Postive Behavior Interventions and Supports

The Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) initiative has been a part of the CAM CSD since 2002.  Having been one of the original three districts in the state of Iowa to receive a grant to establish PBIS, it's been an important part of our character and behavior plan in all of our buildings.  CAM High School as begun the process of re-training staff and re-implementation of all three tier levels of the PBIS program.

PBIS is set up as a multi-tiered system of support for behaviors, both good and bad, and a team from the high school attended "Tier I" training during the 2014-2015 school year and a second team will attend "Tier II" training in 2015-2016.  "Tier III" training will be held in the future, possibly the year after Tier II training is completed.

PBIS Tier I

Tier I addresses the needs of 80% of the student body, the main feature is teaching and communicating the expectations of behavior to the students in a constant manner and vocabulary.  Staff and students go through, what many of us consider obvious, standards of behavior in the classroom, lunchroom, gym/locker rooms, bathrooms, hallways, music events and athletic contests.  Signs are posted, expectations or listed in programs and each building spends time 2-4 times a year teaching and re-teaching the expectations of behavior.

A second feature of PBIS Tier I is communicating a continuum of "consequences" for both GOOD behavior and problem behavior.  Everyone is used to punishments, but a big component of PBIS is establishing a ratio of 5 good consequences delivered by staff to every one bad consequence.  The Tier I team helps coach the entire faculty on the delivering of these consequences and staff are to keep the ratio of 5-1 in mind as they go through their teaching day.  Coupons are given to a randomly determined set of students from the students acknowledged for meeting expectations in any setting.  Prizes and privileges are then selected by the students, drawn by faculty or recognized by the Tier I team for those receiving coupons.

Much of the focus of Tier I are the rewards and the need and purpose of giving coupons for expected behavior.  Like everything in PBIS it has been designed around best practice interventions backed by data.  Click on the link below and check out how giving rewards, or "extrinsic" motivation actually helps develop intrinsic motivation.

http://www.teamyou.co/pbis-incentive-rewards-increase-intrinsic-motivation/

The Tier I team will look at reteaching expectations during the year, set up "boosters" that are group rewards for students doing good things over a set-period of time and monitoring all data surrounding the good and bad behaviors happening in the school.

 Tier I is not all rewards and pats on the back, the continuum of consequences for problem behavior is used to collect data and decisions are made for addressing problems.  Since Tier I deals universally with 80% of the students, broad synthesis of the data happens, looking at locations, tendencies and a large scale interventions are established.  

Tier II

Components of Tier II are in place at CAM High School, including the "Room of Opportunity" or ROO, a place where minor problem behavior situations are dealt with rather than the Principal's Office.  Tier II interventions target 10-15% of the student body, those individual students who through data collection and analysis from the Tier I team are identified as needing support.  Many of our at-risk population are served in this room with study halls and support and the ROO working with the building's at-risk coordinator Rex Mehrhoff.  If a student is not responding to the teacher he/she will be asked to go to the ROO so that the learning environment in the classroom is maintained and the student has an "opportunity" to think through what happened, cool down, or just given time to process next steps.

The referral sheets completed by teachers for student problem behavior is very detailed and thought out.  This is used to collect more data on students exhibiting problem behavior for the Tier II team to look at and analyze and come up with individual interventions.  There are several new interventions that the team will learn about in this year's training that are new to PBIS since CAM was trained previously.  We'll look forward to reporting on those as they are implemented.

For the Adults too

While a frequently asked question about the reward system is - "Why do we acknowledge the expected?" - there are many sides to the answer.  One part is the fact that as teachers, administrators, and other staff we too need reminded what the expectation is and to identify and acknowledge those who are meeting the expectation.  We're always identifying the problem behaviors and giving attention to those instead of the obvious good behavior.  We need to continually give students a reason to meet expectations by simply engaging them when it happens.  Simple enough, but too often we forget to, or don't because this is what the students should be doing.

It also gives us a common language when dealing with behaviors and establishes a baseline of consistency in which we can then individualize to fit our classrooms and other areas of the school.  Lastly the data piece, probably the most important, allows us to be purposeful about our decision making process allocating time and resources to the most needed areas.

Look for more PBIS information in the near future!

Simon Estes to perform in Atlantic as part of his "Roots and Wings" tour

He is asking Iowa students to help save lives

One of Iowa’s most iconic figures is coming to Cass County and will be singing at a concert that will also feature our All-State vocalists on Sunday, October 27 at 3 p.m. in the Atlantic High School Auditorium.  Simon Estes will perform at the concert along with students from all of the schools in Cass County and a limited number of tickets will go on sale October 1st for $20 at locations in Anita, Atlantic, Griswold and Massena.

On October 28th he will be meeting with high school students from Atlantic, Griswold and CAM to deliver a message of motivation.  He believes Iowa has the best students in the country and that they have many skills and wants to encourage them to set high goals and work hard to achieve them.

Estes is also launching a campaign to raise money to help combat malaria in Africa.  He has released a CD of 15 songs and has asked the students of Iowa to sell three of them by the end of November.  He will donate $5 of every $15 sale to buy nets for the children in Africa to sleep under protecting them from the malaria spreading mosquitoes.  He is also donating $1 for every CD sold to participating school districts.

