Practical Theory - Life

SLA Named One of the Ten Most Amazing Schools in US (and other news!)

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:14:08 -0700

Some very cool notes for a warm August night!

The Science Leadership Academy was named one of the Ten Most Amazing Schools in the US by the Ladies Home Journal! We are honored and humbled to be listed alongside such incredibly innovative and interesting schools!
I was on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane last week. Dr. Anne Gardiner of Bodine HS and I were talking about small schools in Philadelphia. It was a really fun hour, and it is archived as a podcast if you want to listen in.
I have submitted a proposal for SXSW (South by Southwest) - one of the premier interactive / new media / social networking / new culture conferences in the world. Crowdsourcing makes up 30% of the approval process, so if you like the kind of ideas I write about here on the blog, please considering registering at SXSW and voting for my proposal - Building School 2.0 - Creating the Schools We Need. And while you're there, consider voting for the panel I'm on, too! Voting ends August 29th.

As always, thanks for reading!

Batteries

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:52:15 -0700

My family is at the beach this week for our yearly vacation at the Jersey Shore. (No, Snookie isn't staying nearby.) Jakob is getting old enough that we need to bring every combination of soccer / baseball / basketball gear for beach play. Theo is old enough to love the sand and surf. He spent most of tonight talking about what a wonderful day he had. And I packed up a dozen books to clear off of the "must read" pile, and I am looking forward to getting through as many of them as I can carve the time for... in between game of miniature golf, bike rides and frequent naps.

Next week, I head off to Constructing Modern Knowledge with the amazing group of educators he has assembled, and I look forward to four days of just being a learner. It is rare these days when my own personal and professional learning gets to be my primary concern for several days.

Add to that a near zero professional email inbox and a goal of cleaning out my Practical Theory personal emails, and all of the sudden, there appears to be a realistic chance that I could put the previous twelve months away and start the coming school year (which for me means August 1st) rested, charged up, and in the proper mental space. Now that I've dared to put these words out there in the world, I fully expect something insane to happen to prevent it, but there it is.

My to-do list is as huge as ever, but most of what I have to do between now and August 1st is the kind of planning that never seems to be given enough time during the school year. We need to launch some new projects this September, and the time I am spending now on these things will reap huge benefits later. But it's also the time to examine what we have done and look for the spaces to innovate, to document, to reflect upon. And it is having the space and time to do that... and the mental distance and health to do that well, that is so important.

All of this is to say this... to all my friends and colleagues in education, I hope this summer allows you to find the time to recharge your batteries, to reflect deeply, wisely and well about the previous year, to learn about new ideas to bring back to the work we do, and find the time and space for restorative experiences this summer so that we can invest ourselves fully in the work we do for another year.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Test Post

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:18:04 -0700

This is just a test post from my new iPad using BlogPress. I didn't just buy this iPad as a "ooh shiny" flight of fancy. My goal is to stop bringing my laptop everywhere. So I bought a desktop for my desk at school, and I am setting up some combo of DropBox and MobileMe for my primary school files, and I am going to try to just work mobile with the iPad. Should be interesting.

So far, I don't mind working on this - although this is the longest thing I have written yet. Should be fun.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Anne Deveare Smith and the Voices of the Health Care Debate

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:56:38 -0700

Anna Deveare Smith is one of my favorite American artists (and not just because she was on The West Wing.) She is a gifted actress, author and playwright, but even more importantly, her "documentary theater" style of writing and performing displays a respect for the diversity of voice and opinion that makes up the American mosaic. (See her TEDTalk which is a piece from her show "On the Road: A Search for American Character for an example.)

So it should come as no surprise that she has the ability to capture the range of the debate on health care in this country in an OpEd piece in today's New York Times. Here is her introduction:

Over the last few years, in preparation for a new play, I interviewed doctors, patients and healers about the human body, its resilience and its vulnerability. Although our conversations were not primarily about the health care debate, they do reveal many of the feelings and thoughts of the people in the audience President Obama will address tonight.

The unruliness that now animates the conversation stems from our passions, hopes and discomforts -- about life, death, who should (or should not) take care of us and whom we should take care of. The president's audience has a million and one perspectives, some of them clumping together like blood platelets under one political roof or another. The following excerpts (not all of which are in my play) reflect the range of views.

