Spent today at Sugarloaf for the annual Maine Association for Middle Level Education conference. MAMLE has been a steady and present influence on middle level education in Maine since 1986 and this year's conference was no exception. Great to see Lindsay B and Sarah R at the conference. I attended Lindsay's session on "Math and RTI" today and it was an excellent session. She presented with her colleague from Warsaw MS, Kayla Brown, and John Keane (principal of Leonard MS in Old Town). An excellent session and a well done to Lindsay for her articulate and focused session.
I'm going to ask Lindsay and Sarah to give us a bit of a summary of the MAMLE conference, particularly the focus of the conference, what people were talking about outside of the sessions, and anything else they think is relevant. Lindsay and Sarah, feel free to use your blog or do a short voice memo (or podcast) or any format that is simple and works for you. I will open up a place in Moodle for you to drop in whatever you decide on. Thanks and look forward to your thoughts.
I've been in conference mode the last week and attended a day of the ACTEM Conference a week ago in Augusta. This one technology-learning focused...lots of people and excellent sessions as well. I don't think I saw anyone from our class there...so here are a couple of things I learned at the ACTEM Conference. Attended a terrific session by Lisa Hogan and Kerry Gallivan from MSAD 75 (Topsham...Mt. Ararat Middle and High Schools) on digital citizenship. They have been very proactive on this issue and frankly they are doing more than any other school in providing assistance to students, their teacher colleagues, and parents on the key issues of this critical topic.
My second session was by Jeff Whipple (jeffwhipple.ca) on tracking our digital footprint. Also an excellent session and I will share more specifics about this session shortly. Jeff, a tech integrator from New Brunswick, strongly advocates that anyone of middle and high school age (as well as adults) "control" their digital footprint by making it intentional. He suggests setting up a blog of your own (you all have them) that gives a positive and professional image of you and your work...for anyone searching for you. If you haven't Googled yourself lately...do so to see what comes up. Also, for another look at you and your web presence, use SPEZIFY, for a more visual look. Interesting!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
So...what really is important in middle level education in 2010?
I've been thinking a great deal about our first face-to-face (F2F) class and the responses you all have made to several Moodle forums, the original VoiceThread, your blogs, and comments in class. Very interesting how major themes migrate to the top of any discussion...and the topics that you all care about—individually and collectively—did just that. So, at the risk of being redundant (since I mentioned these in my week #4 podcast), I will talk about each of them here because I think they DO represent some of the major questions about middle level education in 2010. The order here is strictly random, although by the end of our study together this semester, I think we will have an order for this list.
• How could we ignore technology and learning, especially given our involvement in MLTI since 2002. MLTI has changed middle level education in Maine more than any other event, initiative, or program. Hands down! No question. MLTI has changed how we teach, how our students learn, and it has raised our expectations for student learning along the way. Lots of issues in this large umbrella topic, of course, but one is more important than all the lessons we've learned from MLTI. Want to know what it is? When MLTI was rolled out, the time from roll-out to implementation was very, very short. Under Bette Manchester's direction (with lots of help from Maine educators) we mounted a massive and effective professional development effort that prepared middle level teachers to (happily) embrace and use the laptops to further learning. This was a huge lesson to learn...that with a singular purpose...and a sharp focus on a goal...we could make such a huge improvement in learning in a relatively short time. What if we applied this "get it done" mentality to every problem/issue we have in education?
• A number of you noted the lack of Maine middle level certification...and that surprised me. Not that it isn't important, middle level teacher certification underlies everything else in this post, but that it so rarely comes up. Several groups over the last 25 years have proposed a ml certificate but that suggestion has gone nowhere! We did have a Middle Level Endorsement for a number of years and that included knowledge about curriculum, instruction, assessment; knowledge of the young adolescent...and several other topics in four different courses. But, the ML Endorsement morphed into something totally different with the advent of NCLB when it became strictly a content issue. Now, ml teachers need 24 credits in a content area to be "highly qualified"...but no more concern that they also know about the students they teach or any of the rest of the ml focus.
• The third theme is the sticking point. How do we fulfill the goals of middle level education AND respond to all the (seemingly separate and sometimes contradictory) initiatives and mandates that are thrown at us from our school districts, the state, and federal requirements? Simply stated, how do we compromise essential middle level practices with NCLB and state testing requirements? At a time when schools are cutting anything that doesn't directly "prepare" students for the many tests they are required to take, where is there time in the day for advisory programs, common planning time for teaching teams, integrated curriculum...and so much more? Can we do both? Should we do both? Or, are these two totally different directions? I think there are many points of compromise here...and I also think that these two points of view can work together. Let's find out how.
