education
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
by Antonio
Welcome back!
I have been asked to speak briefly this morning about the renovation and restoration of Kingsley Laboratories.Before I begin. I wanted to ask all of you, what do you think about how Kingsley turned out?
Yeah, I am pretty excited about it too.
It may seem that somehow, magically, the building went from being tired, and in need of some TLC to being shiny, new, state of the art and smelling clean and fresh.
But it didn’t happen so easily, it took over 18 months of planning and hard work to pull the project together and complete it on time.
Behind me you will see a slide show that starts on the day the project began, with the hard work of the Kingsley faculty and staff packing and preparing to move out. It took over 8 tractor trailers, 15 movers and two days to store the hundreds of boxes, furniture and materials. Furniture that was no longer needed was recycled so that it could be sent to areas devasted by natural disasters. And on Friday, May 27th 2008, the building was empty, exactly 1 year earlier to the date that we sat in the Library seminar room looking at the first set of architectural drawings.
In the days and weeks that followed, an army of contractors, workers, foremen, laborers, project managers spent countless hours in the middle of the summer heat, through countless wet and stormy afternoons working on a scope that included restoring the entire exterior and interior of this beautiful and historic building. For those of you who do not know, Kingsley Laboratories was built in 1897. Dr. Abercrombie, who was the headmaster, had spent time in Europe studying the education system. He realized that in the United States, we were failing to adequately prepare students in the study of math and science. He came back from his travels with a bold vision. He recognized that Worcester, a thriving industrial city during that period was also home to WPI, which was at the forefront of creating the future scientists and mathematicians of the time. He decided that Worcester Academy should take a bold step and create a shift in they way it educated its students, and so Kingsley Labs was born. In 1897, it was state of the art and many came to visit and learn how they could replicate this type of learning resource at their own schools. Over the 100 plus years that has passed, Kingsley and the other historic buildings on our campus have served to inspire our students and faculty to achieve great things.
Today in 2008, Kingsley is again state of the art. It makes use of new technologies designed to decrease our use of power and make better use of natural sunlight through lighting fixtures that can sense the amount of sunlight entering into a room and automatically adjust to keep the level consistent throughout the day. It contains renewable materials such as the flooring and cabinet fixtures. It has been equipped with the latest technologies designed to give all of you the ability to explore, create, investigate, design, and solve important problems.
But most importantly, Kingsley now serves to remind us of two very important aspects of what it means to be a part of this amazing school. First, that it would be irresponsible of us to forget our past, to ignore our tradition and to push aside our history. It is this rich history that inspired the future leaders and creative thinkers of their time. But it is also there to serve as a reminder of our bright and innovative future. It is there to remind us of our responsibility to engage with one another as a learning community. Our belief that each of you, every student in this gymnasium represents infinite and vast potential. So consistent with our core values I charge you this year with the following.
Respect the hard work and dedication of those people who spent countless hours working, restoring, preparing and cleaning the building so that it would be ready for all of us at the start of the school year. Take care of it and all the buildings on this campus. It is our campus and it is our place. Let us show each other and the campus the respect it deserves.
Challenge one another in your courses of study. Push yourselves to find that which inspires you. I believe that in this room exists the potential for great things. I often wonder, which of you will someday find the cure to AIDS or Cancer. Which of you will discover the ability to find an inexpensive and sustainable energy source. Which of you will be inspired by either your math or biology teacher to explore the new area of study known as computational biology. Which relies on the ability of mathematicians to combine their skills with those of other scientists, bringing powerful perspectives to problems that were once thought to be too hard to solve. Is there a Pulitzer or Noble Prize winner in literature or poetry? The road to that potential begins with your willingness to engage with one another and your teachers. At the same time, think of the cleaning staff or carpenter who made the room you are in conducive to learning.
And lastly, let us Honor the legacy of Dr. Abercrombie, whose vision to create a school that was innovative and leading edge led Worcester Academy to 175 years of rich tradition and excellence.
I hope that you love the building as much as I do. There are far too many people to thank, and for each of you that was involved in some way, Thank you. But I want to leave you with this thought. Without all of you here, Kingsley is nothing more than a very beautiful but very empty building. It is wonderful to have all of you back and have a great year!
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
by Antonio
Below is a recap of some of the more interesting stories about education, technology, leadership and creativity floating out in the blogosphere. Enjoy!
Yesterday, the Wired Campus, a regular education-technology feature at The Chronicle of Higher Ed, featured a short article by Josh Fischman called, “The Civil-Rights Era, Now on the Web.” The piece highlights the Civil Rights Digital …
Untitled - http://www.jessiedanielsphd.com/blog
The third and final form of education is leadership in education, or leadership education. Throughout history, it is these students who go on to become great leaders in government. It is also these same students who become great …
Mary’s School Blog - http://stayinschool.1collegesource.com
Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask a creative person how they did something, they may feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after awhile. …
Creative Something - http://www.creativesomething.net/
If you are leading or managing a work team tasked with “being creative” the following are a few practices you can use to establish a creative working culture and get the ball rolling: 1. Try out and then modify; explore; test in reality …
The Fertile Unknown - http://creativeemergence.typepad.com/the_fertile_unknown/
Why in the world would someone like you be in a class on leadership taught by someone less than half your age and basically as green as tree moss about how to lead in tough times?” He didn’t hesitate. He took my arm and looked into my …
GOLDEN ZEN - http://goldenzen.wordpress.com
Photo Credit: Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton
Sunday, May 18th, 2008
by Antonio
I am hoping to provide a weekly digest of interesting stories in the news that deal with education, teaching, leadership and technology. Enjoy!
Noneducation Majors Find Teaching Appealing
RedOrbit, TX - May 16, 2008
Recruits often have no prior education experience or course work. They get five weeks of intensive training the summer before they start teaching, …
Anne Benedict: Defining Quality Leadership
According to Vince Lombardi, leaders aren’t born, they are made. Smart corporations recognize at least some element of truth in this, and set out to cultivate this specific talent in their teams with the help of experts like Anne …
Do the math: We’re lacking
Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA - May 16, 2008
But a strong national curriculum would be only half the battle; the other challenge is creating a teaching force capable of teaching to those higher …
Universities push global education
Columbus Dispatch, OH - May 17, 2008
Ohio’s higher-education chancellor, Eric D. Fingerhut, wants the statewide number of study-abroad students to grow 10 percent a year. …
Blueprints for a green school
San Diego Union Tribune, United States - May 17, 2008
High Tech High, which operates eight charter schools in the region, is known for personalized learning, using hands-on projects to engage students. …
WorldWide Telescope goes online
International Science Grid This Week, Switzerland - May 14, 2008
Microsoft Research says it is releasing WorldWide Telescope as a free resource to the astronomy and education communities with the hope that it will inspire …
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
by Antonio
Leadership in American schools is becoming an increasingly difficult concept to define. Many educational scholars and policy makers agree that the current role of a school leader, both in the building and district or school wide, insufficiently meets the needs of American education for the 21st century. In an article by Lynn Olson, New Thinking on What Makes a Leader, she clearly argues that schools across the nation are facing a shortage of qualified and talented administrators. The article also points out that it could quite possibly be the current structure of our schools that may be contributing to the problem as well. There is consensus among educators, governmental and philanthropic groups that not addressing this problem will not only not make problem go away, but instead lead to an even smaller, insufficiently trained applicant pool to choose from.
Olson states, there are very different schools of thought when addressing this issue. It raises some interesting questions regarding the definition of educational administration, the inability for many to perform the demanding tasks needed to fulfill the requirements of the job and seeks to find a dialogue which might lead to possible solutions. This argument provides educators an opportunity to critically analyze school administration and leadership from a variety of perspectives. One argument is that key administrators are coming under increasing fire to provide adequate results in student performance and achievement. This pressure is driven in large part, as it is in the state of Massachusetts and across many states nationwide, by academic standards and accountability. Many would argue that this form of top-down reform would require administrators and school leaders to become “instructional leaders” rather than simply building managers. Building management must therefore take a back seat, if schools are to become successful in training and educating today’s modern student. However, it is unclear how to precisely define the term “instructional leader”. There are those currently involved in education reform who believe that many of the problems faced by American schools will require solutions by the next generation of administrators.
