Obama Wish List -- Other Responses (LinkedIn)

I continue to get responses to my wish list. My own organization's wish list would be longer simply because we are looking at a much more comprehensive framework. If I went from a 10,000 ft. to a 50,000 ft. point-of-view, the list would be much longer. I'm not asking others to append it to theirs, it's just my own, purposely focused wishlist. Nevertheless I've been getting some fairly persistent notes from other advocates who have a project, process or pressing need and I'll bring those into my blog posts if the information isn't a comment on this site.

From Daniel Bassill on Linked InI wish he would use maps, like Generals do, to focus resources into the neighborhoods where poverty creates poor schools. These resources would expand the social capital surrounding kids, families in schools, and engage businesses, churches, hospitals, universities and others who share the same geography or who would benefit most from a better educated workforce and lower costs of poverty. See samples of such maps at http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com

From V. Ryan Sarti (ryan@swiftkickgrowth.com) on Linked InIf you read Thomas Friedman's "The World Is Flat" you begin to realize how important education and critical thinking really are. Just because there are no explosions on the news doesn't mean we don't have an educational crisis on our hands.
Daniel's comment about inspiring others is a real gem. Thank you for some great insights.
Strong families, even single parent families provide the foundation for strong students. Educational challenges in all neighborhoods are often family based.
Teachers like Corinne may do a great job in the classroom, but the classroom only lasts a few hours a day. The rest of the time, peers and parents are the key influencers. The President has to find a way to address that. Sometimes supporting parents and student to take responsibility can come from Community. But the Community has to be strong, focused on helping, and supporting education and results.
Cathy Miller made some solid points. Her comment about keeping the federal government out of education is a two edged sword. I am a fan of small government. State and local efforts are the key to success. But, when they fail, where can they turn? Unfortunately, it is the federal government.
Wish list: It isn't always about money. Our nation's worst school district (Washington DC) spends $17,000/year/student. That is the same amount as the New Trier District, which is one of the better districts in Illinois and in the country.
Wish: stop equating money and results. There is no correlation.
Where are the teachers unions in all this? Why don't we see more initiatives from them about education and results?
Wish: More innovation and results from teachers unions. Some educational leadership would be good.
Part of the reason we provide education is to help people be able to support themselves when they transition into the real world. I have seen the quality of applicants diminish over time.
Wish: greater collaboration between business and education to help students be better prepared when the graduate.
Wish: Rebuild the sense of community in America to support education and reduce crime. That also helps to raise property values, which is often the source of funding for education.

I won't comment on the notes, but will re-iterate that my recommendations/requests/wishlist are based on some very important principles that 1) we have arrived at over a long period of time; 2) are congruent with our way of looking at our communities, our attitude towards the children and families we are most concerned about, and 3) reflect a highly refined and very thin skin for even a dash, a whiff, or a soupcon of deficit judgment and of race/class/cultural bigotry. If you put the mix of metaphors in the blender, it's our 'valuing' stance.

Plethora of Choice - Who's on First?

On Jan. 2 I posted Wish-list to Obama for Public Education -- Parents-Students-Teachers & Technology in Public Education I’ve gotten some responses in Linked In and some emails, and all are appreciated. I know that by posting my ‘Wish List’ I’m inviting others to respond with their druthers. Disagreement about the negative effects of No Child Left Behind in no way unifies the critiquing communities in consensus. We who consider ourselves on the progressive side of educational transformation have not reached consensus easily before and the exchanges will be energetic and acrimonious, again. Each group of stakeholders has offered their criticisms of the current law as can be seen in the list of proclamations, joint statements and recommendations.
Rather than give my personal statement of criticism of NCLB, I am suggesting some on-the-ground roles and projects. I decided to publish my requests because: A) I want to highlight particular programs, projects & roles that my experience has shown to have direct impact on school transformation and student achievement. B) If NCLB is modified rather than a completely developed from scratch, these ideas can easily included in existing sections of the law. and C) I wanted to illustrate to my readers the direction taken in our community work, our parent leadership in education experiences, and the inter-generational experiences that illustrate student leadership and community use of technology to hold schools accountable.My wish list is within the very specific arena of family leadership in public education; If the focus was teacher & teaching quality, it would be a different wish list. My wish list is also based on a set of Family Leadership in Education Principles championed by my organization and guide my work as director of the Texas IDRA Parent Information Resource Center.
If you read this and chose to respond, please take a moment tell me what you think of my recommendations, especially as you send me your list of priorities.

Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation -- Texas, Maybe, Someday?

What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?

Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is a one day conference/meetup for teachers, administrators, students, school board members, parents and anyone who is interested in education. It will be held on Saturday, February 21st, 2009, from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado, USA (different location than last year - here’s a map). We assume most folks will be from Colorado, but everyone is welcome to attend, and we are working on some ideas for virtual participation.


Education is conversation. Conversation creates change.

The future of education does not exist in the isolated world of theory and abstract conference sessions. Instead, it exists in conversations. It exists in creating a robust learning network that is ever-expanding and
just-in-time. Learning 2.0 is not the beginning of this conversation. It is merely a stopping point, a time to talk about the visible difference that we all seek.
We read. We reflect. We write. We share. We learn.

http://colearning.wikispaces.com/Home+2009
Check out Bud the Teacher's blog for more info.

I have yet to participate in one of these conferences, although it's going to happen soon.

It still feels that the gap between the families/students/teachers I'm most concerned about are located on the other side of a wide chasm...the third world that exists within this first world of ours. I'm personally getting somewhat geeky and racking up many hours learning/using social media...
But my dear, dear undersourced and problem-plagued communities, what can I do to help build the bridge? On the one hand I know some very dedicated and powerful grass-roots community leaders who have engendered and catalyzed leadership, self-sufficiency and economic growth in the poorest of colonias in south Texas and who see computer technology, online communication and social media as frills, distractions and unessential to basic community development.

At the other end of this multi-strand, perhaps cubic, environment, are some super-geek/multi-talented classroom teachers who look down their techie noses at some educators just attempting to use email. I overheard one such God's-tech-gift-to-teaching say under her breath "Why are these tech-retards presenting the cutting edge of their tech sophistication by how fancy their Power Point slides are?"

Recent painful experience: A state-wide, required three-day conference for all the schools in the state that are in school improvement (Not passing AYP). My ten minute presentation was followed by a forty minute lecture with what felt like too many slildes. The audience of 600+ administrators did not look engaged.

I was desperately attempting to keep my eyelids from closing and faking intense attention on the speaker. It wasn't just that the technology was mis-used, but that our current 60+ years of well documented/researched knowledge of best practices in the teaching of adults were being ignored. Technology and small group participation could have made that morning a much more lively, productive and memorable (for the right reasons) experience for those beleagered administrators.

Back to Learning 2.0 in Colorado. My dream is to see an explosion of Parents Learning 2.0, in a language undertandable to parents, and in a location close to where they live. I envision the school age children as the ambassadors and bridges for their families to Learning 2.0. I have had some small windows of insight (lower-case and not related to Microsoft) with the Youth Education Tekies So, more power to the Learning 2.0 gatherings.

Nevertheless I am a child advocate who has chosen to focus on family leadership in education, and within that direction to specifically connect with and for families that are poor, minority, and speak a language other than English.
So I and those of the same cause have to figure out simultaneously how to bridge the technology gap in the poor neighborhoods and under-resourced neighborhood public schools.

Maybe the Community Technology Centers could be re-vived and given new life, new partnerships with neighborhood public schools and become the sites where children bridge both language and technology for their families. If the economic boost that the new administration supports includes as serious investment in education and technology we might take some large steps in that direction.

One never loses hope, do one?

Linked In...for Education Advocates?

