Perspectives Archives

A Teacher's Journal: What Do We Really Want?

I was re-reading some of the posts on my professional blog this morning, and stumbled across an entry that I wrote last spring that continues to resonate with me. It wrestles with the idea that we still struggle as a nation to decide exactly what it is that we want from our public schools---and those struggles prevent us from ever being truly successful in the eyes of everyone.

For me, a hard working classroom teacher that takes criticism of public schools personally, that lack of clarity has caused a strange combination of exhaustion mixed with frustration.

Interested in reading the original post? Here it is:

I was catching up on some blog reading this morning and found some interesting connections between posts from Brett on the DeHavilland Blog and Brian Mull over at November Learning. Brett sparked my thinking with these thoughts:

I was rereading a classic marketing article--Marketing Myopia, by Theodore Levitt (found in this excellent book)--and came across the following:

In a sense [Henry] Ford was both the most brilliant and the most senseless marketer in American history. He was senseless because he refused to give the customer anything but a black car. He was brilliant because he fashioned a production system designed to fit market needs.

We habitually celebrate him for the wrong reason, his production genius. His real genius was marketing. We think he was able to cut his selling price and therefore sell millions of $500 cars because his invention of the assembly line had reduced the costs. Actually he invented the assembly line because he had concluded that at $500 he could sell millions of cars. Mass production was the result, not the cause, of his low prices.

This is a fantastic new take on a classic story (and apparently a true one, based on Ford's writings). And it illustrates a critical difference between how most people fulfill a market need, and how a visionary like Henry Ford does.

Most people look at what they have, or what they do, and try to figure out where to sell it. Ford figured out what people wanted--in this case, an affordable car--and figured out how to give it to them. Hence, the invention of the assembly line, a means to an end which enabled him to provide that car affordably.

What if we applied this to public education? It seems as if the tremendous legacy system we have limits our vision, forcing us to think in terms of what the current system can do, and preventing us from thinking about what it is our customers need. What if we wiped the slate clean--forgot about all the buildings, the standard course of study, the bus schedules, the textbooks, the lunchroom, and everything else--and started from square one? What if we looked at what the customers of public education (students, parents, other stakeholders) really need, and how we can fill that need?

If we identified any of the following as a true want/need of education consumers, how would we retool the system to make them possible a la Henry Ford?

Brett's questions are brilliant because the vision and purpose for public education has become muddled by the cacophony of voices trying to shape direction for our schools. Put 10 random adults in a room and ask them what their "true wants and needs for education" are and you're quite likely to get ten different answers--not to mention a headache, high blood pressure and a darn good argument!

Consider this list of goals for schools compiled by a Superintendent in Missouri that Brian Mull found and recently shared with his readers:

America's public schools can be traced back to the year 1640. The Massachusetts Puritans established schools to:

1. Teach basic reading, some writing, and arithmetic skills, and

2. Cultivate values that serve a democratic society (some history and civics).

From 1900 to 1910, we added nutrition - immunization - and health to the list of school responsibilities.

From 1910 to 1930, we added Physical Education, including organized athletics - the practical arts - vocational education, including home economics and agricultural education, and - school transportation began to be mandated.

In the 1940's, we added business education - art and music - speech and drama - half day kindergarten, and - school lunch programs appeared (We take this for granted today. It was, however, a significant step to shift to the schools the job of feeding America's children 1/3 of their daily meals.)

In the 1950's, we added expanded science and math education - safety education - driver's education - expanded music and art education - foreign language requirements were strengthened, and - sex education was introduced (topics continue to escalate).

In the 1960's, we added Advanced Placement programs - Head Start - Title I - adult education - career education - peace, leisure, and recreation education.

In the 1970's, the breakup of the American family accelerated, and we added - special education (mandated by Federal Government - Title IX programs (greatly expanded athletic programs for female students) - drug and alcohol abuse education - parent education - behavior adjustment classes - character education - environmental education - school breakfast programs appeared (Now, some schools feed America's children 2/3 of their daily meals.)

In the 1980's, the flood gates opened, and we added keyboarding and computer education - global education - ethnic education - multicultural/non-sexist education - English-as-a-second-language, and bilingual education - Teen pregnancy awareness - Hispanic heritage education - Early childhood education - Jump Start, Early Start, Even Start, and Prime Start - full day Kindergarten - pre-school programs for children at-risk - after school programs for children of working parents - alternative education in all its forms - stranger/danger education - anti-smoking education - sexual abuse prevention education - health and psychological services were expanded, and - child abuse monitoring became a legal requirement for all teachers.

In the 1990's, we added conflict resolution and peer mediation - HIV/AIDS education - CPR training - death education - expanded computer and Internet education - inclusion - Tech Prep and School to Work programs - gang prevention education (in urban centers) - bus safety, bicycle safety, gun safety, and water safety education.

In the first years of the 21st century, we have superimposed upon everything else a layer of high-stakes, standardized tests.

Whew!

Is anyone surprised when teachers tell you that they're exhausted by the daily demands of their work? Is it possible to succeed in a system swamped by a million different goals set by a million different special interest groups wanting to take us in a million different directions? What's more, do we have any chance of down-sizing expectations in a culture where "Biggie-Sizing" everything has become a national pastime?

What is it that we really want from schools---and when will we take the time to come to consensus on this seemingly simple question?

Posted by William Ferriter at 08:22 AM on March 09, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Think Globally, Learn Locally

One of the reasons that I chose to make my career in the Wake County Public School System is that I knew I'd be surrounded by progressive thinkers and advocates for change in schools. One of the most progressive groups in our county that has served as a critical friend for years has been the Wake Education Partnership---and they've left me just plain jazzed again.

You see, earlier this week, the Partnership hosted a forum on the challenges involved in promoting world-class education in Wake County. Attended by almost 150 leaders from the business, parent and school community, the Forum was kicked off by a keynote address from Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College System and followed by facilitated discussions between participants.

Each participant group was asked to respond to a series of questions related to global education--which I believe to be one of the most pressing issues facing our county. The answers to each question are summarized below.

See if you agree with their assessments:

Question 1: What will our world look like in 2020?

• more diversified population


• higher tech and more evenly distributed


• intellectual capacity more distributed


• continuing issues with war, famine and environmental issues


• Local economy will be more urban, strong, high tech, more dense and cosmopolitan.


• greater competition from around the world


• ease of travel between countries, more mobile, "blurred country borders"


• live longer, more healthy, work longer


• speaking and communicating in a language other than English


• economy more service industry related


• more well-rounded culture


• Technology is key to society. Current training is not sufficient.


• We could lose our economic edge.

Question 2: What will a world-class, globally-competitive graduate need to know and be able to do?

• continue skill acquisition (lifelong)


• ability to communicate, strong interpersonal communications skills, reach out to diverse populations


• critical thinking skills, ability to validate information


• higher level thinkers, ability to work as a team


• understand what the "global economy" is and how it is going to impact students


• ability to bring disparate subjects together to understand the system (knowledge integration)


• sound basic liberal arts education (foundation)


• collaborate in a multi-cultural environment; global teaming


• higher proficiency in a specialized area, ability to adapt


• multi-cultural fluency (language, culture, history and government)


• having the capacity to think about other cultures and how they live

Conclusions:
The citizens of Wake County must work closely with the Wake County Public School System to determine what steps are necessary to ensure that its youngest citizens can compete in the future world market. We know that we need to make improvements in how we are preparing our children for the future and leaders must continue to define what world-class public education is. If one walks into a school, can they recognize that the students are receiving a world-class public education that is preparing them for the global economy? What resources are needed to make our schools world-class? Does a world-class public education even exist?

(Wake Education Partnership, "2008 Education Forum Results." E-mail to 'author'.28 Feb 2008.)

I couldn't agree more with the vision of a world-class education set forth in these statements by the Wake Education Partnership. Easily the greatest struggle that educators face in today's day and age is properly preparing students for a future that is poorly defined yet rapidly changing and increasingly borderless.

While most educators, parents and business leaders know that something must change, we often struggle to imagine what those changes might look like. Thankfully, leading thinkers on teaching and learning are beginning to tackle this question in a very structured and systematic way. In a 2008 post on his blog, Will Richardson---widely recognized as one of America's most progressive educational thinkers---worked to define the kinds of skills that would be necessary for students to succeed in an increasingly interconnected world.

He wrote:

Our kids' futures will require them to be:

Networked--They'll need an "outboard brain."

More collaborative--They are going to need to work closely with people to co-create information.

More globally aware--Those collaborators may be anywhere in the world.

Less dependent on paper--Right now, we are still paper training our kids.

More active--In just about every sense of the word. Physically. Socially. Politically.

Fluent in creating and consuming hypertext--Basic reading and writing skills will not suffice.

More connected--To their communities, to their environments, to the world.

Editors of information--Something we should have been teaching them all along but is even more important now.

