Organizing my life. Or at least my blog!

This past week I was taking a look back at my blog and I realized how many different functions it has served for me. Originally, I wanted a space to reflect on my practice. My first post, in late December 2011, set out my goals for blogging:

• I will be a reflective practitioner of my craft.
• I will share what I have learned.
• I will learn from what I share
• I will bring balance to my chaos. (I've given up on this one!)

As I look at my early posts, the focus was definitely on being a reflective practitioner. I was trying to make sense of new information. I was sharing what I learned, and learning from that sharing by reflecting publicly on both the learning process and the outcomes. At times I've posted about projects I've worked on; at other times I've posted about articles I've read.

In the spring of 2012, I started using my blog to respond to assignments in various courses I was enrolled in. And then I made a blog post that was part of my doctoral application. There are now blog posts about online learning, about online leadership, about social media, and even about statistics. Some of those blog posts were spontaneous based on my learning, but some were mandated by courses I took. Even in required blog posts, I am trying to make sure that my voice stays consistent, and that I am continuing to learn not just from the assignment but from sharing the assignment.

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Now I'm thinking that I ought to start categorizing my posts, to make it easier to go back and revisit themes. I started adding some labels to more recent posts, but then I realized I need to really think about what those labels are. What are the themes I might want to look back through and reflect on my personal growth and changes? What are the themes I might want to capture as a record of my academic work? Is there value to adding labels for themes that are no longer relevant to me in my current position?

So, right now I'm considering the following labels:

• BSU (for all course required blog posts)
• Online learning
• Leadership
• Administration (for job-related things)
• K-6 (for school-related things)
• Learning (for general a-ha's and reflections related to my own professional and/or personal growth)

Maybe a year from now I'll have to revisit this again based on new needs and interests, but for now a little organization is better than nothing!

Global Responses to Digital Textbooks

Digital textbooks are the new norm, at least where I live. In California, there is legislation requiring publishers who submit for adoption to include a digital edition of their textbook. In my district, students have access to their textbooks through the LMS. However, according to Stephen Asunka's article in Open Learning, The Viability of e-Textbooks in Developing Countries, positive beliefs about e-textbooks are far from universal.

This study explored levels of student awareness of and experiences with e-textbooks at a private ICT-driven university in Ghana. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the e-textbook deployment in sub-Saharan higher education, and establish a baseline of perceptions and use that can be used to measure changes in behaviors and practices. The study did not rely on any standard theoretical framework, "because e-books are a fairly novel (and rapidly evolving) phenomenon in the developing world" (p. 41). While e-textbooks are a novelty in sub-Saharan Africa in general, because of the type of university used as a participant pool, survey participants were 99% familiar with what an e-textbook was. The researcher used a survey questionnaire that focused on usage and attitude towards e-textbooks to gather data, including both qualitative and quantitative measures.

Few students in the study were aware of multimedia and/or interactive features of e-textbooks. The researcher speculated that this might be due to Ghana's limited high bandwidth access, and the high cost of internet access outside of the university environs. In addition, the vast majority of students who used e-textbooks accessed them through a computer, with very few students indicating that they used dedicated readers or handheld devices. Most students indicated that they preferred print textbooks because of their convenience and accessibility.

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In most of the United States, along with most developed nations, access to high-speed internet bandwidth at low or no cost is a given. In every large city and town, as well as most small ones, individuals can get online at fast food restaurants, coffee shops, and public areas without cost. Digital textbooks are becoming more common as early as elementary school, and students are explicitly taught to use the interactive features built into e-textbooks. Dwyer & Davidson's (2013) review of literature over the past decade shows increasing access to and comfort with e-textbooks at universities in the United States. In 2011, Bob Minzesheimer of USA Today noted that for four of the top ten best-sellers, digital editions outsold print editions. Now, USA Today (as well as other best-seller lists) no longer differentiate between print and digital editions in their lists. This appears to indicate that, at least in the United States, e-texts have attained widespread acceptance and use.

