We have nice weather in California!

I thought this would be a fun mid-week share. For those of you who do not live in California, I am not purposely trying to rub it in (too much), but this is not an issue CA campuses normally have to deal with.

“The 10 Snowiest College Campuses (Sort of)”

“With a blizzard sweeping the East, AccuWeather.com released a list of the "10 snowiest colleges in the U.S.," and loyal alumni of those institutions started boasting about the rankings. We couldn't help but ask some questions about the methodology when we noticed the Syracuse University was listed as tied for second, while the State University of New York Upstate Medical University (literally across the street) didn't make the list. And it didn't make sense that the University of Rochester could be third on the list but its neighbors, such as Monroe Community College and Rochester Institute of Technology, could have so much less snow so as not to make the list at all. AccuWeather responded that it "could not include all the colleges in the surrounding areas without being repetitive in the same region," so "we choose those colleges that we believed the most people would know."”

“So with that rather large caveat, here is the top 10 list, followed by typical annual inches of snowfall:”

1. Michigan Technological University: 200

2. Syracuse University and SUNY Oswego: 124

3. University of Rochester: 99

4. State University of New York at Buffalo: 94

5. University of Minnesota at Duluth: 86

6. University of Vermont: 81

7. Southern New Hampshire University: 69

8. Western Michigan University: 67

9. Cornell University: 65

10. University of Alaska at Fairbanks: 62

Read it here: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/01/22/10-snowiest-college-campuses-sort

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yNibj8LW-Q 

Students in the snow, you can do it!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam



You are always a teacher….

A teacher could set up a successful charity, spend lots of their own money helping kids, volunteer their time, or even go to the moon; chances are it will not get noticed. However, if a teacher does anything wrong, whether they are currently a teacher or maybe only taught for 6 months; they are always a teacher.

“Do Teachers Have Right to Private Life?”

“The media love to play up reports of public school teachers who have been accused of misconduct as if they are the rule. The latest example involves an elementary school teacher in New York City who was fined $7,500 after his arrest for having sex with a prostitute ("Judge: Teacher caught with hooker can sue over $7,500 fine," New York Post, Jan. 14).”

“The teacher contested the fine, and the court ruled that the district had failed "to offer any legal basis for penalizing a teacher for illegal conduct that has little or no apparent connection with his teaching duties."  The judge went on to note that the incident occured on a Sunday morning, and did not take place anywhere near the school.”

“The city's Department of Education believes that the fine is appropriate because "teachers are supposed to be role models for their students," and that the teacher's arrest "blotted that image." Moreover, the teacher failed to notify school officials of his arrest as is required.”  

“Putting aside the last point, I'm not at all surprised by events in New York City.  In 2012, a highly regarded guidance counselor at a high school in the district was fired after 12 years of exemplary work when photos of her in lingerie and bikinis from her early career as a model were seen on the Internet even though she had disclosed her past career when first hired ("Manhattan HS guidance counselor stripped of job over steamy-photo past," New York Post, Oct. 7, 2012).”

Read the whole thing here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/walt_gardners_reality_check/2014/01/do_teachers_have_right_to_a_private_life.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3

Being a teacher is a great responsibility and privilege, there is no doubt; but teachers are human. I do not recall ever being endowed with super powers when I got my teaching credential, I certainly do not recall signing away my rights or privacy.

What are your thoughts? Are teachers being held to unrealistically high standards in all walks of life?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam



Educational Consultants: proving your value

This is a fair question, and it will always come up for consulting gigs: how do you prove the value of your work for an organization who hires you?

I am sure many educational professional can relate to the groups of consultants who have come into your organizations, turned your life upside down for a short period of time, made you feel uncomfortable, and then left without you understanding what they did or what they were paid to do.

Personally, as a consultant this would horrify me if that the perception of what I had done, because you are supposed to be there to make employees lives better (I hope).

“Professors Doubt Value of Consultant at Louisville”

“Faculty members are raising questions about the value of a consultant -- hired for $1.1 million, primarily with no-bid contracts -- at the University of Louisville, The Courier-Journal reported. University administrators say that they are finding ways to save money, and that only some preliminary recommendations have been released. But professors say that the analyses that have been released seem obvious and not worth the money. Some of their examples come in reports stating that  the university's “greatest strength is the quality of our people” and that the university “must be globally engaged to be a leading institution of the 21st century.””

Read it here: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/01/20/professors-doubt-value-consultant-louisville

This article really had me thinking about how should constantly improve my processes of adding value to an organization that pays you.

