Sunday, November 4, 2012

Education Ride 365: Ten Months Ridden, Two Months To Go!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Monday, October 29, 2012

Education Ride 365: New Character Building Questionnaires Are Yet Another Progressive Tool To Improve Your School

A great feature of both sets of questionnaires is that they can be easily edited. Furthermore, completely new questionnaires can be easily be designed and added to the existing set.

I just finished production of the video below to introduce EdClick's new "Character Building Questionnaires."

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline, Teen Leadership, Character Education, In-School Suspension

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Education Ride 365: See One New Way To Promote Student Discipline!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline, Discipline Questionnaires

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Education Ride 365: Three-Quarters Of 365, Four-Fifths Covered

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Education Ride 365: Red, Swollen Heinies In The Schools And The News!

Back on May 11th, I wrote a blog post about the near elimination of corporal punishment in public schools and some of the practical considerations contributing to this decline.  Alas, I discover that quite a few districts across America still exercise this discipline option today.

 

News from Texas this week (as reported in the two videos below) illustrates practical concerns I wrote about in my first post on this topic.

 

What do you think? 

Does this form of punishment have a place
in our schools today?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Education Ride 365: Another Tool In An Education Discipline Toolbox Desperately In Need

Once students log in, they are asked to respond to a collection of questions targeted to their particular offense. These are called "Incident Evaluations."  These question sets are presented in "accordion" style, organized into three main sections: Past & Perspective, Present & Aftermath, Future & Resolution. Each of these main sections include a number of questions, most of which are open-ended and probing.  Furthermore, a more lengthy "Discipline Evaluation" can be used for more serious offenses or persistent misbehavior.

Advantages to using these questionnaires are many, for the school and the child.  They are more diagnostic than many traditional consequences.  They are written to encourage introspection by the young person, as well as to encourage them to look at the matter from perspectives beyond their own.  They can be completed in the comfort and privacy of the student's home, as their schedule permits.  In cases where the student can't access a computer at home, DQs can be completed on any computer with internet access or even printed off to be completed with pencil and paper.  

From my perspective as an administrator, one very compelling advantage to this discipline alternative beyond that I've previously introduced is the ability to sift out the less frequent offenders without overburdening the overall discipline system of the school so I could then really identify and hone in on those students I refer to as "frequent flyers," my more persistent behavior cases.  This is a huge step towards establishing a healthier discipline climate in any school with a significant discipline case load.

These question sets were written by a professional educator and are powered by computer programming designed by Edclick.  The question sets are customizable by any school for their use.  Questions can be edited and new questionnaires can be easily developed and implemented.  

In an upcoming post I'll introduce "Character Building Questionnaires."  Each of these two types of question sets offer yet another tool in an education discipline toolbox desperately in need of expansion and specialization.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Monday, September 17, 2012

Education Ride 365: From Mere Inconvenience & Discomfort To Opportunity

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Challenge Of Building A Key Pillar Of Success For Continued Evolution

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Challenge Of Scaling Up Student Discipline Towards A More Constructive Outcome

Many students get in trouble only once or twice a semester, if that. Only a relatively small percentage of students tend to be persistent misbehavior problems. Yet, seats and supervision for discipline settings can be hard to come by, difficult to manage, and simply not very productive...much less constructive. 

As a school administrator, the importance of clear consequences for student misbehavior---applied consistently and with 100% follow-through---seem fundamental to establishing an exceptionally healthy school climate.  Young people need to know their boundaries and, as often as necessary, must have them reinforced.

Depending upon the level of student accountability in a school---both existing and envisioned---discipline is often a numbers game almost to a fault.  While it would be productive and perhaps ideal to have an in-depth discussion leading to a personalized consequence for each child referred to the office, this is rarely a luxury administrators have.  Particularly so if administration has raised the level of student expectations beyond merely addressing the most egregious infractions as matters the office is willing to tackle.  An assertive discipline initiative by administration can benefit teachers and overall instruction greatly, but it can also produce a volume of "cases" large enough to threaten its effectiveness.

Furthermore, absent the opportunity to discuss violations in depth with each student, administrators are missing what could be pivotal teachable moments in those young people's lives.  Beyond that, the young person is denied the opportunity to express themselves regarding the matter and possibly introspect in a manner that will forever embed a lesson otherwise lost.  In turn, the administrator is missing an opportunity to better understand this "discipline case" as an individual person who might be better reached and influenced given the context gained through a more personalized approach.

This background and thought process led to what I will further introduce in my next post on this blog.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Monday, September 10, 2012

Education Ride 365: Green Teachers More Visible In Our Schools

Here are some interesting numbers reported in a September 5th USA Today article entitled "More Teachers Green In The Classroom."

• "...teacher attrition rates have risen, from about 10% to 13% for first-year teachers..."
  

• "Between 40% to 50% of those entering the profession now leave within five years..."

• "In the 1987-88 school year...there were about 65,000 first-year teachers; by 2007-08, the number had grown to more than 200,000."
  

• "In the 1987-88 school year...the biggest group of teachers had 15 years of experience. By the 2007-08 school year...the biggest group of teachers had one year experience."

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Teacher Experience

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Education Ride 365: Stop This Meeting, I Want To Get Off!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Meetings

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Education Ride 365: Do You Rock The Boat...Or Are You A Rock In The Boat?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Change, Continuous Improvement

Monday, September 3, 2012

Education Ride 365: The 'Feds' In Public Schools

Districts must also address how they will improve teaching and learning using personalized "strategies, tools, and supports."

In fact, this personalized learning component makes up 40 points on the 200-point grading scale. The rest of the grading scale is:

• Prior academic track record and how transparent the district is (such as if it makes school-level expenditures readily available to the public), 45 points;
• "Vision" for reform, 40 points;
• Continuous improvement (having a strategy and performance measures for long-term improvement), 30 points;
• District policy and infrastructure (such as giving building leaders more autonomy), 25 points;
• Budget and sustainability, 20 points.

Ten bonus points are available for districts that collaborate with public and private partners to help improve the social, emotional and behavioral needs of students.

source: Education Week, $400 Million Race to Top Contest for Districts Starts Now

• U.S. Department of Education: Race To The Top District
• Education Week (Aug 12, 2012)
• Education Week (Aug 31, 2012)

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Race To The Top

Friday, August 31, 2012

Education Ride 365: Two-Thirds Through, Three-Fourths Towards Goal!

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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Education Ride 365: You Better Do This...Or I'm Going To Ignore That You Didn't!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Parent Involvement, Discipline

Friday, August 24, 2012

Education Ride 365: Yearly Progress For Parents As Well As Schools!

Many of you have already experienced and/or seen school start for the 2012-13 school year.  Most of the rest of you---including those of you just about everywhere in Texas---will begin this Monday. 

We talk a lot in this country about the condition of our schools and how to improve their performance.  We talk about what teachers should do, what principals should do, what school boards and superintendents should do.  It seems, in fact, that quite often the talk is perhaps too focused on what the schools should do better absent the broader picture furthering the cause.

Our entire country would be proportionally healthier to the degree we all remember that as much as we need quality schools functioning properly and engaging in continuous improvement, we just as importantly need true parental involvement and continuous growth in that effort.  We desperately need parents and others in the community introspecting about the role they play and how to take that crucial responsibility to a new level in whatever way they feel will make a difference. 

Schooling in America should improve every year.  Parenting in America should improve every year.  If both are on this trajectory---each considering how they can further support the mutual mission they both share, i.e. the strengthening of our individuals, families, and children as a part of one community---we will improve our great country together.  Most of us believe this country is in critical need of strengthening right about NOW!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Parental Involvement

Monday, August 20, 2012

Education Ride 365: We Need Our Law Makers To Demonstrate 'Adequate Yearly Progress' Towards Education Policy

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Accountabilty, Standardized Assessments, AYP, Adequate Yearly Progress

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Education Ride 365: Looking Back On Alaska!

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Friday, August 17, 2012

Education Ride 365: Don't Sleep Just Anywhere In Alaska & The Yukon!

This location was so nice I stayed there twice, once on my way into Alaska and the second time on my way out.  The picture above with John & Jill's granddaughters sitting on the Cycle of Education is of the more modern cabin I slept in my first time through.  The one just above and below this paragraph is of the more rustic cabin.  In the two pictures of the rustic cabin you can see the stream that runs by all of the cabins on the property.  It is crystal clear and flows such that it always sounds as if a light rain is falling outside.

A bountiful, scrumptious dinner with the family is included in the cost of a night's stay.  This was the best food I ate while in Alaska!  Breakfast is also included.  Both are served in the dining room of the beautifully decorated main house pictured below.

John will even offer to take guests on a tour of the property in his all-terrain vehicle, where---beyond the wonderful scenery---moose, bear, and other wildlife can often be spotted. 

In fact, moose and bear are known to meander around the lodge itself, like this moose right outside of the back door of the main house by the kid's play cabin!

The view in the photo immediately above and below this paragraph is what you'll be treated to at the third BnB I very much enjoyed up north---> Kluane Bed & Breakfast.  It is located on the shore of Kluane Lake just outside of Destruction Bay in the Yukon Territory.

The cabin I stayed in (below) sleeps at least three, has cable television, and breakfast is included.  There is no wifi here.  The bathroom is directly next door in the main lodge building, as are a couple of other rooms and the dining hall.

This area has an interesting history and the family who own and operate the place have been part of it.  Historical pictures are hung on the dining room wall, as are some wonderful photos of wildlife found around the lake.

One era of the history greets you on the short drive off of the main road to the actual BnB.  At the turn of the 20th century, around 1903, this area was settled by gold & silver mining prospectors. Numerous structures were built here in those early years, the remnants of which still stand. 

I found British Columbia and the Yukon Territory just as beautiful---perhaps more so---than Alaska itself.  As for lodging, do your research if you go.  Steer away from the overpriced, relatively marginal accommodations offered at the few hotels available in favor of Bed & Breakfast locations with the character and company of those I've highlighted above.  Your experience will be richer for having done so!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Education Ride 365: Catch The Wave Of Mobility & Enhanced Communication

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Mobility, Parent Portals, Parent Involvement

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Education Ride 365: Santa Does Have A Home In The North Pole

A joke I heard several times in Alaska asked "how can someone tell for sure if they are in Alaska or in Canada?"  Answer, "just look at the street signs to see if they have been shot or not." 

After hearing the joke, I laughed each time I saw a wounded street sign in Alaska, which was quite often.  True to the joke, it was not at all common in Canada.

Another way to tell if you are in Alaska is
if you stumble upon Santa's House in the North Pole. 
I did!

---

Day 210-213---60.53 miles traveled, 2 hours and  minutes of moving time, and a max speed of 71.7 miles per hour.  Day 214---388.4 miles traveled, 6 hours and 37 minutes of moving time, 58.6 miles per hour average moving time, 4 hour and 6 minutes stopped time, and 45.4 miles per hour overall average.  Day 215---Day of rest. 

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Monday, August 13, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Facade Of Reporting Versus Facilitating

Over the past few decades there has been an ever increasing attempt to collect data on schools in the areas of:

• school performance (example, is "adequate yearly progress" being achieved)

• matters of compliance (example, are the rules and regulations of grant programs and other funding mechanisms such as "average daily attendance" being adhered to)

• areas of perceived potential injustice (example, are particular/all minorities achieving and disciplined consistent with the same for other student groups in the school)

For years this was done on paper, then in more static spreadsheet and word processing apps, and now increasingly utilizing 21st century data-base management tools.  Still, we tend to collect a bunch of data to 'report out' (to the state, the feds, etc.) without really using the data much beyond that to analyze, inform, and effect decision-making. 

There are so many examples that we are in this stage of development which I intend to elaborate on in future posts.  In this post, though, introducing one of the facades at play in the discipline programs most of our schools are practicing, I would like to differentiate between 'software discipline tools' designed primarily to address the function of reporting out data to meet state and federal requirements for the reasons above versus a true discipline tool that make the actual labor of running a discipline program on a school campus more efficient, effective, and professional --->all the while less burdensome.

Most schools now use software to manage grades, attendance, and other such reporting aspects of running a school.  Commonly these are referred to as "student management systems" or "student information systems," the SMS or SIS, respectively.  Most of these software programs were adopted by schools for the primary purpose of collecting and reporting out data --->grades, attendance, discipline, student schedules, and other data that is input and reported out.  Where they go beyond the primary purpose of gathering and reporting data (and even often to this end), they tend to be rather thin in utility and clunky in execution.  Many are only now trying to add 'modules' to be able to tout doing it all in one mammoth piece of software, but they tend to do so superficially and often with the result of an even clunkier piece of software.

True discipline tools, such as EdClick's Discipline Manager, go way beyond what any of these primarily reporting tools do.  They actually facilitate the discipline process on a campus.  They streamline and inform referrals as well as resulting administrative actions (consequences), increase communication among all involved as well as others who can influence future behavior, improve follow-through and overall compliance, offer management solutions for more creative and appropriate consequences, offer diagnostic and proactive components, create increased deterrence in numerous ways, and so much more.

Rather than being primarily a data collection and reporting tool like the SIS and SMS systems tend to be, true discipline (software) tools go beyond that facade of effectiveness to being truly instrumental tools that can improve the discipline climate on any campus, regardless of their current relative effectiveness.

I will further develop this distinction in coming posts by elaborating on what discipline (software) tools that are not mere facades should do.  EdClick's Discipline Manager was developed from in the trenches, by school administrators, to make doing the job (not mere reporting) more effective and less burdensome with much improved outcomes. 