So what does that mean for teachers and schools? What actions must we take to create the networked, collaborative and globally active learners described in Richardson's post and by the Wake Education Partnership? What barriers will we face in our efforts to rethink teaching and learning?

How can we ensure that our students will begin to see beyond themselves, understanding that global challenges are our challenges and that global citizenship is essential for the continuing success of our community? Will current models of student assessment have to change? How about models for teacher evaluation and professional development?

Do spending priorities change in a system that is increasingly interested in developing globally aware students? How? How about time priorities within our classrooms? Should we reinvent (re-embrace?) social studies as a critical content area that can no longer be overlooked? Is it even possible for us to continue juggling our current curricular responsibilities and add new tasks to our plate?

Can we streamline our work in any way?

Interesting questions, huh?

Pick one and leave a feedback comment with your answers. If we get enough interesting replies, I'll post them next week.

Posted by William Ferriter at 10:09 AM on March 01, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Raising Awareness on Darfur

Few educators would argue that one of our primary responsibilities is preparing students for the 21st Century. Learning to use digital tools to create, communicate and collaborate is essential because those skills and dispositions will define the most common workplaces of tomorrow.

The greater burden, though, is preparing students for standardized testing today! Pressure to produce results on end of grade exams often scares teachers away from digital learning opportunities. "I don't have the time to teach 21st Century skills," they'll argue. "I'll never get through my curriculum. Besides, I've only got three computers in my classroom and they rarely work."

Sound familiar?

Then you'll be jazzed by a global collaborative project designed to raise awareness on the genocide occurring in Darfur that I stumbled across a few weeks back.

The project---birthed by DC 8th grade teacher George Mayo and Tampa 3rd grade teacher Wendy Drexler---is titled Many Voices: Darfur...and it is remarkably approachable. The only product that students are being asked to produce is a comment on the Many Voices project blog on March 6th or 7th.

To make commenting even easier, I've created a list of commenting strategies which you can find here. George and Wendy have also created a list of prompts that your students can respond to when commenting. And George's students have created a collection of resources that your students can use to get caught up to speed about Darfur.

Many classes are taking this project even further---and are inviting you to join them! Here's a pledge to end genocide that your students can read and sign, showing support for those who are being mistreated around the world and here's a Voicethread presentation that includes conversation around political cartoons that you can comment on:

The best part of this project is that it ties into the required curriculum of several different content areas. Almost all of our language arts curriculas expect students to participate in cooperative dialogue by reading and responding to the thinking of others. Social studies classes across grade levels study issues related to power and government---and seventh graders study Africa directly.

Many classes are also focusing on Black History month right now, using this time to study themes like justice and injustice in America. These themes resonate in our students---and make for natural connections to the Many Voices: Darfur project.

There are also hundreds of high school kids who already know tons and tons about genocide in Darfur, as I learned through the incredible piece spotlighting their work in the News and Observer on Thursday. For those students, the Many Voices project would be a breeze!

That means jumping in and participating in this project is not something "extra" for you to do. Instead, it is a chance to get your toes into the digital waters while teaching your curriculum. Your students can be a part of something much bigger than themselves in less than 30 minutes. All they need is a chance to participate.

Couldn't be a much better opportunity than that, don't you think?

If you're interested in seeing your students participate, consider the following simple steps:

1. Begin by introducing your students to exactly what's happening in Darfur. I used this powerful multimedia presentation to learn more myself...and then chose parts of it to share with my students.

2. Then, ask your students to do a bit of free-writing about the idea of genocide. Should the world community care when a group of people millions of miles away are being mistreated? Why? What kinds of consequences do genocides have on the world community? What kind of actions should the world community take to help unprotected members of different races or religions?

3. Have your students proofread and edit one another's free-writing. Comments to blogs don't have to be long and complicated in order to be powerful----but like any writing that is being shared with a broad audience, they do need to be grammatically correct! Ideas are cheapened when they are riddled with mistakes.

4. Design a system for getting your students access to a computer on March 6th or March 7th. Sign up for the computer lab if it's available. Create a sign-up sheet for your classroom computers if it's not! Consider allowing students to leave comments during silent reading time. Make commenting a station activity for that day.

That's it! By taking these four simple steps, you can help your students understand how genocide affects everyone----and give them an experience in digital collaboration that they won't soon forget.

If you're interested in talking more about how to make this work in your classroom, look me up in the Lotus Notes address book and drop me a line. I'd be happy to help!

Posted by William Ferriter at 11:15 AM on February 24, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Educational Summer Programs at Local Colleges

We've assembled a list of career-oriented summer programs at local colleges for our middle and high school students. These programs are both fun and educational, and they can help direct a child's career path through hands-on career-focused activities.

Link to the School-to-Career summer programs at Wake Tech, NC State, Meredith, and Duke.

The Office of Pre-College Programs at North Carolina State University will host its 3rd annual Information Fair for Pre-College Programs and Summer Opportunities for Youth on Sunday, February 24, 2008, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the McKimmon Center, on the corner of Western Boulevard and Gorman Street in Raleigh.

 

Chris Droessler

School-to-Career of Wake County is preparing every student to make knowledgeable career choices.

Posted by Chris Droessler at 09:07 AM on February 20, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: The Road to Irrelevance?

Recently, a Teacher Leaders Network colleague of mine got me thinking about the state of teaching when he asked:

So, do you think public education is heading for obsolescence? Will the institution be 'left behind' because of its own lethargy?

I actually think the answer to my colleague's first question might just be yes....but the answer to his second question is definitely no.

Here's what I mean:

I really do think that public schools are becoming somewhat irrelevant and obsolete to our kids. We literally "unplug" them each time that they set foot into our doors----and more importantly, we disregard (disrespect?) the ways that they've chosen to create, communicate and collaborate. While they've embraced social networking tools and online applications, we've resisted making them a part of our instruction.

Teachers tend to operate from the belief that students have the responsibility to adapt to our instruction, rather than the belief that we have an obligation to adapt our instruction to our students. In fact, we sometimes get belligerent when our students seem bored in class, taking it as a personal insult rather than a reflection of instruction that doesn't match the interests of the kids in our class.

I'm not sure that this "resistance to change" is a result of lethargy, though. Instead, it's a result of the lack of time and effective professional development about how to best integrate new technologies into the classroom.

For me, embracing a new instructional practice----whether it uses technology or not----takes hundreds of hours. I have to read about the practice and have my interest piqued. Then, I have to see it in action in other places. Then, I need to design a "first stab" at making the practice a reality in my room. Then, I need to tailor it to meet the demands of my own setting and my own lessons. Then, I need to fail a few times and hunt out solutions from peers who are using the practice effectively.

All of that takes a massive amount of time....and with technology, the adoption process is only longer because many teachers aren't drawn to digital tools to begin with! "Mastery" is always more challenging when the tools are new.

I think the barrier we face is one that we've wrestled with forever: In our country, professional development isn't valued or supported. Time away from kids for teachers is seen by the general public as wasted time. Until we can change that flawed perception, we'll struggle to get teachers to embrace any new instructional practice because they recognize that "growth" means unpaid efforts long after the school day has ended.

Posted by William Ferriter at 08:05 AM on February 17, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: My Personal Shame

I'm sometimes embarrassed about the kind of guy that I am. I've got a list of weaknesses that stretches out longer than my arm---and I'm sure you could find a whole range of people who think I'm a dog. I'm often convinced that they're right. After all, I can be impatient and self-centered, I'm a loner who is more comfortable behind a computer screen than he is in group conversations, and I can be quick to argue.

But my greatest strength is my willingness to be honest and open---and that's what I'm fixin' to do here. Let me tell you about the incredibly selfish decision that I made a few years back.

Why would I willingly open myself up to the criticism that this entry is likely to generate?

Because it's time that the voice of teachers are heard in the constant debate around redistricting in our county.

My confession is sparked by a seemingly one-sided article in the News and Observer questioning the merits of our community's commitment to balancing the percentages of free and reduced lunch students in buildings across our district. As T. Keung writes in a loaded opening sentence:

Don't expect Wake County school leaders to prove that their policy of trying to strike a districtwide balance on the number of low-income students at each school helps those children academically.

They just can't.

Perhaps I can.

You see, I've spent the better part of my fifteen years in this school system working in the affluent schools of Western Wake County. I was lucky enough to be a part of the first faculty at two high performing, low poverty schools: Davis Drive Middle and Salem Middle---and I've passionately served those communities well for nearly a decade. I've earned a solid reputation as a teacher who goes the extra mile and who resonates with the student population.

I've coached multiple teams, influencing the hearts and minds of the boys who have played for me. I've offered after-school clubs and inspired countless readers and writers. My classroom is characterized by engaging conversations and opportunities for students to learn skills that they will need to succeed in the 21st Century. We use digital tools to explore our curriculum and to create content for the Web.

And I'm proud of what I've done for my students. They are generally better for having known me.