So, what do you all think are the best practices to show the value of your work?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam



Vocational Education

“Vocational education (education based on occupation or employment) (also known as vocational education and training or VET) is education that prepares people for specific trades, crafts and careers at various levels from a trade, a craft, technician, or a professional position in engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, architecture, pharmacy, law etc. Craft vocations are usually based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation. It is sometimes referred to as technical education as the trainee directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques.”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocational_education yes I know its Wikipedia but it was a good explanation)

As much as we want everyone to go to a traditional type college and earn Associates, Bachelors, and Masters, etc, not everyone will or wants to go this route. We know there are jobs in some of the afore mentioned fields, but it can either be very expensive to get the training through a private institution or you have to join the military (nothing wrong with that, but only 7% of the population serve so it is an unlikely route).

The traditional vocational school, like community college, has a strong place in education, and the idea should be introduced early on, as to give students options.

Interesting article got me thinking: “Vocational Education Still a Stepchild”

“Despite all the talk about preparing students for college and career, it's the latter that is still being shortchanged.  What is taking place in California serves as a case study of the hypocrisy ("Sacramento's schizophrenic love affair with Career Technical Education," EdSource, Jan. 9).”

“Last summer, the state Legislature overwhelmingly voted to establish a one-time, $250 million Career Pathways Trust, which would award grants to schools able to design innovative CTE proposals. But soon after, the Legislature voted to abolish all funding for Regional Occupation Centers and Programs by the 2015-16 fiscal year.  What good is it to incentivize schools to come up with new programs if they are not funded?”

“Making matters worse going forward, Common Core standards are conspicuously devoid of career curriculums.  This sends an unmistakable message that vocational courses are not as important as academic courses.  Not surprisingly, enrollment in CTE courses in California has plummeted by 101,090 students, or 12 percent, and 19.6 percent of the state's CTE teachers are gone. That's unfortunate because school districts that offer apprenticeships have seen improvements in classroom performance and in attendance of juniors and seniors enrolled in the programs ("Can't Find Skilled Workers? Start an Apprentice Program," The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 17).”

Read the whole thing here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/walt_gardners_reality_check/2014/01/vocational_education_still_a_stepchild.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3

Should this be included in the Community College repertoire or should more effort be put into saving the various systems of vocational/technical schools?

Thoughts?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam





Benefits of Community College

I have always thought community colleges could and do have a profound effect on a person’s educational journey. I know I benefitted from them, and I fully intend to encourage my own children to do so as well. This big benefit I am talking about though, starts while you are still in high school; instead of wasting a summer doing nothing, take some community courses. I believe you can start taking them at the age of 15.

“Earning College Credits in High School Speeds Degree Completion”

“About 23 percent of students who receive college credit while still enrolled in high school obtain an associate degree within two years, making them far more likely to do so than peers who do not earn college credit in high school, a new study shows.”

“Those students attend what are called Early College high schools, which team up with colleges and universities to allow the students to receive up to two years of college credit that can go toward an associate degree. By comparison, only 2 percent of students at high schools without Early College programs went on to receive an associate degree within two years. The study, conducted by the American Institutes for Research, reports that 81 percent of the Early College students enrolled in college, compared to only 72 percent of students who attended other high schools.”

Read the whole thing here: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/01/16/earning-college-credits-high-school-speeds-degree-completion

I think a lot of us know this, but many of us do not use this benefit the way it could be used. Yes, we know there is some crises in various community college systems, but the benefit is still there (including cost).

What are your thoughts?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam



Using Social Media in this Day and Age

I write a blog daily (obviously), and I share it on various social media platforms regularly. My thought is as an educator I should be sharing, because I also like to receive information from other educators; collaboration is the way to truly achieve lasting results.

Anyway, I recently experienced an unusual situation where I was told that I was “posting too much” in a particular forum, and that “the higher ups of the institution wanted to keep better control of the content of their page”. Naturally I was shocked, because none of my posting were inappropriate and they most were well received based upon the comments and feedback received. There is also the fact that I was invited into this particular forum…

Another thing that bothered me, and this is no fault of the poor messenger, but that there was an underlying ‘stop or else’ message. This particular group in my opinion has a history of that kind ‘or else’ threat to the people they employ at their offices, and I am sad because I thought they had evolved due to changes in leadership. I guess they have not.

People, when you have an open forum for professionals to post, do not be surprised when they actually do post, especially those whose job it is to do so; and do not get offended if they post more than you (the group moderators that is) do. After all, they are only trying to enhance your group, and we all want a group that has dynamic conversations and information flowing (I would hope so).

Perhaps I am just a small fish in a big pond, but I do have a voice, as do we all if we exercise them. There are many other forums to share, dissect, and collaborate education news, so that ‘particular group’, do not worry I will not be positing in there ever again, and I wish you the best (truly, not sarcastic).

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam



Mid week positive news

Rather than dissecting the problems, it would be great if everyone shared some positives things happening in education.

Do not be shy; we all want to hear some good news!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam