Scot Graden's Blog

I have posted this before. Since many families in the greater Saline community are giving gifts to their children (our students) over the next couple weeks, here is my shameless plug to consider items that support the Saline Area Schools’ learning targets.

Books – You can never go wrong with books. Consider non-fiction titles like biographies, autobiographies, travel/geography, how-to, and science/technology options. (Magazine subscriptions can also be a good fit for non-fiction reading.)

e-Readers – This is the same as above, but in Kindle, iPad, iPad Mini, or Surface format.

Saline Community Education Gift Certificates – You can use these to gift classes. Yoga, Cooking, Painting, Rec Sports, Robotics, and a lot more!

STE(A)M Toys – These types of toys are always popular and excellent for promoting and encouraging creativity. They can also help build dexterity and develop mathematics and patterning skills. The list is endless, but here is a start: Legos, Chain Reactions, Magnetic Block Tiles, Magna Tiles, and K’Nex. Don’t overlook the importance of the ‘A’ in the acronym. Passing along the gift of music or art instills a lifelong love of the arts. Plus, research shows that students who study music consistently score higher on the SAT. 

Osmos – These are fun games that go with an iPad and support learning in critical areas such as creative problem solving, art, and STE(A)M (science, technology, engineering, (art) and mathematics).

Technology – This area can be pricey. However, we are encouraging students at many grade levels to bring their laptops, tablets, and smartphones to class to use as a learning tool. Google Chromebooks are a relatively inexpensive option for laptops, and they work well on the school’s wifi network.

Hornet Gear – Okay, not educational – but kids and adults alike look good in Saline Hornet apparel. Stop by Saline High School at the Edge (school store) – the store is open from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on December 18th. If you can’t make it there – check out Junga’s ACE Hardware or www.salinespirit.com.

Some “Old School” gifts worth considering… science kit, art supplies, erector set, and telescope.

Feel free to comment if you have other educational gift ideas.

With the season of gratefulness upon us, we set out to try to capture some of the wonderful acts of service done by our staff. Throughout the month of November, we recognized and celebrated staff members who were “caught” performing strong acts of customer service throughout our district. 

We asked staff to take a moment to “catch” a co-worker doing a good deed or act of kindness that is a reflection of Saline Area Schools and share it will us so we could recognize them.

We were overwhelmed with the response. In only 18 school days we received 95 responses. I am proud of the staff for their focus on providing great service to our students and each other. I am also grateful for the staff’s willingness (and eagerness!) to share these acts.

Click here to read all 95!

We kicked off the process of reviewing, revising, and updating the current Strategic Framework. In sharing the history of how the framework came to be – that stretches back to December, 2008 – and the iterations of it along the way, I was reminded of a quote that I have taken to using at the start of each school year. It is one that I always want to ring true for me personally and for our community.

Saline Area Schools has a strong tradition and a bright future…. And we all can look with pride and confidence in both directions. 

Here is a look at the current Strategic Framework. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in 6 months.

The Chicago Transit Authority’s hit from their first album asks:

Does anybody really know what time it is? (I don’t)

Does anybody really care? (care about time)

If so I can’t imagine why (no, no)

We’ve all got time enough to cry.

Over the last few years, I have been wondering about clocks, digital vs. conventional, and the usefulness of such instruments in schools. For a variety of reasons, traditional, analog clocks are a challenge to keep synchronized, especially in buildings that have been renovated several times over the years. Also, each building has multiple versions of the classroom clock. The maintenance staff spends a lot of time (no pun intended), adjusting and working on these antiquated timepieces, often to no avail. Clocks with Arabic numerals first appeared in the mid-18th century. As with many tools used in classrooms, the efficacy of such devices may no longer be relevant in the 21st-century. Yet, it is still frustrating for students and staff when the clocks are inaccurate. 

As I have visited schools, I note the type of clocks used and how many devices are in various areas – meaning are they in classrooms or just common areas. I have seen just about everything – no clocks at all, conventional clocks in all spaces, digital in all, and a blend of the two. In large areas used for standardized testing, students must face a wall with a working clock. We have resorted to bringing in inexpensive, battery-operated analog clocks due to the reliability of those devices.

The trend I have noticed recently is fewer clocks in classrooms, hallways, and common areas. The clocks are almost exclusively digital. One new technological feature is the option to display messages on the digital clocks as well. Thus, in an emergency, essential safety messages can be transmitted at a glance throughout a building.

In 2018, across classrooms in the United Kingdom, analog clocks were replaced with digital. The main reason for the switch is that students were unable to read the analog clock faces. In primary classrooms in the UK, students are not taught to read a clock to “tell time.”

Is it time for Saline Schools to consider a similar move?

Here are the links to the presentation to the Board of Education on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Screencast with Audio

Class Size Presentation (Screencast)

PDF Format

Class Size Presentation (PDF)

Article regarding the presentation from Saline Post

Have comments or questions? Click Here.

One of my mentors once told me that public organizations take seven years to make sustainable changes. I was young and naive, and I told him he was wrong. We discussed the need for schools to adapt to the changes occurring in modern society – so I was disappointed to hear him say that it would take that long. I wanted to move quickly and felt that others in the organization did as well. The evidence of the need for systemic change was (and is) everywhere. 

He told me, “A new system that meets the needs of students and is supported by staff and community is not something you can go buy from an education resource company like Houghton Mifflin. Building anything worthwhile in life takes time. First, because it takes time to understand the current issues within a system, second, You must wait for the right opportunity. Third, you need to do the necessary work to bring others along with you.”

What was at the bottom line was this: I needed to develop patience. Meaningful change requires patience.

As I reflect on the last decade-plus as superintendent of Saline Area Schools, I can see the times that I moved quickly on large scale change. The organization resisted it. Details and developing a shared understanding get overlooked. Processing time gets crunched down and causes anxiety within the staff members that are managing the change.  

When one is trying to achieve personal goals and improve opportunities for students, there are moments when the temptation to hit the fast forward button is real. Time seems to stand still.  In general, I can be quite impatient at times. I had to learn that there is a difference between a desire to achieve outcomes and impatience. The former helps; the latter can harm.

Sustainable overnight change does not exist. I have had to remind myself of that whenever I feel impatient. When ambition and personal pride overshadow the intended outcome, sustainable change cannot happen. It has taken me a while to learn that sustained innovation requires patience.