Our first day for teachers is tomorrow, September 1, 2009.  I am excited to have them back!  Teachers bring with them a lot of energy, and when they arrive, the kids follow.  AND kids bring a lot of energy too. 

This summer has been full, and I am feeling a bit drained of energy.  Our State Grant is due today.  I mailed that last Thursday, and the shoulders felt a bit lighter.  Soon, we will be doing the same for the stimulus funding, but still no word on that application.  Our ESL Comprehensive Plan is due in September, but I worked on that in July and August while I waited for the application for the state grant to arrive. That was mailed in August.  The PEP Grant has been a lot of work as I learn about rules and regulations for bidding, clearing equipment and hiring an evaluator.  Arts in Education budgets were finalized and distributed to the principals.  The Literacy Council (an internal council developed to review our K-6 reading program) planning has begun, and New Teacher Orientation was completed in mid-August.  The list on my white board is almost complete, and the new list is ready to replace the old. 

The next two days are designed to get us all back in the swing of things.  Of course, we have the usual happenings; those required trainings that are required by SED.  We have goal setting by department.  This is time provided for departments to wrap their heads around and document what they hope to accomplish in 2009-2010.  Our Director of Instructional and Informational Technology will be sharing with us all the new “stuff” that happened over the summer with our email, log-ins and more!  We also have Will Richardson coming on Wednesday to kick off our school year as we think about preparing kids for what they absolutely need to be successful in this flat world!  I am very excited that our small school has such an opportunity to have a wireless campus with so much potential.  We already do so many great things, but this presentation will only stretch our thinking more, affirm some of our great work, and teach us a bit more about what we don’t know about web 2.o.    

I am seeing lots of energy coming my way!

I am a struggling writer.

I have been really struggling to write for my blog for many reasons.

I just want to write. I don’t necessarily write for people to learn from me. I write for myself.  I often feel guilty about that as so many people contribute to web 2.o, and I really just use it as a thinking tool.   I write to think, to clear my head and to share good news in my school.

I am fascinated by the amount that I learn from the web, and I just often wonder if it is okay that I don’t contribute in such a profound ways as others do. I mean, we all have our niche.  Don’t we?  I read blogs to think about new ideas, old ideas and anything in between.I love to read Kim’s blog as she wonders about her everyday work and how it impacts kids.  Even though it is not necessarily designed to teach, I learn something from Kim every time I read her words.  She has a great use of voice, and that really draws me in as a reader.  She also asks her constituents to join in. How cool is that?

I often worry that I am too big of a “taker” in web 2.0. A lot of what I believe about teaching students is for them to be contributing members of the society and  to create, share, and learn with others.  I like reading Angela’s blog.  Her blog appeals to me because it is sometimes just a way to read and learn some new things and some favorites in a concise way. She also uses it as a tool to get feedback from others.  I like that she is a learner and a contributor to my thinking as well as a resource to turn to when I need good sources!  Angela has left me lots of food for thought, and her blog actually prompted me to think about why I write.

There are many other resources that I could list, but of course, I am taking the selfish road again. I am writing to clear my head and not really to push anyone’s thinking.  I am writing so that I can rest well tonight.  I am writing because I just like to write sometimes.  I am writing because I just want to write.

So, after writing this post, so much has happened and not happened.

1. The RFP responses are beginning to come in, and now I have to figure out how to put all that in place. I am thinking interviews, board approvals and requisitions to name a few.  There is probably a call to the PEP Grant contact in Washington as well.
2. The rooms have to be emptied. That means we have to dispose of some it which requires forms and board approval. The rest will need to be moved which requires work orders and having the other rooms prepped for more equipment.
3. State contracts need to be reviewed. This is not an easy process. Bless those who must do this regularly! This took hours today before I found a few documents that were very helpful.  I can’t seem to find heart rate monitors and yet I know the company is on the state contract.
4. I also need to create a timeline.  I have it on paper, but I need it electronically.  I have software but would prefer a web 2.0 tool.  Need to check out my bookmarks as well as contact my colleagues on Twitter.

A teacher just walked into my office, and I quote, “Your office looks like how my head feels.”  I will take that as a compliment as I think she is a pretty smart and efficient gal. 

How do you explain Twitter who someone?

• I tried to explain it to my dad last week. I think he would get a kick out of it especially if he found fellow Vietnam veterans with similar interests.  He is retired, and he is a thinker.  I think he would enjoy the postings and learning.
• I tried to explain it to a teacher leader today. He has an interview for an assistant principalship later in the week, and I think he would get a ton of resources as he continues to grow in the education field.

I am having a heck of time clarifying my thoughts. I think this is one tool that we need to show and tell versus just tell.

