A slide show following the social networking phenomenon ends up concluding that the networking tools available today are helping people get together. From my own use of the social media tools, I have learned enough about someone so that when I do meet them in person, the conversation doesn't have that expectant pause. After we have greeted each other, the question "where do we go from here?" doesn't come up. We are already deep into a conversation.
Enjoy!
Thanks for the link to Education Innovation and in particular to Angela Maiers for the tweet tip.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
consolidation was 'generally negative'
In these days of tight budgets and looking in all corners for opportunities, one area I think has some possibilities to explore is in the area of combining services. Mendon, Millville and Hopedale are exploring the combination of their dispatch services. According to this story in the Boston Globe today, one area that won't work is combining school districts.
But a wave of research from around the country shows that consolidation does not improve schools or lead to better academic results. Spending on education does not go down; indeed, budgets often balloon with increased transportation costs and more administrators to run enlarged districts. Consolidation leads to schools closing and to bigger schools, with less parental involvement and community participation. And, in many parts of the United States, it has led to children on unconscionable bus rides lasting several hours a day.
"There is either no advantage or actually a disadvantage to making these enormous uber-districts," says Andrew J. Coulson, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., who has conducted two major studies on consolidation. "They just don't help kids."
Read the full story on the learning obtained from other states who tried combining school district in the Boston Globe article here
So my eyes will be turned to other areas.
"how far can you sacrifice before it doesn't make sense"
By Rachel Lebeaux Globe Correspondent / March 8, 2009
Read the full article on efforts to control budgets with salary freezes in the Boston Globe West section hereOfficials in Franklin, Milford, and Holliston have offered to forgo raises to help close ballooning deficits as tax revenue and state aid to communities plummet. In some cases, administrators are hoping that unionized employees will follow suit.
But unions - particularly those representing school teachers, the largest group of municipal workers in most communities - might not be so quick to follow.
Spring forward?
I trust you turned your clocks ahead one hour to stay current on Daylight Savings Time
"the bigger cost is that we’re navigating blindly"
Dr Scott McLeod completes his week of posting on the state of education in Iowa. He raises some great questions about the data that is currently not collected by the state. A sample (only the first four questions) are as follows:
Do we already collect this data for MA? I do not know as I sit here but will spend some time in the coming weeks to go looking. If you know in the meantime, please let me know.
I would recommend substituting "Franklin, MA" for Iowa as you read through these questions and the full listing on his page hereHere are some questions that we should be asking in Iowa:
- What percentage of Iowa schools and districts have a technology plan? For those that do, what do those plans cover?
- What percentage of Iowa schools and districts have technology teams that advise the organization on technology-related concerns? Who’s on those teams?
- What are schools purchasing with their hardware and software money? What proportion of expenditures goes to teacher-centric technologies versus student-centric technologies? What proportion goes to software that provides powerful learning opportunities for students versus software that simply focuses on drill-and-kill remediation?
- How new are the computers in Iowa schools? What percentage of Iowa hardware and software is more than 2 years old?
Do we already collect this data for MA? I do not know as I sit here but will spend some time in the coming weeks to go looking. If you know in the meantime, please let me know.
I want to play with these blocks!
From TED, we get a glimpse of what computers and human interaction can really do. No, not the kind where some one sits in front of a screen and uses a keyboard or mouse.
Watch, this is delightfully exciting!
Now that is a good use of computer technology for educational purposes!
How would you use these Shiftables?
Thanks to the folks at Free Technology for Teachers for the pointer to this!
Watch, this is delightfully exciting!
Now that is a good use of computer technology for educational purposes!
How would you use these Shiftables?
Thanks to the folks at Free Technology for Teachers for the pointer to this!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
oh no, the start of a sink hole! and King Street was just recently redone
oh no, the start of a sink hole! and the street was just recently redone, originally uploaded by shersteve.
Found on King St heading towards RT 140, between Summer St and Summer St.
I'll come back later to try and measure how deep it is.
Updated 3/8/09 - I did measure it and it is 8" deep, deceiving but potentially dangerous.
"they were very brave"
GHS
FRANKLIN - Standing tall with her flashcards, fourth-grader Beatrice Riley told Clara Barton's life story 12 times yesterday.Read the full article about the living wax museum in the Milford Daily News hereWearing a white dress and signature giant red cross to portray Barton, delivered Barton's story six times to second and third-graders and another six times to parents by day's end.
"I was shy and I overcame my shyness ... I was intelligent and curious, and most important, I founded the Red Cross in the United States," she explained again and again, tirelessly retelling the highlights of Barton's life.
Riley and 22 other students transformed Davis Thayer Elementary School's cafeteria to a living wax museum of historical figures, including Mozart, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Neil Armstrong, Anne Frank, Marie Curie and more modern icons such as Bill Gates and Elvis.
Harlem Wizards vs. Sullivan Rockets
Anxious to get out of the house? Looking for a fun, affordable, local family activity? Want to get in the mood for March Madness?
The Harlem Wizards are coming to Franklin!
The Harlem Wizards, one of the greatest basketball show-team organizations to ever “lace it up and let’em fly”, will play our own Sullivan Rockets. This will be an entertaining night for kids of all ages (and adults too)!
