School Shooting Simulation

Today, the staff in my building went through our second phase of A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training. Basically, use what is appropriate, fight back if necessary, and get out if you can.

I want to explain what I experienced today, and how that experience no longer allows me to defend the traditional lockdown security measure that so many schools institute in their crisis plan.

Our School Resource Officer, who is a Delaware County Sheriff, put our staff through three simulations.

Scenario One:  Shooter in the building, traditional lockdown.

As many of us were taught and trained, the 26 staff members got on the ground along an interior wall.  I grabbed a desk that was nearby and pulled it over top of me, because that would certainly protect me, right?  Many of my colleagues followed suit. As the shooter entered the room he started firing, kill shot after kill shot. I watched in simulated horror, and momentarily was thankful that I had not been shot.  He started in the middle of the room, and I was the first person near the door and he had skipped right over me.  Shot after shot, another person experienced a simulated death, and then he pointed the gun right at me and fired.  Everyone in that classroom would have been dead, and we did exactly what we had been trained to do since Columbine happened in 1999.

Scenario Two:  Shooter in the building, no time to prepare, fight back.

Our staff was instructed that they would hear an air horn, which would signify a gun shot, and we were to react.  Barricade the door, fight back, escape, whatever was common sense.  We would probably have about 15 seconds before he got to our room.  What my staff did not know, was there would be no 15 second delay. He was entering the room immediately in order  to catch us off guard.  As he entered the room we were armed with tennis balls, because it was a simulation after all, and we did not want anyone to get hurt. He immediately began shooting, teachers began swarming him, and wrestled him to the ground and got the gun.  The intruder was only able to fire shots at four people, and not all of them would have been kill shots.

Scenario Three:  Shooter in the building, fight back, but your room has 30 seconds to prepare.

This scenario would be if we heard gun shots down the hall, and we would have about 30 seconds to block the door.  One teacher wrapped a leather belt around the door knob, because the door opened out into the hall.  A couple others moved a metal cabinet and desks in front of the door as a barricade.  Some teachers literally started climbing out the windows to escape.  The intruder somehow got the door open but could only get his hand through the top of the door to start shooting.  People began throwing items at it and we were able to knock the gun out of his hand.  No one was shot in this scenario.

I am smart enough to know that I am not a superintendent, and that I do not know everything they have to consider when making important decisions.  What I did learn today was that the traditional lockdown cannot be a one size fits all security measure for an active shooter in your building, or even worse, if the shooter enters your classroom. I appreciate the fact that our superintendent is investigating and studying all of the options.

I have heard many superintendents say that they support the lockdown method, because everyone is accounted for.  Once the shooter is killed or apprehended, all of the teachers know where all of the kids are in the building.  Prior to today, I could buy that.  After seeing what I saw today, I cannot.  Sure there are many unknowns, and a great deal of uncertainty if we teach and instruct kids to flee the school in the event of an active shooter.  Is ALICE the answer? I don't know.  Maybe the answer has not been invented yet. But today, in a simulation, I experienced one of my worst fears, and I am certain, that hiding under a desk with a shooter in the room, is not the answer.

Curriculum Night...Speed Dating Style

Some of the best plays in football are the result of an audible.  In some instances, a quarterback sees what the defense is giving him, and checks to a better play.  Other times, it is the result of a little luck.

Our Curriculum Night was very similar.  We had a conflict with the high school, which was having their event on the same evening.  This was stressing some parents out.  If they had kids in both of our buildings, how could they possibly attend both?

Our initial plan was to have a very structured evening.  I figured I would kick things off in the gym, and then the parents would follow their child's schedule, going from room to room every 15 minutes.  I even planned to ring the bells in order to give them the full experience.

Then came the audible.  First of all I did not want to compete directly against the high school (I would lose, I am the intermediate school principal).  Secondly, and more importantly, the parents would lose, and I did not want that.  We wanted parents to be able to attend both.  So we came up with:  Curriculum Night meets Speed Dating.

We began in the gym in which I gave a short presentation.  I kept it under ten minutes. Why?  People do not come to these events to hear the principal talk, they want to meet the teachers.  I received so much feedback on this.  Joe Mazza, an expert on the topic of school and parent interaction, talks about giving the parents what they want.  Well this is one of the things they want.

After my nine minute talk, parents could go to any class they wished.  Every ten minutes, I made an announcement that it was time to rotate and find another teacher.  Parents could leave early and go to the high school, or come late and still meet teachers.  We did six rounds of the ten minutes class meetings.