I had the benefit of spending some quality time with 10-11 year-olds this past weekend.  Amanda turned 10, and she had 4 friends over to spend the night.  After a day filled with swimming, water balloon fights, eating and opening presents, the kids started to settle down for an evening full of talking and little sleep.

As we made sure everyone was comfy, had pillows/blankets, and nightlights, I took note of what began to happen.  Amanda had her DS.  Julie had her Game Boy and yet it did not look like any Game Boy I had ever seen.  Myranda was coaching Julie on how to get to the next level, and Shelby was texting her mom, cousin and sister.  And yet it was not quiet!  They were carrying on full conversations, watching a movie and enjoying the technology at hand.

I began to talk like my grandmother and mother.

• Remember when we had sleepovers?  We weren’t texting or playing video games.  We played games and talked.
• Remember when we had friends over to the house?  We played with Barbies and talked with each other.
• Remember when we had a birthday party?  Our family would come over for a quiet time with some cake and ice cream.

Times are changing, and I can barely keep up.  These girls announced when they got to the house what they brought with them.  I never saw the iPod, but I know it was in someone’s bag.  Almost all of them had phones.  Amanda got a PSP for her birthday.  I picked it up and tried just to get the game to start.  She was watching Hannah Montana videos and playing the games within minutes (probably seconds)!  I take great pride that I Facebook, Twitter, and blog, but I can  not even pick up a handheld game and make it work.  The man at the store told us the next version of the PSP is due out at Christmas.  Goodness.

I read blogs every day. I love to log on to my feeds and read about new nuggets of information!  I love to see some of my favorite writers in action and am often saddened if they take a break from web 2.0 writing.  I think about what I read.  I apply some of the things that I learn.  I converse with others about ideas that were in the blogs.  AND yet I don’t write a lot on other blogs.  Occasionally I will pop up on a blog or two, but for the most part, I am a silent “participant” in web 2.0 blogging. 

I notice that happens on a lot of blogs. I know that I am not the only reader of some very good blogs. I know that many people read some loyally, but just don’t write anything back. I often find myself having the time to read, but little time to respond.  I often find myself really thinking about what the person wrote, but having nothing of great significance to contribute.  I feel like I take so much from web 2.0, but I am not a great contributor. I am still struggling to find my niche!

My cheese is moving, ever so slightly and yet it is moving. 

I have spent the majority of the summer plugging away at grants, plans and reports on grants and plans. (I did last summer as well.) I am trying to remain optimistic about this mundane work. I find very little excitement in writing and crafting the plans, and yet I work hard at it, because good work always means something to someone.  I always learn something too!

The Consolidated Application is in full swing.  (This is a very full, rich application that allows us to get money that has been allocated to our school district.  This is not a competitive grant, but it is considered a grant.   It is 91 pages, and that does not include all the other on-line documents and other supplementary work that is required.  And let’s not forget there is supposed to be stimulus money and yet we still don’t have anything to complete for that yet.)

I spent much of today working on the portion for non-public schools.  For those of you who don’t know, public schools must prepare the non-public portions of the grant. This year, because of a small shift in the non-public school practices, I find myself delving in a whole new world of calculations based on free and reduced lunches, total enrollment and allocations according to per pupil something or other.  (I am not really sure I am even babbling about the right thing, so no offense to the experts in this section of the grant.)  I spent a small amount of time talking with a colleague in another district to get a “101” on how to complete this portion accurately.  I can’t thank her enough, and I am sure there are more calls to come.  I called the non-public school quite a few times for data, and I had to bug two colleagues at work for BEDS data. 

I am trying not to be uncomfortable with all of the new practices and requirements that are coming through this process and through the whole stimulus funding expectations.  I am trying to take one day at a time, but I keep wondering if there will ever be a time when the cheese stands still.  There are so many changes in everyday work, from SED and from the federal government. I consider myself a flexible gal, but I am having a hard time maintaining the momentum year-round.  I vaguely remember a time when there was a time to regroup, recharge the batteries.  I have not yet done that this summer, and it scares me because there is a whole lot of work ahead.  I really sometimes wish something would feel easy, that I would feel a sense of accomplishment more often.  My white board is still full of summer projects, just hanging there over my head quite literally, staring down and reminding me of so much more to do as August flies by in front of my face!

I have to keep looking at my calendar to remind me what I have done, what I have halfway done, and things that I have started so that I can see evidence that I am getting somewhere.  There have been some roadblocks along the way, and I get nervous because the cheese keeps shifting. I am taking time tonight to read through the grant again to get the big picture and to draft a plan for tomorrow.  More mundane work that means something to someone, and so let the cheese continue to shift, and I will do my best to keep up!

