Practical Theory - Blog News

Rumors of My Demise... (And A New Article!)

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:44:47 -0700

No... I haven't given up blogging.

I've had a bunch of issues around upgrading this blog from a several year old 0.8 release of the software to a more recent one, and I didn't want to start writing new blog entries until those issues were resolved. They still aren't, but I feel more confident that I won't lose these entries in the meantime -- which is good.

So far, the only casualty was the loss of comments from blog entries in September, October and November. (Sorry about that. Not sure what happened to them.)

The end goal is to ring in 2010 with upgraded blog software and an upgraded look to the blog. It is starting to look very, very 2005, and we can't have that.

So stick with me... sorry for the lack of noise coming from the blog. I'm coming back soon. What's been nice about this month is that there have been a TON of times I've really wanted to blog, which tells me that I've still got something to say on this thing.

(And hey... go read my article in this month's Principal Leadership Magazine entitled Shifting Ground. Woo hoo!)

Test

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sun, 04 May 2008 21:56:55 -0700

Wondering if there's something wrong with the last post...

Why I Need Sleep...

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 07:08:56 -0700

... because last night, I meant to delete a spam comment and I deleted yesterday's entry instead.

augh

And school hasn't even started yet.

LeaderTalk: Gearing Up

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:11:27 -0700

My August LeaderTalk -- Gearing Up -- post is up. Enjoy!

Another SLA Teacher Enters the Blog-World

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:56:50 -0700

SLA History teacher Matt Baird has entered the world of blogging with his first entry: Democracy and the 1:1 Classroom Environment.

Matt is a very experienced progressive teacher who came to us with experiences in the Quaker School world both in the US and abroad. He's one of the many SLA folks I love to sit around and talk about education with. As he starts to write about his process and his thoughts, I encourage everyone to read along.

SLJ: Beware the High-Stakes Tests

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:56:50 -0700

A piece I wrote for the July Issue of School Library Journal is now online!

High-Stakes Testing Threatens School Librarians.

(I didn't come up with the title, by the way... the piece is about how librarians have more to fear from the culture of high-stakes tests than from School 2.0.)

Latest Post on LeaderTalk -- Changes at the Department of Ed

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 11:55:35 -0700

I have a good friend at the Department of Education who sent me some very interesting information about what's going at the Department of Education these days. I think he wanted it leaked. I hope he did... anyway, I wrote about it for my monthly post over at LeaderTalk.

Design Share and Me

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:03:53 -0700

O.k. -- so this might fall under the category of self-promotion, but I wrote an article for Design Share's March E-Newsletter entitled Designing School 2.0: A Study of Philadelphia's Science Leadership Academy. I'm actually pretty pleased with how it turned out, as it's a pretty solid marriage of looking both pedagogically and structurally at the way we tried to plan SLA.

And in really humbling news, I'm on the 2007 Design Share Awards Review Panel team. I'm on the team with some of the leading school design folks in the world and people like Dan Pink and Alan November. Eep.

Trying to Come Out of a Hiatus

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 06:56:49 -0700

I don't know if it's part of the same malaise that has been affecting Will lately, but clearly, I haven't been writing much. Some of it is that life with Theo and Jakob has been rather consuming lately. Part of it is that I've been doing some more off-line reading. Part of it is that SLA has been busy. And part of it is that, if you read ASCD Daily or are a Philadelphian, you know that it's been a really tough week for Philly schools. Between the unrest at several of the comprehensives and the budget cuts, there's been a lot of focus on the problems of the here and now, not the future of learning.

There is still a lot to write about, and there is a lot more to say about SLA, urban education, and the future of learning. And I'm pulling myself out of the "I don't want to blog" funk for two reasons - one is that I need the space that this blog provides for me to think about more than just the day to day, but two is that I think I need to look at some of what has been happening in Philadelphia in the context of these educational issues that I care about and find a way to link the two that is still hopeful, still moving forward and still positive.

A New Blog Project -- LeaderTalk

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:37:30 -0700

A few weeks ago, Scott McLeod of Dangerously Irrelevant asked me to be a part of a new collaborative blog where all the bloggers were edu-administrators of one kind or another. Then he asked me if I'd write the inaugural posting. So tonight, the LeaderTalk blog launches, and interestingly, even before the latest discussion around care, I was drafting a post all about The Ethic of Care and 21st Century Schools.

