My current teaching contract commenced in 2004 and soon afterward social media, for me, sky rocketed. A short time later, most of my communicative life moved into what very few people at the time knew as “the cloud”. Facebook was still locked to the universities and Yahoo! was still a huge stock option for many people. I left a district that provided me a laptop with administrative rights and didn’t filter online sites. I came to a district whose Electronic Users Policy included not putting a flash drive anywhere near their computers.

Honestly, in the last five years the resistance I’ve seen from my district, at different times, has been really difficult on many levels. But it’s changing. While my current administrator has publicly said he’s a relative luddite, he’s open to our visions. In the meantime, some of my colleagues are starting to come around asking “how’s this work?” in terms of technology. Some of them were open to tech earlier but things were (a lot more) clunkier than they are now.

Early this October, my admin told me a local junior high school was doing “interesting stuff with computers”… and he wanted me to visit the school with him. We were off for two weeks and the next time I saw him he told me he was setting up a tour and also a few other things were in the works. I was intrigued. He added that he wanted to send a group of us to a Virtual Schools Symposium in Indianapolis.

Friday morning my administrator, assistant principal, a math teacher, and I headed over to Willis Junior High School in Chandler, AZ where we met with Jeff Delp, the school’s administrator. Jeff started a district pilot program on blended (some call it hybrid) learning in the junior high school by randomly selecting 105 honors students and four teachers (one each from Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) at a traditional junior high school. The school decided to start with blended rather than a full virtual program, in part, due to the younger age of the students. A blended program offers stronger communicative connections between students and instructors and more guidance in general. Next year an application process will be put in place due to the wildly positive response to the pilot. Jeff has students who “want into the program but has none who’ve attempted to opt out”, and home Internet access isn’t a prerequisite. On the accessibility concern his philosophy and mine mesh; if students need more time online they can visit libraries, come to campus earlier, stay after, etc… In the Chandler District, for example, most high schools are linked to a city library that is an extension of the campus that includes a full computer lab and other workstations within the building. Not to mention several computer labs exist (depending on the site) and student stations in some teacher classrooms.

Jeff stressed that touring other school’s successful programs was essential when developing this pilot. For us, this may include a future trip to Vail School District in Tucson, AZ that seems to be ahead of the game with technology, including wifi-enabled school buses. Professional Development is the key to Willis’ program, which includes understanding that administration and faculty who successfully navigate these programs need to understand an entirely different skill set that comprises of highly collaboration, student generated creations, and evaluation programs. When building his program, Jeff toured schools in both Chicago and New York City.

Teachers must have more freedoms. This includes opening Twitter and blogging in the schools. Blogging and twittering for the Willis team is now unblocked and YouTube is unblocked for all adult logins district wide (not for students yet). Jeff who, tweets as @azjd, uses the #edchat hashtag to continue building dialogue and learning from administrators nationally who are further along in this journey. An aside: Two years ago my own blog was filtered after my using it as a my classroom webspace for four years. In a post I used the euphemism that “so and so must be on crack to believe “… whatever it was I was discussing. It was obviously a euphemism for “crazy” but now it was blocked for “drug promotion”. Shortly after the district’s rule of thumb was that anything that was a blog was automatically blocked.

Jeff encourages his teachers to stretch their ideas and learn about technologies that may confuse them, but he also reminds them that we don’t do technology in the classroom for technologies sake. Sometimes the best lesson doesn’t include any technology (and recently our district computers were off line for an entire school day – no one died & learning continued).

This year Willis uses Edmodo coupled with Google Apps for its pilot; while the district limits Google Apps to only Calendar and Docs, we both hope that other apps will be added as the program develops into next school year. The district is also moving to a new domain name on July 1st and it would be ideal to build Google Apps around that domain name. We’ll see. The district recently approved BrainHoney as their LMS and Pearson’s on board so there may be some shifts away from a purely open source model for the 2012-2013 school year. Jeff also discussed his partnership with Gangplank owner Derek Neighbors who has been in my own social business circles through Gangplank in one way or another for years. The partnerships we Chandler educators are building with local collaborative Chandler technology consortiums are arguably essential as some models of 21st century learning move out of the classrooms and into the apprenticeship and internship areas.