Date:
Location:
Tickets:
Contacts:
Sponsored By:
You may also order tickets online for a minimum fee:
www.harlemwizards.com
The Harlem Wizards are coming to Franklin!
The Harlem Wizards, one of the greatest basketball show-team organizations to ever “lace it up and let’em fly”, will play our own Sullivan Rockets. This will be an entertaining night for kids of all ages (and adults too)!
Date:
Friday, March 13th, 2009, 7:00 PM
Doors Open 6:30, Game Time 7:00
Location:
Tri-County Regional High School
147 Pond St, Franklin MA
Tickets:
Click through to order form here on the Annie Sullivan PCC website
Contacts:
ayotte_k at verizon.net or erinclong at comcast.net
Sponsored By:
Annie Sullivan Middle School PCC
www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/sullivan/pcc
You may also order tickets online for a minimum fee:
www.harlemwizards.com
"invest accordingly"
Dr Scott McLeod writes:
One benefit that the Franklin school district has is with it's leadership. The School Committee is a good bunch of folks exploring the new media web, willing to go paperless (and go green in the process). They have had the foresight to bring in Superintendent Wayne Ogden. He was great for Franklin. What hurt him and caused him to tender his resignation for the end of this school year was our budget problems.
They were fortunate to backfill Wayne with Asst Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski. She has years of experience in Franklin and will be able to step right in so the district won't miss a beat. The administration and School Committee are making good progress on a suitable replacement for Maureen. They have been doing this at other levels within the district getting good relacements for principals and other key personnel. This is a hallmark of a good organization.
The one area that remains is the budget. Franklin as a whole needs to step up to the plate and properly fund the schools. We have been living off the largesse from the state and that won't last.
It is time that Franklin paid a fair share for the education of their own children.
Leadership is absolutely critical to the success of any organization. Whether it be a school, corporation, government, faith institution, non-profit agency, or local community group, every organization lives and dies by its leadership. Organizations with effective, visionary leaders thrive. Organizations with lackluster, ineffective leaders muddle along or decline.This is the 4th in his continuing series on education in Iowa. I have already referenced his earlier posts here, here and here.
One benefit that the Franklin school district has is with it's leadership. The School Committee is a good bunch of folks exploring the new media web, willing to go paperless (and go green in the process). They have had the foresight to bring in Superintendent Wayne Ogden. He was great for Franklin. What hurt him and caused him to tender his resignation for the end of this school year was our budget problems.
They were fortunate to backfill Wayne with Asst Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski. She has years of experience in Franklin and will be able to step right in so the district won't miss a beat. The administration and School Committee are making good progress on a suitable replacement for Maureen. They have been doing this at other levels within the district getting good relacements for principals and other key personnel. This is a hallmark of a good organization.
The one area that remains is the budget. Franklin as a whole needs to step up to the plate and properly fund the schools. We have been living off the largesse from the state and that won't last.
It is time that Franklin paid a fair share for the education of their own children.
Friday, March 6, 2009
T, can you hear me?
Facebook has a group collecting membership to help direct the MBTA to use Google Transit and improve the information available on the T operations.
If you don't have a Facebook account but would still like to join the group, click through and you can create an account quickly.
To view the info on Google Transit, click here
If you have a Facebook account and would like to join the group, click through here
Google has a site called Google Transit, that acts as a Google Maps of sorts for buses and trains in rural and urban areas of the United States. If you've never seen it before, go check it out on the link posted below. The program has been adopted by the New York City transit authority (Metro), among many others. More importantly, for those of you with iPhones, if you go to the maps application, you can get transit (bus, train) directions to your destinations. This feature uses Google Transit data and maps.
Unfortunately, for some reason the MBTA is still not on the program. All that needs to happen is for the MBTA to get in touch with Google to list their buses and trains on the website.
I've created this group to raise support, interest, and awareness for the fact that people want the MBTA on Google Transit. It seems so simple and frankly, the Boston area as a whole looks a little silly for not having their transit authority's buses and trains listed on the website.
So... invite all your friends, anyone who rides the T, or simply someone who feels that this is a logical and simple step to more accessibility for the MBTA and Boston.
If you don't have a Facebook account but would still like to join the group, click through and you can create an account quickly.
To view the info on Google Transit, click here
A student's view
We shared the viewpoint of several key educators and thinkers yesterday. Today, let's share the view of a student:
Thanks to Dr Scott McLeod for the link
Thanks to Dr Scott McLeod for the link
Financial Plng Comm 03/05/09
The collection of live reporting for the Financial Planning Committee meeting on 3/5/09:
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Live reporting - FPC continued
Teacher compensation needs to be understood to develop the assumptions. A percent makes a difference when the schools account for 33% of the overall budget.
Big discussion on how to present the data to create the proper conversation.
Jeff will look at the revenue and expense assumptions to see if there would be any changes.
The assumptions will be critical as these numbers will be what will drive the model.
Meeting next week on the 12th
Doug will update the changes and we'll pick up from there.
Big discussion on how to present the data to create the proper conversation.
Jeff will look at the revenue and expense assumptions to see if there would be any changes.
The assumptions will be critical as these numbers will be what will drive the model.
Meeting next week on the 12th
Doug will update the changes and we'll pick up from there.
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