Bullying in Schools

I have been seeing many articles both in print and on television about bullying in schools.  Last night it was quoted on the nightly news that 70% of people surveyed had been bullied in school.  That is terrible and we need to do all that we can to stop this.  But.....

Why are we ONLY concerned about bullying in schools while it appears to be OK in adult life?  

Government is full of bullies.  Both sides have spread rumors and have distorted the truth.  Check out the TV ads currently running and those to come.  Both parties are pushing their agenda to the point of bullying and we are at stalemate.  It is not called bullying, it is called “politics”.

I have heard of and have experienced executives who manage by intimidation.  If you do not do things their way you can expect "payback".  Something bad happens to you.  Unions organized to stop management from bullying the workers.  Eventually some unions started acting as bullies.    It is not called bullying, it is called “doing business”.

We seem to be having a cause-effect problem.  Do we really believe that stopping bullying in schools will stop bullying in adults also?  Or could it be that stopping adult examples of bullying will be the best thing to stop bullying in schools?  Do children learn in school how to be bullies,  or do they learn to be bullies by the adult examples that they see in their life?

.....Schools definitely need to do all they can to stop bullying and harassment.  All adults in all walks of life need to do all they can to stop bullying and harassment.  It is NOT just the school’s responsibility.

6 weeks Into Our 1to1 Initiative

6 Weeks into our 1to1 laptop Journey!

MFL MarMac High School is now 6 weeks into our 1to1 laptop initiative.  Our “BLAST” off  (Bulldog Laptops Accelerating Student Technology) was held for grades 9-12 on August 17-18.  That was the day that it became educational practice instead of educational planning.

Last spring, all K-12 teachers received new MacBooks.  We held 2 days of training in iLife and iWork for all K-12 staff.  August 18-19, we held 2 days of technology training.  The HS had Apple come in and worked on Integrating Technology into the Curriculum.  The K-8 had AEA personnel in and worked on age appropriate technology integration.

The 1to1 is a HS initiative, but Technology Integration into the Core Curriculum is a K-12 professional development focus.

We have had 2 days of Professional Development covering How technology integrates into the Characteristics of Effective Instruction.   Deb Henkes, Jason Martin-Himer, Amy Holst and Sarah Seick did a wonderful job of exemplifying and modeling the Characteristics of Effective Instruction.  They didn’t lecture to us about not lecturing.  They modeled and teachers appreciated this.

I have been amazed at how quickly our staff has responded to the Board of Education directive.  Teachers are trying new techniques and students seem to be responding and seem more engaged.

I have seen:  Blogs; Wikis; Outstanding classroom websites; Movies; Paperless classrooms; Flipped classrooms; BackChannels for students; Fast Math; Collaborations with other schools with Skype; Prezi’s; and many other tools to engage students into the curriculum.

We have come farther on this journey than I had ever dreamed we would be at this point.  We need to keep in mind that this will always be a journey and not a destination. 

Berry's Rules of Learning

Berry’s Rules of Learning

1)                 Everyone can learn.

2)                 NOT everyone learns the same way.

3)                 If you don’t use it….you lose it.

4)                 You are in charge of your classroom.  Know what you expect from your students and make sure that they know what you expect.

5)                 Aim high for your students.  Make sure that their reach is always beyond what they NEED to learn.

6)                 If they want to learn…They will learn far more than you or they think is possible.  Find out what makes them want to learn.      

7)                 If all that we do as teachers is to dispense information…we may as well put the in front of a computer.  (See #6)

8)                 Any teacher that can be replace by a computer…probably should be.

9)                 There are circumstances that we can not control.  Understand that.  Control what you can.

10)            Laughter makes learning physiologically easier.  Proper use of praise opens up new neurons (No Matter What Age).  Learning increases learning.

11)            Learning never stops.  We can do things to speed it up.

12)            Have fun.  Love your students.  Help them to dream big.  You are far more important to them than you will ever realize.

Address to the public on MFLMM BLAST OFF (1to1 rollout)

MFL MarMac BLAST off 

(Bulldog Laptops Accelerating Student Computing)

Why are we doing this?  Two years ago, there were 17 schools in Iowa with a 1to1 laptop initiative.  Last year, there were 44 schools in Iowa with 1to1 at some level.  This school year, over 100 Iowa schools will have a 1to1 laptop initiative and MFL MarMac HS is one of them.

Do we have to do this?  The first answer is, “No!”  Our students are doing well. About 85% every year go on to some form of post high school education.  We are meeting our NCLB requirements and are staying off the list of Schools In Need Of Assistance.  Our students have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, mathematicians, engineers, nurses and many other rewarding professions.  We do not NEED to change, but.....

Whether for good or not, the world is rapidly changing around us.  Social networking is used in many ways to communicate, sell products, conduct business, deliver the news and to even revolt against oppressive governments.  You can not watch a TV news program without seeing Facebook and Twitter.  Real estate guides are using QR codes to convey information to people to read with their cell phones.  From this perspective, we owe it to our students to move forward with technology.  They must be prepared to live in this world.  Their daily lives now include technology constantly.  We need to apply this to education.  So YES, we do need to do this.

If you are not moving forward, you are falling behind.

Our teachers have prepared for this.  Two years ago, we started discussing this concept in out High School Leadership Team.  We started off asking, “Should we do this?”  After much research, discussion and visiting 1to1 schools, we decided that the question is not IF we should do this but, “HOW SOON can we do this?

Last year we prepared by visiting more schools.  We had training and used Google applications in our classrooms.  When school was out in June, we put MacBooks into the teachers’ hands and had two days of training on iLife and iWork which are the Apple application packages.  We had two days of Apple training before school started on integrating this technology into our curriculum. I have retired as HS Principal and have been hired back as a private contractor part time to help teachers with this initiative.  Teachers are ready to implement this and we are ready to help them in any way.

Thirteen years ago we implemented the block schedule.  The main idea is to lecture less and have more hands on, project based learning.  People learn more by doing than by listening.  The 1to1 project is an extension of this idea.  The days of the “Sage on the Stage” are over.  The idea that the teacher holds the knowledge and will pass it on to the students is unrealistic any longer.  If you need a fact, you can look it up in Google in 10 seconds or less.  We need to teach critical thinking and how to use these facts.  Our staff is committed to make the 1to1 initiative help us teach these concepts.

Steven Covey preaches, “Start with the end in mind.”  Technology is not the end product.  Technology is a very powerful tool to reach the end product of student achievement.

Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid.  Humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant.  Together, they are powerful beyond imagination.

The MFL MarMac HS Mission statement is to engage and challenge students to Communicate, Collaborate, Investigate, Evaluate and Create through a rigorous and relevant curriculum.

What do you expect?

MFL MarMac will be a 1 to 1 laptop computer school next year for grades 9-12. The HS staff has been working hard on professional development and training all of this school year to get ready for this. I would like to give parents and students a chance to have some input:
1) What questions do you have?
2) What do you expect this to look like?
3) How do you think this will "change" the traditional classrooms?