Book Club, Teacher Edition

A couple weeks ago, one of our teachers, Elise, came to me with the idea of a teacher book club.  Never being one to squash a great thought, I immediately said I would support it under three conditions - it had to be teacher led, the books had to be about teaching and pedagogy, and I get to participate.  She agreed to take the lead, and I agreed to buy the books.  When she sent the email to invite teachers to participate, within a couple days we had 37 people signed up.  I bought the books (running that by Accounting was, well.... interesting) and we passed them out last Thursday afternoon at the local Starbucks.  This would be our only in-person meeting - the rest of the sessions would be via Google Hangout.

For our first book, they chose Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess.  (I asked Dave to join us for the first hangout, but he must be at sea being a pirate.... no luck getting in touch with him)

Elise sent out the Google Hangout invite, gave us our first reading assignment, some questions to ponder, and last Tuesday we had our first GHO session.  Elise set it up as a Hangout on Air, so that those on vacation and away could watch it after the fact and stay up to speed for the next session.  It was great!  The assignment was the first 32 pages of the book (which I didn't know what that was because I have the Kindle version....) We talked about passion, and the importance of giving kids voice, and about the first days of school, and how what Dave wrote in the book resonated with our views of classrooms and kids.

She sent a followup email, providing the link to everyone who couldn't be there live.  She thanked everyone who joined the session

and gave us our next assignment  ("Dave Burgess described his first three days of school and how important those days are for setting the whole tone of his school year.  What activities do you do with your students in those very important first days of school. Please contribute your ideas to THIS spreadhseet.").

This is adult learning as it should be - collaborative, open discussion, pertinent to our craft, and voluntary.  (That 37 teachers agreed to do this during their summer break is awesome.  That's 20% of our staff!).  This is adult learning as it will be in Rio - we're rolling out our gamified PD program next month (more on that in a subsequent post).  This is student learning as it will be in Rio.  And as we adults model what learning looks like for students, and students internalize what learning looks like and reflect that, the subject matter and the "stuff" of curriculum will become context.  Our goal is for our kids to know how to make sense of complex and unfamiliar material, regardless of what it is.  Our goal is for every student to be a struggling learner (after all, you can't learn if you don't struggle!)  As it should be.

The Death of the Urban Assault Vehicle

In 2000, we bought a brand new Toyota Sequoia to replace our old 4Runner.  The 4Runner was too small for us - it wouldn't pull our new tent trailer, and with 2 growing kids and a dog, family trips were seriously cramped.  The Sequoia met our needs perfectly.

In time, we camped, went on ski trips, surf trips, and road trips all over the place.  Erik was 8 when we got the Sequoia, and Lindsey was 4.  Aside from the family trips and adventures, I've used the Sequoia as a base camp for climbing in the Sierras, transported bikes all over the place for great rides, taken the kids to karate tournaments, used it with our Sasaki Kenpo team for Ragnar Relay ultra marathons, mud runs..... We called it the Urban Assault Vehicle.  It was perfect.

The UAV hit 300,000 miles in 2014 on a trip to San Diego

Three years ago, my daughter, just learning to drive, was involved in an accident, and the UAV was totalled.  I kept the vehicle, and I rebuilt it.  For a while, I thought the Urban Assault Vehicle was indestructible.  Friday night, I learned it wasn't.  The passenger side upper ball joint failed, resulting in the right front wheel becoming disconnected from the rest of the suspension.  That's a catastrophic failure..  Luckily, I was not driving fast.  Had I been driving at highway speed, it may very well have been a fatal accident, and could have involved other vehicles.

It's hard, but after fifteen years and 311,000 miles it's time for the UAV to go.  It's simply not worth repairing the vehicle.  Rationally, it's an easy decision.  Emotionally, we have so many great memories, from so many great adventures in that car that letting it go is really tough.

  

When the bikes in the car are worth more than the car

So now, the question - what do we replace such an awesome vehicle with?

Meet the new UAV, Jr.:

2015 Suburu Outback 3.6R

TVs in Classrooms

Placing TVs in classrooms isn't as easy as we thought....

In Rio, we have, basically, a projector in every classroom.  Many, but not all, are ceiling mounted.  Most are old, and they need, at the least, new bulbs.  Even with new bulbs, they're old, they're dim, and they basically suck.  But teachers use them.  And they deserve something better.

