The Pros and Cons of Blogging

The advances in technology have led to many new tools being made available to educators. One of these advances is the Weblog. Known to some simply as a "blog," it is "part web site, part journal, and part free-form writing spaces that have the potential to enhance writing and literacy skills while offering a unique form of expression. So quotes authors Beverly B. Ray and Gail A. Coulter in their research piece, which was first published in Contemporary Issues in Technology and English Language Arts Teacher Education (CITE). The authors have an interesting concept. They see teachers as naturally reflective people and question whether the reflective medium of blogging can be of benefit to the teachers themselves, and in the classroom.

While judging their findings to be somewhat insufficient, I do see the need to analyze a subject such as this. At face value, it would make sense for a teacher to utilize such a communication medium. The blog author can gather feedback while maintaining control of the discussion. There is no room for sidebars and jagged arguments. The author controls the content and can use the control to gather needed feedback.



There is no current controversy surrounding this subject, but I do hope that more data becomes available to judge the success, or failure of Weblog use for the modern day teacher.


Authors Ray and Coulter enter the discussion with a unique and worthwhile purpose. They view teachers as naturally reflective people, always looking for feedback to enhance their performance in the classroom. Recognizing the changes brought about in the electronic age, they focus on one advance, which was relatively unheard of eight years ago the Weblog. Technologies, including weblogs, provide a unique and authentic opportunity to glimpse the written reflective processes employed by practicing teachers. If this is true, then how could such a tool help the practicing teacher?



The authors put on their researching caps and attempted to answer this question with data driven evidence. They chose the language arts teachers, because they would seem to be the most likely to embrace a technology that required frequent writing. Their purpose was to understand the role and function of blogs as used by language arts teachers. They were not necessarily trying to prove or disprove the effectiveness of the blog. However, they were trying to get a better indication as to the depth and scope of the blog reflections. The authors/researchers used the following two questions to guide their study:
1. Do individual blog entries related to educational practice demonstrate written reflection?
2. If so, what depth of reflection is demonstrated by the entries?

Finding The Participants and Quantifying Results

                                 
It would seem easy to locate a large number of language arts teachers blogs from the Internet. We don't know how many bloggers exist, but the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2006) indicated that the number exceeded 12 million. From this rich pool, the authors decided to identify and collect data only from blogs created by K-12 in-service teachers in the United States. Of the 142 reported during the past year (2005), 33 were known to be language arts teachers blogs. One might assume that the number would increase in a year's time; however, in the fall of 2006, the number located was a mere 11. As a reviewer, my first questions were "How did the number decrease by roughly 67% in a year?" and "Did teachers lose interest in the medium?"


Undaunted, the researchers used the links of the 11 bloggers, as well as Google and Yahoo searches, to locate ten more blogs, raising their total to 21. Hoping to find power in numbers, five entries from each blog were chosen for scoring purposes, making for a total of 105 entries for reflective review. Each entry was reviewed by two experts from the teacher education and instructional technology fields, for a grand total of 210 blog reviews.


The scoring system was broken down into five categories, with each of the five reviews being rated on a 0.0 to 0.2 scale with .005 increments. The highest possible reflective score any set of data could receive was a 1.
Here are the descriptions of each level of blog reflection, followed by the number and percentage of subject scores:
0.0 - There is no evidence of reflective practice within the entry (14 13%)
0.05- The educational blogger reflects on his or her work and improvement, but does not provide examples in the entry (21 23%).
0.1 - The educational blogger demonstrates an ability to reflect on his or her work, but examples provided are of a minimal quality (32 35%)
0.15 The educational blogger demonstrates an ability to reflect on his or her work. A concrete example(s) is provided (14 15%)
0.2 The educational blogger demonstrates exemplary evidence of a range of metareflective practices and provides an example(s) within the entry (24 26%).

 
The examples for each show the difference in entry quality, subject depth, and length of thought. Because of my opinion regarding the findings, the results are not relevant. However, the group mean score is 0.106, which indicates a minimal quality of blog author reflection, on average.I agreewith Ray and Coulter's rationale for attempting to disseminate data on this subject. I do believe that this topic will become more useful in the near future. If language arts teachers know that opening a blog can be a proven method of improving teaching performance, there would be a reason for curriculum leaders to recommend the practice to their teachers. It can be a valuable study. I believe it will become a valuable study in the future.


