TED Community » Randy Speck

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Making education something that kids love. There is an opportunity to use technology and the minds of students to change education for the future.

An idea worth spreading

Student-centered learning!! We no longer live in a world where students need teachers to give them all of the information. Information is available to students with their iTouch and other mobile devices...they need teachers to walk along side them and facilitate learning. What if we created schools that encouraged learning and discovery, rather than memorization.

Comments

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  A comment on Conversation: Should parents, teachers and other personnel be able to carry a concealed weapon in a school?

  Dec 17 2012: There is no doubt a commonality with all of us having opinions and contributing to the conversation...we all want safety...we all want safe places. Schools, hospitals, churches should be places that are the most safe. I suspect if the Connecticut shooting had taken place at a hospital, the conversation might center around doctor's carrying guns for protection.
  
  Can we really prevent the unthinkable? Crisis management plans are by definition, plans to manage something that has happened. When you hear stories coming out of Sandy Hook Elementary, you hear of teachers doing what they are trained to do...protect those children. Have the doors locked, get them into a corner or closet as far away from the door as possible, keep the children quiet and calm and wait for the police to get there. I hear and understand the side of the debate that says "what if teachers or someone in the building has a gun, they could prevent this." In my mind, as a school Superintendent, it is hard for me to see that working in any possible way. I would respectfully respond by saying that the teacher's role in that crisis is to protect those innocent children and keep them as safe as possible. If they are worried about getting their gun out of the desk drawer, the focus that is lost for that one second, may contribute to even greater harm.
  
  It's not a perfect solution...is there a perfect solution to preventing "crazy" and "evil." If so, please let me in on it as I comb through our emergency plans to find any gap that may exist.

• A comment on Conversation: Should parents, teachers and other personnel be able to carry a concealed weapon in a school?

  Dec 15 2012: This is the news story that made me think of this debate. After this story was aired, the terrible events in Connecticut took place. Not long after that, The Governor of Michigan said these events "give pause" to signing a bill that gives people the ability to carry concealed weapons in a school or church.
  
  http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/20345515/mi-legislature-passes-bill-allowing-concealed-weapons-in-churches-and-schools
  
  Thank you all for contributing

• A reply on Conversation: Should parents, teachers and other personnel be able to carry a concealed weapon in a school?

  Dec 15 2012: Ed,
  
  I do not support guns in schools...not at all. I began posing this debate because of a new law being passed in Michigan that gives the people the ability to carry concealed weapons in schools. Not long after, the events in Connecticut took place.

• A reply on Conversation: Debate: Should public schools take on the responsibility for offering basic needs like food and health care to students and families?

  Nov 5 2012: Pat,
  
  Do you think there is a root cause to a problem? I sometimes think problems are not that complicated, however the human element adds complexities.
  
  RS

• A comment on Conversation: Debate: Should public schools take on the responsibility for offering basic needs like food and health care to students and families?

  Nov 5 2012: I appreciate everyone's comments because they somewhat play into what has happened on the East Coast of the United States. Hurricane Sandy comes rolling through and completely disrupts life as people...families...schools know it. Now they begin the process of re-building. People will be (and have been) giving to these communities, but like in a lot of things, the infrastructure isn't in place to provide quick relief. Government agencies such as FEMA and other non-profits spring into action and in most cases do a great job (non-profits move quicker...not as much bureaucracy). But I wonder, if the foundation of a school community was different, could relief come faster. If each school/school district acted as a hub that was connected to the needs of the community in a way that was different than local city councils. Schools know the needs of students and families...that could be leveraged to service the needs of families much faster.

• A reply on Conversation: Debate: Should public schools take on the responsibility for offering basic needs like food and health care to students and families?

  Oct 30 2012: Bob...good stuff. I appreciate all of your thoughts.

• A reply on Conversation: Debate: Should public schools take on the responsibility for offering basic needs like food and health care to students and families?

  Oct 29 2012: There are 55 million students in the US who attend K-12 schools....there are 16 million children under the age of 18 that are considered hungry or below the poverty level. Sixty percent of the student population I serve is mobile...meaning they will not be with us the entire school year. This in itself is part of the problem

• A reply on Conversation: Debate: Should public schools take on the responsibility for offering basic needs like food and health care to students and families?

  Oct 29 2012: "These seemingly innocuous programs have a way of metastasizing into a Detroit."
  
  Pat...like I mentioned to Bob up above, I'm still formulating a way to use these programs as a way to benefit, not to become an empire of social programs with zero accountability. 40% of the student body that comes to the district I lead lives in Detroit. They come to us for something different...something they are not getting. I feel a responsibility to give them that, knowing it is idealistic..knowing some may misuse and abuse...but as I said to Bob, it's hard to just sit back and do nothing.

• A reply on Conversation: Debate: Should public schools take on the responsibility for offering basic needs like food and health care to students and families?

  Oct 29 2012: "Randy you are a good guy and you mean well but this will not re-juvinate a community"
  
  So, am I to then give up and not try. yes, the idea of centralizing is in many ways what I ma talking about and Yes, I believe and know that some will misuse and abuse, but how I can sit by and not work in some way to disrupt the system and cycle. It may be case of treating the symptoms and to get at the root cause of the disease, it will take more than me and my "good guyness" (thanks for the compliment :). I'm still trying to formulate the "getting to the root cause" part...that's where my idealism can both be helpful and an obstacle.

• A reply on Conversation: Debate: Should public schools take on the responsibility for offering basic needs like food and health care to students and families?

  Oct 29 2012: RH
  
  The fact that I opened up the discussion is because of what I see. Children with barely anything to eat...older students trying to sneak into facilities so they can clean themselves or have a quiet place to sleep. Trust me, I would rather talk about kids being creative, innovative and amazing problem solvers and one day, i will get to that. However, until then, we have a society of kids (I can't worry about whose fault it is) that need schools to be bigger in scope of services than they currently are.