Courtesy of utsa.edu

I was a young child in the 1960s but I still remember the stress that year brought to my family.  In the tragic year of 1968,  I was seven years old, and while Laugh-In was the rage on TV with my friends when it debuted in January, the Vietnam War was heating up and the Civil Rights movement was ripe throughout the country. President Lyndon Johnson announced to great surprise that he would not seek re-election and it was also the year we lost two leaders, Presidential candidate, Sen. Bobby Kennedy and of course, Martin Luther King. I think we forget how tumultuous a year that was for our nation.

On Monday, we celebrate the life of MLK in the midst of a community and a state that has little ethnic diversity.  Yet, one of the greatest gifts a holiday can give us is a chance to reflect and take stock in the universal values we share. At Harold Martin School, it is a core belief among the adults and children that each individual has unique and significant value. It is important that every adult at HMS model respect so that our students can see that example and carry it forward. MLK was consistent in his message of equality at a time when that value was a faint concept in the minds of many. While the group that suffered the most during that time were African-Americans, if MLK was alive today (he would have been 83 years old this Sunday) I know he would have continued and likely broadened his message. He was only 39 when he died.

If you would like to commemorate the life of Martin Luther King and the values he stood for, I’ve posted information on three events happening Monday in the local area.

If you cannot attend an MLK Day event, take a few moments Monday to discuss the virtues of respect and equality with your kiddos.

new apps these days, has a social media element to it as well. I began using it to record the “Harold Martin Minute” last year and due to time constraints (I suppose) I stopped using it. In reality, the process is very quick.

It works like this:

1. Download the Audioboo app to your iPhone, iPad, or Android device (or use your browser).

2. Record your “boo” recording up to 5 minutes in length.

3. Easily upload to the Audioboo website from your device. When you log into your account (which you need to set up of course) it should be waiting there for you. From there you can embed the Audioboo (with player) on to your blog or website. You can also upload the “boo” directly to Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

There are many uses on the school scene for Audioboo:

• Record a brief reminder of events and important info for your parents and community and embed it right on your web site.
• Use as a podcasting tool. With your smartphone, you can easily interview teachers and students while capturing classroom gems. The audio format is simpler than video and often less intimidating for the interviewee.
• Teachers can record student presentations and have them up on the web (or share them via social media) almost immediately after completion.
• Teachers can use the Audiobook website to post their own audio newsletters to replace or enhance their regular weekly classroom newsletter. Better yet, students can record part of the newsletter too.
• Teachers can post brief notes regarding classroom content for their students.

The social element of Audioboo allows one to collect Audioboo “friends” and follow others in the same vein as podcasts.

Please reply here or Tweet if you find this info useful or if you have other tools with similar attributes. Start recording!

Photo courtesy of backpocketcoo.com

The difficulty in keeping one’s life in balance is related in large part to the type of life we lead in America. Industriousness is rewarded in our society and at times busyness can become an addiction. Yet, balance is not reached by simply paring down our activity, it’s selecting those activities that sustain our spirit and organizing our time so that life’s pursuits make sense in light of our personal goals and philosophy of life. While everyone has a point of pure exhaustion, what we really need are diversions – opportunities to exercise a different part of the brain and be creative. I am influenced by Daniel Pink’s thoughts in his book Drive. The author’s primary message is that we are happier as human beings when we have significant opportunities to be creative and autonomous.

Like most of you, I am both fortunate and cursed to have so many interests. While my job as an educator carves out a powerful slice of my day and week, music allows me to exercise a different part of my brain.  I lead a contemporary music group of about 20 men and women at a large church in Manchester, NH which is both exhilarating and challenging while forcing me to keep up my musical chops. In addition, my father the engineer instilled within me a love for technology so playing with the latest gadget or experimenting with social media challenges me to be inventive.

Focusing on health is crucial for balance too. As the economy has worsened and true retirement seems but a dream, I have made a commitment to exercise and lose weight so I can earn a salary as long as I need to. Stopping by the local gym and enrolling in the online Weight Watchers program has increased my energy and well-being quicker than any other method.

Ultimately, commitment to family is the greatest factor in achieving balance for me.