But in the back of my mind, I've always wondered if there weren't students who needed me more. After all, Salem Middle School is lucky enough to have a sea of accomplished teachers----and our students come to school with advantages that students living in poverty will never have access to. Shouldn't I take my skills to a building with a higher percentage of students who struggle?

Most of those who criticize our commitment to using economic factors in student assignment decisions would say yes. The answer to improving the performance of students living in poverty isn't reassignment, they argue. Instead, it's ensuring that every child has access to an accomplished teacher. Consider this quote from T. Keung's piece:

The lack of a study proving that reassigning poor students helps them academically leaves Wake school officials open to critics such as Abigail Thernstrom, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, a policy research organization that supports school choice. Thernstrom said more effective teaching is the best method for educating low-income students -- not reassignment.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? Just stop moving kids around, pay no mind to alarmingly high percentages of poverty, and improve teaching. All will be well with the world.

The problem is this: Recruiting and retaining accomplished teachers in buildings where poverty rates soar is no simple task. Consider my story as an example:

A few years back, I decided to leave Davis Drive Middle School because I needed a bit of a professional change. I'd grown stagnant. In the process of interviewing, I landed a job teaching science at Seneca Middle---the ficticious name of a Wake County school where I had several professional acquaintances. Seneca and Davis were different places. At the time, Davis Drive had less than 7 percent of their student population living in poverty and Seneca had almost 30.

My time at Seneca was amazing in many ways. I worked with some of the most passionate teachers I've ever encountered---people who had a heart for children living in poverty and who worked long hours trying to meet needs that children at Davis never had. They spent countless hours providing free tutoring before and after school and counseling kids whose parents were going through troubled times.

They found ways to fund needed supplies for students who had nothing. They organized volunteers from local community groups to provide role models for kids that needed someone to look up to. They learned about gangs, developed effective practices for motivating struggling learners, and marshalled the resources of the system whenever it looked like a kid might fail.

And like me, they also left work every day completely exhausted!

Swamped by demands that I never had to deal with while working with affluent students, I thought about quitting early and often. I had few skills that were tailored to the setting where I was working and there were no real opportunities to learn more.

The shocker for me was that despite doing a dramatically more difficult job, I was getting no additional time or resources at Seneca Middle than I was at Davis. My planning periods were spent in special programs meetings or in filling out discipline referrals. On countless occassions, I floundered in the middle of lessons because many of my students hadn't yet mastered the basic skills needed to move forward with even simple tasks.

I spent hundreds of hours planning lessons that were appropriate for the wide range of students in my classroom. Then, I'd spend hundreds of hours trying to find the resources to deliver those same lessons. Then, I'd spend hundreds of hours picking up the pieces after those lessons didn't work.

All for the same pay as I was getting at Davis Drive.

Now, if I were an altruistic kind of guy, I would have walked the same path taken by the dedicated professionals who have chosen to make their careers in high poverty schools. To me, these teachers are Saints that put the needs of their children above themselves. They knowingly take assignments that are demanding and rarely seek to draw attention to the very real challenges that they could let go if they simply found a new place to work.

But I'm not an altruistic guy. I quit Seneca Middle after just one year. And that's a source of great personal shame for me.

Think about it: Teachers are supposed to be selfless, aren't they? We're supposed to be socially aware and willing to give to others. We're supposed to stick up for the little guy. With a bit of gumption, we're supposed to attack any challenge---and inspire our students to do the same!

Instead, I walked away, returning to a position in a school where my students are equally deserving but far more likely to succeed with or without me. I knew that my qualifications and experiences would get me hired again in an "easier" school and felt strongly that my decision was justified---after all, nothing was being done to make work with students of poverty more desirable.

"That's a source of shame we all share," I'd argue. "When we're willing to publically recognize that positions in high-needs schools are far more demanding than positions in schools serving more affluent populations, I'll consider moving again."

The fact of the matter is that our district's commitment to balancing the percentages of students living in poverty at each building makes sense to me because I know just how hard work in high poverty schools really is. By using economic factors in our assignment decisions, we're creating schools that at least have a fighting chance of attracting and retaining enough accomplished teachers to serve students well. Even though I was too selfish to stick it out, thousands of other teachers are willing to "give it a go" in buildings across our county because percentages of poverty are manageable.

Nowhere in our district will you find schools that are simply miserable places for teachers to work----and in the long run, that contributes to student achievement and to the overall health of our system. Employers that look at Wake County as a potential home for their companies can find successful schools from one side of a very large county to another----and a part of the reason for that is we've worked to make teaching easier in communities that might otherwise be riddled with poverty.

Now, I'm willing to be open-minded. I understand the draw of neighborhood schools and stability for parents and students---Heck, I grew up in one and loved it.

But neighborhood schools don't serve everyone equally. Some neighborhoods struggle with almost overwhelming challenges brought on by poverty----and those neighborhoods will struggle to ensure that every child has access to an accomplished teacher unless we plan to provide teachers in more challenging schools with longer planning periods, smaller class sizes, increased salaries and more social service professionals.

To do otherwise is an open admission that we just don't value every child in our community equally.

Posted by William Ferriter at 08:42 AM on February 10, 2008 | Leave Feedback

CTE Students Tour Naval Hospital

Forty of our top Health Occupations students from five Wake County high schools had a unique experience touring the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune. These students got to walk through many of the specialized rooms and even toured their impressive lab area.

The students saw medical personnel working their regular jobs, which is so essential for our students to see. Students had the opportunity to talk to the health professionals about their job and what lead them to their career choice.

Many of these students have already decided on their career direction based on experiences in their Health Occupations classes. This trip behind the scenes at a hospital gave them the sense of actual working conditions that they can't get in a classroom.

Picture of our students in the hospital lab.

We are fortunate to have Health Occupations courses as part of our Career and Technical Education (CTE) program in Wake County. The aging baby-boomer generation is demanding more health professionals, and we are doing our part to prepare them.

These students are designing their postsecondary education/career pathway, and this hospital trip may have helped narrow that focus for some.

This is just one of many special activities that are occurring in February as part of CTE (Career and Technical Education) Month.

More information about CTE Month in Wake County.

Chris Droessler

School-to-Career of Wake County is preparing every student to make knowledgeable career choices.

Posted by Chris Droessler at 11:55 AM on February 08, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: A Time for Listening

Over the past three years, I've done a heck of a lot of writing. I've published just under 20 columns in a monthly newsletter for the National Staff Development Council, just under 80 columns here on the WCPSS website, and just under 150 columns on The Tempered Radical. I've had articles published in Threshold Magazine, Teacher Magazine, The Journal for Staff Development and Education Leadership.

But I've never written a column that touched a nerve like last week's Are We Toxic to Boys entry here on the Morning Announcements.

As of Friday afternoon, 50 different readers had left comments. To give you some perspective, 50 comments on a single entry in the blog world is nothing short of unbelievable. Typically, columns---regardless of the forum---average between 5 and 15 comments per entry.

With the response that I got, you'd've thought I was writing about redistricting!

What's even more amazing is that every single comment was from a parent or a teacher who firmly believed that our classrooms are failing our boys. Their passionate words were a wake-up call for me, serving as a reminder that my instruction has to be tailored to the unique needs of every learner----and that traditional classrooms can be punishing places for our boys.

Many parents spoke of the higher levels of activity that they see in their sons....and the negative reaction this activity draws in schools. Consider these examples:

I found this article very interesting. Everything you said I've hear about my son. Every teacher he's had says the same thing, "He a very smart boy but he easliy gets off task." I know---I'm his mother---but I know he is very smart and just needs an active learning environment.

Over the years, our son has definitely felt that some of his teachers have favored the girls in the class. As a boy he has been reprimanded for asking too many questions, moving too much, or making too much noise. I don't know if single gender classrooms are the answer, but I do have appreciation for a teacher who can understand the temperament of a boy, and overlook the little stuff in favor of a more boy-friendly learning environment.

Others recognized the very real impact that standardized testing has had on teaching and learning in our schools---and suggested that boys suffered from these changes more than girls:

We are so worried about teaching "how to take a test" we lose sight of building the love of learning with these children...If some of the teachers could put a little ingenuity back into their teaching, while following the curriculum put in place by Wake County schools, children would be ready to go to school every morning because they will be AFRAID they will miss something!

I believe there are some fundamentals that are no longer in the school day that greatly contribute to the "hyperactivity" and other so called "behavioral" issues that you and your peers face every day. Look, I'm an expert on this ADHD stuff, spoken to many premier thought leaders in this area in the medical community about one of my own children, and I can tell you that one of the main things that is missing in school is rigorous exercise. Yes, that's right. That is the best thing "on the market" for hyperactivity, and we've squeezed it out of the school day, even at the elementary school age level (I have one of them too).