However, it is hard to justify any findings based on the mere 21 subjects. By comparison, I try to imagine anybody determining the next President of the United States based on a poll of 21 registered voters. I won't see the data as valuable until at least 100 subjects have been rated by at least three experts.


I believe that weblogs can be valuable for the personal growth of a language arts teacher. It may be effective for helping in the classroom. My conclusion is that some day a study will prove this. Ray and Coulter's study is not the one to prove it.

Conclusion

 
Given the amount of material that the authors were able to find on this subject, there is no doubt that the use of Weblogs for teachers is a worthwhile topic of research and discussion. While I find the topic to be valid, I believe that the authors may have diluted their argument by focusing solely on language arts teachers. It is very difficult to prove any meaningful points with only 21 subjects to observe. The authors even admit this themselves in the limitations section. A longer study with more subjects may have shown more pertinent results. I think another, more comprehensive study will eventually prove that a weblog can be an effective tool for language arts teachers, and should be used as a tool for improving ones performance in the classroom.

What teachers do during the summer

To the non-teacher, the world of an educator looks idyllic. The main reason for this view is the perceived teaching schedule. Most school systems operate between 180-200 days a year with each school day lasting between seven and eight hours. In the past, the ideal benefit to any aspiring teacher was the promise of “summers off.

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But do teachers really have their summers free?

In reality, very few teachers enjoy a full summer of vacation. There are several reasons for this.

Summer School

For a few teachers, the economic reality of their position prevents them from having the summer free. Most school systems offer teachers the choice of being paid on a ten or twelve-month plan. Regardless of the pay plan choice a teacher makes, several opt for the opportunity to teach summer school. Generally, the session lasts 4-5 weeks with four 5-hour days, paying between $22 and $30 per hour.

Professional Development

Teachers are required to obtain licenses in order to be certified. Teaching licenses are renewable and require a set amount of professional development hours to be completed for renewal. School systems, as well as individual buildings conduct professional development training for their teachers during the academic year. However, the sessions are periodic and usually can’t sustain the load required for re-certification.

For this reason, many teachers use the summer months to build their points for re-licensure. This can be completed through coursework or by attending extra training. In most states, 180-300 classroom hours are required and there is a three to five year license period in which the hours must be earned. Teachers who are working toward an advance degree can usually satisfy the coursework simply by counting their post-graduate credits, but this requiring taking one or two classes each summer.

National Board Certification

A few teachers have used their summers to earn National Board Certification status.  The process is grueling and requires 150-300 hours of work developing lesson units worthy of advanced achievement. Because of the time and effort involved with earning National Board certification, the seminars are usually held on a statewide basis during the summer months.

Standardized Test Committees

Because of the availability of teachers during the summer months, states and school systems use this time to hold professional conferences. One example of this is the opportunity to work on a statewide standardized test committee. Individuals selected by their principal and school superintendent enjoy the experience of studying future tests to be used in the standardized test process. One committee may review the test content for validity, while another committee may observe the sensitivity and bias of the content being used for a standardized test, particularly on the English exams.

Department Chair Duties

Finally, some teachers take on the added responsibility of serving as the department chair for their group. While the position is financially supplemented, it does require one or two extra weeks of in-school duties, conducting such duties as book inventory, curriculum development, and school leadership activities, such as interviewing new teacher candidates. Additional training within the school system may also be required.

Spurrier Has Great Solution for College Athlete Payment. Too Bad It Will Never Work.

As a lifelong Washington Redskin fan, the past twelve years have been hard to accept. This could be another article for the near future by itself. The only reason I bring it up is that Steve Spurrier has his own chapter in the horrific saga which makes up the Dan Snyder ownership era.

Spurrier came to the Skins as a glorified national championship winning coach from the University of Florida. His college credentials were indeed impressive (122-27-1 with seven SEC titles and a national championship at the U of F). His tenure with the Burgundy and Gold was much less illustrious as a 12-20 career record with ten losses in his last 12 games would indicate. He was immediately fired after his second season.