As the kids have grown (Ben is 24, Abby is 21, and Jake is 16) it has also been easier to involve my kids in what I do. My daughter Abby, when she is home from college, sings with my church group. I share Fantasy Football with Ben and Jake as well as a love of technology. It’s also easier than ever to go on dates with my wife given the age of the kids. The five of us have shared two summer vacations every year as are all dedicated to forgo our jobs and other commitments for a week in July and one in August. Truly, how you achieve balance shifts as the family changes.

As the new year begins, striving for life’s balance is a challenging but worthy goal. Sit down with the people you love and assess together how balanced your life and your family’s life is at the beginning of 2012. You will find more balance and meaning in life when you truly examine the activities that are taking up your time. May you have an incredible 2012.

Random posts like this are easy to write. I’m not sure my high school English teacher would approve of the bullet format but…

• The iPad is becoming an enormous tool for me. Tonight, I’ll lead the band at my church using the iPad as my only tool for reading music. In fact, many members of the band have taken my lead and are using digital music instead of paper. After downloading music in PDF form from a specific music site, I throw it on Dropbox which can be easily inputted into one or more iPad apps. I’m currently using GigBook to house nearly 800 songs. With this app you can create set lists and simply swipe from page to page, song to song. One caveat though: have a back-up. I was using another music app, OnSong last week and the app failed on me. Fortunately, I had much of the music on GigBook and the rest I read off Dropbox on my iPhone. Tough on the eyes though.
• I’m also not sure how I worked as a Principal without the iPad this school year. I complete my walk-throughs, take notes in meetings, and make appointments on the fly. It’s a great device for hallway work…that’s where a large percentage of work happens in my job and using Evernote, I have every document I need, right on my iPad.
• Siri has not been the game changer I have expected. It frequently disappoints me when I’m trying to impress a friend or colleague. I’m thinking that Siri likes quiet; background noise seems to interfere. I’m sure that updates to its “beta” status will help.
• I’m not a big game guy, but I’m really enjoying Words with Friends on the iPhone. Not sure how they manage to avoid copyright infringement with Scrabble though. I’m currently in games with two of my kids, my wife, and one of my teachers. No worries…I’ll will not become obsessed a la Alec Baldwin.

Nice to relax for a couple days.

The troika with my Evernote synced blogpost on each screen.

Clearly, education has embraced technology for many years. Those in positions of influence have longed for gadgets to change the academic world but despite everyone’s best intentions technology has not dramatically improved student learning for many schools. Why is this?

• In many cases, districts spend thousands of dollars on technology without setting realistic goals for the equipment and not engaging in serious professional development for teachers.
• There is a temptation to exalt the gadget over its usefulness. Having a one-to-one iPad initiative or a school full of interactive white boards makes for a wonderful press release.
• Teachers can’t be fooled. They can sense when an administrator has gadget fever. I have said early on that any technology we utilize has to support the academic values we already hold.

With new teachers on board at HMS who are closer to being digital natives than most of us, I will have to hold true to my maxim above and fight gadget fever.

Meanwhile, with my college aged kids home for the holidays, I look to my right and my wife is on her iPad, my two oldest are on the MacBooks, Jake is poised over the ol’ iMac keyboard, and I’m punching this blog entry out on my MacBook Pro. Don’t worry. We talk a lot too. Face to face…not over Skype.

Courtesy of best-norman-rockwell-art.com

I do love Thanksgiving. It’s one of those holidays when families can get together under a simple premise that we give thanks. There’s no need to exchange gifts and few expectations beyond a properly cooked turkey and a large enough TV to watch the football games. Those of us with full time jobs are thankful for our ability to provide for our families, purchase things we need, and arrange the occasional vacation. Yet, at Thanksgiving the focus is on people. When we sit across from our families and friends Thursday, we will be eye to eye with the ones we love. In the end, we are certainly thankful for what makes our life a bit more comfortable. But for me, I am most thankful for my family, friends, and those I work with.

I am also very thankful for my job. It’s not an easy one and most days you enter the building not quite knowing what challenges you will face. But while the Sunday night butterflies will always remain despite my over 2000 school days working as a Principal, I still love the hugs and high fives from kids, the daily laughs in the office, working out solutions to problems, and seeing growth in faculty while initiatives move forward.

Here are ten things this Principal is thankful for as we head into Thanksgiving 2011:

I am thankful for…

1. Hopkinton parents who are overwhelmingly positive about what we do at HMS and when they are critical, they do it kindly. They are also amazing volunteers.

