Building Trades Open House

Please mark your calendar for May 31, 2007 from 3-6 PM to visit the Wawasee Building Trades Open House. This year's house was built for Ed and Linda Phillipp at 1123 E. Northshore Drive, Syracuse.

The students and instructor have worked long and hard on this 3-story lake front home. Please attend our open house and see what our students have accomplished in less than a year. Attached is a picture from the lake front.

Quotes for Graduating Seniors

If you could leave our graduating seniors a memorable quote to guide them in their future lives what would it be?

Teachers will always be needed...but schools? maybe not!

I recently shared some unusual developments with the entire faculty that down the road could impact education in unusual ways.

My premise was that "teachers will always be needed, but a place called 'school' may not be."

I showed the staff this 5 minute video describing the NMC College Campus in the software platform known as "Second Life." It is surreal enough to leave you wondering what it's all about.

Will Richardson said recently that our current educational system was built on the notion that learning content was scarce. Learning content is now abundant and every day it grows more accessible to the public. Motivated students will no longer need traditional schools because teachers will be everywhere and the best ones will be available without being "present."

Shortly after that, I was introduced to MIT's free course ware. Many of MIT's classes are being offered free to the public. That includes lectures, notes, videos, assignments, and virtually everything except a grade and a credit.

Motivated students will have access to absolutely world class educational materials and teachers. Most will still need the personal touch, but in the text message world they live in, who's to say the personal touch isn't digital instead of analog!

Seniors are almost ready for take off!

World's Greatest Wakeboard Board For Sale :-(((

It's hard to wakeboard on the high plains! I may have to switch to the snowboard!

2001 Supra Launch for sale. Sleek yellow and white - very cool. I bought it new and I have been the sole owner.

It is an absolute monster of a wakeboard boat. It has Wakeboard Pro (cruise control for your board) which is absolutely essential for quality wakeboarding especially with a loaded boat throwing a thigh-high wake. It has a tower, speakers and radio, built-in ballast system and a custom ballast system for additional fat sacks. This is one of the deepest wakeboard boats made so it is also ideal for your family and kids. Rated for 13 people. It will NEVER take water over the nose like many ski/wakeboard boats.

Yellow and white. Have you priced a new wakeboard boat lately?

Price: $27,000.

Call me at 574-594-5956 in the evenings.

Also for sale? are wakeboards, skis, wakesurf board, life jackets and several assorted tubes and double tubes for you tube fanatics.

Get ready - Memorial Day weekend!

Why the Wiki is down

A recent commenter asked why I took the Wawasee Wiki down that contained the information regarding changes in summer registration process. I took it down because I copied all the comments and suggestions in hard copy form and will take them to the principals for consideration after school is out. I took it down because I didn't have the time to monitor it daily.

Because this technology is new, people (including me) are still not sure how to best use it.

For example, people would replace the main information on the page explaining the purpose and leave a statement that says "This isn't a good idea, people can change the page and say bad things." Of course this is true, but the solution is for the community to police the pages themselves. In time the goal is for the community to monitor a Wiki themselves.

In other words it takes a whole community to monitor a wiki. In the blog format I have been using here, I moderate or monitor and the public input is just commentary.

People have gotten used to the limited forum this provides. A wiki is a wide open (Web 2.0) environment that requires broad community policing.

As far as the main task of improving registration, I have copied all the ideas and will take them to the administrators for discussion.

Bittersweet

Last night at the public board meeting at 5:00 PM I announced my resignation as Superintendent of Schools. I have posted the statement I read to the board.


I have enjoyed serving the Wawasee Community School Corporation as Superintendent of Schools for the past 11 years.

I am announcing my resignation as Superintendent of Schools effective August 14, 2007. I have been offered a position at the University of Wyoming as a professor in the Educational Leadership Department. My primary responsibility will be working with potential superintendents and principals teaching courses that prepare them for public school administration. It is something I have always wanted to do. This will allow me time to pursue writing, publishing and research which is always something I have wanted to try.

I will leave Wawasee with nothing but fond memories. This has been a great place to live and raise our families and the community has much to be proud of.

I wish to formally thank the Board of School Trustees for their support over the years. They took a chance on a 38 year old with no previous superintendent experience and allowed me the chance to grow as a person and as a professional for which I will always be grateful.

