Nonetheless, the whole thought of this caused me to do some personal reflection.  I reviewed all areas of my life–relationships, spirituality, finances, career, hobbies etc.   I not only considered how satisfied I am with the current state  of these areas in my life, I also dared to ask how I’d like them to be.  This reminded me of  some universal truths I’ve learned and accepted over the years.

1.  My world today is a reflection of decisions and actions from my past. (or lack of decisions/lack of actions).

2.  New results require new actions.

3.  Successful people set clear, measurable, time-bound goals.

4.  The world is abundant, and everything I need to reach my goals is already available to me.

5.  Success is not a linear path.

Question—So am I going to set a New Year’s Resolution?

Answer–Is the Pope Catholic?

It’s no secret.   I think the hotly debated Healthcare Reform has the same potential as “No Child Left Behind” to actually make things better.  Nonetheless I have to admit, at the surface level, it is easy to embrace the intent behind both pieces of legislation.  After all, who could argue with desirability of the idea that all Americans enjoy access to high quality health care or that all students perform at high levels?  But make no mistake, this is another example of trying to treat the symptoms rather than address root cause(s).

While I realize the proposed bill still has a long road to final approval, and it will likely undergo many iterations, here are  five surprising issues  you might want to know:

1.  The proposed bill would prohibit insurers from denying coverage to persons with pre-existing conditions.  WHAT????  Do you understand the business model upon which insurance companies maintain profitability and thereby can stay in business?  Should we be concerned about persons who can’t qualify for private insurance?  Absolutely, but government intrusion into private sector, free-market business operations will make things worse not better, in the long-run. (If you think your premiums are high now, what do you think will happen to your premiums when your insurance provider is FORCED to provide coverage for all?)

2.  The highly publicized 46 million uninsured number is misleading.  It implies that 46 million Americans are unable to obtain coverage and furthermore, it suggests this is a chronic state for them.  The reality is that when you focus only on those American Citizens  who truly lack coverage for reasons beyond their control, it is probably closer to 8.5 million.  For further discussion on this matter visit, http://spectator.org/archives/2009/03/20/the-myth-of-the-46-million

3.  While proposed taxes to fund the initiative (the cost of which has yet to be quantified) and reduced Medicare benefits would take effect almost immediately, the coverage to the uninsured population for which this is seemingly designed won’t happen before 2013.

4.  Americans would be REQUIRED to carry insurance coverage or pay a fine, the maximum of which is currently about $750.  (Let’s see now.  I can pay thousands of dollars every year for coverage or I can pay a fine of $750 until which time I find I really need coverage.  Then I’ll play the “You have to insure me card.”   see #1.   Oh, now I’m beginning to see how this can save me money.  LOL)

5. The US Government will have direct,  real-time access to individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer and there will be fines for failure to provide this information.  (Pg. 59 of the 1,000 + page of the original proposal)

I have many concerns with this far reaching bill which some critics have even suggested is unconstitutional.  However, I think I’ll close with a challenge to this esteemed group of readers to name the last government run program that saved money and provided better service, both of which are being touted as reasons for supporting the current healthcare reform.  In fact, if you take a step back in time, similar promises were made in the 60′s when Medicare was first introduced.  If you adjust for inflation, the cost of Medicare has already exceeded original estimates by more than 10x.

I’m not one who is ‘wowed’ or sucked into the glitz and glimmer of new toys or processes.  In fact, I’m barely even an observer initially.  Until I see how something new allows me to be more efficient, or it allows me to do things that aren’t possible without embracing the ‘new’ processes or tools, I’m not terribly interested.  Additionally, I have to admit that I’m not totally enamored with the idea that the written word lives forever.  You can retract what you write, but I understand it never really goes away.

However, the day has come.  I’ve finally had to admit that social networking on the web is no longer an option.  Rather, it is a ‘must’ in this global economy.  I’ve always appreciated the power of networking, but I’ve finally had to admit that if limit ourselves to face-to-face connections, our potential will likely be greatly diminished.  So gone are the days when I’ve played the role of a supporting cast member behind a curtain of anonymity.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t weave in a word about education with my first official blog post.  As I stated before, the idea of the permanency of what is posted on the web is a bit disconcerting to me.  I realize that kids, in many ways,  have lead the way with social networking online, but I fear many may not fully appreciate the potential downside of what they choose to share–not just from a safety standpoint but also from the perspective that they are creating a ‘picture’ of who they are, which could serve or hurt them in the future.  Unfortunately, there are probably too few educators versed enough in this social medium to help guide students in their decision making in this social medium.