At a time when civility and rational discourse seem to be at an all-time low, her ability to listen so intently and bring across the myriad voices of the debate without irony and without judgment is so important. We all can learn from her ability to listen for the humanity in our voices.

Go read.

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Tags: anna_deveare_smith, health_care

Thinking...

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:15:30 -0700

I've been neglecting the blog lately. I'm still here, and I'm still trying to write... but I'm finding myself with a good old-fashioned case of stuckness lately.

There are a ton of things I want to be writing about, but I'm finding that I'm not all that coherent lately. (Yeah, I know, that's the case when I am writing, too.)

What I am hoping is that I'm in a gestation period. I'm talking to a lot of people. I'm reading a lot. I'm listening a lot. And where I hope I'm going is to a place where I can articulate new questions, new answers and new thoughts. But right now, I feel like I've still in that place where I'm either writing posts I've already written or the posts that I want to write are so long and daunting that I'm not sure where to start.

But I'm at the beach this week, and -- going to Philly today for a summit at Penn notwithstanding -- I'm trying to use this time to get my head around some ideas I'm playing with. And I think I'm going to start writing a lot of the kinds of posts I've gotten away from lately -- asking a lot of questions and seeing what answers come out... but I miss blogging, which tells me it is time to start writing again.

And maybe this meta-writing post is just a way to force myself back into that habit of writing.

Anyway... that's the most coherent idea on my mind tonight.

Fighting the Blahs...

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:57:19 -0700

[This was originally going to be a comment on a blog where folks were getting angry in the comments... I realized I just might have been projecting a bit.]

I think there's something else that we have to be aware of right now. I think there's a lot of collective exhaustion going on. It's that time of year where folks feel the grind. In Pennsylvania, it's PSSA time... the economy is lousy... people are fearful about their jobs and wondering how much their lives are going to change. And I think there's a lot of disconnect within our profession right now, and it didn't magically disappear with a new administration.

I'm not posting many blog entries right now because what I'm writing isn't public writing, certainly not in any helpful sense. I'm tired and cranky and my writing feels that way, and I know it isn't productive stuff. And worse, I know I'm not a whole hell of a lot of fun to be around right now. (My apologies to all those who have to deal with me in real life.) For me, it'll pass... and part of my process lately has been to try to figure out what I need to do to help that along. One thing I'm trying to do is remember what my sphere of influence is -- and to focus on the places I can have the greatest impact and to let go of the "reaches" for right now. That's not always an easy thing for me to recognize, and it's an even harder thing for me to come to terms with. But it's what I need to do right now.

Interestingly, though, one thing that is interesting is that I'm hearing much the same story from urban folks, suburban folks, east coast, west coast, etc... I'm hearing a very frustrated tone from a lot of educators right now, and I'm hearing more and more stories of kids coming stressed over the economic hardships or stories of the college process being an even more tortured process this year, and just stories of exhausted educators who aren't finding the renewal that they usually do with the coming of spring. In general, I think schools and teachers and kids are feeling the effects of living in very uncertain times, and that can't be a good thing.

It's one thing to hypothesize, but it's another thing to try to come up with ways out. In addition to trying to say the serenity prayer a whole lot more often right now, I'm trying to dial up my level of care with people -- and that has to include myself (even if I am dealing with some insomnia by blogging). I'm trying (and REALLY not succeeding all the time) to be more understanding -- both of others and of my own limitations. I think it's helpful if we all remember our shared humanity and our shared sense of purpose and give each other the benefit of the doubt right now. In the end, if we have built healthy communities -- healthy schools -- then now is the time to rely on that -- to rely on each other, and find our way through to some healthier times.

(And hey, Spring Break isn't too far away...)

Join Team Shift Happens on Kiva

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:52:59 -0700

This year, as we feel the pinch of difficult economic times, we should remember that there are those who still have much, much less. That's why you should join Karl Fisch's Team Shift Happens on Kiva.