And yet in their 2013 study, Dwyer & Davidson found that many university students did NOT like using e-textbooks. Many complained about eye strain and lighting, or inability to highlight text or add notes. The researchers conclude that "e-textbooks are not at the place where students are embracing them" (p. 120).

These articles, combined with my own experience, underscore the role of culture and environment in tool adoption. There are some base underlying conditions that allow any culture to evolve. The invention of irrigation allowed for surplus which allowed for development of leisure pursuits such as the arts. Access to bandwidth and devices allow for implementation of digital texts which allow for the development of a comfort with this type of interaction. Students in Ghana, having little access to e-textbooks because of infrastructure limitations, find the use of digital textbooks to be awkward. In US universities, students have significantly better access, but also find the use to be awkward, albeit for different reasons and to a lesser degree. It might just be that we are in the transition, and the trend we see of increased access, increasing use of e-books, and improved interactivity features will continue to facilitate the growth of e-textbook use.

In my own experience using e-texts, there is a comfort curve. Before I read my first digital text, I was firmly convinced that it would be a niche use for me, not my normal reading habit. Over time, however, reading everything from the newspaper to leisure reading to textbooks on my iPad has become my norm. I still love going to a bookstore to browse, but I"m getting better at browsing e-book stores in a way that helps me select what to read next. My nieces and nephews are comfortable reading on a digital reader, including highlighting and note-taking. In my district, students at middle and high school prefer the e-reader to textbooks. To be fair, that's probably about weight, and they are no more likely to look at the textbook on their device than they were when it was in print!

Asunka, S. (2013). The viability of e-textbooks in developing countries: Ghanaian university students’ perceptions. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e- Learning, 28(1), 36-50, DOI: 10.1080/02680513.2013.796285

Dwyer, K. K. & Davidson, M. M. (2013). General education oral communication assessment and student preferences for learning: E-textbook versus paper textbook. Communication Teacher, 27(2), 111-125, DOI: 10.1080/17404622.2012.752514 

Minzesheimer, B. (2011, August 11). E-books jet to top 10 of USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. USA Today. Retrieved from http://books.usatoday.com/bookbuzz/post/2011/08/e-books-jet-to-top-10-of-usa-todays-best-selling-books-list/414589/1

Purpose of Evaluation

There is a longstanding debate about the purpose of teacher evaluation. Is the purpose to improve teacher practice through reflective conversation and expert advice? Is it to measure teacher competence? Or is it somewhere between those two, reflecting elements of both? An article last year in Educational Leadership addressed the question by asking practitioners what they thought to be the purpose of teacher evaluation. The vast majority of respondents said that evaluation was both improvement of practice and measurement, with an emphasis on improving practice.

As I begin my first formal teacher observations of the year, I couldn't agree more. It is critical to have standards of professional practice, and a clear understanding of what those standards look like. In my district, we have expectations about the types of instruction that will take place, the need for a variety of engagement strategies, requirements on ELD support, and a vision of what classroom environment should include. Those are the items we use to measure teacher competence. But it is the informal and formal observations that happen at least a couple of times a month, and the short reflective conversations those observations provoke, that drive teacher improvement. As I visit classrooms, I focus on one or two areas, looking for evidence of proficiency. Often I find it. Part of the conversation I have with teachers afterwards asks how or why they made the choices they did, and reinforcing that their decision-making was sound. Sometimes I don't find the evidence I'm looking for. So the conversation starts with whether I just missed the evidence, as I ask them to describe what that practice or strategy looks like in their classroom. 

At this point in the year (and in my site administrative career), I'm trying to be careful with directives. It seems to me that a first step for teachers who have gaps in their proficiency is to make sure they are exposed to best practices, so having them observe a strategy in a team-member's classroom is a good fit. I can then talk with the teachers as they identify what steps they will take, and the mandate comes from themselves. Later in the year I may need to provide more explicit directives, but for now I think the best intervention is one they pick for themselves. 

