Quite a bit of catching up to do. We arrived, finally, at Boston Station, organised our train tickets for New York on Saturday and return to airport on Monday. We made a bit of a mistake flying out of Boston as we should have us flying from New York – wastes 1 day really.
The Newton Marriott is quite a way out of town on the Charles River - $40 by taxi. It's a nice hotel, but I think they think we are some one else because they keep unactivating our key and asking us why we haven't checked out! Our room is a very long walk from reception which is a big piss off when your key doesn't work again.
After checking in we had our first hotel meal – a bit expensive. They forgot to bring out our appetiser so we went the mains back until they had. It was good to see that they didn't charge us for the appetisers.
We got up Tuesday morning for a pleasant, but painful, jog along the river before boarding the bus to Providence Rhode Is MET school where we spent the day being hosted by staff and students.
At the MET there are 4 separate high schools of 120-150 students each. Students are in groups of 15-17 and stick together with the same teacher (advisor) for their four years at high school. They staryt each Monday, Wednesday and Friday in their advisory group where they discuss issues, go over the individual learning plans and discuss which whole group work they need to cover. The rest of their day is spent working on their Individual Work which is centred around their internship and related projects. They meet in advisory at the end of the day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they don't come to school. They are on internships (work placement) where they are requirted to complete projects for that workplace. Every quarter they make a one hour presentation to an authentic audience on how well they are achieving their learning goals.
There are no science labs. They do one 1 ½ hour seswsion of PE. There are no classrooms, rather advisory's that can hold 17 students and a central work space. There is no library, but the public library is close. They would be a low decile school.
This visit has resulted in some good thinking for what we could do in Opotiki.
That evening we drank our one free drink, ate some rabbit food, hadf a few more beers and met some neat people before walking the 3k to a restaurant strip. We ate in the American Bistro because it waas the first one we came across with a toilet as Terry was now nearly pissing himself. It was another quite expensive feed.
This morning's first session started aT 7.30 so it was an early breakfast and no run. I went to a session on how one secondary school has moved along the learning community journey. This has started to give me some ideas on teacher/student blogs and use of wikis.
This was followed by a keynote by Ewan McIntosh which was difficult to understand because of his Scottish accent.
My next session was on Google Tools which was brilliant. I was not aware what was available and it is all free! A huge number of programmes for school especially those requiring collaboration can be managed on Google. I am excited by what I saw here and have some thoughts on how this could be easily shared with staff.
After lunch I went to a session on blogging and have increased my understasnding of the potential use of blogs in teaching and learning.
The final session was on Building 21st Century Secondary schools. The model presented took the principles of the MET school and fitted them more into a conventional school structure, sort of, with a focus on Project Based Learning, similar to the New basics model in Queensland.
We're now resting up before heading out on a Duck Tour and then meeting with Chris, the other Groomsman, for a drink.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Wedding Photos
Terry took these photos and you can tell he partook too much in the festivities. I'll post some better ones soon.
The first is of me attempting to help Scotty write his speech 5 minutes before the service. The second shows Faith being escorted up the aisle by her Dad, Charlie and ttwo he next show the wonderful Groomsmen in their kiwiana shirts.
The Wedding
We're now on the train from Philly to Boston and have a 6 hour trip in front of us. We expertly managed the regional train service into Philly from Paoli and are now enjoying the comforts of Amtrak.
We had our first hotel brakfast yesterday and then I spent the morning coaching and assisting Terry to set up his own Blog (Teltales). Setting up the Blog was easy, but we spent quite a few hours customising it, posting blogs, downloading a counter and then setting up a Flickr account, uploading photos and then blogging from that site.
Terry is chuffed with himself and his new learnings so please visit his site (http://Teltales.blogspot.com) because he wants his counter to start ticking over so he can catch up to my 5000 visitors!
Wer went for a brief walk to refresh for thewedding. Scotty and Faith had presented me with a kiwiana shirt that the groomsmen had to wear. Faith picked us up from the lobby and we headed to the venue.
The outside service was stunning. Bridesmaids were balling and Chris and I, as The Groomsman, proudly stood there in our kiwiana shirts and dark glasses and ensured everyone did what they were supposed to.
The highlight for me was Faith's neice singing Brook Fraser's Arithmetic. The Kiwis sang Pokarekareana, but cut it short after two verses!
While the photos were being taken those of us who were part of the official party were looked after in an air conditioned caboose. We were then introduced to the waiting throng to muisic and fanfare and the feast began. Terry and I were at the Telfer whanau table which was the rowdiest table of all. We quickly connected with our waitress who loved us and looked after us all night.
When the cake was cut I took over the proceedings to mc the speeches; something which is not done in weddings over here. After a mihi I made a brilliantly witty speech about Faith and Scotty – yes, I had to mention the 40th birthday party – and I got away with a risque joke about Kiwis, mainly because nobody could understand my accent.