Kiva is a micro-lending bank with a mission of helping to end global poverty. From the website:

Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

And in Karl's words:

Kiva allows individuals to contribute a small amount of money that is then loaned to entrepreneurs in impoverished communities. When that loan is repaid (currently almost 97% are repaid), then the individual that originally made the loan can choose to loan the money out to another entrepreneur, donate it to kiva to help with their operating expenses, or actually get the money back.

Poor people in impoverished communities often don't have access to financial institutions and capital, and microfinancing addresses this problem. It is especially helpful to women, who often are the key to raising families -- and communities -- out of poverty. It's also my opinion that this is one of the best ways to help achieve peace in the world.

I contributed my $25 for myself, but then I also bought $25 gift certificates for everyone in my family, and I look forward to dinner table conversations about who we've lent our money to over the next few years.

This could be an amazing school project, a wonderful addition to any "Secret Santa" office holiday spirit, or just a wonderful way to remind ourselves that we are connected to everyone on the planet, no matter where we live.

Thanks, Karl, for inspiring me to do more this holiday season.

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Tags: kiva, karl_fisch

Barbara's Fund

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:56:32 -0700

Barbara Barreda, ed-tech blogger and principal, lost her house in the California wildfires today. I've been lucky enough to meet Barbara and spend some time with her. She's a wonderfully kind and smart educator, and I can't even imagine what she must be going through.

So Jen Wagner and Clarence Fisher have set up a way for people to help. Read Clarence's post first or just go right to Jen's page for the fund, but if you know Barbara or if you have read her blog and you can spare some money, please do.

If you've benefited from the edu-blogosphere, this is a wonderful way to say thanks by helping out one of the community's wonderful members.

Sunday Morning Thoughts -- Sustainability

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:52:07 -0700

I'm writing this post sitting on the steps in my backyard (yay wifi!) and watching my kids play with some of the neighborhood kids. In six hours, I get on a plane to San Jose where I'll be presenting at the Innovative Learning Conference and then it's back on a plane so that I can be back at SLA when it opens on Tuesday morning.

I don't encourage or endorse that kind of nuttiness, but the sad thing is that while the specifics of my travelling may be something that most teachers are strange, all over America today, teachers are grading papers over their morning coffee, principals are desperately trying to keep up on their emails, and educators are thankful for just one more day to try to catch up.

This is part of what I mean when I talk about putting good people into bad systems. In Philadelphia, a typical high school teacher would have over 165 students on their roster. This is why many teachers who would like to do authentic assessment regress to the simplest form of assessment or why teachers grade student writing by making grammar corrections on the first page only and then reading for content only on the rest of the essay. It's why some science teachers teach from textbooks, rather than asking kids to delve deeply, because with 165 kids, you can at least feel like you got "through" the material and had some rudimentary form of assessment because the idea of trying to help that many students through a true, deep level of inquiry seems daunting at best and impossible at worst.

And yet, there are teachers all over this country doing their best, and most of them aren't blogging. They are in the classrooms for 10-12 hours a day. They are bringing home papers to grade, and doing physics experiments with paper towel tubes, and as they hit their fifth, tenth, twentieth years in the classroom, they are forever making Faustian bargains about the balance between life and work.

And let me say this -- that's no way to run a public education system.

I want to celebrate every teacher who has made this job a calling. Thank you. But my concern is that this nation thinks that building an entire system around martyrdom is the way to go -- that if you aren't spending 80 hours a week and thousands of your own dollars, you can't be an effective Title I school teacher. (And yes, I know that it's not THAT much better in the wealthier districts.) We cannot build a national system on the idea that KIPP and TFA and the 60-70 hour work week is acceptable. It's not.

So as I watch Jakob and Theo play, stealing a moment where I can both be a dad (you have NO idea how many breaks I've taken in writing this entry) and a principal (I've answered about ten emails during the writing too,) I have a call to arms for us all.

Every time we see a teacher celebrated for their Herculean efforts, let's all be sure to ask the following questions:

What can be done to support and sustain you?
How can we change the system that more people can be as successful as you?
How can we create schools where it does not require Herculean efforts to be a successful teacher?

Until we are willing to engage with those questions, we are going to continue down the path of the unrealistic and unattainable expectations for our urban teachers and our urban schools, and we're going to continue to wonder why so many of those schools aren't giving the kids the education they deserve.