Does the future of American education require that these leaders be educators in order to successfully do the job? Are we placing unreasonable expectations of administrators? Does the solution require that schools place a larger emphasis on business management? One thing is certain, public and private schools across the United States are seeking and actively recruiting candidates which can fulfill all these responsibilities. The modern day administrator needs to have the business and management knowledge of a corporate CEO, the savvy of a seasoned fund raiser and the experience of being a veteran educator. It is difficult to imagine effective leadership in our schools coming from someone who has never stepped foot in a classroom. Olson also places part of the blame on the preparation and leadership - training programs currently training administrators for the job. There are a portion of leading educators and policy makers that believe senior level administrators being “pumped out” of these training programs are lacking on-the-job experience as well as a deep knowledge and understanding of instruction. These leaders are not only going to be expected to do the job of “instructional leader”, but are going to face the reality of management. In my humble opinion, one this is for certain, the future success of American education will demand effective, innovative and visionary leadership in order to fully embrace and address the challenges of education in the 21st century
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
by Antonio
Today I received in the mail, my copy of the Harvard Education Letter, published by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The cover article focuses on how “despite the challenges” more schools are adopting one-to-one laptop programs. The article goes on to say that over the last several years, many schools across the United States have initiated laptop programs and according to a recent survey more that 25% of the 2,500 largest school districts have at least one full grade of students working with laptops. What I found refreshing was that the article states that many educators believe that in time, these powerful tools, capable of allowing students to create, design, invent and publish will be “as ubiquitous as lunchboxes in students’ backpacks.”
While the research is still out and many studies have confirmed mixed results with regards to gains in student achievement, as a teacher of writing, there is a clear indication that student performance in writing increases and improves when working in a one-to-one laptop program. An example of this could be taken from my Creative Writing class today. Students and I are exploring poetry as a multidimensional form of expression. Today, my budding, young writers were asked to bring in a set of poems that they would share with one another in small groups. The purpose was to reach each other’s poetry and then engage in a conversation on providing one another feedback. I provided the groups with a rubric/outline for the discussion points and feedback areas they could focus on. This happened with paper copies of drafts, circling the tables and students writing in paper notebooks.
Now imagine for a moment, 18 students take out laptops, upload their poems to a blog or wiki. They read through and provide comments, mashup, link, respond using technology like VoiceThread.
The potential is endless, the opportunities countless. We are hoping to take the plunge and move to a one-to-one next year in our Middle School. I will be sure to keep you posted.
Photo Credit: carf
Photo Credit: Matthew Clark Photography & Design
Thursday, December 13th, 2007
by Antonio
We go on our winter break next week and yet, I must admit that I am looking forward to small brainstorming session that a few of us have planned for Monday afternoon. The “pow wow” was brought on by a discussion at lunch the other day regarding the educational value of Second Life. For those of you not familiar with Second Life, it is
(From the Second Life Website) Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by millions of Residents from around the globe.
* From the moment you enter the World you’ll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you’ve explored a bit, perhaps you’ll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.
* You’ll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow Residents. Because Residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other Residents.
* The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online Linden Dollar exchanges.
In essence, the discussion revolved around the educational value of Second Life. There is a portion of Second Life that has been dedicated to non-profit organizations and educational institutions. The process consists of downloading some software and setting up an identity. You are run through a training module and then you are free to roam through this virtual world. The real issue that was presented was how does the potential of this virtual world translate into the very real world of teaching and learning. From what I can gather, it has the ability to link schools, teachers, students, speakers, guest artists and other creative thinkers in a way that is very real and would otherwise be difficult due to resources or distance. However, the seedy underbelly of Second Life does present legitimate concerns for teachers, and yet, the potential of Second Life raises interesting questions for educators.
- How will learning outside the four walls of the classroom continue to change and evolve over the next 5 to 10 years?
- In an era where emergency response plans include everything from lock downs to the closing of school due to pandemic flu, how can classes be conducted in a virtual environment?
- What role will new multimedia and social-networking have with respect to teaching and learning?
- How will long distance collaboration change when creative thinkers are able to interact in real time, in a virtual environment?
- Will schools such as mine, take advantage of the endless supply of land and forgo our land locked, urban school dilemma?
- Is it truly possible to nurture “whole-brain” thinking, the likes of Daniel Pink in a world where every single thing has been created by someone living in Second Life?
The results of this brainstorming pow wow will be interesting. My hunch is that Worcester Academy will in fact purchase property in Second Life. What we do with it has yet to be decided, but like our students, it represents infinite possibilities.
Monday, December 3rd, 2007
by Antonio
When I was hired as the CIO at Worcester Academy in 2002 the school had just purchased its first SmartBoard. When asked about how much use and demand the board had, I was surprised to find out that in fact, there was very little interest in the technology. Mind you, that at this time, Apple’s OS X had not really taken off, there were few laptops in circulation and wireless was relegated to a few science labs and the library. Five years later, there are few desktops left on our campus, wireless blankets the campus and our Technology Committee is beta testing the implementation of OS X Leopard. Faculty have received a new fleet of MacBooks (in year five now) and last year, we purchased a set of eight SmartBoards, hoping that this would take off. I recently emailed faculty with budget requests for the 2008/2009 year and I have for the first time received the largest number of requests for ceiling mounted projectors and SmartBoards. This shift is in many ways, a good problem to have. We have gone from laptops not being used to not having enough, arguing further for our movement toward a 1 to 1 laptop program and continued investment in professional development. Change takes time. Innovation does not happen overnight, but glimpses of it is really exciting.