2. A staff full of professionals who not only work hard but are still hungry to learn more. In 2011, I would place my own children in any one of the classrooms in my school.

3. The new teachers who have entered our HMS community and have brought new ideas and fresh energy.

4. The students who are generally respectful, happy, and eager to learn.

5. My “boss”, the Superintendent, a man of integrity, always striving to do what’s right while maintaining an amazing balance in his life.

6. My Leadership Team colleagues who are able to give me advice and counsel with a perspective unlike any one else’s.

7. The Central Office specifically; in a world where the local school and the district office are often at odds, it is refreshing to find such professionalism and good cheer in that funky little building next to Maple Street School.

8. New technology tools allowing our students to be creative and engaged in their learning.

9. Our new playground built in part to a $100,000 donation and scores of hard working volunteers.

10. A School Board that understands education in the 21st Century and is very supportive of district staff.

This is but a slice. It’s a good exercise; develop your own top ten list and you may find yourself even more thankful this November 24.

This weekend the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “My Teacher is an App”, a treatise on how public schools are moving toward online courses at the expense of brick and mortar schools. Indeed, they quote from the Evergreen Education Group that an estimated 250,000 students in this country are enrolled in virtual schools, up 40% in the last three years. Clearly, this trend has implications for the future of education. Teacher unions in particular decry this movement.  Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a leading proponent of online schooling, says that digital learning will happen with or without support from the unions. He states that he is “willing to go to war” over this issue. In a passionate response to the Wall Street Journal article, education blogger and Web 2.0 expert Will Richardson criticizes what he sees as a “disheartening and disturbing vision” of what education could become.

What affect could this have on educational leaders? The answer lies in the potential repercussions to education from digitalization, but inevitably, the soul of our field is bound to suffer. The Boards of Education looking to save money and the technology corporations looking to make money are missing the point. Since education should be a “contact sport”, students may lose out on the depth of knowledge that comes from human interaction if learning moves to an online venture. In the many courses I have taught online both to prospective teachers and Principals, I’ve learned that true Socratic discussion is nearly impossible via Internet discussion boards.

Mike Morgan, Superintendent of New Hampshire SAU 16, extols the virtues of “the Soulful Leader” and has defined what this looks like:

The Soulful Leader values and attends to relationships as much as to tasks and outcomes, valuing the sacredness of the other person. A teacher stripped of her ability to interact in person with her students will likely not seek or need the same level of interaction with a soulful leader, thereby diminishing the natural synergy that can exist between school leader, teacher, and student. The building of positive school culture is almost symbiotic in that affirming, caring relationships and its productive results spread throughout an institution.

The Soulful Leader works in collaboration rather than in hierarchal…fashion. No doubt, collaboration is a significant component of Web 2.0 technology. But that’s not what this profit motive is suggesting. In fact, Richardson states that “direct instruction and standardization will make us less competitive, not more”. The world we are living in and our students are growing up in, will require live collaboration skills, ready to engage in creative partnerships. Leaders must model this as we work to maximize the talent on our staff that is only discovered in a collaborative environment.

Teachers are not “apps”. Teachers are credentialed and adept facilitators of learning, helping their students discover how to change the world for the better. Technology tools serve to exult and support the educational skills we know to be critical in the 21st Century. Teacher leaders and building leaders need to fight against the depersonalization that the inappropriate implementation of technology may bring to our schools. If we are not careful, soulful leadership will deteriorate into ordinary management and the spectacular advantages we enjoy from technology will be potentially lost in a mire of misuse.

In the world of religion, I have admired the work of Pope John Paul II who played a significant role in spreading freedom throughout Europe and Asia from a pontificate perch that rarely changes the world. Yet, it was the leadership of Oscar Romero, a relatively inconsequential El Salvador Bishop in the late 1970’s that got my attention as a Freshman in college. His reign as Bishop only lasted three years, but in that short time he inadvertently left us with many leadership lessons.

FINDING YOUR VOICE

Romero was a reluctant leader. Although he had a passion for the Priesthood, he could not have foreseen the influence he would gain in the last few years of his life. He found his voice by reexamining his own values in the context of a horrific lack of human rights in his own country. His leadership was partly circumstantial but he rose to the challenge even without a traditional leadership skill set. He did not begin as a dynamic speaker or marketing mogul, but he led from his core. He knew what he believed and his actions came from his philosophy, not from a desire for fame or to please humans.