The vast majority of the feedback was positive.  If I were to adjust anything for next time, it would be to give a few minutes for parents to get to the next teacher, or just extend each presentation a few minutes.  The teachers enjoyed the format because it avoided the situation where parents wanted to tell them specific things about their children.  Those things are important, but this evening was not the time or the place  for those conversations to happen.

As I mentioned, it was not the perfect scenario having two events on the same evening, but sometimes you have to be willing to be a little flexible and call an audible.  It turned out to be an evening that many people are still talking about.

Inaugural #sstlap Chat 7/11

The Teach Like a PIRATE chats:  #tlap have been very popular on Twitter.  Several weeks ago I noticed some content specific chats were popping up.  There was #tlapmath for...well math and then #ELAtlap for english and language arts.  So last week I decided to create #sstlap for social studies at about the same time Misty White @mwhite_science decided to start up #SCItlap.

So if you are keeping track:

#tlap

#tlapmath

#ELAtlap

#sstlap

#SCItlap

If you have followed this blog, or know anything about me, I am onboard with the philosophy of Dave Burgess @burgessdave and his book Teach Like a PIRATE.  What I was hoping to accomplish with #sstlap, was to create a forum where social studies teachers could gather and share specific ideas.  Dave talks about how teaching the Industrial Revolution is never his favorite thing in the world.  For me it was.  He or another teacher could take some of my ideas, and I am sure I will take someone else's.  At the end of the day, we are creating more engagement and a better learning experience for our students.

Last night (7/11) was the first #sstlap chat, and it was a great success.  If you missed it, here were the questions:

Q1:  What specific area of history/social studies are you passionate about?

Q2:  @burgessdave discusses the importance of the 1st 3 days in building rapport.  What's your plan for the 1st 3 days this fall?

Q3:  What specific "experiences" have you created?

Q4:  How do you display immersion in your classroom? (Getting in the pool vs. sitting in the lifeguard chair)

Q5:  What unique ways have you integrated technology into your class to make it more engaging?

The #sstlap chat will be every other Thursday at 9 PM EST.  I am planning on having a designated blog post that will have links to the different experiences teachers have created and shared.  If you have a great experience, send me the link via Twitter to @mclane_ryan.  

The next chat will be on 7/25.

Teach Like a PIRATE Day...The Aftermath

I will be honest with you.  I never imagined the response Teach Like a PIRATE Day would get from our community, let alone from educators around the world via Twitter.  I appreciate all of the comments, questions and Tweets I have received.

The one common question that people have asked is, "What happened in the days after?"  In other words, did things go back to normal, or did the PIRATE experience live on?  The answer is:  a little of the former, and a lot of the latter.

Students were re-enacting Civil War battles on the football field, a group of students re-enacted the Lincoln assassination, and Language Arts teachers had their students out of their seats learning.  We had about two weeks of school left and I am proud to say my teachers did not "shut it down."  Kids continued to be engaged.

Several teachers are already thinking about Teach Like a PIRATE Day The Sequel.  It is my hope, they come up with so many ideas, they will have to use some of those experiences on "regular" school days.

I recently had an article published in Education Week on the topic of making grades meaningful (I know, shameless plug) Why Grades Should Reflect Mastery, Not Speed . I am not all the way on the Standards-Based Grading side of the spectrum, but I certainly lean heavily that way.  However, and if you take away one thing I write, let it be this:  If kids are not engaged, it does not matter what grading system a school uses. In Daniel Pink's book Drive, he writes about how important it is to be instrinsicly motivated. If we as educators, can create an environment in which students actually want to be there, think of the possibilities. 

Pictures From Teach Like a PIRATE Day

Mr. Prince's Science Experience

Mr. Hill's Pow-wow

Mr. McLane's Mystery Skype

Mr. Prince's Science Experience

Mr. Palmer's Solar Oven

Mr. Palmer's Solar Oven

Mrs. Smith's Silhouette

Mr. McLane's Mystery Skype

Mr. Mitchell's Straw Engineering

Mr. McLane's Internet Radio Show

Mrs. Skinner/Mrs. Fireovid Human Coordinate Plane Battleship

Coordinate Plane Human Battleship

Mr. Hill's Pow-wow

Mr. Hill's Pow-wow

Mr. Hill's Pow-wow

Mrs. Smith's Silhouette 

Mrs. Williams' Wonka Creatorium

Teach Like a PIRATE Day...More Reflections

I will try to give a better description of how things occurred on May 22, 2013.  On Wednesdays in our district, the students come to school an hour later than normal.  As a staff, we use that time for ongoing professional development.  The bus routes just run an hour later than a normal day and the class periods were only 32 minutes long.