In celebration of the CD sales he has organized an event December 15 at 3 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, that will feature a chorus of students from across Iowa.  Each district has been invited to send between five and ten students to the event to perform several songs, again with Estes performing along with the Iowa student chorus.  Songs will include Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus”, performed with the Des Moines Symphony Youth Orchestra , as well as standard Christmas Carols.

CDs will be on sale at CAM beginning October 14th and running until November 30.  We will be selling at events like the variety show, at churches and other locations, but please contact the high school at 712-762-3231 if you are interested and would like a copy of the CD.  Some will be on hand to sell, but we may also be taking orders and getting them to you before Christmas in case you want to give one as a gift.

This is an unique event that we’re hoping to use to raise funds for the music programs, specifically the purchase of new band uniforms.  

Common sense on sleep can yield big results in the classroom

-->Students want to learn.  There isn’t a soul out there that starts the year with a desire to fall behind, to perform at an average level or fail.  Parents can go a long way in helping their kids by doing just a couple things, and they don’t require you to know anything about Algebra or writing bibliographies.  It just involves making sure they get to bed, turn off the electronics at times and get up in the morning.

Sleep goes a long way towards assuring a student has a good day at school.  Many students drag themselves into school tired, for various reasons, and spend the day watching the clock, unfocused and inattentive.  When asked many will indicate they were up watching TV, on the Internet (or phones); while some have jobs and work late, are up studying or have a late school activity.  The first reason is unacceptable, while the others need careful watching and management.

Treat all electronics as a privilege not a right to have and you dictate when they are acceptable to be turned on.  Having to fall asleep with the TV on should not be an option, and if a student claims they MUST have it on or they CAN’T get to sleep before a certain time, it’s time to adjust things.  Eight hours of sleep is recommended, while six is a minimum.  It’s pretty easy to adjust bed and waking up times to fit these hours into a busy teen’s schedule. 

The other issue is some leave their cell phone on and receive and send multiple texts into the wee hours of the night.  Harmless or not they’re in bed but they are not sleeping.  Cell phones can be turned off and left in a spot that isn’t beside their bed where the temptation to use them can be strong.  Buy them an alarm clock if they insist they have to use their phone to wake up and are caught using their phone at night when they should be asleep.

Lastly, have a time when they turn off all electronics to study, do homework, or simply review the upcoming day and get things prepared.  To read and comprehend the mind cannot process right with most types of music playing.  Music is fine if they are creating things (videos, some types of writing and reviewing) but the first couple times they read something or study facts, having a calm mind is essential.  And put the phone away so the temptation to text or do other things is minimal.

Good luck in the upcoming school year!

"In Their Words"

Here is my 2013 Commencement Speech "In Their Own Words"

Each year I get a little nervous thinking of the proper things to say in regards to the graduating class.  Our superintendent and class speakers have shared words of wisdom, advice and some funny memories.  Traditionally I try to characterize the group, give you all a look into the impression they left on everyone at school as they graced our hallways.  This year instead of choosing my own words, I surveyed the class and asked them to describe their classmates in a one simple word or phrase.  

May I present to you the Class of 2013 - In  Their own Words.

Hannah - Sweet, Smart, Musical

Hunter - Funny, Cool, Outdoor-sy

Ryan - Class Clown or Two words Mud-Kip

Emily - Smart & Athletic, Beautiful

Tyler B. - Artistic, Reserved, Geniune

Jarrad - A Sweetheart, Cool and Kind-Hearted

Ashlyn - Quiet, Very nice, Generous

Chance - Motivated, Comical, Hard-worker

Shelby - Nice hair, very fun, Pretty

Veronica - Artistic, Colorful, caring

Dustin - The Ferg, Loud, Care-free

Kassidy - Strong Minded, Hard-worker, Funny

Carson - Outgoing, social, free-spirit

AhLEEsha - Responsible, giggly, Kind

Jenna - Organized, Good Dancer, Spanish Guru

Kaley - Sweet, Pretty Eyes, Photogenic

Ashlynn - Nicest person, friendly, colorful

Trevor - Determined, studious, Athletic

Alex - Mischievous, fun, DUUUUDE!

Amber - Rural, Outgoing, Country

Tyler S. - Farmer, Strong, Mellow

Nichelle - Unique, Friendly, Quiet

Matthew - Intelligent, dedicated, Rippped!

Shaley - Inspiring, A Cool Cat, Lots of Fun

Graduates, you are all of these adjectives and so much more.  Thank you for an incredible four years, you certainly have a lot going for you.  

Thank you.

What is your student's "Passion?"

What is your student’s “Passion”?  Inside every student is an interest that could develop into a passion that drives them in their post-secondary lives.  At CAM High School we provide student’s many opportunities to explore academic and activity based interests.  A question that needs to be asked is “are they taking advantage of these opportunities, and if not why not?”

How can we get student’s to turn away from their cell phones, TV & computers or is the question how do we reach them through those devices?  How do we teach them to utilize technology beyond entertainment?  Essentially enabling them to harness the power of the devices that range from laptops, to tablets to most students carrying smartphones.