Bestman, Richie Telfer, then made a great speech and mihi, followed by Bevan Telfer, Erin and then Bev, Scotty's Mum. She was outstanding and won the crowd with her reference to a serviceman who was in the crowd. The Kiwis then sang Tutira Mai.
Fellow groomsman, Chris, then made a speech and toast which showed that he would be right at home in New Zealand – he was almost as witty and intelligent as me. Bridesmaid Linda replied with an emotional speech in which she expressed her relief that after meeting Scotty she no longer felt he was a stalker.
A number of other McCracken whanau and friends made neat speeches ending with Faith's Dad, Charlie, who spoke well and from the heart.
Faith spoke next of the journey she had made in her life from Blue Bell, Philadelphia to Opotiki, Waitara and back to Blue Bell. Scott then finished and confessed that he was a stalker and concluded his speech with a poem that he had written. He was given a standing ovation led by the Kiwis.
It was then dancing time and Terry and I made a fine couple. The DJ, who would normally MC such events, only had an hour left for dancing so he had an easy night. The hour and a half of speeches was something new for everyone. I rtang home for Leigh to talk with Scotty and Faith. It was great to talk with her and Lucy, both of whom I am missing very much.
Afterwards us Kiwis received countless thanks and congratulations for our influence on the event. They were blown away with our combination of fun, taking the piss and respect.
At 9.30 we were shut down and headed back to our hotel where the final round of partying continued in the bar until about 1.00am. I really enjoyed talking with Richie, a principal of a school in Nelson for troubled girls, who is into MTBing and Kayaking. Faith's sisters were great and kept thanking us for our influence on the proceedings.
It was finally time to fall over.
Sabbatical Update
Sunday Morning 13 July
Yesterday morning we arranged a hotel shuttle to get us to the station so we could spend the day in Philly. It was at this point that we realised we had got off at the wrong station and we were taken to Paoli station which was slightly, but only slightly, bigger than Malvern station. There we chatted for ½ an hour with a woman who trained aspiring principals at a NJ university. She was very interested in our view of American principalship.
We ended up in Philly and taxied into the historical area of town where we had a late breakfast and then took the Duck Tour. We had a very entertaining guide but the whole thing was a bit rushed, but it was cool to boat down part of the Delaware River and learn quite a bit of history.
We then visited the Liberty Bell, wandered around the outside of Independence Hall (tours all booked out) and made our way to the City Tavern where Ben Franklin and George Washington and Abraham Lincoln had all supped beers. We decided to join them with Terry doing a fine impersonation of Benjamin Franklin.
It was time to head to the station to see if we could find Blue Bell where Faith's whanau are. We helped a guy load about 6-7 huge suitcases on to the train and were quite relieved to get away from him as he started talking about his missionary work. I was worried Terry was going to end up in some strange cult where he would be forced to take several wives and live a life of slothness.
40 minutes later we spilled out at Ambler where to our relief Scotty and his brother-in-law Chris, who looked remarkably like him!!!, were there to meet us. After picking up some beer and ice we ended up at Faith's in Blue Bell. What a great place, Farm cottage from the 1820s, Philladelphia barns and outhouses and heaps of welcoming people.
We started on some very nice cold beers and at 4.00pm the Korean pastor took us through practice twice, the first time word for word. Thankfully the other groomsman, Chris fro Boston, had a similar sense of humour to me so we threw a shoe at Terry so that he could bring us beers and food as we endured the practices.
It was great to meet Faith's Mum and Dad, Jean and Charlie, and several of her 8 brothers and sisters. It was also cool to catch up with Scott's Mum, Bev, and with his daughters, Kendra and Erin, all of whom were fitting in well with the McCrackens.
The family were very pleased with Faith and Scott and Faith's friends were also a great bunch. The hospitality is awesome and I know Terry, who has no connection with anyone here, has felt very welcome.
The two people who were organised to drive us the ½ hour home, Jamie (Faith's brother) and his wife Debbie, soon became obvious party animals who stayed to the end. It became clear that Jamie would be driving as Debbie was getting quite pissed while Jamie was only relatively pissed.
We finally bailed out some time after midnight and sped through the night only to be pulled up by a cop speeding through roadworks and picking up a $98 fine. We told him that in NZ he would have been breath tested and the fun would only just have begun. We got home safely at about 1.00am.
Yesterday morning we arranged a hotel shuttle to get us to the station so we could spend the day in Philly. It was at this point that we realised we had got off at the wrong station and we were taken to Paoli station which was slightly, but only slightly, bigger than Malvern station. There we chatted for ½ an hour with a woman who trained aspiring principals at a NJ university. She was very interested in our view of American principalship.
