My back-to-school iPhone

My wife and I updated our phones this week. We are now hip and with it (as hip and with it as a couple of school teachers can be). I had thought about getting an iPhone before and have long wanted an iPad. I have downloaded several neat apps for my phone and am constantly on the search for good ideas for iPad apps for my someday tablet.

We are back at school this coming Friday and I am ready for it as I need the routine and daily challenges. I wish all of you that have a rapidly approaching start date - good luck and have a great year!

If you use a tablet in your classroom, please share some of your favorite apps!

Are you a badass?

I saw this a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I love their description of what a badass teacher is and am now following them on Twitter.

Article - Badass Teachers Association

What do you think? Submit your comments below.

Blueberries

Just thought I would post a quick article regarding how educators view their students. If you haven’t heard / seen / read this story, please do as it is worth a few moments of your time. It sums up what we do quite nicely. We teach young people and not just content, though many think it is just the latter.

Also, if you are from my school – you will undoubtedly remember this from a few years and superintendents ago.

Enjoy.

BLUEBERRIES

View from the hammock

As I lay in the hammock this past weekend at my in-laws’, relaxing on a nice visit for the weekend, I realized the summer is almost over.

I couldn’t help but think about the big to-do list that I have every summer - read this book, look at that website, research this strategy, modify that lesson, and so on. Educators are always on - trying to figure out the best ways we can improve our classrooms, manage a school, and help students. Try as we might, we cannot fit all of our work into the normal 8:00-4:00, five days a week that we are given at school. We know this and our friends and family know this. That being said and knowing that we do our best every day, I do have a bone to pick with YOU, Mr. Citizen (any random non-school employed individual), about my least favorite phrase that we educators never fail to hear. In order to air my grievance and help you understand, the following letter is addressed to you.

Dear John Q. Public,

“Oh, you work at the school. It must be nice to have weekends and summers off!” Oh, how we love to hate that phrase. On behalf of teachers, administrators, food service workers, counselors, custodians, maintenance workers, transportation drivers, HR personnel, district office staff, and anyone everywhere who works at a school, I would like to take a moment to politely request that you all stop using those words. Frankly, they are insulting and we are really quite tired of hearing them.

As educators (this includes everyone on that list above), we are hard at work every day of the week (yes, weekends, too) throughout the school year, and we do actually work during the summer months as well. We dedicate ourselves to educating your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbors and friends’ kids in a safe, happy, and clean environment with the intent of helping them to become successful. To illustrate this point, below are just a few of the MANY things that educators use their summer months to accomplish, as told through their eyes **:

I am the teacher who finally has a chance to read those new professional books that I have been looking forward to but haven’t had the time because I also coach three sports and am in charge of the school plays.

I am the educator who has the chance to attend a long weekend of professional classes on new ways to educate your child. The school year doesn’t allow much time for this. Oh, by the way, this is all done on my own dime.

I am the teacher that takes part of my summer to lead a group of students on a trip that they will remember for the rest of their lives. In the past I have taken them to Washington D.C., Gettysburg, New York, Italy, Japan, Germany and England. The students will forever be grateful for these opportunities and for that I am happy.

I am the teacher-coach that oversees voluntary summer gym hours to help student athletes achieve at their best. I also take these young men and women to camps and clinics in order to help them hone their skills. I care about winning but I am most excited when I see my athletes perform at their best in every contest, improve and learn valuable team-building and leadership skills. That takes much prep and practice.

I am the teacher that spends countless summer hours re-tooling curriculum and lessons to better suit the changing needs of my students for this upcoming year. I do this every summer.

I am the brand-new teacher who is spending my summer planning my curriculum, new rules for the first day and fighting nerves, hoping that I will be able to help my new students learn. By the way – I won’t receive my first paycheck until the end of September.

I am the building principal who spends my summer planning for next year, reading new state laws and BOE policies, adjusting the schedule as needed, meeting with and helping to train new teachers, and figuring out how to build positive relationships with parents and the community.