We offer elective courses that introduces students to the world of virtual reality.  Our Project Lead the Way program gears students for a career in engineering.  CAM offers a deep and complete assortment of Math and Science courses.  What these areas all share in common is that they are under enrolled in by the percentage of students eligible to take them, to the actual number of student’s enrolled.

Student’s who are taking or have taken upper level math and science classes breaks down as follows - Seniors: science 63%; math 38%; Juniors: science 28%; math 38%.  Upper level classes included trigonometry, statistics, pre-calc or calculus in math; chemistry, physics and anatomy & physiology in science.  These are important classes for all students looking at two year or four year colleges and junior colleges.  About 20% of the student body is enrolled in a PLTW pre-engineering course.  These courses would be under the umbrella of the acronym “STEM” which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and are being touted by educators and politicians as important job areas.

We have a strong speech program, strong Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, hard-working coaches in athletics, excellent Spanish courses, and a top-notch fine arts program.  In all of these areas are students finding a niche and exploring possibilities beyond the next assignment or next practice?  Are they working on things at home just because, not because it’s required?

Passion is important as studies have shown that it takes 10,000 hours of engagement (not just attendance) with something to “master” that skill or content matter.  It’s obvious that school, practice and rehearsal supervised  by a teacher, coach or sponsor will not get them there..they need to find the drive to want to engage their interest on their own.

We can no longer afford to watch our students wait until they graduate to focus on their interests, as a lot of times those change as we mature.  We need to take advantage of the free opportunities offered at CAM High School and help discover what truly motivates them and what their interests are now.

Class of 2000TWEET

Past years I’ve stood before you and told you a little something about each graduate.  This year, the Class of 2000tweet is going to do that for me through their postings on Twitter.
 
Twitter is like the New York Yankees - you either love it or you hate it.

IT is largely a narcissistic, mindless stream of babble that often ignores all rules of English, grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Studies have deemed Twitter more addictive than nicotine, food and all other impulsive human behaviors – does this sound like anyone in your household?

Twitter can be Inspirational, insightful, educational, giving everyone a platform to expose little pieces of themselves for their peers and the world -  thoughts thrown out easily and eagerly by our graduates riding the Twitter highway.

Often our graduate’s tweets were insightful, like -

Devan: Why is it that teachers let girls get way with everything?

Morgan, referring to Alex -  you cant go to college if you don't know what the acronym stands for – (you know) A.I.B. - American Institute of Business

Alex - So I was cutting peppers and after almost 10 minutes of wondering why it was so hard to cut, I realized I used the wrong side of the knife.

There’s the daily updates –

Dakota - 8 man final was today. …final score freemont....81 murry a giant 0 :) lol!

Adam - What's happening? Me typing this. That's what's happening this very moment.

Matt: Sitting in class... having fun; @Giegerich,

Justin: good ole johnny cash to start the day

Ryan: Taking the 3 wheeler on a 6 mile drive:) should be a good day lol

Kelsey: Corey, Seth and Shelby just held me down and tickled me #familylove

In a related tweet Angeline said- When a person is tickled the response is actually a form of panic, as the brain interprets the tickling sensation.

They are deep thinkers:

Morgan – Eventually you’re going to have to face your problems

Biz- Watching angeline’s video through the years.. So sad. Love this class

Lexi: People say hell is endless, they say its our worst nightmare, the face of our darkness

Angeline - The past can hurt. You can either run from it or learn from it.

Kelsey: Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can’t change. Life’s too short to be anything but happy.

Trenda quoting Dr. Seuss: "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive, who is youer than you."

Then there’s the Random:

Lexi: Even though I have seen Bring It On a million times I never get sick of it #fave

Stakey - "Riding a scooter around school, now that's a good day."

Justin: ffa float = greatest float ever!!!

Alex - I get upset over the most STUPID things.

Devan: I love when im in the tractor and people pass me and are all pissed off because how slow i am going #itsatractor

At the beginning of the year, most let me follow them on Twitter, but after some detentions were handed out for bad twitter etiquette many dropped me.  So for those who did, and for those who don’t tweet, here’s my take on how they’d might …

Spencer – I’d tweet, but you’d probably not notice.

Sami – I believe the color black is very expressive, not many people see all of it’s different shades.

Tanner – Take me out to the ballgame or Let’s play two!

Borts – What?  I’m on my way to class.

Jaylnn – If I can balance on these shoes, I can balance on anything.

Travis – Twitter?  If I can’t drive it, hunt it, or put saddle on it, I’m not interested in it.

Ian – When I’m not playing sports, I’m starring in rap videos

Emily - If I’m going to make a difference I’m not going to need anything for it.

Tayler – I’ll tweet something after this migraine clears up.

Ethan – Today I AM a graduate of CAM High School

Dan – I’m most comfortable 21 feet from the basket!  Yeah buddy

Michaela – Who has time to tweet?

One can glean insight about people through Twitter, and real tweets or not I hope I’ve provided you some insight about how fond I’ve become of these seniors and how much we’ll all miss them next year.

