The Daily News
1 So Steve Jobs steps down as the Messiah of the Apple world. Interestingly, today’s DN was written before I ever got that news, and yet it travels back to some of those early internet days. It is unrelated in any way to the departure of Jobs, so I thought I’d start with that disclaimer. So here goes my story, which begins in the present.
2 I decided this year to join the twenty-first century and open myself up to this thing called School Loop.
3 It is an AWESOME thing for parents, teachers, and students. It is a sort of website that we use to remind students of homework assignments, grades, and how they are doing in class.
4 Years ago when I had noticed that hardly any teachers had websites, I decided to make a couple of websites using Xanga, which I still use to do the DN. Each day I reported what we had learned in class, and what the homework was. I also made a website for the Drama Workshop, as well as for the YB Performing Arts Dept. The Drama Workshop website had all sorts of navigational tools and links, as well as access to the DN archives.
5 Well, allow me to qualify that: the DN archival access was not the hard-copy DN’s from the 90′s, but the ones I began posting somewhere around eight or nine years ago. I do have boxes of the original DN’s gathering dust in my garage, the oldest hard copy going back to 1996.
6 Anyway, back to the origin of school websites: Back then, I had looked and almost nobody in the District had a website. I searched school websites, and the vast majority of teachers had nothing but phone numbers. It occurred to me at the time that the internet could be used as an amazing resource, and I wanted to be one of the first teachers to bring teaching into the twenty-first century. I just had no idea how to make a website.
7 The ESUHSD actually had this “resource” called “Campus Grid” at the time. It had really rudimentary graphics, and it was ridiculous to even try making a website. It was really fun for teachers to copy some idiotic, cartoony graphic, and past it to a “wall”. Beyond that, it was REALLY lame stuff, honestly. A few computer geeks actually had some success with Campus Grid, but overall, the websites of teachers were pretty lame.
8 The “Grid” had little cartoons, maybe around forty graphics that we could put in, but they looked really flukey and stupid. You might have a graphic of a cartoon teacher standing at a green chalkboard, and holding a pointer. WAY stupid. Or huge apples, because teachers love apples the same way that cops love donuts. I tried learning HTML at the time. We’re now talking around 2001 or 2002, when geocities was all the roar. Bleh. I’ll get to them later. HTML to me was like trying to learn Russian. Students told me it was easy; I begged to differ.
9 Around 2001, I did manage to create ybdrama.com through geocities, spent the entire summer building the website so that students could enjoy navigating, reading “About Us” stuff, looking at pics of old shows, reading archival DN’s, and reading the stories of Heidi, the Theatre ghost. It had a definite charm to it, and I embraced the project wholeheartedly. It even had a comment thread which was often used by students.
10 At the time, almost NO teachers had websites, yet I had several. I naturally wanted the Drama Workshop website to be the strongest, but I also had websites for my Language Arts’ students, so they could see what we had done in class each day, AND they could access information about homework, and stuff that was due.
11 Eventually, “Campus Grid” made it really tough to import and use outside websites, so I eventually threw up my arms waiting for something that would work for students, many of whom were just beginning to “get” online stuff.
12 I kept the ybdrama.com site up for a while, but when yahoo asked for more money, I cut them a check, and my access to the geocities site diminished! My ability to work with the website became restricted. It became monstrous, because I couldn’t “layer” pictures like I had been able to earlier, and I would write yahoo to complain, but got absolutely no help. They just wanted more money from me, and I flatly refused to give them one more dime.
13 So I abandoned all of it, and it wasn’t until I discovered Xanga in 2004 that I finally was able to work with something that was easy, manageable, and consistent.
14 I decided to publish the DN around then, and have been doing so ever since.
15 I LOVED the entire concept of Xanga, thought it was an AMAZING outlet enabling students to express themselves through writing, poetry, photography, art, music, and many other means of expression.
16 I used it for my classes, as well as for interacting with students and parents.
17 As things progressed, I enjoyed coming home and seeing what sorts of creative things students would post. Naturally, it became a means of expression, but also a means of expressing thoughts, feelings, and creativity.
18 Xanga got to be too much for many, and within a year, My Space became all the rage. I had NO idea why, but My Space took off like a Lear jet as Xanga sat and stared. My Space seemed to me at first to be about rock bands, but I could be mistaken. All I knew was that it shortened expression and seemed pretty big on quicker, shorter, and cheaper means of expression. The massive outpouring of creativity and art almost completely stopped with the onslaught of My Space. It seemed much more surface, and a tad pretentious to me.
