There are so many opportunities students have to communicate with their superintendent.  I look for as many opportunities to connect as possible.  Naturally, face to face is always possible.  In the hallways, at school events, as a member of my student cabinet and of course, making an appointment with my secretary, Mrs. Sadowski.  I will always make time for you.  Whether to share an idea, express some concern or give me feedback about how we can make our schools even better, I am genuinely interested in your learning and experiences at school. 

We also have the ability to communicate 24/7.  You can always contact me by phone, e-mail (nrochelle@iroquoiscsd.org) or yes, this blog.  The positive aspect of using the blog would be if your comments, questions, concerns or ideas is something you would like shared with others.  It also gives other students and readers the opportunity to comment, react or add to your idea.  Regardless of the manner in which you choose to communicate with me, you should always feel comfortable in doing so. 

In terms of ground rules for this blog, I have a few, but I do think they are reasonable. 

Be respectful.  This is not a platform for profanity, jokes or to communicate any differently than you would with any other adult, teacher or person you respect.

Comments are moderated by not censored.  I moderate the comments for two reasons only.  Advertisers that spam blogs or comments that include profanity or pornography.  I will NEVER censor a comment just because I disagree with it or even if may not be positve.  Constructive criticism may be in order.  It will be posted.  Again, all I ask is that you do so in a respectful manner.

If you have a concern involving a particular person, that is something that should be discussed privately or a venue that is one-on-one: in person, phone, e-mail.  Positive comments about teachers, staff and fellow students that you want to recognize is certainly welcome especially if it is your way to give them some public recognition.

The above are my only ground rules.  Please give the same respect you would want.  Thank you!!

Welcome back to the 2007-2008 School Year.  I trust that students have seen many changes related to the use of technology especially on our main campus.  We have purchased several mobile laptop carts, projectors and our high school is now wireless.  I am interested to know what you think.

• Do you see teachers using technology more often?
• Do you enjoy using technology?
• Do you feel you have learned or are learning the necessary skills to make use of the world wide web?
• What more would you like to see related to technology offered to students?

Thanks to a small group of teachers that are using the technology our students have used at home for quite some time now, students are beginning to share their experiences and their creativity with school personnel- myself included.  Students have been using blogs to communicate, create pages about their favorite music group, post their poetry, and share their explorations in cyberspace.  I for one become excited when I think of the possibilities.  We may sit in a room with four walls but that doesn’t mean all the learning that is to take place has to be from the people in those four walls.  Why not partner with a class in Thailand or Japan?  The closest we came when I was a student was to be pen pals….writing a letter to someone in a foreign land, mailing it and waiting, and waiting, and hoping someone would write back just to get a letter that tells you their favorite color, their favorite food and their pet’s name.  Now we can talk about what they are reading in literature and do it in real time over Skype and converse for free.  We must catch up.  We need training, we need equipment and we need to have the belief that this type of learning is much more valuable to students than reading a textbook.  I am not insulting any teacher and saying that textbooks have no value.  I am asking to give it some thought.  By the time a textbook is written, published, marketed and purchased by a school district it is over a year old.  When we talk about the sciences or history, advances were made the day the book made it to print.  New countries were established and old countries no longer exist. 

Students are impatient when it comes to information.  It’s not their fault.  Video games are interactive and very motivating, anything they want to learn or read about they can find with the click of a mouse and a few seconds (maybe a little longer if they still have dial-up).  They are capable of taking in an enormous amount of information from thousands of sources.  Our job- show them how.  Show them the educational value as well as the social value.  Teach them how to determine if an internet source is credible or not.  Give them time and permission to produce evidence of their learning that is different than a multiple choice or essay question.   Throughout the district I am hearing more and more of this kind of thinking.  I am interested in what students think and if the change is welcome.  Of course, as an educational leader I need to ask the most important question….Is it making a difference in your academic achievement and relevance of the subject matter?

I truly appreciate the time students have taken to publish comments on this blog.  Now that the school year is underway, I am interested in any comments you have especially if you are involved in a class that has used blogs and/or wikis.  Do you like it as another form of learning?  Do you think you learn the information better by being “in charge” of your own learning?  Would you like more teachers/courses to use blogs/wikis as an instructional strategy?  Give me your thoughts.

The intent of this blog is not to eliminate any other forum for communication with me as superintendent.  I still welcome e-mails, face-to-face meetings and will continue my student cabinet meetings with parents and students that occur monthly throughout the school year.  The blog is a simple way for a quick correspondence as well as another ‘tool’ students can use to communicate concerns that they may be uncomfortable sharing in other forums.  Any and all comments are welcome so long as they are respectful.  I appreciate the time people take to leave a comment.

Blogging and wikis seem to be used by many students, businesses and schools for educational purposes.  It is my hope that through this blog, students will feel comfortable respectfully giving me their opinions, ideas and comments that would improve the education at Iroquois Central School.  This is a “safe” place where you should feel like your opinion matters and will be read. 

Go ahead…..give it a try!

I look forward to hearing from you.