We ended up in Philly and taxied into the historical area of town where we had a late breakfast and then took the Duck Tour. We had a very entertaining guide but the whole thing was a bit rushed, but it was cool to boat down part of the Delaware River and learn quite a bit of history.
We then visited the Liberty Bell, wandered around the outside of Independence Hall (tours all booked out) and made our way to the City Tavern where Ben Franklin and George Washington and Abraham Lincoln had all supped beers. We decided to join them with Terry doing a fine impersonation of Benjamin Franklin.
It was time to head to the station to see if we could find Blue Bell where Faith's whanau are. We helped a guy load about 6-7 huge suitcases on to the train and were quite relieved to get away from him as he started talking about his missionary work. I was worried Terry was going to end up in some strange cult where he would be forced to take several wives and live a life of slothness.
40 minutes later we spilled out at Ambler where to our relief Scotty and his brother-in-law Chris, who looked remarkably like him!!!, were there to meet us. After picking up some beer and ice we ended up at Faith's in Blue Bell. What a great place, Farm cottage from the 1820s, Philladelphia barns and outhouses and heaps of welcoming people.
We started on some very nice cold beers and at 4.00pm the Korean pastor took us through practice twice, the first time word for word. Thankfully the other groomsman, Chris fro Boston, had a similar sense of humour to me so we threw a shoe at Terry so that he could bring us beers and food as we endured the practices.
It was great to meet Faith's Mum and Dad, Jean and Charlie, and several of her 8 brothers and sisters. It was also cool to catch up with Scott's Mum, Bev, and with his daughters, Kendra and Erin, all of whom were fitting in well with the McCrackens.
The family were very pleased with Faith and Scott and Faith's friends were also a great bunch. The hospitality is awesome and I know Terry, who has no connection with anyone here, has felt very welcome.
The two people who were organised to drive us the ½ hour home, Jamie (Faith's brother) and his wife Debbie, soon became obvious party animals who stayed to the end. It became clear that Jamie would be driving as Debbie was getting quite pissed while Jamie was only relatively pissed.
We finally bailed out some time after midnight and sped through the night only to be pulled up by a cop speeding through roadworks and picking up a $98 fine. We told him that in NZ he would have been breath tested and the fun would only just have begun. We got home safely at about 1.00am.
New Blog and Scotty's Wedding
Check out my travelling mate's new blog, Teltales (Terry's Blog), on the sidebar. The stuff about me wont be the truth!
We're about to catch the train to Boston (6 hours) and haven't time to blog at the moment. But look out for a posting and photos on Scott and Faith's wedding which was on yesterday. The Kiwis took over and stole the show. My MCing has resulted in several offers of TV Quiz show hosting.
We're about to catch the train to Boston (6 hours) and haven't time to blog at the moment. But look out for a posting and photos on Scott and Faith's wedding which was on yesterday. The Kiwis took over and stole the show. My MCing has resulted in several offers of TV Quiz show hosting.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
All Blacks!
What did you fellas do? Who wasn't wearing black? Got a series of texts from Lucy throughout the game which I didn't get until this morning keeping track of the action. They came in random order which made interesting reading.
Terry and I expect better from the fans during the next test please.
We're about to use the hotel shuttle to get to the train to spend the day in Philadelphia before catching up with Scotty.
Terry and I expect better from the fans during the next test please.
We're about to use the hotel shuttle to get to the train to spend the day in Philadelphia before catching up with Scotty.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Arriving in Philadelphia
We're now on the train to Philadelphia which is only about 1 ½ hours. Our challenge will then be to find our way to the Desmond Hotel which is a wee way out of town.
Had a great breakfast of eggs, sausage and home fries with a couple of cups of New York coffee. We then walked to the Empire State Building and took the ride to the top for stunning views. It was good to have done this after having done a couple of tours so we could recognise landmarks, buildings and areas of the city.
We'd already visited one museum, but thought we had better check out the Museum of Sex but it it didn't open until 11.00 so we decided to check it out when we return net Friday. We can't help being culture vultures!
We wandered through Madison Park, had another coffee and went to check out. We thought we hqd until 12.00 but discovered at 11.00 we had to be out at 11.00. After a hurried pack we checked out, hailed a taxi and hit Pe4nn Station where we had a 2 hour wait for the train.
friday Night
What an effort getting to Malvern! We got off the train at Philladelphia and wondered not only where Malvern was but how to get there. We managed to find out where it was – a long way away – and to buy a train ticket and get on it as it was leaving the stattion. We then enjoyed a 45 min regional train ride stopping at 14 stations – one every few hundred metres. We spilled out on to the side of the tracks and wandered to what looked like the main street where we came across a policeman, who was in the middle of solving a crime, and he gave us the number of a taxi firm.
