tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81992831756650436742024-03-02T04:30:52.958-06:00A LighthouseA veteran educator and school superintendent blogs about education and school leadership along with transforming instruction through student-centered classrooms, critical thinking, and the infusion of technology.Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-90095350642957863652016-01-31T15:08:00.001-06:002016-01-31T15:08:43.210-06:00More Money for More Time with Professional DevelopmentTime is an ongoing challenge in 21st Century education. Despite all that has changed in schools, we remain tied to a 19th Century agrarian calendar. As as a result, time becomes an opponent in our quest to improve education.
Time may be at its most precious in relation to modern teacher professional development. Our school calendars, established generations ago, often provide scant time for Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-9234267303040772052015-12-01T14:38:00.001-06:002015-12-01T14:44:20.342-06:00Digital Citizenship, the Newest CurriculumA decade and a half into the 21st Century, computers are everywhere. Most people carry in their pockets a smart phone that has more computer power than all of NASA had at its disposal in 1969 when it landed a man on the moon. Today’s mobile devices are more powerful than the desktop computers of the 1990’s.This is only going to increase. Today we carry our mobile devices in our pockets. Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0Wagner Education Building Litchfield45.132867 -94.522978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-46960771035862012282015-10-23T12:40:00.001-05:002015-10-23T15:23:16.889-05:006 Simple Ways Teachers Can Help Promote Their SchoolsAn African Kikuyu proverb states, “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” Unfortunately, our schools have become battlegrounds over political issues. Politicians vow not to fund public schools until they provide a quality education, yet schools have to reduce the quality of their services as they receive inadequate funding each year.In response, educators feel undervalued. Morale isDr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0Wagner Education Building Litchfield45.133017 -94.522901tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-71126090087649523892015-10-13T16:07:00.001-05:002015-10-13T16:22:11.307-05:00Parents Know Better that American Schools are StrongThere is a paradox present in the public perceptions of the schools in the United States. For years I have seen this same result in the annual Gallup poll on American public K-12 education. A paraphrase of one question reads, “Overall, how satisfied are you with the quality of K-12 education in the U.S. today?”In the latest poll (which is very similar to poll results for each of the last ten Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0Wagner Education Building Litchfield45.132874 -94.522893tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-64472067325773008292015-09-22T14:03:00.001-05:002015-09-22T15:23:26.014-05:00Restoring Optimism for Public EducationPublic education is in a state of crisis. It is vilified by uninformed media, greedy business people, and opportunistic politicians who decry it as a failed institution and a waste of tax dollars. As a result, political leaders, policy makers, and legislators decide to limit further investment in this otherwise essential public service. The result of this condemnation is ongoing underfundingDr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-74287369719084601122015-01-28T21:45:00.000-06:002015-01-28T21:45:59.880-06:00Change in Communication for School LeadersThis is my second installment in a series of blog posts on the changing nature of school administration and school leadership. This post speaks to how expectations for communication have changed.
As I write this, we are approaching the two-year anniversary since the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013. Our nation was anxious for the apprehension of those responsible. As the manhunt Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-60404636728166232262015-01-19T15:24:00.000-06:002015-01-19T15:24:26.371-06:00Change and School LeadershipThis is my first installment in a series of blog posts on the changing nature of school administration and school leadership.
Conformity was the job of schools when I started as a school administrator. It was not all that long ago, but it was long enough that much has changed from the work I was trained to do to the work of school administration I now perform. Conformity was what society Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-63934247459000693392014-04-08T10:26:00.000-05:002014-04-08T10:26:35.416-05:00School and Community Working Together
A business community is most prosperous when it is supported by a strong educational system. The schools train the workforce for the businesses. What's more, a good school helps employers recruit, hire, and retain the best employees.
Likewise, a vibrant business community enhances a school system. Growing businesses bring students to the community. The businesses provide mentoring, Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-20832748513174154522014-01-20T10:59:00.000-06:002014-01-20T10:59:30.736-06:00Giving Kids Technology Tools for School
Improved learning is a concern for
our nation. Our economic prosperity depends on it, as does our strength as a
nation. To improve learning in the 21st Century, schools—and the
public—need to realize that students need the appropriate learning tools for
this age.
Technology tools alone will not do
it. Schools need to thoughtfully integrate technology in support of teaching and learning at Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-35503020965989842342014-01-10T10:34:00.000-06:002014-01-10T10:34:00.786-06:00Skills for the 21st CenturyThe central focus of public education since the 18th Century
has been the Three R’s: reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. These skills are no
less relevant today. Students need these vital building blocks to advance their
studies to other areas.
Because we value the three subject areas, we test students
to ensure they are on track. Where we go wrong is assuming that one single test
could ever Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-20097875037625462592014-01-03T13:03:00.002-06:002014-01-03T13:03:42.665-06:0021st Century Education is Personalized EducationOnly half of all school-age children in the nation finished high school back in the 1970’s. Today three-fourths of students graduate.
Still, neither of these numbers are nearly good enough. In today’s world, based upon an information economy, an educated workforce is crucial to the success of our nation. That is one reason why many states have initiatives calling on schools to ensure a one Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-37916550015755183842013-08-15T08:05:00.000-05:002013-08-15T08:11:01.725-05:00Leadership at Its Most Powerful is by Example
I once knew an executive who routinely displayed displeasure and sometimes contempt for his subordinates. Meanwhile he would preach to his team how they needed to improve staff morale. Unfortunately, the lieutenants emulated the leader. His team may have been told what to do, but they did as they were shown.
If the leader does not do it, there is actually a disincentive for someone in the rankDr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-471245102082867182013-01-08T14:35:00.002-06:002013-01-08T14:35:42.768-06:00Every School Needs a Facebook Page
If your school does not yet have a Facebook page, it will
soon. And if you do not create it, someone else will do it for you. Will you be
controlling your message?
