I have read many good books, including @Alice Keeler and @EricSheniger, and also Running Lean. I have become the building administrator for Google Apps For Education (GAFE) and have been slowly able to learn, and experiment with GAFE as an enhancement for the LMS that I currently already use.
Mostly, I am contemplative though this Holiday season about the state of education in this country (the US..for all of my Canadian friends). I am worried that I see football and baseball players turning down contracts of $20,000,000+ per year, while many school districts continue to cut or decrease benefits to employees, stall with raises (cost of living and experience pay), and more and more Unions are under fire.
For 15 years I have remained in education, and have no plans of changing that anytime soon, but I worry about the nobility that once accompanied teaching in the US, has shifted towards the world of S.T.E.M., Sports, and Big Business...and the fast paced lives of those that work in those industries and for the bottom line. I feel that society is slowly forgetting that teachers are the inspirational base for students growing to be morally correct, and academically curious - lifelong learners. I am yet to hear many comments about the state of our education system in the Presidential Debates (addressing CCSS, Race to the Top, Funding, etc.). The national movement has not been strong enough for large districts to question the over-testing of students, and move back towards the empowerment and trust of teachers to deliver rigorous, and challenging instruction to students, that promotes growth, exploration, experimentation, and failure---all as acceptable side-effects. We also continue to miss with the professional development times that we 'assign' to our teachers...with the one-size-fits-all approach.
Instead we bury our heads in the data from these standardized tests, we feed the machines of College Board ( http://patch.com/new-jersey/newbrunswick/bp--the-college-board-a-very-profitable-nonprofit ) and Pearson ( http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/pearson-education-115026 ) educational companies. We buy their test prep programs, their textbooks, workbooks, pay them tens of Millions for stressing our students beyond humane levels, at all too young ages, and for what? So that we can consistently hear that the outlook of education in the US is worse now than ten or twenty years ago? Of course it is! Politicians seem to think that the only place to measure a students' success is from a scantron sheet or computer generated test result. Politicians who have NEVER spent an entire 8 hour day in the classrooms of their constituents, observing without judgement, the socio-economic, academic, and familial challenges that our students, and in turn, our teachers face.
As I sit by my open door, on Christmas Eve, I write not with anger, but with passion. I write with the passion that all teachers have for education, and their students! As the day winds to an end, so to does 2015. What will lie ahead in the coming months of 2016, as we elect a new President, have yet more debates about the current state of affairs in education (as if they are all the same), and even entertain ridiculous notions of allowing PRIVATELY held companies to take over our school systems, as we have allowed with the prison systems in the many U.S.states ( http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/02/18/6288/ ), because having a "for profit company" who donates and lobbies politicians, in charge of making decisions about educating our youth...would be "good" idea?!?!
I want to finish by taking a deep breath, asking you to do the same, and tell you that as I end this post, I feel anxious, but determined about the future of our educational system! I hope that I can continue to contribute to the lives of so may students, their futures---and continue to see the "light bulb moments" that teachers have come to love so much! The aspects of education that have been "trying" in my career have never been because of students, rather they are grounded in the 'system' that I long to effect change on.
I want to wish everyone around the world, especially the amazing, determined, loving, intelligent, and dedicated teachers and support staff - a very Happy and Safe Holiday and New Years! May 2016 bring you continued challenges, successes, and happiness!