Rolling out the Blueprint for Iowa

Jason Glass, State Director of Education in Iowa, did not disappoint in creating "One Unshakable Vision - World-class Schools for Iowa" released yesterday, Oct. 3rd 2011. The much-anticipated document, outlined in a concise 16 page PDF file, is destined to face scrutiny and debate from all sides. At least I HOPE we can debate, discuss, contemplate and rebut the ideas presented.

Education is a big political issue, and if you are into the politics and the strategies of today, you know they are divisive and becoming more polarizing. Sound bites and advertisements are now black and white, either you're for us or against us. So when you push things to be black and white and eliminate the gray, there is no room for discussion or thought.

The blueprint will be categorized and characterized by the majority of Iowans without even reading or considering what is on it's pages. Newspaper headlines are reading "Branstad Education plan could be costly, some warn." - Omaha World-Herald. The article talks on the surface about how many teachers they would have to hire to provide time for Mentor and Master Teachers that will work with the rest of the staff. They quote one administrator as saying they'll have to add 10 staff.

Freeing up time for teachers to collaborate and work with other teachers will necessitate additional personal. But it's not as simple as taking all those quarters and halves and adding them together to make up their time. (Mentor teachers will spend 25% of their time and Master 50%) But we want to equate it in simple terms, we want to dismiss or accept without much thought.

In terms of adding staff I was able to look at our staff of 20 teachers and discovered I could get by with adding one full time teacher in English to accomplish the blueprint's goals. That's not considering we were contemplating adding a 1/2 time English teacher next year.

I challenge all Iowans to resist the temptation to put things in simple, politically charged, packets and sound bites but to instead work through to a solution. Whether in the end it's 90% of what's in the blueprint or 10%, let's find answers and not sound bites. Let's talk to each other, not at each other or down to each other. Arguing is good if you have a viable alternative or direction to fight for, not an interest-pushed agenda.

I would suggest having county-wide implementation teams of Superintendents, Principals, Board Members and Legislators working on feasibility, not in terms of is it possible? But more like MAKE it possible. Maybe even reach out to nearby districts to share resources in and out of the county.

My fear is that we never get the chance to work on this at the building level. There are "town-hall" meetings scheduled, which were held last spring and did a lot to craft the blueprint. I believe we're past that format and need to move to groups that directly are affected by the legislation to demonstrate what could work and find alternatives to what needs re-worked.

I challenge everyone to read, think and above all act. Whether it's attending a meeting, writing a legislator, working in your building to see what could work and taking the ideas and applying them in ways you can right now.

In that way the spirit of the document could gain traction even before hitting the state house floor.

Iowa "Did You Know?" - a must see

Courageous Leadership

"Courageous Leadership" was the theme to this year's School Administrators of Iowa (SAI) conference held August 3 & 4. The thoughts swirling in my head on the ride home Thursday had me scrap two days of writing about teaching digital natives how to navigate their own continent. It is clear the theme, also echoed at the Iowa Education Summit just over a week ago, is exactly the call to arms EVERY administrator and educator in this state needs to heed.

Dr. Jason Glass, the Director of the Iowa Department of Education (IDE), stated two things we all could agree on - We could do a better job of educating our students; and we wanted to have the best possible educational system (one that ranks ahead of other states and countries). His third point of agreement was we needed to develop better assessments to measure our educational success. Talk about courageous leadership especially saying that after Governor Terry Branstad had just referenced low-order tests that countries in the world have been out performing us on over the past years.

We have to take the lead in agreeing on Dr. Glass's first two points and formulating everything we do RIGHT NOW with them in mind. Then we address the third as we have to find, work, scratch, claw, beg, borrow and steal (well, maybe not steal) the resources, time and energy to develop those assessments. Assessments that don't exist, nor are being developed. We have to act now, and not send trainers to be trained, forming committees or visiting schools. We need to make "Type II" errors that could result it a messy result, but one that is made due to action, not inaction.

September the IDE will be releasing a list of priorities that will most certainly push districts to lead courageously in finding ways to accomplish these priorities. It will take both working with the IDE and constructively questioning ourselves and not become defensive, only seeing the hot-button broad categorizations (like 'merit pay') and comprehend exactly what is being asked of us. Dr. Glass admitted the the IDE has been an impediment to real change and has been working to get out of school's way, constructive self-reflection.

We will also have to push back where push back is due. My courageous act will be stop short of cooperating if funding trends continue the way they have the last few years. Don't give me an example of a state that is doing things a particular way (Massachusetts) and not address the issue that their funding level per student is significantly higher than Iowa's.

As Dr. Douglas Reeves pointed out, we (public education) are a revenue source for the State of Iowa, not an expenditure. Every student we graduate adds revenue to the state and those who drop out cost 2.1 billion for EACH class (per year). Thankfully CAM High School rarely has a drop out, but we can work harder to prepare our students for the high paying job demand that exists in our state, and not lower expectations. It takes courageous leadership from the parents and faculty to set high expectations and then work hard to help students achieve and meet those expectations.

Changing how we teach in the classroom, and utilizing the technology to bring higher order activities in an engaging format, is the direction any instructional initiative needs to be moving towards. The Iowa Core five characteristics of effective instruction should be a springboard for all schools should use to measure their classroom practices. They WILL be a primary discussion point this year at CAM High School, and not just one of those things that will go away as soon as "Implementation" of the core moves forward.