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
by Antonio
I often wonder if leadership is something that an individual is born with or if, in fact, it can be taught. While aspects of leadership such as good communication skills, team work and problem solving are skills and attributes that can be honed and developed, does a person have an intrinsic “leadership nature”? Today I saw a young woman demonstrate just that. It had nothing to do with standing out as the loudest voice or most active participant. It manifested itself in a quiet way, looking upward 45 or 50 feet straight up in the air, surveying a climbing wall wearing borrowed sneakers. It concerned itself less with what others were thinking and more with the sheer excitement of a challenge. This young lady took on the medium and difficult portions of this wall and won. She demonstrated poise, concentration, courage and determination. But what struck me more than anything else was that by exercising her intrinsic “leadership nature”, she quietly demonstrated for the onlookers what it means to exercise it.
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
by Antonio
Not sure how many schools out there are curriculum mapping these days. Mapping is the process of collecting and analyzing a schools operational curriculum. Quite often, this is done electronically using a tool such as Rubicon Atlas or Curriculum Mapper, both software, web based products that allow teachers to input what they teach, how they teach it and how they assess as students understanding of a topic or skill set.
Needless to say we have been engaged in this process in one shape or another for several years now and in many ways we continued to struggle with helping faculty embrace the potential of mapping. Many were rightfully confused, unsure of why were doing this, didn’t understand what purpose it served and generally saw it as another “add on”. This summer, a team of went to a set of workshops at Rubicon Atlas in Portland, Orgeon. Many of you out there in the blogosphere may be thinking, “Yea, so what? you went to a workshop?” What was different was that a “team” of us went, not 2 or 3 people, but 7. What was different was we planned together as a group what we thought was the most meaningful and worthwhile approach to working with the entire faculty during our pre-sessional meetings. What was different was that we were willing to recognize that we had made some mistakes and readjusted accordingly. And most importantly, what was different was that we work with faculty in small groups, each of us playing an important role in facilitating the discussion.
Lastly, we invited faculty to unwind and share a cold drink after the formal meetings were over to continue the conversation, visit and catch up with one another and generally unwind after a day work. Uncertain of how this would play out, we took a chance and found that people stuck around, chatted about mapping, discussed pedagogy, laughed about their summer experiences and connected as a community. A real learning community. Some of us took risks, one member of my team put himself out there by using his old map as an example of what not to do, and that took some guts. But what stood out was the authenticity and sincerity with which faculty engaged. One colleague in particular commented that for the first time, he was excited about mapping and that it was clear to him because we approached the process differently than we had in the previous three years.
It is not easy to admit that you have made mistakes. It is even more humbling to recognize that not every decision you make has the desired effect and that in fact, the opposite could result, you could lose people rather than empower them. For a moment, I had to step back and ask myself if I was imagining a room full of teachers, talking and laughing on the first day of school? And the kicker was, curriculum mapping was what got them there.
Monday, August 13th, 2007
by Antonio
So I’ve test driven several WordPress themes and brushed up on my CSS and html skills. Funny how things have a way of coming back to you when you put your mind to it. In any event, it is hard to believe that it is mid-August. Seems like summer goes by faster and faster and this week will officially be the last week of my summer break. Between attending a two day leadership team retreat, jamming several meetings into a Wednesday and then taking off the last weekend for some vacation time, I feel like I have been productive and yet, items still remain on my to do list. Getting the website up and running has been time consuming and rethinking the design, structure and purpose has reached a crescendo and I hope to have the final touches figured out shortly. The design approach I find myself most gravitating to is simple, clean and minimal. Scott over at plaintext.org has a great post on some of the nicest and cleanest WordPress themes out there. Darren Rowse at ProBlogger.com just finished a redesign of his site and his work convinced me that simplifying and removing clutter makes sense in blog design as well as in life.
So in the meantime I have settled on this theme and will begin to move my effort over to working on the syllabus for my Creative Writing elective for the fall trimester. August always seems to mark transitions for me as I am sure it does for many others in education. I am looking forward to the start of school, and yet, one can’t help but be a bit apprehensive about all that remains to be done.