With our new bond initiative, part of the conversation is to upgrade how we display in the classrooms.  When we started talking about it, conversation revolved around either replacing the projectors with newer, brighter models or with installing flat screen TVs.  We piloted the TV idea last year by installing 70" displays in some new portables across the district.  By and large, they work much better than projectors.  Looking at the total cost of ownership, they are at best no more than new projectors, and probably eek out an advantage.  As the cost for LED TVs goes down, the advantages over projectors will only get better.  So our plan is to install a flat panel TV in every classroom.

But no plan, as they say, survives the first moments of execution.  In the case of our TVs, this proved to be the case. We visited every classroom to identify where we would place the TVs, and issues cropped up in virtually every classroom configuration.  It's not just a matter of slapping a TV on the wall in the same place the projector screen is hanging.  Generally, behind that screen is a white board, and that whiteboard is used as, well, a whiteboard. Teachers expressed concerns about losing whiteboard space.  Placing the TV above the whiteboard brings another set of problems.  Most of our classrooms have dropped ceilings, and the distance from the ceiling to the top of the whiteboard is less than the height of the display, so again, installing a TV will wind up stealing some whiteboard space.  And, teachers expressed concerns about kids in the front row having to crane their necks to look up to see the display.  In kinder and first grade classes, kids spend a good deal of time sitting on the carpet.  In fact, that's generally where they watch videos and view things that are projected, so there, too, putting a TV where kids would have to crane their necks up to see a screen becomes problematic. In many of our rooms, which are at the edge of the minimum allowable square footage for a classroom (960 sq. feet), this is a legitimate concern regardless of whether kids are sitting at desks or sitting on the floor.  There's not a lot of room after you jam 32 kids and an adult or two into 960 sq. feet!

We looked at putting the TV on the wall next to the white board.  Teachers complained about losing wall space.  Again, this is a legitimate concern, especially in the lower grades.  Walls aren't just walls - they're golden real estate for posting student work, hanging the interactive calendar and math tables that kinders use every day, and tacking up posters and decorations that change with the time of year or the theme of the day.  Woe is the lot of any CTO who categorically slaps a TV over that space!  And woe be to any CTO who rips a projector out a room where the teacher is actually using the old Promethean boards (yes, some of our teachers are still using the things - I've got my own pedogical stance about that.... but that's another blog post).

Our vision in Rio is to create student-centered, inquiry based learning environments.  We've been all-in with 4Cs, Common Core, and Project Based Learning for the past few years.  These displays are now used as much by students as teachers, for presentations and sharing work and learning as well as instruction and large group viewing.  We've struggled to find, in that world, the ideal place to put a display in many of our classrooms. Oh - and we want to connect wirelessly to iOS, OSX, Android, Linux (long live Ubermix!), and Windows devices.

Fast forward to the past CUE conference in Palm Springs, where we say several vendors, including ViewSonic, displaying interactive TVs.

An interactive TV can, in theory, solve most (if not all) of our placement dilemmas.  It is a flat panel display, but because it's touch capable and has the right software installed (free, from ViewSonic - others have it free or charge for it), it can replace a white board.  And, in the case of the ViewSonic model we saw (with a small Windows 8 computer embedded into the device) it will run Promethean (or Smart or any other) software, as well as display a Chrome web browser without the need for wireless connectivity.

We think this might be a solution.  We're getting one in to test.  Assuming the testing by others in the district concurs with our playing around with it at CUE, we may have found the solution.  If, that is, we can afford it!

I'd rather be in Rio

Things haven't always been great in Rio.  In the old days (as in, four or five years ago), the heat could be  unbearable sometimes.  Storm clouds would threaten and whether we might survive to even make it through a work day was a serious concern.

Oh - I'm talking about Rio School District, not that place in Brazil.

The past few years have been the most exciting, most fulfilling I've had in a career approaching 30 years, with the exception, perhaps, of my days as a teacher.  And yesterday's election lent some confirmation that our progress as a district has been noticed.  The public voted to provide much needed support for our schools by passing Measure G, a local bond measure that will bring much needed upgrades to our district facilities.  This morning's paper showed that almost 70% of voters supported the bond measure.

We'll be able to upgrade our facilities (some of which are better than 60 years old), make our classrooms safer and better suited for 21st century learning, and enhance our technology.