19 I got a bit lost in all of that, maintained Xanga for the DN, and labored on. I still saw education tied up in terms of what it could do, as many things were restricted on official school websites. I wanted no part of all that censorship and stuff. I saw the internet as the Wild West, with vast possibilities as long as it could remain unencumbered.
20 Eventually, Facebook reared its ridiculous head. At first, from my own recollections, Facebook was a realm for college students. At least that was the rap. Facebook became quite the thing. No intelligence nor creativity required. Sound bytes and expressions like, “Off to…”, “Woot! Woot!” and “Too cute!” became staples, and remain so to this day.
21 As a person who had seen the possibilities of using the internet for expression through Xanga, I was appalled at the entire concept of Facebook. I loved the simplicity and openness to personal expression that Xanga had brought, and I felt that Facebook catered to the non-writers, and the shallow of thought. In many ways, I still do think that. Suddenly, exceedingly creative people must write all their thoughts in 40 characters or less. Anybody with any sort of creative thought must proffer their stuff on some website, and link it to Facebook.
22 I decided finally to allow the Xanga websites I had created for school to die on the vine. It was simply too much to deal with censorship and the ridiculousness of geocities. I had a saloon to run, and damned if I was going to allow something as shallow and fake as a school district to restrict me.
23 So I decided to focus solely on the DN. In many ways it’s a bit sad, because many of my early ideas about interacting with students and parents were pretty cutting edge, and WAY ahead of their time. And the ybdrama.com website was really awesome, as well as interactive. I kept it up to date, added little things like the weather, and a “chat” thread. I spent hours creating it, and it was fun for a while. Too bad I had utterly no support from geocities. It would still be going to this day if they didn’t keep asking for money and taking away the ability to build it and to make it unique. I pretty much said, “Screw you” to geocities, and have never turned back.
24 They took my money and then restricted creative control. Later.
25 So I eventually decided to keep the heart of the DN online, through Xanga. The DN was always unrestricted, even though I had small warnings by administration not to put myself out there. This only made me want to keep it going, AND to use it to editorialize the goofiness of what happens in education. So far, it has worked famously. And I was never unwilling to call some of the imbeciles at the top on their stuff, nor to give my opinions about stupid decisions made by the high and mighty. I was indirectly asked to muzzle it on a number of occasions. It was around then that I decided that I was a journalist, and that they could pretty much kiss my ass. Last time I looked, we had a first amendment that doesn’t exclude teachers.
26 I decided long ago that the DN was going to be my personal Wild West show, albeit with a bit of taste and culture. I focused my audience on Drama Workshop alumni who had seen the DN posted in the Performing Arts office as early as 1996, and who enjoyed the nostalgia of those days, as well as receiving information about arts and events in the community.
27 Added to the mix was always my personal observations about world events, the news, the controlled media, corporate ridiculousness, conspiracies, corruption, sports, and the simple goofiness that makes us all cartoons on a daily basis.
28 Back to the top: When they are not glad-handing and kissing babies, school districts occasionally make right decisions. School Loop is an idea that I had years ago, but that was met with the sound of country crickets. What it does is it creates a communication among parents, teachers, and students. Homework and classwork can be posted on School Loop. Parents can email teachers directly. Grades are posted as soon as the papers come in. The concept is awesome, and is almost stolen from my early school websites. The idea is to keep parents and students up-to-date on what goes on in my classroom. Novel idea, ten years later. ; ) <— sideways way cool winky guy.
29 In theory, it seems a panacea to parents, and to students, it is much easier than writing down the teacher’s assignments from the chalkboard. It also allows easy access to emails. In short, it allows parents or students to interact even long after work hours.
30 This sounds great, but I have always been WAY reluctant to open everything to all parents, teachers, administrators, and students. Why? Because like anyone else, my work day should end after eight hours. It NEVER does, because we have to plan lessons, grade papers, and figure out ways to deliver information to what is often a reluctant and bored crowd.
31 Already our days sometimes run to 11 p.m., since grading papers takes HOURS on end. I often spend entire weekends grading papers and planning lessons. Your average citizen doesn’t see the work that teachers do, but we certainly know. In addition to all of that, we are sent to different meetings each week, and asked to do what sometimes looks to me as impossible tasks. And heaven forbid if we should forget to answer an email from an irate parent.