And last of all I wish to thank the professionalism of so many administrators, staff members and support staff who toil away in our classrooms, schools and buses to make our corporation what it is.

Technology is the devil...and other thoughts from Will R. and friends

Here is an interesting blog post from Will Richardson who has left the classroom to speak to educators and share the content from his new book. Will was a pioneer in the use of technology and web tools in the classroom. The blog comments are also very thoughtful.

Will Richardson was in Fort Wayne last week and I got a chance to sit and visit with him some. He is finishing a 3 week tour of the U.S. and he seems genuinely discouraged at the response he is getting across the nation.

Why? He is frustrated at the pace of change and how educators seem reluctant to embrace technological innovations, especially the use of internet and web 2.0 applications in the classroom.

Surveys and teacher feedback repeatedly reveal that students are not engaging or investing in their school "work." Yet the multimedia, hyper speed world of our young people continually leaps ahead of us adults in the implementation of technology in the classroom.

Will's post and additional comments are found here.

A Tribute to Mothers

I post this each year in honor of upcoming Mother's Day.

My mother passed away several years ago, leaving behind a wonderful tribute and family legacy. On Mothers' Day it seems appropriate to remember her.

When I was 8 years old, my father passed away after losing a battle with a brain tumor, leaving my mother a widow at age 32 with three children under the age of 8. Mother had been a stay-at-home mom and dad was an airline mechanic for Delta Airlines. Mom did not have marketable job training that would provide a living wage.Unsure of what to do, she moved our family from Michigan to Ohio to be closer to her parents. She bought a small home and enrolled in college at Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio. Her goal was to become a classroom teacher.My brother, sister and I can still hear her late into the night, studying by reading outloud to herself. I can hardly imagine the stress and workload of a single, widowed mother of three young children taking a full load of classes at the university.Mother graduated with academic honors in four years and got her first full-time employment as a third grade teacher at the age of 38. I can still remember how excited us children were that mom could finally afford to buy soda-pop for a family treat.

From my earliest memory, I knew that I was going to go to college because mom did, yet the greatest gift my mother left us was her spiritual example. She overcame all obstacles placed before her, and although her life could never have been described as easy, she was satisfied in what life had brought. She never complained, but set a solid example of honesty, integrity and work ethic that has remained a legacy, not only to her children but all who knew her. She never remarried, but chose to dedicate her life to God, her family and her elementary school students.

From her example of going to college and working hard, her three children continued their education as well. In her last few years while fighting cancer, she helped me finish my doctoral dissertation by entering all my data into spreadsheets. My sister completed her college degree and passed her CPA exams and my brother went back to school to finish an MBA.

The research says that one of the highest correlations for educational achievement for any individual is found by tracking the educational degree of the mother. It certainly seems true for our family.Here in America, the greatest land of opportunity the world has ever known, let us be thankful for caring and dedicated mothers who model the values and work ethic that made America great. Especially those single mothers who must play many roles for their children.Mothers, take courage, your children will not forget the legacy you leave them. May it be a positive one.

New Feature

The Wawascene's new feature is an digital sound clip that is featured in the top left corner of the blog site's main page. By clicking on the "play" button you can hear a short audio clip.

The featured clip today is a short heartwarming story of how giving someone a chance can make a difference, not only in their life, but your own.

Two-hour delay on Thursday

Two-hour fog delay for Thursday. Dense fog, especially towards Milford and south of Dewart Lake. There is medium density fog and patchy fog that floats around the rest of the Wawasee attendance area.

Drive careful.

Scary!

Here is a scary one.

Some research out of UW reports that 40% of babies watch TV!

It's just a vast wasteland. Read your baby a book!

Up next - Mind controlled video games

It looks like the next breakthrough in video game technology will involve controlling the game characters with the brain as opposed to hand controls.

I suppose it makes no difference whether you tell the computer to do something or whether you tell your hands to make the computer do something.

At least humans are still telling the computer to do something instead of the other way around!

Article here.