After half an hour the cab turned up driven by a local fireman who drove one of the five taxis in town. He gave us a few philosophies of life and marriage as he took us to the Desmond which is quite a flash hotel out in the middle of a corporate park in the middle of no where.
Scotty rang and arranged to meet us for a drink and to explain what was going on. Terry and I headed for the garden bar and a feed./ Scotty rang again to say he couldn't make it because his brothers wife was sick and at the doctors. We have arranged to meet him at Ma in Laws place in Blue Bell tomorrow at 3.00 for practice and a BBQ.
He sounds a bit overwhelmed. We also discovered that the wedding is not at the Desmond!!!
Terry and I were bloated after our feed and few beers so went for a walk around the corporate park before heading back to write up stuff.
Had a great breakfast of eggs, sausage and home fries with a couple of cups of New York coffee. We then walked to the Empire State Building and took the ride to the top for stunning views. It was good to have done this after having done a couple of tours so we could recognise landmarks, buildings and areas of the city.
We'd already visited one museum, but thought we had better check out the Museum of Sex but it it didn't open until 11.00 so we decided to check it out when we return net Friday. We can't help being culture vultures!
We wandered through Madison Park, had another coffee and went to check out. We thought we hqd until 12.00 but discovered at 11.00 we had to be out at 11.00. After a hurried pack we checked out, hailed a taxi and hit Pe4nn Station where we had a 2 hour wait for the train.
friday Night
What an effort getting to Malvern! We got off the train at Philladelphia and wondered not only where Malvern was but how to get there. We managed to find out where it was – a long way away – and to buy a train ticket and get on it as it was leaving the stattion. We then enjoyed a 45 min regional train ride stopping at 14 stations – one every few hundred metres. We spilled out on to the side of the tracks and wandered to what looked like the main street where we came across a policeman, who was in the middle of solving a crime, and he gave us the number of a taxi firm.
After half an hour the cab turned up driven by a local fireman who drove one of the five taxis in town. He gave us a few philosophies of life and marriage as he took us to the Desmond which is quite a flash hotel out in the middle of a corporate park in the middle of no where.
Scotty rang and arranged to meet us for a drink and to explain what was going on. Terry and I headed for the garden bar and a feed./ Scotty rang again to say he couldn't make it because his brothers wife was sick and at the doctors. We have arranged to meet him at Ma in Laws place in Blue Bell tomorrow at 3.00 for practice and a BBQ.
He sounds a bit overwhelmed. We also discovered that the wedding is not at the Desmond!!!
Terry and I were bloated after our feed and few beers so went for a walk around the corporate park before heading back to write up stuff.
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Friday, July 11, 2008
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New York! New York!
Thursday 10 July
We arrived in New York yesterday afternoon and checked into the Gershwin Hotel, which is quite a quirky place – much like a backpackers just off 5th Ave on 27th St. We immediately headed off and walked north to Times Square where qwe bought a $50 tour ticket which gave us 3 days of tripping around.
We walked on up to Central Park where we watched baseball and cruisede around. Just on dark we ended up back at Times Square and jumped on the Night Tour bus which gave us a 2 hour trip down Broadway, over the Manhattan Bridge, around Brooklyn and then back through Little Italy and Chinatown to Times Square again.
We had a horrible feed in a 24 hour eatery and then headed back to crash.
This morning we found a nice breakfast place, headed towards the Empire State Building and jumped on our tour bus and headed south towards to the World Trade Centre where we saw the work in progress to rebuild.
We then walked on south to the Ferry terminal and organised our ticket to the Statue of Liberty. We had an hour to kill so we toured the Nationl museum which was displaying native indian taonga.
After a 45 minute wait in the hot sun we boarded our boat and toured the Hudson River past the skyline and then out to the Statue of Liberty, which was a more impressive sight than I expected.
We then jumped back on the bus, missed our stop and headed towards Soho, finding a nice bar for a cold beer on the way. We visited the Apple Store and then wandered up through Greenwich Village, checking out a great record shop and stumbled across a great bar 2 blocks from home. We knocked back a few very nice beers, had a feed and have ended up back at the Gershwin.
I'll tell you something about New York – the women are beautiful! They wear flash clothes and wear a strong attitude! New York is a wonderful city – great buildings, great food, great shops in great villages and beautiful women.
Thinking For Opotiki College
Possible Developments for Opotiki College (based on learnings so far)
Conditions For Best Learning (Barth)
With whole staff carry out the visualisation exercise which identifies the conditions under which the best learning has occurred for them. How do my classes/our school measure up against these? Ask volunteers (most probably ALG) to complete the same exercise with one of their classes. Conduct similar with group of parents. Collate all and produce the list of Conditions For Best Learning for Opotiki. Display everywhere and invite staff to incorporate those conditions in their planning.