But there was something likable about Spurrier. In spite of being a Heisman Trophy winner (1966) and professional quarterback for ten seasons, he was humble to a fault. He told reporters that he really wasn’t important, just the “Ol’ Ball Coach,” a moniker which has stuck for years. Unlike Redskin legend Joe Gibbs, who slept in his office while winning three Super Bowls for the fans of D.C., Spurrier would sneak out on Friday nights during the season to watch his son Steve Jr. play quarterback for Loudoun Valley High School. The Loudoun faithful knew who the figure at the end of the back row of the bleachers was.

Even in his post-Redskin life, the Ol’ Ball Coach endeared himself to many college football fans by spurning offers to coach at elite programs and taking a job as the head whistle at the University of South Carolina, a far cry from the lights and glamour of Gainesville. Spurrier is finding gradual success (44-33) with the Garnet and Black, having won the SEC championship last season for the first time.

Like many top tier collegiate coaches, Spurrier commands a multi-million dollar yearly income. Unlike most of his wealthy but quiet colleagues, he has now spoken out on the topic of paying college athletes. A couple of weeks ago, the Gamecock coach made a proposal at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, FL which sounded preposterous at first, but upon further review provided for many second thoughts leading to national headlines.

“Yes,” said Spurrier, “we should pay college athletes. In fact, each coach in my conference should give each of his top 70 players $300 per game.” This line was not earth shattering, but the next was. “Out of his OWN pocket.”

Putting my math skills to work, this comes out to $21,000 per game. Multiply by 13-14 and were pushing $300 K.

This seems like an obscene amount, but maybe not so when one considers that Auburn coach Gene Chizik just won a national title and received a bump from $2.1 to $3.5 million dollars (not including another potential $1.3 million in incentives!) This makes Chizik the FOURTH highest paid coach in his own conference. Not nationally -- just in the SEC.

What a novel concept. A coach rewards the players who maintain his livelihood. At face value it seems so simple and affordable. Further reflection suggests that it could subdue some of the illegal activities (corruption will still exist, but a paying coach might pay more attention) which permeate through towns like Columbus, OH, Storrs, CT and Auburn, AL.

Too bad it will never happen.

In an earlier post on the subject of paying college athletes, I proposed that Title IX would never allow for payment. Of the three dozen or so posts on the “Wall” thus far, this one comment generated the most feedback and the viewpoints split evenly to both sides. On the one hand, I read “Ridiculous...Title IX has nothing to do with it” while on the other, “it (Title IX) could be a real problem.”

Here’s the answer. Title IX is THE main reason why college athletes will never be paid. This is why Spurrier’s idea hit a brick wall and fizzled.

The legislature was generated in 1972 to cover gender equity in all educational activities, but most of the social commentary has focused on athletics. Reasonable attempts have been made to amend Title IX, usually with the intention of adjusting the focus (i.e. athletic vs. non-athletic activities, college vs. secondary school). But, the 800-pound elephant in the room has always been money. A university might have 400 male and 400 female athletes on its rosters and this may be considered equal. But, if the men’s programs are costing $11 million while the women’s programs cost $8 million, there becomes a discrepancy. In our litigious society, many ambitious athletes, parents and their attorneys have poked and prodded to find any example of inequity and taken their real or perceived case to court.

To open a can of worms and start paying college football players $300 each per game would mean paying a group of female athletes $300 a game. But, what female team has 70 members? Certainly not basketball, the largest women’s sports moneymaker. Softball? Nope. Not even soccer. All three combined rosters at a university probably don’t top 70 players.

There’s more. Very few coaches or athletic departments outside of the major conferences could make this kind of financial sacrifice, which would add into the millions of dollars because every athlete would require (by somebody’s law) the same amount in order for the shoe to fit on Title IX.

I have come to agree that in this day in age, a college scholarship, worth $20,000 to $50,000 per year, is suitable compensation for a typical student-athlete. Perhaps there should be a bump for the athletes who get air time on national TV around the end of March and just after January 1^st while helping their schools earn $20 million appearance fees. Coach Spurrier had an interesting and modest proposal. Too bad it will never happen.

How administrators can stay connected to the classroom

As part of their job description, school administrators are expected to be teacher leaders. Since most leaders are former teachers, it is reasonable to believe that many enjoyed a degree of success in the classroom before moving to their new positions.

