Something Worth Pondering

How do we achieve this level of involvement? That's one of the things that I hope to discover on the City School Board.

This is from North Central Regional Educational Library

The ideas that I focus in this are of involving the whole community because we all have a stake in making our schools work for everyone.

Successful change initiatives never take place in a vacuum. Moreover, sustaining desired change takes great effort by many committed people to overcome the inertia and barriers typical to any complex system. If the education bureaucracy is to be altered to incorporate technology in meaningful ways, changemakers need to rally all the support available.

A stakeholder is defined as any individual, group, or organization that has a stake in the outcome of an endeavor. When it comes to preparing students to achieve their potential in school and beyond, everyone in the community has something at stake. Unfortunately, not all stakeholders see this connection or play a role in education matters. Schools need the active participation of all stakeholders in order to plan and realize a vision for technology that goes beyond window dressing and helps to ensure successful implementation. Likewise, parents, students, businesses, and community organizations look to school and district personnel to make wise investments and to prepare learners for an increasingly technology-based world. Consequently, it is to everyone's benefit to work together in improving technology use in schools.

Technology developments in one sector of the community often create a synergistic effect across other sectors. For example, school-based technology use may translate into evening programs for adult learners, which may, in turn, reduce unemployment, the demand for social services, and so on.

The potential stakeholder groups for districts and schools include some or all of the following:

* District personnel
* School principals
* Teachers
* Parents
* Students
* Local and regional technology service providers
* Technical support staff
* School boards
* Teacher unions
* Local businesses
* Corporations with or without local offices
* Chambers of commerce
* Government agencies
* Nonprofits that serve youth
* Local and state policymakers
* Ethnic and cultural organizations
* Neighborhood organizations
* Service groups

P.S. I am not in any promoting this organization.

Straight from the Classroom

Thanks to Lindsey for this message concerning the classroom environment.

The other day I had Dallas (D-ray) sub for me and the first thing he said when I asked how his day went, was "Every classroom should have an assistant". I have a specialized enhanced resource (self-contained)classroom with around 14-16 kids per subject, so it makes sense for me to have an assistant or two, but I kept thinking... you know, he's right!

I calculated it out the other day with rough number for Davidson county and the cost of hiring assistants for all classrooms if you added four kids to each class would cost less than what Bredesen is trying to spend to build a ball room/renovate the mansion. in other words... you wouldn't have to hire a couple of hundred teachers (which I'm sure we are probably short of anyways)and with that money you provide assistants for each (willing) classroom teacher actually reducing the student to teacher/assistant/adult ratio and reducing distractions to class because the assistant can take care of behavior issues, work with struglling students, etc. Plus most assistants are aspiring teachers and what better experience than in the classroom!

Lets spend our tax money in better ways this year, and I know if you get in there you can make a change for the children and our future...

You asked, so that's my thought for the day! ;)