I am the art teacher who spends my summer drawing, painting, sketching and creating models so that my students can have examples for what their work should strive to be. Art is beautiful and it takes a creative eye to help build confident student artists.

I am the language arts teacher (with a Master’s degree in reading, no less) that spends my summer reading young adult literature so that I can find books to use that my students will like and ways to help me engage them in the art of becoming an open-minded, literate person.

I am the athletic director who is busy scheduling and re-scheduling next year’s games and contests for all of the sports in my middle school and high school. I am also in charge of scheduling all other activities as well. I get one period per day to do this (which is never enough). My phone is on 24-7, and I check my
e-mail religiously ALL YEAR LONG.

I am the elementary teacher whose entire month of June consisted of reading children’s poetry in an attempt to better comprehend how to help my students understand poetry.

I am the superintendent who has spent many days calling our insurance provider and many nights awake trying to figure out how to deal a school building that has a collapsed roof and who hopes that it can get be fixed before the school year begins. I am also the secondary principal and transportation director.

I am the teacher who dedicates weeks to teaching summer school to help our struggling students learn to read, write and understand their basic math skills.

I am the maintenance staff member who volunteered to drive to another town to pick up used lockers to install in our school. Our lockers did not fit the current needs of our students. Also, I did this on a Sunday afternoon.

I am the custodian that cleans and repairs the buildings, oftentimes working far past when I should because I believe in a safe and clean learning environment. I am also the one who meets the guy from the security company to let him in the building to install new alarms. I do this on my Saturdays because I believe in a safe school.

I am the food service director that spends my summer planning next year’s menus, ordering high-quality, healthy food (that’s right – fruits and vegetables) and tries to balance an (often very thin) budget to feed kids on. I also coordinate a summer meal program for some of our students. I know that this is important because that will be the only one or two meals a day that some students eat.

I am the educator who makes a point to visit the local county fair every year to see my students’ projects. My wife and I do not have children of our own. I do this because these things are important to the students and I know that creating a positive relationship with them is the first step toward their success in school.

I am the teacher who spent half of his summer stumping for education by promoting the ballot Initiative for Colorado education funding (read more here). I believe in this because it is the right time to make the right investment.

Educators work hard, on the clock and off, weekends and summers all year long. We are compensated for the things we should do and the things that also know we MUST do. Although we may NOT be most overworked people in the world, we are dedicated to your students and to our schools. Their success means everything. We care for our students, support their learning and only want what is best for them. This is a full-time job but one that we take very seriously. This often means time away from our own friends and family, working on our own vacations (yes, some of us buy books for our classroom or take pictures of old volcanoes while on vacation) or ignoring those to-do lists at our own homes.

Summertime offers us the chance to catch up on our to-do lists, see our friends and family and even put our feet up in the hammock. While we don’t all have to work in the summer, we do. And we are glad for the difference it makes. Please remember that it takes many wonderful, devoted, talented, and special people to make our schools and your students successful. But again, I also ask you to please refrain from using that ridiculous phrase. Because even though we may not be in our classrooms or office, we are working. We work hard because we care and because it makes the difference.

Thank you kindly.

Sincerely,

Educators Everywhere

** The above “stories” do not necessarily represent one individual. These experiences are based on real-people – friends and colleagues that I have had the pleasure of working with or meeting.

Something we SHOULD ALL agree on (I hope...)

Question: Why support a well-funded, well structured, accountable, effective school system in your local community?

Answer: Successful schools and well-prepared students for tomorrow’s world.

Student success and strong local schools: Not a single person I have ever met would disagree with the importance of these two things. A common denominator in any successful school is the support of the educators (teachers, principals, food service workers, custodians, librarians – anyone and everyone who works at schools), parents, and the community. All of these individuals have a hand in helping to educate our young people, and that support comes in many forms.