Matt Carver, the SAI Legal Analyst put the call out to all administrators to keep their legislators informed about the programs that are vital to schools. Recent cuts to the Area Education Agencies (AEA) and the administrator mentor program illustrate how the desire to trim budgets often cut vital programs that are just a few drops in the bucket in state spending. For the second straight year millions cut from AEAs mean their services, that are very vital to all schools to meet state mandates, are reduced and students are the ones that suffer. Mentoring is a universally agreed best practice model to improving administrative effectiveness (something the Governor said is a must that we have better Principals in schools), yet it's funding was cut and sent like trimmings to the state house scrap floor. Oh, and it's still a mandate that we take the time to participate in the program AND we will continue it as we know it's value. It's time as courageous leaders to stand up and to counter the venomous and ill-informed political viewpoints held by to many of our elected officials.

We need to stand up and fight for students by championing innovation, higher order instructional practices, fair and meaningful assessments, and most importantly each other. If we do that, then we will see achievement levels rise, and not because of any piece of legislative action or political rhetoric.

It will happen through the courageous leadership of our educators.

Which way? Reflections on #i11i and choosing a path to follow

The 2nd annual Iowa 1to1 Institute was held last Wednesday, and while those of us who roam the world of twitter know it by it's "hashtag" #i11i we are the minority of who understand this concept. I challenge that we are the minority in education who share the true passion and true belief that we can change education by fearlessly choosing a path to venture forward upon.

It's not that the vast majority of educators are void of passion, or passionless. They are searching, questioning, doubting or taking baby steps forward. They want answers and promises, guarantees and a safety net. They want a formula, concrete reason or a flow chart to show the path to educational prosperity for their students and to show their patrons.

Guess what? Those things do not exist, not at this time and not in this disruptive place. So at #illi many educators went from session to session with the look of bewilderment, the look of astonishment from the enormity of trying to organize all of this vast ocean of possibilities. They are looking for a clear path, but what they encountered was a sign post much like the one located in the middle of the compound on TVs hit series M*A*S*H.



Erase the cities on each board and replace them with things such as 24/7 access, Collaboration, Skype, Digital Footprint, Google, Interest driven Learning, PLNs, eCurriculum, Twitter, MOODLE, Web2.0, iPads, APS, mobile device tools and on and on.

It is easy to become stuck, staring at the signs wondering which path to take. I've seen this in the eyes of my Web2.0 students, when given the freedom to take any path, they often choose taking no path at all. I've seen it in the eyes of my staff as I've proclaimed, "Try anything! Be bold! Don't be afraid to fail!" Too, too often they're left standing in disbelief at the options presented before them, the enormity of the possibilities. The opposite occurs as the freedom can have a paralyzing effect. We are safe where we are standing.

My students sat on a panel representing a class of seniors that have had computers since they were sophomores. (Video) (PanelHighlights) In preparation we talked about our audience - my estimates put the new, first year or considering 1 to 1 at 60-70%. Conversations and observations about #i11i tell me I vastly underestimated that figure and it was more like 80-90%. Coming to #i11i is safe, it's getting information, reporting back, gathering data. They are paralyzed studying the options, trying to chart the guaranteed path.

CAM High School is lucky that we have chosen paths, are traveling on some and tried others. Administrators and teachers from districts still riding the fence, still searching for the exact, right path have an edge to their comments. A frustration stemming from a gut feeling they're missing out, the train has pulled out of the station without them and they're watching it fade into the distance.

The good news for those still waiting is the technology is evolving and changing. There will be new starting points, new paths, new ways to make new paths. Paths are being wore down, being traveled by more and more educators as they support systemic change or have found a way to capture the best of new technology. Concepts such as Personal Learning Networks (PLNs); eCurriculum through a free, state-wide repository; Connecting classrooms and authentic project based curriculum are some of the emerging paths district's like ours are exploring.

More good news is that there is a growing group of passionate educators that are a click, email or phone call away. All eager to share, collaborate, create or advise on which path to start down.

Whether traveling a long ways towards "Boston" or a short trip to "Seoul" it's important educators use their passion as fuel to move from the #i11i signpost and continue on their journey of educational transformation.

New thought on Math - TED

My thoughts on Math by someone who knows more about the topic.

Listen to Iowa's educators

CAM High School has a hard working staff of professionals teaching a fantastic student body and I am proud to be their Principal. It’s not uncommon for the climate in education to take a negative turn, but the ripples of negativism that are spreading across the nation from Wisconsin is, in one word - disgusting.

Before listening to the talking heads, to Bill Gates, to the U.S. Department of Education head himself, Arne Duncan. Listen to the educators of Iowa who have stepped into classrooms. They are the ones who have worked with struggling students and are working hard to change education in Iowa. Listen to the people in the profession before you turn to the media and the politician.

Listen to the words of Iowa’s educators and administrators as collected by Jason Glass, the Iowa Department of Education head appointed by Governor Terry Branstad. Go to New Director Offers Roadmap. He had a tremendous outpouring of responses to three questions he asked in his blog - “What should we keep doing? What should we start doing? What should we stop doing?” Simple, reasonable and collected from those who will take their own time to answer, not positioned on a political stage.