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Education Ride 365: All I Had To Do Was Look Closely To See The Ineffectiveness

Now that school is back in session through much of the country, with the rest soon to follow, the subject of discipline in the schools is ripe for discussion.  Accordingly, over the next few weeks I intend to pick up a discussion on the topic I started a couple of months ago on this blog as the last school year was coming to a conclusion.

Sometimes things aren't what they appear to be.  Discipline programs in our schools are an example, as are the 21st century tools used to facilitate those discipline programs.  The perception is that they are doing certain things that they often just are not doing. 

When I was riding in the Yukon Territory of Canada and came upon the police car pictured above sitting by the road, upon closer inspection I realized it was a facade---attempting to establish order---rather than the real deal.  Many of our schools have discipline programs and discipline tools that are in one way, shape, or form mere facades designed to give the appearance of established order that---upon closer inspection---fail the test of achieving, or at least maximizing, effectiveness.

We know that a proper discipline climate in the school is a pillar, if not the entire foundation, of a quality instructional program.  Is the discipline program in your school a mere facade of effectiveness....to one degree or another?  Could it be much more effective?

Much more on this topic in coming posts.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Education Ride 365: Stuck In The Past...Or Embracing The Present?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Paperless, School Operations

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Education Ride 365: Path Over Seven Months

The map below displays an overview of the 31,805 mile course "Education Ride 365" has taken over the first seven months of 2012.  Given the map's scale, the lines look much more linear than the travel actually was!  There were quite a few turns, loops, and overall wandering around throughout this general path! 

Many of the states I have ridden through and stayed in will be revisited and further explored in the five remaining months of 2012.  The 'Cycle of Education' goes....

ONWARD!

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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Education Ride 365: Another Month Of Education Ride 365 In The Books!

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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Education Ride 365: Education In America---> We Are Not Number One! Why?

CNN.com posted a collection of extremely interesting blog comments today originally intended to be: "A forum on longer school days (which) shifted from the impact they might have on students to a lively debate over how hard teachers work."  Beyond that, I think, it raises a wide-range of education issues for which there is nothing near a consensus on any given point and illustrates just how factionalized and disparate Americans are today on any given education topic.

As a nation, can we reasonably, realistically hope to ever again be near the top in international rankings of student (or school) performance given our profound divisions and venom for those not sharing our opinions?  Can a country of self-professed education experts, imbued with almost extreme individualistic tendencies and an instinct to display righteous indignation towards anyone who feels differently about any given topic than they do ever come together to compete as a unified force with a shared mission the way some other more unified thinking and acting nations do?

Or, is this our strength?  Is the type of vigorous debate this collection of opinion represents bound to make us better?  More competitive?  Finally able to get education "right?," so we can be #1 again...if nowhere else but in our collective myth?

I encourage those of you interested in American education to click the image below to read, browse, or skim the lengthy and vigorous debate CNN has published here:

 

Click for full collection from CNN.com

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Monday, July 30, 2012

Education Ride 365: A New Academic Year In The 21st-Century! Save Your School Time & Money! Simplify Your Task!

July is a cherished month in the education world.  Most every educator has at least part of July off, free of most any school responsibility.  Alas, most every educator has now---or will soon---return to work for the upcoming academic year.  At this time in past years, when I was working in the trenches of school administration, frantic preparations were underway for staff training and opening of school responsibilities.  Unless you have done it, you may have a hard time conceiving of how much goes into these efforts.

One of the many responsibilities I had as an assistant principal at this time of the year was preparing for the distribution and return of opening of school forms.  I have seen this done in such a haphazard manner as to be an insult to administrative professionalism.  In the schools I worked in, no fewer than ten different forms were sent home with students the first day of school to be returned completed and signed by parents.  Typically teachers were tasked with collecting these and recording which had been returned and which remained outstanding.  It was a burdensome responsibility on top of all the other management tasks teachers have in the first couple of weeks of school.

To help, I developed a system of color coding the forms and a checklist for tallying returns.  Each of the ten forms were copied on a color-specific paper (at significant cost of money and time), counted out for each teacher, and placed in their boxes for distribution to students.  Because class counts were still changing and students would inevitably often "lose" their forms before delivering them to parents, extra copies had to be made.

Then, for several weeks, teachers had to collect what forms were returned, check them off, then hound those students who had not returned them.  We also asked them to alphabetize and collate all returned forms each day to turn into the office for reconciliation and filing.  You would be amazed how the forms would trickle in.  Besides those who turned in none whatsoever, incomplete sets or forms with missing signatures required students to be hounded to return only a few out of the entire set.  It was a huge burden of execution.

Once the forms were returned, certain ones had to be referenced throughout the year.  An example was the permission to publish student photographs.  This is an important permission form and records were often incomplete and not easily referenced when needed.  Inefficiency and out-dated processes risked unauthorized publication and a resulting headache.  The same could be said for other forms that had to be referenced or could be audited.  It was a 20th-century process operating in the 21st-century of advanced technology-assisted data management.

One of the projects I have been working with EdClick on this summer is professionalizing this process as well as so many similar data-collection and information disbursing tasks school administrators have traditionally done in costly, time-consuming, and difficult to query (search) ways.

Time and money are two incredibly pressed resources we have in education today.  Why should we still be doing so many of these tasks on paper?  Why not make these forms and other such communications/requirements available online for parents to review and sign electronically?  Doing so will save the school money, time, and mistakes in professionally managing these important communications.  Completed forms can then be easily queried for review and other tasks, such as assessing which are outstanding versus which have been accounted for.  Need to know if a student photograph can be published?  Within seconds a database query allows you to see that form or access the information in a list.  This database will serve the school in so many ways, throughout the school year.

Once the greater segment of your parent population saves the school money and time by using such a system, those who do not can be targeted in more traditional ways.  Over time, especially given an appropriate parent education campaign about the merits of participating online---or another means of compulsion---the paper tasks will shrink down to a much more manageable number of outliers.  The future is paperless.

Opening of school forms are but one of many such paper intensive tasks associated with school management EdClick has now automated and professionalized for efficient distribution, collection, and verification.  I will be highlighting others in posts over the coming weeks.

School is just about back in session.  My education-specific blog posts are too! 

Bring your school into 21st-century management processes. 
EdClick can help!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Go Paperless, Electronic Signatures, School Forms

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Last American Frontier And The Road There!

Immediately upon riding off the ferry in Haines, AK, I headed out towards Haines Junction, Yukon, for the night.  I was accompanied by three couples riding Harley Davidsons who I had befriended during the ship passage.  We planned to ride together this first day, as well as the second day from Haines Junction into Tok, AK. 

They seemed like a great group of folks and the relative security of riding with others in this unknown, remote land was appreciated.

I had always heard Canadian border patrol officers can be real sticklers.  My passage through the checkpoint below went smoothly, as did that of my riding partners.  It was funny, though, that when they asked Wade (above) if he was carrying any weapons into Canada (which is forbidden) and he answered "no,"  the officer responded by asking "but what will you do to defend yourself against bear attacks?" The not too subtle baiting didn't work on Wade though.  He simply responded that he'd "rely upon his accelerator!"

From the ferry in Haines just about all the way up through British Columbia and the Yukon to Haines Junction was incredibly beautiful.  It is perhaps the most majestic scenery (perhaps only rivaled by the pacific coast) I have taken in over the course of Education Ride 365.  Unfortunately I didn't capture much of that beauty with my camera, as one of the downsides of riding along with a group is the necessity of keeping up with the pack.

The need to keep up with a group anxious to get to their destination was particularly painful when I came across a momma bear and her cub hanging out right off the road.  I was able to take a few quick photos, but the cub was out of frame and the overall quality is far inferior to what I had hoped for given the chance to take such pictures.

The same goes for capturing shots of the scenery, which I basically completely missed the first two days.  My only solace is that I will pass through that area again on my way back to catch the ferry and hopefully the weather will be as bright and clear as it was during my first pass through, as evidenced by my unflattering squint in the photo above!

The ride from dusty, desolate Haines Junction to Tok was not nearly as scenic as that the previous day.  Nor was the first 170 or so miles from Tok to Anchorage. There was plenty of damaged roadway and road under construction almost the entire length of the route from just before Haines Junction to 150 miles from Anchorage.  The winter weather wreaks havoc on the roads up here.  Summer is the only time for repairs. 

In this part of Canada it appears that they work on miles of roadway at a time, so it is quite common to ride through grated and gravely road for rather long distances.  In this part of America it seems that they more selectively repair patches 20-30 feet in length at a time, fairly widespread, such that you are regularly crossing fresh and packed gravel stretches.  Between those and uneven surfaces, a motorcyclist has to ride particularly aware of road conditions.

I rode alone from Tok to Anchorage, so the third day I was able to capture a few more images, including the two above and the two below.  From 130 miles out of Anchorage (especially the first 85 of these miles) the landscape is marvelous!  My pictures don't at all do justice to what I saw on this ride, so I'm hoping I can improve upon these on my way to Valdez later this week, then again next weekend on my way back across the Yukon and British Columbia to catch the ferry back to Washington from Haines.

The photo directly above includes a fantastic glacier that winds its way between the peaks and ends abruptly as pictured above. 

Alaska---> the last American frontier!

---

Day 202 & 203---On a boat all day!  Day 204---152.2 miles traveled, 3 hours and 5 minutes of moving time, 49.2 miles per hour average moving time, 1 hour and 13 minutes stopped time, 35.4 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 73.3 miles per hour.  Day 205---319.1 miles traveled, 6 hours and 57 minutes of moving time, 45.8 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hour and 25 minutes stopped time, 34 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 74.7 miles per hour.  Day 206---299.7 miles traveled, 5 hours and 14 minutes of moving time, 57.3 miles per hour average moving time, 1 hour and 39 minutes stopped time, 43.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 95.1 miles per hour.  Day 207, 208, 209---Cycle maintenance & rest.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Education Ride 365: Not Exactly The Minnow, Nor A Three-Hour Tour!

I purchased my ferry passage in early-March through the "Alaska Marine Highway System" for departure on July 20th.  Several people told me it would be important to purchase early for passage during the summer months.  They were right.  Cabins were sold out by the time I booked in March, so I paid $914 round-trip for me and the Cycle of Education to ride on the deck.  The Cycle was strapped down below (something I had to do myself and was supposed to bring the straps for, unbeknownst to me), while I slept in a tent up on the deck below the dining room. 

After strapping down the Cycle it was a mad dash up to a higher deck to get the best spot I could for my tent.  I had heard that a few tents would enjoy partial cover under the dining hall overhang on deck 6.  This was especially important to me since I had stripped the flaking waterproofing of of my tent with the intent of re-waterproofing it, but didn't get it done before leaving Seattle because I had not accounted for the minimum 48 hour cure time.  Competition for spots was fierce.  Nonetheless, I did manage to get partial cover.  I still feared directional rain and ocean mist, but I was very lucky to meet Mr. Ron Giese from Sacramento who so kindly loaned me a tarp and straps.  We went down and dug it out from the very back of the truck he was transporting on the ferry.  Everything (and I mean everything) he was transporting had to be moved to get to this tarp.  Thanks so much Ron!

My first night of sleep was only a few hours.  That steel deck makes for a very firm mattress.  At 3:30am I wandered to the purser's desk and visited with the young lady working the night shift.  She suggested I rent pillows for $1 each to make a bed in my tent!  So, I rented six pillows and a blanket for $8.  That is perhaps the best $8 I have spent during Education Ride 365!

The ferry between Bellingham WA and Haines AK only runs once a week.  The "Columbia" makes port calls in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and Juneau along the way over a 3.5 day passage.  The Ketchikan stop was for a 1.5 hours, so I decided to get off and ended up splitting a cab ride with four other folks the ten minutes to "downtown" for some tourist shop hopping.  Really it was to get a real latte, as the coffee and latte machine on the ferry were rather sub-par...to speak generously of them!  We were allowed to split the cab fee of $10 between us, so for a $4 round-trip we were able to get away from the ferry for an hour of shop hopping around the huge cruise ships.  The other port calls were very short and the towns were tiny, with the exception of Juneau....but the stop there was at 3:30 in the morning.  So, I only got off in Ketchikan the entire passage.

Food on the ferry is best brought on board oneself!  The cafeteria is marginal and relatively expensive for what one gets.  The dining room is actually quite good, but pricy.  One fact that helps is tips are prohibited for employees of Alaska, which covers the entire crew.  So, were no tips on this ferry.  There is a lounge and a few other diversions, but all told the majority of time on boat is spent looking at the wonderful scenery, reading, visiting with other passengers, and sleeping.  For me, my sleeping was quite fragmented...mostly in 3-4 hour chunks.  Perhaps if I were in a cabin it would have helped.  The (rude) little drummer in the tent next to me didn't help, nor did the regular loudspeaker announcements from ship personnel.

All told, though, I did enjoy the experience.  I met quite a few interesting people, including a group of Harley Davidson motorcyclists from New York and Nevada who I joined once ashore for a couple of days of riding, first to Haines Junction in the Yukon, then onto Tok in Alaska.  More on that in a coming post!