Student Performance Targets (Howard)
Each subject area to develop:
proficiency targets for each year level and to display these in every one of their classrooms (use curriculum levels from NZC, Exemplars, ARBs)
programme of assessment (quarterly) that checks progress towards these targets for each student and that then
determines the teaching strategies from that point that will enable all students to meet the proficiency targets.
Provide a budget top up for those who have such a programme in place.
Lesson Structure/Writing/Monitoring (Monroe, Collins)
Staff PD on Five Types of Writing with agreement that all teachers will regularly (daily) use Types 1-3 (2).
Staff awareness of LM BBC lesson structure. Initial reading could be done on LM BBC in PRGs. (This will require discussion and agreement on homework).
All lessons follow the same format:
Students enter and write down their homework for that night.
Students complete the Do Now (Type 2 writing exercise based on last night's homework/yesterday's lesson/today's lesson) No teacher talk.
Go over Do Now
Go over some of the homework, perhaps collect some (roll the dice)
Briefly explain Lesson Aim (must be specific and achievable in that period)
Teacher teaches (briefer the better)
Students practice while being observed by teacher
Teacher reteaches based on what they are observing
Students continue practicing
Type 1 writing based on Lesson Aim that leads into the homework.
HW, Do Now and Lesson Aim and Sequence on Whiteboard in same place when kids arrive.
Teacher Feedback (Marshall)
Visit 5 teachers a day for 5 minutes. Complete a brief template to place in pigeon hole and invite discussion.
H Healthy (Physical and Psychological)
O Objectives (Lesson Aim and Unit Aims evident in room
T Teaching
E Engagement
L Learning
Keep a track of whom seen etc and then at end of year complete swipe sheets for all staff (Marshall Pack of notes).
Conditions For Best Learning (Barth)
With whole staff carry out the visualisation exercise which identifies the conditions under which the best learning has occurred for them. How do my classes/our school measure up against these? Ask volunteers (most probably ALG) to complete the same exercise with one of their classes. Conduct similar with group of parents. Collate all and produce the list of Conditions For Best Learning for Opotiki. Display everywhere and invite staff to incorporate those conditions in their planning.
Student Performance Targets (Howard)
Each subject area to develop:
proficiency targets for each year level and to display these in every one of their classrooms (use curriculum levels from NZC, Exemplars, ARBs)
programme of assessment (quarterly) that checks progress towards these targets for each student and that then
determines the teaching strategies from that point that will enable all students to meet the proficiency targets.
Provide a budget top up for those who have such a programme in place.
Lesson Structure/Writing/Monitoring (Monroe, Collins)
Staff PD on Five Types of Writing with agreement that all teachers will regularly (daily) use Types 1-3 (2).
Staff awareness of LM BBC lesson structure. Initial reading could be done on LM BBC in PRGs. (This will require discussion and agreement on homework).
All lessons follow the same format:
Students enter and write down their homework for that night.
Students complete the Do Now (Type 2 writing exercise based on last night's homework/yesterday's lesson/today's lesson) No teacher talk.
Go over Do Now
Go over some of the homework, perhaps collect some (roll the dice)
Briefly explain Lesson Aim (must be specific and achievable in that period)
Teacher teaches (briefer the better)
Students practice while being observed by teacher
Teacher reteaches based on what they are observing
Students continue practicing
Type 1 writing based on Lesson Aim that leads into the homework.
HW, Do Now and Lesson Aim and Sequence on Whiteboard in same place when kids arrive.
Teacher Feedback (Marshall)
Visit 5 teachers a day for 5 minutes. Complete a brief template to place in pigeon hole and invite discussion.
H Healthy (Physical and Psychological)
O Objectives (Lesson Aim and Unit Aims evident in room
T Teaching
E Engagement
L Learning
Keep a track of whom seen etc and then at end of year complete swipe sheets for all staff (Marshall Pack of notes).
Technology Issues
One-by-one I have solved the various technology issues. I am hugely pleased I bought and brought the EEE PC as it would have been painful accessing internet and email on the Samsung Global.
The EEE PC connects easily to a wireless network so it has been easy getting emails and checking the NZ Herald. I had two frustrations which I have overcome.
I couldn't get the EEE PC to pick up my digital camera. Even after checking the Help Manual and following the instructions I was being unsuccessful. I then hade a hunch that one of the screens I needed to check should have had an Apply button. Sure enough it was hidden right at the bottom and I could just see the top of it. After checking that and following my nose I was away!
I couldn't post to my blog. I am not sure how I solved it but it came up with HTML errors. Not knowing anything about HTML I simply deleted some of the HTML code and eventually I was successful. What a clever nerd!