The problem in education is should not be put on the shoulders of teachers financially or philosophically. There are many states that have budget gaps to fill due to the recession and other factors. It would be nice to have an honest, open, all-inclusive discussion on the causes and the solutions. Cutting down a profession that works harder, under higher expectations, than any other profession.

It is a rare and wonderful day when you find a “natural” teacher, someone who commands the classroom, relates to the students, can deal with parents, and juggles a social life (or plain just doesn’t have one). The rest of our staff we must develop and assist in their journey. These are not jobs where they clock in, sit at a desk and collect a salary. They have prom committees, concession duties, meetings, student-assistance meetings, school board appearances, conferences and the like. All while trying to raise a family, coach little league, serve on church boards and live a spotless lifestyle.

We are fortunate to have developed many tools and have made innovative steps in improving education. We have a very well received and developed evaluation system that allows us to work with new and career teachers to improve. It’s allows for collaborative and constructive talk around instruction. The Iowa Core is moving us towards a system where instruction in the focus of professional development, and peers hold peers accountable. Technology allows us to even the playing field, help those who need help and accelerate those who are able.

I’d like to tell the Governor, or anyone interested in stopping the progress of the Iowa Core, to tune in Sunday night at 7 p.m. on Twitter for the Iowa Core chat. We break down the outcomes and how they are being implemented in each of our districts. We talk about the training and guidance we get from the meetings they are about to cut out of the budget. Join us because the discussion will not stop even if we shift to something new.

There are thousands of hardworking educators in the state of Iowa and I challenge any profession to match our work ethic, integrity and determination. The teachers in our district and state are owed gratitude and respect. Not cheap shots and cost cutting measures.

Amazing Days tweeting around the world

I have encouraged our staff to address the revolutions happening in the Middle East right now. I remember the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, Libya's role and their dictator Moamma Kadafi's maniacal face on the TV. Now his country is gripped in a civil war, right on the heals of the fall of Egypt's dictator and several other uprisings in the Arab world. Twitter played a big role in Egypt to the point that the government shut the Internet down for a spell, but in the end all was restored and their leader stepped down.

Last year Iran was able to stop an uprising by holding firm and making small concessions, but Twitter and the Internet fueled days of revolutionary behavior that nearly led the American adversary into civil war. Twitter reported and helped tell the story of the protests on the streets that ended up in some violence.

It is unfortunate that many of us here in the United States hold certain stereotypes and biases to the people of the Arab world, when the truth is they are like any of us. They want freedoms, they are intelligent and they are now using the means available to organize and fight back against their oppressors.

It is also unfortunate that we are insulated by the media to the sound bites, and quick reports that usually end with "And today on Wall Street, investors were nervous with rising oil prices and stocks fell."

If television brought the weekly highlights of war to the living room of America during the Vietnam War, the allows you access to a play by play. You can be a participant in the discussion, the debate, the dialog. Active rather than passive interaction is your option.

Amazing times being shaped by a Global community.

"Hey! My phone really is smart!"

I'm officially convinced my phone is smart enough to make me change some of my work patterns. For starters, I'm writing this blog traveling back from Chicago. I recently upgraded my Blackberry and have had three breakthrough moments inside of a week's time.

First off the syncing software working seamlessly with my Macbook. This means my calendar is synced, my contacts are synced and my to do lists are available. Now I can go to meetings armed with just my blackberry, not necessarily my laptop. Someone out there could comment there was software out there for my older Curve, but I'll counter with I had lost faith after three failed installs and I gave up a year ago.

Secondly, I have been installing APs and going to websites on my browser and things are working flawlessly. When I got my other Curve almost two years ago I found it hit or miss for success in websites loading or APs doing what they promised. They mashup pretty well together right now and in a weeks time I've found many things for work and leisure.

Lastly, the documents, Google APs and general application software and websites are very functional. They are not watered down barely functioning versions of the computer versions. I was able to check my student's blogs while riding to Chicago Friday and register their grades Friday night (from my laptop at the hotel).

All of that doesn't include the photo posts from the Iowa game, getting state playoff results for people, my reading everyone's tweets while watching my kids in the hotel pool and getting caught up with my Goggle Reader reading.

The big thing is my confidence in my previous phone was low, due to problems I had early. This one has worked flawlessly and my confidence is soaring now that my smartphone is really smart!

My newest wordle

Our Web 2.0 class is finally getting to Wordle. I was going to do it sooner, but we hadn't started blogging. Hopefully they've done enough writing to gain some insight. Mine is totally different from what it was 10 months ago.

Web 2.0/PLN class evolves, redefines "wait-time"

Two weeks into Web2.0/PLN class and the students and I have experienced some highs and some lulls. We haven't experienced a "low" but in the evolution of the class we've had moments were we've redefined the term "wait-time" and it is in that time where the "lulls" occur.

Traditionally the term "wait-time" has referred to those seconds separating a teacher's question and a student's response. I was molded traditional. Each second ticks like a minute when holding back the knowledge you want to bestow on students in a Q & A. If one of the smart kids didn't know, and I waited 30 seconds, I answered and performed a fantastic review of the concepts on the board. "There, they have it" I can think to myself and move on to the next question to engage the next concept.