Nonetheless, I’m onboard now–jumping in with both feet.  Maybe more educators will take the plunge too.

Coming soon…….. Deb Haneke on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk etc.  Is there no end?

As I headed to the office empty-handed, I was struck by a feeling of nakedness.  I rarely go anywhere without toting my laptop.  It is my lifeline.  It is half my brain.  I can hardly function without it.  So walking along, especially heading into work without the extra baggage was a very unnatural feeling.

I couldn’t help but be struck by the irony of the importance of technology in my world.  I remember the first computer we had at home.  It was a Commodore B128–remember Commodore Computers?  I believe this was their business model.  At that time, the hardware was large, the machines were slow, and quite frankly you couldn’t do very much on them if you didn’t want to program them yourself.  The long and short of it is, that I can actually remember thinking to myself,  “Hmph computers…  That will be a nonevent in my life.”  LOL

Fast forward to 2010.  What changed?  How have I become so dependent on a tool that looked useless to me when I was first introduced to it?  The answer is obvious.  Like most technologies, the computer evolved.  It is better, faster, cheaper, smaller etc.  But most importantly, I found AUTHENTIC uses for this tool that has enriched my life.  I would venture to guess that most persons in the business world would tell that computer technologies are indispensable in their worlds.

OK, so I’m finally to the point of my post.  If computers and related technologies are arguably indispensable for life in the 21st century and if schools are in the business of preparing kids for their future lives, why are computers (and related technologies) generally considered nice to have but optional in the daily educational activities of students?

Wow–this video created by a colleague really knocked my socks off.  The message sort of dovetails with my last post  that addressed challenges with restructuring  schools–specifically the concern that education isn’t embracing technology in the way that the world outside of schools has.

Enjoy!!

Regardless of where you live in America, it would be difficult to ignore the impact that technology and  globalization are having on our daily lives.  Yet, I would argue that we pretty much approach high school education very much like we always have.  We teach subjects in isolation and with very little connection to the outside world.  If technology is being used, often it is simply an automation of the past, but more often we have banned technology that we don’t know how to control.

I believe it was Don Tapscott who described what it is like for today’s youth to walk through the doors of their schools.  He described is as something to the effect of, “Goooing into slooowww motion.”  Think about it.  Until the time they walk through the doors of schools, they are bombarded with information and they are multi-tasking (if there is such a thing.).  They may be listening to music, texting with multiple friends, monitoring their e-mail and studying simultaneously.  This is in stark contrast to the standard operating procedure of most schools.

I would challenge any of you to take a mental, imaginary walk up and down the halls of any high school and peer into the classroom doors.  What do you expect to see?  I’ve asked many high school staff members this very question, and the answers vary very little.  Common responses include things like: the teacher standing at the front of the room delivering information, some students sleeping, some students gazing at the teacher and maybe taking notes etc.  The point is that student engagement is often sorely lacking.

Additionally, a colleague has asked thousands of educators a very simple question.  “If you were to ask high school students  what one word they would use to describe schools, what would it be?”  Without hesitation, it is pegged nearly every time.  The most common response is ‘boring.’  If boring is a desirable condition for learning, I think we’ve got it down pat.  Other common answers include irrelevant, like a prison and long.

So what keeps us from successfully transforming our high schools?

1.  An important function that schools provide society is custodial daycare.  In general, I think it is safe to say that communities are not ready for high schools that don’t consistently ‘house’ teenagers for the traditional school day.

2.  Tradition.  Never mind the fact that the world in which our kids are going to live and compete is dramatically different, we still fight the mentality that “It was good enough for me, and it is good enough for them.”  Some argue that our current educational practices created the greatest free country in the world.  While this may be true, times are different, which means we may now be preparing our kids for the past.

3.  To borrow from Jim Collin’s, “Good is the Enemy of Great.” In fact, it is quite amazing. Many parents will tell you that schools need to change, but not the school their kids attend.  In fact, they’ll say the schools in their neighborhood are pretty good.

