“systematically organized material designed to provide a specific level of instruction in a subject matter category.” The board interpreted this section “… to allow school corporations to use computers and other data devices, instructional software, internet resources, interactive, magnetic and other media, and other ’systematically organized material.’ As technology continues to evolve, Indiana’s broad and inclusive definition of a textbook will enable districts to evolve in their use of such materials, whether packaged for them or packaged by them.”

Read the Open Letter to Indiana Educators About Textbooks.

You can read more about it in this article.

Should we follow Indiana’s lead or are they off base?

Cyber Bullying Policy
GCA strives to provide a safe, positive learning climate for students. Therefore, it shall be the policy of GCA to maintain an educational environment in which bullying and cyber bullying in any form are not tolerated.

All forms of bullying and cyber bullying by school district students are hereby prohibited.  Anyone who engages in bullying or cyber bullying in violation of this Policy shall be subject to appropriate discipline.

Students who have been bullied or cyber bullied shall promptly report such incidents to any staff member. Complaints of bullying or cyber bullying shall be investigated promptly, and corrective action shall be taken when a complaint is verified.  Neither reprisals nor retaliation shall occur as a result of the submission of a complaint.

GCA shall annually inform students that bullying or cyber bullying of students will not be tolerated.

Definitions:

Bullying shall mean unwelcome verbal, written or physical conduct directed at a student by another student that has the effect of:

1. Physically, emotionally or mentally harming a student;
2. Damaging, extorting or taking a student’s personal property;
3. Placing a student in reasonable fear of physical, emotional or mental harm;
4. Placing a student in reasonable fear of damage to or loss of personal property; or
5. Creating an intimidating or hostile environment that substantially interferes with a student’s educational opportunities.

Cyber bullying includes, but is not limited to, the following misuses of technology:  harassing, teasing, intimidating, threatening, or terrorizing another student or staff member by way of any technological tool, such as sending or posting inappropriate or derogatory email messages, instant messages, text messages, digital pictures or images, or website postings (including blogs) which has the effect of:

1. Physically, emotionally or mentally harming a student;
2. Placing a student in reasonable fear of physical, emotional or mental harm;
3. Placing a student in reasonable fear of damage to or loss of personal property; or
4. Creating an intimidating or hostile environment that substantially interferes with a student’s educational opportunities.

All forms of bullying are unacceptable and, to the extent that such actions are disruptive of the educational process of GCA, offenders shall be subject to appropriate staff intervention, which may result in administrative discipline.

The term “bullying” and “cyber bullying” shall not be interpreted to infringe upon a student’s right to engage in legally protected speech or conduct.

Delegation of Responsibility:

• Each staff member shall be responsible to maintain an educational environment free of bullying and cyber bullying.
• Each student shall be responsible to respect the rights of his/her fellow students and to ensure an atmosphere free from all forms of bullying and cyber bullying.
• Students shall be encouraged to report bullying or cyber bullying complaints to any staff member.
• Any staff member who receives a bullying or cyber bullying complaint shall gather information or seek administrative assistance to determine if bullying or cyber bullying has occurred.  The principal or his/her designee will inform the parents or guardians of the victim and also the parents or guardians of the accused.

Complaint Procedure:

• A student shall report a complaint of bullying or cyber bullying, orally or in writing, to a staff member. If a parent initiates the complaint, the appropriate staff member will follow-up with the student.
• The staff member will either gather the information or seek administrative assistance to determine if the alleged bullying or cyber bullying conduct occurred.

A violation of this Policy shall subject the offending student to appropriate disciplinary action, consistent with the student discipline code, which may include suspension, expulsion or notification to the appropriate authorities.

The magic lay in his ring.  Each time a difficult case was brought before him he would listen carefully and attentively to each person as they spoke.  When they were finished he would open a locket on his ring and stare deeply into it for quite some time.  As he did so, the room would quiet and everyone would wonder what the king was seeing in his magical ring. Suddenly the king would snap the ring closed and issue a decision that amazed everyone in the room.

Everybody wanted to know what was in that ring?  Did the king see visions?  Were there spirits that spoke to him?  But the king wouldn’t let anyone see inside the ring – no matter how they asked.

As happens on this earth, the wise and just king grew old.  As he lay on his death bed his courtiers and family gathered around him to pay their respects and to say goodbye.  When the king closed his eyes and breathed his last there was a moment of silence in the room.  The one of his closest advisors gently reached out, took his hand, and opened the ring.

All that was inside the locket was this inscription:  “This to shall pass.”

You can also put full, interactive panoramas of the your campus online and then embed them in your website. Here’s a link to a panorama I did of the Upper Columbia Academy campus.

http://gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=6628

Once you are viewing the panorama, you can click the link to view it in Google Earth – It’s really cool as you can zoom in to detail in any area of the panorama. You can also embed the panorama in your own web site.