Our new "wait-time" is the pause between defining the task and student-teacher interaction and/or student action. This "wait-time" cannot be defined and monitored, just tracked and it can be surprisingly minimal or lengthy. It's an open-ended proposition followed by a pause then action, discussion or both.

My first three classes were traditional, even though my intention was to have it be a blend of online resources, instruction with my guidance and facilitation. Day one was a flurry of group watched videos, Q & A, read and write, with registration into web 2.0 tools. Every step was coordinated and well placed, timed and tracked. I was a bevy of knowledge and had the 2-3 students who were engaged with me answering and feeding my passion.

At the end of the first day I had a moment of satisfaction, and old feeling from the days standing in front leading my Chemistry class through complex concepts. I sat down to write a reflection on my Google Doc and realized a couple things. First, I hadn't let go of the reigns at all during the day. I steamrolled through silence ignoring the majority by providing them the answers. Secondly, the performance high wore off and I crashed with a guilty dread pooling into my stomach. I had fallen into the same trap all traditional teachers - I grabbed control and were stimulated by the euphoria of executing a locked-in lesson. A lesson that was two weeks in the making and now I had to prepare for one in just a handful of days.

Over the last five days of class I've weaned myself of the majority of control. I dumped the first assignment and due date; I've introduced and re-introduced topics; I've given an open-ended assignment that will be ongoing and I've mixed in quick hitting videos with quick response activities. And we've talked, laughed and through all of it gained insight as to their skills and needs for the class. We've hit a scattered selection of objectives from the original course outline but I'm readying a cross-referenced curriculum guide to track what we'll hit cover and master. It's going to be like taking a connect the dots and erasing the numbers.

I've also been able to collaborate, watch and learn from Shannon Miller, who spent this past summer developing her course and helped get me started with mine. We brainstormed some ideas on a Google Doc and I have developed my own to help prepare and chronicle the development of my course at CAM High School. There are many differences that I can see right now, but the commonality is we are submerging students into web 2.0 tools and moving them towards the development of a personal learning network (PLN) of peers and adults. Her class is moving right along, and despite some changes in the original idea each class is experiencing the buffet of Web 2.0 tools and laying the ground work for PLNs. I have been able to follow Van Meter's progress through Shannon's Twitter and feel comfortable deviating from her course and letting our students progress in another direction.

Most likely our students, intentionally or unintentionally, will cross paths while establishing their PLNs. We could have forced the issue, staged the encounters and had a well coordinated meet and greet with traditional classroom control.

Instead we're going to take our time, and wait for it to occur naturally. And in that wait time my class and I will learn something and I will discover how to effectively start feeding my student's passion.

Coffee with a shot of PLN in the morning

I've often said this about myself - "It's only the completely obvious I miss."

For the past two nights, Shannon Miller, Shawn Holloway, Deron Durflinger Laura Horan and Bill Brannick have been collaborating on a class Shannon's piloting in Van Meter

It's been two nights of chatting and work that at the end of the day, it's better than a shot of 5 hour energy as the hours melt away. At the end of this time there is a product AND a fired up feeling about what you accomplished.

But why hadn't I thought to do this in the morning to get things started? To completely obvious.

This morning, instead sitting down with a cup of coffee watching to the same stories I saw on KCCI last night (horrible flooding in Ames, Colfax and Des Moines - prayers for everyone effected), I got back on my PLN.

I jumped on Facebook to see what my social network was doing and then opened tweetdeck to see what my PLN was up to. An article someone referenced sparked a reflection on last nights work, which prompted me back to the Google Doc about the class we were working on and added some thoughts.

Reading through what we have created so far, I saw it's evolving in a group and personal way feeling better and better about our direction. I updated my Diigo toolbar and located some reading and watching for later. This took minutes and I felt like the Army used to say - "done more before 6 a.m. than most do during the day!"

I'm now charged, focused, found a blog topic (actually two...will write the second one soon), wrote the blog, am ready for our Skype at 10 a.m., all the while finding time to get ready for the day.

Why didn't I think about it this way before? Instead of just getting all fired up at night I can help boost my day and send me out with the right focus.

PLN - a part of a balanced breakfast.

Aretha said it best - "R E S P E C T"

Respecting teachers as professionals goes a long way in the journey to transform the classrooms that we are charged to bring into the “21st Century”.

CAM High School in Anita Iowa has the advantage and the disadvantage of being a small school, where $150,000 can outfit the whole building with Macbooks and I easily work with teachers individually.

However, in terms of early adopters in a faculty of 21, we have only a handful to lean on for internal capacity.

After two years with one-to-one computers we’ve seen an increasing energy from staff for the evolving technologies and Web 2.0 applications. What started with the iLife Suite has broadened into many different possibilities.

We all know change is not easy and change does not always come about quickly. What I have found and believe is that mandates, deadlines and requirements placed on teachers can yield results, but also require another round of them once an administrative imposed time frame expires. There are negative feelings and a feeling of top-down pressure that pushes teachers to find the reasons why NOT to change. They don’t own the process, the administration does.