---

Catch-up on riding stats from July 2nd
until boarding the ferry on July 20th:

Day 183 (South of Soqual, CA July 2)---103.6 miles traveled, 3 hours and 16 minutes of moving time, 31.7 miles per hour average moving time, 5 hour and 48 minutes stopped time, 11.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 82.4 miles per hour.  Day 184---106.9 miles traveled, 2 hours and 43 minutes of moving time, 39.2 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 71.1 miles per hour.  Day 185---341.8 miles traveled, 7 hours and 27 minutes of moving time, 45.8 miles per hour average moving time, 3 hour and 12 minutes stopped time, 32.1 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 78.2 miles per hour.  Day 186 (To Reno, NV July 5)---296.5 miles traveled, 4 hours and 56 minutes of moving time, 58.3 miles per hour average moving time, 3 hour and 9 minutes stopped time, 35.6 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 83.2 miles per hour.  Day 187---Rest.  Day 188---235.7 miles traveled, 4 hours and 55 minutes of moving time, 47.8 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hour and 42 minutes stopped time, 30.9 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 90.4 miles per hour.  Day 189 (To Sacramento, CA July 8)---155.6 miles traveled, 3 hours and 33 minutes of moving time, 43.7 miles per hour average moving time, 45 minutes stopped time, 36 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 83.3 miles per hour.  Day 190 (To San Francisco, CA July 9)---169.1 miles traveled, 3 hours and 17 minutes of moving time, 51.2 miles per hour average moving time, 1 hour and 23 minutes stopped time, 36.1 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 85.1 miles per hour.  Day 191 & 192---Rest.  Day 193 (To McKinleyville, CA July 12)---358.6 miles traveled, 8 hours and 7 minutes of moving time, 31.7 miles per hour average moving time, 3 hours and 11 minutes stopped time, 31.7 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 77.5 miles per hour.  Day 194 (To Brookings, OR July 13)---94.18 miles traveled, 1 hour and 55 minutes of moving time, 29.5 miles per hour average moving time, 1 hour and 16 minutes stopped time, 29.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 78 miles per hour.  Day 195---Rest.  Day 196 (To Salem, OR July 15)---293.6 miles traveled, 5 hours and 46 minutes of moving time, 50.9 miles per hour average moving time, 3 hour and 50 minutes stopped time, 30.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 83.3 miles per hour.  Day 197 (To Vancouver, WA July 16)---75.5 miles traveled, 1 hour and 27 minutes of moving time, 51.6 miles per hour average moving time, 58 minutes stopped time, 30.9 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 75.5 miles per hour.  Day 198 (To Seattle, WA July 17)---202.8 miles traveled, 4 hours and 5 minutes of moving time, 49.5 miles per hour average moving time, 1 hour and 1 minute stopped time, 39.6 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 88.4 miles per hour.  Day 199 & 200---Rest.  Day 201 (To Bellingham, WA July 20)---136.1 miles traveled, 3 hours and 15 minutes of moving time, 41.9 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hour and 51 minutes stopped time, 22.3 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 80.2 miles per hour.

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Friday, July 20, 2012

Education Ride 365: Twenty-Three Reasons Why I Have Not Posted On This Blog For Many Days

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Sunday, July 8, 2012

Education Ride 365: Yes Sir, Big Sur Is A Sight To Behold!

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Sunday, July 8, 2012

Education Ride 365: I'm Intoxicated!

I admit it, I probably did less discussing and thinking about education while in the Monterey Bay area than in any similar period during the prior six months.  The coast of California is intoxicating!  Rather than write much in this post, I'm going to share some pictures I took from the area just north of Santa Cruz on Highway 1.  Tomorrow I will share a set from Monterey south approximately 70 miles, including Big Sur.  Then, the following day, I will share the three spectacular routes where my photos in these two posts (and the one prior) were taken.

Once I get all of that out of my system---sober up, so to speak---I'll get back to a more balanced presentation of travel vs. education content!  It is summertime after all!

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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Education Ride 365: By Land, Air, & Sea In Cali!

I really enjoyed the beaches around the city of Monterey.  The city itself is spectacular too.

While I was busy checking out the area, some of the local fauna were busy checking out the 'Cycle of Education!'

On land, by air...

...even from in the sea!

In these two pictures you can see two elephant seals, one near the water and one on a rock above!  The one closer to the water seemed particularly interested in what I was up to!

It is amazing how similar they look to the rocks they lounge on.  Notice the group below...including a greyish one to the left of the photo.

Can you pick out the elephant seal in the photo below?

My pics from this beach on the Monterey Peninsula weren't my best and certainly didn't capture the beauty of the place.  It was gray and cool outside, but the place really warmed my heart.

I hated to fly from this location as night fell on Day 183!  It was not, however, the last of my explorations of the area.  More in the next few posts.

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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Education Ride 365: Giant Trees And An Unnecessary Climb!

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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Education Ride 365: Today Marks The First Day Of The Second Half!

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Friday, June 29, 2012

Education Ride 365: A Huge Leap Forward In A Remarkably Wonderful Land!

Before arriving in San Diego for the ISTE Conference mentioned in earlier posts, I visited a few other sites on the way with a friend.  One destination was Laguna Beach, where we stayed up in the hills not far from Laguna Beach High School, overlooking the ocean.  The picture below was taken only a hundred or so yards from the house.  What a beautiful place the whole of Laguna Beach is!

The picture below was taken with my iPhone at an event we attended right outside of L.A., in Walnut CA.  The climate and terrain of coastal California can hardly be beat!

The 'Cycle of Education' represented EdClick in the San Diego Convention Center for ISTE 2012.  Since EdClick customers are now spread across the country, we have begun to attend education conferences beyond those held in Texas.  ISTE is one of the largest and most dynamic of them all.  An estimated 15,000 educators from around the world attended.  We met folks from most every state, plus countries as diverse as Turkey, England, Korea, China, Mexico, Switzerland, Romania, Australia, New Zealand, and numerous others.  Despite our streamlined presence at this conference (our booth was half the normal size, with fewer accoutrements and personnel) we still left with over 100 solid contacts, a certain growth of our customer base, and promising developments for continuing product development! 

We celebrated our success with a couple of nights of food and fun in Little Italy, a San Diego gem!  San Diego is an all-around marvelous city!

After the conference I stayed on in San Diego for an additional day of riding with my most inspiring friend, Ted Schuster.  He took me up into the mountains for a day of twists, turns, and accelerations through Native American nations and other scenic areas around San Diego.  Ted is 73 years of age...going on 20---> I can hardly keep up with him!

Today---Day 180---I am on my way to the Sequoia National Forest for a stay in Camp Nelson, CA.  Leaving San Diego I have an especially reinvigorated sense of what I need to do to further promote continuous improvement in education, particularly through my efforts for EdClick.  The more terrain I cover and people I meet during 'Education Ride 365,' the more certain I am of my mission!

Onward!

---

Day 168---449.6 miles traveled, 6 hours and 14 minutes of moving time, 54.2 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hours and 3 minutes stopped time, 54.2 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 87.3 miles per hour.  Day 169-172---88.08 miles traveled, 2 hours and 45 minutes of moving time, 32 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 75.7 miles per hour.  Day 173---204.9 miles traveled, 3 hours and 3 minutes of moving time, 67.1 miles per hour average moving time, 36 minutes stopped time, 56.2 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 84.7 miles per hour.  Day 174---185.7 miles traveled, 3 hours and 55 minutes of moving time, 47.4 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 86.6 miles per hour.  Day 175---84.11 miles traveled, 1 hour and 56 minutes of moving time, 43.2 miles per hour average moving time,  and a max speed of 82.2 miles per hour.  Day 176-178---In San Diego Convention Center.  Day 179---161.9 miles traveled, 4 hours and 11 minutes of moving time, 38.7 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hour and 30 minutes stopped time, 24.2 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 81.3 miles per hour. 

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Education Ride 365: My Experience With The California Highway Patrol!

After working most of this week in Las Vegas, I am now back in (much cooler) southern California.  Brief stays in Apple Valley, Walnut, and Laguna Beach this weekend will be followed by a week in San Diego for the International Society for Technology in Education Conference I've mentioned in earlier posts.

Two things in particular romanticized motorcycle riding for me as a young boy.  One was daredevil Evel Knievel.  Most of you will no doubt recall him...

...and if so, you're seasoned enough in life to likely remember my other significant inspiration, the TV show "CHiPs." 

Filling up for gas in California I struck up a conversation with a real-life California Highway Patrolman named Luke.  He was kind enough to allow me to photograph him (below) on his BMW law machine!

Six months into 'Education Ride 365' I have yet to have a less than positive interaction with law enforcement!  Yay!

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Friday, June 22, 2012

Education Ride 365: Adult Bullying Victim Update...24 Hours Later

Yesterday I reported about an online effort to raise $5,000 to fund "a vacation" for the adult victim of a recent bullying incident on a school bus.  At 4:10pm pacific time yesterday the fund had raised $355,666.  Now, a mere 24 hours later, the amount is up to $570,566!

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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Education Ride 365: Witness The Best & Worst Of People... Schools--->Respond Accordingly!

On a positive note, an online fundraising campaign was initiated to raise $5,000 for the abused bus monitor in the above video to take "a vacation."  In only a few days this effort has raised $348,972.  I am writing this at 4:10 Thursday afternoon.  Earlier this morning the total was $202,000.  That was a mere six (or so) hours ago. 

Americans are tired of bullying.  Americans are tired of cruel, seemingly poorly-parented children.  Americans (in many cases) expect the schools to completely insulate students from these injustices. 

What is your school doing
---proactively and reactively---
to combat the menace of bullying? 

EdClick can help. 

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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Education Ride 365: Progress Towards Guiding Young People Beyond Learning To More Targeted Understanding & Doing

Common standards in ELA and mathematics have been developed and adopted in all but four states.  Just this week, proposed common standards have been released for career and technical education by the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium.  Now begin efforts to get this framework adopted in states across the country. 

The standards are organized into 16 "career clusters" including:

• Agriculture, Food & National Resources
• Architecture & Construction
• Arts, A/V Technology & Communications
• Business Management & Administration
• Education & Training
• Finance
• Government & Public Administration
• Health Science
• Hospitality & Tourism
• Human Services
• Information Technology
• Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security
• Manufacturing
• Marketing
• Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
• Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

Each of these "career clusters" is further organized into subsets of "career pathways."  According to an Education Week article published today regarding this proposed set of standards:

There are also a set of 12 overarching "career-ready practices" that detail knowledge, skills, and 'dispositions' necessary for a successful launch into the workplace, such as modeling integrity, ethical leadership, and effective management, and communicating "clearly, effectively, and with reason."

Career and technical education has been sparking a lot of thought in recent years, as the old vocational education is being phased out in favor of more rigorous alternatives that seek to give students the demanding academics they need, but do it through a more hands-on, career-oriented lens. Programs like ConnectEd in California aim for this blend, arguing that it keeps students engaged while giving them all the training they need to pursue an array of options, from associate degrees and certificates to a four-year college path.

The entire document of "Common Career Technical Core" standards can be downloaded by clicking here.

I have previously posted about this trend.  I strongly believe greater emphasis on practical application of rigorous curriculum through career preparation concentrations will better serve so many fledgling young people (in particular), as well as our country as a whole.  Students must be allowed to go beyond primarily 'knowing' to much more 'understanding' and 'doing' towards a perceivably tangible goal other than the mere promise of yet more schooling.  So many young adults crave this.

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Education Ride 365: A Reminder To Treasure This Headlong Ride!

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Monday, June 18, 2012

Education Ride 365: Discipline Efforts In Schools Defined & Explained #6

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Education Ride 365: Hot Body, Cool State Of Mind!

Another day down the road when I am blazing hot and longing for a climate more like that of spring in New England, I'll share other pictures I took in May from further up the coast of Maine!

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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Education Ride 365: Out West In Search Of 21st Century School Management!

On Day 163---June 12th---I left DFW beginning a new leg of 'Education Ride 365,'  first riding down to Austin for the TASSP Conference mentioned in earlier posts.  After that successful conference, on Day 166 I left Austin for a single night in Lubbock.  Today---Day 167---I made it to Gallup, New Mexico.  After these two long ride days in a row, I'm preparing for roughly 450 miles tomorrow to Las Vegas.  Education Ride 365 moves on!

 

After spending a few days working in Las Vegas this week, I'm headed to San Diego for the International Society for Technology in Education Conference. 

Is your school managed like a 21st century school?

---

Day 163---247.7 miles traveled, 3 hours and 46 minutes of moving time, 65.5 miles per hour average moving time, 1 hour and 14 minutes stopped time, 49.2 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 87.4 miles per hour.  Day 164 & 165---In Austin Convention Center.  Day 166---398.6 miles traveled, 6 hours and 21 minutes of moving time, 62.6 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hours and 3 minutes stopped time, 47.4 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 84.1 miles per hour. Day 167---526.7 miles traveled, 8 hours and 16 minutes of moving time, 65.9 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hours and 8 minutes stopped time, 49.8 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 87.5 miles per hour.

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Friday, June 15, 2012

Education Ride 365: One Way To Address Bullying---Another Way Not To!

One discipline problem school administrators have been increasingly focused on is bullying.  We heard it quite frequently from Edclick's current and prospective customers---school administrators---at the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference this past week.  I also hear it often during my 'Education Ride 365' discussions with educators and non-educators alike.  Since Edclick is in the business of developing solutions for the full range of operational challenges school administrators encounter running a 21st century school, I'm proud to say we can help with the "bullying" challenge!

Needless to say, an example of how two teachers in a suburban San Antonio school (allegedly) recently addressed this discipline priority is not on our list of solutions!  The full story can be accessed by clicking here or on the excerpt below:

Contact Edclick for legal, prudent, pragmatic, and ethical
measures to address bullying in your school!

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Education Ride 365: Cycle Of Education At TASSP

This week the 'Cycle of Education'
is parked in the Austin Convention Center

for the (TASSP)
Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference

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Saturday, June 9, 2012

Education Ride 365: Up The Arm, Down The Country!

From Vermont on Day 151 I made my way on to West Greenwich, Rhode Island.  Using this state as a launch point, on Day 152 I made my way completely up the "arm" of Cap Cod to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Later in the day I returned to West Greenwich, located outside of Providence, Rhode Island. 