At the bottom of this page is a Google Earth link to the UCA campus where you can see blue dots representing pictures of various places on campus.  The blue dot is the place from which the picture was taken. Oh and these images can now be turned on in Google Maps (ours aren’t showing yet, but will be there soon).

It’s a good idea to be proactive in putting pictures online that are representative of your campus.  Not only is it good marketing, but we had a problem with someone putting a nice picture with a derogatory title online.  Panoramio removed it but it took several months for the change to take effect. Once you tag your pictures in Panoramio and geotag* them it takes about 2-3 months for them to show up in Google Earth.

To get started with Panoramio, visit http://www.panoramio.com/.  If you need help learning how to upload and geotag your photos, just click on the “help” link at the bottom of the page.

Oh, it is also possible to link your Wikipedia page in Google Earth!**  You will see ours as a purple dot in the middle of campus.  It’s worth investing some time in editing your Wikipedia page.  Don’t make it a duplicate of your web site, but include enough information to inform.

Have fun in Google Earth!

* Geotagging is the the process of placing GPS coordinates with online pictures.

** To have your Wikipedia page show up in Google Earth, simply edit your Wikipedia page and ad a line like the one below at the end of the page – just remember to replace the coordinate with your school’s decimal Coordinates.  Don’t know them?  Have you of your students help you find it!
{{Mapit-US-cityscale|47.413336|-117.367576}}

Google Earth link to the UCA campus – Right click link and select “Save Link As” or “Save Target As.”

Download and install Google Earth

First, members of local boards should be instructed in their proper role on the board. They need to be shown the difference between policy making and management. They should function in the policy arena and leave the management to the Head Teacher. Second, board members need to be instructed in their proper oversight role and shown the difference between oversight and micro-management.

A further area for leadership by the professional educators is to help head teachers in small schools understand how they are to function in the management of the school. If they don’t manage in a proper way there is a temptation for operating boards to dabble in this area of school operation.

So, this is a call for leadership on the part of our professional educators within the Adventist system. It is badly needed, especially in our small schools

As Adventist educators, starting a new calendar year is often a time for reflection and re-evaluation. Is the purpose of Adventist education clearly before us, despite detours in 2007? Have we prayerfully recommitted our lives to serve on whatever route God plans to best accomplish His purpose in 2008?

Reflecting on one or more articles in the Adventist Education Essentials topic of CIRCLE, the Adventist Curriculum and Instruction Resource Center Linking Educators, could be a helpful refocusing exercise. Each section has been recently updated, with topics such as how to integrate faith In the Classroom and On Campus, and The Ministry of Teaching.

One small gadget can change our experience on a road journey, focusing on the destination, more than the obstacles along the way. I recently read The Craft of Christian Teaching which refueled my journey as an Adventist educator. Van Dyk (2000) identifies true north for Christian education like this: “The purpose of our classroom efforts cannot simply be the transmission of classical intellectual insight, but rather, the whole-person equipping of our children for knowledgeable and competent discipleship in a hurting world.” This aligns with the Adventist philosophy of education aim and mission, to prepare “students for a useful and joy-filled life, fostering friendship with God, whole-person development, Bible-based values, and selfless service in accordance with the Seventh-day Adventist mission to the world”. Van Dyk provides practical tips, founded in a biblical worldview, on how to chart the best course between end goals and our 2008 starting point.

I ruled out all of those. Do those things contribute to a strong campus and strong culture? Yes. Do they cause it? No, they are symptoms. The culture of a campus, or any institution for that matter, is created by the staff of that campus. We are blessed here at UCA to have some staff who have been here, 8, 10, 15, and almost 20 years. Each of these staff members, no matter how long they have been here, contribute to the culture of the institution – both the culture the students see, and the interpersonal culture of the staff. Some staff add tremendously to the culture, from the coach who take no gruff from any student – but they all know he loves them, to the cook who loves the kids and does everything possible to have great food the kids will eat.

But we are all human. Each of us also subtracts something from the culture as well. Maybe it’s our intolerance to change, our harshness in the classroom, our oversensitivity to things that annoy us in other staff members, or maybe our expectation of absolute perfection in others. No matter how we justify our position, we all subtract something.

Take a look around at your school, church, or even family. I think you will find this law of culture to hold true. As I look back at the various schools, churches, and institutions with which I’ve worked, I can see this holding true. The leadership is very key in fostering the culture, but often it happens in spite of the leadership, not because of them.

Now to get personal. What do I add to the culture of the the school/church of which I am a part? What do I subtract form the culture? Do I add more than I subtract? Our human nature is to subtract. We want to take from the those around us, but not give. Only Christ can change that for us.