Several comments came from teachers---sharing the successes and struggles of trying to reach boys in the classroom:

I am a band director in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The majority of my students are male. I spend time after school each day for enrichment tutoring, teaching them how to advance on their instruments, play the drum set, etc. The more hyperactive ones are also the most talented. The more I give to them instructionally, the better my results.

You really have adminstration that walks into your class to observe who won't mark you down for students blurting out in class? I think that is a wonderful thing. In all fairness, we are told as teachers if our students aren't sitting in nice little rows raising their hands that we don't have control of our classroom and no learning can be taking place.

I teach preschool, so I can tell you all about wiggling. I have the opportunity to get my kids moving, trying crazy things, and am slowly having them sit for longer periods. Working with older kids, there is not a lot of time in the schedule for fooling around. Teachers need to be taught in methods training to accommodate different styles of learning. Teaching kids to love learning is as valuable as the curriculum.

Tons of readers tackled my central question: Should we consider single gender classrooms for our kids:

My son is "one of those boys" who can't sit still, talks a lot, and taps with things to stay focused. Yet, give him something to do physically or with his hands, and he masters concepts very quickly. I'm not sure that gender -separating is the answer. We all have to learn how to work with all kinds of people. I think reinforcing ideas through different learning styles might be more appropriate.

I am not sure if single gender classrooms are the cure. Instead, a well balanced effort by teachers can entice both boys and girls to perform at similar levels. When boys aren't allowed to be boys----check, when children are not allowed to act like children----they miss the long road of growing up. Medication, drop-out rates and discipline issues rise, leading to adults that cannot act like adults.

I absolutely agree that boys and girls have very different thresholds for sitting still and not making noises. My son, and the sons of many friends, have all had problems in school because they couldn't "behave." It's just the boy level of activity. Girls sit and write FOR FUN! Most boys, mine included, would rather take a stick in the eye. If having single gender classrooms will allow boys to be themselves AND enjoy being in school, I'm all for it. Unfortunately, my son will hopefully have survived high school before this happens.

And some wondered whether race played an important role in this conversation:

Yes, I do think the school system is toxic to boys---especially Black boys. These boys are stereotyped if they don't look or act a certain way. Teachers have no tolerance for hyperactive or mischievous boys. They are easily labeled as disruptive and perceived as not wanting to learn.

Some male teachers dislike certain boys that are independent, silent and strong willed. They know that those boys have formed a negative opinion of them and do not want to become a part of their society. This is not racial, this is how they express their maleness. We as a society do not know these boys at all.

The comments that tugged at my heart-strings the most were from parents sharing personal struggles to see their sons succeed:

Our boys are trounced on, put out, overlooked, disrespected and tolerated. These are some of the most creative, loving, kind-hearted, funny, caring and understanding people we know and we don't want to take the time to realize that! How unfortunate for the rest of us!

I have 3 boys and early on I observed that they learned by moving and were often tapping a pencil or drumming their fingers or jiggling a leg when having to "sit still and listen". My middle son was written up last year for being "disrespectful and tapping his pencil while his science teacher was presenting a lesson"; my very sad kid came home and told me that he wasn't even aware of doing that at that time!

I serendipitously found this article right after attending my 1st grader's IEP meeting for behavior and social problems. I am lucky he too has an understanding teacher, but she is very limited and I worry about future classrooms. I feel forced to "label" my child as disabled just so he can act normally! I suppose his disability is "inability to suppress natural gender behaviors." How were boys treated in the classroom before all these issues arose? What constituted disruptive behavior then and how did boys get the appropriate outlets?

I think the comment that left me wondering the most, however, was the last one left. Listen to the pain in these words:

As the mother of an almost 19 year old sophomore drop-out, I would agree totally with this article. I felt like I was treading water in an ocean trying to hold my son on my shoulders as I dealt with numerous school personnel in regards to my son's education.

I tried everything to get my son through school. If there was a medication for ADHD; he took it. If there was an IEP coordinator or counselor at his school; I knew them. He has been in detention, suspended, reprimanded, sent to therapy, but most of all, humiliated. I prayed for the teacher that would finally get through to him to teach him ANYTHING!!!

He will be 19 in March, with less than a 9th grade education trying to work and be an "adult". I feel like the school system that was supposed to teach and help with all the "assistance" from an LD program---as well as myself---have let him down. I think that if he had someone that cared enough about him, he would have likely finished high school.

But everyone that we ran across never seemed to know what to do with him.

Posted by William Ferriter at 05:14 PM on February 01, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Are We Toxic to Boys?

As I stumbled through the news this week, I found an article in the London Times that caught my attention titled Boys, Brains and Toxic Lessons. In it, Alexandra Freen---a Times Columnist---tackles a question that runs through my mind often: Do traditional public school classrooms fail our boys?

It's a fair question to ask, isn't it? After all, boys have fallen far behind girls in almost every measurable category of school performance. Their end of grade test scores are lower, their graduation rates are lower, their rates of participation in advanced placement classes are lower and they drop out of school far more often than girls.

By any account, that should be alarming.

But the alarms just continue if you dig into the statistics a bit deeper. Consider that:

---95% of children who are diagnosed as hyperactive are boys.
---Boys make up 80-90% of all discipline referrals in schools.
---Boys make up over 65% of all children on medication.
---Boys make up over 70% of all children in special education programs.

Shocking, huh? In our efforts to "control" and "manage" our classrooms, it seems that we are unknowingly putting boys at a disadvantage. As Dr. Leonard Sax---author of Boys Adrift and advocate for single gender classrooms---argues:

"In the co-educational classroom so many of the choices we make are to the advantage of girls, but disadvantage boys. The fact that girls are doing well is not the problem. The problem is, why can't their brothers do as well?

Asking a five-year-old to sit still and read and write is something that many girls can do, but many boys can't. I have visited more than 200 schools. This is what I hear the teachers saying, 'Jason, why are you standing?', 'Gerard, are you making a buzzing noise?', 'Robert, can you stop tapping?', 'Look at Emily, she's sitting still and is good'.

These observations have been reinforced time and again in my own fifteen year teaching career. Boys who thrive in my loud, fast paced classroom are often labelled "discipline problems" and "trouble makers" when they head off to other teachers. I can remember fighting a special programs referral started by a colleague on a boy early in my career because I knew that he was not struggling with a learning problem. "This kid's bright," I argued in a particularly heated meeting.

"Yeah, but he never shuts up and he never sits down," I was told. "He's hyperactive and that needs to be fixed."

Needs to be fixed, huh?

I guess I just don't see the traits that make boys so unique as "broken." Instead, I work hard to make my classroom a "boy-friendly" place. I'm never surprised by students who blurt out or who struggle to stay seated. I move often---and let my kids move often too. I break lessons into smaller chunks and make sure there are plenty of opportunities for kids to talk to one another during the course of my class.

And it seems to work. The boys I serve year in and year out are pretty successful, both socially and academically. They enjoy coming to school and are willing to work hard for me. That's something I'm proud of---and something I wish I could pass on to other teachers because it breaks my heart to see those same kids lose the love of learning when they end up in a room where "boy-ness" is seen as an illness in need of medication.

So what do you think? Are the majority of today's classrooms "toxic" to boys? Have your sons struggled to succeed during the course of their school careers? Where did they thrive---and what was different about those settings?

Are single gender classrooms something that we should consider as a community? Is the gender gap an issue that we need to begin to aggressively address?

If we get a good collection of comments, I'll post them here next week. Should make for interesting reading.

Posted by William Ferriter at 12:27 PM on January 26, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Interesting Reads #1

One of the features that I've started adding to my own professional blog is a list of links to articles that I read during the course of a week. At first, I thought it was just an easy way for me to keep track of the information about education that catches my eye.

You know how the Web can be---finding information is almost overwhelming.

And I use a service called Delicious to bookmark interesting sites that makes posting to my blog easy. In fact, a list of links that I save in Delicious is posted automatically every day. So not only am I able to keep track of articles of interest to me, but I have almost constant content for my blog as well----a key for keeping people interested.

What I didn't realize is just how much readers would appreciate links to resources!

I've had several people email me directly to say that these posts---which I figured would be of interest only to me---were one of their favorite parts of my blog. Turns out that other people struggle to sift through the sea of content online too. "It takes me hours to find one or two pieces that are worth exploring," one respondent wrote. "Your posts save me tons of time because they point me straight to interesting reads!"

That's pushed me to consider posting lists of "interesting reads" here on the Morning Announcements a few times a month. While you may not be jazzed by every link that I share, inevitably something will eventually catch your attention----and I will have saved you the hassle of having to find it on your own!

With that said, here's a few pieces that crossed my radar this week. They've got a decidedly "tech-heavy, social networking" theme:

It's Spooky Out There
An interesting article on how Alabama schools are balancing the need to keep kids safe online and the need to provide exposure to tools for communication and collaboration published in the Working Towards Excellence newsletter.

