Is Your School Ready for the Apple Watch?

by | Dec 24, 2014 | Andy's Deep Thoughts

Do you remember the days when monitoring student technology was as easy as making sure their calculators were put away…oh the days of TI-85 tetris.  That calculator’s around here someplace just begging for a reboot. Today, it’s becoming almost impossible to monitor what kind of technology students bring to school.  We have a “no phone during the school day” policy at my school, but only the naive can really believe it works. The battle for monitoring student technology is about to get a lot harder as Apple’s new Watch goes on sale later this year.  It’s been somewhat reasonable to asks students to keep their phones in their locker or bag, but an Apple Watch will be a whole new level of difficultly. So is it worth it?  Is it time to stop monitoring student technology?  What are you going to...
Why the Best Schools are Party Schools!

Why the Best Schools are Party Schools!

by | Dec 20, 2014 | Blog

I’ll never forget my first experience working at a parent-teacher conference as a young 22-year-old public school teacher in Minnesota.  It wasn’t the conversations with parents or students that I remember but one seemingly simple event in the evening…dinner.  At this school there was a break for 45 minutes for teachers to eat dinner together in the cafeteria.  What a nice idea, right? At this particular school we had class all day, and then conferences started immediately after school and end at 9:00 pm–for two days in a row.  For the average teacher this was two 14-hour days in a row.  So a little time to break bread with colleagues could be a nice treat.  In fact, the administrators were even serving the teachers, which was a nice touch. When I arrived at the cafeteria a cue had already begun to wrap around and zig-zag through the folding lunch room tables.  Teachers either stood silently saving their energy for another 3-hours of conferences or were busy debriefing on this-or-that parent.  Tonight’s meal coordinated by the school was take out from a local pizza chain. It wasn’t until I reached the table where the administrators were serving the pizza that I noticed what was really going on.  Yes, there was pizza, and yes it was being served by administrators, but at a price…$5 for two slices.  Truthfully, it might as well been $100 or $1 for that matter.  It didn’t matter what they charged, the fact that the school was charging teachers for the pizza was what really stung.  After all, the teachers were working extra long hours, away from family in order to be there. I mention...

Are you raising an evil genius?

by | Dec 1, 2014 | Andy's Deep Thoughts

My daughter Hattie loves the outdoors, in fact if it was up to her she’d spend every waking moment outside (good thing we live in Honolulu).  This became even more apparent last year after she began to unlock the deadbolt of our front door to make a mad dash to the courtyard of our apartment building.  So like any responsible parent we added an extra lock at the top of the door about 6-and-half-feet high; clearly out of her reach..or so we thought. Yesterday, as we were eating lunch, we watched Hattie’s insistence on going outside shift from words to actions.  At first she attempted her escape with the help of a small step stool from the bathroom. But she came up short by about 3 feet. Then she grabbed her empty backpack. Still need about another 2 feet 11 inches to cover. Of course, like all good parents, Lisa and I continued to eat lunch while mocking Hattie’s attempts with our smirks and eye rolls.  Not to be deterred, and somehow without us noticing (you know that kind of moment when you’ve somehow blocked out what your kid is doing, like eating a stick of butter while you’re making cookies), Hattie climbed onto the nearby table and with a final stretch managed to unlock and open the door. So what do you do next as a parent, educator, and all-around encourager-of-resourcefulness? We clapped! We gave Hattie the applause she deserved for accomplishing more than we thought was possible. Watching Hattie makes me think, “Do I really know what she’s capable of doing?”  If you’re a parent you should...

What's Wrong with the Girl's Toy Section?

by | Nov 29, 2014 | Andy's Deep Thoughts

Have you walked by the girl’s toy section lately?  It looks like Valentines Day threw up on everything.  Earlier today I made a quick trip to Target with Lisa my wife, and Hattie our 3-year-old daughter.  To burn a little time while Lisa was busy doing something in the women’s section, Hattie and I went to go check out the toys.  Now, for the record, as a parent I never insist that Hattie play with gender specific toys, and on any given day you’ll see her playing with Legos or putting her doll to sleep.  Other days she’s putting her legos to sleep and tag-team wrestling with her doll and stuffed cat. What I don’t understand is why retailers insist on stylizing every girl toy in pink, purple, and robin egg’s blue.  Is this supposed to make it more appealing?  Is there some study out there that shows that girls are more likely to buy things when they look like they’ve been dipped-in-Easter?  Or is this supposed help clear up what each gender should like to do, because I’m pretty sure Hattie would have no problem rocking a GI Joe to sleep…heck she’d rock a bag onions to sleep if she wanted to (actually I think she’s done this). Luckily, with Hattie’s good sense, she walked right past all the pinks and purples and wandered down to the volleyballs. What insights, eh?  Have you signed up for our newsletter yet so you don’t miss out on any of these nuggets of wisdom?  Sign up...

Why is it so hard to take a break from work?

by | Nov 28, 2014 | Andy's Deep Thoughts

Did you eat Thanksgiving for lunch or dinner?  For me it was dinner, and boy did I eat way too much turkey.  By the time we got home from the feast at a friends house I felt like I had to be rolled into bed.  I think I’ve learned that it makes a big difference if you celebrate Thanksgiving in the afternoon or evening.  By the time I rolled out of bed this morning I could tell that I would be walking a little slower today. I never really know what do to on Black Friday.  We eventually ran a few errands and cleaned the house…by the way I don’t recommend the latter if it includes cleaning out your closest and trying on old pants…that was a stupid idea. Anyway, I don’t know about other educators, but I always find it so difficult to really take a break over break.  Don’t get me wrong I haven’t really done anything too noteworthy today (hopefully this blog counts for something), but all day I’ve been thinking about some of the work I need to get done.  Is that healthy?  I’m starting to wonder whether working half days over the break would make me more present during the time I’m not working.  What do yo think?  Anybody got any answers of why it so hard to take a break from work?  Or is that wrong question?  How about...