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Yet the complaint heard from many administrators is how their other responsibilities prevent them from spending as much time as they would like in the classroom. Aside from the semi-annual rounds of teacher observations, many school leaders find themselves tending to the problems which emerge within a building on a daily basis. Here are some recommendations for the school leader who wants to stay connected to the classroom.

Be Visible

The first way to stay connected to the classroom is to be visible among the students. Administrators are responsible for setting the academic and cultural tone within the school. The best way to know the classrooms is to be familiar with the students inside of them. Having a presence in the morning and afternoon, greeting students as they walk in the front door, and having informal conversations with students are helpful toward understanding what is happening inside the classrooms and assist the administrator with staying aware of what is being taught. Another method is to set aside 10-15 minutes a day to simply walk around the school, being sure to look in classrooms while interfering as little as possible. The least effective school leader is the invisible one.

Stay Updated with the Latest Technology

As an instructional leader, the school administrator needs to keep up with the technological advances available in the classroom. They can best promote technology use in the classrooms by being proficient themselves. Realizing that some teachers are hesitant about using the latest technology, a competent school leader will lead the way by modeling, whether it’s in the form of delivering PowerPoint presentations to teachers at faculty meetings or utilizing the school website as a mode of communication.

Conduct Professional Development

One way to show knowledge of technology is to take a leading role in teacher training, mainly through professional development sessions. As a proficient administrator is also considered to be a master teacher, by virtue of the instructional leader piece of the job description, leading professional development sessions shows an active interest in what the teachers are doing and helps to advance new techniques and technology for the benefit of the classroom. In short, having the ability to use the software expected of teachers is an expectation of a competent school leader. Modeling effective teaching techniques for other instructors also demonstrates leadership at the classroom level.

Attend Teacher Meetings

The best way to stay abreast of classroom activities is to stay connected to the teachers. One way to accomplish this is to visit grade level, team and department meetings. While it is not necessary to provide input, maintaining a presence and being available as a resource during these meetings can be beneficial for both teacher and administrator. Smaller than the school faculty meetings, these settings also provide an informal forum to share classroom strategies, lesson plans and objectives.

Be Diligent With Observations

Maintaining a rigid and disciplined schedule for formal observations and “drop-ins” will also help the school leader stay attached to the classroom. The tendency to avoid is falling behind on the observation schedule and being forced to cram a large number into a short period of time. This takes away from post-observation communication with teachers as well as reflection time after each meeting. Keeping observation appointments well spaced and adhering to the scheduled times allows for a better experience with each teacher and classroom.

Should Students Be Required to Learn Sign Language?

American Sign Language, also known as ASL, is considered to be a beautiful language because of its hand gestures and fluency, as well as the fact that it opens up the student’s awareness to the non-hearing world. Some school systems have started offering the course as an elective and many students have taken advantage of this opportunity.

However, in the new era of standardized testing at the K-12 level, many elective classes, particularly in fine arts and physical education, have been reduced or cut altogether, to allow schools to reinforce teaching the core curriculum. Because of this paradigm change, it is unlikely that an elective course offering in ASL will ever gain enough momentum among administrators, school board members and legislators to become a graduation requirement.

Yet there is a movement which is gaining popularity in several school systems. The concept involves adding ASL as a foreign language course, thus satisfying an existing graduation requirement. Recently, in Loudoun County, Virginia, a group of students wrote up a bill proposal and sent it to numerous state and national legislators in the hopes of finding a legislative backer. Many responses were negative, but State Senator Patsy Ticer (D-Alexandria) and Del. Richard “Dickie” Bell (R-Staunton) agreed to support legislation. The bill cleared its first subcommittee and eventually passed the House and Senate with overwhelming margins. The bill awaits Gov. Bob McDonnell’s signature and could become law on July 1, 2011.

There are two strong arguments presented as reasons to learn ASL. The first is that it is a true language, with the features of other languages such as English or Spanish. The second is that learning sign language can help improve behavioral functioning in developmentally delayed children with communication disorders.

ASL is a Real Language

One of the purposes of formally studying a foreign language is to gain an understanding of another culture that is unlike one’s own. From this perspective, ASL fits perfectly under the definition of foreign language. Although it does not use words per se, the hand gestures, structures and processes used in ASL are much like those of any language taught in a secondary school curriculum. In fact, ASL is equipped with its own unique grammar which makes the user capable of explaining even abstract concepts. It is a completely functional language.

