Kathleen - Good evening!
Kathleen - I've had a difficult time getting school admins to take advantage of scheduled chat seesions, any ideas?
davey/ca - I think you might let people know about TNet in general and the admin chat and chat board more specifically
davey/ca - one way...
davey/ca - post some sort of announcement in the admin journals
davey/ca - there is the Association for Curriculum and School Design
davey/ca - ACSA... Association of Calif. School Administrators, my organization
Kathleen - If you can help, it would benefit other administrators to have access to this support system
davey/ca - If you were to write an article about the use of electronic communications and the value of it...
davey/ca - I wrote a MA thesis about it a while back
Kathleen - LOL, if there were 3 more of me I might be able to do that. How about you, I'll bet you could put together a nice article :-)
davey/ca - If I had time, I would be willing to consider such a venture
davey/ca - In the meantime, my staff has kept me far more than busy this last few weeks
Kathleen - this IS a busy time of year, are you well launched for a new school year?
davey/ca - launched is not the word, I am afraid.. it has been the worst start I have ever experienced
Kathleen - Is this time of year more stressful for school administrators than the close of the school year?
fc - I'm wondering how the supply of teachers is holding up in your areas. There appears to be a shortage here, especially secondary.
fc - No, I'm not an administrator, but I have been teaching college classes for education majors.
Kathleen - I'm in Conn. and there are shortages in some areas, mostly for special ed., other specialties, not general elem ed
davey/ca - Kat, I found one that may be a good connection for you
Kathleen - davey, why such a challenging start this year?
Kathleen - davey, you could e-mail it to me kathleen@teachers.net
davey/ca - hmmmm.. good question Kat.. I work in special ed and it is getting so complicated that it is extremely difficult to keep up with
Kathleen - fc, do you see an influx of ed majors now that there are shortages projected?
Kathleen - davey, fc is asking about teacher shortages, are you seeing shortages in your area?
davey/ca - I think I am here
fc - The numbers in our education classes increased several years ago and seem to be steady. Schools, especially rural areas, are contracting student teachers just as soon as they finish their last day of class.
davey/ca - In special ed we have a significantly increasing shortage as teachers in CA flock to class size reduction recruiting efforts
fc - Areas such as math and science have been hiring "permanent subs" before they get their certificates.
david/nj - are we talking shortages? boy do I have some
davey/ca - special ed has been hiring great numbers of emergency and waiver credentialled folks
Kathleen - I think in Conn secondary math and science people are more in demand than early - elem grades
Kathleen - are your districts offering any hiring bonuses, recruiting out of state?
david/nj - not mine, although we should - heard today of a school in North NJ that is offering $10,000 bonus
fc - As an instructor of pre-service teachers, I'm interested in any areas you see as critical needs for teacher preparation
david/nj - fc - just send a body
Sioux - We offer bonuses too, but not that high!
Kathleen - School bus drivers are also in demand, I saw an ad stating $2500 hiring bonus for driving. Do you have a problem with driver shortages in your areas everyone?
david/nj - I'm Middle School AP
Kathleen - fc, what I hear from teachers is that they are not prepped for classroom management
Sioux - Oh, yes, drivers are ALWAYS in demand, but there are no bonuses yet!
Sioux - I do inservices for teachers all the time on classroom management
Kathleen - I'm not a school administrator, but I sleep with one. (He's my husband;-)
fc - Classroom management has been an issue here, too, so we have now made it a required course rather than an elective.
Sioux - Good idea! but what do you do with the recalcitrant ones?
Kathleen - Sioux, have you tried the Harry Wong video tape series? I hear teachers praising it
Sioux - Yes, they are excellent! I use them alot!
davey/ca - fc, my suggestion, if it has not already been incorporated into your curriculum, is to add some kind of training on your state's ed code and requirements from the legal viewpoint
fc - Send the "recalcitrant" ones to the school administrators :)
Sioux - Ha Ha!
Sioux - (That would be me anyway!!!)
davey/ca - I think they send all of them to the admins
fc - Good suggestion davey/ca--we do some but it's never enough.
