With new office, student leaders get a bigger voice at Weymouth High School

This is an interesting article that I read in the Patriot Ledger after our discussion about giving students a voice.

Teachers, administrators working to increase student leadership

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By Allison Manning

The Patriot Ledger

Posted Oct 29, 2009 @ 04:35 AM

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WEYMOUTH —

When Weymouth High School Principal Anthony Pope has an issue with the student body – from lateness to littering – he doesn’t just rely on his fellow administrators.

He walks down the hall to his office of student leadership, where class officers, members of the student senate and student advisory committee now work together.

“Any issues we have in our schools, we want our students to be part of the solution,” the second-year principal said.

Each of the organizations previously operated independently and had their own missions and tasks. Now, they’re working collaboratively and with the administration. Together, the more than 30 elected leaders in student senate, on the student advisory committee and in class office have a much louder voice.

“I know they’re right down the hallway,” Pope said. “I’m convinced our kids, our students, have the best ideas and can help us do things.”

When a student needed approval for a community-service project this year, Pope got a second opinion from the student leaders, including leadership office coordinator Mark Ellis, a senior.

Last year, the student advisory committee helped clarify the finals policy in the school handbook. The leadership office will become more involved in the handbook review process each spring.

For the students to have an office is symbolic – it gives them a place among administrators, Pope said.

“It’s mainly an area for students to come voice their concerns and also to have more communication between each organization,” said Ellis, who has served as a leader in all three groups.

Getting the class officers, student senate and student advisory committee members on board was the biggest initial challenge, Ellis said. Now, the leaders are working on coming up with a cohesive mission for the office.

Next year, Pope hopes to offer a student leadership elective, which would allow students to staff the office throughout the day, to be a resource to their peers and the staff.

Regular meetings will be scheduled, and the office will be given specific tasks.

For Pope, the office is a teaching opportunity, part of the school’s effort to graduate productive citizens.

“We want to send leaders away from Weymouth High School,” he said.

The push isn’t unique to Weymouth. Increasingly, schools across the country are turning to students for ideas and solutions.

“If anyone has the pulse of our school, it’s the kids,” Pope said.

READ MORE about Weymouth High School.

Allison Manning may be reached at amanning@ledger.com.

I left class tonight thinking about the survey we reviewed about teacher's creativity. I am not sure if it was tonight's intention or if it was just a breakthrough for me; but I want to understand this. It makes sense to incorporate this new technology into my curriculum. This is what the kids will be doing, so let me get them ready to compete. The job market they will compete in will become more and more selective. If they are already comfortable with the tools they need to use; then that is half the battle.
My difficulty is time; but this is more a problem of time management. My major life's goal is to have their be little distinction between work and play. We spend so much time at work, whether that is thinking of, planning, or doing activities with students why not make them fun, exciting, and worthy of my time?
I have started a new program with my students that focuses on responsibility, following directions, time management, social skills, and academics. My plan is to take some time to figure out how I can meaningfully incorporate these new skills into my new program. The students are highly motivated by the cooking group; so I can sneak a lot of new and hard skills into the lessons. The students are more willing to do the work if the carrot is shiny enough.

3c's for 21st Century Learning and Teaching

reflection on my progress

As we approach our third class meeting I’m afraid that I’m more lost than ever. In fact I hope this is the correct place to post this.

I have spent hours and hours looking over the i3cs2109 Wiki page and the exhaustive list of links, videos, and social networking sites associated with the class and I feel any digital foot prints I may have left have been washed away by my own inability to comprehend what it is I’m supposed to be doing.

Kim Cofino claims that being a 21st century learner can be difficult at first and she was right. I wonder how long it took her to be comfortable because I’m in need of an intervention to talk me out of resigning my teaching position. Unlike my students (and many other people), I am not in a state of continuous partial attention (CPA - as Linda Stone calls it). I do not feel the need to be connected via email, texting, cell phone, or computer to the rest of the world in order to stay informed on everything I’m not present to witness. I’m sure PLN’s are worth while but there must be any easier, idiot proof way to enter the 21st century.

I’m going to Amazon.com now to see if I can order a book to help me understand what I’m trying to do.

Thank you Dennis for helping me figure out what was preventing me from posting a new topic.

Layers of the Earth WORM

Twitter4teachers

Just found a website called Twitter4teachers that displayed many different ways to contact other teachers. This wiki was created to easily help educators find other educators on Twitter that have the same interests as them (that teach in the same content area). I looked thru the Science Teachers and found a teacher up in Reading whom I then contacted thru email. It looks like a great resource for all of us as we are trying to build these learning networks and contacts. Check this out! There is even a page to sign up for Twitter mentors!

A question of focus!

I'm wondering a bit about the focus for the different platforms that we have available to us.

If we consider our own blog at Blogger.com, our own wiki page at the Learning Commons Wiki, and the Silver Lake Learning Commons Blog, is each to have its own (different) focus?

I started by adding a short bio to the Learning Commons blog. Then I started my own blog and did a similar although more detailed version. Then while exploring the Learning Commons Wikis I noticed that several of the participants had posted bios there as well. It would seem that this is redundant.

What are your thoughts?

CompTeach (Steve Hurlbut)

Comments versus Blog Posts

Notice there are 19 comments on the i3cs21sl09 "Welcome" post I did. To post, you need to click on "New Post" in the upper right of the home page of the blog. You also have to be signed in to see "New Post."

Dennis