While the Chandler District is behind the curve in terms of technology implementation with our 21st century students, Dr Camille Casteel’s, our district’s superintendent, main concern is student safety. Dr Casteel wants what is best for students and in our case we need to be able to show how we want to use whatever technology, why we cannot do whatever it is without it, and then how we’re going to keep the students safe. The potential for eventually broadening Willis program into the high schools is exciting, as part of the student safety concern is the age of the students. Today’s pilot is with junior high students and tomorrow’s application may be with high schoolers. (Their age seems to be the predominant reason the Google mail App is not currently being used.)

CC image posted on Flickr by Devon Christopher Adams

Part of Jeff’s philosophy that he emphasizes with his teachers is the Flipped Classroom model. I realize I’ve used this model for years by promoting content consumption outside the classroom while focusing class time on the creation and synthesis of key curricular concepts. This concept is not new. It’s called homework, but now traditional approaches to homework and how students are consuming it has shifted and become a lot more interesting. For example, if Susie has grasped a certain math concept, she can move onto the next one while Billy may still be working on the former concept. Willis teachers use screencasts and take Cornell notes on their needs before applying that learning in class.

One nice example Jeff Delp mentioned is trying to increase access to YouTube (perhaps through a school YouTube channel) so, in class, students and the teacher can better individualize learning where one group may review a certain video while another group views a different video. It is not feasible to have the teacher show 10+ different videos throughout the class for different small groups but if the students had access to do so, they’d arguably learn more effectively.

Our high schools have always struggled with textbook management and most of the schools in this district do not have a bookstore (we have a bookstore manager but we are responsible for disseminating, collecting and recording our own books). This is a hassle. I can’t wait until virtual textbooks at our level works smoothly; we’ll save so much money and time (our textbooks now do have an online component, but we still purchase paper copies). Part of what Jeff said when we discussed Google Docs and online text(e)books was that he can use funds that once purchased thousands of reams of paper on more netbooks for the classrooms.

Jeff took us on a tour of a Language Arts class in a computer lab. The students were reviewing their content through the online textbook and working on reading responses in Google Docs. While I’ve used Google Docs for collaboration for probably close to six years now, one thing that I liked that his LA teacher did was to give the prompt/response directions/questions to the student via a viewable Google doc. Then they made a copy and wrote into it before sharing it back to the teacher. No more paper. While I’ve done that before, it was never for work completed IN CLASS due to the fact that I could not be sure every student had access to the document. While Jeff did mention the use of mobile devices on campus (and his campus is wireless) and high schoolers tend to have even more wireless mobile access, not everyone does.

CC image “Netbook Shelf” posted on Flickr by Enokson.

We also visited with the Social Studies class who had groups of 2-4 students around the room collaborating around HP Mini netbooks. He chose netbooks because battery life lasted the entire school day and they’re relatively cheap. This year Edmodo is the LMS of choice, in part, because of the approachability and Facebook like interface which is familiar to so many. Other technologies Jeff and his team use with the students include Twitter, Glogster, and Poll Everywhere, and while none of them are new novelties to me and my (tech) colleagues, it is a relief to see Web 2.0 being better embraced and unlocked by our district’s powers that be.

I’m relieved in many ways that this program has emerged and while I don’t know the background or what it took to get this far, people like Jeff Delp and his visions at Willis Junior High School are what we need to bring our district forward… for the sake of the kids.

I was driving by an old abandoned building this morning in the rain and came across a woman on the side of the road with a Canon Rebel & binoculars. I pulled over to say hello and see what she was shooting. She said she was “birding” and lived in Houston. I told her I was looking forward to shooting around the area, and we said our goodbyes. I drove up the hill, found a pull off, and headed into the brush towards the building. As I was walking it started raining again, so I tucked my Canon 40D under my shirt and used my dad’s G11 that I grabbed that morning for more wide-angle shots since it drops to 6mm.

There were boards on all the basement windows and a fence around one side of the building. The other side had what amounted to two main doors. One was wide open. I was curious. I headed inside. There were three floors with what was once patient bedrooms along each side of corridor. It was pretty wild looking, kinda empty, and a little scary. I kept hearing noises outside.

The rooms were mostly empty but occasionally I found a sink, radiator, or bed left behind. It was pretty eerie.

This was once Mayview State Psychiatric Hospital opened in 1893, and I later discovered that my grandfather had spent several years employed here. The corridors were dark and quiet, but it was raining outside and I could swear I heard footsteps from time to time. This kinda freaked me out so I headed to the third floor. I figured if someone was coming I’d have more notice if I was upstairs. After shooting on the third floor, I walked slowly through the second floor before looking out the window towards the car; there were flashing police lights. I muttered something under my breath, kept making photos as I slowly made my way outside.

