MACUL

I am here at the MACUL Conference (3/18-20/09). This post is to provide those who attended or are have interest the presentation, "Apps For Administrators: Tools to Support SIP...and More" that Kristi and I are did on 3/19/09. You will be able to go to my Google Site and click the presentation attachment of the slide show if you click the link below. Much of the presentation was demonstration of the applications mentions from web tools so what you will see is what was discussed, but the actual demonstration will not be in the slide presentation. Please feel free to contact me through the comment feature of this blog.
Click here to see the presentation.

For those who were in the session, please use the link below to complete a survey about the session. It will require a password that will be provided to you at the session.
Click Here to take survey

Starting To See The Change

It seems like the vote on the bond proposal was a long time ago. I guess it depends on how you look at it. It was almost a year and a half ago. I knew when the proposal passed that there would be the reality of the long, long process of moving from design, to bidding, to actually seeing the new construction and renovations. I pulled in at 6:30 this morning and arriving at the same time was a large truck, probably here for the demolition. All morning it has sounded like a truck stop out my window. Those are great sounds to hear, though. That means all of the planning, drawing, changing, and bidding work that goes on behind the scenes is done, and we will now start to see physical evidence of the change. We have been able to see a few signs of change with the demolition of the football stands and the construction of the new sports complex. However, we aren't able to use those facilities yet, and they are a ways away from where we work every day. I know that we will have some inconvenience through this construction, but it should be awesome when we are done. It is a great time to be a Blue Jay!

What Do You Think About?

When you have the time to think and plan about things other than school or work, about what do you get excited? For me, it is travel. Kristi and I have taken a cruise five of the last six years. We took our first with the prompting of our brother-in-law whose boss's wife is a travel agent who specializes in cruising. Well, after that first one, we were hooked. Since that first Eastern Caribbean cruise, we have done the Western Caribbean, Hawaii, Southern Caribbean, and Mexico. We just finished booking our sixth cruise. We are going back to the Caribbean, but are hitting a couple of new places. I know that I have said before how much I like to travel. Kristi and I have considered how we can incorporate travel into a post retirement job. We will be doing more traveling than just the cruise. The cruise is just for us this year. We have taken the kids on one cruise because the entire family was going, but we want to wait until the kids are a little more independent before we take them again. We are working on a Route 66 road trip out to the Grand Canyon with them for this summer. I hope you have time to think and plan for some special times that don't have anything to do with school or your work!

Treat Life Like a Golf Scramble - Pick Each Other Up

I like to ski. It has been a good winter for skiing. Unfortunately, it is hard to get to the slopes enough. I have purchased a ski pass for the last several years at Crystal Mountain. My mother-in-law works there, and it is a great place to ski. I just started skiing more seriously about five or six years ago. I have mixed feelings about this time of year. I want to have more opportunity to ski, but I am ready to be able to golf, too. I don't have enough time to do either, but I enjoy them when I can. I used to be very competitive and get upset if I didn't golf well. There is really no score in skiing, but I have advanced my skills so I feel pretty good about that, but golf is a different matter. There is always that score to let you know if you are making progress or not. I never really cared about beating a fellow golfer. For me, golf is an individual sport. I wouldn't mind having a higher score than someone I was playing with as long as my score was as low as I wanted. I used to get mad. I would toss my club and get so upset that the rest of my round would be shot because of one wayward shot that "ruined" my round. Now, I don't get too upset. I am just glad to have the opportunity to slow down, enjoy being outside, and leave everything else behind. The older I get and the less opportunity I have to golf, the more I like to play golf in a "scramble." I can have fun and make good shots, but if I have that wayward shot, I have a team mate to pick me up and make a shot that we can take as a team. The beauty of the "scramble" is that it is generally unlikely that everyone on the team will all have a wayward shot at the same time so collectively the team does better than any individual could. I guess the same could be said for most other things. There are times when we need to pick each other up. We are stronger collectively than we are individually. Encourage and support those around you.

Where Did You Think You Would Be By Now?

I recently sent these thoughts to the high school staff in my building. Though the content is specific to teachers, I think the idea applies to everyone - both those who have created a long personal history and those who are hoping to have many more pages to fill.