Developmentally Delayed Students Can Improve Behavior

In 2000, Deborah Weinstock, a psychologist, investigated the effects of teaching ASL to developmentally disabled children between the ages of 8-13. Specifically, she was focused on the change in negative behaviors after learning ASL signs. Although her quantitative data did not mark a significant change in the behavior of the seven students, qualitative observations showed support for the use of the signing intervention. Since the process has minimal risks, Weinstock concluded that the practice can be implemented properly to improve behavior in developmentally disabled children.

Other Benefits

According to signingtime.com, a website dedicated to the development of ASL ability with children, there may be other benefits for children who learn sign language, including improved motor skills, enhanced use of senses, a higher IQ, better self-expression and increased confidence when interacting with non-hearing children.

Freedom of Choice

While there are benefits to be gained by students who learn sign language, it is unlikely that the skill will become required within any school system because of budgetary concerns, a desire to focus on the core subjects and the political risk of forcing students to study a changed curriculum. However, with the current popularity of ASL courses in high schools and pending legislation which will include it as a foreign language in the school curriculum, the trend aims toward more students choosing to learn American Sign Language.

Understanding the Decisions of Bernie Madoff

I have to confess. For about a month, I have been thinking of an angle to attack the topic of how George W. Bush will be viewed by history. In my mind, I feel he will eventually be viewed as a better president than right now. After all, that's what usually happens. Truman's positive rating went up from the 28% he faced as an outgoing president; Carter gained favorable reviews because of his work as writer and negotiator, and even Nixon, the disgraced crook, was seen later as a more popular elder statesman.

Here's the thing. I know that at least Carter and Nixon worked hard in their post-presidency years, Carter following his heart and Nixon his legacy. Bill Clinton is also doing a lot of work through his library and in person to build up his post-presidency resume. I have no problem with this.

How about G.W. Bush? Well, I saw him almost get hit by a foul ball two weeks ago. Actually, he seems to be at a lot of baseball games. Obama invited him to Ground Zero after the bin Laden killing, but he said 'No."

I have no problem with this either. It is the right of an ex-president to enjoy some time off. There will be time to work on the legacy.

However, this did not help me as I thought about the Bush that will be viewed in the history books. My point is, I have decided that this probably is not a topic that merits value at this time, mainly because the subject isn't too concerned about it, so why should anybody else be? Perhaps this should be filed under "2016 Topics." I'm shelving it for the time being.

For now, I want to look at another figure viewed with great disdain by many right now -- Bernie Madoff. I'm certainly not trying to distinguish a connection between the swindler and ex-president. But, as many families continue to suffer with financial woes, the Madoff story becomes more unbelievable and indicative of the kinds of lowlifes who helped to screw many other hard working Americans. I was interested with the fact that Madoff really wasn't born with a silver spoon and more fascinated to see the high regard his capabilities were held early in his career, perhaps a main reason why so many people were coerced into investing with him later.

The Madoff Story 

It is hard to fathom that one person could swindle thousands of investors out of tens of billions of dollars over a period believed to be in excess of twenty years. Presumably, in the regulated world of finance, conducting in illegal activities, such as Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, this would not be allowed to happen. But to understand how such a monetary tragedy took place, one must understand the thinking behind its mastermind, Madoff.

 Madoff’s Upbringing

Suffice it to say, Madoff was not the typically groomed, Ivy League, MBA-type. He was raised in Queens and attended college at Hofstra on Long Island. In an interview, the financier revealed to the Financial Times that he “started with $500 in capital, watched his father go bankrupt and felt very driven... he was always outside the club, the club being the New York Stock Exchange and white shoe firms."

Deep down, Madoff longed to be a major player on Wall Street. His drive to succeed was legendary. As explained by psychologist Alden Cass, “There’s a need to prove to the world that I am somebody powerful – I am so intelligent. Cass is the president of Competitive Streak Consulting and has studied and counseled many Wall Street personalities.