Launched in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his college
roommates, Facebook is a social networking service with currently over one
billion active users. People everywhere are accessing Facebook. More than half
of users are Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-48778605633540564462012-12-28T15:12:00.000-06:002012-12-31T13:25:08.392-06:00Varied Visions of 21st Century LearningI recently listened to a vendor talk about the role of video in the classrooms of the future.
He described a classroom where the teacher is at the front of the room before students but also captured on video and broadcast to classrooms miles away where the teacher's lecture would be heard by many students beyond the traditional classroom. The video system would allow students to watch and listenDr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-90839740961194926642012-11-14T10:39:00.000-06:002012-11-14T10:39:18.086-06:00Educators Must Embrace Change to Fight ObsolescenceMy grandfather Arthur was born in 1889. Descending from a long line of blacksmiths, he became a blacksmith too. One of his first jobs as a young man was working as a blacksmith for the Texas Rangers. He became very adept and expert in his vocation and became a farrier too, a blacksmith who watches the gait of the horse then trims the hooves and fashions the shoes to improve the horse's walking Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-40608609268101348282012-08-30T12:25:00.000-05:002012-08-30T12:25:00.711-05:00Finding a New Vision for 21st Century Learning
Educators need to recognize that education is changing . . . schools are changing. We
need to find a new model of education for the 21st Century.
There
was a time when schools served the students of their school district. District lines were drawn, and students were required to attend the school within their district. Schools set
their expectations, and students had little choice but to meetDr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-88901339189539129972012-08-01T14:04:00.002-05:002012-08-23T15:23:35.646-05:00What Superintendents Can Learn From Twitter
Below is an article in the August 1, 2012 issue of School Administrator magazine that I wrote in partnership with my colleague superintendents Pam Moran, David Britten, and Joshua Starr.
Can a message of only 140 characters really affect change in
the world? Twitter is doing just that one message at a time.
Twitter is the world’s second most popular social network
with 140 million usersDr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-941288280522955102012-06-13T15:35:00.000-05:002012-06-13T15:35:06.098-05:00Where to Go with 1-to-1 Laptop Learning"It is not about the machines; it is about teaching and learning." I have heard this so often when discussing one-to-one laptop learning, I wonder if it bears repeating. I hope this fact is becoming common knowledge.Sioux Central School District in Sioux Rapids, Iowa, just completed its second year as a one-to-one laptop learning school for grades 3 through 12. The school has enjoyed great Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-88778931748117099242012-06-07T11:19:00.001-05:002012-06-07T11:20:44.176-05:00Public Documents versus Personal Privacy: A Balancing ActThere was a time when school officials, i.e., faculty, staff, and administrators, could easily keep their private correspondence separate from their public communication. Sunshine laws across the nation opened up to public access the documents of governmental institutions. Still an individual could consciously prepare documents for public access while keeping their personal lives and Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-44129220397547602422012-05-29T10:28:00.000-05:002012-05-29T10:28:07.062-05:00The Indispensable Tool for Teaching Writing: Google DocsEnglish language arts teachers may be the hardest working teachers in America's secondary schools. This is a bold and generalized statement, but it reflects the countless hours that writing teachers spend from their personal and family time on evenings and weekends checking stacks of lengthy term papers in addition to reading ahead in the literature, preparing for upcoming lessons, and coaching Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-24121553361537715222012-05-20T13:15:00.000-05:002012-05-20T13:15:02.559-05:00Living Life for the Fewest RegretsEach spring, one of the things I look forward to is speaking to our graduating class. Below are my brief remarks for this year.
Greetings and welcome to the 19th annual commencement ceremony of the Sioux Central Community School District.
You have passed through the doorways of Sioux Central school—for a couple of you for just a few months—and for some of you for up to 14 years. YouDr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-68658720840664493492012-05-10T11:08:00.000-05:002012-05-10T11:09:26.697-05:00Every Educator Needs Two BlogsMy title suggests every teacher and administrator should maintain two blog sites on a regular basis. I know that's just not feasible for many. Perhaps when they were young, they were punished when they were naughty by having to write an essay. Now writing is a burden. That is all right. We all have our burdens to bear.
But for those educators who can and should write on a regular basis, I Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-30351410596637242912012-05-03T20:49:00.000-05:002012-05-04T08:27:12.902-05:00Will the Postal Service Survive? Will Public Schools?Many in our national are predicting the demise of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), an institution that has served its people since the birth of our nation. Some say it is electronic media that is heralding the end of snail mail. Certainly that is a factor. However, as the internet has boomed so has online purchasing and home delivery. At the same time when the USPS is struggling, private industry Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-3061191153492873932012-04-22T11:41:00.000-05:002012-04-22T11:43:13.890-05:00Education Where One Size Fits AllIn ancient Greek mythology, Procrustes was a brute who ran an inn along a traveled road. He had a single bed for weary travelers, and Procrustes boasted how his special bed would perfectly fit every guest. After the sojourner bedded down for the evening, Procrustes would bind the guest to the bed. If the guest was shorter than the bed, he was stretched to fit. And if he was too long, his limbs Dr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8199283175665043674.post-77158369485773872222012-04-05T14:25:00.001-05:002012-04-05T14:27:18.789-05:00Student Trips and the Inherent LessonsAs I mentioned in a previous post, I recently led a group of eighth and ninth graders on a trip to Washington, D.C. I have done this several times over many years. I think it is an extremely valuable experience for students to learn about our nation's history and government so that they will one day be better prepared to assume an active role in our republic.
Tragically, the behavior of studentsDr. D.L. Frazierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340804891124370741noreply@blogger.com0