10 days into the trip I attempted to call home and found I couldn't make calls on my Samsung Global even though I was sending and receiving texts. I had been careful, before departure, to organise global roaming and write everything down in my notebook. I emailed Leigh who contacted the Helpdesk. I had been phoning 001647 before the Opotiki number, but I should have been phoning 011647. Problem now fixed.
the only problem I still have, which I am sure I could solve given time, is loading photos onto Flickr. I'll check that out some time.
Preliminary Review of EEE PC
This is an excellent travelling machine. It is very intuitive and does not really need a manual. On start up you simply choose a tab (Internet, Work, Learn, Play or Settings). When you click on Internet you get a number of big buttons. I just clicked on Wireless Networks which gives me a series to choose from and then I click on the Web button to access internet. Very easy.
Clicking on the Work Tab gives you access to another large set of buttons for word, excel, powerpoint and pdf equivalents. The most used button is File Manager which holds My Documents etc.
The Play tab gives you a series of buttons for photos and music etc.
The EEE PC connects easily to a wireless network so it has been easy getting emails and checking the NZ Herald. I had two frustrations which I have overcome.
I couldn't get the EEE PC to pick up my digital camera. Even after checking the Help Manual and following the instructions I was being unsuccessful. I then hade a hunch that one of the screens I needed to check should have had an Apply button. Sure enough it was hidden right at the bottom and I could just see the top of it. After checking that and following my nose I was away!
I couldn't post to my blog. I am not sure how I solved it but it came up with HTML errors. Not knowing anything about HTML I simply deleted some of the HTML code and eventually I was successful. What a clever nerd!
10 days into the trip I attempted to call home and found I couldn't make calls on my Samsung Global even though I was sending and receiving texts. I had been careful, before departure, to organise global roaming and write everything down in my notebook. I emailed Leigh who contacted the Helpdesk. I had been phoning 001647 before the Opotiki number, but I should have been phoning 011647. Problem now fixed.
the only problem I still have, which I am sure I could solve given time, is loading photos onto Flickr. I'll check that out some time.
Preliminary Review of EEE PC
This is an excellent travelling machine. It is very intuitive and does not really need a manual. On start up you simply choose a tab (Internet, Work, Learn, Play or Settings). When you click on Internet you get a number of big buttons. I just clicked on Wireless Networks which gives me a series to choose from and then I click on the Web button to access internet. Very easy.
Clicking on the Work Tab gives you access to another large set of buttons for word, excel, powerpoint and pdf equivalents. The most used button is File Manager which holds My Documents etc.
The Play tab gives you a series of buttons for photos and music etc.
Yesterday was the last day of our Harvard course and as I reported I was feeling a little slow as a result of a large Margarita bucket. We had to sit in our small groups and had a three hour presentation from Bob Fogel on leading big cultural change.
He used a case from the US Navy from 200 years ago to explore why cultural change is difficult. We then did a case study exercise on the NYPD.
This exercise had huge potenytial as it broughht together all of the learnings from the course and could provide all of us with a workable plan on our return to our schools. As well, he was an entertaining and knowledgeable presenter.
However, once again we did not have enough time and having it on the last morning meant we were all tired and thinking of taxis, flights etc. This session needed a full day with all of us given an opportunity to develop a change management plan based on his model of congruence with the support of our facilitators and our colleagues.
Pamela then led us through the closing ceremony. We were given time to express our thoughts and for these to be received quietly by evertyone else. I thought I was at a funeral!!!! People spoke solemnly, reverently and almost depressingly giving pearls of wisdom about our learnings and the challenges in front of us.
I had to restrain myself from leaping to my feet, cracking a joke, telling everyone to lighten u8p and enjoy themselves!! I was too scared of Pamela, because the day before she publically admonished two of the presenters who had 'violated the value of respect' by using the word 'faggot' in describing what a child said to another. Apparently she received a complaint. A lot of these people are a bit uptight!
You can imagine how some of my comments may have gone down!
We received a nice photo, certificate and faacebook from Melissa, our facilitator. I gave her a copy of our YES Company Maori Recipe Book. Terry also gave a gift to his facilitator. Wasn't common practice we noticed.
We had lunch with Aussie John who had similar thoughts on the farewell. I also farewelled Dave from Cashmere College who is heading home from a Woolf Fisher and waved goodbye to Elizabeth from Rangitoto College.
Terry and I hunted out a Post Office to find out about sending stuff home, headed back to the DoubleTree, packed our postal boxes, did laundry and headed inti Harvard for a lasst feed.
We went to the Margarita bar (not for a Margarita!) where we had great fajitas for tea and a couple of cold beers before our final walk along the Charles River to the hotel.
This morning we taxied up the road and posted a box of course documents and T shirts home, checked out and taxied to South Station for our trip to New York.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
So Many Posts
Make sure you scroll to the bottom and click older posts as there are heaps of posts and they don't all fit on the page.