I believe that my role as a teacher evaluator is to help teachers realize their best student-focused, research-driven, multi-faceted selves. As I do evaluations this year, I need to keep in mind what success in the process looks like from my end - I am doing my job well if teachers are more closely aligned to the expected competencies and are more reflective practitioners by the end of the year. 

Step by Step

I am not a linear learner. Following step by step directions is not my strong suit, to say the least. Putting together furniture is an adventure that involves figuring out for myself the best order to assemble, sometimes using trial and error. So when I started exploring SPSS statistics software, I just jumped in with both feet and started playing. 

But last week I was stuck waiting for a meeting to start, and desperate for something to do, so I started reading through the SPSS Survival Guide on my iPad. Turns out I was missing a lot using my non-linear strategy!  I kept thinking, "Wow! It can do THAT?"

So now I'm following some of the exercises in the book. Not all, of course, that would be crazy! But being able to play with the numbers, sort in different ways, and identify patterns is the fun stuff, and I was missing that. Those are also the skills I'm going to need in order to conduct research, analyze results, and publish anything that will have any value. 

Make a Difference

What you leave behind isn't what's engraved in stone monuments, but what's woven into the lives of others.     -Pericles

Today at the Liberty Principal Summit, the principal told the story of Malik. She told us how she kept telling Malik that he was a good boy. Every time he came to the office on a behavior referral, she told him she knew he was a good boy inside, he was smart and hard-working, and that he could do better. By the end of the year, Malik was hitting less and smiling more. He went from basic to proficient. Most importantly, at the end of the year Malik said, I AM a good boy. That personal connection is something that makes a big difference to our kids' success. 

Sitting in the AP office, I see a lot of behavior referrals. I see students who have been told they are troublemakers, that they can't learn, that they are "bad". Of course I have to help the understand that their behavior is unacceptable. But I also need to let them know that I believe they can do better. I need to help them identify strategies that they own that help them to take charge of their own learning and behavior. And I need to help students believe that not only do they have the power to implement the strategies, but once they do they will see results. 

One of the main reasons I wanted to go back to a school site is to live the belief that I can make a difference in the life of a student. Every interaction is an opportunity to do just that. 

My (re)Introduction to Statistics

I have always found statistics interesting. My dad, a mathematician, used to quote Mark Twain quoting Disraeli, “ "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." He encouraged us kids to play with numbers; manipulate them in different ways and play with displays in order to prove our point. I thought it was a fun way to turn numbers into propaganda. Who would have thought that now, 35 years later, it would become useful?

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I feel like my conceptual understanding of basic statistics is pretty good. I struggle a bit with the right vocabulary, but I understand the point of the the various ways of sorting and analyzing data. I think one of my challenges in a statistics course is going to be to use the right vocabulary so that others know what I am talking about, and that I’m able to make sense of more complex statistical concepts. I was surprised at how easy SPSS was to deal with once I got the hang of the interface, but I guess that’s true of most things! I liked the very basic activities that we did, because it allowed me to focus on the interface, and not try to make sense of the data. I know it will get more difficult, but I’m feeling reasonably confident for the moment that I’ll be able to figure things out!

I guess as adults we need that sort of scaffolding too!

First Day of School

It has been a long time since I've had "first day of school jitters." Working at the County Office on a year-round schedule, first days of school held little relevance beyond the ways we scheduled training with our districts. But this year, returning to a school site (well, two school sites!), I had the opportunity to experience again the excitement and fear that come with new beginnings.

My first day of work was the first day of school. I had met the principal, but none of the teachers and of course none of the students. I am new to the district, and new to the role of assistant principal. I knew I was walking in blind, and I knew I would be expected to know a variety of things and address a variety of issues that were completely foreign to me. What could be less comfortable? And yet, I was so excited to just jump in to the deep end, and hope I could figure out how to swim!

It's definitely been a long week, and I know I've got many more long days and weeks ahead of me before I get my feet firmly underneath me. But it is so much fun to come home at the end of the energized with all of the new things I've learned, the new students and teachers I've met, and challenges I've conquered. I can't wait to continue!