I then moved on to Norwich, Connecticut on Day 153, 
but used Day 154 of my stay to ride back into Rhode Island
to explore Jamestown! 

The night before I visited this rocky coast with considerable surf, numerous boats were stranded in these waters while the area was pelted with storms.  Occupants of one boat had to be plucked out of the raging water by the coast guard before their boat crashed hard against the coastline.  I can attest because I saw fragments of it.  None larger than a small surfboard.

Thus the third oldest lighthouse in America!

Day 155 started my southern descent back towards Dallas so I can prepare for the upcoming TASSP (Texas Association of Secondary School Principals) Conference in Austin, June 13-15.  I will be following that with a quick ride out to San Diego for the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference, June 24-27. 

The day included my second rear tire flat of Education Ride 365.  It happened just outside of Fishkill, NY.  In a blog post on March 8th I wrote about my first one in Arkansas.  Like the first, I heard this tire puncture.  It was quite loud and occurred just as I crossed a bridge seam that was rough.  I stopped, contacted a shop, and added fix-a-flat hoping I could make it the six or so miles to repair.  Over a large grated bridge I rode and missed my confusing exit before deciding I needed to make a u-turn in the "official vehicle only" highway median lane.  I made it.  Just did. 

The folks at Maroney's Motorsports in New Windsor NY were great!  They charged me fairly and were very kind.  Jim, whose grandfather founded the Harley Shop next door now run by his dad, was cool.  Even more so because he has his dog there running around like he owns the place!

Plunging south, on Day 156 I visited Charles Town, West Virginia.  A tough ride followed on Day 157.  It was a long, wet ride between Charles Town, WV and Louden, TN.  The night I spent in Loudon will not soon be forgotten.  A case of food poisoning put me through the wringer and made the 380 mile journey the next day---Day 158---an exercise in sheer endurance.  Excessive dehydration and motorcycling don't mix well! 

Day 159---June 8---I pulled into Garland, Texas
after completing 465 miles from Memphis, TN. 

In the first eight days of June I rode the Cycle of Education
over 2866 miles out of New England back to DFW. 

It is time for cycle maintenance, family visits...

...and a very brief respite from this journey
to all parts of America!

---

Day 151---306.9 miles traveled, 5 hours and 11 minutes of moving time, 59.1 miles per hour average moving time, 2hours and 29 minutes stopped time, 40 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 84 miles per hour.  Day 152---325 miles traveled, 10 hours and 10 minutes of moving time, 32 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 86.8 miles per hour. Day 153---61.87 miles traveled, 1 hours and 33 minutes of moving time, 39.8 miles per hour average moving time, 47 minutes stopped time, 26.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 73.5 miles per hour.  Day 154---127.5 miles traveled, 3 hours and 15 minutes of moving time, 39.2 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 70.5 miles per hour. Day 155---332.8 miles traveled, 6 hours and 39 minutes of moving time, 49.9 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hours and 50 minutes stopped time, and 35 miles per hour overall average.  Day 156---191.4 miles traveled, 3 hours and 41 minutes of moving time, 51.8 miles per hour average moving time, 1 hours and 34 minutes stopped time, 36.4 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 79.1 miles per hour. Day 157---491.8 miles traveled, 7 hours and 46 minutes of moving time, 63.3 miles per hour average moving time, 4 hours and 35 minutes stopped time, and 39.8 miles per hour overall average.  Day 158---379 miles traveled, 5 hours and 38 minutes of moving time, 67.1 miles per hour average moving time, 3 hours and 4 minutes stopped time, 43.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 84.3 miles per hour. Day 159---464.6 miles traveled, 6 hours and 40 minutes of moving time, 69.6 miles per hour average moving time, 48 minutes stopped time, 62 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 87 miles per hour. 

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Sunday, June 3, 2012

Education Ride 365: Here, There, Not Yet Everywhere!

The map below displays an overview of the 23,406 mile course "Education Ride 365" has taken over the first five months of 2012.  Given the map's scale, the lines look much more linear than the travel actually was!  There were quite a few turns, loops, and overall wandering around throughout this general path! 

Many of the states I have ridden through and stayed in will be revisited and further explored in the seven remaining months of 2012.  The 'Cycle of Education' goes....

ONWARD!

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Friday, June 1, 2012

Education Ride 365: An Update On Crisscrossing America Five Months In!

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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Education Ride 365: From One Beautiful State To Another!

---

Day 149---165 miles traveled, 3 hours and 11 minutes of moving time, 51.8 miles per hour average moving time, 4hours and 11 minutes stopped time, 22.2 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 70.7 miles per hour.  Day 150---151.5 miles traveled, 4 hours and 5 minutes of moving time, 37 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 66.6 miles per hour.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Education Ride 365: Smile, Your Bad Behavior Is On My Smart Phone!

My blog posts on April 17th and 20th covered aspects of student use of smart phones in the classroom.  Recently I came across another thought-provoking report about smart phone use in classrooms.

This time teachers are being urged to use their smart phones to record proceedings in class----> specifically, bad behavior by students.  A major teacher association is encouraging teachers to do what other teachers have been sanctioned for.  At the root of the issue is whether or not the classroom is a public forum, as many other parts of the school have been designated.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Technology, Smart Phones, Discipline

Monday, May 28, 2012

Education Ride 365: Brake For New Hampshire!

Pictures don't do it justice.  If you ever get to visit make sure to explore the "White Mountain" area.  Next time I'm getting in that crystal clear water!

---

Day 147---160.3 miles traveled, 3 hours and 24 minutes of moving time, 47 miles per hour average moving time, 32 minutes stopped time, 39.9 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 80.1 miles per hour.  Day 148---200.6 miles traveled, 4 hours and 34 minutes of moving time, 43.9 miles per hour average moving time, 4 hours and 4 minutes stopped time, 23.2 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 80.5 miles per hour.

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Education Ride 365: Riding, Talking, & Doing Too Much To Stay Caught Up!

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Friday, May 25, 2012

Education Ride 365: Discipline Efforts In Schools Defined & Explained #5

• Parent Contact

• Coach and/or Activity Sponsor Contact

• Detentions: Lunch, Before- and After-School

• Extra School: Saturday School, Thursday School, Friday Night Reflections

• In-School Suspension

• Out-of-School Suspension

• Disciplinary Alternative School

• Restitution

• Behavior Contracts

• Suspension of Privilege

• Behavior Questionnaires

• Character Building Assignments

• Type of misbehavior.

• Context of the misbehavior.

• Discipline history of the offender.

• Focus priority of the misbehavior.

• Ability of the system to support follow-through on the consequence.

• What procedure does a staff member actually follow to report violations?

• Depending on the nature of the offense, what interventions were expected to be tried by the referring staff member prior to formal referral to the office?

• In what way should those interventions be documented?

• Where are the referrals and other related documentation collected and organized for review?

• How can missed instructional time be minimized when students must be called to the office?

• Must students be called to the office for every teacher referral?

• Are there ways to better manage high volumes of referrals that may occur at any given time?

• What procedure should be used for documenting or otherwise establishing the "student's side" of any given situation?

• In what way can the administrator determine if the student has a Special Education 'Behavior Intervention Plan' or other special consideration of this nature before assigning a consequence without referencing this important information?
  

• Under what circumstances and in what manner will parents be notified?

• How will the referring staff member be notified of administrative action taken in response to their referral?

• How will other staff members involved in the discipline process be notified of administrative actions taken?

• Which other staff members should be made aware of specific cases of inappropriate student behavior?  How will this be done?

• In what manner will lists be created?

• Which staff member(s) will maintain the lists, including who is credited as fulfilling an assigned consequence and who is overdue?

• How/where is this information logged for future reference, for instance when sharing a student's discipline history with a parent?

• How are corrections, postponements, and other such extraordinary adjustments communicated and represented on the master list?

• Which staff member(s) will be responsible for determining fulfillment of assigned discipline consequences?

• What is the "cost" when a student fails to fulfill a discipline consequence?

• How will that "cost" be communicated to the student and recorded to make sure the reassigned consequence is ultimately fulfilled?
  

• Do administrators have the benefit of reviewing each student's discipline history prior to addressing a new referral as context for making a more informed decision regarding the most current referral?

• In what way can a student's parents view a telling picture of their child's discipline history?
  

• How can data on any given student's previous discipline history be accessed and represented to support current and future disciplinary actions as needed?
  

• On what basis can a school or district determine the relative state of success of their discipline program?

• Is the school or district able to quantify and disaggregate data regarding the frequency, nature, location, and other relevant data points regarding discipline incidents occurring over time?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Small World I Share With Einstein And You All!

 

As large as our country is, as many people as roam its surface, we are still often connected in so many ways we often aren't aware of.  During these travels, I am building a large network of associations---both inside and outside of education.  I am regularly reminded how intertwined our paths can be. 

Einstein offered the world a formula for how matter is turned into energy and energy into matter.  Hmmmm, if only I could offer a formula for how associations among people can be turned into energy...and vice versa!  Yea, right!  Perhaps I can offer a formula for how attention to continuous school improvement can transform students into the type of citizens we need to safeguard the future prosperity of our country!  Yea, right!  Alas, perhaps the best I can do is to continue riding, continue exchanging ideas and learning from others, and be prepared to actually create the synergies I'll have to leave up to more brilliant people to ever offer a formula for!

Onward!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Monday, May 21, 2012

Education Ride 365: Standardizing A Paradox

"Paradoxically we are embracing standardized tests just when the economy is eliminating standardized jobs."

-Robert Reich

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Assessment, Standardized Testing

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Education Ride 365: Catching Up On Featuring Kind People Along The Way!

Once we arrived at the lake, after wandering through some nice rural roads, I split off from the group and finished the sweltering early-spring day making it to my youngest brother's home in Garland, Texas. 

It would be little more than a weekend later before I concluded my short visit home and headed right back up near Tulsa to Ken and Heather's home as a first stop on my way up to New England for yet another leg of Education Ride 365! 

---

Day 116---292 miles traveled, 4 hours and 27 minutes of moving time, 60.1 miles per hour average moving time, 4 hours and 16 minutes stopped time, 31.7 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 82 miles per hour.  Day 117---Rest!  Day 118---230.3 miles traveled, 3 hours and 37 minutes of moving time, 63.5 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hours and 33 minutes stopped time, 37.3 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 81.9 miles per hour.  Day 119---35.74 miles traveled, 47 minutes of moving time, 45.3 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 71.4 miles per hour.  Day 120---231.3 miles traveled, 4 hours and 9 minutes of moving time, 55.6 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 83 miles per hour.  Day 121---83.56 miles traveled, 1 hour and 52 minutes of moving time, 44.6 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 80 miles per hour.  Day 122---257 miles traveled and a max speed of 91.3 miles per hour.  Day 123---320.4 miles traveled, 6 hours and 20 minutes of moving time, 50.6 miles per hour average moving time, 4 hours and 24 minutes stopped time, 29.8 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 81.3 miles per hour.  Day 124, 125, & 126---163.4 miles traveled and 4 hours and 8 minutes of moving time.  Day 127---171.8 miles traveled, 3 hours and 43 minutes of moving time, 46.3 miles per hour average moving time, 6 hours and 11 minutes stopped time, 17.3 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 71.6 miles per hour.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Friday, May 18, 2012

Education Ride 365: What Starts As A Trickle Can Become Mighty!

What starts small can quickly grow into a powerful force.  The Mississippi River is one of nature's examples of this truism.

I decided to seek out the source of the Mississippi while in Minnesota.  Where my family is from---Southern Louisiana--- the Mississippi River is a huge part of the culture.  The river drains waters from most all of the United States between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans.  It is the fourth longest and tenth largest river in the world.

Its origin is humble.  Before collecting all or most water runoff from 31 states, the Mighty Mississippi River tumbles over the few rocks you see above.  The placid lake to the left is in Itasca State Park.  It was cool, damp, and gray the day I visited.  This is it, the source of something great!

The two shots above and the one below are merely three different angles of the spot where settled lake water tumbles over perhaps a thirty foot run of rocks you can walk across to begin its 2,552 mile journey that has played such a big role in our country's development.  Like so many things in life, what starts as a trickle...

I left the park and decided to further explore the origins of this river over the coming days.  It doesn't take long before the Mississippi is joined by other tributaries.  The first major river that merges with it is the St. Croix River, which runs along 124 miles of the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.  The St. Croix River is dammed (below) in St. Croix Falls to supply energy to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. 

Wisconsin's St. Croix Falls and its neighboring city in Minnesota, Taylors Falls, are charming cities.  The two pictures below are of the churning waters a couple of miles below the dam in Taylors Falls.

This area is very much worth exploring if you are ever in this region of the country!

I followed the St. Croix south along the border until it converges with the Mississippi River (below) just a few hundred yards beyond this 19th century iron bridge.  Incidentally, the steamboat companies were furious and sued the railroad companies when they first erected these bridges.  They labeled them a "public nuisance" and a threat to commerce!  A then-young Abe Lincoln represented a rail company in one of the proceedings.

I followed the river beyond the convergence point as it winds down the southern half of the Wisconsin-Minnesota border.  The photo below is from Winona, Minnesota after I followed the "River Road" south on the Wisconsin side, then back up north on the Minnesota side.  It is a beautiful drive (ride) on both sides.  I highly recommend it!

So much in life that starts small grows into something larger and much more grand!  Hopefully we can all enjoy the small things in life and, in whatever sense, find a way to make them as mighty and majestic as the Mississippi River!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Education Ride 365: Hard Drive, Hard Ride, And Some People Along The Way!