4.  Everybody has an experience with schools and therefore has an opinion and picture of what schools should be.  The general public is not opposed to change in education, until it looks dramatically different from their experience or picture of what education looks like.

5.  For some reason, despite the data, we continue to believe that the ultimate is for all kids to go to college so our curriculum continues to cater to a college prep curriculum.  If you doubt this, check and see what the first cuts are during economic downturns.  I’m not anti-college, I just recognize that only about 25-30% of the job opportunities require a college degree, while 60-70% require training beyond high school.  On the other hand, very few opportunities exist for individuals without some skills/knowledge development beyond high school.

In short, preparing today’s youth for the world in which they’ll live will require SYSTEMIC CHANGES (not tweaking the current system) to foster the kind of learning environment conducive to preparing students to access, analyze and apply information to solve both predictable and unpredictable real life problems.

Jerry who used to be in charge of the Ashland School District has many years of experience operating a district in a 4-Day School week. Randy, on the other hand is a ‘newbie’ but has been conducting research and his district just recently announced they would be implementing a 4-Day week in the 2010-2011 school year.

Jerry opened the discussion with a compelling testimonial to the educational soundness of a 4-Day School week. He even went so far as to suggest that even if a district weren’t looking to save money, they should consider this type of schedule because of the educational benefits. In addition to affirming Jerry’s suppositions, Randy shared a story about a patron who stood up at his board meeting and acknowledged that the responsibility of the Board of Education was to provide the best education with available resources. According to Randy, this was a turning point for the vote of some board members who were concerned about community issues such as daycare needs.

The full video of the conversation may be viewed at: http://www.crisisintheclassroom.com/four-day-week

I’m very interested in the approach to our instruction.  Essentially, the focus is on learning to speak and understand functional phrases.  To that end, we will be focusing on phrases that either give simple directions such as “sit over there, come in here, wait…” or we will be asking questions that elicit simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses.  Because the focus is not on learning to read or write Spanish the phonetic spelling and pronunciation is key to our instruction.

I’ll close this blog post with an example of what how we are learning.  The  title of this post means, “Until Later.”  In our books we focus on reading AHS-tah/LWAY-goh.  (Caps inidicate where the emphasis is placed.)

The first scenario would result in an estimated $18 million dollar savings by closing 50 school buildings and reducing teaching and administrative staff by 230. The second scenario purports to save $138 million by reducing staff numbers by 1500 and schools by 304. However, the researchers clearly state the savings wouldn’t be realized all at once.

Patrons, school officials, and even some students rebuff the idea of consolidating with neighboring towns. If you’ve never lived in one of these small communities, it is probably difficult to understand the emotions tied to the matter. It’s definitely not just a simple dollars and cents issue.

For many of these small communities, the school district is the last piece of identify for the town. People fear if the school closes, all hope is lost. They worry their little town will be destined to completely dry up and cease to exist. For others, it’s a matter of tradition. Many generations in their families graduated from the district and they would like to see that carried on.

Many arguments are made. Kids would have to ride buses too far and for too long. Kids learn better in smaller classrooms and this will be lost if we consolidate. While both (or all in some cases) communities have more building than what is needed for the kids currently being served, they aren’t suitable to accommodate the increase in population that would be realized with consolidation. It would be a waste to let buildings deteriorate from lack of use over time. You’ll mess up our winning football, basketball, volleyball etc. You get the idea…

When all is said and done, a town/school district is often willing to entertain the idea but ONLY if that means their community school won’t close, but instead will get to be the site for the delivery of educational services.

I’ve watched districts live through consolidation. My own children grew up and were educated in a district that was consolidated shortly before we moved into the area. It is a painful experience for the adults in the communities. The kids seem to adjust fine. It is the adults who carry baggage.

As unpopular as it is to write, I fear that consolidation may be the most appropriate option in SOME instances. However, I do question if a report built around efficiencies can do justice to other factors that should be at the heart of educational decisions. For example, just because a high school has some empty classrooms doesn’t mean it would be a great idea to move elementary students into those spaces.

My bigger fear is this will be another lost opportunity. Instead of capitalizing on the permission inherent in a crisis moment to look beyond the current way of doing business, we continue to look for ways to hang onto the past. Consolidation is probably only an issue if you plan to continue to operate in the same way as we always have.