• Given the three previous themes, what is the future trajectory of middle level education? Where has it been? What has it accomplished? Where is it going? When we talk about the middle school concept (or ml philosophy) what do we mean? Why are some districts abandoning the ms concept while others eagerly embrace it? Middle school is often referred to as the "bridge" between elementary and secondary education. Why are we unwilling to pay attention to the unique needs of young adolescents, as we so readily serve the needs of children and older adolescents?
• And here is where the rubber meets the road— leadership and advocacy. What can each of us do in our schools, districts, and communities to further the cause of education...to provide the best possible learning for every student. We are finishing an incredible week with the release of Waiting for Superman and the nationwide conversations stimulated by the many activities of Education Nation. Will this impetus die on the vine...or will we take the initiative and move ahead? We need both advocacy for and leadership in middle level education more than ever before. We need you to be an advocate for young adolescents in your own school and district, but we also need you to be a voice of leadership at the state and national levels as well.
What themes would you add to this list?
• How could we ignore technology and learning, especially given our involvement in MLTI since 2002. MLTI has changed middle level education in Maine more than any other event, initiative, or program. Hands down! No question. MLTI has changed how we teach, how our students learn, and it has raised our expectations for student learning along the way. Lots of issues in this large umbrella topic, of course, but one is more important than all the lessons we've learned from MLTI. Want to know what it is? When MLTI was rolled out, the time from roll-out to implementation was very, very short. Under Bette Manchester's direction (with lots of help from Maine educators) we mounted a massive and effective professional development effort that prepared middle level teachers to (happily) embrace and use the laptops to further learning. This was a huge lesson to learn...that with a singular purpose...and a sharp focus on a goal...we could make such a huge improvement in learning in a relatively short time. What if we applied this "get it done" mentality to every problem/issue we have in education?
• A number of you noted the lack of Maine middle level certification...and that surprised me. Not that it isn't important, middle level teacher certification underlies everything else in this post, but that it so rarely comes up. Several groups over the last 25 years have proposed a ml certificate but that suggestion has gone nowhere! We did have a Middle Level Endorsement for a number of years and that included knowledge about curriculum, instruction, assessment; knowledge of the young adolescent...and several other topics in four different courses. But, the ML Endorsement morphed into something totally different with the advent of NCLB when it became strictly a content issue. Now, ml teachers need 24 credits in a content area to be "highly qualified"...but no more concern that they also know about the students they teach or any of the rest of the ml focus.
• The third theme is the sticking point. How do we fulfill the goals of middle level education AND respond to all the (seemingly separate and sometimes contradictory) initiatives and mandates that are thrown at us from our school districts, the state, and federal requirements? Simply stated, how do we compromise essential middle level practices with NCLB and state testing requirements? At a time when schools are cutting anything that doesn't directly "prepare" students for the many tests they are required to take, where is there time in the day for advisory programs, common planning time for teaching teams, integrated curriculum...and so much more? Can we do both? Should we do both? Or, are these two totally different directions? I think there are many points of compromise here...and I also think that these two points of view can work together. Let's find out how.
• Given the three previous themes, what is the future trajectory of middle level education? Where has it been? What has it accomplished? Where is it going? When we talk about the middle school concept (or ml philosophy) what do we mean? Why are some districts abandoning the ms concept while others eagerly embrace it? Middle school is often referred to as the "bridge" between elementary and secondary education. Why are we unwilling to pay attention to the unique needs of young adolescents, as we so readily serve the needs of children and older adolescents?
• And here is where the rubber meets the road— leadership and advocacy. What can each of us do in our schools, districts, and communities to further the cause of education...to provide the best possible learning for every student. We are finishing an incredible week with the release of Waiting for Superman and the nationwide conversations stimulated by the many activities of Education Nation. Will this impetus die on the vine...or will we take the initiative and move ahead? We need both advocacy for and leadership in middle level education more than ever before. We need you to be an advocate for young adolescents in your own school and district, but we also need you to be a voice of leadership at the state and national levels as well.
What themes would you add to this list?
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