Week 3_Discussion Board Quickie 1

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 Topic #1: Briefly share any experiences you’ve had when you’ve had a part in introducing a new program or a new way to do things at your job site. Please share any triumphs or frustrations you’ve had trying to improve the system or when you’ve pioneered or piloted some outside the norm.

  Twelve years ago our district decided to run an expulsion program for middle school students.  I live in a rural county, so the number of students who were in the program was small, even though we admitted students from other towns. Because the students had been expelled, they could not attend classes on campus.  Instead, we rented a large room in the local Youth for Christ building and ran our program there.  There were no guidelines or instructions, beyond the general mandate to provide courses appropriate to middle school.

  I fell back on my first teaching experiences in rural Nebraska schools for my model.  Another teacher and I split the subjects.  I gathered appropriate materials from among those our Community Ed program already had, along with a few extra purchased items. Over the course of three semesters, we provided a good education for our students, and included them in outside events like the Alcohol Awareness Program sponsored at our local ISD.  We did as many hands-on things as we could and were pleased with the progress our students made. The state auditors came to our district during the second year of our program and were very impressed with the program we were carrying out.  The district decided not to continue the program due to financial concerns, however.

  Today we are being asked to put together a school-within-a-school program.  Two other teachers and I are creating intake documents, working on suggestions for revising a handbook, and have been asked to create a crosswalk between Michigan’s Core curriculum and a basic curriculum for high school students, which needs to be ready by June 8. We have then been tasked with working on curriculum within each of our subject areas.

  I would consider the great teamwork my colleagues have developed during this year a triumph. I believe we can be very dynamic and creative. But frustrations abound.  One principle FSO has reinforced for me is the need to research and plan ahead before putting together an educational program (or class).  This is totally “throw something together so we have something.” We’ve been encouraged to take bits and pieces of other programs, to Google it.  Is that any way to put together a serious program truly intended to be effective with kids who are at risk of not graduating?

  Today I went to look at the rooms we will be using at the high school. I also talked to the tech director about the technology we will want for our rooms.  They are already equipped with data projectors and Elmo projectors.   I’d chalk this up to the plus side, as it would give us the ability to use tablets and do one-to-one with them in the classes.  I would consider that a triumph.

But I also learned that they are thinking about having us work 80% of our time in the high school during the day, and 20% at night in the Community Ed program. I guess they must think that because they were able to force us into similar hours this year, they can do it indefinitely.  No extra planning time was included for the nighttime classes this year, so I expect the same would be true next year.  Working both day and night made it very hard to pursue my own professional development. Every time a Wimba was on a Tuesday or Thursday, I had to watch it in the archive. Tuesdays and Thursdays were a wash for getting work done, too, so I had to try to stay ahead in order to make deadlines. Definitely a frustration.

  If there really is serious interest in developing a dynamic program to get kids on track to graduate, there should also be an understanding that it takes time to do this sort of thing.  I am sure we would each spend many hours after school working on different aspects of the program.  Assigning us to teach a couple of nights per week makes me step back and ask what our role really is.  Is there a serious desire to create a cutting-edge program at the high school? Or is this something else?

  Of course, I tried to consider this in the light of The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zanders. I have shared this book with my two colleagues, and it has proven to be very encouraging.  I don’t know yet if this situation will end in triumph, but I appreciated what the Zanders had to say about being present in the way things are.  I think I shall take their advice about leaving behind the struggle to come to terms with what is in front of me, and then move on.  It is what it is. Okay. So where do I go from here?