THE POWER OF COMMUNICATION

Every great leader finds a way to communicate the message. The poor of El Salvador did not have televisions but they could gather around a radio. Romero was able to use this medium to spread his liberation theology via the broadcast of a Mass and the homily contained within. After high profile murders of El Salvadorians he loved, he made a controversial decision on a specific Sunday to cancel all Masses in his country except for one large Mass on the steps of the Cathedral in which more than 100,000 faithful gathered. While this decision drew criticism, it helped to unite the people in the direction of justice and sent a strong message to those in power.

COURAGE

Every leader must show courage in the face of conflict. One must be ready to make unpopular decisions, risking old friendships or the ire of those with the ability to make a leader’s life uncomfortable. As a Principal, my daily walk through the building often includes smiles, laughs, and stories of the weekend. However, the good natured day sometimes includes tough exchanges that have to be had, even if they are always respectful conversations. A visit from Union representatives might begin a chain of events resulting in a grievance if a request is denied. A phone call to a thin-skinned parent takes courage, preparation and a deep breath before dialing the number.  Romero’s courage took a different tack. He was willing to die for his convictions knowing that he could never be the leader he was meant to be without extending his decision-making to the point of risking his life. Toward the end of his ministry he knew a violent death was just a matter of time.

COLLABORATION

Romero understood that the poor of El Salvador needed to participate in their transformation. The power of a leader rests squarely in his ability to motivate, persuade, and inspire. A solitary leader can only achieve temporary success. Romero’s influence rested in his ability to change citizen’s minds and hearts and instill courage at the same time. As he stated to his followers, “Aspire not to have more but to do more.” There are many school leaders with good intentions who take on too much responsibility for their staff. The non-collaborative Principals lead committees that should be led by teachers and begin initiatives themselves rather than build the power from within.

Ninety-five percent of Romero’s life was spent preparing for the 5% spent in courageous leadership. Not many of us are called to risk our lives, but like Romero, if our calling is to be transformational, we may have to be transformed ourselves before we can be effective leaders.

Courtesy of wii.ign.com

In my first year of college in 1979, I was introduced to Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, a multi-volume classic written from the pen of a French man examining the wonders of representative democracy in 1830‘s United States. I was impressed by de Tocqueville’s observations of an America filled with active citizens, ready to participate civically in the formation of a new nation founded on democratic beliefs.  Now, more than a century and a half later, author Robert Putnam decries what he sees as the disintegration of social capital in his book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.

Every spring, our school enjoys a visit from the elderly members of the Grange, a civic organization that was founded after the Civil War as a fraternal organization for farmers. Three women from the Grange come with special dictionaries to give free to our third graders. They spend a few minutes with our students describing their organization and highlighting the finer points of their gift. In between, the “Grangers” and I bemoan the disintegration of their organization and how they are probably the last generation to be part of their fellowship. Unfortunately, their national membership has decreased 40% in the last 15 years. They are saddened that local young families have no interest in joining the group.

Putnam uses the sport of bowling as his leading example for diminishing social capital in America. While people will still bowl by themselves or perhaps on a date with another person, league bowling has decreased dramatically. Many studies also show a decline in church membership, involvement in city or town committees, or in civic organizations such as The Grange.

What effect does this have on our public schools?

• The local elementary school can substitute as a tool to build a community’s social capital. In many ways, our Hopkinton schools are the hub for the community. Parents will congregate in the morning after dropping their children off, at pick-up time in the afternoon and often on our new playground. Open House is as much a social time for families as it is an opportunity for parents to see our classrooms. In addition, families are increasingly busy. While Dads and Moms are not as tied to organizations such as the VFW, Lions Club, or the quilting circle, they do congregate at community sporting events or enrichment activities. Many argue that our public schools take on too much responsibility to meet the needs of society. Yet, we can be a comfortable and reliable social institution for families who depend on us.
• Another factor in declining social capital is the necessity for both parents to work. Once a source of extra income to keep up with the Jones’, a second salary might be essential for families who have been hurt by the current state of the economy. I have seen some decline in school volunteerism as a result, especially for specific requests. This shift requires schools to adapt and offer volunteer activities that do not require in-school attendance. For example, one of our volunteer opportunities is to help in our “Publishing Center” which produces professional looking books for our students’ writing, complete with a biography page, a fancy cover, and typed content. Most of the adult typists complete this task at home and bring in the finished copies on their way to work.
• As Putnam describes in his book, the rise of time spent alone with technology has much to do with the decline of community and civic involvement. Schools can take advantage of this and leverage students’ skill with technology to work collaboratively around projects that can benefit the community.

