see the bigger, much more important picture.

Ryan Bretag
Coordinator of Instructional Technology
Glenbrook North High School
Blog: Metanoia

The opinions expressed in LeaderTalk are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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