"When you try and do two things well, you end up doing both of them poorly, accomplishing neither" We are all over worked, we are all stretched thin, we are all here to help kids learn and achieve to their highest potential. Yet, set in an environment where this task is an uphill battle.
I LOVE sports; Football, Baseball, Hockey, Tennis, Basketball, Cross Country, Volleyball, Soccer. I also feel that sports play an important role in a well-rounded education and are a valuable part of the school's ecosystem. I am faced with a recent revelation and more important question...
If schools exist for education why do we allow, or even encourage the folks in-charge of education and leading learning to spread themselves thin by coaching one or even multiple sports? Why not separate out the roles? If you want to coach you can coach, but you can only teach .50 FTE, or not at all. If you want to teach, you can't coach any extracurricular activities. Now, this is a perfect example of a level 2 change, but I think that it is one that needs some serious discussion.
Education stands at a cross-roads where we can maintain the status-quo or change and raise the bar. All educational institutions have mission statements and I would fathom a guess that none refer to maintaining the athletic prowess of the school. I had an administrator that always asked the question:
Where do we hang our hats? If we hang our hats on sports than that is our focus and if we hang our hats on academics than that is our focus. You can't do both.
What do you think?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Fences for your boundless education?
What started as a civil discussion turned into a near argument at a recent admin meeting with regards to limiting the number of credits that a student can take online or through the colleges/universities that count toward graduation. It has been hypothesized that dual-credit college courses are leading to the decreased enrollment in elective classes in 9-12 classrooms. While I see this as a valid point, I don't see it as a reason to limit the possibilities of a student.
Iowa recently passed legislation called Senior Year Plus. (link) This legislation outlined the rules and requirements for Secondary schools in Iowa regarding offering College credit courses while students are still in High School. Right now an Iowa High School student can gain college credit through:
1) Advanced Placement Classes (College Board)
2) PSEO Courses (Post Secondary Enrollment Option) These courses are College courses originating from a college/university and the HS Student can take them online or in person and gain both college and HS credit.
3) Concurrent Enrollment Classes These courses are college courses that originate from the HS and are taught by HS teachers, but have a college curriculum.
4) PLTW (Project Lead The Way)
5) And I am betting I am missing some, so please add to the comments if I am missing any.
The State of Iowa allows for LEAs to decide how many credits that a High School will count toward graduation. The number allowed by districts I have spoken with range from 5 to enough to get an AA from a Community College. When we live, teach and work in a small rural community should we say you only can learn a little about what you want from where you want? Schools are changing, some would say for the better, to a place where a student controls their learning. Limiting what choices the student has doesn't fit this new trend in education.
There are many questions on this particular topic:
1) Should it be on the school (aka: Tax Payers) to pay for a students' college education?
2) Should a class taken from The University of Phoenix Online count as much as an online course from ILO or DMACC?
3) Where does this leave electives in our districts?
My personal feeling is that schools are changing, they are going to become a building where students come to use resources; teachers, labs, computers, gyms. The traditional school where children come from 8-3:30 is going away. So teachers and admins need to be ready for this change and make their curricular area and classes taught relevant to what a leaner wants/needs for the future. It is not up to us (schools) to limit the student. We as a school/state should set the minimums for graduation, and let student decide the rest.
Iowa recently passed legislation called Senior Year Plus. (link) This legislation outlined the rules and requirements for Secondary schools in Iowa regarding offering College credit courses while students are still in High School. Right now an Iowa High School student can gain college credit through:
1) Advanced Placement Classes (College Board)
2) PSEO Courses (Post Secondary Enrollment Option) These courses are College courses originating from a college/university and the HS Student can take them online or in person and gain both college and HS credit.
3) Concurrent Enrollment Classes These courses are college courses that originate from the HS and are taught by HS teachers, but have a college curriculum.
4) PLTW (Project Lead The Way)
5) And I am betting I am missing some, so please add to the comments if I am missing any.
The State of Iowa allows for LEAs to decide how many credits that a High School will count toward graduation. The number allowed by districts I have spoken with range from 5 to enough to get an AA from a Community College. When we live, teach and work in a small rural community should we say you only can learn a little about what you want from where you want? Schools are changing, some would say for the better, to a place where a student controls their learning. Limiting what choices the student has doesn't fit this new trend in education.
There are many questions on this particular topic:
1) Should it be on the school (aka: Tax Payers) to pay for a students' college education?
2) Should a class taken from The University of Phoenix Online count as much as an online course from ILO or DMACC?
3) Where does this leave electives in our districts?
My personal feeling is that schools are changing, they are going to become a building where students come to use resources; teachers, labs, computers, gyms. The traditional school where children come from 8-3:30 is going away. So teachers and admins need to be ready for this change and make their curricular area and classes taught relevant to what a leaner wants/needs for the future. It is not up to us (schools) to limit the student. We as a school/state should set the minimums for graduation, and let student decide the rest.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Post the first
I have found that as I interact with my PLN on twitter I occasionally come across topics that need more discussion. SO, when 140 characters is not enough I will come here. Maintaining three blogs will be an interesting feat, but having all three together made no sense. So, on with the show....
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