Assuming Putnam’s alarming contention is correct, we may be able to stem the tide of community apathy through purposeful opportunities in our schools. Good schools provide options for community building and will teach the next generation about the power of face-to-face contact and collaboration. This can lead to an increase in civic involvement and return us to de Tocqueville’s image of a democratic America.

courtesy of oldcomputers.net

I was bothered by Steve’s death more than I thought I would be. I have been an Apple user for so long that my entire educational career has been influenced in part by the company and its products. I started using Apples/Macs in 1984 at the start of my teaching career. The old Apple IIe with the green letters and the floppy disk drive was my constant companion. I used to bring this desktop home often and I can still feel the heaviness and awkwardness of carrying the CPU with the monitor and disk drives sandwiched between. I used to have a grade book program on a 5 1/4 floppy which was archaic by today’s standards and all of my lesson plans and handouts were done on that machine. A couple of years later, Gov. Sununu secured legislation that gave each school district enough Apple IIgs computers for each teacher in each New Hampshire school building.

Years later I attended a workshop with colleagues on this new thing called the Internet. Not long after that workshop, I purchased a Mac LCIII which was truly state of the art. I used a 2400 baud modem (v e r y  s l o w) and I began connecting to the Net even before browsers were used. Everything in those days was text, but through an early AOL and Compuserve account I was amazed that I could receive AP news live right to my computer and even tap into the card catalog at the UNH library. It took at least 30 seconds to download data each time, but since everything was so new, it didn’t matter. Not long after that, I upgraded the modem and Mosiac was born which allowed one to see web pages with graphics. I was one of the first to use the Internet at my school but I had to use the school’s phone line to do it. Of course, there was no wireless or even wired connections at that point.

courtesy of alldeaf.com

My wife Marie and I rented our place out in Rochester, NH in the early 90s out moved in with my father for his remaining years. My Dad, an electrical engineer, was fascinated by the Net and despite my Apple bias, he bought a PC running DOS and later Windows 3.1. I was amazed that the world was so enamored by Windows when Apple had developed this type of interface many years before. But this was before the days of iTunes and iPhones. Dad and I would email each other across his large New England Colonial and then we would chat together about these emails later over dinner.

In 1996 I was offered my first Principalship and I came into a world of PCs. For four years I used a PC running Windows 95 at work but I bought a Mac Powerbook 190 for my non-work life. Merely a few days after it was introduced in 1998, I bought the first iMac which was sold in only one color, Bondi Blue. It held me long enough to reach Harold Martin School, where I was relieved to

courtesy of mac-man.co.uk

discover was an Apple School.

These last 11 years have seen a tremendous change in technology, in large part…truly in large part, to Steve Jobs. Music purchasing and listening was transformed by iTunes, the iTunes store and the iPod. Cell phones have been transformed by the advent of the iPhone. Apple made popular the concept of a smartphone which soon everyone will use. Now the iPad is being utilized as an essential tool in all walks of life and in nearly every industry.

How much does a CEO contribute to his or her company’s ideas, products, and vision? In Steve Jobs’ case, no one has ever had a greater impact on technology in the last 50 years, both within his company and the world. What made Steve so different was the undying love he held for every product that Apple released. When he talked about a new Apple gadget you could tell that if he had to, he would be one of the many standing in line for hours to purchase it. He was proud of his company and its people. He knew precisely his own strengths and weaknesses and he had a vision for his company.

Perhaps the most famous quote traveling around the Internet since his death came from Jobs’ 2005 speech at Stanford’s

commencement:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs knew, as we all must, that our time on this earth is finite. We go through life ignoring that fact, partly as a defense mechanism so we don’t go crazy. But the beauty in this

courtesy of news.softpedia.com

realization is that we have but one chance to use our talents, share a little kindness, and “change the world”. Steve learned through his own mistakes that while we should take everyone’s opinion into account, ultimately our “inner voice” must take precedence. I hope you too “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition”.