Shut It Down!?

It amazes me that there are some people that find really complex things simple. Mostly, I think we will things to be simple. Even the really complicated things. Tomorrow night, the government may shut down for some really complex reasons. I think good people are working as I type this to avoid it, but it may happen anyway.

To me, if I wanted this to be simple, I'd say this is because lawmakers aren't doing their jobs. But I suspect it isn't like kids who show up to class without their homework done. This is complex. This has to do with public polls, policy issues, economic concerns, and some new people who maybe thought this was all a little more simple than it is.

Education is complex like this too. Since nearly everyone has been to school, we all think we're experts. That's like saying anyone who's had their teeth cleaned could be an oral surgeon. Education is part art, part science. It requires dedication, commitment, long hours sometimes, grace, eloquence, a warm, quick wit, and heaps of patience. We have a national shame in what we pay teachers. In fact 30% of Americans claim that teachers should be paid more than anyone else!

You know what no one really talks about? We probably don't really think that. We probably think that the really good teachers...the ones who make a huge difference; the ones that are constantly getting better, should be paid more. We probably don't think the burned out teacher or the person that hands out worksheets all day should be making 125K like the teachers at TEP. Except that at TEP, they haven't seen test scores go up dramatically yet.

Do you know what I really hate? I hate that the people that know a lot about this stuff dumb it down to the media. We need to be informed. We need to know how hard merit pay would be. How would you like it if your job was on the line and those that could save it were adolescents who care more about their impending break-up or basketball game than a test? Maybe that's how government workers feel tonight! We also need to know how hard it must be to be chancellor of the New York City School System. It is easy to take shots at teachers or Michelle Rhee. What's hard is to look at Cathie Black, Michelle Rhee, Geoff Canada, Arne Duncan, as well as many dedicated teachers and think how hard it must be to be them. It has to be so hard to do what they are charged with doing.

We need to stop dumbing it down...or else our kids will be the product of that. So work hard tonight, Senate staffers. I bet it is hard doing what you're doing tonight. Oh...and thank you for doing it. Your teachers would be proud.

Spring!

Springtime usually means that we can start anew. We shake off the dust (and hopefully the pounds) that winter has left behind and look forward. In the world that I have always lived in, however, the school year rules. Sometimes, in this environment, the snow melts and we are left with the same issues that were there in the fall and perhaps a little less hope that change will be made "this year." It is a strange cyclical view of the year where people begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but that light may not be what we hoped for in the Fall.

It is these times when the ideas and focus of our team members can help us get to a place where we can push forward. Building a great team does not require you to be a leader in title. I think it requires only two things: a shared vision and the self awareness it takes to build meaningful relationships. Look around your community, home, and workplace. Who is on your team?

Pretentious

I mentioned in my first post, that this wouldn't be about my work as a technology educator. Still, it is a large part of what I am and this is really more just about people anyway. I digress.

I'm attending ISTE 2010 in Denver this week. Things here are just getting underway and I've only just registered, but already I have seen incredible evidence of the digital divide. I'm currently listening to a guy from Baltimore who dresses the part (emo glasses, pac man tee-shirt) discussing with a group of boomers how to use Twitter. Currently he can't get the network to work. This is incredible people-watching. At the heart of the problem here...and believe me, there is a problem...is his lack of respect for the people he's talking to. He really thinks they're stupid. Now if you sat him down, he'd no doubt deny it; but in dark places he doesn't like to talk about, he loathes these people. See that's only half of the problem. They hate him too. On the face of it, they are interested, have checked their egos at the door, and are ready to learn. Except that they haven't done that.

Then again...maybe they have.

A First

Perhaps as good a time as any to start blogging. After all, I worked incessantly to convince my wife to begin blogging with her class and have now begun to make a living finding ways for technology to enter the classroom. Still, this won't be about my profession, my personal life, or a vicarious jaunt into what it would be like to be a paid writer. These are thoughts. Random at times, and not likely ready for consumption by the general public. If you've stumbled across this, welcome. You won't likely need to stay long.

Today I couldn't help but think, as Landon Donovan streaked toward a near empty net, that there was some truth to the idea that this sport has caught on here. It isn't as if this is new. Moms have taken an adjective to describe their minivan driving, orange quartering existance from it. But there is something different about the game that has caught on for more than a few people in the places I visit. The game may be played well by all involved and still not yield a fair winner. The amount of corner kicks, time of possession, number of fouls or even shots on net do not determine the outcome directly. There is a flow to the game. All try hard, though at times they are theatrical and dishonest and yet there is no promise of just ends. I wonder if that's how oyster fishermen feel this month. I wonder if that is how factory and mill workers have felt over the last decades. Maybe Americans have more in common with the 'lads on the pitch' than we'd like to admit. Today, though, Donovan's yeoman-like effort in the 91st minute yielded a result that any American can aspire to. Victory...plain and simple. I wonder how we would have reacted if he didn't quite make it.