2007 Super Mileage Challenge!

On Monday, April 30th Wawasee High School competed in the 11th annual Indiana Math Science and Technology Education Association Super Mileage Challenge. The objective of the event is to challenge students to apply (STEM) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in a cooperative effort to construct a student engineered vehicle to obtain the highest calculated miles per gallon. This year's Wawasee team shattered the old school record of 711 miles per gallon by obtaining an amazing 1,195 miles per gallon. The method used to determine the miles per gallon is based on the weight used to travel a certain distance. The vehicle travels ten laps around the track at Indianapolis Raceway Park, a total of 6.25 miles. The fuel tank is weighed before and after the race, and then the difference is inserted into a formula to calculate the miles per gallon. Wawasee’s vehicle used a mere 14.3 grams to travel the distance of 6.25 miles. Wawasee placed 4th of 22 teams in the unlimited class with the winning vehicle averaging 1,350 miles per gallon.

WMS - State Academic Super Bowl Champions!

Congratulations to Wawasee Middle School Academic Super Bowl students and their academic coaches for their fine showing in the Indiana State Academic Super Bowl competitions.

Out of approximately 80 teams, our WMS English team was 1st in the state!

The Social Studies and Interdisciplinary teams finished 4th!

Thank you for all the hard work!

Indiana Assembly passes budget bill

Over the weekend the Indiana General Assembly finished its annual Chinese Fire Drill called passing the budget bill.

Know one really knows who is sitting where or what actually got passed, but something did.

According to a report I received this weekend, here are the budget highlights affecting education.

§ The tax credit provision is not a part of the budget.
§ There will be no state funding of virtual charter schools in the next two years. Other types of charter schools can be approved; however, the funding available is specified.
§ Funding for the principals’ leadership academy goes forward at $462,832 annually.
§ Education service centers are to be funded at $2,321,287 annually.
§ The House indicates that tuition support has been increased at 3.7% in 2008 and 3.6% in 2009. I believe the Senate states that the increase is 3.8% and 3.8%.
§ Summer school distribution remains at $18,360,000 annually.
§ The early intervention program including reading recovery and the Waterford method and a voluntary reading assessment program in grades one and two is funded at $4,720,000 annually.
§ Free textbook funding has been increased to $39,000,000 annually with the intent being full funding.
§ Full-day kindergarten is funded by expanding the current grant program to $33,500,000 in 2008 and $58,500,000 in 2009. Participation is voluntary with the dollar amount per pupil dependent on the number of corporations and students participating.
§ The funding for testing and remediation is increased to $41,000,000 annually. The Democrats believe they have increased remediation funding by $19,000,000 annually.
§ Non-English speaking funding is increased to $6,929,246 annually with the intent of increasing the per pupil grant from $20 per student to $200 per student.
§ The educational technology program is funded at $5,000,000 for the biennium with the intent of continuing the buddy system and K-12 programs carried out by the department while supporting the office of special assistant to the superintendent of public instruction.
§ Funding for a school business officials academy of $150,000 annually is provided.
§ The proposal to have the state assume that part of the general fund expenditures paid from the property tax is not part of the budget.

More later as the smoke settles.

Milford Music Program is cancelled

The Milford Music Program for Thursday evening has been cancelled.

Engaging students with technology

One possible reason kids are so disconnected from school is that their world is changing far faster than our world... at least as far as "school" is concerned.

Here is a thoughtful blog post about how the technological world of the teenager is far more diverse and integrated than the type of assignments we give in schools.

Blog post here.

It's not on the test...

I have appreciated the comments on the previous blog post regarding how to motivate and engage students. With that in mind, I thought you might enjoy this tongue-in-cheek song.

Here is a link to a song and lyrics titled, "It's not on the test!"

Link courtesy of Principal Jeff Neumann

So...what should we do?

A commenter on the last post regarding the Indy Star series on truancy, made the comment that schools should do more to motivate students.

What should we do? I am asking sincerely with no pretenses here. Describe for us a compelling vision of inspiring and motivating teaching within the context of the curricular restraints that teachers currently face.

Describe for us a system of schooling that will motivate most all students to perform well and stay in school till graduation.

Please be professional and tactful.

I believe that if most instructors knew what they could do tomorrow to motivate all their students to care deeply and perform their best, they would do it immediately.

Society has changed a lot in just a few decades, yet schools look pretty much they way they always have. We all have this intuitive feel that societal changes are causing students to feel less and less connected to school. We struggle to know how to respond.

So...what's your vision of a compelling and inspiring education that would motivate almost all of today's students?