Well, finally I have been able to retrieve the data off of my failed hard drive!  Thank goodness, because I am behind on featuring the people and places I've become acquainted with since Day 105 of Education Ride 365.  It is now Day 137 and since my last travel update I've been in twelve states and covered thousands of miles!

It is always a challenge to balance the actual experience versus documenting the experience.  Whether to ride the miles or stop every time I see a good picture.  Whether to have a more lengthy and deeper conversation or try to document more of these conversations.  Whether to travel rested or risk life and limb traveling haggard and spent.  Like life itself, traveling on a motorcycle 'discovering' thoughts on education from across the country requires compromises and a constant search for balance!

I don't get to feature every person, every place, nor certainly every insight.  Instead, I feature a representation of my experiences and insights knowing that the actual experience is more important than documenting that experience.  Getting to truly know the people, understanding their perceptions and perspectives, and feeling the adventure of this journey matters more than recording it all.

On Day 106 I left Rapid City (South Dakota) on a long ride to Anthon, Iowa.  This was a day when cruise control was both a blessing a curse.  Having cruise control on a touring motorcycle is always a blessing.  Having cruise control on any motorcycle when the rider is sleepy is a curse!  Traversing South Dakota across a fairly barren and featureless interstate and on through the cornfields of Iowa is a long, straight-forward ride.  Given favorable weather, ease of navigation, and less than thrilling scenery, lethargy can easily set in.  The curse of cruise control I alluded to is my cycle powering on at 70-plus mph irregardless of whether or not I am sufficiently awake to operate it.  Several times I thought about how nodding off could be overcome for a minute or so before the cycle would lose its line and veer out of control. 

I was pleased to make it to Anthon and the home of Ben & Sue Wilson.  They are very kind folks with informed opinions on education and life in general.  Unfortunately, they are an example of my failure to document every aspect of this journey.  I left without a picture and, as always when I do this, I regret that omission.  From their home, I headed north to Fargo, North Dakota and the home of Jim and Twylah Blotsky.  I did not take the most direct route to North Dakota, instead preferring to explore a more rural route north through Iowa and into Minnesota, before turning west to Fargo.  After doing so I somewhat regretted the effort.  I didn't see much variance of landscapes along the way and the roads of NW Iowa were plain awful.  The ones I rode offered a bumpy seam every ten feet or so.  No fun!

Jim and Twylah have a beautiful home and are respectable in every regard.  We shared interesting conversation, wonderful food, and an interest in the same kind of music!  That is a lovely combination!  How did I get out of Fargo without a photo of Jim and Twylah?

On Day 110 I headed to Ottertail, Minnesota.  Everything in Minnesota seems to be centered around lakes!  It is not a myth.  They are everywhere and are beautiful!  Jon and Marge Ewy live on one of these beautiful lakes.  What a peaceful piece of property they have.  Birds are everywhere and there is not a thing about their home that is not peaceful!  Sitting on their porch watching spring arrive on the lake that thawed earlier this year than most reminded me that a beautiful home is so much more than the structure the inhabitants reside in.

I pulled out of Jon and Marge's place on Day 112 headed a short distance to White Bear Lake, Minnesota.  Mark & Sally live at the top of a winding driveway in a majestic home hidden high up on a heavily wooded lot.  There were no roads to their home site when they built there....everything was hiked in!  Oh, I can't express how much I liked this piece of property!  They do too, but are attempting to sell it to move to the mountains of Colorado.  A mere 20 minutes from St. Paul, their property is as peaceful and secluded as one can seem!

Mark is the loving owner of the beautiful dogs I featured a few posts ago.  He and I have quite a bit in common.  I really enjoyed my time in White Bear Lake, Minnesota!  While there, I explored the Minnesota/Wisconsin border over a couple of days.  My next travel post will document these explorations.

To conclude my week in Minnesota, on Day 114 I made my way to Burnsville.  Bob Thaden welcomed me into the home he has owned for quite some time and now occupies part-time.  His wife Patti worked for Northwest Airlines for years and relocated to Atlanta when Delta bought Northwest out.  She and Bob now shuttle between these two cities.  Bob is a quality fellow and made my final stop in Minnesota (for now) an enjoyable one! 

From Minnesota I headed south, back towards Texas for motorcycle maintenance and family visits.  I'll catchup on more folks I met along my way south in a coming post.

Thanks so much to all the gracious old and new friends who are making Education Ride 365 possible by hosting me many stops on this trip!  I appreciate you all!

---

Day 106---469.8 miles traveled, 6 hours and 39 minutes of moving time, 70.5 miles per hour average moving time, 1 hours and 17 minutes stopped time, 59.1 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 79.2 miles per hour.  Day 107---79.36 miles traveled, 1 hour and 30 minutes of moving time, 52.9 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 72.4 miles per hour.  Day 108---423.7 miles traveled, 7 hours and 24 minutes of moving time, 57.2 miles per hour average moving time, 2 hours and 7 minutes stopped time, 44.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 84.9 miles per hour.  Day 109 & 110---127.6 miles traveled, 2 hours and 37 minutes of moving time, 48.6 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 75.3 miles per hour.  Day 111---Rest.  Day 112---383 miles traveled, 7 hours and 41 minutes of moving time, 49.8 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 80.5 miles per hour.  Day 113---119.2 miles traveled, 2 hours and 41 minutes of moving time, 44.3 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 74.6 miles per hour.  Day 114---143 miles traveled, 3 hours and 9 minutes of moving time, 45.3 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 75.1 miles per hour.  Day 115---178.6 miles traveled, 3 hours and 57 minutes of moving time, 45.2 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 79 miles per hour.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Education Ride 365: Discipline Efforts In Schools Defined & Explained #4

In my attempt to establish a more precise nomenclature for discussing school discipline efforts, I have begun to distinguish the meaning in this context between tools, programs, systems, and implementation.  I am introducing each first, before later expounding on each as a distinct yet essential facet of promoting a healthy school discipline climate.

A school or district discipline program will guide the system that will be implemented with supporting tools.  Discipline programs largely reflect a school or district's philosophical approach to discipline.  For instance, to what degree is the approach intended to be:

• reactive versus proactive?
• instructive versus punitive?
• discretionary versus prescriptive?
• uniform versus ad-hock?
• mild versus harsh?

Often these broad questions of degree depend upon the school context in which they are applied.  For instance:

• what are the school's needs? 
• what has been done before?
• what level of parental and administrative support exist? 
• which grade levels are included?
  
• what are the personalities and beliefs of those creating the program?

The discipline program is, in a sense, the philosophy that will guide development of a system that can be implemented with appropriate tools.  As this series continues in future blog posts, best practices of each of these facets will be discussed.

---

This is blog entry #4 of an unknown number of coming blog posts providing information aimed at improving a school's efforts to promote appropriate student discipline.  Click a number to the right to view prior entries in this series: #1, #2, #3.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Education Ride 365: Dan's Best Friend!

Education Ride 365 has me traveling the country from January 1 through December 31, 2012.  That is a long time on the road riding a motorcycle solo.  Sometimes I miss familiar things.  One constant no matter where the Cycle of Education takes me, however, is the joy and instant bond that can be established with dogs encountered along the way.  Never being too far away from a dog means never being too far away from an instant friend willing to offer unconditional acceptance and companionship!  What joy dogs bring people!

On this blog I have, and will continue to, feature great people I have met along the way during this yearlong journey.  Here is a salute to all the dogs who have eased my way, with a photo of me with two favorites I met in Minnesota:

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Dogs

Friday, May 11, 2012

Education Ride 365: 'Bored' Of Education A 20th Century Relic!

In my last post I mentioned the school paddle as an antiquated tool of school discipline.  A relic of the 20th---and earlier---centuries.  Interestingly, though, as I ride across the country on 'Education Ride 365' it is amazing how often I hear folks bemoan the demise of the paddle as a tool of compulsion.  If only we could bring the paddle back into use---many propose---we could instill discipline back into these kids!

I can say Mr. Phipps made an impression on me when he gave me three "licks" right outside of my eighth grade science classroom in response to my spitball attack on the space shuttle as it flew across the reel-to-reel projection screen that day in 1983.  No warning, no call to my parents, no administrative permission---> just three firm whacks on my fanny, a few repressed tears, and me limping back to my seat as amused classmates enjoyed the entertainment value of my pain over the educational value of the filmstrip.

I remember PE teachers in earlier grades who brandished their paddle daily as a means of intimidation proactively communicated.  They named them with such creative monikers as the "Hard Lesson" and the "Attitude Adjuster."  Some had holes drilled in them (using drill presses from our school's woodshop class).  These coaches bragged that the holes cut down on "wind resistance" for an even firmer whack!  Tough guys!

Setting aside the psychology-based objections to educators using paddles on children, in this post I thought I'd share a few of the very practical reasons schools for the most part don't engage in this practice any longer. 

The beginning of the end of this practice came when, responding to pressure from folks who consider paddling young people to be a form of child abuse, many districts began giving students a choice of punishment.  For instance, two "licks" or detention.  Interestingly enough, many students chose to 'get it over with' rather than take the alternate punishment.  You could no doubt guess, however, how this approach fell out of favor.  Imagine parents objecting that the student was bullied or otherwise compelled to choose the paddling because, for instance, the alternate punishment was disproportionally harsh or burdensome.  Or, that the child chose paddling before he/she knew of the 'dangers' or 'pain' involved.  On and on the recriminations from such a choice-option can go.

Another accommodation schools increasingly adopted was to get the parent's permission ahead of time.  What could go wrong then?  "Well I gave you permission to punish him, but not to abuse him.  Just look at this bruising!"  We all know some people bruise very easily.  As you can imagine, definitions of paddling versus child abuse can vary greatly when legal and other grievance processes are in place to tempt a second-guessing (or merely protective) parent.

Well, surely then, a school could have a policy allowing the parent to come up to the principal's office to administer the "licks" themselves.  Not so fast!  For one thing, (ironically) many parents who favor educators using the paddle on children would prefer not to do it themselves.  Beyond this, Child Protective Services may get involved.  Then, is the school complicit with the 'battering' parent?  This is a nightmare scenario schools simply don't need and almost universally steer away from in the 21st century.

ALL things considered, surely it is time to retire any romanticization of this practice as part of the solution to addressing bad behavior in school this century.  Rather, it is time to focus on 21st century solutions to timeless challenges!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline, Paddling

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Education Ride 365: Discipline Efforts In Schools Defined & Explained #3

Three-part forms, detention slips, file cabinets, paddles, and other tools of the 20th century used to implement discipline systems are largely antiquated...or at least they are antiquated in school systems that have fully moved into the 21st century.

Change is indeed inevitable, while growth in response to that change is optional.  The tool set schools use to support their discipline system is a perfect example.  Schools that still rely upon the 20th century tools listed above (and more) are missing the growth they can achieve for the same or even lessor cost by largely replacing all of that with a 21st century database-managed system that holds students accountable more effectively with less effort. 

I helped develop such a tool as part of a wildly successful effort to turn around a failing school in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.  This tool was instrumental in growing our school accountability in response to changing challenges AND capabilities.  Once we developed a program outlining our discipline philosophy we used this powerful tool to design a system for its implementation.  Any one without the other would not have achieved the growth we effected.

As this series of posts develops, I will further explain this tool in conjunction with careful attention to the other facets of achieving a healthy discipline climate as a means of helping schools grow in response to inevitable change.

---

This is blog entry #3 of an unknown number of coming blog posts providing information aimed at improving a school's efforts to promote appropriate student discipline.  Click a number to the right to view prior entries in this series: #1, #2.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Education Ride 365: Discipline Efforts In Schools Defined & Explained #2

Tools of traditional school discipline often included three-part forms, detention slips, file cabinets, paddles, and other such 20th century mainstays.  These tools supported systems designed to fit the particular school or district they were used in.  Discipline programs tended to be reactive and punitive in nature.  Implementation of the program was often haphazard and incomplete, a characteristic still very common in schools today.

It is important to recognize the distinction I am suggesting above between these distinct facets of an overall strategy for optimizing a school discipline climate.  The tools are used to enable the system that support the program in its implementation.

Without explicit attention to each of these distinct facets, an optimized discipline climate can only be achieved by chance.  Who wants to rely upon chance with something as foundational to school success as an optimized discipline climate?

---

This is blog entry #2 of an unknown number of coming blog posts providing information aimed at improving a school's efforts to promote appropriate student discipline.  Click the number to the right to view the prior entry: #1.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Education Ride 365: Better A Hard Drive Crash Than A Motorcycle Crash!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Education Ride 365: Discipline Efforts In Schools Defined & Explained #1

Words are powerful.  Using the correct words to communicate a message can make all the difference between mere reception and actual understanding.  I've been thinking about this a bunch as I travel around on Education Ride 365 speaking with folks about education and the purpose of my trip.

EdClick is the company making my travels possible.  I consult with EdClick on software development aimed at bringing operational aspects of schools into the 21st century.  I consider myself to be a systems thinker and, from its inception, I have consulted with EdClick on systems development for improving school operations.

For years my only payment for doing so was use of these tailor-made software tools we developed in the schools I was working to improve.  Recently it has occurred to me that, over the years, I have been incorrectly applying terms to this process that may be resulting in (primarily) mere reception of my message than in actual understanding of the principles, processes, and vision I have attempted to communicate.

Specifically, over the years I have used the words tool, implementation, system, and program almost interchangeably and certainly too loosely.  In particular, I have made this mistake when talking about discipline and the extremely powerful tool EdClick has developed for implementing a discipline system to solidify the very foundation of a healthy school---> an appropriate discipline climate.  Accordingly, I have decided to write a series of posts aimed at clarifying the distinction I am suggesting between these words and the implications for a school's discipline climate promoted by its discipline program.