Next posting will be from New York.
Next posting will be from New York.
Sabbatical Part 6
The morning session by Jim Honan was a look at a case study involving a mass of data for a Florida school. This session sort of horrified me. Most states test every kid from Grade 3 upwards and the results are high stakes – so much so that the kids seem to practice test all year and teachers drill down to see what questions kids get wrong, and then put in place strategies to help them get the questions right, and Principals oversee this and hold teachers accountable, and they in turn are held accountable – frome Grade 3 up!!!!
They have got to stop weighing the pig and feed the poor critter. It will grow! Kids need to learn and develop an enjoyment for learning! I was horrified after this session and had to contain myself – I am a guest here after all.
Principalsd need to take a stance against this madness. Teachers who work collaboratively to share best practice, who engage in effective formative assessment and use the results to inform further strategies (around learning and not test scores) bring the best out in kids. Look at the Pisa results.
The second session from Lee Teitel was on developing productive partnerships. He had some interesting ideas about making partnerships transformative rather than transactional.
The small group session was neat as we all wrote little messages to each other which were great to read.
After that we headed to the Campus pub and had a Clambake – Lobster, chowder and lots of beer. After dropping stuff off at home we joined other mad fellas for a Magarita and then a few more beers at a Karaoke which was a great student pub, with some middle aged principals thrown in.
Pubs are great here as you have to be 21 and Ids are checked strenuously. Makes for a pleasant scene.
Bit slow and tired for last morning of Harvard!
Sabbatical Part 6
Since it was Sunday they let us have a late start – 10.30am – with a 1.45pm finish. I slept till 9.00 but couldn't help thinking that a normal 8.30 start with a 11.45 finish would have made more of the day available to enjoy the city.
After watching the first 2 games of Federer v Nadal we duly walked to Harvard for the first session. This was Pam Mason's, the Institute's Director, and it was very disappointing. It was on effective literacy programmes, but I learned nothing.
Her session was followed by a very interesting and quite entertaining presentation by Hunter Gehlbach on surveying. He produced a list of Top Ten Tips for surveys which will prove very useful.
We then went to our small group session which we hold every day. I find these extremely valuable and are disappointed when they finish. A suggestion I would have for future courses is to make these sessions longer. Having enough opportunity to discuss and synthesise the thoughts going around is vital or else it will be lost.
Our facilitator, Melissa, does a great job in involving all of us and getting us thinking. The members of the group are diverse and we could learn so much more from each other if we had more time to discuss and argue.
We began a great discussion today which would benefit from further time. I made the observation that the system in which US principals carried out their complex job was quite brutalising and based on low trust. I dont think I expressed myself well but I was trying to say that the view that I was gathering of their job was one in which:
they were hamstrung by protectionist unions which had little interest in the promotion of the interests of the profession i.e. improved teaching and learning.
they were held accountable at a microscopic level without seemingly being given the means to perform
they are forced to focus on the short term rather than long term
they are seen, and see themselves, as administrators rather than as educational leaders
there is a clear differentiation between 'them and us' when it comes to principals and teachers (they call themselves administrators)
This experience has made me more determined to protect the position that we as principals have in NZ and to push for even more high trust mechanisms.
The reduction to zero suspensions in our school, the significant improvement in attendance, the high levels of retention, and the very high levels of achievement (all of which are outstanding achievements for a decile 1 school) have come about because I (and my predecessors) have been able to be educational leaders, not administrators, and have been able to take a medium to long-term view to problem solving.
I have been in my school for 16 years. The average for the rest of my group would be about 2.
Enough of that. I'm getting tired and still have tomorrow's readings to do.
Terry and I trained into Boston after class and booked our train tickets Boston to NY for Wednesday, NY to Philly for Fri and Philly to Boston on the Monday. Barbara behind the counter has been the first real helpful official we have come across.
Bostonians must still be a bit like their ancestors – reserved. I have greeted many people on our daily walk to class and back. I usually receive anything between ignoring and ignoring unless they are another tourist!
We found a cool bar where we had a couple of beers and a burger watching Nadal defeat Federer. We came back 'home' after seeing Paul Revere's grave and then pooped out to a neat local bar down the street called River Gods for Pizza and beer.
Feeling much better today!
Time to read and begin my evaluation (which I will share with you of course!)
After watching the first 2 games of Federer v Nadal we duly walked to Harvard for the first session. This was Pam Mason's, the Institute's Director, and it was very disappointing. It was on effective literacy programmes, but I learned nothing.
Her session was followed by a very interesting and quite entertaining presentation by Hunter Gehlbach on surveying. He produced a list of Top Ten Tips for surveys which will prove very useful.
We then went to our small group session which we hold every day. I find these extremely valuable and are disappointed when they finish. A suggestion I would have for future courses is to make these sessions longer. Having enough opportunity to discuss and synthesise the thoughts going around is vital or else it will be lost.
