Teachers College of San Joaquin
This class has been really useful. I am sure everyone says that in their final reflection, but even after 20 years in education, I haven't had much exposure to CTE. I've never worked in secondary ed, and I think most people still think of CTE as "vocational" classes in high school. I know I did.
The idea of integrating CTE into all grade levels makes so much sense- it's easy to miss. Honestly it's that "real world" experience that we all talk about, but as was suggested in our readings, we usually end up making some kind of fake-real lesson rather than a real-real one. That's the challenge I think we really need to face. In my own practice I've come up against that concept as I get ready for the new school year. After a traditional teacher prep program, and 20 years of the same 4 curriculum publishers, my default lesson development is stuck in fake-real mode. It feels like I am stretching a long-forgotten muscle to try and come up with a CTE based or integrated lesson. It's good to feel like I am learning something new again, and I have to remind myself of the same things I tell my students. Feeling like I don't know anything is okay, failing is okay, just keep going. I am looking forward to seeing what works in the months to come, and preparing myself for some interesting feedback in the process.
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It's so awesome when I find proof that one of the "out there" things I do at school is actually a research based strategy that's working for other schools. I've been using adaptive math & ELA software for years, actually irritating my bosses because I was the only one using it and costing them a small fortune to keep the license. I also use Khan a lot, especially since distance learning started. I always wanted to assign Khan as homework, but couldn't because we didn't have 1-1 devices, and I refuse to segregate my student assignments by socioeconomic factors. Covid changed all that because we had to provide devices for everyone! It's sad that it took a life changing pandemic to do what was right for our kids, but I digress...
Now that digital content is accessible at home for everyone, the flipped classroom model is my go-to. I also use a modified version of the station rotation during my small group time. I coordinate with our SpEd, RSP, and Title 1 teachers to schedule our pull-out sessions into the same period so that no one receiving support services misses new content. Last year that worked out to be 90 minutes of targeted small group support on data driven goals identified by our adaptive software. I would like to make my entire day "small group time", similar to the flex model, but that's not realistic at my site, yet. However, if anyone is going to do it, it's me! Today's opener hit me hard. Being asked what era in time I'd like to go back to started a cascade of thoughts. I'd been reading about fires in other states earlier in the morning, and realized the back country hunting village I spent my childhood summers, in Idaho, was burned to the ground. I pulled it up on the fire map and burst into tears, then I looked on Google earth. Big mistake. There had been a fire a few years ago that burned right up to the main road, but they'd been able to stop it with retardant and water drops. They saved the 12 year-round residents' homes. Many of the vacation homes burned, but honestly I can't grieve for folks with multiple homes. Google earth showed that burn scar, with the hunting trails and creeks all exposed, like a cancer patients bald head. But, I could still see the roof of our old cabin, and the barn my grandfather and I built. I know those trails like the lines on my hands, but my memories are of a thick rain forest that sun never penetrated, air buzzing with insects, and wild animal noises that would make the hair on the back of my neck stand up as a kid. Now it's a moonscape, devoid of all life. My children will never see it, and their children won't either. My heart is broken, and I've never wanted to go back in time more. It's hard to think about anything else right now.
I was stoked to talk about Jonathan Sacks today. So often as educators we stick to education based authors, but there's a lot out there for us that you won't find in the education section of a library. Take the Walt Disney leadership book for example(https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Walt-Leadership-Disneyland-Strategies-ebook/dp/B012F0UDWM) Almost every page has something for us that is relevant to 21st century leaders, especially those responsible for multiple contingencies at any given moment, like principals.
I think I gravitate to these people because I've always been a big idea person. As I got older I began to realize all of my great ideas weren't worth much if I couldn't execute them. I needed help almost all of the time to make those things happen, still ended up feeling like I'd barely survived the end of the world, and wasn't satisfied with the outcome. Granted, I am my harshest critic, and some of my former students tease me about having ridiculous expectations- and that they are glad they aren't me. They're right to an extent, I am demanding, but I've never asked a person to do something they couldn't, just more than they felt comfortable doing. That's something both Rabbi Sacks and Disney had in common, they created an environment where people were able to do the impossible, or at least what they thought was impossible. I am at the point in the process where I am trying to uncover the secret to motivating without anyone knowing that's what you're doing. I am still pretty transparent about my motives and methodologies when I am coordinating events and running projects, and I usually get what I need from others because I am the hardest worker in the room and they see that. I'd like to end up with their charisma, where you walk into a room where people are arguing, work is trash, and maybe something is on fire, and everyone takes a deep breath and pauses in the chaos because they know you will sort it out. Like I said, Big ideas, little details, and lots of hard work. The annotation project was our focus today. I think I am going to keep working on 21st century leadership since that is the focus on my degree. I always think of the project progression I show my kids when I am working on something like this. I start with so many ideas, get so frustrated, and then finally just end up saving it and submitting it without it really turning out like I wanted. I tend to shoot for the moon and end up somewhere in the pacific most of the time.
I really wish TCSJ had us take these classes in order. I could have really used this class in 2019 when I had to teach myself APA in order to pass my first class in 15 years. My Liberal Studies degree (and MLA citation skills) proved worthless for grad school. Cest La Vie, non? I had to chuckle when Andrew said it's not like we're doing our Literature review in our next class, because I only have two classes left, and that's one of them.