I would assert that one of the most important aspects of a highly effective school or district is the financial commitment to its various programs and resources. Without sufficient resources, it is hard to maintain valuable programs and attain success. Many, many Colorado educators recognize that the current state of school funding in Colorado is not adequate to meet the needs of our students and school programs today.

Several supporters in Colorado (education groups, business leaders, individuals, and community leaders) are attempting to gather signatures to place an initiative on the ballot this November. This is happening as the result of the passage of SB213 this spring. Our governor signed this legislation this May and is now out rallying support for its passage by voters. He believes in education.

If this proposal makes it on the November ballot, it would allow Colorado voters to approve more appropriate funding for our schools. This will mean more chances for programs to be funded, resources to be allocated (classroom support, resource and material support, chances for more professional development and training for our teachers, and support for special needs students, to name just a few) where they are desperately needed. More equitable funding could mean so many things for the students in our schools around the state. An investment in our schools means an investment in the success of our students.

If you are employed by or involved with your local school, please consider supporting this measure so that our students can have every opportunity available to them in order to achieve. All communities deserve to have local schools that strive for excellence. However, only with proper investments over time, and at the right times, are schools able to achieve this. Now is the right time to set our schools up for success. Now is the right time to say “yes” to students.

As an educator, parent, or community member, YOU ARE A LEADER, a strong school supporter, and a valued member of the movement that can help change Colorado education for the better. With your support, we can come help the schools of Colorado achieve greatness for their students.

I am encouraging you, your spouse, your friends and any member of your family that is interested to please consider signing the petition and to supporting the ballot measure this fall. There is about one week left before all the signatures must be gathered. Our students WILL benefit from this investment.

As a teacher, I am personally committed to my students and so are thousands of others across the state. I hope this measure makes it to the ballot and passes in November. Now is the right time.

At the heart of every great community is a great school, and behind great communities are supportive people like you.

Colorado commits to kids.  Won’t you please join us in helping Colorado schools to be the best they can be?

My American Dream

Happy 4^th of July!

Independence Day is a day to celebrate us, a day to celebrate the victories that we have achieved in our country, for EVERYONE, over many generations. Many of these successes have come with a very heavy toll. One of the most important triumphs that has made our country great, made it strong, and made us proud is our ability to educate our youth.

An educated student is one who is likely to go into the world, have opportunities for success, and strive for that all-important, much coveted “American Dream.” There are many ways for students to achieve success and there are many ideas of what that “American Dream” is. For some people, it is being able to attend college and secure a respectable career someday. For others, it might be owning a home or being able to drive a car. For some, having a family is their dream, while others dream to help those around them and give back to those less fortunate. Sadly, for some, their dream is to be warm and night and have a meal to eat. Still others may say that their “American Dream” is being able to be respected and recognized, legally and without discrimination or hate, for who they are, what they believe, or for daring to have their voices heard – freedoms that seem to be guaranteed to everyone under our Constitution.

Achieving success and realizing your dreams is different for everyone and dependent on many factors. Key influences for the success of our youth mean being fed, clothed, loved, appreciated, supported, safe, challenged, and accepted. Without these things, the chance of a young person developing self-respect and confidence to achieve success decreases drastically.

And how can we help our youth do these things? We can help them get an education - a strong, high-quality, fair, caring, accepting, and challenging 21^st-century education. However, it takes support from all sides – schools, students, parents, families, and communities. An education is also more than what happens within the walls of a classroom, the learning of content and skills. Education is the opening of the mind, the learning to agree and to disagree, the willingness to put the shoe on the other foot, the learning to question and wonder, the ability to struggle and the ability to thrive. Education is allowing students the basic rights to develop their individuality, realize their potential, and be treated with equality. An education is the opportunity for students to grow and develop, to want, to hope, and to know HOW to set forth for their dreams. An education TODAY is the ticket to the success of TOMORROW. 

If I can do these things for my students, to help them to think, to hope, to dream and to achieve, then I have succeeded. I am an educator and that is My American Dream.

What is yours?