Early Wall Street Career

Starting in the early 1960’s, the firm of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities steadily grew into the major force that Madoff had longed for. Most of the credit went to its owner’s knowledge of how the market worked. Because of his knowledge of stocks, coupled with his ability to see the future of trading, Madoff was able to steal volume from the New York Stock Exchange by trading many of its listed stocks. Figuring that trading would soon be done online, he was able to offer competitive prices to clients and his network grew to include larger retail brokers such as Charles Schwab and Fidelity.

Playing the Part

During this robust period, Madoff also honed the persona which allowed him to swindle thousands of investors. Part of this character was developed by Madoff’s relationships with regulators. Although Madoff claims to have been legitimate until the stock market crash of 1987, his work with the SEC goes back before the crash, leading many to believe that he was working with one side to hide the other. Said one individual who remained anonymous because of pending litigation, “He was smart in understanding very early on that the more involved you were with regulators, you could shape regulation. But, if we find out that the Ponzi scheme goes back that far, then he was doing something much smarter. If you’re very close with regulators, they’re not going be looking over your shoulders that much.”

Madoff also became a philanthropist, joining the board of New York’s Yeshiva University, then becoming chairman of its business school. By crafting a public persona which overshadowed his illegal private dealings, Madoff was able to continue cultivating potential new clients in spite of SEC concerns.

Victim of His Greed

Like the Greek tragic figures he has been compared to, Madoff eventually wanted too much. His ego became too great and he began to act more as if he was above the law. Sam Antar, the former chief financial officer of Crazy Eddie in the 1980s, was later convicted of similar offenses and offered his opinion. Says Antar, “he just started the scam and then it built on itself and he couldn’t get out.”

In the end result, it is difficult to know exactly what made Bernie Madoff capable of performing his criminal Ponzi scheme. It could have been his need to accumulate an immense amount of wealth, while others feel it was a need to dominate people and overcome the inferiority complex Madoff felt by the lack of a “blue blood” upbringing.

The role of the classroom teacher when students are working online

Although many school systems are enhancing the use of online learning in the classroom, there is still an important role for the teacher. Even without the daily responsibility of directly instructing the group, there are other obligations which become more important when working with a group of online learners. In fact, the skill set required to be successful is somewhat different than that of the regular classroom teacher. With online learners, it is a necessity for the teacher to be able to communicate clearly, because inflections and non-verbal signs are not seen and heard, so all communication is done through the power of words.

Some of the responsibilities for the classroom teacher include, but are not limited to:

Course Developer

The classroom teacher in an online setting is not oblivious to what the students are trying to learn. Because many school online programs are in their infancy stage, the teacher may be required to assist with writing the syllabus, assignments and pacing guide. Course development can be an expected task for the online classroom teacher.

Moderator

One of the core learning elements for the online community comes through the work done through discussion boards. In a typical course, each student will regularly be required to read an article or view a visual presentation and be expected to post one thought on some part of the material. Also, a student will be expected to respond to two or more postings from classmates.

The online teacher is responsible for leading course discussions. This entails clearly communicating expectations to the students so that the assignment is performed correctly from the beginning. The teacher also acts as the online moderator, which means guiding course discussions, keeping the postings on the necessary track and acting as the voice of reason if there is a strong disagreement.

Teacher

Although many assignments are self-paced and hands-on, the online teacher is still the instructional leader and most knowledgeable of the group. The teacher still needs to be available to answer student questions and address concerns. One expectation for the classroom teacher is to be available to promptly answer questions that cannot be solved through an online option.

Pacesetter

The online classroom teacher is responsible for keeping the coursework moving at an acceptable pace. Part of this role is performed during the writing of the syllabus, as the teacher makes sure to properly space assignments to meet the needs of the group. This is also accomplished with prompt feedback and quick resolution to any disagreements, with the objective being to keep the group moving. If the course is not offered in a traditional quarter or semester system, one role of the teacher may be to modify the course around various school vacation breaks.

Grader

The classroom teacher of an online group is also responsible for grading student work. This includes setting up the grading rubric, assignment rubric, as well as developing and implementing class policies for missed assignments and work which is turned in late.

In short, the role of the teacher working with online students is still relevant. Given that the skill set is different, it is possible for a proficient classroom teacher to have difficulty working with online learners unless one has learned how to clearly communicate without the assistance of non-verbal cues.