Monday, September 9, 2013

Integrity and Failure

photo credit: Cinzia A. Rizzo / fataetoile via photopin cc


Today I tried to do something in my life.  I tried my very best.

And I failed spectacularly. It was awful.

The circumstances don't matter.  The feelings do.

I stood there, with tears running down my face and mucus filling my throat and not enough tissue to blow my nose.  And the internal embarrassment was real as a colleague dressed me down.    .


It would have been easier not to try at all.  Failure would have been avoided.  But that would not have been honest.  And there is integrity in that.

Later I received a message from a dear person in my life, struggling with an issue of whether or not to drop a class during her senior year in college since she has never ever quit at something.  And I knew exactly how she felt.  And there was this amazing comment from one of her friends (who gave me permission):

"Relax. Breathe. Dropping a class is not the end of the world. Heck, failing a class isn't the end of the world. This class may not be the right thing for you this semester with everything else you've got on your plate. Professors understand that students are people. It's not the end of the world. You can do this. You have so many talents, don't worry about disappointing anyone."


Someone else had a day just like me.  And it was good advice.

So I learned something in the process.  First of all, I had a moment of remembering what it was like to be a child, a student, or an athlete who was totally lost and struggling with an issue.  I wanted to run away.  For just a moment, I was that most miserable kid in my room who had just definitively failed at something.

Failure stinks, but the attempt may still be honorable.

Now what?  What's the lesson for me as an educator?  
.

Simple.  I learned the value of a supportive adult all over again.  Haim Ginott was right.


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Is ALICE a #gamification of school safety?

I've been searching for something that has bothered me for the last two weeks.  And that's ALICE training for school safety, which has become a training option for many Iowa schools.  I first heard of ALICE when my husband came home from a school safety conference, and was very positive about it.  Some individuals I've talked to said it's empowering as adults because it gives them options for control.  As a hunter, I am not anti-gun, but I don't know if I want to go through this simulation, even if it is voluntary.  The very thought triggers anxiety in the pit of my stomach.


It doesn't take much to find stories on trainings that support the PRO viewpoint.  NPR, the Gazette, Cinncinnati, and the University of Iowa all have ready links with a quick search

It's not that I oppose training for emergencies.  Really.  We have fire drills, tornado drills, bus evacuation drills, bomb evacuation drills and schedules for everything from lunch duty to pep bus sponsors.  I like the idea of some of what ALICE is advocating.

  • Alert Everyone
  • Lockdown Your Room
  • Inform People in the Building
  • Counter by Attacking the Intruder<--this is some of what I have trouble with
  • Escape if Possible
ALICE even makes that claim that is it DHS-approved on some of the sites I found.  So I looked it up. And I found that indeed, the Department of Homeland Security does publish an a document on dealing with many of the things listed above.  In its pamphlet an Active Shooter in a Building  it says, as a very last resort, throw something at the intruder.

It also says:

Components of Training Exercises 
The most effective way to train your staff to respond to an active shooter situation is to 
conduct mock active shooter training exercises. Local law enforcement is an excellent 
resource in designing training exercises. 
• Recognizing the sound of gunshots  
• Reacting quickly when gunshots are heard and/or when a shooting is witnessed:
- Evacuating the area
- Hiding out 
- Acting against the shooter as a last resort
• Calling 911
• Reacting when law enforcement arrives
• Adopting the survival mind set during times of crisis

Perhaps my problem is how the training is conducted.  In all the videos I have searched on you tube, I see people running through a school building shooting guns and pretending to be intruders while others are present.  Talking to other educators around the state has led me to believe that intruders in these Iowa trianings are also equipped with pellet guns to fire at participants.

To me, it's surreal.  It's #gamification, like a round of Halo or a game of paintball, rather than a real life-or-death situation.  I was taught that guns were not used in the manner below.





Here's my point.

I support fire drills---but I've never had a flamethrower wielded at me as I walked out of the building.

I support tornado drills--but I've never had someone throw broken glass at me to simulate a twister.

I support fire arms training--and Iowa has an excellent Hunter Safety program.  But why would you subject individuals to an exercise like this in ways that could trigger anxiety attacks, PTSD, asthma attacks, or, worst of all, a superiority complex that leads them to believe it is all just a game?  We already know that teens and children react differently than adults on decision-making, and yet we are perhaps putting them in the cross-hairs of a dangerous make-believe.

Perhaps I am overreacting.  

  • As a parent, I know schools have a responsibility to protect kids/
  • As a teacher, I am wary of liability.  I also don't want simulations that are quite this realistic. 
  • As an administrator, I'm sure there are staff members who won't participate, so there must be reasonable alternatives.  
  • And as a board member, I'd think that we would want to have research for the liability and policy considerations that this type of program simulation entails.


Anyone have a better solution for a terrible problem?


RESOURCES
I'm still searching for the research out there that tells me how this has been effectively used in schools or other places to thwart intruders, and perhaps that research is out there.  But it didn't seem to work at Ft. Hood when you had trained service people.  It didn't seem to work when instructions similar to ALICE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting#Shooting  Here's what I have found:

Against:
http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/12/psychiatrist-alice-children
http://www.schoolsecurityblog.com/2013/03/psychologist-alice-training-is-an-overreaction-and-potentially-dangerous/
http://t.co/16fuQxwNmo (Parents have a responsibility to ask about what their kids should do) via @Paul_Mugan

Neutral
http://www.dhs.gov/school-safety

If you have a link to contribute that designates safety information that you think might be helpful, please let me know.  I would love to see the board policies and ideas that are behind such weighty decisions.


Goodwill Drive






West Delaware Students and Parents:

KFXA FOX-28 is hosting the 1st Annual Goodwill Drive to Victory” during the football season across Eastern Iowa.  Included in their Drive to Victory is this week’s game between West Delaware and Dyersville Beckman.  Both schools have one week to donate as much as possible to the Goodwill trailer located at their school.  The winning school will be announced Friday during the game at Dyersville Beckman. 

A Goodwill drop off station is located in the West Delaware High School Parking Lot.  Clothes and household items can be dropped off this week only.  Please help us collect as much as possible this week.

So, clean out your garage, your closet and basement.  Look for those items that you no longer use which may still be of value to someone else.  Clothes, toys and household items are accepted.  No food please. Drop off your donations at the Goodwill trailer in the West Delaware High School Parking Lot.  Tax Deduction Forms are located inside the trailer.  

If you have any questions, contact Mike Morrison at 927-3515 ext. 302.