Headmaster's Notes

Are my kids overscheduled?

I often talk to parents about their children getting involved in school activities.  Sports, clubs and volunteer programs are great ways for kids to explore interests and build self-esteem.  It is also a great way to reduce free time that can lead to non-productive behavior.  BUT - is overscheduling too much?  We need to strike a balance when it comes to our childrens daily schedules.  Doing too much can build stress that creates physical and emotional problems.

From the University of Michigan

Signs of overscheduling:

• Change in school performance

• Change in sleeping or eating patterns

• Anxiety or unusual fears

• Lying, blaming, or perfectionism

• Young children may revert to old habits like thumb sucking

• Teens may start to use alcohol or drugs

What parents can do:

• Set a good example by practicing stress management and time management in our own lives.  Get regular exercise and eat healthy

• Plan time each day for the family to enjoy a relaxing activity together.

• Talk to teachers, coaches and other activity directors to learn how much time is needed for schoolwork and activities.

• Let kids talk about fears and concerns without criticizing them.

• Consider asking your child to choose fewer activities during the same season.

Competitive gymnastics, Girl Scouts, sunshine math, music lessons - I think I need to have a discussion with my third grade daughter.

Wellness - What does it mean?

In previous posts I have talked about the importance of raising emotional mature young people.  I have cited studies and articles about "what colleges are looking for" in our students. 

This year at Admiral Farragut Academy we employed a "Wellness Director" to assist our students in this area while at AFA.  But for those who think "Wellness" just pertains to physical wellness, let me cite a University of California article, "Well-rounded wellness".

Social - Have positive relationships, avoid the people who are negative in your life.

Emotional - Understand yourself and your feelings (both good and bad)

Spiritual - Have peace in your life, know your purpose.

Environmental - Get involved in making your environment a better place.

Occupational - Enjoy your job and have balance in your life.

Intellectual - Open you mind to new ideas, experiences and be a lifelong learner.

Physical - Healthy lifestyle, exercising and eating right.

Finanical - Understand that money does not buy happiness, have enough for needs and wants without going into debt.

 

Interesting words from the University.  Makes me stop and evaluate where I am a bit off and where I can improve.  How about you?

 

 

 

Tallahassee - Our State Capitol

I recently had the opportunity (or job, whichever way you look at it) to spend a few days lobbying in our State Capitol.  I was there advocating for the Florida College System and the Independent Schools of the State of Florida. 

Although, I hope we will be successful in the areas we were trying to educate and influence our law makers, what struck me most, was the universal discussion of "more accountability" and more "data driven decisions".  Two areas that I learned had not been the norm in the past.  Good ideas "in theory" were not going to get the same attention or funding as ideas that have hard data to justify the attention (or funding).

For the business world this has had to be the practice, but for education (and government) in the past, not so much.  We, as educators, have and will adopt a more business like approach with our institutions.  Statistical based decision making is creeping into education.  It is about time.

"my parents know what I do and where I go and who I talk to online."

Over 25% of Elementary/Middle students responded "my parents do not know what I do online" compared to only 9% of High School students who responded in the affirmative.

Interesting and alarming considering many parents are not aware of the pitfalls of late elementary and middle grades today.  Or, if they are aware, they just believe that certain behavior will develop later in their child's life.  It is unfortunate that we, as parents, have to think of the trappings of teenage behavior at eleven and twelve years of age.  But, unfortunately, that is where society has taken us.  

As I have talked to other Heads of Schools over the years, we are consistently disheartened by issues that would be typically associated with High School students surfacing in the Middle Grades and younger.

Be aware, be active and communicate with your children.  Know where they are going online, who they are talking to online, what their facebook page looks like and be proactive.

Children Online and on their Cell Phones

Recently I read a report by Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe.  The report presented research on Student Internet and Cell Phone Behavior.  I thought some of the findings to be interesting and very informative.

Over the next few weeks I would like to discuss their findings in this blog, but for now, here are a couple of tibits:

• 82% of all students report having Internet access in their bedroom but only 16% report having some type of web filtering software (parent control software)
• 1 out of every 10 students with a cell phone admitted to receiving "offensive or inappropriate photos or videos"
• Most popular sites for students of all ages are Facebook (62%) and YouTube (32%)
• About 1 out of 4 students reported having made a friend online whom they've never met in person.
• On average a high school junior has about 800 Facebook friends.  About a quarter of all students either have risky privacy settings (open to strangers) or don't know what their settings are.   

More discussion in upcoming postings.

What are Colleges Looking For?

Recently, I read a blog from Pat Basett.  Pat is the President of the National Association of Independent Schools.  Pat recently was asked to sit on a panel of College Presidents, including the Presidents of Georgetown and Stanford.  His blog struck me.

He posed the question to the various colleges presidents: what can our Independent Secondary Schools do better with respect to preparing our students for college?  Pat went on to say, he fully expected them to come back with a variation of his 5 "C's", Critical Thinking, Communication, Creativity, Collaboaration and Character.  And, although they acknowledge those as being important skills to develop, they were unanimous in stating the crisis in college students today is emotional maturity/resiliency.

They cited statistics such as: 30% to 40% of undergrads are on anti-depressants (some I am sure, are self medicating to deal with stress), 10% of college females are suffering from eating disorders, and finally the problem of rampant alcohol abuse on college campuses (drinking for the purpose of getting drunk).  These are sobering statisitics and facts.

It seems to me, that as important as the ABC's and Math Facts are, we should acknowledge that a child's emotional well being (happiness, confidence, maturity) is of equal or greater importance. 

 

Great Challenges to have at AFA!

Do you know how one can tell what kind of school year it is going to be?  I can usually tell from the problems that arise in the first few weeks.  Examples from this year so far:

1.  Sir, we have over twenty sailors who want to sail competitively, we need more boats.

2.  Sir, we have filled all of our female dorm rooms and we have a couple on a waiting list, where should we go from here?

3.  Sir, we have over 16 students who want to sign up for the Saturday Engineering class and we only have room for 16.

4.  Sir, we had to ease up on our football game Friday night (a 47 - 7 victory), how do we manage the high expectations for our Football team?

If these are our challenges, it looks like it might be a great year!

 

 

5th and Final NMC Horizon Report Trend - Innovation and Creativity!!!!

Innovation is being valued at the highest levels of business, and should be an essential part of education today.  The way we design learning experiences should reflect the importance of creativity.

As most people have heard one of the truths of education (through the video, Shift Happens): we are preparing kids to use technology that has not been invented yet, to solve problems that we do know are problems yet.

Creativity and Innovation - we should teach, nurture and develop those skills in our students.

 

Mobility, Mobility and Mobility

The fourth trend cited by the NMC Horizon Report discusses peoples expectations to work, learn and study whenever and wherever they want to.

Fingertip access to information will continue to be of critical importance.  The implications for informal learning are profound, as are the notions of "just in time" learning and "found" learning.  Both ways maximize the impact of learning.  Students do not only want timely access to information, they also want that same effeciency and access to their social networks that will help them to interpret and maximize that information or lesson.

Information -  anywhere, anytime.

The Digital Divide

The third point made in the NMC report states that Technology continues to affect the way we work, colloborate and communicate.

Increasingly, technology skills are critical to success in the workplace, and those who are more facile with technology will advance while those without access or skills will face difficulties.  The digital divide, once seen as a factor of wealth, is now seen as a factor of education.

As a school we must make sure our students learn the skills to enable them to have multiple careers in an ever increasingly mobile workforce.  And as time goes by, technoloy skills are becoming of critical importance.