Hold My Chalk

One of the reasons that keeps being repeated by some for not increasing funds to education is that there is less money than in previous years.  In the same breathe Governor Fallin proposes more tax cuts.  This just does not make sense to most people. Why would you say there is not enough money then turn around and promise a tax cut?  Don't get me wrong, I would love to pay less in taxes, but sometimes we need to hold off on the cuts. I would like to offer a possibility for generating some revenue that can have a great impact on our economy.  Currently Oklahoma offers tax incentives for horizontal and deep well drilling.  In case you are unaware, this is a type of drilling for natural gas that is done in three key states.  Oklahoma is one of those three states.  The process involves drilling deep wells, then turning and drilling horizontally in order to tap into larger pockets of natural gas.  Of the three states, Oklahoma offers the best incentive...

For the next few posts I am going to shift gears a little bit and aim this at parents. You may or may not have heard about the Oklahoma Rally for Education that will be at the State Capitol on March 31st at 10:30.  What I would like to do is give you a few of the reasons for the rally, and also counter some of the propaganda that is being presented to undermine the rally.  I want to keep each post short, so this will take a few posts to accomplish adequately. Some are saying that this is a teacher strike trying to get better pay.  Better pay for teachers and other school staff would be great and there is legislation being proposed to attempt to raise pay for teachers, but that is not the reason for the rally.   The rally is to encourage the legislature to find dedicated funding sources for education similar to what is done for the department of transportation. The state department of transportation is guaranteed money before the legislative bodies can even talk budg...

Many of you may be familiar with the phrase pass the buck. If you are unfamiliar, in essence it means to shift blame or responsibility to someone else. There is another phrase, S hift the Monkey , popularized by Todd Whitaker  that means to shift burdens to those that should carry them. The key distinction is that with passing the buck, you take your responsibilities and faults and try to force them on someone else. When shifting monkeys, you give the burdens back to the rightful owner and quit carrying the burdens of others. As an administrator, I need to get better at shifting monkeys to their rightful owner.  For various reasons, I don't often do that.  One reason is that I find it much easier to do it myself. I know that there are few others that will do it exactly the way I would, so I prefer to take care of it on my own. Problem is that my plate can get pretty full sometimes and I need to pass off some of those burdens. What this means for me is that I have to acce...

Sarcasm Alert! When someone has a question that needs answered, the first thing I think of is making a poster.  Because making a poster makes everything better, no matter how ridiculous the problem may be.  Here is the latest poster that was brought to my attention: This is the poster issued by the State Department of Education to help inform parents about the Reading Sufficiency Act.  This poster is identical to the pamphlet as far as content, though I must admit it is much prettier.  I have a few windows that do not have anything on them.  Maybe I can use these posters to cover them. Seriously, what new information is this providing for parents?  Better yet, what solutions is it offering to parents?  This is just propaganda!  I have one more question, when is propaganda necessary?  Only when you are wrong and need to convince the rest of the world you are right. This poster is a complete waste of resources and is utterly useless. Next time ...

As a public school teacher, I am very much in support of public schools.  I have very strong personal convictions about it and about keeping my child in public schools.  I have friends that have their children in private schools for various reasons. That is their choice and many of them have no issue with their tax money being used to support public education. I just wanted to throw a few numbers at you related to our tax dollars and public schools.  If you have read my previous post Prison, Potholes, and Public Education, you would remember that the schools receive roughly $3,000 per child in state aid to assist in educating each child.  This makes up roughly 60% of the funds schools receive.  The other 40% comes from local and county taxes and federal funds.   The interesting thing about the state funding is that if you get too much from other sources, the state keeps part of the money in an effort to keep schools on equal footing.  Another interesti...

It troubled me to read that Maridyth McBee will be vacating her post as testing czar for the state of Oklahoma on March 14th.  This is the Friday before many districts in the state will leave for spring break.  So with just three weeks left before the testing window opens, there will be a new interim chief (assistant superintendent) of assessment and accountability. Filling in for her until a new person can be found for the job is Wes Bruce.  Wes has been working as a "consultant" for some time with the state.  I have a few questions that I would like answered in regards to this situation. Why do we have someone as a consultant and now interim assistant superintendent of assessment and accountability that was associated with scandal in Florida and their A-F grading system? Why do we have an interim assistant superintendent that does not live in Oklahoma? Why do we have an interim assistant superintendent that was on the PARCC board, an initiative that we "pulled out ...

These notes are really scattered and seem really random, but here are the notes from this session. How do you make the connection between print and technology? WeVideo iMovie for book trailers Story Board That  website Tellegami Video book talks, loved by kids. Library Media Specialist are so much more than just books and overhead projectors. To encourage librarians, be specifics about where and what you want to do.  Do they need to go to training?  Where can you send them?  Who can come in and help get them going?  How many other hats are they wearing?  Need to encourage them to be a champion for literacy and digital literacy.   Several blogs were mentioned, I know I missed some, but here are the names and I will update the link. Blogs and people to follow on twitter for ideas.  Blueskunkblog  Matt Gomez Shannon Miller Nerdy book club Readkennedyread Many ideas were shared from @glenwoodelemlib.  She sees students thirty minutes...

Creativity Apps in Elementary Classroom Remember the app is just a tool to supplement your instruction. Here are some of the apps shared from the session. Knowmia -  Educreations- Little Bird Tale-has an app and web support.  Can add audio to pictures.  Makes a great portfolio.  This is not a free app.   Tellagami-  Aurasma AR Flashcards Baby Buttons Tumble books  Symbaloo How do you overcome teachers not wanting to integrate?  This is a problem in many areas, but ultimately, you let those that are eager to move take off.  Those that are reluctant, hold their hand and those that are anchors, cut them loose and go with those that want to learn.  The rest will eventually jump on board or become so uncomfortable that they leave.  Matt Gomez website and twitter feed was also shared as a resource.  Pick a few apps and stick with it.  If you are schizophrenic with your apps it makes it very difficult for students to learn....

How many of you have heard a statement like that before?  When you work with kids, you hear that often.  It is usually coupled with "That's not fair!"  As a parent, teacher or school administrator this is a constant struggle. When you work with a student that is always trying to shift blame or make excuses for their behavior your end goal is to get them to take responsibility for their actions. Many times we run into parents that will attempt to do this for their child.  They often do this I. Earshot of the child and the child internalizes this behavior.  This gets us stuck in a generational loop that is nearly impossible to break.  As educators we have to be careful that we are not guilty of doing the same thing.  We all know that there is a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and academic performance. If we continually harp on this fact, others will say we are making excuses and incapable of doing our jobs.  What we focus on less is ...