I hope you and your family had an enjoyable and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. Wednesday this week signifies 2nd quarter midterm. It is hard to believe that we are half way through the second quarter already. Winter sports also heat up this week with home basketball games and a wrestling meet all this week. I hope you are able to come out and support the winter sports teams. It makes the winter go by faster when you're rooting for a winning bulldog team!
This week we have interviews scheduled in hopes to find a new special education teacher at the high school. A successful candidate would start second semester.
This short work week this week for students and teachers gives way for the Thanksgiving holiday. In a time where our economy is far from booming, the weather is turning cold, and the financial times for schools, families, and businesses are hard we still have much to give thanks for. I personally wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving and hope that this holiday truly gives us a chance to enjoy the company of family and friends but also appreciate what we do have.
Much of my time in recent weeks has been on something called Senior Year Plus. This new legislation went in effect on November 1st, 2009 and is related to all dual credit courses that upperclassman take while still in high school. Though I'm not sure the legislation will actually do what it is intended to do it is designed to provide dual credit access to a more wide population of Iowa students while raising the bar for dual credit entrance requirements. In the past, dual credit courses were available to all upperclassman who were advised, interested, and willing to meet the challenge of a college course while still in high school. Now, the legislation requires high school students to be "proficient" in reading, math, and science prior to enrolling in any dual credit course.
Though the intentions of this new legislation is good, I truly question its merit. I have witnessed many students who do not score well on tests and may have trouble proving proficiency on a test so that they would be able to enroll in a dual credit course. For other students, they truly are not proficient in reading, math, and science but have done well in dual credit courses when they completed the required high school courses and were allowed to take dual credit college courses that they had a niche for like automotive courses or industrial technology offerings.
The new Senior Year Plus legislation gives local school boards the liberty to approve "locally established but equivalent criteria for proficiency" rather than sole proficiency on the ITED reading, math, and science tests. I take the responsibility of creating and taking to the board a very well-thought-out set of equal criteria to our school board in December so that most students are not limited in taking dual credit courses in high school. Furthermore, I believe our nearby county schools and conference schools should have similar criteria in my opinion. I will be meeting with local high school and conference principals this week to develop this locally established but equivalent criteria to take to the board for approval in the near future. Please stay posted for details and actual approval for this criteria. Below is my pre-meeting thoughts that I will present to other principals for consideration.
This past week presented many signs of winter quickly approaching at Hampton-Dumont High School. Girls basketball practice started last week. Parent teacher conferences have concluded. Quarter 2 is in full swing. The HDHS Variety Show was presented this past weekend. The weather outside is getting colder and wrestling and boys basketball starts on Monday.
As I watched the Iowa Hawks play on TV today I was reminded of my visit to Kinnick Stadium last Saturday to watch the Hawks lose to Northwester in a big upset. Even though I really enjoyed the atmosphere of a big time Division I football game I was more than annoyed with the comments and sportsmanship of some of the spectators around me. As our HDHS winter sports will be in full swing in a matter of days I feel compelled to post about our local sportsmanship.
A week after I went to the Iowa game I can still recall the comments from spectators that were said over and over. A middle aged lady with her two daughters (one a college students and the other a middle school student) routinely yelled "Run the fumble play." Her comments were directed at the Hawkeye football players, I think, though I don't know what she thought the "fumble play" was. I suspect she thinks it is a play in which she expects one of the Hawkeye defenders to cause a fumble? However, I'm not sure and I'm certain the Hawkeye defenders couldn't hear these drunken pleas either. If it was just that easy to cause a Division one offensive player to fumble the ball by running the "fumble play." Now... I've coached high school football and don't claim to be the world's greatest coach but I'm confident I have never ran a play because someone in the crowd reminded me of it. So, I'm pretty sure the highest paid Big 10 coach and highest paid state employee, Kirk Ferentz, is going to listen to a lady in the crowd with no coaching experience. Furthermore, as a basketball official I have never changed my call because of something someone in the crowd reminded me of. If anything, my desire to officiate and not listen to people in the crowd is solidified because of instances like this.
Another gentleman behind me made a more disturbing comment over and over during the game as well. This guy, who was with his wife and parents or parent in-laws, kept yelling "break their bones." First, I couldn't believe this guy was making this comment over and over throughout the ball game. Second, I couldn't believe his wife didn't tell him to shut up. Third, I couldn't believe that his parents or parent in-laws didn't quiet him. Last, why didn't I say something to him? I probably should have made the comment to him, "Hey do you know that my brother is out there, I don't appreciate you wanting him hurt." I would have liked to see what his reaction to a comment like that would have been. I just can't believe that some fan is so into the team that they truly want someone from the other team hurt. Ironically, the Hawks QB was the one getting hurt and potentially costing Iowa to lose the ball game.
Most of the other adults around us at the ball game were well mannered and seemed to really enjoy the game. Whether it's professional, college, or high school sports it truly shocks me to see so many examples of professional people lose their minds by the comments they make and poor sportsmanship they display. All of this jeopardizes their reputation and truly has minimal, if any, impact on a sporting contest. So, why do people act this way? Why don't people say something to their friends when they act so irresponsible? A ticket is not a right to lose one's mind but rather a pass into watching a sporting event and cheering FOR one's team. As this winter sports season starts at H-D I remind you to keep your head and cheer for the bulldogs.
Here are some concluding thoughts for one to consider about sportsmanship: 1. Teams win with the same officials that other teams lose with. 2. If one blames officials for a loss, they best be prepared to give officials the credit if their team wins the ball game. 3. When you yell at anyone involved in a sporting contest, you are yelling at someone elses child. 4. Is it more important to win a high school ball game or represent your school, family, and self in positive fashion. 5. How can we expect our student-athletes to act responsibly if our fans chose not to?
If you attended parent teacher conferences one evening last week we appreciate your attendance. Though participation in conferences continues to decline it continues to serve as a good opportunity for parents and educators to network and unify in the education of students. Participation at our fall conferences was 71%. Our parent teacher conferences are very traditional at HDHS. If you have suggestion about improving our conferences please let me know. This would include how to allow teachers to have supper while not keeping parents waiting. As the traditional composition of something like parent teacher conferences develops and changes with technology like Power School so will traditional high school classrooms.
What would a google school look like? Google already has search engines, software, and features that are beyond comprehension. And the interesting thing is that most all of their services are free. Some people say Google may own the world someday because of being so involved in our daily lives in a variety of ways. Furthermore, I have heard that google is close to have a google identify for people. This would mean that everything a person has done would be documented by google. Scary but probably not too far away.
Have you every "googled" yourself on the internet? Try it and see what comes up. Is it things you would want your family to see? Would you want your employer to google you? Would your colleagues be impressed with what they find on the internet about you?
With all the modern technology out there what would a google school look like? I would suspect that it would have a computer for every student and teacher. It would probably have interactive whiteboards for presentations. Projectors may be available for other presentation. Simulation software would be readily available to students. The teacher would not often be seen lecturing but rather using the available technologies to guide students to learning. It is hard telling what a google school would actually look like but the unknown may not be that far away. This site reveals what Apple's idea of a future classroom may look like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcXEznPXj8k.
Furthermore, you can see the continued progress of the Hampton-Dumont Technology Committee at the following wiki www.hdtechcommittee.wikispaces.com.