Social, work lives collide on networking websites
A USA Today piece on the blurring of privacy lines that occurs for users of social networking sites.

The Economist Debate Series on Education
The Economist---a news magazine out of the United Kingdom---has been holding a series of interesting online debates this year about education. This link connects to the archives of all conversations---and provides direct access to the current debate on the role that social networking sites can play in teaching and learning.

Skip and the Troublesome Teddy
A student blog post that illustrates the kinds of reflective thinking that can result when classrooms embrace blogging. Student authors had their thinking challenged by a reader----and then responded to the challenge. That's reflective thought----and that's cool.

Anyway....hope something here catches your eye. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Chances are I'll hit on a theme you're motivated by at some point in the future!

Posted by William Ferriter at 05:32 PM on January 18, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: The Digitally Connected Kid

I've been doing a lot of reading and writing lately about teaching with techology---which is something I'm both personally and professionally drawn to.

And you know what, I'm pretty convinced that kids today are just plain wired differently. After all, they've grown up connected, haven't they? The constant stimulation and instant gratification of the Web---not to mention increasingly interactive television programs and video games---can be difficult for me to compete with!

Sometimes, I find myself frustrated by my kids. "Why won't they just sit still and listen?" I grumble. "After all, that's how I learned----and it's good enough for them too!"

Sound familiar?

But I also believe that as professional educator, it's my job to tailor my instruction to meet the needs of my ever-changing student population---rather than simply demand that my students adapt to the reality of my classroom.

To that end, I figured I'd share a few articles with you that are shaping my thinking about the digitally connected kid:

1. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: This 2001 Marc Prensky piece is an amazingly approachable description of the differences between those who see no separation between technology and life---and those who have to work to make technology work for them!

It's kind of a defining selection for anyone interested in understanding how technology has changed our kids.

2. A 14-year Old Talks Educational Technology: Ever wonder what runs through the minds of our students when thinking about technology in schools? Then check out this piece, drawn from an interview with a tech-driven kid named Arthus.

May as well hear it from the horse's mouth, right?

How has technology changed the lives of the kids in your life? Are the changes something positive that we should embrace...or are they completely overrated? Do our children use technology for meaningful, creative purposes...or is it just a simple form of entertainment?

Are schools prepared to teach students who were born in an era when digital tools were nearly ubiquitous...or are we hopelessly stuck in a forgotten time and simply resistant to change? Should finding ways to make digitally enhanced classrooms a reality be a top priority in our county?

I guess I'm stuck with more questions than I have answers today!

Posted by William Ferriter at 03:39 PM on January 13, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Custom Tutorials for You!

Few would argue that technology is playing an increasingly important role in the lives of adults and children as we sprint towards a digital tomorrow that has yet to be clearly defined. Learning to capitalize on the wide range of tools available for communication, collaboration and creative instruction is essential for teachers, parents and students alike---yet time for learning is short.

To address these challenges, Wake County has begun to develop a website including links to valuable web-based resources and screencast tutorials introducing new technologies and topics. The materials collected and developed for this site are designed to support teaching and learning both at school and at home.

Better yet, the materials collected and developed for this site are almost always free!

Interested in learning more?

Then be sure to spend some time poking around in the website by visiting this link. Also, spend a few minutes checking out this short introductory video:

The section of the site that is currently the most developed are a collection of writing and grammar tutorials found here. Primarily designed for middle and high school students, these tutorials introduce viewers to the characteristics of high quality writing and to the kinds of basic grammar topics that every child must master.

Created by a Wake County language arts teacher, these tutorials specifically address the curriculum delivered in our community's classrooms. These tutorials can serve as mini-lessons for teachers or as tools for review for students working from home. More importantly, they can serve as a model for parents who are interested in learning more about the kinds of skills that students should be developing in their English/Language Arts classes.

You might also be interested in this collection of tutorials introducing students to the skills necessary for determining whether or not a website is reliable or this collection of tutorials introducing a range of technology tools that are valuable for supporting teaching and learning.

(Kids---there's even a collection of tutorials showing off thousands of free resources available in iTunes!)

We hope you'll be a frequent visitor to this growing collection of valuable resources--and that you'll make regular suggestions about topics that you'd like to see tackled. We also hope that you'll share your favorite resources with us so that we can continue to add to the base of common knowledge we're building on teaching and learning with technology.

Together, we can ensure that our children are prepared for the digital world that they will inherit!

Posted by William Ferriter at 05:17 PM on January 06, 2008 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Just Another New Year?

Round about this time every year, I get to thinking about my hopes and dreams for the New Year. I don't know why, but it's the only time that I ever get wistful, so I figure what the heck....I may as well run with it.

I've got about a million dreams in my personal life right now. My wife and I have just finished saving enough money to adopt a child and I'm hoping to be a dad sometime before next January.

There's a scary thought, huh?!

Professionally, I hope to be able to nail down enough consistent part time work to allow myself the chance to stay in the classroom full time. That's been a goal of mine for a long while---I've never wanted to be anything but a classroom teacher---but with a child on the way, a 12-month salary is a must for me now.

And for our community, I'd love to see less acrimony in our conversations about schools.

Think about it---Pretty much every time education comes across our collective radar, anger is not far behind, is it? Every decision is met with criticism and every action is second-guessed. Calling our responses "passionate" would be putting it kindly most of the time!

And honestly, it seems like that "passion" is getting us no where quick. If we're truly interested in maintaining---and improving---a public school system that is recognized nationally for academic success and that contributes to the strong growth in our local economy, then we've got to start working together rather than opposing one another at every turn.

What will it take to make my dream of collective action a reality?

First, our school system will have to learn to communicate better: I'm always blown away by the negativity that my neighbors have towards the Wake County Public Schools. Parents completely committed to individual teachers and buildings speak with scorn about our system as a whole, doubting the intent of every action that we take. I've sadly learned over the past few years that trust between our system and the community is almost non-existant.

What's frightening is that this lack of trust results in flawed assumptions about the direction of our system. A perfect example is the incorrect assertion that yearly redistricting happens primarily because of our county's commitment to diversity. No matter how hard I try---or how many numbers back up my argument---I can't convince critics that redistricting is primarily a result of explosive growth.

But building trust is the responsibility of the system. District leaders and school board members---who I know as honest, hardworking people---have to commit themselves to explaining the rationale behind every decision and to reaching out to those groups who are the most critical of our actions. While the conversations are sure to be difficult, they're also essential for a system that depends on the financial and emotional support of the community that we serve.

Next, every citizen will have to seek out answers before jumping to conclusions. One of the best tips that I ever picked up about communicating in difficult situations was to always ask why a resonable, rational person would make decisions that appear--at first glance--to be illogical. By doing so, you're forced to see your "enemy" as a human that is worthy of respect. You're also forced to think critically about both sides of an issue before forming opinions.

I'm not sure that this kind of critical thinking characterizes conversations around education in our county. Instead we all---teachers, parents, business leaders, district leaders, elected officials, community activists, reporters---tend to make emotional judgments about those who we disagree with. Then, we allow emotional judgments to override facts when making up our minds.

Does this sound like anyone you know? It definitely describes my behaviors when responding to critics. "They're clueless," I'll rant, "If they were intelligent, they wouldn't make these mistakes."

Dehumanizing those who we see as opponents makes it easier to ignore them---and makes it less likely that we'll consider perspectives other than our own. To responsibly participate in conversations about the direction of education in Wake County, we owe it to ourselves to think critically---and to trust that others are reasonable and rational too!

Finally, if we're going to see acrimony around schools fade, our elected leaders need to make education a real bipartisan priority. Someone once asked me what I thought the greatest barrier to school improvement was. My answer: Election cycles and politics.

Interesting, huh?

But remarkably true! Education---which you'd think would be an issue that drew consensus rather than conflict---is political times ten. Often, well-intentioned elected officials end up getting suckered into political jockeying that clouds progress...and anytime politics becomes the primary factor in decision-making, it's our system that suffers. Fighting within the ranks of our elected officials frustrates me only because it ends up interfering with our ability to educate children.

Imagine how productive we could be as a community if we were committed to finding solutions for educational challenges together? By organizing the best minds representing diverse perspectives into work groups based on a true spirit of collaboration and consensus building, we would benefit from a collective intelligence that often seems lost in our conversations about education.

Now that's a dream worth pursuing, isn't it?

But it is a dream that will take effort from everyone---including you and me---if we're going to make 2008 something more than just another New Year.

Posted by William Ferriter at 11:28 AM on December 30, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Tale of the Tired Teacher!

If you were to ask my students about me right now, they'd tell you that I've been nothing short of cantankerous for the past two weeks. I've been quick with the criticism and the picture of poor patience, that's for sure. My sense of humor is almost non-existant, replaced with stern looks, terse words and one seriously righteous red pen!

How's that for a double-dose of Bah-Humbug?