This is blog entry #1 of an unknown number of coming blog posts that will better articulate what I have thus far only communicated in a manner more fit for reception than actual understanding.  Presented properly, this information can dramatically improve a school's efforts to promote appropriate student discipline.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Monday, April 30, 2012

Education Ride 365: Progress Update One-Third Of The Way Through!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Education Ride 365: Momma (Earth) Said There'd Be Days Like This!

Wyoming is beautiful...yet can be harsh.  High winds, cold temperatures, and rain--more rain--and yet more rain greeted me.  The last time I rode through Wyoming (in 2007) it also rained much of the trip and I encountered a hail storm as well.  A good amount of time on Day 104 of Education Ride 365 was spent wondering which of the two rides was harsher.  At least there were wonderful snow-capped mountains like those above in view through long stretches.  I also had heated clothing on.  With these two consolations, I powered through the long ride, much of it on rural roads that were winding, hilly, and a bit slick. 

'Mom' and her climate challenged me on Day 104.  I didn't litter on her...but I did curse her a bit!  Some days riding across America on a motorcycle are like that!  Thank goodness I had my trusty Honda to blaze the trail through nature's travails!

---

Day 104---344.2 miles traveled, 6 hours and 5 minutes of moving time, 56.5 miles per hour average moving time, 3 hours and 28 minutes stopped time, 36 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 86 miles per hour.  Day 105---Much needed day of rest.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Education Ride 365: Make It To Class If You Want To Dance!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Friday, April 27, 2012

Education Ride 365: An Introduction To Alcohol Use Now Or Later When Never Is Unlikely

Raising children is a difficult task.  There is no script or playbook to follow.  Recently, when I came across the billboard below while crossing our country on Education Ride 365, I was reminded of one philosophical argument played out in a wealthy school district I worked for in Texas.

Some parents feel that it is wise for people under eighteen to be exposed to alcohol at home---in a controlled setting---before they go elsewhere (in an unsupervised setting) to experiment with it, either before graduating from high school and/or when they first experience living away from home with all the liberation and experimentation that often welcomes.  Tasting the 'forbidden fruit' early can remove some of the mystique and novelty, the thinking goes.

While opinions on the practice of allowing your own child to taste this 'forbidden fruit' at home will no doubt vary, one slippery slope outcome of the practice was an even more serious point of contention in the district I worked for.  Specifically, some adults were providing alcohol to other children in the community...without the consent of their parents.  Does anyone really believe this is acceptable?  Imagine how angry you would be if another parent provided alcohol to your child for use at a party.  Or if your child was served alcohol at the home of a friend (so they wouldn't go elsewhere to use it) and later operated a motor vehicle.  The consequences could be grave for themselves and others.

However widespread the practice was in the district where I worked, the debate on the local blog was lively indeed.  The billboard above indicates that other communities grapple with this issue too. 

Alcohol use by those under 21--> now or later when never is unlikely?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Alcohol Use, Parenting

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Devil Spit Up In Wyoming...It Was A Beautiful Sight To See!

Along my way to Montana I made a point to enjoy beautiful, if super windy, northeastern Wyoming.  In the picture directly below, you can pick out Devil's Tower in the distance at the top-left of this frame.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Education Ride 365: What Is Hidden In Those Words, Thoughts, And Actions?

In our country founded on individual freedoms---including a general freedom of expression---it has become increasingly common to hear folks use the terms "politically correct," "politically incorrect," or just simply the abbreviation PC to refer to approved/disapproved speech, actions, and ways of thinking.

Deviation from whatever any person or group deems appropriate often results in an indictment of the 'offenders' character, motives, or even basic sense of fairness.  Scorn and demonization commonly follow.

Wikipedia defines 'political correctness' in this way: "a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts, and, as purported by the term, doing so to an excessive extent.

It seems that we have quite a hyper-critical, intolerant culture for a country founded on tolerance and freedom of expression.  Small unintended slights become character judgements of the harshest sort.  Commonly offense is taken by perceived slights of the most innocuous nature.  Often attempts to control speech and behavior follow.

Perhaps I should be offended that Chief Standing Bear (last post on this blog) referred to the presidents above as "white" men, but himself as part of the "Red" men.  Did he intend disrespect by using lower case for one and upper case for the other?  Does he get a pass because the "white" men were the oppressors and the "Red" men the oppressed?

I have always striven to refer to people in whatever way they prefer.  This can be more difficult than it seems.  Call the wrong person "black" rather than "African-American" and offense may be taken.  Call another person of the same race "African-American" and offense may be taken...."I'm a 'black' American, not an African-American." 

Call a person of Mexican origin a "Mexican-American" and some 'white' people will object that he is just an "American" and calling him "Mexican-American" is some sort of false designation.  Huh?  Are we rejecting "Irish-American" these days too?

Maybe I prefer to be referred to as "Peach" man, rather than "white" man.  Should I take offense when others don't call me by this more anatomically correct name?!  Well of course not.  And I don't take offense to the "white" men vs. "Red" man distinction! 

I most recently got to thinking about all of this during my days riding through the Black Hills and Badlands region of South Dakota.  One day, as I rode alone, I stopped at the site of what once was referred to as the "Battle of Wounded Knee."  The sign below originally read that way, but now has a "Massacre" placard covering "Battle."  (You can see it in the photo if you look closely)  To be fair, it was more of a massacre than a battle. 

I met several Lakota youth at the site.  We visited and took the photo below.  They live on the site of the massacre, directly across the street from this sign.  We got to know each other, took a picture, exchanged "Facebook" information, and after learning about Education Ride 365 they invited me to stay at their place next time I am in the area.  Very nice young people.

Interestingly, the boys were proud of their school and the mascot that represents it as seen in the picture below.  This reminded me that the University of North Dakota "Fighting Sioux" are regularly criticized for their "politically incorrect" name.  In March, the school was banned by the NCAA from any reference to or imagery of their "Fighting Sioux" name and mascot when competing in any NCAA-sanctioned event.  This despite the fact that the name is required by North Dakota state law, a requirement that may eventually be challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court.  I don't know what to think about this one!

Incidentally, the mascot at one high school I taught at was a "Fighting Farmer."  To the best of my knowledge, no farmers ever took exception...or at least they overlooked the matter!

Before the ultra-uber-politically correct crowd attack my character, please note that the examples I have presented here are just offered for consideration...and a wee bit to provoke response.  We all know, I've barely scratched the surface of PC-related examples.  I really do strive to respect people's sensitivities and desires.  Nonetheless, there is a case to be made that these days, at times, political correctness is taken just a bit too far.

Case in point, perhaps: earlier this week the Lego Corporation came under attack for the "sexualization" of women after they announced a line of gender-specific Legos that are a bit less boxy and contain more pastel colors than the traditional Lego line.  After 55,000 signatures were gathered in protest, the company agreed to a high-level meeting with the group objecting.  A squeaky enough wheel gets oiled in our politically (correct) charged culture.

Click the photo below for more:

Are we a tolerant country that values freedom of expression?  Can condemnation of the thoughts, words, and actions of others lead us to Utopia and absolute correctness?  Do we just expect the worst of others and so must safeguard against any hint of it with protest, judgement, and condemnation?  Where is the line?

Posted at 3:33 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Political Correctness

Monday, April 23, 2012

Education Ride 365: Badlands, Black Hills, Red Men, 'white' Men

The Badlands stretch for dozens of miles behind me in the picture below!

Any wonder why they earned their name?!  From Wikipedia:

The term badlands represents a consensus in North America. The Lakota called the topography "Makhóšica", literally bad land, while French trappers called it "les mauvaises terres à traverser" – "the bad lands to cross". The Spanish called it tierra baldía ("waste land") and cárcava ("gully"). The term badlands is also apt: badlands contain steep slopes, loose dry soil, slick clay, and deep sand, all of which impede travel and other uses. Badlands form in semi-arid or arid regions with infrequent but intense rain-showers, sparse vegetation, and soft sediments: a recipe for massive erosion.

We also explored the Black Hills region.  One interesting site I was unaware of is the 60-year old project to carve out a monument to 'Crazy Horse' intended to rival Mt. Rushmore.  The mountain carving will eventually resemble the figure on the motorcycle gas tank below, which is on a Harley Davidson covered in numerous other fancy airbrush scenes from the project's history. 

The Harley is on display in the visitor's center and is being raffled off later this year as a fundraiser for the Crazy Horse Memorial.  The project has been completely financed through private funds since it was launched in 1929.  Perhaps that explains why it has taken 60 years from the first blasting in 1948 to progress to the point you can see in my picture directly below.  Notice the outline for the horse's head and ear located near the edge of the rock at the right of the picture.

Below is a photo I snapped of an informational poster in the visitor's center.  It gives you a sense of the scale and ultimate appearance of the monument.

"Carve us a mountain so that the white man will know the Red man had great heroes also."  Chief Henry Standing Bear, 1939

The photo above is of Chief Standing Bear meeting with sculptor Korczak Ziólkowski, who made the project his life's work from the late-20s until his death in 1982.

Why do you think "Red" man is capitalized above, while "white" man is not?  Does it matter?  I will address the subject of 'political correctness' more generally speaking in my next post.

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Day 99---316.9 miles traveled, 4 hours and 51 minutes of moving time, 44 minutes of stopped time, 65.2 miles per hour average moving time, 56.6 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 84.4 miles per hour.  Day 100---317.5 miles traveled, 6 hours and 20 minutes of moving time, 50 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 74.8 miles per hour. 

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Political Correctness

Friday, April 20, 2012

Education Ride 365: Flipping Our Paradigm Can Benefit Students, Parents, & Teachers Alike!

• can watch the lesson as many times as they need to internalize the information.
• can pause the lesson when their attention begins to wane or they must, for instance, take a restroom break.
• can watch the complete lesson even on days when they might otherwise have missed it due to illness or other reason for absence.
• can review the information more thoroughly before an assessment or other related activity.
• can dig deeper into the lesson material at the time it is "presented" by, for instance, looking up unfamiliar words or accessing other resources that may enrich or explain the lesson further for someone with their learning style or level of interest.

• can have a better grasp of exactly what content---and in what manner---their child is learning in each class.
• can refresh their knowledge (or learn information) vital to helping their child with homework and otherwise extending & making connections between the content and the child's life outside of school.
• can actually further educate themselves as a sort of continuing education model.

• can become increasingly skilled at preparing tight, rich lessons that both maximize instruction time and are delivered consistently from class period to class period.
• can better adhere to the scope and sequence for their course, never losing pace provided they consistently practice proper lesson preparation.
• can expect all students to be up to speed, regardless of illness or other interruptions of the learning process (such as moves from school to school, teacher to teacher, or class to class).  This includes teacher absences, as well as student absences...for example.
  
• can better target comprehension issues and learning gaps in the classroom for individual students as well as select groups of students, while other students who are up-to-speed can be practicing and/or extending what they have learned.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Technology, Instruction, Flipped Clasrooms, Instruction, Homework, Parent Involvement, Technology

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Spotlight Can Create Harsh Shadows And Illuminate Imperfections

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Technology, Instruction

Monday, April 16, 2012

Education Ride 365: Squeaking About Humoring Rather Than Teaching!

After the snow melted in Denver, on Day 96 I began a two day project up the road at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  What a beautiful campus and city!

Before I left my hotel each morning I enjoyed an exceptionally tasty and quality continental breakfast.  One morning this breakfast was less enjoyable due to a seemingly incessant squeaky-squeaky sound like that from a child or pet toy squeezed over and over and over.  On and on it went.  Its source was soon evident, but the end was much slower coming.

The noise shot from a toddler's shoes.  The shoes were designed to make that noise.  Back and forth she paced, hand in hand with supervising family members.  The contrast between the peaceful breakfast setting and the squeaky noise-making shoes seemed to bother everyone in the place.

Had the toddler just been passing through, the noise would have been almost 'cute.'  Instead, the walking was a means of keeping the toddler occupied over quite a length of time.  Back and forth they went.

This event really got me thinking about a complaint I've heard throughout my travels talking with citizens about the state of education in America.  Specifically, too many adults are too busy humoring young people to the point that too often we are not teaching them valuable lessons central to being part of a larger community of citizens working together to live in harmony.  I hear this perception a lot.

At one point the toddler's grandpa was holding her hand as they squeaked and squeaked away for more than ten minutes before I overheard him acknowledge how "annoying" the sound is to a fellow hotel quest before he smiled and stated "I just can't stand it."

It was clear that very few people in the place could stand it, but only this grandpa and his family could do anything about it.  Instead, because they valued humoring the toddler more than respecting their fellow citizens eating breakfast, the noise continued.

More bothersome than the noise was the acknowledged lack of respect for fellow citizens as a concession to humoring the child.  Granted, this is an isolated and limited example of what many express to me in my travels as their perception of a widespread problem in America.  Are adults in America too readily humoring young people to the point of not teaching them valuable lessons about being complementary citizens, rather than an overly-independent nuisance?  Are too many of us raising young people with an over-entitled freedom to do most anything short of breaking the law, even at the expense of their fellow citizens?

Educational institutions teach young people academic lessons first and foremost.  To a lesser degree they teach citizenship.  Increasingly our schools must teach basic citizenship because many young people are not learning these lessons where they are most appropriately learned----> at home.  School should be a place to practice citizenship, not the place to re-mediate basic lessons of citizenship that were never taught at home.

I thought about this incident my whole ride to Boulder.  I was discussing school discipline that day at the University of Colorado.  As I rode, I remembered times I watched shows like "Nanny 911" and "Super Nanny" thinking about the difficult task my colleagues somewhere in the country would have educating children out of these homes.  They were not learning the basics of citizenship where they should be learning them, at home.