32 Fortunately, or unfortunately, we as teachers have the option of using School Loop or not, because we are protected from having to do work beyond what is in our contract. And yet, as a parent, I feel it is wonderful that schools have opened up to the point that we could communicate all day and all night if need be.
33 On a practical level, I worried about opening myself to School Loop, because my hours are already ridiculous. Do I now sacrifice my lunch breaks as well as my home life to the company store? With over 150 students and class sizes that would have been laughed at ten years ago, am I going to give my personal life access to nearly 300 parents and 150 students? Every time I post grades, am I going to be confronted by angry students, or by parents who want to know why Johnny got an F on his homework assignment?
34 The numbers seemed daunting to me, and I opted to stay away from School Loop for years. Younger teachers new to the game are eager to please, and put in long hours worried about every single child, which is ideally as it should be.
35 We veterans realize that it isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. We’ve lasted as long as we have because we have the wisdom to know that working into the night isn’t doing anything for our effectiveness in the classroom. Going in to fifty-five minute class sessions with saggy eyes and a lack of energy makes the actual time we spend in front of students ineffective. Add to this parents who are insecure, or lonely and School Loop is their only means of feeling any sort of control over their lives, and you have a potential meltdown in progress. Some parents latch on to the fact that they can get your undivided attention constantly, and will hound you. Yes, there are people out there who are lonely, and who have issues, and who are controlling. Most aren’t, but the few who are become empowered by the control. The question becomes this: Do I open myself voluntarily to that sort of abuse, just so that I could be great at customer service? Well, we DO get tremendous boatloads of money as CEO’s of classrooms.
36 And have I finally given in to the ideal of School Loop?
37 Well, yes, mainly because it does create a wonderful bridge between the home and the school. And if I have to put up with an insecure parent, it might make for the student becoming better. So yes, as of now, I have almost “given in”.
38 That being said, I also stayed the past three days at the school until almost 7 p.m. each night, answering emails, dealing with angry parents, dealing with wonderful parents, and helping students with their lessons.
39 Have I bought into it? So far, I like it. It keeps me on my toes, and it also lays all the statistics out there. Johnny got an “F” on his vocabulary sentences because he misspelled ten out of twenty words.
40 Yesterday, Johnny showed up at my doorstep upset about how his grade was so low on said assignment. The assignment was graded and posted on School Loop the day before. In the past, he had no knowledge of how he did until I handed stuff back after six weeks, and in a whirlwind of papers, his misspelling probably got lost, and became a non-issue. If he is that careless on his work, then when things get handed back, he probably wouldn’t think much about it anyway. But if he is bored at home, and sees a lousy grade, he can show up at my doorstep and demand to know why.
41 So…is it working?
42 Time will tell. I do think Johnny will spell his words better now. But I have almost 150 Johnny’s, and twice the amount of parents, as well as administrators, counselors, and support staff all of whom will want conferences and private discussions about all of those Johnny’s.
43 Have I given up my personal life for the company store? It’s too early to tell. I like that I’m on this stuff, but I don’t like that it is almost 5 a.m. and I’m somehow still dealing with it.
44 Bottom line: Something I invented years ago has finally made it to mainstream education. It looks “cutting edge” to parents, at least on the surface. Young teachers embrace it, because it is their calling. Older teachers know that by opening that door, they may be adding twice the work to an already ridiculous workload. Yes, we get summers off and all, but when we are working, we work twice the hours of most people, and low to medium pay for the hours we put in. I’m not complaining, mind you, because I really do love teaching. It is my passion, and my calling. But it isn’t without its warts.
45 So I’m really just bringing in some realities about education in the twenty-first century. With diminishing funds, over-crowded classrooms, and fewer support staff, the people in the profession continue to work professionally, and diligently, almost beyond belief. Things like School Loop, while inventive and awesome for many, may also result in lessons that are boring, tired, and unengaging to the very students they are intended to support.
46 So we’ll see. We can’t turn our backs on technology, but if my personal work day doubles, and my effectiveness in the classroom diminishes, then I will shelf School Loop, and defend energetic and creative teaching everywhere I turn.
47 It’s the least I could do.
48 Peace.
~H~
www.xanga.com/bharrington