Now, don't get me wrong: I haven't been bitten by the bitter-bug for just any ol' reason. My students have been wide open for most of December. I'm no meteorologist, but based on the craziness that's broken out in my classroom lately, I'd have to guess that the moon has been full since Thanksgiving! Friday was the tipping point as one of my favorite students inexplicably threw nacho-cheese sauce and chocolate milk against my wall---and then couldn't stop laughing about it as I fussed.

The only silver lining to my black holiday cloud: We're tracking out for a five-week break in five more days!

In many ways, that's the best part of our school's transition to a year round calendar. While I'm suffering from some serious "teacher fatigue" right now, I know that I'm going to have the much needed opportunity to recharge in a few days. What's more, the tensions that are so clearly building up between students on my team will wash away over track out as well. My kids will come back focused and ready to rip again in early February---and I'll be happy to see them!

An unexpected benefit of our conversion to year round has been that my instruction has gotten more targeted and specific because I recognize at the beginning of each track-in session that I have a rapidly closing 9-week window to deliver content. Understanding that my time with students is limited has caused me to be far more specific about what I am going to teach and when I am going to teach it. Units that tended to drift on a traditional calendar because end dates were soft have been tailored and trimmed, focusing on essential content and the required curriculum.

While I understand and respect the argument that the year round calendar does not fit the schedules of many families---and support the decision of any family to opt out of a calendar that interferes with their ability to raise their children----I'm becoming a believer that the year round calendar has some real benefits for both teachers and students.

Now if I can only survive five more candy-filled days of holiday mayhem!

Posted by William Ferriter at 12:07 PM on December 15, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Parent's Perspective:

Centennial Campus Middle School recently held a career fair, and I received a copy of a letter that a parent sent to the Career Development Coordinator who helped organize the event. I think it's worth sharing here.

Dear Mrs. Stephens, I have a personal philosophy for my (2) two kids, "...don't be like your father or me, be Better..." Growing up as a kid raised by my grandparents I saw the daily struggles of just trying to make trivial ends meet. Somehow my grandparents did provide a continual roof over our heads, clothes for our bodies, and food to eat. In fact the only time we ate out was during family reunions. My grandfather dropped out of school when he finished the 4th grade, and my grandmother made it to the 8th grade. I remember, as a young girl sitting with my grandmother helping her read her Sunday school lesson book. When my grandfather realized I could read and write, he would take me with him if ever there were some documents involved that he would have to sign. In fact, I still have that memory of him signing his driver's license one time with a big ole "X," because he didn't know how to write his whole name. On November 15th, 2007, at the 7th grade house "Health Career Fair," I watched young men and ladies appear interested in their future. Some were wide-eyed and inquisitive about the exhibitors and their career occupations. Others were absolutely perplexed about the number of years it would take to be an EMS technician or a Neo-natal nurse. Of course there were the very few who looked as if they could care less. Some scientists speculate that, if you teach a child (no matter what you're teaching them), they are more likely to adopt what is taught to them, versus what is simply shown. I have found that to be true in the case of my own kids. I was raised by two people who finished life with an elementary education, and didn't encourage me to get a good education. I spent my middle school and junior high years in remedial classes. Now, as a mom I push education and its importance. My children jump at opportunities to learn something new and different often. My heart leaped with pride on Thursday as I volunteered at the "Health Career Fair" to see kids taking their education and their future seriously. I'm sure the papers each child carried were class work, but I overheard some of the best and frank questions that indicated absolute interest in the careers represented. I left Centennial Campus Middle School on November 15th with sore feet (standing for 2 hours in heels) and a heart full of pride. When I arrived at work I bragged to my co-workers how CCMS is taking a literal and active part in helping kids decide now WHO and WHAT they want to be when general study classes come to an end. CCMS is preparing my child and other children to be Pharmacists, Chiropractics, EMS Technicians, Clinical Psychologists, Neo-natal Nurses, or other positive influential persons with a career, not just a job. I can almost guarantee these types of events will help CCMS students encourage and be positive role models to the generation that follows them. Proudly, Marsha Harris-Parent

School-to-Career of Wake County is preparing every student to make knowledgeable career choices.

Posted by Chris Droessler at 04:29 PM on December 10, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Learning About Student Assignment

Having spent the better part of my fifteen year teaching career in the simply exploding Western corners of our district, I often dread this time of the year because I know that the release of the annual student assignment plan is going to spark passionate conversations about the "state of our system" in the press, in the workroom, and in the community.

Parents who I know well will seek me out as a sounding board, looking for advice on how to feel about a process that seems to bring criticism at every turn. "Does this plan make any sense?" they'll ask. "Why are so many kids moved every year? Whatever happened to the neighborhood schools that we grew up in?"

Their questions have been difficult for me to answer for one simple reason: Until Thursday, I'd never actually read the school board policy governing student assignment in our county!

Hard to believe, isn't it? I mean, no single policy draws more attention from the parents and students that I serve, so shouldn't it be required reading for a guy like me?

Feeling poorly prepared to answer this year's inevitable rush of questions, I spent Thursday morning in a session studying the student assignment policy and listening to the logic behind reassignment as explained by Chuck Delaney---Assistant Superintendent for Growth and Planning.

The first surprise for me was that the actual policy is incredibly approachable. The entire document is only two pages long and there was no hint of the intimidating language that so often makes intelligent conversations about critical issues impossible between us commonfolk. After ten minutes of reading, I finally understood the foundational beliefs behind a policy that I originally knew little about.

If you haven't read it yet, you should! Check it out here.

The next misconception dispelled for me was my long-held belief that our district's student assignment policy is primarily driven by efforts to ensure economic diversity across our 153 schools. Easily the most newsworthy aspect of redistricting---and one that I feel ensures that all schools have access to highly accomplished teachers---I honestly thought that the only reason we moved thousands of students each year was to balance the proportion of free and reduced lunch students in each building.

This belief has bled into nearly every conversation about reassignment, hasn't it? Just today, the morning news I was watching said something like, "Wake County prepares to move thousands of students again, all in the name of diversity." Dawn Graff of Wake Cares went even further in this interview with News 14 Carolina, saying:

"Diversity trumps education in Wake County. I think parent concerns are at the bottom of the list, diversity obviously is at the top of the list. While some diversity may be good, diversity at all costs, diversity above parental participation is destructive."

As it turns out, maintaining diversity is only one of six factors taken into account when moving students in Wake County. I found out on Thursday that the list of factors taken into account when making student assignment decisions also includes:

Facility Utilization: The student assignment plan will seek optimal utilization of each school's long-range capacity and, whenever possible, reduce utilization of mobile or modular classrooms that cause a school to operate at more than the approved long-range capacity.

Alignment With The Magnet Schools Program: The student assignment plan will include a review of the extent to which the systemwide objectives of the Magnet Program are being achieved.

Grade Structure: The student assignment plan will adhere to K-5, 6-8, 9-12 grade organization whenever possible with consideration for moving groups of students together across levels.

Stability Of Assignment: Nodes will remain assigned to the schools at each level (Elementary, Middle, High) for at least three years before being considered for reassignment, whenever possible.

Distance: Proximity of nodes to assigned schools will be considered, and no student should travel more than the maximum time established by Board Policy 7125.

After looking over this list, I suspected that facility utilization---rather than diversity---has probably been near the top of the list in Wake County's reassignment decision making. After all, we've added tens of thousands of students and opened literally dozens of new schools in the last decade. Simply filling these schools would force our district to move students, wouldn't it?

A bit of digging proved my suspicions correct. Here are three facts that surprised me in this year's proposed reassignment plan:

1. Of the 6,500 students likely to be moved in 2007, about 5,000 are being moved because of the opening of three new elementary schools in Western Wake County. Some students will attend these new schools and some will be moved into the seats vacated in existing schools. (Deciding Factor: Facility Utilization)

2. Between 1,000 and 1,500 students are being moved to ensure diversity. That's less than 20% of the students in the current version of the student assignment plan. (Deciding Factor: Populations of Students With Higher Needs)

3. Over half of the students being moved in 2007 will actually attend schools that are closer to their homes. (Deciding Factor: Distance)

Do any of these facts make reassignment easier for neighborhoods affected by next year's plan?

Heck no! There's nothing better than the synergy of a school embraced by its community---and reassignment often prevents that synergy from ever fully developing.

But knowing that the decisions made around student assignment are far more sophisticated than I ever expected---and discovering that factors supported by most members of our community (decreasing the distance that children must travel to attend school and reducing the number of mobile units used as classrooms) are often of primary importance to district planners---has helped me to believe in a process that I've always poorly understood.

Posted by William Ferriter at 07:19 AM on December 08, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Defining What "We" Expect of Schools

One of my Teacher Leaders Network colleagues from Virginia asked an interesting question that left me thinking when he wrote:

What are we trying to do in schools any way? What is the purpose? Is it to create kids who will be good employees, have successful jobs, enjoy reading, make music, end poverty, paint pictures, give teaching the respect it deserves? I'd love to get some feedback about the purpose of schooling.