I will revisit this topic in later posts.  For now I'll reiterate: The University of Colorado at Boulder is an inspiring, beautiful institution!  May we forever send them students who are prepared with academic readiness AND a respectable level of citizenship!

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Day 96---117.9 miles traveled, 2 hours and 55 minutes of moving time, 3 hours and 7 minutes of stopped time, 40.2 miles per hour average moving time, 19.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 80.3 miles per hour.  Day 97---49.27 miles traveled, 1 hour and 26 minutes of moving time, 34.2 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 75.8 miles per hour.  Day 98---77.71 miles traveled, 1 hour and 47 minutes of moving time, and 43.4 miles per hour average moving time. 

Posted at 12:30 AM (permalink) 1 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline, Citizenship

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Education Ride 365: Dog Days Are Great Days!

Back in March I visited Hoover Dam and shared some photos from that visit.

One touching part of my visit was this remembrance and grave of the mascot adopted by workers who constructed the dam.

The Hoover Dam construction crew's mascot was found as a puppy by workers at the construction camp.  This dog traveled to and from the damsite with them and spent his days visiting the many work areas.  On February 21, 1941, the life of this devoted animal came to an end when a truck under which he was sleeping rolled over him.  The grave below was completed by workers later that same day.

Dogs are so special!  They move people.  They teach people.  They love people unconditionally.

If I could go back to being 18 again, I really think I'd find a career working with dogs...or at least one that would allow me to have a dog at work!  It is somewhat surprising that more high school vocational programs and/or magnet schools don't have vet and other animal care programs.  FFA is a notable exception.

I have learned so much over the years from dogs I've loved.  Sarge, Precious, Moose, Lady, and Conner.  During tough stretches in my life I've made it a point to "meet" a new dog each day.  Interaction with dogs is one of my very favorite activities in life.

Have dogs been important teachers in your life?  Feel free to share and honor these wonderful beings by leaving a comment below!

Posted at 11:51 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Education Ride 365: Plain Ole' Wind Blown & Snow Dusted A Mile High!

Ken & Heather went to middle school together in Alaska, but only reconnected last year!  They love each other, love to ride, and love their scaled back retirement lifestyle...though they are really just prepping for retirement.  Ken still owns a business in Tulsa that he is looking forward to selling so he and Heather can travel and play full-time!

After spending a great couple of days with Ken & Heather, I headed west bound for Denver CO.  Along the way I stayed in Wichita KS with another lovely couple, Wally & Sandy Shutt.  They are within weeks of buying a new (blue) Goldwing.  Lucky them!  Of further note, Sandy makes cinnamon rolls from an old family recipe that easily rival Cinnabon!  Yum!

On Day 93 I pulled out of Wally & Sandy's home for a 500-plus mile ride to Denver.  Typically I favor rural roads to the intestate system.  This day I elected to ride the roads less traveled, across Kansas and up into Colorado. 

It was a super windy day, only accentuated by the wide open plains where the winds blows completely free of obstruction.  For hundreds of miles the wind attempted to pull the helmet right off of my head.  I felt like I was leaning the cycle 45 degrees against the wind for hundreds of miles just to keep from being blown over.  There were times in Colorado when I wondered if I could continue.  I did not see even a single other motorcycle on this route--- all day.

When I left Kansas the temperature was in the mid-70s.  By the time I got within 70 miles of Denver, however, the temperature had dipped to 41 degrees.  It was windy...and cold!  I stopped for dinner by my hotel near the Denver airport and my fingers were frozen...so much so that I had trouble getting the key into my trailer lock.  Oh, mother nature gave me a real challenge on this day---> Day 93!

The "Cycle of Education" was part of a snow event the next day, Day 94!

Mother nature definitely presented me with quite a challenging 24 hours of motorcycle operation on Days 93 & 94!  Wind blown and snow dusted! 

That is how I spent April 2nd and 3rd, 2012!

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Day 89---234.4 miles traveled, 4 hours and 33 minutes of moving time, 3 hours and 30 minutes of stopped time, 51.5 miles per hour average moving time, 29.1 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 75.7 miles per hour.  Day 90---Day of rest.  Day 91---290.2 miles traveled, 4 hours and 54 minutes of moving time, 27 minutes of stopped time, 59.2 miles per hour average moving time, 54.2 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 86.1 miles per hour.  Day 92---4 miles traveled.  Day 93---514.2 miles traveled, 8 hours and 10 minutes of moving time, 52 minutes of stopped time, 61.6 miles per hour average moving time, 55.8 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 84.7 miles per hour.  Day 94---24 miles traveled.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Education Ride 365: Educators Enabling Other Educators To Travel More For Less!

In their words:

"Educators Travel Network (ETN) was founded in 1986 by Hazel and Norm Smith, two retired teachers who were inspired to create a membership only travel club that was both affordable and rewarding.

The idea for “Educators Travel Network” originated from the way Norm and Hazel actually traveled. They were part of a group of educators who would travel somewhere every year to play tennis.  One year, sixteen members of the group went to Oxford, England.  A local professor allowed three couples to stay in his home while he was on vacation, and Norm and Hazel got to experience life as a “local.” They enjoyed becoming acquainted with the corner grocer and dining at the neighborhood restaurants.  This experience was the foundation on which ETN was built.  They had such a wonderful time – staying inexpensively in the home of a fellow educator and getting to have experiences that most tourists don’t. They decided to try to make it possible for other educators to do the same in cities worldwide.  It has turned out to be an idea that our members think is fantastic!"

This seems like a great service for educators and their families!  It links like-minded, professionally-oriented people into a network that makes travel more affordable and interactive.

I'm still learning about the Educators Travel Network!  Coming blog posts will feature more about how it works and my experiences using it throughout 2012 on "Education Ride 365!"

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Educators Travel Network

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Education Ride 365: Better Understand The World Around You!

Education Ride 365 leaves little opportunity for watching television.  That is not such a bad thing!  Nonetheless, a few nights ago I caught a NOVA special on PBS that may have taught me more about Physics and Chemistry in two-hours than I had ever learned before in total.  Granted, I never took either of those two classes in high school or college, but this special struck me as particularly engaging, visual, and accessible.  It seemed valuable viewing for any young person....really, for any person.

I decided to share it here in hopes you'd pass it along to Science teachers you know, show it to your own kids, or learn from it yourself!  The entire show can be viewed free of charge here!  There is also information on that page about ordering a DVD copy.

CHECK IT OUT!  PASS IT ON!

Posted at 9:45 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Science, Physics, Chemistry

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Education Ride 365: Eureka!!! Natural Beauty Gold In Them There Hills!

On Day 87, after leaving Edmond OK, I headed to Eureka Springs in the beautiful NW corner of Arkansas. 

Artists, musicians, and all sorts of folks who enjoy the great outdoors and a largely laid-back lifestyle live in this part of the country.  The hills, vegetation, and winding roads are simply amazing!

Pictures can't even begin to do the area justice.  I tried...and at a certain point I basically gave up!  Instead, I focused on enjoying my explorations and chatting with the locals about their schools and communities.

During my stay, I slept at the home/cycle shop of Larry and Julie Britton.  Larry (pictured above) runs a very well stocked motorcycle shop, which includes a fleet of dual sport motorcycles that can be rented by the hour or day.  Their business is called "Arkansas Adventure Rider" 

Railroad history is on display in downtown Eureka Springs.  You can even take a ride on a dining car if you visit at the right time of the year!

The entire Beaver Lake/Eureka Springs area is an ideal vacation spot!  The historic one-lane bridge pictured below can be found on one of the many scenic roads around the lake!

Everywhere I travel across our land I see creative amateur signage---> like the one I opened this post with, as well as the example below posted in front of a church in the area:

My faith was challenged as I was leaving the area headed to Tulsa via a scenic, roundabout route that included the highly recommended Arkansas Road 7.  On this road, in the Boston Mountains heading south toward the "Arkansas Grand Canyon," my cycle began to handle poorly in the curves.  There were many of these curves motorcyclists call 'twisties,' so it didn't take me long to figure out I had a real problem.  My rear tire was very soft and I quickly became stuck on a small shoulder up on the mountainside. 

After calling around to locate the tire I soon discovered only one shop in the area stocked, I called a tow company to deliver air because I thought my leaking tire might hold out the 18 miles I had to travel back off the mountain in order to get to the shop.  Luckily I asked the tow driver to follow me because 10 miles down the tire blew out, forcing us to then load the cycle and trailer onto his truck for the remaining 8 miles. 

It was a challenging afternoon! 

Much of that time I did not exactly have the smile you see on my face in the picture below, which was taken the day prior as I rode the twisty, undulating roads of beautiful NW Arkansas and SW Missouri!  All motorcycle riders should experience these wonderful roads!  Cabin-bound travelers will also enjoy them!  In fact, I could have added a third label to the map above that would say "Most Any Road On This Map Is Scenic & Fun!"

I really enjoyed the people & places I became acquainted with
during these few days of Education Ride 365!

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Riding Stats: Day 87---257.7 miles traveled, 4 hours and 29 minutes of moving time, 1 hour and 12 minutes of stopped time, 57.5 miles per hour average moving time, 45.3 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 84.6 miles per hour.  Day 88---165.8 miles traveled, 3 hours and 52 minutes of moving time, 4 hours and 4 minutes of stopped time, 42.7 miles per hour average moving time, 20.8 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 82.7 miles per hour.  Day 89---234.4 miles traveled, 4 hours and 33 minutes of moving time, 3 hours and 30 minutes of stopped time, 51.5 miles per hour average moving time, 29.1 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 75.7 miles per hour.  

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Friday, April 6, 2012

Education Ride 365: Another Great Tool For Locating And Seeing Places From Afar!

Another interesting tool many of you will enjoy is showmystreet.com

Enter any address and very quickly get a photo of the address embedded in a map you can zoom in and out with.  Think of the site as a simplified Google Earth, for quick reference!

Check it out by clicking here!  The interface could not be easier!

Posted at 8:55 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Maps, Travel Maps, Street Maps

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Education Ride 365: Represent Your Travels This Easily!

Many of you travel.  Travel is a rich experience resulting in lifelong memories.  Whether you travel by car, motorcycle, plane, bicycle, train, or whatever means, it can be fun to represent those travels on a map much like I did in my last post (April 3).

Beyond that, educators can use such a map creator with students. 

Accordingly, I thought I'd share the super easy tool I use to create my maps like those in the April 3rd post.  The site is free and it lets you create state maps for the United States and Mexico.  It also lets you create Canadian province and territory maps.  Unfortunately, I don't believe it enables the creation of world maps.

If you know of any great tools for creating travel maps, please share it with us all by leaving a comment below!

Click here to access the site I used in the April 3rd post.

Enjoy!

Posted at 9:50 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Maps, Travel Maps

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Education Ride 365: Progress Update One-Quarter Of The Way Through!

One-quarter (three months) of Education Ride 365 has happened! 

The objective of Education Ride 365 is to travel to all parts of the United States to interact with educators and other citizens about their perceptions and knowledge of continuous improvement in education.

The goal for Education Ride 365 is to travel 50,000 miles through 50 states on the "Cycle of Education" between January 1 through December 31, 2012.  I will sleep at least one night in each state. 

The journey is right on track!

During the first three months I rode in the 15 states displayed on the map above and slept at least a couple of nights in each, except Missouri.  I will return to Missouri for at least a night of sleep sometime down the road!

During the months of January, February, and March I road:

4157.21 miles in January

3989.26 miles in February

4292.61 miles in March

For a total of 12,429.08 miles in those three months!  That puts me a mere 72 miles under the goal of 50,000 for the year!

ONWARD!

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Incidentally, the map below represents all 22 states I have ridden the cycle in throughout the years.  All of these plus the ones I have never ridden in will eventually be visited as part of Education Ride 365!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Education Ride 365: Priority One = All Teenagers Should Be Employed!

After a most enjoyable week in San Antonio with my daughter, she and I rode the Cycle of Education back 300 miles to the DFW area where she resumed school.  For my part, I continued north to Oklahoma bound for yet another childhood home and points beyond.  Incidentally, in my previous post I neglected to mention Skye's swimming obsession.  During our week in the Alamo City, she swam probably 15 hours in the indoor hotel pool and even ventured into the VERY cold outdoor pool pictured below for an hour or two!  Kids!

!

It was Day 86 when I arrived in Edmond, Oklahoma.  In my March 28th blog entry I mentioned a conversation I had during this stop with the current owner of a house my family first owned.  I would like to touch on this visit to Edmond again to briefly address the value and perils of minimum wage labor during childhood.  I'm torn on the topic.

From a really early age I worked to earn money.  My first jobs were car waxing, lawn care, and paper routes.  I did those things in middle school.  When I lived in the house above and turned 14, I qualified for a motorcycle license and could then work further from home.  Incidentally, I now think it is very unwise for a 14 year old boy to have a motorcycle license!  Street cycle danger exacerbated by a dose of teenage recklessness is a flirtation with the grim reaper!

My first restaurant job was as a bus boy at a restaurant called "Johnnie's."  I also worked at a "Schlotzsky's" during my couple of years living in this home.  Concurrently, I threw newspapers in the wee hours of the morning, before school.

There are definitely pros and cons to young people throwing newspapers before school (yea---I know---that is so 20th century), working at restaurants late into the night, and otherwise joining the workforce before completing high school.  Responsibility can be developed.  Skills can be learned.  Family budgets can be helped.  An appreciation for personal budgeting and the effort it takes to earn money can be gained.  These and other benefits may outweigh the cons.  I personally remain unsure.

