We are living in what some folks call ‘exponential times’.   That is, change and information distribution are occurring at an amazing and ever increasing speed.   I have been interested in technology in schools since I started as a teacher way back in 1984 with those green screen Apple IIc machines. And now I am finally getting around to experimenting with the idea of a principal’s blog. The web address is:  http://jarvisedtech.net/monarch/   or you can find a link to it from the school website mg.slcusd.org.  You can even leave comments!!!!

Hmmmm, so in this post-modern instantaneous worldwide information system– posting to blogs is being outpaced by even quicker, hipper and more impersonal postings.  And I haven’t even begun to Flickr or Twitter yet.    School systems (and their employees) are notorious laggards when it comes to adopting innovation.  And the fact is, we do lag well behind the popular society in acquiring the latest ‘whatever.’  For instance, schools around here at least, and elsewhere I imagine, still are using ‘the overhead projector’ as standard classroom tool as we have been for the last 50 years. According to Wikipedia (the people’s encyclopedia) “the U.S. Army was the first to use overhead projectors in quantity for training as World War II wound down. It began to be widely used in schools and businesses in the late 1950s and early 1960s.”   I wonder if the US Army and the corporations are still using the overhead projector.  Where are the smart boards, LCD projectors and document cameras in our classrooms? Like the ones that they have at the Palo Alto Research Center and other corporate facilities?

The reasons for our slowness to pick up on better technology tools are not due to lack of desire or intelligence…but rather I believe it’s a commodity problem– mainly time and money.  We aren’t provided with and we don’t have the money to invest in appropriate equipment and infrastructure nor the time to figure out the technical and artistic details to put them to good use.  Hey, we have work to do — relentless and exhausting work.  And when and if we finally do manage to get them onto our campus—it may no longer the useful and bright new innovation that it was.  Like a cat chasing its tail.

Regardless of that,—you have to check out this posting by Karl Fisch, somewhat of an internet celebrity at least among some educators that I know.  I have never met Mr. Fisch and may not ever; he is a public high school teacher in Colorado, and at the least is well known for the very thought provoking “Did You Know” slide show—if you haven’t seen it you should give it a google or link to his blog: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com.   In another posting Mr. Fisch makes a very compelling argument for the use of blogging in schools.  He maintains that not only is blogging a creative teaching and learning exercise, and a potentially very rich way to feed your Professional Learning Community: http://go.solution-tree.com/plc/ -but it also has the unique and distinct advantage of meeting the students where they live socially.

http://www.lps.k12.co.us/schools/arapahoe/fisch/bloggingintheirownwords-short.mov

After I saw Mr. Fisch’s movie and I was compelled to at least try and make use of this technology.  So I have a principal’s blog set up and linked to the Monarch Grove school website.   But I am still just trying to get LCD projectors installed and to find funding for document cameras.   The corporate world would never stand for this oafish adoption cycle.  What’s a principal to do?

Homework.

I wanted to take a little of your time to discuss homework.    Homework is a long standing tradition at schools.  In addition to being a principal and teacher, I am also a parent and have experienced homework from both sides of the coin.  I have also been reading research on the subject and thinking it over.   

First, I think we can all agree that homework is a time consuming activity for everyone who is involved with it – teacher, student and parent.   We know that students spend a lot of time completing homework assignments, and that teachers and parents spend a lot of time planning and following up with homework assignments. I have begun to conclude his may not be the best use of everyone’s time as well as a stress creator which does not contribute to a positive learning

experience.  So we are making some efforts to simplify the situation.   Our district school board has a policy which delineates approximate homework times and expectations.   It states that students in grades 1-2 can expect 30 minutes of nightly homework (M-TH).  Students in grades 3-6 can expect up to one hour per night (M-TH) but actual times may vary.

Next, for the research — it is clearly not conclusive but does tend to support the notion that for older students, starting around fifth or sixth grade, academic achievement is positively correlated to the assigning, completing and evaluating of homework and the effect tends to increase the older the student gets.   However, for younger students there has not been a clearly established link between homework and academic achievement.  For students in grades K-4, the largest positive effects of homework are attributed mostly to learning responsibility and organization skills (doing and completing the assignments).   In addition, the somewhat traditional weekly spelling homework assignments have not been shown to have any significant impact an actual spelling achievement and performance.

So, the staff and I have had some discussions about homework.   We recognize that assigning homework is a given and in accordance with the District policy.  But what is assigned is up to us.  For one thing, all students at Monarch Grove should have independent reading as the main assignment.  Research clearly shows that ‘volume reading’ (reading a lot) leads directly to improved reading achievement and comprehension.  And for parent this is an easy, understandable and fun assignment to monitor.  Reading to and or with your child, listening to them read and then discussing what you have read are excellent examples of effective and meaningful homework.   The other homework assignment that should be common for all grades is a follow up to math instruction—typically in a worksheet format and directly related to the instruction of the day. 

I have given the teachers permission to limit the homework to these assignments in grades K-4.  Fifth and Sixth graders may see some other variations in assignments as homework material at upper grade levels is more complex and often requires outside/extra study.    Additionally, there is a link to increases in student achievement.  Also, I have asked that all teachers provide ‘optional/extra credit homework assignments’ for students and parents who do wish to have additional academic work in any grade upon request.

I am interested in any comments that you parents may have on this subject and the material that I have written about.