Great question, huh?

This question has been stuck in the back of my mind for quite some time because I often feel like my work is scattered and unfocused. As a teacher, that inefficiency is frustrating. As a taxpayer, it's nothing short of maddening! One of the greatest barriers to answering what "we're trying to do" in schools, however, is that there is no one clear definition of who "we" really represents!

You see, there are dozens of different interest groups served by the public school system---parents, students, teachers, the business community, taxpayers, religious leaders, the university system, local government, state government, the federal government---and each has their own expected outcomes for our work. Some want schools to focus only on content knowledge so we can beat back the perceived threats posed to our nation by a quickly growing China and India. Others expect schools to teach children character, self-discipline and healthy living habits. There are cries for an increased focus on "basic skills" (a poorly defined concept in our rapidly changing world), "21st Century skills," and "skills for succeeding in the New World Economy."

The metrics by which success is measured are as varied as the interest groups setting expectations! To some, standardized tests are the single most important performance indicators. Others look at obesity rates, dropout rates, and college graduation rates. For parents, their own children are the bellwether for the health of the system. For business leaders, it's new employees. For government agencies, it's statistical databases quantifying any number of demographic factors.

From inside my classroom, I've seen the damaging effects of these varying expectations and metrics. New programs are rolled out at a blinding pace in an attempt to adapt to changing demands. No effort ever seems to stick around for long, introducing a never-ending instability into our system. I simply worry that by trying to be responsive to everyone, we're serving no one particularly well!

How can a community passionate about providing nothing but the best for children work together to come up with a common definition of the purpose for schooling? What would it take to narrow expectations to a manageable (and affordable) list that would have wide-ranging support? Who should spearhead this effort---and who must be a part of the conversation?

When will "we" begin?

Posted by William Ferriter at 12:40 PM on December 01, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Free College Credits for HS Students

This interesting opportunity for high school students came through my inbox this week from a member of Governor Easley's staff. Figured I'd share it with you in the hopes that Wake County families can take advantage of a rather incredible opportunity offered by our state:

This year, North Carolina high school students have the opportunity to get a jumpstart on college while they are still in high school. Learn and Earn Online is North Carolina's new program that allows high school students of all ages who have completed the prerequisite courses to take online college level classes at no charge.

Registration for the spring, 2008 semester is currently open; however, because this new program was funded in the most recent state budget, the information is still getting out to school leaders, students and parents. Students do not have to be in an existing Learn and Earn high school to take advantage of Learn and Earn Online. For more information please visit www.nclearnandearn.gov.

In North Carolina, we are committed to bringing educational opportunity into every community for all families. Thank you for helping us achieve our goal of getting more students to attend college so they can be better prepared to succeed in the 21st century economy.

Posted by William Ferriter at 12:05 PM on November 24, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: More Thoughts on Testing

Educational Leadership is one of the most widely respected journals in the education profession. Read by teachers, administrators, superintendents and educational researchers, Ed Leadership literally shapes the thinking of some of the most influential individuals in our country.

So when an Ed Leadership article titled "How Teachers See Testing" came through my inbox the other day, I took a few minutes to sit down for what turned out to be an interesting read. After all, the impact that testing is having on the teaching and learning in my classroom has been on my mind a lot lately. What struck me about the Ed Leadership article was how closely the opinions of the teachers interviewed matched my own experiences with testing.

Most importantly, the teachers interviewed recognized that testing does have inherent value. One teacher wrote, "Scores from a series of properly administered tests constitute one of the many aids in identifying students with outstanding academic talents; in ascertaining achievement and ability levels; and in planning a curriculum consistent with the achievement and ability levels identified."

The limitations of testing, however, were also noted. "Since tests are not culture-free, they are not fair to all children," wrote one teacher. Another added, "There is much learning taking place which standardized tests cannot measure."

My greatest concern---that classroom instruction in an accountability culture is becoming less about learning and more about test preparation---was also highlighted:

"One of the respondents reported that in his county...every teacher is expected to bring his pupils up to a certain level by year's end, regardless of 'the multiplicity of factors involved.' This means, according to the report, that between tests, some teachers spend countless hours 'teaching to the test' with little time for children 'to explore, talk about things, experiment...But,' he added, 'in a situation like this, what else can a teacher do? It's just plain human nature."

The best part of this article: It was written in November of 1966!

What does this mean for today's schools? How can we most effectively use testing---an endeavor that costs our district and state millions of dollars annually---as a tool for driving change in our classrooms? Is it time for us to abandon testing as a simplistic tool that simply doesn't tell us what we need to know about teaching and learning? Can we effectively---and affordably---create more sophisticated measures of "success" for our schools and our students?

Do we even want to?

What will assessment and accountability look like in the year 2047? Will we ever get to a point where we're confident that our tools for judging teachers and students are considered reliable by the majority of those who are served by our systems?

Posted by William Ferriter at 10:33 AM on November 17, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Kids on Internet Safety

I've been thinking a lot about Internet safety lately---It's a topic that I think all responsible parents and educators need to embrace in order to ensure that our students learn the skills necessary for functioning in our new digital age. While it's not tested, it definitely should be taught!

This week, I decided to ask my kids about Internet safety. I was curious to find out whether or not they've run into trouble online. I also wanted to know where they were learning about Internet safety.

Here's a few of their thoughts:

Question: Rate your Internet safety behaviors on a scale of 1 to 5, with one representing you're completely unsafe and 5 representing you're completely safe all the time on line.

"I think that I would rate myself a 3 or a 4 because before I got into your class, I did give out some personal information on my blogs and sites. I've edited most of that out now, but I think I could do a lot better." ---->Pebbles.

"I think I would rate myself a 4 because I usually now do not use any of my personal information. The least safe thing that I do online is having a Myspace page--although the only people that can see my profile are friends that I have met up close and in person." ---->Jake the Snake.

"I give myself a 3 because online I play games with people that I don't know. That scares me a little, but it's fun." --->The Ultimate Destroyer.

Question: Has anything weird ever happened to you or your friends while online?

"Once, one of my friends and I went on AIM and made an IM session with one of our friends---or so we thought! We had typed in the wrong IM address and were IMing with a guy who said he was in his 40s. We logged off, blocked his screen name and told my mom when he started asking us questions." ----> Pebbles.

"When I was online with my friend, we were playing a game and all of a sudden, a live video of someone doing inappropriate things popped up." ----> Spider Pig.

"Some strange things have happened---like a random person has talked to us and we had no clue who it was!" ---> Jumproper.

Question: How much do your parents know about your online life? Rate them on a scale from one to 5, with 1 being they know nothing about what you do online and 5 being they know everything that you do online.

"I'd have to give them a 5 because every 5 minutes my mom comes upstairs to see what sites I am on. Also, my parents don't let me have Internet access in my bedroom." ----> Dobie the Taxi Driver.

"Probably a 3 or a 4 because some of the sites I visit have really violent games and they know nothing about that. They do put locks on some sites they know are really bad." ---> The Random Gamer.

"I would rate my parents a 4 because they're usually in the same room as me when I am on the computer. It's actually really annoying." ---> Funkey Monkey.

Question: Have you been surprised by any lessons that you've learned about Internet safety? Which ones?

"I was very surprised by how we tracked down a school and its exact location just by using a teacher's name in less than 5 minutes. I had no idea that it was that easy to use the Web to find someone." ---> Primus

Posted by William Ferriter at 04:43 PM on November 10, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Do We Overprotect Our Kids?

An editorial in the News and Observer titled When Parents Become Stalkers caught my attention this morning. Author Ellen Goodman works through a chronology that I have seen first-hand during my fifteen years of teaching. Parents---caught in the grips of a fear-driven culture---are relying on technology to monitor the actions and movements of their children.

"We have a disharmonic convergence of anxieties," writes Goodman, "the dual fear that kids are endangered and/or dangerous, out of (our) control. There's the sense that we are raising our children in a more treacherous culture."

And in many ways, we are raising children in a more treacherous time.

In the real world, our communities have been completely redefined. We are increasingly isolated from one another as job markets shift, work demands increase, and families have less time to socialize with one another. Faces around the block---who would have been familiar friends in an earlier decade---are nothing more than strangers seen in passing today.

Insecurity creeps in to the hearts and minds of parents responding to this reality. Protecting children from hidden dangers---a responsible act in any decade---has become far more difficult in a world with a spiraling number of new unknowns.

The virtual world that our kids have embraced only presents a new set of challenges for parents unfamiliar with cyberspace. Horror stories of children discovering pornography or being bullied by peers using digital forums are common---and little remains as frightening as the stories of abducted teens that seem to make their way into the news more and more often.

Our response---as Goodman describes so well---is to "tether" our children with technology. Instant message and email tracking options are almost standard features offered by Internet service providers today---and if they weren't, we'd look in other directions.