And with that, I'm off to steal a few hours of playing with my kids. Have a wonderful Sunday.

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Tags: school_reform, sustainability

Obama and McCain Court Jakob

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:23:40 -0700

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

(I love JibJab.)

In Memorium: Andrea Collins-Smith

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:51:16 -0700

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the passing of Andrea Collins-Smith. Andrea's son Jesse is one of my advisees at SLA, and he's an amazing, kind, wonderful kid who I look forward to seeing every day. All year long, he's dealt with the illness of his mother, and for the past several months, we had a sense it probably wasn't going to end well. Through it all, Jesse handled it with a grace that few adults would have. There were tough times for him throughout this year, as we all would expect, and there were times when I had to remind him just how well he was holding up, given all that his family was going through. As the father of two boys, I can say that I'd be thrilled if Jakob and Theo ended up as good and kind-hearted and thoughtful as Jesse is. His mom always took a justifiable pride about the amazing spirit and sense that her son has.

Andrea defied stereotypes, and she enjoyed doing that, I think. She was, as her blog is titled, a punk rock mommy. The first time I met her, she and her husband were sitting in the second row in Meredith Elementary School as I presented to the 8th grade class about this school we were starting. They were the only parents in an auditorium full of 12 year olds, and they were the toughest audience I think I had on the recruitment trail that planning year. Afterward, Andrea came up and introduced herself to me and had some of the toughest and on-point questions about SLA that I remember getting from anyone anywhere that year. She wanted a school for her son that would not try to put him into a box, but rather would allow him to be himself. I think there was a moment in that conversation where we both realized we were talking about education the same way, and Jesse, of course, did come to SLA. And, of course, Jesse ended up in my advisory.

The biggest mistake that you could make was to underestimate her... to assume that "punk" and "pierced" meant... well... anything negative you might think it meant. She was a smart, dedicated woman who was beloved by her friends and her family. She took so much joy from being a mom, and -- as she was dying -- she made sure that her oldest son was set up to go to Rochester in the fall, her two twin boys going into high school got full scholarships to St. Joe's Prep, and her daughter got a full scholarship to Penn Charter. We at SLA get to keep Jesse, and we're a better community for his presence. (Clay is still too young for Andrea to have set up his education, but he's got a whole lot of folks looking out for him.)

Over the past two years, Andrea and I had countless phone conversations, a bunch of emails, four "official" parent-advisor-student conferences, and a bunch of unofficial conferences since then, and part of this blog entry is to say that I'll miss those conferences. Andrea was a presence, and she was a fierce advocate for her child, and no matter if Jess was having a good quarter or perhaps a less-than-good quarter, I always looked forward to the conversations. I'm going to miss her for the two years we've got left with Jesse.

And Jesse is going to be o.k. He is his mother's son, and the best thing throughout this entire process is that he could let his mother go with no regrets about his relationship with her. They were so very close, and he has known every moment of his life that he was fiercely loved. And he knows that she passed knowing how much she meant to him, and they really did -- even before she fell ill -- tell each other that every day.

And in addition to the family and friends she leaves behind, let that be Andrea Collins-Smith's legacy. The people she loved always knew. Because of the way she lived her life, there is more love and care in the world. So today, be sure to tell the people in your life you love that you love them. Tell them that a punk-rock mommy who can't do that anymore reminded you to.

Summer Reading List

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:07:40 -0700

I got home from NECC to find that my latest purchases from Amazon had arrived! (I have to say that the amazon.com credit card is a really, really wonderful thing. Buy everything on that, pay it off every month. Get free books. Yay!)

So, taking my cue from Will, I thought I'd publish my summer reading list. Some of these are books that have been in the queue for a while, some of them I've just gotten:

The Must Reads

Schoolteacher by Dan C. Lortie
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Courageous Conversations about Race by Glenn Singleton and Curtis Linton
brain rules by John Medina
The Power to Transform by Stephanie Pace Marshall
Fifty Major Thinkers on Education - From Confucius to Dewey edited by Joy Palmer
Philosophy of Education by Nel Noddings
Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky

The Must Finish

Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative by Ken Robinson
The Public School and the Private Vision by Maxine Green

The Rereads

Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe (I re-skim this every summer to see what it holds for SLA as we get more advanced with using it.)
Teaching as a Subversive Activity by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner(been about ten years. It's time)

The Hope-To Get-To

Being with Children by Phillip Lopate
The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain
(Not) Keeping up With Our Parents - The Decline of the Professional Middle Class by Nan Mooney
The Twentieth Century: A People's History by Howard Zinn
After Dark by Hakuri Murakami
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

I'm going to go ahead and try to make this a meme, because I'm always looking for more books to add to my list... what are you reading:

By all means, don't consider this meme list a closed list. If you've got a summer list, please share! I'm always looking for great books to share!