Attending a board meeting of Parents for Public Schools in Chicago I mentioned, during an informal conversation, that I had over 1100 connections in Linked In.

The reaction was on a scale from neutral to wrinkled-nose dis-belief. Many of my colleagues are seasoned techies and effective users of web 2.0, social media and whatever else one calls all the Internet and communication tools we have at our disposal. I guess I have a deep personal prejudice rooted in the condescension and belittling reactions from BayArea cutting-edge, politically correct snobs, who are also quite efficient in selecting and using the social media tools. I have no qualms about my strengths and skills and really get my briefs bunched up when I get a more-progressive-cutting-edge-than-thou response to my admittedly crude but actually quite amazing quick dives into this world dominated by much younger, much more technologically adept geeks. I'm an old, flatulent 60s liberal, but I really see the possibilities in this new world of communication and networking -- clearly a force in electing the new president.

I'm new to most of it and don't yet have an easy grasp of what tool and software are most useful for what uses, and more importantly, how can I use all of these to increase the network of education advocates. I'm going to list a few:

1. I've got Linked In. Within Linked In I've created two groups: Excellent Public Schools for ALL Children & PIRC & PTA. I invited many to join the first early on, but can't get a real conversation going, and the second I created recently as a place for directors of Parent Information Resource Centers to connect with PTA state presidents and other leaders. I've been told that Linked In isn't the best place to have an interactive group, but that's where I started them, so that' where I'll see what happens, at least for the next six months.


2. This blog was started about the same time I joined Linked In. I've gotten some responses, and my google analytics tells me that I get visitors every day, from four to a high of 29. I've been told that's not too shabby for a new blog in a what would seem to be a narrow focus and one that doesn't have huge participation from online techies and geeks.


3. Then there's TWITTER. I'm @aureliom and at it first felt time wasted. Who cares about the coffee you're drinking at the moment or the traffic jam you're stuck in. But amidst the TMI posts, I found some useful information, got some questions answered, and enjoyed the moment to moment reports from NPR et al. TWITTER has brought some readers to my blog, and we are following each other. I do hope to increase connections with education advocates and activists through TWITTER, but it's been better than I expected.


4. To start the Linked In group I was required, I thought, to have an external group already in place so I started a google group, Excellent Education for ALL Children and with a good group. We started a good dialogue and then it plopped. I don't know why, but it did.


5. One of my mentors in this huge universe of 2.0 and the Internet, Bryan Person introduced me to Social Voice and I started my Aureliom's Blog. This website seems much more compatible with my social change and educational advocacy goals, but there isn't a large membership and usage, as in Blogspot. But I've gotten some very good contacts and actual conversations going there.


6. I've joined Classroom 2.0 and think I'm in the right environment, but the educators in that context seem so technologically advanced that it'll be a while before I can get them to converse rather than patronizingly give me 'basic' advice.


7. I'm using JOTT because it's such an amazing tool to convert my oral notes into emails that then are my working notes for articles, task lists and thoughts captured for future use. This tool is especially useful when I'm driving on a trip that is an hour or longer.


8. I've organized all my 'favorites' in delicious but I still don't know how to make it available on my laptop because I set it up on my office desktop PC.


9. I've been recording Classnotes Podcasts at work and on other sites. Lorna Constantini from Parents as Partners invited me to podcast with the EdTech group -- the comments were very positive. A real time chat room was concurrent with the SKYPE conversation.


10. I've also joined UTTERLI, BOXBE, The PERFECT NETWORKER, StumbleUpon & PLAXO. Many more that others registered me onto or that I signed up but forgot. Most of the connections are for people looking to sell something, get a job or hire someone and other entrepreneurial efforts and so I'm challenged in seeing how to use these for my social networking goals.

So, this list might not be of much general interest, but it's my ongoing catalog of immersion in this wonderful, dizzying new 2.0 world.