When you were 20, where did you think you would be by the age you are now? That may be too difficult to narrow down. For some of us that was quite a while ago. Most of us were in the middle of completing college degrees at age 20. Do you remember when you first thought you wanted to be a teacher? If you can remember back that far, what did you answer when you were asked, "Why do you want to be a teacher?" Would you give the same answer today? I remember a former teacher asking me that question when I told him I was going to be a teacher. I don't remember my specific answer, but I am sure it had to do with helping people and providing students with the skills I developed and the opportunities I had because of my high school experience. I think my answer would be a little deeper now as I take a more global view of things. Did you think, "I want to end up in Shepherd, Michigan for my career in education?" I would guess that most of you didn't have that plan in mind when you set out. Yet, here we are. Think back to all of the students on whom you have had an impact. I hope you can look back on your career so far (for some it is a longer look than others) and have a sense of accomplishment and happiness. I hope you still have the same enthusiasm for education that you did when you first began! It is easy to get mired down in the negative stuff of the job. Remember, the students we currently teach or students we taught and who are now working adults make up the society in which we live. That is an important and difficult task, worthy of honor and respect. I challenge you to look to the greater good and all of the positive aspects of your job - your influence on students, your colleagues/friends, and the history you have created and continue to create for yourself.

We all create a personal history - page by page, day by day. Whether you are a teacher or in any other profession, see the good that you do and continue to create that positive history that makes up who you are.

Anything Worth Getting Just Right Is Worth The Effort

Fudge! That is what I say with a gleam in my eye when ever I get close to Mackinaw City or Mackinaw Island. I always walk by the fudge shops debating on which shop to ultimately settle on for my purchase. If I am on the island, I tend to buy a few 1/4 pound slabs and get one free. At least a couple of those have to be for me. One of them has to be for immediate consumption. I carefully pull out the selected fudge and use the plastic knife they provide to cut off a very well-defined piece of fudge. I just can't hack up good fudge. Well, I have always thought it would be cool to be able to create fudge like they do on the island. I have watched them pour the hot, liquid fudge on the marble table and start to stir and flop the fudge with their long-handled stirrer that looks like a wide putty knife. I have thought I would like to be able to make fudge that way. So, last year I put a marble slab on my Christmas list so I could make Mackinaw Island style fudge. Amazingly, my uncle somehow was able to find a marble slab that I could use at home. It is about 2' X 2'. With a little research on recipes and technique, I took my first crack at making my Mackinaw Island fudge over Christmas break. I bought a 6" putty knife and stirred the fudge into a long log of fudge like they do on the island. I cut it into slabs like they do on the island. I am still doing a bit of experimentation, but I think it turned out pretty well. To get it just right, I will have to continue to work on my technique, experiment with ingredients and flavors, and research more from the experts, which will mean that I will have to make a lot more fudge! Making successful students is a little like making fudge. You have to have to passion for it so you will take the extra effort to make it happen. You have to continue to work on your technique. You have to experiment with what and how you put things together, and you have to continue to research best practices. Some of the ingredients are good by themselves, just like students. But, some are hard to take (unsweetened chocolate or vanilla) by themselves, just like students. Once the unsweetened chocolate and vanilla are added to the sugar, the cream, and the butter, the combination makes a good final product. Anything worth getting just right is worth the effort.

Running on the Teeter-Totter

I was struck by something this past week. I guess it is not a huge thing, but I just thought about all of the things that I would like to do and how I just can't get to them. I always have a tasks list that is longer than my ability to do them. I am sure that most of you feel this way. The problem is that I truly have a desire to do some different things in my job such as having lunch with students, getting into more classrooms, talking with teachers, helping teachers collaborate, and many other things. But, the reality seems to always be that there is a report to complete, a meeting to attend, a plan that needs to be documented, POs and budgets to be managed, conference requests to review, discipline that needs attention, and all of the other tasks that go along with the job. Please don't think that I am complaining. I like what I do. I believe that I am pretty efficient. I just think I could be more effective if I could do some of the things that I would like to do. It seems like more and more is required of us. Probably every generation of administrators felt that way. I have always thought that if I could just get a little farther ahead, I could get to some of the other plans that I would like to follow. But, just when I think I am getting close, something comes up and my stack rises to a level that puts me behind again. I guess it is a matter of priority, but it all takes time. I feel the same way at home. There are projects that I have planned to do since our house was built four and half years ago. There are household plans and family plans that get squeezed out by the lawn, snowy driveway, the trash, the bills, etc. I am sure that you can all relate to that. The trouble is that I feel such an internal struggle because I know I could get farther ahead at school if I took more time here, but I am sure my family believes that I already spend too much time doing school work. I know that if I can be home more, I can get farther ahead at home, but then I get farther behind at work. It is a tough balance. It reminds me of standing in the middle of a teeter-totter with someone throwing work responsibilities on one end that makes be run to the other end to balance. Just when I get far enough down the teeter-totter to balance the work responsibilities, more home responsibilities are thrown on the other end. So, I run back and forth trying to keep balance. With all of the that running, you would think I would be a little thinner! I hope you are able to keep balance.


Maybe trying to keep balanced is why I like to travel so much!
Honeymoon Trip July 7, 1996