Web Portfolio on School Change

    We were all sitting around the dinner table discussing life and the man across from me decided to show his brilliance. He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do: those who can't teach. I decide to bite my tongue and resist the temptation to remind the dinner guests that it's so true what they say about lawyers, because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company. "I mean, you're a teacher," he says to me.  "Be honest. What do you make?" And I wish he hadn't done that (asked me to be honest) because, you see, I have a policy about honesty and if you ask for it, I have to let you have it. "You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.  I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor, and an A- feel like a slap in the face: "How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best?" I make parents tremble in fear when I call home: "I hope I haven't called at a bad time: I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.  Billy said, 'Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, too don't you?' And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen."  I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be. You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder, I make them question. I make them criticize.  I make them apologize and mean it.  I make them write.  I make them read, read, read.  I make them spell 'definitely beautiful,' definitely beautiful,' over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again.  I make them show all their work in math.  And hide it on their final drafts in English. I make them understand that if you have brains, then you follow your heart and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you pay them no attention. Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true: I make a difference in the lives of hundreds of children. Now what about you? What do you make?"

Anonymous e-mail received 11/2002

My name is Wayne Schmidt, and this web site details my journey in educational leadership and school change.  The project began as partial credit for EDU 691 - Evaluation and Assessment of School Change with Dr. Anne-Marie Read.  The class is part of the DELTA Doctorate program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University. The conclusion of the project will be my dissertation on implementing innovative teaching strategies in a traditional classroom environment.