Read and comment on this post at the new Pair-a-Dimes location here: http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/the-lowest-common-denominator/

The LCD

In Math, the Lowest Common Denominator (LCD) is a good thing...
it allows you to simplify an equation and usually makes the work easier. (If you were looking for a Math post go here or here.)

For the sake of this post the LCD is not good.
Here, the LCD is when you reduce things to in order to oversimplify a problem, to avoid it or make it go away, (rather than to make an effort to resolve it). It is about taking an easy way out instead of choosing a smart way forward.

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They Both Get Dirty

Doug Belshaw does NOT want you to vote for his blog in the upcoming Edublog Awards. I'm not a regular reader of Doug, but the size of his audience suggests that he is a noteworthy edublogger. I ended up finding his Please don't vote for this blog! post since I read Kelly Christopherson who wrote about it twice, and so I did venture over there. The worst of the comment spat that ensues comes from Dan Meyer who I first read when he wrote a brilliant post on How Math Must Asses and then later on Why I don't Assign Homework, but he isn't in my quite limited RSS feed either.
To put my 2 dimes worth into this I will quote my grandfather, "Never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig likes it!"
What I don't like about the comments in this post is that they get personal and neither of these two bloggers have any intent to resolve things, they just want to get the next jab in. I am a fan of healthy discourse, but this is unhealthy, vindictive, and I would even add cheap. LCD.

My suggestion to Josie Fraser and the Edublog Awards team: After a blog gets nominated, ask the bog author(s) if they accept the nomination... problem solved.

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Easier Isn't Better

When I took this job as Graduation Transition Coordinator, I adopted a few other responsibilities too. One such obligation was organizing the Take Our Kids to Work Day (TOKTWD) event for our Grade 9's. Apparently our school could not coordinate the Grade 10's Junior Achievement event on the National TOKTWD so we held this Grade 9 event one day early. This saved us from turning our entire schedule up-side-down for 2 days rather than just one... but this was an LCD solution. I didn't make this decision, but I dealt with the upset parents whose work places had created special activities for their children on the National day (one day later). Our response, let your child miss the next day of school, so teachers had to settle for a number of absent students the day after our event.

Next year: Either the two dates fall on the same day, (I'm already in the process of booking it), or we move them completely apart and keep the TOKTWD on the designated National day. If it needs to turn our timetable upside down on two different days - so be it!

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Build it and they will come...

I first blogged about the idea for FieldFindr here. I created a mock-up wiki for that post which has now been viewed over 2,500 times. Later I wrote about it in the Ning in Education network:
"...I think that perhaps a social networking site such as Ning could be a great launching point for teachers to connect with 'resources' in their, or the global, community. What do others think?"
... and got positive responses from Nancy Bosch and Steve Hargadon. So I launched a Ning version of FieldFindr. I then asked for help in my other Ning (Educational) Networks, and I also 'nudged' my Ex.plode.us friends... only to get a very small response. It's kind of funny that I took this personally at first. I thought to myself that I had network issues... but I think the main problem is that I went to the easiest audience I could find... I went to the LCD... the wrong audience! If I really wanted to make Fieldfindr work, I would need to promote it with potential volunteers, not educators. I did what was easy, not what was necessary. Build the volunteer network and teachers will come... but we need to start with the volunteers!

I don't feel that I personally need to start such a network, but I do believe in the idea. If by this summer I can't find a network, or group, or website that does what I think FieldFindr can, then I will start seeking out networks of potential volunteers to sign up... For now I won't do that because I can't offer the commitment needed to make it work.

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Busier Isn't Better

I shared this quote with staff in a staff meeting last Monday afternoon.
"The task of organizing and operating a huge and complex educational machinery has left us scant leisure for calm reflection."
The quote is by Irving Babbitt, and it seemed very appropriate for me to mention before discussing the plans for the heavily reflection-based program I was presenting to students the next day. The interesting thing about this quote is that Irving Babbitt died in 1933, and I think few could disagree that education has gotten much more complex since then!
In our school there is an International Baccalaureate (IB) program. In order to run the programs in sync with the rest of the school, our Grade 12 IB students are now doing 5 straight classes in a row for this semester. They start their day at 8:30 and end at 3:15, eating in classes and not getting more than a 5 min. break unless a class ends early. They also have to work on their Final IB paper as well. It is not uncommon to hear a Grade 12 IB student say they have between 3 and 5 hours of homework when they are leaving the school for the day- this would be ok if they weren't saying and doing the exact same thing the next day, and the next day too...
As a new staff member coming in and observing this I have to wonder about subjecting students to this. I don't doubt that there are some wonderful learning opportunities that happen in their classes, but how much is too much? The idea that these kids are bright, and that they can handle this pressure is nothing more than an acceptance of a LCD.

