My employer, Monroe Public Schools, laid off the entire staff due to the uncertainty of Governor Snyder's proposed budget cuts to public education. This is old news. I found myself laid off after 35 years of teaching. This is also old news. There are plenty of loyal workers in business and industry who have lost jobs due to the poor economy. And, unlike them, I will be called back to my teaching position.
But, ironies abound. This week my school district held the annual employee recognition program. Technically, there are only 2 salaried employees in the district-- the superintendent and business manager. Bus drivers, administrative assistants, and custodians were not laid off but all the teachers and administrators were. So, many of the very people who had been laid off were honored for their loyal service to Monroe Public Schools. I was scheduled to be one of the honorees for my 35 years working in the school district. I decided not to attend.
And, as it happens to turn out, Michigan's economy has had a little rebound and there's enough money to fund schools. Now, there was always enough money, but Governor Snyder diverted money to community colleges and universities. But now, there's enough for k-12 public schools and for wherever else he wants to divert school funds. Good news, right? Maybe our school district will recall everybody. Maybe those wonderful educational programs we offer that aren't core academic classes can be reinstated. Nope. The irony is that some money will be returned to school districts but with strings attached. School districts must exhibit "best practices." There is no word yet on what "best practices" means. I view this as a form of extortion. Governor Snyder calls this education reform.
The final irony is that a bill was approved in the Michigan Senate to require teachers to pay 20% of health care costs. For years in Monroe Public Schools, wages were frozen in order to maintain health insurance. How silly of us, as our wages have not kept pace with the cost of living. So, we have our frozen wages from which health insurance costs will be deducted. To put a little salt on the wounds, those of us who teach at Monroe High School can remember the jubilation Representative Randy Richardville and his MHS biology teacher wife felt when he was reelected to the Michigan House and was guaranteed lifetime health insurance. The is the same Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville who has lead the legislation through the Senate to make retirees pay income tax on their pensions, who reduced business tax while increasing taxes on the poor, and who supported massive cuts to education. No worries for him--he's all set for the future and his wife is no longer teaching. Life's little ironies.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Activity 12--What Will I Do Next Year?
We are supposed to talk about next year. How will I use what I have learned next year? That depends. What will next year look like? Will I have a job? What will I be teaching? What technology resources will be available? I can't answer any of these questions without speculation at this time.
I can tell you how I've used some of this technology and how I need to improve. I have used online learning in my developing skills class for the past 2 years with study skills lessons on blackboard. I need to do some major revisions with it. There is too much reading in it. I have every reading assignment also on audio, but the lessons with a lot of reading were not successful, even if the lesson was read aloud to students. I need to make it more visually appealing. I also need to figure out how to have kids be able to view a video clip without having it "buffer" for 5 minutes and never open.
I need to change how my class does this work. I thought that I could assign lessons on blackboard, provide computer access, and the kids would complete lessons thoughtfully and accurately. Instead, I had many kids who would use one of the Acer computers and figure out how to play games on it. When I walked around to check how they were doing, they would quickly switch back over to the lesson so when I checked the screen, it looked like they were doing what they were supposed to do. It was nearly impossible to monitor. I discovered it takes a certain amount of maturity and independence to complete online classes. Self-pacing did not work in my classes. This year, I assigned lessons on Monday and the assignments were due on Friday. That didn't work. It was too unstructured for my students.
I also need to spend more time teaching students how to use online learning. I had students who had trouble logging on to the site almost daily. I had students who would swear that they completed assignments, but we couldn't find them anywhere--the assignments were not saved in their documents or in blackboard. I need to spend more time teaching students how to learn this way.
We are supposed to discuss how we share what we have learned with other teachers. Sharing is difficult. A couple of other teachers and I have talked a lot about what we are doing with online learning and we share resources. I have gotten lots of help from these people and we exchange ideas. But, people are busy and I find that there isn't a lot of time to share ideas in my department. Last year, I wanted to talk about what I was doing with online learning at a department meeting. I thought it might be something other teachers may want to try. There was never time in any department meetings to talk about this. Special Education department meetings usually have a full agenda and there isn't much time to talk about teaching or sharing ideas.
I hope I am not sounding cynical. I think that online collaboration and mobile tools are exciting and can make learning more fun and interesting. Sometimes I think that all the people who talk about reforming public education miss the point. Not all kids enthusiastically come to school, brimming with curiosity about learning how to calculate the axis of symmetry or respond thoughtfully to blogs written by fellow students. Maybe using a cell phone in class, or going to cha cha to find answers will be a way to reach reluctant learners in a new way. We will always have students who are not ready to learn for many different reasons and we have to continually find ways to reach those kids. I am looking forward to trying these new ideas.
I can tell you how I've used some of this technology and how I need to improve. I have used online learning in my developing skills class for the past 2 years with study skills lessons on blackboard. I need to do some major revisions with it. There is too much reading in it. I have every reading assignment also on audio, but the lessons with a lot of reading were not successful, even if the lesson was read aloud to students. I need to make it more visually appealing. I also need to figure out how to have kids be able to view a video clip without having it "buffer" for 5 minutes and never open.
I need to change how my class does this work. I thought that I could assign lessons on blackboard, provide computer access, and the kids would complete lessons thoughtfully and accurately. Instead, I had many kids who would use one of the Acer computers and figure out how to play games on it. When I walked around to check how they were doing, they would quickly switch back over to the lesson so when I checked the screen, it looked like they were doing what they were supposed to do. It was nearly impossible to monitor. I discovered it takes a certain amount of maturity and independence to complete online classes. Self-pacing did not work in my classes. This year, I assigned lessons on Monday and the assignments were due on Friday. That didn't work. It was too unstructured for my students.
I also need to spend more time teaching students how to use online learning. I had students who had trouble logging on to the site almost daily. I had students who would swear that they completed assignments, but we couldn't find them anywhere--the assignments were not saved in their documents or in blackboard. I need to spend more time teaching students how to learn this way.
We are supposed to discuss how we share what we have learned with other teachers. Sharing is difficult. A couple of other teachers and I have talked a lot about what we are doing with online learning and we share resources. I have gotten lots of help from these people and we exchange ideas. But, people are busy and I find that there isn't a lot of time to share ideas in my department. Last year, I wanted to talk about what I was doing with online learning at a department meeting. I thought it might be something other teachers may want to try. There was never time in any department meetings to talk about this. Special Education department meetings usually have a full agenda and there isn't much time to talk about teaching or sharing ideas.
I hope I am not sounding cynical. I think that online collaboration and mobile tools are exciting and can make learning more fun and interesting. Sometimes I think that all the people who talk about reforming public education miss the point. Not all kids enthusiastically come to school, brimming with curiosity about learning how to calculate the axis of symmetry or respond thoughtfully to blogs written by fellow students. Maybe using a cell phone in class, or going to cha cha to find answers will be a way to reach reluctant learners in a new way. We will always have students who are not ready to learn for many different reasons and we have to continually find ways to reach those kids. I am looking forward to trying these new ideas.
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