I am just honored and thrilled to be taking part in a project with such amazing educational leaders. Thank you to Scott for inviting me to take part! My understanding of the project is that all the contributors will be writing one entry a month. I'll be writing the entry for the first of every month, and I cannot wait to see how this new project evolves.

Bloggers Who Make Me Think

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 18:21:01 -0700

Turns out that Nani and Alsoomse nominated me as a Thinking Blogger... always a lovely award to win. Here's the icon:

So now, I'll nominate five folks from my blog-list... and let's just admit up-front that there are far more than five bloggers who make me think.

Kim Moritz over at G-town is a powerfully thoughtful admin-blogger who always makes me think deeply about my own practice.
Will Richardson is someone whose blog makes me think every time -- and he's even better live. Whenever I am really grappling with an edu-tech issue, Will is one of the people I call on to be a sounding board.
And more often than not, Christian Long is the other person I call. He's one of the best voices out there for bringing different perspectives to education.
Eric over at Sicheii Yazhi is quickly becoming a must read for me, as he really has an amazing, thoughtful and spiritual look at teaching.
And then I remembered that I read more than just edu-blogs... and so I'll just say that Larry Lessig makes me think every time I read him.

Leadership Meme

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 21:23:23 -0700

Kim Moritz has passed the latest meme to me.

This one is about leadership, and the question is: What are seven qualities we dont know about you that help you be a leader?

Seven??? Yee gods, I'd settle for two... and I think these are qualities I aspire to, but here it goes:

1) I try to argue to learn, not argue to win. I love debate. I love discourse. I love the world of ideas. I love talking about the 37 ways you could set up a schedule or the fifteen different questions that could form the basis of instruction at SLA in the 10th grade. And I love listening to the ideas that other people bring to the table because those ideas make my ideas better. Truth be told, often, they are better than my ideas.

2) I hate the idea that the people who put their trust and faith in me could ever be let down because I didn't know enough, didn't work hard enough, didn't care enough. When I was a girls basketball coach, I saw girls willing to wake up at get to practice at 6:30 and work every day, so I read every basketball book I could find, went to summer clinics, watched hours of video, because those girls believed me when I told them it'd be worth it. I couldn't live with myself if I was the reason it wasn't. Twelve amazing teachers and 110 families believe in an idea that we share. (To say nothing of the many district-level folks.) I've spent the last two years reading every book and blog I could find dealing with education reform, 21st century ideas and leadership. Every day, I feel like I have to be worthy of the SLA community.

3) I try to be as proactive as possible. All leaders have to react to situations, but the less I am reactive, and the more I can anticipate problems -- or even take a moment to make smart decisions, rather than snap decisions -- the better.

4) I remind teachers to go home if I see them in the building too many evenings in a row.

5) I take what we do really, really seriously, but I try to never take myself seriously.

6) I believe that people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, so I work very hard to try to make everyone in the school -- students, staff, teachers, parents -- feel empowered to be an active and vital member of the SLA community.

7) As much as I love all the ideas we're debating and discussing, I love our kids more.

O.k. -- that was REALLY hard.

And for fun, I'm going to try to name five folks I've only recently stumbled upon either in the blogosphere or in real life....

Brian at Snacks and Staff Meetings
Tech Coordinators John and John from theTarrytown School District
Tech Coordinator Patrick Higgins
Tech Coordinator Angela Stevens (although, I think we've emailed some in the past, but I re-discovered her blog recently.
Librarian Carolyn Foote

Women of Web 2.0 Podcast with Will Richardson, Steve Hargadon and Me

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:58:14 -0700

Tonight's ramblings can be found over on the Women of Web 2.0 site over at EdTechTalk.com. I was fortunate enough to be a guest along with Will Richardson and Steve Hargadon. (Both of whom can be found next week at the School 2.0 conference at SLA!)

It was a fun conversation about EduBlogger meetups at conferences, School 2.0 and how we can get schools to change.

Give a listen. I had a blast...