Our kids entered the building at 8:15 AM and were walking the halls with their guidebooks and were scoping things out.  All students reported to Homeroom at 8:24 AM for attendance and morning announcements.  I explained the rules of the day:

1. They could go to any experience that was offered that period.
2. They could not go to any teacher more than twice.
3. They could not be with the same teacher two periods in a row.
4. Have fun!

As I was walking through the halls, I could sense the excitement, but could not really see any physical differences.  As I made it to the end of the hall and was turning the corner, I could see a line formed outside of Mr. Prince's Science class.  I was not surprised, and if you read the description of his experience, you would not be either.

I walked from room to room and the kids were hooked in every room.  Our building does not have air conditioning, and it was a hot day, but not a single teacher or student complained about it.  It was almost as if no one noticed.

I saw kids doing science experiments; designing candy bars; playing coordinate plane human battleship; kids creating their own Internet radio shows, Mystery Skypes, Native American Pow-wows; and teachers incorporating lessons into traditional games.

I saw what Dave Burgess has been preaching about teaching like a PIRATE.  I saw passion from everyone.  I witnessed students immersed in their education.  I could see the great rapport that many of our staff have with their students.  Students were asking intelligent questions and analyzing the best way to protect their egg before dropping it from the high school balcony.  I saw a school and a staff transform the way education happened because they incorporated a little more enthusiasm than normal.  Once that first period ended, I physically saw a change.  I witnessed students running to their next experience, because they did not want to get closed out.  

Here were some comments from the students on what they liked best about the day:

"Teach Like a PIRATE Day was fun.  I wish every day was like this."

"I liked having the freedom to choose my classes."

Here were some comments from the students on what they did NOT like about the day:

"Nothing."

"That we only got to choose 7 classes."

"That we did it on a Wednesday so it was shorter class periods."

"How hard it was to get into some of the rooms.  When trying to get into Mr. Prince's room, you had to fight!!!"

As I mentioned yesterday, it was an absolutely amazing day.  We will be doing this again next year, probably once in the fall and once in the spring.

Teach Like a PIRATE Day...Huge Success

Where to begin?  First off, this is the first of several posts that will be up in the coming days/weeks.  Too much happened to put it in one blog post.  I guess I will start with addressing some concerns people may have about pulling off a day like this.  

• We had about a 98% attendance rate today (and none of today's activities were for a grade).  
• There were absolutely no discipline issues during any of the experiences. 
• Kids were running from class to class.

The biggest problem we incurred was kids were getting shut out of the experiences they wanted to attend because the room was already full.  Teachers rectified this problem by using their judgement in allowing more students into their classes.  We did not want anyone to leave TLAP Day disappointed.

I walked into class after class and saw students hooked.  Students were engaged, they were having fun, and they were learning.  We had Willy Wonka themed experiences, The Ultimate Gift experiences, science experiments students can do at home experiences, Mystery Skype experiences, Human Battleship experiences, and a Native American Pow Wow experience, just to name a few.  Our students connected with classes in Wisconsin, New York, and Delaware.  Did I mention zero discipline issues?  Our teachers did a fantastic job.

One common question that students had for me was "Why can't school be like this everyday?"  My answer is "We are working on it."  Our teachers are using the PIRATE acronym to show more passion, immersion, better rapport, ask/analyze, transformation, and enthusiasm.  However, I would be remiss if I put it completely on the shoulders of the teachers.  Education is a two-way street.  Just as I will strive to get my teachers to create more engaging experiences in the future, we also need the students to be more passionate about their learning as well.  After seeing what I witnessed today, that should not be a problem.

We set out to answer Dave Burgess' question of "If your kids didn't have to be there, would you be teaching to an empty room?"  I never thought about answering his second question.  "Do you have any lessons you could sell tickets for?"  The teachers at Utica Junior High School got their answer to the first question today, and I had a student ask about purchasing a reserved seat for Mystery Skype, so that is a YES to number two.

Utica Junior High is a small rural school in central Ohio.  There are approximately 270 students in grades 7-8.  Nearly 45% of the students are on free/reduced lunch.