I heard rustling through the bushes and called out the security guard coming through the under brush miserably. The first thing he told me was to “dump the film”. I just cocked my head and wondered how I should answer that. I almost wish I still carried film so I could unravel one just to make him less cranky. Behind him a police officer emerged from the under brush with “why the hell are you down here in all this crap?” I told him I was a photographer. He asked for me ID, frisked me, and escorted me towards my car.

As we approached it, the friggin’ “birder” was there with the guards. I turned to the cop and told him that I’d talked to that woman a half an hour earlier and she knew exactly what I was doing. He said she was the one to call the police. Now, why would you be shooting in an area, finishing up, chat with another photog, and then call the police on him. The cop said she told him I looked suspicious. Suspicious how, I wondered? Ugh.

I waited by my car while he talked to the guards and the lady kept eyeballing me. I was to say something to her but I still didn’t know the outcome. Eventually he came over and said he was letting me go and to “have a nice vacation but spend it elsewhere.” He also said they were forcing me to delete the photos; he said it with a roll of the eyes and a shrug of his shoulders. I quickly did so so I could get the hell out of there, and then headed home.

After changing out of my rain drenched clothes, I ran the data recovery program on the disks to retrieve the photos, which are here. I feel ok with saying that and posting the photos because 1) the land was not posted, 2) I did not touch anything (including any portal to enter), 3) because I cooperated full with the officer be deleting every photo I made there, and 4) because the hospital was purchased just last week to be razed (supposedly) for a Walmart. It turned out to be part of my history and it’s a huge part of the history of Western Pennsylvania that will soon be gone forever.

Reading Alan Levine’s blog post entitled “What? Another Do X A Day Project?” this morning got me thinking. See, I participated in National Novel Writing Month in 2004, 2005, and 2006, and last year I spent several evenings surfing through Alan’s (and D’arcy’s) 365 Flickr challenge. I knew nothing about this challenge and thought anyone who wanted to shoot a photo a day for a year would be crazy, but as Alan wrote, “I find these challenges very rewarding, especially the ones that you convince yourself that you can’t do before you try.” It’s true.

Today, a few hours after reading that post, it got me thinking again as I discussed Into the Wild and Chris McCandless’ foolish journey into Alaska that ultimately killed him. We challenge ourselves with those journeys we’re not sure if we can finish. Sometimes we don’t, like the young person who is not up for the challenge for a full year of AP and “drops down” to onlevel (most of whom come back later and tell me, honestly, that they’d made a bad decision). Sometimes we do, like my wife who isn’t an avid book reader and less of a writer (although I LOVE when she does because she’s hilarious!), who has just finished her own National Novel Writing Month novel.

We have experiences that make us who we are. These define us. They are rites of passage. For Chris McCandless, it was his “Great Alaskan Adventure”. For Alan, it’s currently the PF Chang’s Rock ‘n Roll Marathon here in Phoenix this winter. For others, it could be getting a driver’s license, going away to college, turning 21, or a first job. For me, it could be a blog post a day for all of December. It could be finishing my own 365 day challenge which included my own face in each photo, or it could be editing 2004 novel that I’d like to share with others to get feedback from people more successful than myself, so I can be more like them because maybe I am up for the challenge of publishing. Maybe I will succeed or maybe I will fail, but I will try and I will not give up.

After they keynote, the adviser session was run by the Keynote, John Jell.

Do you remember your best teacher ever? Most of us raised our hands. He asked us why, and my answer is “They made me want to be them.” It’s true. I can tell you who they are. I’ve had one for each part of my life. I can’t always remember their names, but I do know. I remember, and I have been able to thank most of them. Mr Morgan, junior English teacher, Mr Budd, my Creative Writing teacher, Karen Anijar, the woman who opened my eyes to the world around me, and Bonnie WIlcox, the woman who gave me the opportunity to become a teacher.