Today was a very full day of working on the PEP Grant. 

1.  The RFP – This is my first time I find myself writing an RFP.  Although not as challenging as I thought, it is a bit worrisome.  It needs to be all-inclusive.  It is like a job posting.  We need to describe what we want for a position and then wait for applications.  It seems easy, and yet, I don’t know what I don’t know about the grant.  It seems to be that I think I know what an “outside evaluator” could do for us, but what if I forget key components of the job description and we are left without the help we need?   I contacted 9 PEP Grant recipients to learn more about the process from them and to glean good ideas.  And although I have not found the answer about the RFP, I certainly have learned other important nuggets of information.

2.  Space – The administrative team met today to discuss space.  We have over $350,000 worth of equipment on its way, and we want to make sure we are all in agreement on how to make this happen and more importantly, happen well for our students.  I was very happy to be a part of this meeting today. Space is not an easy topic especially if you don’t have a lot of it.  Yet, our principals came to the table with great ideas and future planning as well.  Kudos to them.  Although we met for almost an hour and a half, I feel that we left the table with some very good ideas! 

3.  State bids- I got on the web site and got off it a few minutes later. I will tackle that tomorrow.  It looks a bit overwhelming.  I did find out two very important companies are on state bid. That is a relief!

4.  Publications – Our PEP Grant Coordinator drafted an awesome letter for our local newspaper announcing the grant.  I gave some feedback and asked if we could use it in our school newsletter too. It is so exciting to share that we are receiving over $800,000 over the next three years! 

Somewhere in between there, I worked on Opening Day activities.  Our schedule is drafted.  Only one more question to be answered.  Letters are ready to print and copy.  AND I found out that we should be able to use the High School Auditorium for our keynote speaker.  Phew!  I just need to figure out how to print labels (and I thought the PEP Grant work was hard)!  J

I talked with a friend this weekend from a district in Western New York, and she is changing grade levels again. She is not complaining.  She is embracing this as another opportunity to continue learning and growing in her profession.  What I found most fascinating about this conversation is that she is spending a great deal of time this summer writing curriculum.  When I asked about the curriculum that should already be in place, she was told that there wasn’t any.  (Now this shocked me since the newer teacher who left the position for another position in the district should have had something, but I digress.)

My friend (as far as I can tell) has taught every grade level 1st-6th at least once in her career. She is one of those teachers that is so good that when there is a need, she is called upon to shift grade levels so that her experience and talent can be used for the benefit of students.  And yet through all of this, I feel that there is a bit of elephant in the room regarding curriculum in this district.  Where is it?  Why isn’t there a road map from point A to point B?  Why aren’t there guides or binders or electronic records of supplementary materials so that we don’t have to recreate the wheel every  time a new teacher joins a grade level? 

My colleague said to me that perhaps this is her way to process out information.  For me personally, I can’t process and create at the same time. This worries me as she is so busy developing the curriculum that it will take her a full year or two to process out strategy and techniques that will best serve the curriculum and students.   Maybe I am wrong, but I just feel that this is a natural part of who we are as human beings.  I am beginning my 3rd year in this position, and I came to it with plenty of expertise in a lot of areas, and yet only now, two years later, am I ready to really run with my work.  Two years of laying a foundation, building relationships, learning routines and procedures, creating much-needed plans and guidelines for various projects and more.  So, does this sort of thing translate with my friend in her new grade level?  She knows the rules and routines of her district. She is a great teacher. She will know most of the kids since the grade level is a shift up in the grades.  But what about the curriculum?  It is all brand new.  It is something that she admits is out of her comfort zone.  There are no materials in place except a text.  She is trying to create supplementary materials, activities, web-based tools and more. And yet, I still wonder how this process is beneficial. What she could be doing is learning the material well, feel comfortable with it and then build upon a foundation that should already be there. 

I guess I just grapple with this.  We talk about curriculum mapping all the time.  I see its purpose, and yet so many of us find it a useless process. I have been working with my teachers to think about curriculum guides and materials that support what they do.  If they use the textbook, I don’t want it mapped. What I want mapped is a timeline, a record of materials that support the work, a document that shows how they immerse themselves and students in projects and web 2.0 technologies and twenty-first century skills.  We will have a lot of work to do to really think about how this can look.  We will have a lot of work to do to accept that all curricula will look different and yet serve a common purpose.  I want us to be intentional about our work.  I don’t want the text to be the driving force. I want our curriculum experts (AKA teachers) to articulate their work and progress so that new teachers aren’t spending the first few months figuring out what to teach.  I want the “what” to be there so they can focus on the “how,” the art and science of their craft!