Raising the White Flag on Cellphones

We are approaching a new school year and people like me start to get excited.  The promise of a new year and new opportunities is always something to look forward to.  You spend a summer fixing old challenges and creating new programs or policies.  As we approach August I have been seeing a lot more reports of schools banning cell phones from the classroom and I am now running across research support on the topic as well.  It seems that schools are beginning to raise the white flag on phones despite some earlier excitement about BYOD.

It is surely no secret that I am a BYOD supporter and that I lead a BYOD school.  I recognize that all schools are different and have unique needs.  It is completely within their scope to design their own policies when it comes to what takes place in their buildings and how they use the technology resources they have.  I would like to offer a couple counter points for those schools that simply see them as a distraction to classroom instruction.

My fist question would be, What is your policy climate like?  If your policy is as simple as they are allowed or not allowed, maybe the big picture is being missed.  BYOD is not as simple as the existence of personal devices in a school building.  It is an ed tech instructional initiative.  Your policy should include how students will use their devices as learning tools and the teaching staff has to actually model and support that activity.  Instructional initiatives take planning and follow up after implementation.  Sustaining BYOD is hard work and requires commitment.  Just like any other curriculum or instructional endeavor it takes dedicated people to make it work. 

My next question would be, Are your classrooms engaging?  When I was a kid, there were plenty of distracted students and we didn't have cell phones.  Kids were passing notes, doodling in their notebooks, carving in desks or just plain sleeping.  Those kids, and sometimes me, were simply not being engaged in learning.  I taught once upon a time and I know you can't reach them all, but I never stopped trying.  An engaging classroom environment will prevent distractions.  Lets not forget that a good set of classroom procedures for devices will help too.  Teachers, with proper administrative support, are the key to every success in a school building. 

Cellphones are not going away. They represent a skill set to be managed. They are not a fad that will go away so we should be addressing them and finding a way to leverage their power in the school setting.  I've said before that you have to find a way to win with what you have.  If the kids are on devices, then we should be beating them to the punch make them relevant tools in school.  We also complain that they behave horribly on their phones and they have poor habits.  That's very true, but shouldn’t we be the change we want to see in them?  If we are modeling that devices as tools and not toys, the students will respond.  We need to be catalysts of change and progress and not throwing up a white flag.

Lessons from the Matheny Firing

Last week the St. Louis Cardinals fired manager Mike Matheny.  Despite this being a game, it is a business at the professional level.  Decisions have to be made and people have to move on.  The organization decided that we would be better off with a new manager.  Let's be clear, he is not the type to bring shame to the Cardinals and he did not exhibit behavior that demanded him be fired.  Don't forget, hall of famer Tony LaRussa was arrested for DUI back in 2007.  Mike was fired for the well complained about poor game decision making that led to tough losses despite having a talented team.  Other rumors were that he had lost the confidence of the locker room and it was time to part ways.  I'm happy that it was not because he has compromised his values in any way.  From what I understand, he is very good man.

In Cardinal Nation there was jubilation and joking over the firing.  People see this move about wins and losses and in some ways see this firing as an indication that Matheny is a terrible baseball manager.  After the firing, new reasons to dislike Mike surfaced.  Look at the Tweet on the bottom right.  Remember when Matheny was hired, people liked the notion that he was a man of faith and it gave him credibility and we had confidence that he would uphold the Cardinal way.  It's funny how our perception of coaches can change with wins and losses.  I think fans have been a little unfair.

It's not all bad.  There are some reasonable people out there.  For all the guys with jokes there are people that do care that he will land on his feet.  Matheny has been very gracious in his exit and says he is thankful for the opportunity he was given.  He for sure has a ton of class and I'm sure he will find new opportunities in the MLB.

To my fellow school administrators, lets examine ourselves as people that could some day meet the same fate.  You can do everything right, lead with your values, genuinely care about people and give everything you have but still become a victim of a "change in direction".  In a lot of ways, we would suffer the same treatment.  If you were to be let go, there would be some that feel it was deserved and make their objections to you suddenly known and then there would be some that are sympathetic to your situation.  What creates an unfair scenario for us is that the most vocal seem to be those with objections to your leadership style or approach and they obviously do not know what you deal with and what you sacrifice for your position.  These are the people that shape public opinion and that is a painful experience for people like us.

Matheny was aware that if things did not improve, he was going to be let go.  He was aware that he was not longer a good fit for the organization.  We are very familiar with the word "fit".  We are taught early that fit is everything.  When we look for a job we are making sure that we fit the school or district so we can serve at the highest level and positively impact the students.  The critical element for us is to recognize when the fit is no longer there, we still must serve with our values and integrity just as Mike Matheny has.  His firing doesn't mean is a bad manager.  He obviously has something to offer if he has been successful at the highest level.  He will just have to find the team that can benefit from that the most.  A parallel we can relate to and learn from.

The Older Guy

I recently celebrated my 42nd birthday.  I had to do the math on that because I wasn't really sure.  When you get older, you don't really seem to know how old you are.  I remember when I started teaching meeting the "older" guys in the school and being a little envious of them.  They all seemed to have their stuff together.  They owned homes, had children with full and busy lives, they seemed to be comfortable in their profession and had that wisdom that only age can give you.  I used to look at them and think, I wonder what I will be like when I'm one of the older guys.

Well, here I am and there are sure fire signs that I'm an older guy.  These were not the things I thought I would be thinking about but here is how I am sure that I am one of the older guys now.

I miss the days when hip hop music was not on the radio.  The art is more special when it is not in the mainstream.  Now, you can hear a rap verse on every pop song on the radio and to be honest, it will never be as special as Eric B. and Rakim or Boogie Down Productions.  You had to go look for hip hop back when it was special.

Nobody cared about Lebron's next move back in my day.  I grew up watching Cal Ripken spend his entire career with the Orioles regardless of their level of success.  People compare him to Jordan and Bird, but to me, there is no comparison.  All this moving around for championships, makes an older guy frustrated.

I do enjoy the new super hero movies, however I am critical of little differences.  When you grew up with Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, it is really difficult to watch this new guy.  I am watching these movies closely only to be able to explain what they were like when I was a kid to my kids.  And whats up with all the attempts at Batman and Spiderman movies.  It seems like we could get these right. 

I recently started wearing glasses again.  I don't think I care if I look like an older guy.

What is up with television content?  I cannot get over how much is allowed on television compared to when I was a kid.  I feel like I can't watch anything in prime time with my kids in the room.  I'm always a little anxious about what might come up in the show.  Most shows these days have suggestive language or sexual content in them and I'm talking about network TV.

I love mowing the lawn.  I get super aggravated when it is too long or it takes me a couple extra days to get to it.  That is a sure fire, older guy thing.  The only item missing is a funny hat while I mow.  Not that I am unwilling to wear one, I just haven't found one that I like yet.

I am an older guy now, but its not all bad.  I work in a profession that keeps me current with the kids these days.  When I see them wear a Bob Marley t-shirt, I make them name at least one song by him.  Only one student in the last seven years has done it.  It's fun to make those connections with them.  I have a younger staff and I often wonder if I come across as one of the older guys.  Maybe they look at me the way I always looked at them.  Minus all of the old guy quirks of course.