The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis

In his Blog, PR 2.0, http://www.briansolis.com/index.htm
Brian Solis presents a visual that really brings things together for me about current social media and its uses.
http://www.briansolis.com/2008/08/introducing-conversation-prism.html
He says:

Last year, Robert Scoble and Darren Barefoot debuted the Social Media Starfish to visualize and document the rapidly evolving landscape for social tools, services, and networks.

If you work in marketing, public relations, advertising, customer service, product development, or any discipline that's motivated, shaped, and directed by customers, peers, stakeholders and influencers, monitoring and in some cases, participating in online conversations is critical in competing for the future.

Over the last month, I worked with Jesse Thomas of JESS3, to create a new graphic that helps chart online conversations between the people that populate communities as well as the networks that connect the Social Web. The Conversation Prism is free to use and share. It's our contribution to a new era of media education and literacy.

Even though Brian and his colleagues talk about marketing and seem to be addressing those who are in the business of using these tools to make profits, all this applies to those who are advocating, organizing, and trying to create positive social change in schools and other institutions.
For those of us focusing on family leadership in education these tools can give us more connections, accelerate actions and allow us to make more use of data and information.
The conversation prism affects all social conversations including those about social change.

In education, if shift happens, it's a rare event

I almost wish the phrase "paradigm shift" hadn't come into use.
How often can a human being change, shift, move away from, her/his view of the world? And then if it does happen,is it something that can be replicated in a process?

OK, my dears, line up for the peak experience of your life: guaranteed to change how you explain and organize what you call 'reality'. And if you believe me, I've also got a bridge I want to sell you, it's one of several between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo...

And yet, even if we don't use the phrase cavalierly or simplistically, those of us who want schools to change (meaning a fundamental transformation)are really asking for the principals,teachers and all the other adults on the campus to have a peak experience...to be knocked off the horse. It's comparable to Paolo Freire asking Brazilian language instructors to shift to the 'dialogical' when he contrasted teaching that oppressed to that which liberated.

Picture a typical inner-city or barrio school and imagine the setting, the context and the environment. Principals and teachers view the students as unteachable; hopeless...academically dumb. The students collude with the deficit point of view and consider themselves bad students and school to be boring. So as change agent try getting into their heads and re-organize the synapses; or become a miraculous opthomologist and remove the thick lens implanted in their eyes.

Draconian or miraculous measures are called for.

Hope springs occasional (not eternal)when it seems that planned events result in some major change. When the IAF group in San Antonio called C.O.P.S. www.firstuusanantonio.org/metro-uu.php , perhaps the nation’s most powerful community organization, organized the common folk in the barrios to demand, and get, what was coming to them, some of us thought that we were in a new age of democratic participation and influence by the majority of the poor and working class citizens. But after a while the power returned to the few,as if it had ever really left, and the populist energy was dissipated.
The Greeks really knew something about human penchant for changing the almost impossible ...pushing the boulder of our democratic dreams up the mountain...having it roll down on our dizzy heads...and maybe one dreamer gets a MacArthur genius grant...and a Mandela survives prison and then enjoys a little bit of hard-earned privilege.


So, attempting to transform our schools, advocating for the equity and excellence that all children merit and deserve is a Sisyphean task. Those of us committed to the cause will continue to do it with great hope and little evidence. Leaps of faith with slim proof of impact. I have colleagues that have theories of organizational change that change when you quote or remind them of their previously stated theory. It's almost as if they don't want to be pinned down...and with good reason. Any construct presented can be proven untrue in the next iteration. Not necessarily because the idea presented for school change was wrong, but perhaps because progressives are wedded to playing devil's advocate and are skeptics at heart.

It's very hard to change the people in the schools. Yet, sometimes, we do get the boulder to the top of the mountain. A principal who cares and is adept at managing a campus; teachers that are effective in teaching all children; a campus that is family friendly; and students who are learning and enjoying school. Yet looking down from the promontory of the excellent school, we see acres of boulders and endless vistas of mountains to attack.
So, shift happens in schools, but not very often. Some of us just aren't going to give up on the dream.