I'm excited about all of this, but the tech is closest to my heart.  We'll be able to upgrade our backbone (to 10GB), improve our classroom displays (TVs instead of projectors, with wireless connectivity), and maybe get a phone system district wide that isn't Vintage 1985.

Our teachers have been working hard on creating a world-class learning organization, moving to a project-based / inquiry based curriculum incorporating 21st Century learning skills.  We're getting more focused on teaching kids how to learn, rather than teaching kids "things".  In an information rich, internet connected age, this is important.  Anybody can look up what happened to Napoleon in 1813 (he got his butt kicked in the Battle of Leipzig).  But learning why, and relating that to world events and relevance in today's world is more important.

Teachers across the district have thrown out desks in favor of couches, tables, and bean bag chairs.  One teacher lowered all of his tables so kids could sit on a square of carpet.  Kids loved it - they could move, wriggle and squirm.  They could scrunch together to share a screen or a piece of paper.  They could spread out to work privately.  Walk into another teacher's class and you'll find kids laying on the carpet, while other kids are sitting at desks or sitting on the floor against a wall, their netbooks sitting on their laps.  Everyone is engaged in what they're doing.

We're growing, and we're pushing boundaries, experimenting with what works best for kids in this age of information abundance.  Teachers are discovering that they are free from being the sole or primary source of information.  They can question, explore, and model how to be a learner, right along with their students.

It's a great time to be in education.  It's a great time to be in Rio, and there's no place I'd rather be!

FJ Cruiser On-Board Air Compressor

After five years of airing up after an off-road adventure using my Harbor Freight mini compressor, I decided to install an onboard unit.  After a little research, I settled on the ARB CKMTA12 twin compressor.  This little unit will provide 100 PSI, continuous duty - enough to easily air up my tires and run an impact wrench.

After getting it installed and wired, I aired a tire down to 21psi (standard off-road pressure), and timed filling it back up to 46psi (standard on-road pressure).  Total time, barely a minute.  The next test will be with an impact wrench.

When I started planning the installation, I wanted the compressor in the engine bay and up high enough that dirt and moisture wouldn't be a problem.  I also needed an area where heat from the compressor would not be an issue with surrounding components.  And I hate drilling holes in my vehicles. Fortunately, there's plenty room in the engine bay of the FJ, and in the back corner there are some existing 8mm threaded holes in the fender area, which I could use to bolt on a bracket for holding the compressor.

I fabricated a bracket out of a piece of steel bar stock and some steel plate.  The bracket bolts into the side of the engine bay into two existing threaded holes, and to the bolt which mounts the cold air intake.  I welded a piece of steel plate to the bracket and drilled holes to accommodate the compressor.  A teflon air hose encased in braided stainless connects the compressor to a quick disconnect, mounted on the forward part of the bracket, making it easy to attach the air hose.

Wiring was really straight forward using the existing ARB wiring looms, and only required poking a small hole in one of the rubber seals where the wiring enters the cabin through the firewall.  I sealed the hole with RTV sealer after inserting the wire under the dash.  A 10A Add-A Circuit, placed into the fuse box in an empty slot that is active only when the engine is running runs through the ARB switch, mounted in an existing slot to the left of the steering wheel.  I routed all the cabling along the back of the engine bay, tucked up under the top against the firewall, secured with zip-ties, and connected power and ground to the battery terminals.

With this, I can quickly air up - which means I'll be more inclined to air down, which means off road the vehicle will be better, and I won't tear up the roads as much.  It's all good!  (When I attended the Toyota Trail Teams event a few years ago, one of the instructors said that for the good of the vehicle and the good of the trails, one should always air down and always run in 4WD).

From the Things That Keep Me Awake At Night Department, one of the things I've been faced with since coming to Rio is the phone system. It's old. And disjointed. To make a call from one site to another, you have to dial the main number for the school, and get transferred. Just not an efficient system. And the quality of voicemail services varies with the school site. As does the chance that the phones will actually work - especially when it rains. That's the nature of 60 year old wires on old, analog systems. We lost our district office system a couple of years ago when the hard drive literally disintegrated. No kidding - it sounded like a gravel mixer. That's what happens when something built in 1984 (honest!) is asked to serve well into its twilight years - seems that nobody wants to spend money on making phone calls. Until they can't.

