Moving over to the "Dark Side"

This was my first week in the new role of Associate Principal/Operations.  While I can still "blog from the trenches" by continuing to teach one class,  two friends have congratulated (?) me by noting that I have moved to "the dark side".  Several have wondered if I will miss teaching (Of course I will), but after 36 years in a full time teaching gig, I welcome a very different challenge and for the last few years, new challenges have reinvigorated me.  Here are some of the things to which I am looking forward:

My last English section?

1) Instructional technology.  It could not be a more exciting time to be charting a path in this area.  Mobile devices, cloud computing, etc, have made the need for learning to learn with new, tools all the more important.  Our school has a fantastic infrastructure in place for exciting new possibilities that ought to cost us even less.  I've spent portions of my first two days with IT, and our staff really rocks!

2) Speaking of staff-- An administrative position allows me to collaborate with outstanding folks all over our school building/plant.  I might be in a position to inflict some major damage to the school if we didn't have such committed and talented staff in grounds and maintenance.  I have a huge learning curve here, but I'm getting great help especially from my predecessor).  While I can't say I'm looking forward to a water heater bursting or the like (now in my purview), it is really interesting to be in on some of the construction plans, and have an excuse to work with the talented folk in Advancement who present us to the public.

3) I have previously written about the blurring lines between curricular and extra-curricular. I see the two areas as part of a total educational program and thus they should enhance each other. Excellence should be pursued in both areas and an active student will have to make tough decisions about prioritizing her time.  In particular,  I really relish getting more involved in sports, again.  I'm seriously determined to see each team play this year.

4) I have a number of other interests that I can explore as a liaison to other departments in the building.  I have always loved art, music, and drama.  I came late to my interest in fitness, but now I have caught the bug.  I have some ideas about design and media production.  My new responsibilities will give me a chance to run some new ideas up the flagpole and be closer to these passions.

I used to think I would not have the stomach for administration-  the conflict, the unpopular decisions, etc.  But you know what?  Several years of coaching and one challenging year of doing professional development with a veteran staff has toughened me up quite a bit.  The latter also left me feeling as though I have some unfinished business.  As a result of our hard work this past year, we have some really cool CBL's plans rolling out this next year, and this position will keep me closer to the action.

So, if I haven't convinced you, that this is a good idea, I've sold myself on the project.  And one thing hasn't changed-- I'm still one of those lucky persons who looks forward to going to work .

Scholar Athletes

I was enjoying my Sunday morning browsing through sports  (I like opening tabs for my eight favorite sites and sampling here and there from each).  In the Detroit Free Press I came across a (predictable) end of the year "Scholar Athlete" article.  I was thinking how odd this is.  At one level, this a cultural thing-- We extol athletics to such a degree that we have to create fake incentives to acknowledge that "academics" are also important (scholar-athlete awards or eligibility requirements).  I've never seen "Scholar Musician"or "Scholar Actor" awards, yet to distinguish one of these "extra-curricular" areas calls upon skill sets as unique as athletics.  

"Wall-o-plaques" Flickr CC photo by trpO

I value extra-curriculars terrifically.  I played sports throughout school and both of my kids had rich experiences in drama.  I never viewed these experiences as less valuable than, oh let's say,  history class.  I actually see "extra" and "curricular" all of one piece.  In fact I've been trying to incorporate team and performance elements of extra-curriculars into "academics."  And then on the other hand, I would like to see some of our e.c.'s more cognizant of the entire school experience-- play directors and coaches sometimes set up stated or unstated "mandatory" commitments that will elevate their activities to most-important-thing-in-the universe status that precludes kids from enriching their lives with other experiences.

My ideal would be that every student see himself or herself as scholar-ahlete-singer-painter-tech geek or other assorted combinations, and that distinguishing oneself in athletics and somethings else would seem less remarkable.

Blurring Curricular and Extra-Curricular

I moderate an extra-curricular activity - The M-Hub Project - which when fully realized will actually serve the curriculum.  The experience has caused me to think that traditionally curricular v. extra-curricular activities should be viewed as less distinct parts of an education that a chool provides. The girls in the project have learned a great deal about technology, problem solving, and collaborating with adults.  They have been called on to use creativity and leadership skills.  So the experience itself serves educational goals which might come out of a planned curriculum.

I'm even more delighted with the way I've nudged classroom experience into the extra-curricular realm of after school activities.  On April 13, my American Government students (along with students in two English classes) hope to create a "Fight Apathy Fair."  The students came up with the idea of a "science fair" style of activity.  But the teachers more or less mandated the event as an after school activity.  The students don't question it at all.  Very cool-- They see an out of classroom activity as a legitimate conclusion to a curricular assignment.

A pair of crucial after school activities has been initiated by my AP students.  They were required by their challenge to recruit a panel of outside experts who would evaluate their health care solutions.  This notion really threw the kids at first.  They were surprised that I would not be the ultimate evaluator of their proposals, and that I was giving no direction on the who, what, where when of the panel.  However, they ended up completely embracing the idea, and what is more, both teams have scheduled their panel reviews off-campus and after hours.  One group chose a library conference room and the other will meet at a parent's office.  The former chose a Thursday night and the latter a Sunday afternoon.

One of the great appeals to me about Challenge Based Learning is that the  "real world" actionable nature of the challenges creates the possibility that students involved in a classroom activity will achieve the same motivational levels that they have for extra-curricular activities.  Over the next three weeks I'll be able to observe if this has been the case for about seventy of my kids.

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"Outside the Box Flickr CC Photo by ♥KatB