Testing and Tornadoes

Normally, I never look at SPAM that other teachers send me. My job is to help keep SPAM to a minimum. I am supposed to tell teachers that just because something is amusing or uplifting to them, the school division frowns upon it, and therefore it is bad. I take my job very seriously, right before I decide to ignore it. Yesterday, curiosity got the better of me and I had to look at the harmless non essential email contact in my inbox, and I am glad I did. The SPAM that was being passed around combined two things that the school system works very hard to make sure is perfect. Severe weather safety and state test taking measures.

The procedures for tornado drills are practiced every year by staff members and students. Everyone practices finding some place safe from the flying glass from windows and crouches down low covering their heads. All of this is done for a good reason. To protect everyone from the very real danger that nature poses to schools (the linked article happened very close to my school system just last week).

The security procedures (about halfway down the agreement) for the Virginia standards of learning (SOL) test rivals that of the toughest airport security. Scratch paper is handed out with tests and must be returned with each test when the test is finished, and shredded. Tests are locked up tight until right before testing begins, and only one person in the building is allowed to have the key. There must be a person in the classroom who simply watches the teacher giving the test. Students requiring bathroom breaks must be escorted to the bathroom and back to the classroom in total silence. Any test irregularities must be reported to the building administrator who in turn must notify his or her contact within the school division, who must then notify the state, who will then determine if the uncovered poster, without any SOL test questions on it, voids the entire set of tests...

Combined, these two procedures come together in a very funny way that really doesn't seem to be that far from what could be expected. The exception is that this email really shows what everyone has suspected to be the state’s major concern in schools. It took me to number three to realize that I was not reading something official. In my defense it was early and my coffee had not kicked in yet. I tried to track down where this came from but I had no success. It is just like SPAM to be difficult to track down...

Severe Weather Testing Protocols

1. Should a severe weather situation occur during testing, please remain calm. To display any kind of anxiety would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

2. Please do not look out the window to watch for approaching tornadoes. You must monitor the students at all times. To do otherwise would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

3. Should students notice an approaching tornado and begin to cry, please make every effort to protect their testing materials from the flow of tears and sinus drainage.

4. Should a flying object come through your window during testing, please make every effort to ensure that it does not land on a testing booklet or an answer sheet. Please make sure to soften the landing of the flying object so that it will not disturb the students while testing.

5. Should shards of glass from a broken window come flying into the room, have the students use their bodies to shield their testing materials so that they will not be damaged. Have plenty of gauze on hand to ensure that no one accidentally bleeds on the answer documents. Damaged answer sheets will not scan properly.

6. Should gale force winds ensue, please have students stuff their test booklets and answer sheets into their shirts, being very careful not to bend them because bent answer documents will not scan properly.

7. If students gets sucked into the vortex of the funnel cloud, please make sure they mark at least one answer before departing and of course make sure they leave their answer sheets and test booklets behind. You will have to account for those.

8. Should a funnel cloud pick you up and take you flying over the rainbow, you will still be required to account for all of your testing materials when you land so please take extra precautions. Remember, once you have checked them out, they should never leave your hands.

9. When rescue workers arrive to dig you out of the rubble, please make sure that they do not, at any time, look at or handle the testing materials. Once you have been treated for your injuries, you will still be responsible for checking your materials back in. Search dogs will not be allowed to sift through the rubble for lost tests unless of course they have been through standardized test training.

A School That's Too High on Gizmos?

I recently read an article from the Washington Post that really hit home with me. I am certainly not the only person to comment on it (Will Richardson, Conservative Teacher, GenYes, Joanne Jacobs, and a Zillion Others) but the article is important to me because it illustrates the opposition that I face every day in my position as Computer Resource Specialist.

To sum the article up- a teacher is complaining because the staff of his brand new school are being forced into using technology for instructional purposes. They want to do what they have always done. In their eyes, the world has not changed. They feel that they are doing the best possible job using the traditional tools and don't want to be forced into changing.

Change is the important element here and how teachers, as well as school systems, handle change.

I think it is human nature that makes people avoid change, it is easier that way. Inside, I believe that we all say this- I can do what I did before, it was ok then, it will be ok now. Teachers have always been the vehicle of instruction. Stand in front of the class and pour out knowledge to the students. "Write down what I say, because it is important." Teaching with technology requires that teachers teach differently. This different way of teaching is a direct challenge to how teachers see themselves in the classroom. They are no longer the expert, but a learner and the technology is now seen as the vehicle for instruction. The teacher's role is diminished. Of course teachers will resist this educational technology change- right up until they retire, or they see the light.