Innovative companies are taking advantage of GPS technologies, inserting tracking devices in clothing and cell phones. Services such as "Geofencing," "Wherify-ing" and "All-Tracking" allow parents to receive updates about the location and decisions of their children at all times.

Like Goodman, I believe that new technological tools have made our children safer. I'll never forget the day when I was 14 and petrified because I'd been approached by a creepy stranger in a van about 20 blocks from home. Without friends to protect me---or a phone to call for help---I ran for my life.

But like Goodman, I believe that we've taken our obsession with protecting our kids a bit too far. You see, we've allowed our faith in technology to replace our faith in our children as the primary tool in our safety arsenal. Conversations about responsible actions and behaviors have been set aside---seen as unnecessary in a world where digital tools seem infallible.

As a result, our kids are left woefully unprepared. They're never forced to develop effective decision-making skills because they're almost completely shielded from difficult situations. "We may be protecting them right out of the ability to make their own decisions," writes Goodman, "Including their own mistakes."

Sometimes I wonder if the more responsible action would be to invest energies in the countless conversations about personal safety that my parents had with me.

Posted by William Ferriter at 06:28 PM on November 03, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: Shooting Our Own Feet

I don't know if you've had a chance to read the article I wrote for Teacher Magazine about my colleague Maria who walked away from teaching because of the lack of differentiation in pay and opportunity in our profession, but it got picked up by a newspaper in Colorado.

What is interesting to me is that it evoked a comment that I'm growing increasingly frustrated with. One of the paper's readers wrote:

If Maria was in it for the right reasons she would have plenty of rewards. The best feeling in the world to a teacher is to make an impact on our students lives, the look on thier faces when they succeed at something that they may have struggled with.

Don't get me wrong: I love my kids and wouldn't trade the relationships that I have with them for most anything-----but all too often,teachers who talk about changes to the teaching profession are openly shunned. Self-sacrifice is the trait we admire the most in our educators---and most teachers tend to wear that badge with great pride.

What I wonder as a career educator is are we shooting ourselves in our own feet when we passionately state that relationships with students is the only reward that we could ever possibly need. Are we setting ourselves up by promoting an altruistic ethos that the general public has widely embraced?

I sound heartless, don't I?

In fact, when I write about issues like this, I am often embarrassed by how selfish I sound---but teaching is incredibly demanding, and I believe that educators often cheapen arguments in favor of improved working conditions and increased salaries when we make statements like, "The greatest reward ever are the children in my classroom." The general public has little incentive to work with us to improve our profession if we repeatedly argue that relationships are what matter the most.

Who needs salary increases when smiles will suffice?

It is time for teachers to actively redefine our message so that non-educators understand that while our work is incredibly rewarding, those rewards have proven to be insufficient to retain the numbers of teachers that our nation needs to ensure that no child is left behind.

Leading educational researcher Linda Darling Hammond once said that incentives are plans that successfully encourage people to behave in a desired fashion. The kids of my classroom love my stories, so I use them as an incentive for good behavior----If you work hard for the rest of the day, I'll share a tale with you. It works for every kid every time. If the majority of my kids didn't like stories, though, I'd have to try something different, right?

What good is a classroom incentive if it doesn't appeal to enough students?

By that definition, are positive relationships with children a successful incentive for staffing our nation's classrooms? If not, why is it the only incentive that most educators ever talk about when speaking of their professions?

Posted by William Ferriter at 07:16 AM on October 27, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Paige Elliott: 'What are all of the teachers doing, Mrs. Elliott?'

I was faced with this question four weeks into the school year as a student entered the building on the day of the week they know as "late arrival." He had noticed that all of the teachers were "in meetings" but did not understand why. At that moment realized that not all of our educational community was familiar with what is or will become regular practice for teachers. Since WCPSS educators are familiar with the concept of PLCs (professional learning communities), I thought it might be nice to use the public blog as an opportunity to inform some of our less familiar readers.

My school has the fortunate opportunity to adjust the schedule once each week for "late arrival." Students arrive one hour late, while teachers arrive at their normal time. Different schools may have different practices. For instance, some schools provide teachers with a common planning period or lunch period. Whatever the case, specific time is dedicated to the purpose of allowing teachers to meet in what they call a "PLC," or professional learning community.

Now the purpose of these PLCs is to focus on learning, not necessarily teaching. Rick DuFour, an educator and researcher, explains in Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities that such schools that focus on learning are schools that:

• were united by a shared vision, collective commitments, and common goals;
• involved teachers in collaborative teams that considered the important questions of teaching and learning;
• integrated continuous improvement processes into their regular practices; and
• focused on results.

Because teachers are interested in the success of all students, it is important for teachers to learn from each other and focus on the learning of all students. Groups are formed based on various factors, from grade level to subject to department.

In the collaboration process, we ask: What it is we want students to learn in each subject, grade level, or course? How will we assess what students know and can do? What is our plan for responding to students who aren't learning?

Together, we address short and long term goals. Educators engage in research-based and data-driven plans. Since each PLC may be focusing on a different aspect of student learning, no two PLCs may look the same or be at the same points in their research, planning, and discussion. The important thing is that teachers are collectively focusing on the learning of all students.

The concept of learning from each other and sharing ideas is not new. Various businesses and professions have employed this method for years, even educators. The difference now is the "formal" implementation of the practice to WCPSS. The bottom line is that educators are actively seeking ways to help students be successful.

Hear more about Paige's views on professional learning communities in the WCPSS Podcast.

Posted by Paige Elliott at 11:57 AM on October 25, 2007 | Leave Feedback

A Teacher's Journal: A Compromise We're Comfortable With?

A strange twist of fate found me sharing a table on Thursday with some of the most intelligent support staff members in the Wake County Public School System. We'd come together for a conference spotlighting the challenge of recruiting and retaining employees for our system.

I inevitably end up feeling guilty when engaged in conversations about recruitment and retention because all too often, attention remains focused on improving the working conditions and salaries of teachers. Rarely does our community place equal emphasis on recruiting and retaining other school employees.

I've never been more convinced, however, that this oversight hinders our ability to succeed as a system.

You see, while our district has exploded in size, allocations of new positions in departments that support our schools have---for the most part---remained unchanged. Dozens of new schools, thousands of new teachers and tens of thousands of new students are being serviced by overworked carpenters, bus mechanics, HVAC servicemen and network specialists.

What's more, salaries for those working in supporting roles haven't kept pace with comparable positions in the private sector. "Last year, my group saw almost 100% turnover," remarked one member of my focus group, "People were taking similar jobs in other companies for more money and less work."

It's hard to argue with those decisions, isn't it?

Now, I'm a sympathetic guy---so I feel bad for those who are working hard in difficult conditions with poor wages. What's more, my wife worked as a teacher's assistant in the Wake County Public School System for years---so I have first hand experience with the struggles of making ends meet on a support staffer's salary.

But I'm also a realist. I understand that most members of the general public are primarily concerned with the quality of the classroom teachers in our system. "Why should I care about payroll technicians?" one neighbor recently asked, "As long as my kid has a good teacher, I'm happy."

"We should care because classroom teachers---and the students who attend our schools---can't be effective without adequate support staffing!" I answered.

Here are a few examples of the kinds of struggles that I face because our district struggles to ensure that positions beyond the classroom are filled with enough highly accomplished individuals to meet the demands of a growing region:

1. For some reason, the air conditioning in my classroom was on the fritz for the first nine weeks of this school year. My students and I suffered through long periods of 80-plus temperatures punctuated by short bursts of arctic air.

Working through the hottest August on record---where all but one day saw 90-plus temperatures---I would have loved it if there were enough HVAC servicemen in our district to troubleshoot this problem! As it was, I struggled to keep my kids active and on task in what we started to call "The Salem Sauna."

I heard from a friend that the problem was fixed during my year-round track out break. It was too late for my students, though. We start in a new room first thing Monday morning---and we're hoping for a comfortable learning environment, that's for sure!

2. Also intriguing is the semi-regular network failures at our school. For the past two years, we've seen our Internet connection go down for periods of 30 minutes to 3 hours about once a week.

Ten years ago, network failures wouldn't have been an issue for my students and I. We would have just fired up the overhead projector, busted out our workbooks and moved on with business as usual. Today, however, 75% of my instruction relies on the Internet. We explore websites daily, view streaming video, and create digital projects to demonstrate what we know. Without the Web, we're paralyzed.

The length of our outages is completely dependent on how long it takes to get into contact with the network technician assigned to our school. Perhaps this wouldn't be an issue if our tech wasn't also assigned to twenty-something other schools as well! In the meantime, I slap together some alternative plans, grumble about instructional time lost, and keep my fingers crossed that we'll get connected again soon.

3. At least two or three times a month, I'll have a student who needs to see the school nurse. They might fall down at recess a