To get teacher buy in they must champion the cause themselves and time must be given to them to collaborate and develop strategies that work for their classrooms. I have rarely been disappointed in the work our teachers do when brought together to share their learning. It immediately sparks conversation and exploration into new areas for each individual teacher.

Our teachers have asked for things, and for opportunities to develop their skills. When we deliver on their wishes you see a step forward in the use and infusion of that strategy or technology into their classrooms. When we don’t, we stagnate or take steps backwards.

Now in year three of our initiative we will give them more opportunities to get together in person AND online. I will show them how to develop a PLN or PLC that may or may not include teachers and staff from within the building.

I predict that this move will motivate teachers as it has motivated my learning by the flood of current, useful and timely materials by them everyday. The respect I get online, in my network is incredible and that same respect will fuel my teachers as it has fueled and inspired my growth.

Will it happen for each teacher and the same time? Absolutely not. So imposing a requirement about how, where and when they should develop their PLN is defeating the purpose of the individual network.

Working WITH them, giving them opportunities to build our internal capacity through external contacts will move small groups at first and identify the few that may be reluctant. Then implementing strategies for those few will not patronize or insult the larger group that have made the change and keep them energized.

Respect your staff as professionals and let the early doubtful comments bounce off. If you keep working with them most will join you in the journey of discovery that happens when diving into a PLN.

That is the support that will assist them the most in moving their classroom into the “21st Century”.

Online learning - Week one in the books

Three teachers of mine and I are participating in OLLIE, a summer online learning opportunity through Heartland AEA 11 - facilitated by Evan Abbey, blogger extraordinaire (and blog baller), instructional technologist and area technology expert. I have just completed the first module and here are my initial reactions.

First off I have taken a couple grad courses online 6-7 years ago and have helped administer our Moodle site at CAM High School. I have experience, but my knowledge has many gaps that need filled.

The Facilitator is Key: Evan has been great getting daily announcements out, being flexible with some initial problems and communicating those as well as providing screencast instruction as needed. Each Evan "buzz" on my blackberry reminds me to touch base with the class at least once a week and has me done with the first week's activities on Thursday.

Don't underestimate the power of the forum Reading other's responses and my own, commenting and browsing has really helped me start constructing a vision of online learning from the fuzzy/cloudy one I had coming into the course. It gives you time to thing and construct your thoughts from information provided and created within the course and in the forum.

Learning takes place when you're ready: I sat down twice to work on OLLIE and just plain had to shut the laptop and do something else. While this morning I got on just to check the news update and ended up finishing the weeks assignments I still had to complete. Also sipping a beverage on your patio and reading an article as the sun sets is pretty cool too.

Personal connections online: Without talking, chatting, messaging or emailing I am feeling a personal connection to members of the group and the facilitator. Just listening to the screencast is amazingly calming and good to see and have available at your disposal. There are two people who follow me and I follow on Twitter taking the course and the connection started there has already started to grow.

Little things matter: Just knowing that the drop downs are for in Moodle and watching on the screencast has elevated my knowledge on "groups" ten-fold. I now have a new perspective on utilizing Moodle and it came from something I felt I didn't need to look at.

Modular learning is better: Being able to see things divided up, knowing that you need to complete a set amount of material to move forward basically is like defining objectives without listing them and droning on about "here are the objectives you need to meet...." It's nice to take a little time to jump around and look, have the organization right in front of you at all times, not just tucked away in a syllabus is huge. I see this as an important step in transforming education at the high school level as you can begin to individualize instruction for students better if the essential skills are taught in ways that are compartmentalized. If one module or skill is deficient, OR already mastered, you can move to another (not necessarily in order). This could be the missing link to breaking down Carnegie Units within the current systems between secondary and post-secondary institutions.

The experience looks to be the one I've been searching for and am excited to start Week two soon....or maybe Monday.

I get to choose.

End of the Year melancholy - Pulling in the laptops and damage

Never mind missing the Seniors or lamenting about where the year went...the hardest emotion for myself and our technology director is taking the computers from the students and lining them up for summer storage.

I say that only kidding somewhat. Truth be told we had an amazingly successful pull in for the computers. We structured it a day before school got out so kids would have time to find "missing" items, we did it between the last two classes so we could get them put away and double checked. The procedure for 2nd year was 10 times more efficient and we didn't have to chase down four or so computers like we did last year.

Statistics for the day - 137 computers accounted for; all cases accounted for; two missing chargers. Zero noted damage. That was it!

Statistics for the year - Four busted screens; eight dead batteries; three failed hard drives. Approximate total for uncovered damage and replacements - $3600. We had double that in year two.

I credit our technology director and our staff for communicating with students constantly about care for the computers. Our "Homeroom" set up allows us quarterly bag and charger checks with rewards for perfect accountability. Constant reminders were broadcast in announcements and classes that if you have something missing you will pay for it, this instead of fee based systems that promote a disposable atmosphere. We had only one case of late in the year swapping (we found several during the year) and the swapper fessed up when confronted and we found his case anyway.

Our staff's conclusion is the students do value the computers and will take care of them as they know they will lose them to the repair room and do not want a loaner.

So we congratulated the students and staff on their efforts, and shut the door on a perfectly accounted for set of Apple Mac Books.

Oh where has the year gone.