We are taking some of the brightest students in our district and working them so much that they can't think, reflect, or for that matter even care about learning. It is their final year in the public education system and they are wasting it away being busy-bodies. I've learned so much from reflection, from taking my time to think things through, and from asking myself what I want to learn... we need to give this students a bit more time to reflect and explore their own interests in their final year... they prove themselves capable of the busy work enough in Grades 10 & 11.

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Is Ping Pong a Sport?

To meet one of the requirements of the Graduation Transitions program, students are required to do 80 hours of physical activity after Grade 10. Last year as part of the Portfolio program the hours had to be considered either Moderate or Intense for the activity to count, but working definitions of those two terms were difficult. This year that language has been removed, but many school have kept it. LCD.

I was recently asked in an e-mail, "Is ping pong a sport?"
This was to figure out if time playing Ping Pong could be 'counted' towards the 80 required hours. This is what I had to say:
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I've spent way too much time thinking about this.

Our judgments and values don't matter.
Get students active, have them think about that activity, and if it is enough to keep them healthy or not... that's the best we can do. Trying to tell students that an activity of their choice does not count accomplishes nothing. LCD.
(Oh, and Ping Pong is definitely a fun and exciting sport.)

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I am a Hypocrite!

Tuesday Nov. 6th, 2007 was going to be tough for me to get to, and through. I knew that when I accepted this job.
When someone asked me in August, "So, is this going to be a good move for you?"
I replied, "Ask me on Nov. 7th". Well the 6th has come and gone now. I never want to repeat the hours that went into this event- sleeping 19 hours in 5 nights the week before. Getting 2 hours sleep before doing two big presentations, and doing more paperwork that I care to do in any given year... The end result is that feedback has been very positive from teachers, secretaries, admin., support staff and students. Part of me wants to talk about this, and part of me wants to be happy with how positive the day was and just move forward... The fact is that the hard work came from getting all the background paperwork for the program fully developed to present to students, (such as the section of the 80hr Physical Activity Reflection seen above).

Three really positive things about that event that I would like to mention:
1. Students understood the value of the day and did not skip the assemblies in droves, which could easily have happened after their disgruntle attitude for the Portfolio program it replaced. Their feedback to me was very positive and I've had a number of the absent students come in on their own accord, or by suggestion of their peers, to find out what they missed.
2. My PowerPoint was pretty slick, I broke it up with a few good videos, and kept people's attention with great images and subtle transitions. For someone who has used it very little (beyond my presentation week this year) I have become pretty good at creating engaging PowerPoint presentations.
3. I brought in a Bike Trails Champion, Steve Baia, to do a demonstration for us and promote Healthy Living. Not only was this a fantastic addition to the presentation, but he and his dad, Mike, were also wonderful role models of a great father-son relationship. Furthermore Mike watched my presentation and made sure to reference things that I said while he commentated Steve's performance... very classy!
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Up until now this section is all about really good stuff. So where is the LCD and why the hypocrite title of this section?
Well, here I am developing a program for which one third of the outcomes are related to Healthy Living, and what do I do? I deprive myself of sleep, I completely stop exercising, and I put myself through tremendous stress... Some role model I am:-(
Whenever I get busy my healthy lifestyle takes a back seat. I turn 40 in a couple weeks and I am, without a doubt, in the absolute worst shape of my life. For me physical activity is the LCD, the one thing that I can always drop from my schedule to make more time for other things... and that is wrong.

So here is my plan- and it started yesterday! Three treadmill runs a week and one other activity during the week- Every Week! I'm also going to sign up for the Vancouver Half Marathon in the spring. I had students create one Healthy Living SMART Goals this week, and to practice what I preach, I'm going to create 2 SMART goals to help me live healthier, (one around weekly exercise and one specifically to build my endurance and speed for the half marathon).
By the way, for you SMART Goal fans: The 'A' should stand for Action-oriented not Achievable or Attainable. If you think about it, the 'R' stands for Realistic and if it is Realistic it is already Achievable but without Action your goal gets nowhere.

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The Greatest Common Factor

None of my LCD's above are things that can't be 'fixed'. The common factor in each of the sections above is that the easiest way of coping with a problem is most definitely not the best way of dealing with these issues or concerns. Sometimes it is difficult to do what is best. Sometimes big ideas need to be challenged. Sometimes we need to question what we do, and why we do it... and we need to be willing to make a difficult change because it is the right thing to do!

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Images:
ARGUMENT by Shaun.numb/ Shaun Morrison on Flickr
Work in Progress... by Spike 55151 on Flickr
Influence Ning profile image for FieldFindr
Perfect Blue by Netean/ Iain Alexander on Flickr
Steve Baia by Mike Baia