I am stoked to dig into my favorite topic again, leadership in the 21st century. Like changes to how we teach in the classroom, there are so many things we need to do differently in the front office. And like what's going on in the classroom, there are some road blocks that are doozies. It's going to take a new generation of leaders to tackle the issues that plague administrative practices, and hopefully those that remain from the old guard will catch up. I caught myself while I was creating my mind map. I wrote "Educational Institutions" and realized how much I hate that word. It makes me think of all those lost children buried in unmarked graves at Catholic Schools. We need to tear down everything about schools that makes them 'institutions" starting with the leadership cadre. I want a learning community, a place where people (adults too) come to learn and better themselves. I want a learning center that is open after hours for parenting classes, Saturday cooking classes, and multicultural groups that throw dinner parties. I want the food bank to have us on speed dial, I want the animal shelter to call us for volunteers. I want it all- except to be called an institution. I guess getting from my APA citation assignment to that is going to take a while, but every great journey starts with one step, right? I was able to check in with more classmates today, and it was awesome. The part about being the oldest in our breakout rooms, and hearing that one of my colleagues was in 3rd grade when I was already teaching, not so much. I love that some folks are coming into education from other careers, and bringing all of that experience with them. We had an interesting conversation about NCLB from my perspective as a teacher, another as a student, and from a parent's point of view. There was a lot to discuss, but the conclusion we all came to was that the whole scheme was doomed to fail.
It reminded me of the Mirel article, and how I couldn't stop thinking that only a PhD would come up with these ideas because they are all theory, and narrow-minded. The idea from our video that we become less creative as we gain education totally applies to this issue. From one perspective, if applied to one type of student, in one type of setting, the plan will work. I call that the "Let them eat cake" mentality. Its not meant to be malicious, and the people who think this way rarely know they are doing so, but the effect is the same. When you ignore, abandon, or forget about entire sections of your population, bad things happen. I was again impressed by the quality of new teachers in our terminology discussions. Even without a ton of real world experience (or google) they were able to discuss possible uses and implications of all the terms we went over. That got me thinking about the quality of teacher prep now versus when I was in the credential program. I was struck by the realization that all of our curricular controls, state standards, common core, etc. were envisioned and created for a population of teachers that doesn't exist anymore. The old spinster with nothing better to do, or the failed car sales man that couldn't do anything else, these aren't the people going into teaching anymore. Teaching used to be the catchall job for moderately able folks to fall back on in times of need, see the movie Soul for proof. Today, new teachers are put through the ringer before they ever see a classroom. Even interns are asked to do more, and more often, than I ever was as a traditional credential candidate. The tests they have to take, the rigor of courses, and the workload they have to juggle- wow. These folks deserve more freedom in Pedagogy. That was the issue ages ago, right? That there was too much freedom, too much variation from classroom to classroom, and quality was impossible to measure. I think the double edged sword of improved teacher prep and heavy handed curriculum control is counter productive at this point. Education in the 21st century is my jam. I've bought into every new collaborative/tech-anything since day one. I started teaching the same year "they" came out with curriculum standards. Believe it or not, there was a time when none of that existed! That was when and how the current model for education evolved, an ever-changing no-mans land of expectations and outcomes. Although the way we live and work is unrecognizable compared to those days, classrooms look agonizingly similar. It's a sort of looking glass effect in my opinion, where parents walk in and see the same room and routines they experienced, but actual learning is supposed to be totally different. Spoiler alert: it's not. Curriculum and instruction in the 21st century must be as radically different as the way we live. Our teachers and students deserve to keep pace with the world they live in. There should never be a time warp effect where once you enter a room you could be anywhere 30 years prior. And yet, here we are. Educators discuss and debate, administrators are nickel and dimed into early retirement, and legislators try and tax their way our of a black hole. We cannot continue to do things the same way and expect a different result- that is literally insane. And yet, here we are. We need to ditch the anchors of the past like grades, and standardized tests. We need to acknowledge to parents that we failed them. We all have to face that they don't understand their kid's work because their education was lacking, not because the kids these days have ridiculous assignments. We aren't teaching new-fangled, indoctrination inspired, pseudoscience. But, that's what facts can sound like when you've never been taught how to think critically. It's daunting, maddening, and utterly necessary for us to get ahead of these things before we can move forward. Without parental support we might as well bury ourselves in concrete, because we're not going anywhere. So, what do we do? How can we possibly bridge the gaps that have become canyons since Covid? I think if this last year has taught us anything, the largest part of education in the 21st century must be SEL, social emotional learning. Administrators and law makers need to recognize that teachers are on the front line of everything our students go through. How can we expect people to happily begin each day searching for bruises, signs of neglect, and checking nonchalantly throughout the day to make sure kids are eating or have a place to sleep that night? How can we expect these people to develop deep long lasting bonds with these children and not experience an emotional toll? We need to take care of our teachers so they can take care of our children. This issue won't be solved with bigger paychecks alone, but that should be a part of the conversation. I could go on and on, but really I can wrap it up with this: I am happy to see so many different paths in class. I love that I was the only Admin candidate in my discussion group. I love being able to hear what newcomers have to say about the profession I've evolved in over the last 20 years. I find the quality of new teachers inspiring, and it makes me hopeful for the latter half of my career that is yet to come. Their ingenuity and energy is going to be what makes education work in the 21st century, and I am excited to be someone that can help guide them to where they need and want to be. It's easy to feel defeated or disenfranchised when you begin to dig into the logistics of running a school. I don't like being the bad guy, the one people feel extra cautious speaking around, but that's a part of being a leader. We have to set our sights on lofty goals, and persevere just like we teach our students. And when people argue with us that we can't change certain things we have to be willing to stand our ground and say "And yet, here we are." |