Guy gone wild

The LWW is in Ireland and France for two weeks visiting her son and daughter-in-law. It's rare that I have time at home alone, so I am going to go wild. I fully intend to:

1. Not put the toilet seat down.
2. Watch TV while I eat.

and...

It's pathetic that's about all I can think of. I've admittedly a weak moral character, but I've found that being bad takes a lot of energy. In fact, I'd guess exhaustion is the leading cause of good behavior among older men.

I have been lusting after that new MacBook Air laptop computer. Ladies, would this fly if your husband with a hung dog look said, "I was just so lonely and bored I bought a new computer... If you forgive me, I promise never to do it again."?

On separate missions

Allison Zmuda and David Loertscher gave an outstanding workshop here in Minnesota yesterday. As part of her opening remarks, Allison shared a couple of long lists of sample school library media program mission statements. Most of them looked something like this:

The LMC's mission is to develop inquisitive learners who can creatively, responsibly, and effectively solve problems and communicate their thinking/findings to others.

The point Allison made was that our mission statements should not be a laundry list of things we do, but a tool that helps us focus and prioritize our efforts. I agree wholeheartedly.

But I noticed that not one of the library program's statements included supporting the mission or goals of its parent organization - the school itself. When I asked Allison about this at lunch, she said the mission statements were purposely designed this way. OK. And if the library mission statement differed or even seemed contrary to the school mission? Then get a new job, was her reply. Hmmmmmm.

What should the ethical professional do when it seems his/her mission deviates from his/her organization? What seems like a growing number of librarians and technology folks are fully committed to creating constructivist learning environments that stress collaboration, creativity, communications, authentic assessment, and relevance but work for schools that focus on test scores, test scores, test scores, test scores and basic skills.

What are one's choices if you and your school seem to have differnt views of how to educate kids and what an educated person looks like?

1. Quit and get a job in a school that aligns to your own educational philosophy. Easy to say, hard to do, since most of us have mortgages and families to feed. Many people are constrained geographically by other ties. Contructivist-based schools, most often small charters, are still few and far between.
2. Stay and be subversive. Popular choice with many (and my personal favorite.) Nod and pay homage to the school leadership, but quietly do what you believe is best for kids under the radar. Be satisfied with small wins.
3. Stay and complain - loudly. Do what the school requires but make a big stink about it, and make sure everyone knows that you really do know better. OK, I suppose, for those with tenure, but if it's only griping, nobody benefits.
4. Stay, rationalize buying into a system you know is not good for kids, and shut up. It seems to work for many, but I don't know what it says about one's professionalism.

I'm sure there are other, better approaches to this dilemma. Help me out here...

Here's another angle on libraries and their missions:

David talked yesterday that even after being around for 50 years, school libraries still are not regarded as a core, essential ingredient of an effective school. And I'd suggest that this where we are with instructional technology after 30 years as well - a nice extra, at best.

Just for the sake of argument, might the reason for our marginalization be that librarians and tech enthusiasts have always had their own agenda/mission and worked toward accomplishing it rather than working toward the goals their schools felt important?

See poster above.

Skills of the independently employed

Thanks to a blog post by Will Richardson, I read Time Magazine's mid-May online articles in The Way We'll Work - the Future of Work. As Will observed, one of the startling numbers is:

(by 2019) 40% of the U.S. workforce ... will rent out its skills. ...

As a part-time "rent-a-speaker/consultant" myself, I started thinking about the special skill sets these independently employed workers need - and how schools might help develop them. Here are some that come to mind:

• Time management
• Bookkeeping skills/money management/financial planning
• Continuous self-reeducation
• Marketing/knowing one's skill values
• Self-evaluation
• Forming peer groups/support systems/personal learning networks
• Balancing work/life pursuits

These skills may not come naturally to many of us educators who are accustomed to having a supervisor, working set hours/days, receiving a regular paycheck and bennies, working with peers in real time, and getting regular evaluations. And it is why, as difficult as may be to get our heads around them, the "dispositions" section of the current AASL Standard for the 21st Century Learner may be its most important part.

As the article warns,

No one is going to pay you just to show up.

And I would add, or do what a machine can do or another person more cheaply, effectively or efficiently.

Think about it. It's my grandsons you're educating out there!

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