Sioux - I grew up in Hillsdale NJ in Bergen county in the northeast part of NJ
david/nj - We had new hiree resign today - school starts tomorrow
Sioux - We've been in school since August 14 (the students!)
Kathleen - another: parent communication techniques
davey/ca - you know... when someone had signed a contract and resigned early, others would be out there to take their place.. I don't see much of that anymore
davey/ca - so schools are sticking people to their contracts
Sioux - rightly so since it's so hard to replace people now!
Kathleen - Yes, in CT the commissioner has urged teachers to stick to their 30 day notice clause, and admins are indeed putting LOTS of pressure on teachers to do that
david/nj - do I want a teacher who would do something like that on my staff?
david/nj - 3 personal days to burn while she waits to leave?
Kathleen - davey, exactly!
david/nj - and 10 sick days
davey/ca - in CA, districts let teachers out of their contracts, as soon as someone is successfully hired to replace them
davey/ca - no question, Kat
david/nj - davey - I can't find a spanish teacher in NJ anymore
davey/ca - I know when I attended a meeting of local "Tech Fellows", I wrote this url on their whiteboard, and EVERYONE copied it down
david/nj - know anyone with 30 credits in Sanish?
davey/ca - don't I wish!
davey/ca - know any teachers of the deaf?
Kathleen - thanks, davey. did you receive any feedback, did anyone say they visited?
davey/ca - I did not get back to another of their meetings but I can share the info again
Kathleen - david, I do, but can't persuade her to teach in a public school. she teaches a prison population!
david/nj - same boat hey
fc - Would you be open to having teachers join the administrator chat to ask questions? I'm thinking of college students.
davey/ca - hmmm... I think I will go suggest it again by email
david/nj - prison population, middle school, what's the difference
Kathleen - here's the url for Harry Wong's site in case anyone wants to look at the videos: http://www.effectiveteaching.com
Kathleen - fc, I could schedule something like that, but not many school admins show up. maybe davey and david would commit?
Kathleen - david/nj, LOL, prison/middle school
davey/ca - I can't commit to anything right now outside of the impending straight jacket, LOL
david/nj - wierd
davey/ca - I love middle school.. used to teach it
Kathleen - fc, did you have a specific topic in mind?
fc - They always have lots of questions. They get nervous about interviews and always ask "What are administrators looking for?"
davey/ca - geez, what ARE admins looking for other than people who will commit to staying on the job for the sake of their kids?
Kathleen - fc, we have done some chats on that topic, until we can get some admins to chat, take a look at the chat transcripts in the Archives http://teachers.net/archive
david /nj - on my 30th year in Middle School - I must REALLY love it
davey/ca - Gotta go.. back to the paperwork and emails... night all
fc - Thanks, Kathleen. I'll check it out for my next meeting with the students.
david /nj - kbye davey
Kathleen - davey, the candidates know you will ask more than, "Are you willing to commit to staying on the job for the sake of their kids"
Kathleen - bye, davey, thanks, I'll keep trying, send ideas!
davey/ca - will do Kat.. bye all
Kathleen - david, any suggestions for how to make live chat helpful to school administrators?
Kathleen - fc, do you use a computer lab with your students? we could schedule a time for your group to use this room for chat experience
fc - Thanks, all, for your input. I'll look forward to the next administrator's chat. Good night.
Kathleen - Okay, fc, thanks for stopping by!
david /nj - Oh, is this an administrators chat?
fc - They do have a required computer class. I'll suggest it to the instructor.
fc - How would they contact you for scheduling?
david /nj - I'm sorry, I didn't look at the topic
Kathleen - fc, you can e-mail me at kathleen@teachers.net
Kathleen - david, adminstrators and anyone interested, you're an AP, right?
david /nj - helpful to me - everyone bring one "good idea"
david /nj - yes, still
Kathleen - I like the bring one good idea, thanks, I'll try that
Kathleen - I KNOW this format could be helpful to admins
Kathleen - Goodnight, and watch for the next Administrators' chat, sharing of ideas.
Kathleen - Thank you to those who participated tonight!
