Category: Uncategorized

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Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to my wife, my Mom, my mother-in-law who is in heaven and to all the moms and other people who have been moms to us. Happy Mothers Day to the Blessed Mother who continues to bless and protect us. St. Francis always spoke of Lady Poverty and I hope to embody that spirit within my heart as my wife and mother have with our family and with all they come in contact with. 

We are all mothers and brothers and sisters and fathers to each other. On this day however we honor the mothers in our midst who have stood with us long hours and held us in their arms when we needed that special touch that only mothers can give. 

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New Spirit

I haven’t blogged here much in the past several years. I was busy earning a degree at St. Bonaventure University which I finished a couple of years ago. Then after earning my administrative credentials in New York State I began to seek employment elsewhere. I continue to feel like Thomas Merton and not know where the road ahead may lead, but I am excited to have a more positive outlook on that direction lately. 

I’ve been actively engaged in Yoga classes for over a year now. The unanticipated consequence of that is a deepened prayer life which has awakened within me a call to vocation like the one I experienced as an adolescent in the mid 1960’s. I’ve applied for some ministry related positions but at the same time wishing to stay close to my wife and family. I hope to re-energize my writing and reflecting because it helped me before and seemed to help others too. 

Recently at a regional Secular Franciscan gathering I met two men who had read my blog with interest in the past and were positively influenced. I’ve also been using Tumblr.com for the past year as it integrates well with my iPhone and Instagram which I thoroughly enjoy. I’ve become in the words of one of Secular Franciscans a photo-journalist. 

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Vocation

Recently I attended a formation workshop on “Servant Leadership” sponsored by the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Region of the Secular Franciscan Order. I’ve been a member of the Secular Franciscan Order since 2000 and professed since April 2002. I was once fraternity minister of the St. Irenaeus OFS Fraternity in West Clarksville, New York. At our fraternity gathering in February of this year I volunteered to take on the leadership of “Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation” for our own fraternity. I also volunteered to attend the workshop on “Servant Leadership.” Not really knowing why I did that, but following the spirit I traveled to the Stella Maris Retreat Center at Skaneateles, New York. While I was there I was approached about taking on a leadership position with the Kateri Region. Af first I balked and then refused despite the fact that for much of the winter and all of Lent I had been praying for direction. 

Here direction fell into my lap and like Jonah I was refusing it. I have since reconsidered and sought the direction of my spiritual advisor and a good friend in the Secular Franciscan Order. I’m anxious and excited at the same time about what this opportunity will present. I hope that you will join me in praying that I will continue to follow the spirit’s lead. 

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What is the internet really?

I wanted to prepare a lesson for class today that provided a capstone or bigger picture experience for the students of concepts we have covered in the last two weeks. I also wanted to provide differentiated instruction and an opportunity for reflection on the part of the students. I found exactly what I was looking for on TED. I’m embedding the video below and invite you to watch this engaging presentation and reflect on how you access the internet and how this is truly becoming a global village tied together with a thread.

 

[ted id=1576]

 

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What is learning and what part does evaluation play in learning?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the high stakes testing environment that most schools across the country and especially those in New York State have had to endure. I’ve been thinking too about the new teacher evaluations which use results of those tests to evaluate teachers. I’ve also been thinking a lot about my own learning, my teaching and what I believe constitutes authentic and useful evaluation and how those instruments have shaped my own educational experience.

Learning really involves a series of repeated trials to produce a result that is acceptable to the learner and results in an improved state for that learner. All learning follows this continuum. Learning progresses through various stages and understanding those stages and the progress of the learner can be aided by certain types of tests and testing. Testing ought to inform both the instructor and the learner so that both know when the learner is ready to progress to the next stage. Testing ought not be a stress to the learner. Recording scores that may be useful to evaluate a learner should only be used to assess how much additional help or information is needed by a learner in order to progress to the next stage of learning. In no case should test scores be used to rank order individuals or to embarrass them in any way. Using test scores in this way only serves to increase stress for the learner. 

Benchmarks are important to establish minimum competencies necessary to fulfill certain responsibilities for licensing. For example a general aviation pilot is required to complete a certain number of hours of instruction to be able to be licensed as a pilot. When I obtained my own 3rd class airman certificate from the FAA  I was required to have a minimum of 40 hours of instruction and I was required to pass a written examination and a check ride in the aircraft I had learned to fly. I was not penalized because it actually took me nearly 80 hours of instruction and my instructor was not evaluated negatively because it took me more than the minimum number of hours.  There were many evaluations along the way to my licensure and they served to assist me in my goal of getting a pilots license but in no case was I penalized for the length of time it took nor was my instructor evaluated negatively. 

Therefore I believe that today’s test agenda and teacher and principal evaluations based on test results are  based on false premises and can only result in more failing children, failing schools, demoralized teachers and administrators. 

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Yoga in Schools — an alternative that is worth your consideration.