I think as a rule, school systems handle change very badly. If the change can't be managed over a 10 year time frame, schools will not be able to adjust. Technology is changing much too rapidly for any school system to keep up, so school divisions tend to make leaps and jumps with the technology they put in schools. Funding does not supply a steady stream of techno-goodies into the classroom, and normally as soon as technology gets there, it is obsolete. Administrators somehow believe that technology purchases are finite. That this big purchase this year will solve all of our problems for the next few years. They are not eager to "dump" money into the bottomless pit of technology, year after year, so the spending ends. You can not approach a long term problem with short term answers.

Teachers have seen all of this influx of stuff before in some previous technology incarnation, or educational trend, and refer to this as just another part of a cycle. Next year it will be something else. Teachers, deep down, believe that if they can just get by this year, they will be able to wait out this latest technology push.

It is not all the teacher's fault; they are not adequately prepared by their employers for the change of using new instructional tools. When the techno-goodies arrive, in most cases, the teachers are just thrown in the deep end of the pool without any training. Most of the time any training that is offered, is up the teacher to acquire on their own time, and does not translate into the much needed core area professional development that teachers must have to stay certified. Optional training allows teachers to opt out.

So, now we all know there is a problem, how do we address it? Elementary my dear Watson, everyone involved in education must accept that technology is changing education and that each of us has a role to actively perform in this continuing process. The world is changing, do something to make these changes positive for the classroom. I thought this was going to be hard!

School divisions must implement long term plans for acquiring technology and demand that all staff members learn the skills needed to use the tools provided by giving mandatory training. All teachers should be evaluated on the technology training that is provided, during the yearly teacher evaluation process.

Acceptance of educational change must begin at the top. This is the most difficult task to achieve because the people in charge are the ones with the most experience and are the least accepting of any changes. Administrators must embrace technology changes because they set the tone in each building. If they don't believe in the value of technology, neither will their staff. It will not matter what gizmos the school gets, the overall educational technology program will suffer.

Teachers who resist this technology change need to understand is that this change will not undo itself and go back to 20 years ago. While it may be easier to do what we have always done, evolution dictates that only those who can adapt to changes in their environment will survive. If teachers are given the chance to change through appropriate instructional technology training and are still incapable of using these new skills, they should be removed from the classroom. The new teachers may not have the experience that older teachers have, but because they want the job, they are much more adaptable.

Mr. Welsh, the writer of the Washington Post article, is an experienced teacher with 30 years of service. He resents the technology changes that he is forced into using for instruction. I have a simple solution for him and all of the other teachers who resist the educational technology changes. Retire. Supplement your income with a job at Wal-Mart as a greeter. Wave hello to people and slap stickers on little kids who visit the store. You are a dinosaur and your resistance to change hurts the population that you are paid to serve. This unappreciative teacher has an administration that supports technology change in education, a brand new building, and it seems, a lot of useful technology. Mr. Welsh (and all those teachers like him), while I am sure that you are a good teacher, your inability to adapt does not make you a superior teacher. Do your students a favor, and get out of teaching.

Not a good day...

I am not sure what I expected when I decided to change the way I do everything in my job. Maybe I thought that simply because I was doing the right thing for the students that it would be easier to take the negative backlash from the teachers. I was wrong.

I have mentally prepared for every discussion that I could have with any person regarding my new philosophy, but the difference is preparing for battle, and being engaged in battle. You practice on the football field, but when it is game time, it hurts when you get tackled -even though you know it is coming.

Could be that it is just a bad day for me. I'll get over it. This year is still better than last year, or the year before... because I really feel like I am making a difference. That maybe I am helping students and even a few teachers with technology. Last year and before, by this time the routine of the year set in and I felt left behind. Everyday felt at least a little like this; slogging through an endless muddy field with no direction.

Now, most days are exciting and I feel like I am accomplishing something. It is hard for me to let things go, even small things can really get under my skin. But I am going to try to rise above it, and continue on the path that I have set for myself. Hopefully, this is just one little thing that will amount to nothing.