Two cons bother me in particular:

1) School is the most important job people under 18 years old have.  In my mind, school should be priority number one.  I was always tired as a teenager.  Too many of my hours were spent working jobs other than my most important one---> getting a good education.  I slept through classes, rarely did my homework, and otherwise spent much more energy on jobs outside of school than on the job of getting a good education.

2) Some of the least savory individuals I've met in my life worked in these jobs.  There were, of course, many good people too.  Nonetheless, there were too many real counter-examples to success and healthy life habits!  Teenagers are impressionable.  They are often thankfully ignorant of the seedier aspects of life.  Give them a minimum wage job with a vehicle and an excuse to be away from home way after dark and they will receive a crash course in vice...often corrupting adult vice. 

I'm torn about publishing this because later on in high school I was lucky enough to get some more "professional" jobs that were very good experience for the enterprising young person I was.  That is a story for another day. 

Yet, still to this day, I have a heavy education loan burden due at least in part to my lack of focus on the real job of the teenage years----> a focus on getting educated and excelling in school. 

For me personally, both the pros and the cons were more numerous than I've suggested here.  What do you think?  Should teenagers work before finishing high school?  Is school their most important job?  Should it be their only job?  Or, should we just be more selective about which jobs (and what hours) we allow them to work?

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Riding Stats: Day 84 & 85---Preparation for the next leg of the journey.  Day 86---232.5 miles traveled, 4 hours and 19 minutes of moving time, 1 hour and 12 minutes of stopped time, 53.7 miles per hour average moving time, 42 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 78.7 miles per hour. 

Posted at 8:13 PM (permalink) 2 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Teenage Employment

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Education Ride 365: Skye High In San Antonio!

I picked my daughter up at her school in Corinth TX on Day 76 of "Education Ride 365" for a fun-filled spring break in San Antonio.  After some cycle maintenance and family visits we headed for the Alamo City!

Our primary destination was SeaWorld! 

We also had great fun at the River Walk in downtown San Antonio.  Skye danced in public for nearly three hours to musicians playing the pan flute.  She made sure to be on stage each time a boat passed by on the river.  Her dance included novice cartwheels and other risky "moves" (as she calls them) performed on the stone steps where the musicians perform!

At SeaWorld she loved the animals and shows, but her favorite activity by far was eight rides on the "Steel Eel" roller coaster.  She is 48 inches tall, the exact requirement for this jarring ride!  She was wild for it!  I could have stopped after one or fewer times!

I told her that our sixth time would be the last.  After the first steep drop, she turned to me and calmly stated that "it just isn't as much fun this time because I know it is my last time."  She repeated that statement matter-of-factly several more times as we were jerked along through the remainder of this rough, nauseating ride.  After I got my legs back under me, I suggested that we could ride a seventh time if she just enjoyed it and didn't end on a down note.  Go figure, the seventh time she banged her nose against the restraining bar and it really was not a fun ride.  So, we had to ride an eighth time to end on a high note.  And we did!

Skye loves art.  She was thrilled by this artist's work.  She enjoyed having this done downtown almost as much as she enjoyed riding the roller coaster at SeaWorld!

It was a great daddy-daughter vacation I'll always remember! 

I hope she does too!

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Riding Stats: Day 77 & 78---39.49 miles traveled, 1 hours and 28 minutes of moving time, 15 minutes of stopped time, 26.7 miles per hour average moving time, 2.3 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 62.6 miles per hour.  Day 79---309.5 miles traveled, 4 hours and 55 minutes of moving time, 1 hours and 52 minutes of stopped time, 62.9 miles per hour average moving time, and 45.6 miles per hour overall average.  Day 80---32.6 miles traveled, 40 minutes of moving time, and 49.4 miles per hour average moving time.  Day 81 & 82---Hotel Shuttle & Steel Eel!  Day 83---317.2 miles traveled, 5 hours and 16 minutes of moving time, 56 minutes of stopped time, 60.2 miles per hour average moving time, and 51 miles per hour overall average.

Posted at 12:01 AM (permalink) 3 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, SeaWorld, Spring Break

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Education Ride 365: What We Get Out Of Young People Depends Upon What We (ALL) Demand Of Young People!

Posted at 10:47 PM (permalink) 3 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Parent Involvement, Accountability

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Education Ride 365: Rural, Suburban, Urban Schools--- A Provocative Statement

Feel free to comment if you have a position or opinion regarding this controversial statement made to me today in a small Oklahoma town in response to a question I asked about continuous improvement in America's schools:

"Suburban school districts lead by a bunch in creating continuous improvement in American schools.  Urban school districts are so full of problems they can only improve sporadically.  Rural school districts also only improve sporadically because of the influence traditionalists have and a general denial that improvement is even needed."

What do you think about this provocative assertion?  Does this broad generalization correspond with your perception?  Is this fair?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Continuous Improvement

Monday, March 26, 2012

Education Ride 365: Warning, This Prescription May Produce Dangerous Side Effects

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Accountability, Cheating, Merit Pay, Standardized Testing, STAAR

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Education Ride 365: Darn Bull For Students To Communicate Whatever They Can Plausibly Defend

When I was an assistant principal at a very wealthy high school in Dallas we had a healthy rivalry in most every competition against another wealthy school in a suburb of Dallas.  Generally speaking, our school was more "old wealth," while these crosstown rivals were more "new wealth."  One night during a home basketball game, our students began a chant that reverberated throughout the gym: "new money---new money---new money..."  It was my job as an assistant principal supervising the game to squelch this very unsportsmanlike banter, but my hands were somewhat tied.  It seemed to be coming from everywhere on our side of the gym.  I was at a loss for what to do beyond signal my displeasure in a futile attempt to silence these uncouth vocalizations of teen spirit.

My burden was somewhat lifted when a similarly inappropriate chant began shortly thereafter on their side.  It was as if their retort had been planned ahead of time.  It seemingly came from their entire side of the gym: "Inbred---Inbred---Inbred..." they shouted in unison.  This was a moment when my sense of enjoying humor was clashing uncomfortably with my professional duties!  It was funny!  It was also, in my opinion, equally inappropriate.

Young people love to push limits.  Adults often set bad examples in this regard.  Our society is full of innuendo and other forms of pretending less than innocent thoughts and actions can be explained away by finding gray area between what was communicated and what could have been intended to be communicated.  Much like when the female supporters of our Lacrosse team at the school mentioned above printed and wore shirts to school proudly proclaiming themselves as "Lacrosstitutes."  Is that school appropriate?

Here is a visual example of this dilemma school personnel face is deciding where to draw the line:

Where do we draw the line?  Is this acceptable behavior by teenagers in a school setting?  Many of you are no doubt thinking "heck no," but you might be surprised how many parents would classify this as more clever than it is inappropriate.  Is our society becoming so crass and crude that 'free speech' arguments and/or the 'graying of intended meaning boundaries' will defend examples of "spirit" such as these?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Education Ride 365: Teaching Is A Tough Business

It amazes me how polarized people are on the subject of whether teachers have it easy or hard.  Teaching is a hard job.  Teachers make 25-125 young people do what most don't want to be doing 180 days a year.  That is just the beginning of the challenges they face. 

For passionate people who care about making a difference, teaching is rewarding.  For all teachers, teaching is tough business. 

Posted at 9:48 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Education Ride 365: A Route Deserving Of Greater Inspection, More Time!

It seems that spring break dates used to be more uniform.  From district to district, state to state, it used to be more predictable when just about all students in the country would have a week for spring break.  This year, spring break weeks varied from early March to early April.  It seems that spring 'school accountability' testing schedules may be part of the explanation for this variance.  Businesses in spring break destinations no doubt appreciate the variance, as their crowds and 'high season' rates can now be spread over a full month.

My 6-year old daughter---Skye---had her spring break scheduled for this week, March 19-23.  Accordingly, I rolled the "Cycle of Education" out of Las Vegas on Day 73 in an excited hurry to pick her up from school four days later on March 19th.  The ride from Las Vegas through Albuquerque NM is just plain fantastic!  Route 66---"The Mother Road"---was the main route poverty stricken refugees traveled out west during the 1930s Dust Bowl.  It later became a famous vacation road for families doing much better than those depression era refugees.

Though the ride is full of beautiful pictures, my travel schedule dictated I 'make time' and get photos of this historic route to share when I pass through again during a later leg of "Education Ride 365."  In fact, after displaying "The Cycle of Education" at TASSP (Texas Association of Secondary School Principals) Conference in June, I'll be headed directly back to San Diego for the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference in late-June.  That is likely when I'll pass west along Route 66 again, providing pictures on this blog along the way.

Flagstaff AZ may be the highlight of the route.  I road it wearing a t-shirt at 7000 feet with temperatures in the 50s, while snow still lined the roadsides and was very evident up on the mountaintop visible north of the picturesque city.  The entire route between Las Vegas and Tucumcari, just east of Albuquerque NM, was a site to behold!

Day 73: Las Vegas to Flagstaff
Day 74: Flagstaff to Albuquerque
Day 75: Albuquerque to Amarillo
Day 76: Amarillo to Corinth TX

The route deserved a slower pace!  Next time---> June!

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Riding Stats: Day 73---252.6 miles traveled, 4 hours and 16 minutes of moving time, 2 hours and 54 minutes of stopped time, 59.1 miles per hour average moving time, 35.1 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 91.3 miles per hour.  Day 74---325.6 miles traveled, 4 hours and 40 minutes of moving time, 1 hours and 31 minutes of stopped time, 69.8 miles per hour average moving time, 52.6 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 87.6 miles per hour.  Day 75---287 miles traveled, 3 hours and 56 minutes of moving time, 29 minutes of stopped time, 72.8 miles per hour average moving time, 64.8 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 89.9 miles per hour.  Day 76---385.8 miles traveled, 6 hours and 28 minutes of moving time, 1 hour and 29 minutes of stopped time, 59.6 miles per hour average moving time, 48.5 miles per hour overall average, and a max sped of 80.1 miles per hour.

Posted at 1:07 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Education Ride 365: A Real Gamble---> Teacher Unions---> Dam(n) Good Or Dam(n) Bad?!

On Day 70 I somewhat reluctantly left San Diego (I think I could live there!) bound for Las Vegas NV.  I am not a gambler and life's experiences seem to make me less so by the day!  I do like the game of Roulette, but I prefer to watch the human drama play out with other peoples' money!  I just 'people watch'....sometimes gambling in my mind by placing numbers and keeping mental track of how much I've (ultimately) lost.  It is not quite the same as the thrill of placing chips, but my bank account remains the same...which is thrill enough when the house holds the advantage!

Much more exciting to me than casinos are wonders of nature, including the human capacity for harnessing nature through engineering feats like Hoover Dam.   Conception, politicking, and construction of the Boulder Canyon Project---just outside of Vegas---spanned four presidential administrations! 
 

The wall holding back the waters of what became Lake Mead is so massive it is difficult to photograph in one camera frame.  Winds often whipping through the canyon seemingly threaten to lift you up and toss you off the top of the towering dam.  Only roughly two-thirds of the height is visible in the picture directly below and a tall truck on the hill above the dam can barely be seen.  It is an intense place!

The picture below was a moment of heart pounding intensity for this mild sufferer of vertigo!  The winds were high as I held my camera over the great wall to picture a wee bit of its lower section, the river flowing out from its base, and the new bridge built after September 11, 2001 to keep trucks potentially used as weapons of terrorism off of this massive wall.  That bridge is, in of itself, an engineering marvel to behold.  Can you see the tiny outline of an 18-wheeler to the very right of the bridge?  Pictures (especially those taken into a late-afternoon sun) simply can't do the scale or magnificence of the place justice!

Below you can see two pictures of the dam's reservoir.  The first is the Nevada side.  The second is the Arizona side.

The reservoir reminds me of a conversation I had with an educator who teaches in San Diego.  It made me wonder if teacher's unions unwittingly 'dam up' the reservoir of potential great educators have.  If so, to what degree and does the cost justify the benefit?  Here is a portion of the (informal) conversation:

I don't like teaching where I'm at. I don't work with a single teacher I respect. The union is so strong here that most teachers have settled into a mindset of "what's in it for me?" this just results in poor work ethic. The child is forgotten. My principal asked me to create a web site for our staff around problem-based learning, and I was only able to get a 30% participation on a survey I sent out. If something is not in their job description or within their contract hours, most won't do it. The union rep at our school actually came and asked me to stop working with kids after school and stop being so creative because it was "making the rest of us look bad." Unbelievable.

Teacher unions protect educators from unfair treatment by management.  I have seen unfair treatment by management firsthand.  Administrators are human...and not all humans are fair people.  Even fundamentally fair people make mistakes that can affect peoples' lives.  Absent protection, teachers and other educators can be washed downriver through little to no fault of their own.  The flow of unchecked human management can be fierce, turbulent, and destructive.

However, if the dam (union) is too restrictive of the flow, conditions can be created as related to me by the teacher quoted above.  Stagnation sets in.  Not enough change is effected downriver.  The dynamism that was once possible by a steady flow of energy is stymied, stagnation of the pool of potential sets in, and the positive change the flow could make (for students) is contained in a reservoir of inactivity.

Teacher unions---> Dam(n) good or dam(n) bad?  Yet another case of dam(n)ed if you do, dam(n)ed if you don't (unionize)?! 

Feel free to let your thoughts flow by entering a comment!

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Riding Stats: Day 70---329 miles traveled, 5 hours and 19 minutes of moving time, 2 hours and 19 minutes of stopped time, 61.8 miles per hour average moving time, and 43.1 miles per hour overall average.