Wait, that's not what I meant.........

It came out wrong. What you heard isn't what I meant.  

Today Hudson HSLT held our PTA meeting and one of the topics was the new schedule.  

We are looking to start a new schedule in September with three months of instruction and one month off.  It would look like this:

Term 1
September, October, November
Off-December

Term 2
January, February, March
Off-April

Term 3
May, June, July
Off- August

One parent raised the question- should we ask students if they want the new schedule?

I responded with hesitation.  "I wouldn't want to ask students without knowing what to do with responses.  What if students say they do not want it because of their friends and we go forward with it anyway?   If so, then do we really have student voice?  I would feel awful if they had a say and then saw their voice meant nothing".  

Since the meeting I have not stopped thinking about the parent question.  It was a great question and I didn't reflect enough upon my response before speaking.  
I  have asked a few students what they think of the new schedule and I know some  advisors have had this discussion.  Although these conversations are happening, we do not have a forum to know of them.  Maybe the question isn't if they want it- but maybe it's about how they feel about it?

When I feared for students not being heard,   I removed their right to speak at all.  What I meant to say came out wrong.  I want to hear what students think.  I would like to know what struggles they think they will face, and they should be part of the conversation.  

Changing summer break is not a big deal for me.  If I were 15 would I feel the same?

PTA meetings are crucial to our development as a school.  The parent this evening who raised that question made change happen.  It was your parent who spoke up for you.   

We have a forum.

Students have a voice- and now a space to share it.  


Post your thoughts about the new schedule here in the comments section, speak with your advisor, find me for a conversation or send an email.  

The final Term: A Reflection

We have officially entered the 4th term at Hudson. Where have we been? Where are we now? Where are we going? These are popular questions that we've explored in our course this year. Take a minute to comment on the topics below: 1) Where Have we been? - Throughout the Hudson Journey- From September until Now - What are some things that you have discovered? Any interesting stories? What are some struggles and successes to reflect upon? What are some ways to improve what we are doing? 2) Where are we going? - What is next for us? What are some things you would like to see? Students- Please use your initals and class tree when posting. Maximum credit is awarded to students who respond to other student posts as well. You can post more than once.

What Hudson does in Math- Join us!

Reminder to all interested:

Dear Participant,

You are registered to attend today’s Math webinar from 3:30 – 4:30pm led by Amanda Chevere from Brownsville Academy High School and Grace O'Keeffe from Hudson High School.
In order to participate, you will need a computer with Internet access and a phone or computer headset.
To join the webinar please click on the following link: https://nycdoemeetings.webex.com/nycdoemeetings/j.php?ED=162338097&UID=0&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D
Enter your name and email address and press "join now." In addition, you will need to call 1-877-669-3239 and enter the Meeting Number: 995 959 276 to access the audio. You can also opt to receive a call to your phone or computer headset by following the prompts.



Global/US history is tomorrow!

Ask Questions

Questions.

Questions can be thoughtful. Asking the right questions in the right way can get you the information you seek.


What are you interested in finding out more about?

What is your passion?

iLearn College and Career prep assignment

What are you passionate about? What is important to you?

Students-
Compose a short journal entry about what you are passionate about. Avoid using your name. Use only your initials and class color when posting.

How to do this:
Open a word document
Type your thoughts
Proofread your text
Click the word comment below
Paste your thoughts

It is good practice to first write and save your blog post in a Word document (or google document) so that it can be proofread for spelling, grammar and if the webpage times out, your entire work is not lost. When you post something online, you should put your best


Once you are finished with your posting, feel free to respond to other student posts.

GoAnimate.com: fun by jose.parra


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Educon: My Top Ten (in progress)

This has been an unbelievable weekend. There are some great takeaways

1) They chose us. They believe in what we do.

2) Research is learning- not a paper. Great research resources from an exceptional LMS. http://www.slideshare.net/bentonlibrary

3) All courses at Hudson focus on our own set of core values- we call these our habits of mind.

4) What do I teach? Students. I teach them through my content area.

5) Reflection is not only necessary, but becomes more meaningful when you have an audience of

6) Library Media Specialists (LMS) are seriously powerful people to have within a school and co-teach within a classroom setting to assist with the research process. http://www.findingdulcinea.com/

7)

8)

9)

10) (To be continued)

Hudson @ Educon

Professional development- evaluating and improving the systematic and intentional practice of what we do. How do we make this meaningful for students?

Hudson is at Educon!!! Join the conversations from home


Check out the #educon stream and watch live at http://educon23.org/live

Live Interview on Monday Jan. 24 - Karen Cator on the National Education Technology Plan

3pm Monday afternoon

The National Education Technology Plan

Live Interview on Monday Jan. 24 - Karen Cator on the National Education Technology Plan
Reposted from SteveHargadon.com

A Tech Guide: Great Resource for Educators

While reading blog postings last evening, I stumbled upon this one from Steve Hargadon www.stevehargadon.com


A tech guide for teachers

http://issuu.com/mzimmer557/docs/tools_for_the_21st_century_teacher?mode=embed&layout=http%3A//skin.issuu.com/v/light/layout.xml

Where we're going

I owe a few more posts to get caught up on where we are.
until then,


Today we met with the research and development team from the iZone. We shared our confidential feelings about the iLearn program here at Hudson, and teachers were very honest.
It is easy to say something is not working. It is easy to abandon it. We know that because we have a lot of resistance to our new ways of instruction.


Of all the suggestions for improvement, I leave there with two enduring thoughts.

1) We have an amazing team of dedicated, devoted, supportive staff members.
One piece of cool feedback that repeated in the discussion is we need more time! The thought was that we spend too much time sorting through our Virtual Learning platforms to design a meaningful lesson.

A follow up was that we WANT to design our own content, or at least be able to modify existing content to fit our needs and compliment what we are doing in the classroom.



- we are wasting time finding what works from what is available
- we wouldn't mind taking even more time per week if we were able to customize it and make it fit our needs.

What I conclude from this is that our struggle is not time. It is that we want to spend our time making something meaningful. Isn't this what we want for our students too?


2) You learn from your environment.
Staff feel supported. Distributive leadership is a huge strength in our school. Staff are frustrated but do not give up hope, and are motivated to continue to learn more.
We have great energy and through all the changes involved to get us where we are, we are making it through.

We have hope-"We know what it can be- it is just not there yet."