Some of the best teacher memories in the room included being enthusiastic, making education relative, being knowlegable, etc… The worse teachers are the ones who tell you that you aren’t good enough, they tell you, the student, that you are wrong, they don’t care, they pick on kids, and they’re too busy reprimanding the bad ones to have to time to teach the good ones. I know, for me, I honestly have a problem with the last two. My perception is that I don’t pick on kids, but sometimes I am sarcastic and yes, I know, there are students who just don’t get me. Or like me. That kills me. The other is it’s really tough for me to teach a single English 11 period because of several reasons. One reason is because it’s a singleton, and I feel like I need to plan more for the class I teach the most. If something goes to the wayside, this is what it is. I also have a very wide range of students. There are kids who just don’t care at all to students who struggle academically to those kids who should be in AP courses and those who’d quickly sign up for honors, if we offered it in my district. We don’t. The discipline problems take up so much time, that I can only apologize to them and submit the As the easily earn. A colleague of mine seems to dumb everything down, but I won’t do that. Yes, some kids sink. Yes, I try to help them, but if they don’t help themselves, there’s only so much I can do as their teacher.

John Jell

One of the things that makes students hate teachers is that they feel we don’t prepare them, and they don’t even decide this until they graduate from college. Not high school. Jell hears from these men and women everyday. After the above reflections, this made me feel a little better. I do this all of the time, and the kids will tell others that it’s to a fault. They complain when I push them. They complain when I pile on the work. They complain when they just don’t get it, and when they are confused in class. And some hate me. But guess what? For every 10 students who groan, fight me, hate me, and complain to my admin, their counselors, my colleagues, and their friends, guess what? One of them comes back and thanks me. One of them (or sometimes more), come back. They thank me. I just smile. They get it. They got it. And yes, they are better for it.

Today is the teachers official first day back to school. Last night I couldn’t sleep, and I tossed and turned most of the night. I was just relieved when I rolled back over and it was after 5AM. Perfect! I could live with that.

Yesterday I went in for half a day. Since day care was open, I figured I would take advantage of that. I knew we had meetings all day today, and I wanted an idea of what I needed to accomplish in my room. Every year the custodial service removes everything from the rooms (sometimes they leave the really heavy stuff), and this year was no different. A few kids offered to come in and put my room back. When they walked in I said, “Remember how my room looked in May? Do that to it!” Before the three of us left yesterday it mostly looked the way it should.

Deakin, the new AP teacher, and I share a foyer. I popped into her room looking for her, and it was odd for me. I am so use to Dr. Foerst being in that room, that when this new “stuff” was there I couldn’t get over it. Although when a student of mine walked into the room and asked what Deakin was like, I looked around the room and said “Anyone who sticks Dylan posters next to the Lennon photos, below the Picasso quotes, and near the Marley and Warhol quotes over by the Breakfast Club posters cannot be all that bad!!!”

I’m sitting here in the lobby of Day’s Inn since the wireless on the fourth floor is horrendously slow. Across from me Goonies is playing on the TV, and I am rather stoked reliving my earlier years. This movie is a classic like John Hughes’s films. It reminds me of when HBO was new, and it was odd to pay extra money for television channels and not everyone had cable. 21″ tv screens were huge, and people were still fighting between Beta and VHS.

I’ve been procrastinating getting this work done, and I was checking out various news sites and WIRED caught my eye. I could not believe it! Two titles of new news include “WAR GAMES Sequel Goes Direct to DVD” & ” Trailer” LOST BOYS 2: The Tribe”. I thought I was either sucked into a time warp or people were still playing April Fool’s jokes on me.

These two originals are classics. The Coreys in the original Lost Boys with a hot hot Jami Gertz, some eye candy for the ladies in terms of Jason Patric & Kiefer Sutherland (before they got old), and a killer soundtrack! Then you have War Games with Matthew Broderick changing Ally Sheedy’s grades (while she was still in movies!) so he could get with her. Both total classics, and I am shocked when today’s students have never seen (or even heard of!) these films.

So here comes the sequels. Frankly they are B movies and both will probably go to DVD (War Games 2: The Dead Code) already will (the execs probably saw the title and that was enough). Who knows about Lost Boys 2. The reviews said both Coreys are back (that’s Feldman and Haim for you neophytes!) but I only saw Edgar Frog (can’t beat that name!) in the trailer. As for Haim, who knows. I know he’s fatter than he was, so maybe I missed him. War Games doesn’t seem to have any of the old players, but it still looks cool. This time they’re blowing up Philadelphia and I chuckle as I sit here an hour from the center of that city.

Here’s to reliving my past over and over again, or as Mark Twain once said “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does Rhyme”. Let’s hope the rhythm is in these two films.

Lost Boys 2: The Tribe

War Games 2: The Dead Code