Blogging in Education

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:50:43 -0700

Kim Moritz, principal over at G-town and fellow admin-blogger, writes about her new disclaimer and the issues around being a edu-blogger. She's a fearless blogger, and one of those bloggers who demand my attention whenever I see a new post from her in my aggregator. She writes:

I am always aware of audience when I write and 98% of the time, I tie anything that Im writing about in my personal life to school. Ive fearlessly written in this blog since July when I attended training, paid for by the district, at High Schools New Face. Ive heard of colleagues who wont even comment on a blog for fear of tenure. Im not tenured yet either, but believe that if I write honestly, with integrity, conducting myself as a professional, that G-Town Talks could only extend my communication and influence. Ive written honestly here and Ive never hidden behind the blog, never written anonymously about anything, and never been inappropriate.

It's an honest appraisal of her thoughts about her blog, and it's this kind of writing and thought-process that makes her such a must read. Inside her comments above you can read a sense of frustration that someone would think that she needs a disclaimer.

It's something I think a lot about as well, and I really ask myself one question before I publish an entry -- "Would the people who put their faith in me to start SLA be embarrassed by this entry?" If the answer is even "maybe," I re-read and re-write. (And yes, they do read it... in fact, back when I was applying for the job, someone asked me about the blog -- including back when it was hosted on beaconschool.org -- and the person said, "Well at least we know where you stand on the war..." Eep. But they still gave me the job. No one can argue they didn't know what they were getting into....)

Blogging as an educator is a tricky, tricky thing. For me, I think it's essential to have teachers and administrators blog. It's not about getting a world-wide audience, although I check out my ClustrMap as much as anyone else does. It's about making our schools as transparent as possible. I always assume that some subset of my students and parents are reading my blog. And while there are lots of issues that we all can't blog about, there are lots of things we can blog about. And I think the personal (within limits) is bloggable. (Did I just invent a word?) I would have never dreamed of keeping Theo's struggles off of this blog a few months ago. After all, if we want to connect with our students as people, don't we, at some point, have to be willing to connect with them as well?

And at SLA, I hope teachers will blog... I even considered moving Practical Theory over to scienceleadership.org, but decided against it because I like this interface more. (And because, I keep thinking that I'll find a use for my elgg account over there that is different than what I do here.) And it's with that, that I read with some dismay this "Blogging 101" memo from the Pennsylvania State Education Assocation:

Blogging 101 Prepared by the PSEA Legal Division January 2007

As a school employee, you must exercise extreme caution when you engage in blogging or other forms of internet communication. Keep in mind that your First Amendment rights can be limited by virtue of your position as a school employee.

If you blog or maintain a web page, you should adhere to the following tips:

I. Minimize the risk associated with internet communication by limiting access to your blog or web page using a "friends only" or similar restrictive setting.

2. If visitors can post to your blog or web page, monitor postings constantly and remove any that are inappropriate.

3. Do not blog or post about your job duties, colleagues, supervisors or students. This will reduce the danger that you might disclose confidential information, share information about a private workplace complaint, or otherwise carelessly or unintentionally engage in speech which could affect your future employment.

4. If you choose to blog or post as a citizen about a non-job related matter of public concern (i.e., the elections, terrorism or environmental issues) take care that what you say will not impede your employer's effectiveness or efficiency or otherwise disrupt the workplace.

5. If you are blogging or posting about innocuous information (i.e., your favorite football team or family geneology), you still must be careful not to engage in comments that could adversely affect your employer (i.e., damage the employer's reputation) or interfere with your ability to carry out your job duties.

6. Do not blog or post about personal subjects (i.e., dating, romance, or drug or alcohol use). Your blog or web page should not contain any references to sexual subjects, or contain vulgar or profane language or graphics. If your blog or web page was a movie, it should be rated "G."

7. Blogging and posting anonymously does not protect you. Names of bloggers, web page authors and other internet users can be discovered through litigation.

8. Check to see if your employer has any policies regarding blogging or web pages. If so, you should review the policy with your PSEA Uniserv.

In conclusion, you should be aware that if you blog or maintain a web page, you must use prudence and be extremely careful in your comments. You must give the necessary time and attention to the content of your blog or web page to make sure that it satisfies the general principles above.

Please contact your PSEA Uniserv Representative if you have any questions.

