The K-16 CFG met on Friday night for a simple Spring Celebration. We gathered at Marcela's beautiful home to relax and connect over food and drink.

I had asked everyone to bring an artifact of "something that has changed your thinking." After filling our plates, we shared our artifacts and let the conversation wander between the connections of our personal and professional lives.

The artifact I brought was my own children. Being a parent for three years now has changed the way I think about schooling in many ways. I shared with the group that when I return to being a classroom teacher, I think I'll be easier on parents and harder on students. I'll be easier on parents because I realize that no matter what a parent does, sometimes a child will be unruly or obstinate or lazy or worse. Of course, parents have a responsibility to set up and maintain the healthiest home environment possible, but most of the responsilbility for learning should rest squarely on the shoulders of the students.

I will be "harder" on students because I pray that my own children will be blessed with teachers who have high expectations for their character as well as their academic achievements. If my girls ever cheat, I hope they get caught. If they are unkind, I hope they get called on it. If they are unprepared, I hope they have appropriate consequences so that they learn that their choices matter.

I get the weekly PEN (Public Education Network) Weekly Newsblast which highlights articles and news stories of interest to educators. One of the featured articles, by Milton Schwebel, was about America's 3 Educational Systems. The entire article can be read here.

What I found particularly interesting was the author's idea that the American education system is not "in crisis" as many headlines scream. Instead, the sysem, really 3 systems, actually meets the needs of our economy. Of course, that doesn't mean the system is fair or equitable!

Here's a taste of Schwebel's chapter:

The K-16 CFG met this evening at the Doris Miller Center. Present were Lidia, Michaelann, Jonett, Tim, Mary, Donna, and Marcela. Suzanne S. from HA+C was a guest during the first part of the meeting.

We started with a few announcements of upcoming dates--I wanted to make sure that the HA+C summer events got on everybody's calendar.

Next, we did Connections for ten minutes. Usually, my favorite part of Connections is just having some quiet time to mull things over or absorb what others are saying. Tonight, I was distracted by the noise that my children were making until their dad could pick them up. It reminded me how important space and atmosphere are to conducting successful meetings. At least I'm sure that I'll have a reliable babysitter for the May meeting because my mother-in-law will be visiting that week!

After Connections concluded, Tim and Suzanne asked us to act as a focus group for their work concerning teacher leadership. We engaged in a silent chalk talk for about 20 minutes and then discussed some of the issues that surfaced. I neglected to write down the focusing questions. Perhaps somebody could add them in the comments section of this blog entry.

Some of the questions that emerged were: What is a leader? What is the purpose of training teacher leaders? How are leaders identified? How will schools benefit? etc. etc. I was struck by the richness of our silent conversation, and Tim expressed gratitude that we were willing to delve right into identifying challenges. I think that we are all interested in seeing where this project may lead.

Finally, we filled our plates with sandwiches and fruit and sat down to help Mary with her dilemma. Without getting into specifics, her problem involved issues of group ownership and changes in personnel and leadership. It felt so satisfying to do authentic CFG work.

Reflections are in the extended entry.

I've spent some time recently surfing the web and exploring other blogs that are related to education. While browsing, I found out that the very first weblogs (way back in the 90's) were simply collections of links to other sites that an author found interesting. In that spirit, here are some links that I think are worth sharing.

Scholars Who Blog This article from The Chronicle of Higher Education gives an overview of how academics use blogs to further their work.

Blogging in Education by Teresa Coffman. This is a new blog, authored by a new professor of education, that highlights articles related to using blogs in a variety of education-related ways.

Blogs in Education This website sponsored by the University of Houston, Clear Lake, states "This page is designed to provide you some resources if you want to get started using blogs for yourself or with your students."

Pedablogue This "personal inquiry into the scholarship of teaching" is authored by Michael Arnzen of Seton Hill University. His personal reflections are updated regularly, often humorous, and always thoughtful. This blog is a great model for a professional reflective journal and has earned a bookmark in my browser.

RealClimate This is a good example of a blog with multiple authors. Several scientists comment on climate science that is in the news.

Eduwonk.com Education news and analysis from the Progressive Policy Institute's 21st Century Schools Project

Teacher Leadership Diaries An insightful collection of reflective teacher diaries.

n of One--The Weblog of Gary Natriello, Executive Editor of TC Record. This blog lifts up interesting news stories.

L.M. Sixel's "Working" column in today's Houston Chronicle was titled
"If you hate buzz words, you, too, can fight the bull." (free registration required)
The article drew from the book A Bullfighter's Guide: Why Business People Speak Like Idiots by Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway and Jon Warshawsky.

The article reminded me that so much of the school reform work I've been involved with is rife with jargon. So why do business people (or educators) use jargon? Why not use plain language?

Some of the reasons listed in the article are
-to avoid insecurity, to sound important
-to be exclusive, specialized language is like a secret code for the initiated
-to hide the true meaning
-to fit in, and
-to avoid responsibility

Some jargon that I have to be mindful of either avoiding or explaining clearly includes
CFG
PLC
protocol
imperative
reform effort
accountability

Can you think of more?

My favorite bit of jargon from an old NSRF pamphlet was "Dyad." PLEASE! I'd much rather just work with a partner or in a pair than in a "Dyad."

The Ninth Annual Fondren Reforming Schools Summer Institute (FRSSI) will take place at the University of Houston Hilton on July 26-28. The theme this year is "Focus on Quality Teaching and Learning: Partnerships in Learning Communities." If you are interested in the plans for the FRSSI, here are some documents that represent the planning committee's work to this point.

FRSSI 2005 Draft Agenda

FRSSI Registration

FRSSI Seminar Recommendation

Many people who are new to the weblog may be logging on to read these documents. Keep these norms in mind when you comment:
1) Speak the truth
2) Use a professional tone
3) We usually use only first names when referring to colleagues. Use pseudonyms for students.