We submitted the necessary documents for eRate discounts on a district-wide, hosted VoIP system, and were funded for it. Total cost, after eRate discounts, would be about $1800 per month (we're an 80% district - do the math!). With the demise of eRate support for communications comes the need for us to reevaluate our original plan for utilizing hosted VoIP system to solve our problem, because we can't afford to do this without eRate.

Working off my virtual napkin: Our cost, once eRate is completely gone for communications, would be $18,000 per month. That's a serious pile of dinero just to make phone calls - and we're in a day and age when many people don't even have phones in their homes anymore, instead preferring to simply use their mobile phone as their home phone. (Makes sense, actually). So we started looking at alternatives. One alternative is to go back to the hosting company and find out what they plan on doing - end result, they're reeling from the decision about discounts for communications also. I'm not sure what they plan on doing, but I have to come up with a plan. So, let's say they cut their pricing in half. Our monthly commitment,  ​$9,000 per month.  Annual commitment, about $108K.  Will they really cut their price in half? To be frank, drawing from my old MBA marketing classes, if these guys are really building their business model on a margin that's over 50%, they're either Apple or they're delusional. So I don't think even this scenario is going to float.

The problem for us is we simply cannot justify spending even $9000 a month for a hosted VoIP system when I can purchase a system for the district that would cost less than that and be done with it. When hosted VoIP was $1000 per month, it made sense.  When it turned into $9K per month, no way.  At that price, we have to ask ourselves if the marginal benefit of hosted VoIP justifies taking those funds away from our primary goal of providing every kid with a personal, mobile device.  Especially when the overall goal of a phone system is just to make phone calls!  

We looked at in-house VoIP solutions, we looked at analog systems (the upgrade what we have approach, even though nobody likes our existing phone system, even when it does work), and we looked at the open source solution. Cost-wise, the open source solution wins hands-down - solutions from Shoretel, Cisco, etc. are all still a huge pile of money just to make phone calls. (How much of that rich feature set that comes with VoIP do we really use, or need, anyway?) So what does it take to do this? Expertise. At the end of the day, the expertise for the open source solution works out to be no worse (in many ways better) than, say, Cisco. Or Shoretel. (We're computer guys, not phone guys!). On the other hand, there's 3 techs for 8 schools and the district offices (we're a school district, for crying out loud. What school district adequately staffs the Technology Department?), and our primary mission starts with kids and teachers and classrooms and works out from there. Phones are way down the list in terms of priority for service.

All of this goes totally counter to my The Cloud is the Future philosophy (hence, my sleepless nights). But when I can get an open-source solution (Asterisk) for less than one year of a hosted service, the issue becomes one of features, maintenance, installation, etc.  Right now, that's where my head is  - I don't have a firm answer yet.  But that's where we are.

This is the thinking I'll take to cabinet, and with budget still being a seriously compelling and primary consideration, the  main issue for me will be whether I can manage a system in-house. My guys are very, very good - we do have the technical expertise to do it.  And to be honest, If I put the $108K towards hiring another support tech, there's a compelling argument that says it won't take a full time employee to manage a phone system.

I doubt this is too far from what everyone in education is thinking right now - it's definitely a topic of conversation. It's just a matter of where it makes most sense to allocate the limited resources we have available - student devices, or phones?

Blogging instead of site building

Sitting in on a Jen Roberts session is dangerous.  Well, maybe that's the wrong word. You will learn, you will be infected by her passion and enthusiasm, and you will be inspired.  But you’ll also be sold on there being a better way to do things - she’s that persuasive.

We’ve been looking for a way to get websites set up for our teachers.  I’ve been trying to convince myself to blog more.  I even built a blog site.  Now, I’m regrouping on both fronts.  Jen has convinced me that we need to dump the idea of websites for all teachers.  And she’s convinced me that the environment should be Blogger, not Wordpress.  So I’m shifting my blog to Blogger and I’m shifting my recommendation for our district to using Blogger instead of Google Sites for teacher / class pages.

Blogger is easier than Google Sites, and just as flexible and accommodating for teachers’ use.  It does some things fairly automatically that are very useful in the classroom, such as Archiving posts - which means that as a teacher adds assignments and information (each as a separate blog post), students and parents can find that stuff at a later date.  (I’m imagining the utility for students who miss a class!)  It integrates way better than Wordpress with Google Apps (because Google owns it).  It has great controls over comments (turn on comment moderation) and such.

OK, Jen - I'm sold, and I'm going down the Blogger rabbit-hole. We'll see if the district goes with me!