While many of these posts could be debated individually -- some do have merit, some are more dubious -- what I don't like is the tone, which to me is suggesting that teachers really would be better off not blogging. This is really a shame, because blogging, when done intelligently, can be such a huge boon to the teaching practice, as many of folks in the edu-blogger world can attest. I really can't imagine having started SLA without this blog, and I think SLA is a better school because of the blogging proces.

In the end, I think Christian's Blogging Guidelines provide a much more intelligent and prudent set of guidelines for edu-bloggers:

The best defense, in some respects, is a good offense:

Be public about who you are, what role you have...anonymity while somewhat logical at first has no real currency in time. Give one of your decently tech-savvy kids 1 hour and challenge them to find the identity of any anonymous blogger. And then wonder how long it'll take your boss if they become curious or get an anonymous email from an 'interested' colleague.

Assume that your boss is reading every blog entry you write. Not just the ones you wrote today, but the ones you wrote 6 months ago when you were just getting started and were venting and perhaps said something you wouldn't have shouted down the hallway during a passing period.

If you wouldn't say it in a faculty meeting or yell it down the hallway during a passing period, perhaps you need to re-think posting it.

When in doubt, never use your students' names. Never. And if you're writing about your colleagues, school, superiors, or district policies, you have 3 choices: 1) Write positively without hesitation or 2) learn to ask great questions that remain open-ended while refusing pejoratives and in lieu of criticisms or 3) do not write about any of the above.

And simply use a "blog smart" mind-set. There are no specific rules; it's a mind-set. And there are no second chances unless you're comfortable in the looking-for-a-new-job process.

Oh, and if you're not helping your students wrestle with these issues in your classrooms when you launch into blogging (etc) programs, you're failing the #1 opportunity. Yes, give them rules. But teach them how to use common sense, too. They'll thank you for years and years from now when their first job isn't lost because they did something foolish under the guise of being 'anonymous' and they get the job they really wanted because someone recognized/valued their passion and common sense and unique voice/brand.

I love what Christian writes about anonymity. I know there are some great blogs out there that are wonderful looks inside of some dysfunctional schools, but I hope all those bloggers know that they are putting their jobs on the line, should they be discovered. Being an anonymous blogger is a very different thing than blogging publicly, and I know that the prospect of putting my name to what I write every day makes me think powerfully about what it is that I'm putting out there.

(And for the record, I believe there are times when using student names is utterly appropriate, such as when you are promoting something amazing that a student did. My general rule on that one is that if it is something I'd be willing to call up the local papers and get published, then it's o.k. to publish on my blog. At SLA, the world "blog" is included in the press waiver the families sign at the beginning of the year, and I always ask students before putting their names up.)

In the end, every teacher / administrator / educator has to come to their own comfort zone with blogging, and yes, there are times when we all push the envelope. It's part of the changing nature of schools, I think, where we have to recognize the new transparency we have to deal with. By blogging, by honestly grappling with the questions and issues that face us, we as educators get to embrace a piece of that transparency. Any student who wants to come to SLA, any teacher who wants to teach here, could Google SLA, find this blog and learn a lot about our values, our process, and the thoughts (and ramblings) of the principal. With luck, that will be part of the process of enhancing our community and strengthening its values. If nothing else came of this blog, that'd be worth it.

Blogging vs. Podcasting

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:19:37 -0700

I keep a list of topics I want to write about on here. Right now, that list is getting long with several items that really would be hard to do any kind of justice to in under 1500 words. All of the topics are things I love talking about, but I've resisted podcasting about them which gets me back to one of the reasons I prefer to blog.

Writing is actually really hard for me much of the time. Funny for an English major and English teacher, but it's true. Writing can be a really torturous process for me. And that's why I do it. Blogging, in addition to everything else I get from me, forces me to take the time to put my words on paper (well, close to paper anyway) when I'd much rather just talk it out.

I've started questioning that, especially after listening to my interview with Steve Hargadon. His questions got me to articulate a bunch of ideas I've been struggling with putting on paper for weeks now.

Which got me to wondering -- part of my reason for blogging is to keep up the discipline of writing. But does that matter as much as getting ideas out there into the conversation? And if my answer is no, what does that mean for my students?