Our facilitator, Melissa, does a great job in involving all of us and getting us thinking. The members of the group are diverse and we could learn so much more from each other if we had more time to discuss and argue.
We began a great discussion today which would benefit from further time. I made the observation that the system in which US principals carried out their complex job was quite brutalising and based on low trust. I dont think I expressed myself well but I was trying to say that the view that I was gathering of their job was one in which:
they were hamstrung by protectionist unions which had little interest in the promotion of the interests of the profession i.e. improved teaching and learning.
they were held accountable at a microscopic level without seemingly being given the means to perform
they are forced to focus on the short term rather than long term
they are seen, and see themselves, as administrators rather than as educational leaders
there is a clear differentiation between 'them and us' when it comes to principals and teachers (they call themselves administrators)
This experience has made me more determined to protect the position that we as principals have in NZ and to push for even more high trust mechanisms.
The reduction to zero suspensions in our school, the significant improvement in attendance, the high levels of retention, and the very high levels of achievement (all of which are outstanding achievements for a decile 1 school) have come about because I (and my predecessors) have been able to be educational leaders, not administrators, and have been able to take a medium to long-term view to problem solving.
I have been in my school for 16 years. The average for the rest of my group would be about 2.
Enough of that. I'm getting tired and still have tomorrow's readings to do.
Terry and I trained into Boston after class and booked our train tickets Boston to NY for Wednesday, NY to Philly for Fri and Philly to Boston on the Monday. Barbara behind the counter has been the first real helpful official we have come across.
Bostonians must still be a bit like their ancestors – reserved. I have greeted many people on our daily walk to class and back. I usually receive anything between ignoring and ignoring unless they are another tourist!
We found a cool bar where we had a couple of beers and a burger watching Nadal defeat Federer. We came back 'home' after seeing Paul Revere's grave and then pooped out to a neat local bar down the street called River Gods for Pizza and beer.
Feeling much better today!
Time to read and begin my evaluation (which I will share with you of course!)
Sabbatical Part 4
Had a great sleep last night thanks to the drugs which have reduced the cough and snot – just have the hedaches and sore eyes to deal with. Am hanging on to the belief that I am on the road to recovery. Terry is in the same condition as me.
This morning we had an entertaining presentation from Lorraine Monroe who is a Black American woman who has been an effective principal in Harlem schools. She is a strong and passionate woman who kicks arse and is a great example of someone who leads by the force of her personality. She also offered a simple model of lesson planning which ensured that teachers were planning and which could easily be monitored by school leaders.
Her premise is similar to that of Jeff Howard – have high expectations, have a strong sense of care for every child, be personally resilient and provide clear and simple structure for students and teachers.
Terry and I are coming to a similar view that the role of being a principal in NZ is quite different to that in the USA. They call themselves administrators, see themselves as the boss and appear quite frustrated that their people wont do whaat they are told!
We see ourselves as educational leaders who work with teams of people who commit to a similar vision for our kids, who explore interesting and new ideas to solve lingering problems, who build on the strengths in the team and who grow leaders throughout the staff.
Saturday 5th July
Had an interesting night out last night. Terry and I trained into town with the intention of having a feed, looking around and then getting close to the river for the fireworks. We grabbed a feed of burger and chips to discover this meant potato chips! We then dropped into the Cheers Bar for a beer.
On our walk to the river the cold symptons began resurfacing so I took some more of the drugs I had bought here which seemed to be working real well. After getting in amongst 100s of 1000s of people on the riverbank and hearing the Boston Pops playing we finally found a small space amongst the throngs where we could see the fireworks which were due to start at 10.30. I started to feel quite odd and at about 10.20 I fainted and Terry grabbed me and then I fainted and hit the ground. I felt better quite quickly and was able to see most of the fireworks which were spectacular! I started to feel odd again so we bailed out 5 minutes early and made our way through the crowd and walked the 5k home.
It was a very odd and disturbing feeling but believe it was the combination of the cold drugs and two beers just before I took more pills.
Felt a lot better this morning but decided to take the day easy and to take no more pills.
This morning's session was from Janice Jackson who presented on how to develop a personal mission statement. This was a bit light.
The second session by Kim Marshall was on teacher supervision and was very interesting though he had to rush to get through in the three hours allocated. He should have had a full day. While the situation is quite different in each country he has developed some useful models of teacher supervision and feedback that were time efficient, appreciated by staff AND contributed to improved teaching and student learning. Workshopping with his material would have been very helpful.
After class we went to the Irish Bar with Aussie John and Canadian Ed where they had a couple of beers and I had a lemonade (no drinking today either!) then headed home to summarise the work today and to prepare for tomorrow.
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