In the past five months I have incorporated a daily practice of mindfulness. Along with this I’ve incorporated Yoga and I’ve been reading everything I can about both topics. K-12 schools are in chaos around the country due to a number of reasons that include high stakes testing, teacher & principal evaluations and shrinking budgets. I recently read Tim Ryan’s, Mindful Nation along with several other books and dozens of websites. I’m recommending that you listen to this Blog Talk Radio Program on Yoga and mindfulness in schools.

Yoga and Mindfulness in Schools 03/13 by Yoga In My School | Blog Talk Radio.

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When another makes you suffer

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh

Just what I needed to read today. Another did make me suffer at least for awhile and then reading this tonight put it in perspective. Like Thomas Merton I realize that Thich Nhat Hanh is my brother. This brilliant monk who is now in his 80’s is remarkably in tune and that’s because he is mindful. His whole life is devoted to mindfulness. I love to hear him talk and I have read many of his books. 

When another makes me suffer I’m inclined to want to retaliate rather than absorb the maltreatment. Though I am disciple of Jesus and Gandhi I am inclined not to “forgive them, Father.” Thank you to Shanti Generation for posting this onto my Facebook timeline. Namaste.

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It’s not just about technology

I use technology every day. Who doesn’t? We all flip on electric lights, Many of us drive cars. Others ride buses. Some of us have cell phones. Some of those phones are “smart” phones and others are “feature phones. Some people have PCs and some have Macs. There’s an emphasis on 21st century tools and 21st century schools. Will students be prepared to use this tool or that tool? How can they truly be prepared for college or the work force unless they know Microsoft Word or use an iPad or an iPod? What are the skills that they really need to be successful in this day and age? There are the same 26 letters and the same 10 digits now as there were forty or fifty years ago and there are a nearly infinite number of combinations and permutations of those figures. 

We emphasize Common Core and the NETS standards. We’ve got students who get benchmarks and schools that achieve AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and teachers who are evaluated by APPR and test scores but we’re falling apart. We’re coming apart at the seams. Never in the last 40 plus years have I seen our country so stressed, so divided. Never have I seen schools, teachers, administrators, students and parents so stressed as they are now. 

So what do we need that’s way more important than high tech and high standards? We need heart. We need compassion. We need community. We desperately need community more than at anytime in our past. Without community the rest is just waste and consumerism. Jargon and bandwagons can’t prepare us or our children for the 21st century any better than community. Without community we cease to exist. We break down into warring fragments. 

Instead of iPhones and iPods we need I love you’s. Instead of text messages we need touch messages. We need people who can connect at the heart. We need people who can be present to each other. Wherever you are whatever you are doing make sure that you tell the people you’re working with or teaching with that you love them. Tell your children and anyone’s children that you love them. Love builds community and that is what we need more than anything else. 

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What next?

Conferences are great and this years NYSCATE was no exception. Opportunities to meet other professionals eager to educate children. Educators are an overwhelmingly idealistic community. That’s what makes me glad to be one. These are challenging days in education as educators everywhere seek to implement the Common Core. There is a great deal of stress generated as teachers and administrators are being evaluated more stringently than ever. Politicians, the public and corporations are demanding more accountability. Children face more of this pressure too to succeed on these benchmarks.

Everywhere in the vendor area I saw sales people exploiting this new trend. Company after company selling software designed to assess learning. The emphasis today is using the web and iPads or other similar I-devices. Regardless of the platform the emphasis is clearly on assessment. In stark contrast to all of this I attended Dr. Gary Stager’s presentation which emphasized authentic learning and authentic assessment of the learning. Gary Stager offers a clear choice between the view that everything can and/or ought to be measured and what might defy measurement.

Are we educators who enlighten or merely trainers who impart knowledge. You can easily assess training. You cannot easily assess enlightenment and transformation. Enlightenment which is marked by flashes of insight defies measurement. Ironically enlightenment and transformation are at the highest levels of Bloom. The Common Core despite its lofty goals might actually be frustrating education with its emphasis on measurable goals.

Can we we combine the two? I’m interested in what you think.

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NYSCATE 2011

It’s been 20 years since my first NYSCATE Conference. The changes in that time have been remarkable. I’ve attended a number of sessions and most have been very interesting. Although I’ve seen no presentations on open source per se but I have seen a number of presentations where the applications are on the web and they are PHP served applications and most likely those applications are run on Apache servers. While Google is not open source, it is hosted on open source data centers. Great buzz here about Google Apps for Education. Twitter is huge in Educational Technology circles and it’s yet another open source based application.

The growth of iPads has been phenomenal. Very few attendees carry notebooks or even netboks anymore. Almost everyone has an iPad. Almost everyone has a smart phone and while many conference goers sport iPhones, many more are carrying Android based phones. Interactive white board vendors are more numerous and there must be at least a dozen separate vendors.