Mmmmmm... books.

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Tags: books, summerreading, meme

K12Online Keynote

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:01:19 -0700

I've been sitting on this news for a while, but Wes just posted the news:

I've been asked to be one of the keynote speakers for the 2008 K12Online Conference!

I'm really, really excited and more than a bit freaked out by this. I'm excited because the K12Online Conference committee is made up of people I respect, admire and learn from. And to be asked to do this is just a total honor.

Thanks to the committee for even considering me, and now I just have to figure out what to do with this opportunity.

And don't forget -- Proposals are due on July 11th!

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Tags: k12Online

Win a Pass To TED

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:27:29 -0700

I admit it. I'm a TEDTalk addict. And I've really, really, REALLY wanted to go to TED. I even want to speak there. I want eighteen minutes to tell that audience what I think our schools can be... how SLA is a step in that direction... about what a school can achieve when a group of motivated educators, students and parents (and a museum) come together to build something.

And then Whitney Hoffman forwarded me this: Dave Eggers' Once Upon a School Challenge.

Dave Eggers' TED Wish:

Dave Eggers, 2008 TED Prize winner, wished to collect 1,000 stories of private citizens engaged in their area public schools. He called upon every adult to bring their time, skill, and energy to bear on the lives of students. In collaboration with teachers and schools around the world, people are making his wish a reality.
Now it's your turn...

The challenge

Design and implement a new and innovative project for local public school students. Collaborate with a dynamic teacher or school to determine the best use of your skills and passion. There are no limitations to what is possible.

Participate by telling your project story

Tell us the general idea of your project, how you shared and employed your particular expertise and creativity. Discuss how you planned and executed your project. Describe the results, how your efforts made a teacher's life easier. Please include photos or video!

Find out more information at OnceUponASchool.org. The three top projects get to go to TED2009.

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Tags: TED

Kindergarten Readiness

chris@practicaltheory.org (Chris Lehmann) — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:08:59 -0700

One of my favorite elementary principals is Dave Sherman out in suburban Illinois. He's just one of those smart, sensible administrators whose blog serves as a way for him to share his thoughts about education. I've read his blog for a while, and I had a chance to spend a lot of time with him at EduCon.

So when Dave posts about the things you need to do to help your child be ready for kindergarten, I take notice. I'm going to cut and paste the list he put together, but you should click the link and read the whole piece. And I'm going to echo Dave's thoughts when he says at the end, if you know any new parents, pass it on. (But pass on the link to his article, not to mine, please!)

Read to and with your child - fiction, non-fiction, poetry, nursery rhymes, folk and fairy tales, etc. Turn off the TV (or at least set daily limits)
Teach them to be self-sufficient, particularly when it comes to the bathroom and getting dressed.
Provide opportunities to use crayons and scissors.
Get them outside to develop gross motor skills.
Teach them to write their own names.
Teach them the letters of the alphabet. The State of Illinois standard for children entering kindergarten is to know at least 35 letters (any combination of lower and upper case letters). Recognition of the letters is the goal.
Teach them colors, shapes and to count to at least 10.
Provide opportunities to play cooperatively with other children and to learn to take turns and share.
Teach them to accept rules and limits, and to follow directions.
Talk to them. Correctly model the use of language and vocabulary.
Give them opportunities for imaginative play. Try to reduce adult-directed or passive play, and help kids use their imaginations.
Enrich their lives to build background knowledge.

Thanks, Dave! I feel pretty good about where Jakob and Theo are respectively, but I also know a few places that we can focus on doing a better job.

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Tags: earlychildhood, kindergarten, parenting