There is something immensely satisfying when the geometry on a framing project works out. Framing is all about cutting lumber to some dimension, and hoping each piece ends up plumb, or level, or square, as the case may be. When all this cutting and nailing ends up working, it's really nice. You see, when we look out into reality, we don't see a rectilinear grid. We see trees, topography, rocks. They don't have a Euclidean order about them. They may have a fractal order, or simply be chaotically arranged, but most of the dwellings we build have right angles, with plumb walls and level floors. To create something rectilinear where before there was chaos and fractals is an accomplishment.
What's more, since my work is rarely rectilinear in its entirety, it's also pleasing to find out that we can throw in some curves, some syncopation, so odd geometry, and still use math to figure out where it all belongs.
Since my thinking at this time is often about education, I think about framing and teaching math. And I think there is something to be learned. As always.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
What have we been doing up till now?
Here's my take (or take-away) on RTI:
The goal in Response to Intervention (RTI) is to maximize the number of students making adequate progress in the general classroom. The goal appears to be around 80 percent: 15 percent may need some targeted support, and 5 percent may need intensive support. RTI is a structured method for assessing and identifying students who are beginning to fall behind. The theory seems to be that if the slipping is caught soon enough, and if the entire resources of the school are available to help, then the goal can be met.
This begs the question: We haven't been doing this? It seems so obvious! Have we been doing it kinda, but just not formally?
Here's my take on performance evaluation:
You mean we're NOT paying for performance? In actuality, the private sector often provides for pay raises tied to age: every year, you might get a raise. But every year, you might also be taking on more responsibility, or be doing more. For instance, you might be managing bigger projects, or have more people under you. In the classroom, a 25-year old teacher may be teaching 20 third-graders, and 20 years later, still be teaching 20 third graders. Where's the change in responsibility? If we are going to pay a teacher more, shouldn't they be doing more? Perhaps they have more students, or more administrative duties, or mentor responsibilities.
The goal in Response to Intervention (RTI) is to maximize the number of students making adequate progress in the general classroom. The goal appears to be around 80 percent: 15 percent may need some targeted support, and 5 percent may need intensive support. RTI is a structured method for assessing and identifying students who are beginning to fall behind. The theory seems to be that if the slipping is caught soon enough, and if the entire resources of the school are available to help, then the goal can be met.
This begs the question: We haven't been doing this? It seems so obvious! Have we been doing it kinda, but just not formally?
Here's my take on performance evaluation:
You mean we're NOT paying for performance? In actuality, the private sector often provides for pay raises tied to age: every year, you might get a raise. But every year, you might also be taking on more responsibility, or be doing more. For instance, you might be managing bigger projects, or have more people under you. In the classroom, a 25-year old teacher may be teaching 20 third-graders, and 20 years later, still be teaching 20 third graders. Where's the change in responsibility? If we are going to pay a teacher more, shouldn't they be doing more? Perhaps they have more students, or more administrative duties, or mentor responsibilities.
Friday, October 28, 2011
The 2011 Maine School Management Association conference
I just got back from the MSMA conference in Augusta. A few thoughts:
I hate window-less rooms.
That said, my first "clinic" was Re-inventing Educator performance Systems: A Collaborative Approach. My former boss, Bill Webster, is now Superintendent of the Lewiston Public School System, where they received a grant to implement a program of educator accountability (performance measuring)and professional growth to try to bring about greater student achievement. Bill comes from the private sector, and I know he has thought to himself, 'if we can pay for performance in the private sector, why can't we do it in public education?' The answer is, you can, and they are going to do it in Lewiston. The secret is buy-in from stakeholders during the design of the new system,and professional growth to support the new accountability paradigm. This was the first of several times in the conference where the "they do it in the private sector, why can't it work in public education?" threaded to the surface.
Clinic 2 was on RTI, or response to intervention. RTI is a middle point between an individualized education program (IEP) for a student with a learning disability, and the regular classroom. The big take-away for me was that a school needs to act in concert when a student starts to fall through the cracks. Often, the problem is behavioral (messy divorce going on, poverty). But these kids who need a little extra can get that help early on and avoid a downward spiral. Why doesn't the regular assessment process catch this? Why is RTI a trendy thing? What's going wrong in our schools to make RTI popular?
Clinic 3 was "The Changing World of Teacher Bargaining: How National and Maine Reforms Affect Your Negotiations." I haven't been a part of teacher bargaining, but I have to admit I'm looking forward to partaking. The insurance part is going to change, and this is good news. The probationary period is changing, and this is also good news. The interesting news is with regard to the use of evaluations in determining teacher compensation. The evaluation process and outcomes are going to be the topic of a lot of scrutiny, and it should be so.
Thursday's last attended clinic was A Policy Primer: the Basics of School Board Policy, and this was a disappointment. I asked about the difference in meaning between "will" and "shall", and got nowhere.
I hope to write again soon on the keynote speakers and the Friday clinics.
I hate window-less rooms.
That said, my first "clinic" was Re-inventing Educator performance Systems: A Collaborative Approach. My former boss, Bill Webster, is now Superintendent of the Lewiston Public School System, where they received a grant to implement a program of educator accountability (performance measuring)and professional growth to try to bring about greater student achievement. Bill comes from the private sector, and I know he has thought to himself, 'if we can pay for performance in the private sector, why can't we do it in public education?' The answer is, you can, and they are going to do it in Lewiston. The secret is buy-in from stakeholders during the design of the new system,and professional growth to support the new accountability paradigm. This was the first of several times in the conference where the "they do it in the private sector, why can't it work in public education?" threaded to the surface.
Clinic 2 was on RTI, or response to intervention. RTI is a middle point between an individualized education program (IEP) for a student with a learning disability, and the regular classroom. The big take-away for me was that a school needs to act in concert when a student starts to fall through the cracks. Often, the problem is behavioral (messy divorce going on, poverty). But these kids who need a little extra can get that help early on and avoid a downward spiral. Why doesn't the regular assessment process catch this? Why is RTI a trendy thing? What's going wrong in our schools to make RTI popular?
Clinic 3 was "The Changing World of Teacher Bargaining: How National and Maine Reforms Affect Your Negotiations." I haven't been a part of teacher bargaining, but I have to admit I'm looking forward to partaking. The insurance part is going to change, and this is good news. The probationary period is changing, and this is also good news. The interesting news is with regard to the use of evaluations in determining teacher compensation. The evaluation process and outcomes are going to be the topic of a lot of scrutiny, and it should be so.
Thursday's last attended clinic was A Policy Primer: the Basics of School Board Policy, and this was a disappointment. I asked about the difference in meaning between "will" and "shall", and got nowhere.
I hope to write again soon on the keynote speakers and the Friday clinics.
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